Compare And Contrast Lao Tzu And Machiavelli

Cathey 1
Cody Cathey
English Comp 2
Gena Messersmith
February 9, 2015
Compare and Contrast Lao Tzu and Machiavelli Most people have differences on multiple things. Preferences change depending on who you are and what your views on life are. This was the case between Lao Tzu and Machiavelli. Most differences start on the subject of war. In Machiavelli 's story "The Qualities of a Prince", he talks about always being on your toes as a leader. You have to be ready to go to war at all times, no matter what the situation is. He claims that to be a good leader, you have to know the land that you might have to battle on in the future, whether that 's your land or the land of your enemies. Machiavelli says to never let your guard down and train
You must rule with an iron fist and take action even when action isn 't needed. He believes that a ruler is determined by their climb or their downfall. It is better to be a hard nose leader than to be generous. He believes that if you are generously giving things away, their will be nothing more to give away at some point. Machiavelli says that it is better to be feared by your people than to be loved. More people will listen to what you have to say if they are scared that something could happen to them if they don 't listen at all. The only two traits that a leader should never have is hatred or despise from his people. Keep from taking the land and women away from your suspects and you will keep from being hated and keep from seeming changeable or feminine to stay away from being despised. These two men have a general idea of what a leader should be like. Machiavelli has a more ideal approach to leadership in today 's world. You have to take action in order to be taken serious by your people and the enemies around you. A ruler must have the respect of the people around him/her in order to be successful. That statement goes back to the idea of it being better to be hated than to be loved, most people take advantage of or don 't respect the idea of love, so it doesn 't do any justice to be loved by everyone as a
He says that studying the land that you could potentially have a battle on, whether it was your own land or the land of your enemies, you would have a better chance of winning battles and keeping a strong military around your government. These magnificent thinkers contradict the saying that all great minds think alike. Of course they had some similarities in their beliefs, but not many. Their ideas on taxes were the same, but their ideas on the citizens being involved in governement work is where these two differ. Machiavelli believed in the idea of a strong leader. The leader should be feared more than he is loved, if he is even loved at all. A leader shouldn 't be hated, a hated leader will be rebelled and possibly killed, but a leader can not be loved at all. He believes that if a leader is loved, he wouldn 't be feared and no one will listen to him or what he wants to do. Machiavelli believed that war was needed and a nation should keep a strong military at all times. War shouldn 't be high on taxes though, because taxes have a possibility to cause a rebellion. A rebellion is an act of hatred and could possibly lead to death of the