From his experience with the Medici, Machiavelli believed the Italian peninsula could not be united unless its leader was ruthless. He wrote of the possibility of a “new prince” who might rule in place of the Medici. He advised this prince to be calculating.
A prince . . . ought to choose the fox and the lion; because the lion cannot defend himself against traps and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves. Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the traps and a lion to terrify the wolves. Those who rely simply on the lion do not understand this.”
-- Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)
Machiavelli counseled the ruler to be kind only of it suited his purposes. Otherwise, he warned, it is better to be feared than loved.
Machiavelli’s book became one of the most influential books in history. The term machiavellian is used today to describe conduct associated with ambition, deceit, and brute force.