Machiavellli's The Prince

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Fear vs. Love
(in Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince)

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli is the book that was based on examples of princes and other rulers of Spain, Italy, and other European countries at the time of Renaissance. It is a very interesting work that describes quite a few concepts on how to be a great ruler. To be a great ruler one must in a first place be a good person and according to Machiavelli to be a good person one should have these five qualities: compassion, honor, humanity, integrity, and religion. However, the following question arises, if a prince possesses all those fine qualities that make him a good person how can he be a great ruler who must be mortal and cruel, and according to Machiavelli, “… no prince should mind being called cruel for what he does to keep his subjects united and loyal.”
To help to answer this question I will look at the following passage:
"In actual fact, a prince may not have all the admirable qualities listed above, but it is very necessary that he should seem to have them. Indeed, I will venture to say that when you have them and exercise them all the time, they are harmful to you; when you just seem to have them, they are useful. It is good to appear merciful, truthful, humane, sincere, and religious; it is good to be so in reality. But you must keep your mind so disposed that, in case of need, you can turn to the exact contrary."

Machiavelly, in the first sentence of this passage shows how important it is for a prince not to have all those qualities that make him a great person but rather to seem like he has them. If prince was to have all those qualities that make him a good person he could not be a great ruler because a great ruler can not be merciful, human, sincere, etc…there as he must be cruel, tough, strong as a “Lion”, and unwilling to stop in front of any barriers that arise on his way of fulfilling his goal and the right to be called ...