Prince

Published in the early sixteenth century, Nicolo Machiavelli's The Prince is a classic Early Renaissance-era work of political philosophy. Its tenets are still put into practice today by the world's top leaders, including the President of the United States. In The Prince, Machiavelli outlines the basic guidelines for effective leadership. In Chapters 15 through 18, Machiavelli especially focuses on specific leadership qualities and behaviors. Chapter Seventeen is especially notable for its advice against being too compassionate: it is better for a leader to be feared than to be loved, according to Machiavellian ideals. What makes The Prince a quintessential early Renaissance text is its focus on the pragmatic qualities of human leaders, rather than on the divine or moral qualities they should ideally exhibit. This was a radical shift in political philosophy, which was largely based on Church law before that.

Chapter Seventeen of The Prince is entitled "Cruelty and Mercy: Is it Better to Be Loved than Feared, or the Reverse?" Machiavelli concludes that it is definitely better to be feared than loved, for the prince who demonstrates too much mercy or compassion is destined only to be weak or at least perceived as weak by his subjects. "The new prince ... cannot escape being cruel, since new governments abound in dangers." This is not to say that Machiavelli advocates corruption or unwarranted violence. Rather, cruelty implies judiciously executed decisive action. In rare cases it is possible for the prince to be both loved and feared, but in situations that demand that a choice be made, the prince should never be afraid to act according to the best interests of the state. In general, it is always "safer" to be feared than to be loved." Cruelty and firmness command respect; without respect a leader would not only be useless, but easily usurped and the state could quickly fall into chaos. The advice Machiavelli offers in Chapter Seventeen closely follows that of the two previous chapters, which advise against too much liberalism and too much care for moral rectitude. Machiavelli follows Chapter Seventeen with a separate chapter advising princes to master the art of deceit and lying in order to serve the needs of the state. Based on these excerpts from the text, it is easy to see how modern politics evolved from the application of Machiavellian principles.