… it is much safer to be feared than loved … 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.

Niccolò Machiavelli
The Prince
Chapter XVII – Concerning cruelty and clemency,
and whether it is better to be loved than feared.