Lao-Tzu Prevails
Madeleine Sadeth
Professor Teddy Chocos
English 102
October 10th, 2012
Sadeth 1
Providing one’s country the best it can get would ask a lot from its leader but a great
leader should already know this and is prepared for whatever is coming. We have come
across many great leaders throughout history many of which have had their own philosophy
as to what being a great leader is and they follow it to become one of the great leaders that
are to be remembered. Their way of leadership might differ but they still came out as great
leaders, this can only show us that there is no one way in being a great leader and ruling a
country. We can all follow our own philosophy and believe what we think is right for how a
great leader should be since there isn’t one exact way to become a great leader.
These two philosopher views are the total opposite from each other but both have one
goal in mind, is to give guidance for their leaders to be great leaders for their countries. The
two philosophers are Lao-Tzu and Niccolo Machiavelli. Their writings have given them great
notice in their society as well as around the world. The “Thought from the Tao-te Ching” by
Lao-Tzu are thoughts from the Lao-Tzu about how we should live our lives and how a ruler
should be to their people. All of us are born pure and kind and we should continue that way
and not let material things become the evil in us. His writing mostly concentrates on the
religion call Taoism that was found in China around A.D 150. Taoism gives us a way to live
out life correctly. Lao-Tzu uses this concept of Taoism as a base and gives us more of an idea
how a government or ruler should be and how a leader should rule their people. He beliefs
that we should let the universe govern itself, the same goes for a leader leading a country and
the people, that one should instead of trying to insert power on them, this is what form a great
leader in Lao-Tzu’s eyes, “If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself”
(Lao-Tzu, 27). He wants a leader to rule without force and don’t impose too much power on
their people, let things be the way it is and only if it is necessary that the leader should
intervene but intervening without a lot of force and with as little force as possible.
Sadeth 2
Niccolo Machiavelli on the other hand beliefs that a leader should be strong and
forceful especially when it comes to keeping one’s power. In “The Qualities of the Prince” by
Machiavelli, he portray about how he thinks a prince/ruler should have or possess and the
things that one should do. He wrote this particular article for the Prince of Italy as a way of
encouraging the Prince to save Italy from France and Spain. He have listed quite a fair
amount of things that he think a prince/ruler should and should not have and doing these
things will secure them their powers. “Secure power by direct and effective means,
(Machievelli, 35)”, he wants a leader to be able to control one’s power and not letting people
abuse and use the leaders in ways that one shouldn’t be. One of the quality amongst his
beliefs about a prince/ruler is that they can’t be all good because even if the leader is good
there will be bad people around him that they will corrupt him, “A man who wishes to make
a vocation of being good at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good.
(37)”
These philosophies might seem very different and impossible in the modern society
but if we were to change a little bit of their concepts, we might be able to abide by it not only
for the leaders but also for the way of living. Lao-Tzu view is a lot gentler and less aggressive
comparing to that of Machiavelli’s and it is not only looking out for leaders but also for the
people as well.
These leaders have very different views from each other and clearly it is also different
from how we views and want our leaders to be now a day. Being a good leader in today
society means being different from what both these two philosophers main view about a
leader should be. Being a good leader now does not mean you let the country just govern
itself or being to firm on the people that one would install fear in them. Our leader now have
to know how to rule the country gracefully without installing fears in the people as well as
not letting the country just govern itself. The leader should learn how to handle one’s power
Sadeth 3
in a way that is suitable for the country. We can say that the society now is in preference for a
more balanced leader because with a balanced leader the country will still have all the
freedoms and rights one is entitled to but at the same time the people will also have a leader
that will be confident enough to lead the country during times of war as well as leading the
country into becoming a better one. Leaders nowadays should know how to resolve a
problem between other countries without it resulting into war. Machiavelli would seeks to
disagree with this due to the fact that he believe that all leaders should be ready for war at
anytime even when the countries are at peace and that war should be a leader’s primary job,
“A prince, therefore, must not have any other object nor any other thought, nor must he take
anything as his profession but war, (Machiavelli, 37)”. Looking at his beliefs now seems a
little to harsh especially when we want our leader not to only focus on one thing but to also
notice other events that is going on in the country and seeking action when necessary because
the leader’s involvement in one’s country is a quality that is needed in being a good leader in
today’s world.
Lao-Tzu on the other hand would disagree with Machiavelli’s idea because to him
violence is never the answer to anything. This philosopher believes that you should no get
involve in one’s country or the people because a good leader should rule without having to
show power over the people, “When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he
exists (Lao-Tzu, 22)”. As this quote implies, the people of the country shouldn’t be aware of
the leader leading them because they are capable of governing themselves and lead their own
life if they were given the opportunity to do so. His views seems impractical in the modern
society because if one were to govern a country the way the Tao have stated, the country
might end up in a position that isn’t desirable because people wouldn’t be able to govern
themselves in a way that would be in everyone’s best interest. Aside from that if the leader
nowadays did not step in and enforce a law that state that an action is wrong then the people
Sadeth 4
will keep doing it and getting away with it without knowing that this action is wrong.
Allowing this to happen and not taking control of it will not make the country a better place.
Making a better place for people to live in also does not mean that you are going to
install fear in the people so that they would not go against you. Machiavelli’s view states that
he believe that it is always better to be feared that to be loved because with being feared
people will always remember it unlike if you were loved, “It is much safer to be feared than
to be loved when one of the two must be lacking (Machiavelli, 44)”. The modern society
would think that this view is never going to be plausible especially now the world is
advancing where fairness and equality is very important and no one should ever live in fear
of anything especially there leader because their leader is there to protect them. The modern
world now would have this as their systems but there are still some countries that leaders are
still installing fear into the people rather than being loved by the people. Countries like this
are mostly third world countries and those that are still running under the communist rule.
People in these countries do have their rights but it is very limited and if you were to step
overboard there would be consequences for it. Those that goes over the limit of their rights
like criticizing the leader would be faced with jail time even if this is illegal to do so. These
leaders are still installing fear in their people even though it is not as brutal as the olden times
or as publically shown, the people still fear the leader and dare not act or voice their opinion
about how they are running the country. These leaders that know how to keep their power
especially in ways similar to Machiavelli’s view is what he considered as being a good leader
of a country, “The Prince(1513), his most celebrated work, was a general treatise on the
qualities the prince(this is, ruler) must have to maintain his power (Machiavelli, 35)”. Even if
this was one of his most celebrated work then, this way of governing would never be
plausible not only in the modern society but also to Lao-Tzu where his method now seems
more plausible than that of Machiavelli.
Sadeth 5
These two philosophers beliefs are very different from each other but then again we
all have different views on how a good leader should be like and what kind of qualities one
should possess. A good leader should know what to do and when to do it as well as not over
using the one have especially when it is not necessary. One should be able to make decisions
for the country, the kind of decisions that will give the most benefit and helping in improving
the country. A leader should be confident or at least show the people that he is confident
enough to lead them in both time of war and peace. One should not install fear in the people
of one’s country. These views might not be like Lao-Tzu or Machiavelli’s idea of what a
good leader should be like but this is what most leaders are expected to be in the modern
society. Despite the differences that is being shown, the Tao is a lot more plausible than that
of Machiavelli’s idea due to the fact that it is more on the gentler side and with a few changes
it can be use in the modern society not only for governing a country but also as a way of life,
“In one sense it means “the ways,” but it also means “the method,” as in “the way to
enlightenment” or “the way to live.” (Lao-Tzu, 19)”.
Sadeth 6
Bibliography
Lao-Tzu. "Thoughts from the Tao-Te Ching." (n.d.): 19-33. Print.
Machiavelli, Niccolo. "The Qualities of the Prince." (1513): 35-51. Print.