Quotes About Fear

Men are either to be kindly treated, or utterly crushed, since they can revenge lighter injuries, but not graver. Wherefore the injury we to do a man should be of a sort to leave no fear of reprisals.

From this arises an argument: whether it is better to be loved than feared. I reply that one should like to be both one and the other; but since it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.

It is far safer to be feared than loved

But by disarming, you at once give offence, since you show your subjects that you distrust them, either as doubting their courage, or as doubting their fidelity, each of which imputations begets hatred against you.

For love is held by the tie of obligation, which, because men are a sorry breed, is broken on every whisper of private interest; but fear is bound by the apprehension of punishment which never relaxes its grasp.

Never was anything great achieved without danger

Fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.

Just as the observance of divine worship is the cause of the greatness of republics, so the disregard of divine worship is the cause of their ruin, because where fear of God is lacking, that kingdom must either come to ruin or be sustained through fear of a prince who makes up for the shortcomings in its religion.

one should not be deterred from improving his possessions for fear lest they be taken away from him or another from opening up trade for fear of taxes;

because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both

Concluyo, pues, volvieñdo a lo de ser temido y amado, que, dado que los hombres aman cuando es su voluntad y temen según la voluntad del príncipe, un príncipe sabio debe apoyarse en lo que es suyo y no en lo que es de otros; tan sólo debe ingeniárselas, como he dicho, para evitar el odio.

Going back, then, to the question of being feared or loved, my conclusion is that since people decide for themselves whether to love a ruler or not, while it's the ruler who decides whether they're going to fear him, a sensible man will base his power on what he controls, not on what others have freedom to choose. But he must take care, as I said, that people don't come to hate him.

Men are less worried about letting down someone who has made himself loved than someone who makes himself feared.

al que no le importa morir no le asusta quitar la vida a otro.

Moreover, men are less careful how they offend him who makes himself loved than him who makes himself feared. For love is held by the tie of obligation, which, because men are a sorry breed, is broken on every whisper of private interest; but fear is bound by the apprehension of punishment which never relaxes its grasp.

Returning to the question of being feared or loved, I come to the conclusion that, men loving according to their own will and fearing according to that of the prince, a wise prince should establish himself on that which is in his own control and not in that of others; he must endeavour only to avoid hatred, as is noted.

Y los hombres tienen menos cuidado en ofender a uno que se haga amar que a uno que se haga temer;

Przeto gdy krzywdzi siÄ™ czÅ'owieka, nale?y czyni? to w ten sposób, aby nie trzeba byÅ'o obawia? siÄ™ zemsty

Los hombres se atreven más a ofender al que se hace amar, que al que se hace temer

Taki ksi???, który boi siÄ™ bardziej swego ludu ni? obcych, powinien budowa? twierdzÄ™, natomiast powinien ich zaniecha? tej, który bardziej obawia siÄ™ obcych ni? ludu

Perché li uomini offendono o per paura o per odio.

And though later he came pretending friendship, the alliance with man would ever be but fragile, for the fear he'd struck into their hearts was too deep to be dislodged.

If you simply ignored the feeling, you would never know what might happen, and in many ways that was worse than finding out in the first place. Because if you were wrong, you could go forward in your life without ever looking back over your shoulder and wondering what might have been.