Question:
Would you rather be loved, or feared?
Nick (or Nicky M, as he was known among his crew back in the day) was pretty clear on this one: better to be feared on your terms than loved on theirs. Nicky also said 'Before all else, be armed.', which led to more than a few lively soirees.
Personally, I think Machiavelli underestimated the notion of love as something like the gratitude we feel when owing someone for a coffee at breakfast. Someone who truly loves you will walk through fire to see you safe, place their bodies in the way of war's desolation for their country, and even forgive the fact you occaisionally leave the toilet seat up. Now that's love, baby.
3 comments:
LOVED, better to be loved than to be feared. The problem is people rarely know how to love b/c they do not understand it. Unlike fear which comes natural and is easy enough to understand.
There is a reason Machiavelli is still read 400 years later, and I'm guessing it's the same reason "Sleepless in Seattle" won't be around another century. As much as we might abhor the idea, being feared is better than being loved. Complain, bluster all you want, but it's true. The loss of fear might lead to challenge, hostility, or simple respect. But the loss of love is indifference, and from that there is no cure.
What-e-ver
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