be feared than loved when one of the two must be lacking.” One may be utterly confused by this statement at first glance, because he or she may believe that love is more powerful than fear. But the fact of the matter is that fear is more powerful than love because it lasts longer and stays embedded in one’s system. Still one might say, “True love is forever.” In reality, love comes and goes fairly readily. Fear, on the other hand, rarely ever fades away. Machiavelli says “… that it would be good for a prince to be considered generous,” but only to a certain extent. If he or she begins to gain a reputation for his/her generosity, then that is what will harm him or her. The novice might say that it is good for a prince to be generous because that way he will gain the love of his/her subjects. Yet, as stated before, Machiavelli says that fear is more important than love. Machiavelli defends his point by claiming that if a prince is too generous, then he “will use up all of his resources and will be obligated” to increase taxes or any other means to raise funds in order to run his society. “In our times we have not seen great deeds accomplished except by those who were considered miserly.” Machiavelli has, in that one statement, summed up the financial responsibilities of a prince. To run a society well, one must be stingy with money. If over-spending occurred on a constant basis, then all city-states would be terminated because they would not have the funds or resources to maintain stability. Another statement that Machiavelli puts forward, but one that is deemed a truism is: “There is such a gap between how one lives and how one ought to live.” All people, one way or another, know of or believe in a set of morals. These sets may all be different but basically cover the same points. Now, who follows what they believe in and who does not, is what Machiavelli is d...
