《君主论·第十七章·残酷与仁慈·被爱戴与被畏惧孰优》第5节
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.
注释摘要
这段结论性文字是第十七章全部论证的收束，马基雅维利在这里给出了一个冷峻的判断：如果必须在被爱戴与被畏惧之间做选择，那么被畏惧更为安全。他的理由并不建立在君主的个人性情上，而是建立在他对人性的根本观察以及对权力运作逻辑的分析之上。这句话的核心在于“爱戴取决于他人的意志，畏惧取决于你的意志”。马基雅维利的意思是，当臣民与士兵因为利益、感激、恩惠而爱你时，这份爱…