"The best fortress a ruler can have is not to be hated by the people, for if you possess fortresses and the people hate you, having fortresses will not save you". .
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I feel that Machiavelli's intention was to let the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de Medici know that he must change the way he is ruling Florence because, A prince must act with dictatorial power in order to maintain his position. Machiavelli believes that Lorenzo de Medici does not act with dictatorial power, but with greed which is considered a fault. Machiavelli states that a prince can share power with the people, since a prince can trust the people much more than he can trust the nobles. Nobles can not be satisfied if a ruler acts honorably but the people can be satisfied, because their aims are more honorable than the nobles. The people are not unforgiving and greedy so the prince can place more trust in the people. Since the public can be trusted, the prince can empower the people. "A leader must seem firm and moral to the people, and show positive results from his leadership".
I agree with Machiavelli, people are the ones that you don't have to worry about, because they have nothing and giving them authority will make them feel important. By the people feeling the way they do, the ruler will be supported. This is what Lorenzo de Medici should do. This compellation was meant to help him, not hurt him. I think that Lorenzo de Medici took this in a bad way. He probably felt that Machiavelli was telling him how to rule Florence, which would be considered an insult to his authority.
