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Lao-Tzu Vs Machiavelli

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Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 – 1527) was a nobleman with an unstable fortune that ultimately learnt to support himself through his writing career. His most acclaimed work, “The Prince”, is a basic dissertation on the qualities a prince or a leader must have in order to retain his power and authority. Similarly, the “Tao-te Ching” is a philosophical document that is known to be written by Lao-tzu. The document provides a foundation for the religion of Taoism and speaks about good leadership and moral behavior. While Machiavelli believes in practical, dominant and severe methods, Lao-tzu approaches the theme of leadership with detachment, patience and equanimity. Therefore, as both Lao-tzu and Machiavelli seem to have two extremely contrasting philosophies …show more content…
He believes that “it is much safer to be feared than to be loved” (44) as men, in general, are unappreciative, fearful, cheats, volatile and greedy. It is better for a leader to be feared than loved because the fear of punishment and one’s wrath would push discipline onto the people as well as the fairness of the consequences given would build respect towards the leader regardless of the harsh/painful outcome. On the other hand, Lao-tzu states, “there is no greater illusion than fear”(26; Section 46), which means that fear in itself is a false idea or belief that only exists in one’s mind. According to Lao-tzu, fear is the most prominent falsity amongst people. His philosophy is that once one overcomes the whole element of “fear”, he/she will forever be safe from it. Evidently, both the writers’ views oppose each other. While Machiavelli states that being feared is more effective, Lao-tzu claims that the concept of fear in itself doesn’t exist, thus rendering Machiavelli’s advice to be counter-productive. Realistically, encouraging the masses to completely overcome fear would be an impractical task. However, by aiming to gain the peoples’ respect, with the use of executing justice fairly and based on necessity, instead of instilling fear in them, the leader could achieve stability and balance in his/her

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