Bij Jay Dyer hoorde ik dat er een tweede boek van Machiavelli is waarin hij allerlei tricks beschrijft , zoals de False Flag.
Dit is het boek: Art of War. Machiavelli. 1138 pagina's!
Download de pdf hier.
Hier een samenvatting:
Summary and Conclusions: ( bron)
Machiavelli's philosophy is based on his pessimistic view of
human nature. He has been called a "pagan Augustinian". Aristotle and
Plato also called attention to the imperfect nature of man, but Machiavelli
rejected their approach. He follows Xenophon more closely. It was Xenophon who
took a rational organization, the army, and applied the lessons learned in its
construction and operation to the problems of society in general. Machiavelli
follows his lead in linking military and civil societies. He goes a step beyond
Xenophon when he applies the lessons of military practice to the internal
affairs of his civic body. For all his recognition of the failings of human
nature, Xenophon could not free himself from the Greek distinction between
friend and foe. For him coercion was to be applied to the enemy, and both the
army and the polis were to be based on friendship. Machiavelli does not
recognize this distinction. To him everyone is a potential enemy, hence the
civic rulers must employ the same measures employed by the general to defeat
his enemies. This is the reason Machiavelli makes no distinction between the
statesman and military commander and why his approach to politics is a military
one.
Just as the unchanging character of human nature is the
stable ingredient which makes the study of history important for the statesman,
the presence of man himself at the controls in all human organizations makes
the study of his character the basic activity for the successful leader.
( Daarom vind ik kennis van de evolutie-psychologie belangrijk voor p undits. JV)
Machiavelli's state and army are not abstract entities endowed with human
characteristics or desires. All decisions are made by men and all evoke
reactions in other men. Machiavelli's insistence on this principle is seen in
each of the diverse topics included in this study.
For him the proper decision
to such questions as whether to form alliances or not, when to invade the enemy
territory, when to use money, how to acquire and control colonies, how to use
"peace" offensives, how to organize a community and whether to
appease an aggressor or not are all based on an evaluation of the probable
reaction of those humans affected by the decision.
Likewise, his criteria for
the selection of a leader and his precepts to guide the leader's actions in
command of an army are based on principles of psychology. The reaction of the
army is itself governed by an evaluation of the human material available to the
leader. Such considerations as the proper type of soldier, the discipline to be
developed, the training program to be followed, the most useful armament, the
correct logistical procedures, and the proper role of infantry, cavalry and
artillery are all made under the assumption that man has been, is, and always
will be the central and essential weapon in war.
Based on this assumption, some of Machiavelli's major points
are as follows:
(1) War between men is inherent and inevitable.
(2) War will be total or limited depending on the political
objectives involved.
(3) Uncontrolled and unprepared for, war is destructive; but
properly channeled and prepared for, it can serve socially useful purposes.
(4) The proper way to conduct a war is to carry it to the
enemy; keep the initiative; maintain exclusive decision-making power; do not
try to buy friends; do not remain neutral or passive when danger threatens,
however remotely; always present your side as peace loving and leave your
opponent every opportunity to retreat or surrender; use subversive agents
inside the other society to pave the way; govern acquired territories through
local intermediaries; do not risk total victory or defeat with less than all
your forces; be prepared to adapt to the times-- to retreat if necessary to
await another day.
(5) Leadership is a creative activity. It is the highest
aspiration of man. It is the essential element in victory. The leader can and
should use every means at his disposal to insure victory, including all manner
of psychological tricks and ruses. The leader should educate himself by
studying the example of virtuous heros of the past, especially Roman.
(6) The hold which fear and appearances have on the minds of
men require the leader to employ techniques designed to take advantage of these
human characteristics. In this connection money, religion, stratagems, and
necessity all have important roles.
(7) The leader must be able to analyze a situation
objectively and base his decisions on a careful estimate of the situation. He
must not lose sight of his major objective in war, which is the destruction of
the enemy's will and/or ability to resist.
(8) The army should be a citizen militia, highly trained and
well disciplined, organized in small flexible units, armed with weapons for
close combat, composed primarily of infantry. Quality is to be preferred to
quantity.
Machiavelli's lasting importance is due to the way in which
his theoretical structure is firmly grounded in a realistic appreciation of
human nature. His uncritical acceptance of his sources led to some errors in
his specific examples. The polemical nature of his writing led to some
overstatement of position. He failed to appreciate the role of missile weapons
in history. He was perhaps over-optimistic in his expectation that an
essentially amateur militia would be able to defeat the professional armies of
his day.
Nevertheless, much of what he wrote is still valid today.
He
understood the importance of military factors in the achievement of political
objectives, both in foreign and domestic policy.
He recognized the close
interrelationship between military organization and the social-political
structure of a society.
He saw that warfare was no longer going to be the
exclusive affair of a specialized class of warrior who fought over largely
private interests, but the central activity of the then developing state and
hence the concern of its rulers and indeed off all is inhabitants.
He warned that
unless the people understood and participated in military affairs they could
not control the army and if they did not control it, it would control them.
He
emphasized that the creation of an army cannot await the existence of an
emergency, but is the result of long and careful planning.
He believed that the
discipline and other virtues acquired in a properly functioning military
organization had great value to the civic life of a community.
His appreciation
of the importance of psychological factors as being frequently decisive in any
confrontation of man by man requires continual renewal in this technological
age.
He outlines an effective strategy for conquest which has modern imitators.
A citizen militia is still important in a modern army as a reserve element, but
no major power could achieve its policies today without at least part of its
army being professional. Discipline and training are as essential today as they
ever were. Weapons are different now, but the principles governing their use
are the same.
Since Machiavelli equates political and military affairs so
directly, it is not surprising that his guides to action in the military field
are so strikingly similar to his pronouncements on political questions. An
interesting question then is which came first, the political theory or the
military theory. In other words did Machiavelli derive his military doctrines
from political doctrine or the reverse. To attempt to answer this question I
have compared his three major books (The Prince, The Discourses and The Art of
War).
Machiavelli himself states that he differs from most authors
on the subject of rules and methods for a prince. His reference to imaginary
republics is a clear attack on political philosophers such as Plato and Dante.
The comments on making a profession of goodness refer to the mirror of princes
literature in general. He attacks ancient writers while praising ancient
statesmen and soldiers. It has been pointed out that The Prince does conform in
style to this tradition of mirror of princes literature, but that in content it
is radically different. Machiavelli can be taken at his word, that he does not
recommend the precepts of the classical or medieval political theorists
generally held in high regard in his time.
In his opinion the past is generally overrated by critics of
contemporary affairs. Men's appetites change, hence they judge differently when
they are old than they did when young and they tend to glorify the past. In
spite of this he constantly urges his readers to imitate the ancients.
Machiavelli begins the introduction to Book One of The
Discourses with the claim to have opened a new route, to have discovered new
principles and systems; to what end he does not say. Antiquity is held in great
esteem and imitated by artists; ancient virtue, however, is more admired than
imitated. He proposes that we imitate also ancient military and political
systems. His route leads to a revival of virtue. The Discourses also represents
a departure from anything previously written.
In the introduction to The Art of War Machiavelli discusses
the relation between civil and military affairs more explicitly. Men entering
the army transform themselves and appear quite different from civilians, but on
a closer look at civil and military institutions a close relation can be seen.
Once again, in this book as in the others, Machiavelli is quite specific in
denouncing the contemporary military practice and in recommending the ancient
practice, subject to certain modifications of his own design. This book contains
less political theory and more military details than the other two, but all
three repeat the same arguments. The style and content, however, are noticeably
different. Far from having no previous models, this book is copied almost word
for word from specific Roman military textbooks. While Machiavelli does not
mention who the writers are, he is careful to state his reasons whenever he
deviates from them, even in the order in which he treats the subjects.
Machiavelli writes that he does not agree with most
political theory, ancient or modern, nor with contemporary Italian military
practice. What he does admire is ancient (Roman) political and military
practice, and ancient military theory. The ancient political and military
practices were in conformity and were expressed more adequately in the military
texts and histories than in the political theory books. Contemporary political
and military practice is inadequate and is also not expressed adequately in
contemporary literature.
In two books then Machiavelli expressly breaks with one
tradition and establish new precepts, while in the third he consciously stays
as close to another tradition as possible; yet the theories in all three books
are almost identical. It would seem unlikely that he would have devised the new
precepts in the first books from strictly political considerations and then
found that they corresponded exactly to the traditional ones followed in the
third book. Evidently he considered military theory applicable to political
problems before he wrote The Prince. This is further shown by reference to his
correspondence written while still in office, and especially in his activities
on behalf of the militia. Machiavelli's political theory then is an extension
of his military theory, and the whole is based on classical military doctrines.
His major contribution then to political theory is the view of the civic body
as a proper field for the employment of precepts derived from military
practice.
Ik kwam ook nog een enorme reeks van 632 quotes tegen, waarvan ik de eerste 60 hieronder plak:
1. “I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.” Niccolo Machiavelli
ReplyDelete2. “It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.” Niccolo Machiavelli
3. “There’s no honey without bees.” Niccolo Machiavelli
4. “Politics have no relation to morals.” Niccolo Machiavelli
5. “It is not titles that honour men but men that honour titles.” Niccolo Machiavelli
6. “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognise traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.” Niccolo Machiavelli
7. “Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.” Niccolo Machiavelli
8. “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a rule is to look at the men he has around him.” Niccolo Machiavelli
9. “Everyone see what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.” Niccolo Machiavelli
10. “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” Niccolo Machiavelli
11. “Never was anything great achieved without danger.” Niccolo Machiavelli
12. “A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.” Niccolo Machiavelli
13. “When you disarm people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred.” Niccolo Machiavelli
14. “Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.” Niccolo Machiavelli
15. “The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.” Niccolo Machiavelli
16. “Good soldiers will always procure gold.” Niccolo Machiavelli
17. “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free.” Niccolo Machiavelli
18. “To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people.” Niccolo Machiavelli
19. “Only a few know the real you.” Niccolo Machiavelli
20. “Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes but few have the gift of penetration.” Niccolo Machiavelli
21. “No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.” Niccolo Machiavelli
22. “There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling the truth will not offend you.” Niccolo Machiavelli
23. “He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.” Niccolo Machiavelli
24. “One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.” Niccolo Machiavelli
25. “A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one’s own ignorance.” Niccolo Machiavelli
26. “The end justifies the means.” Niccolo Machiavelli
27. “Tardiness often robs us of opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.” Niccolo Machiavelli
28. “It is better to act and repent, than not to act and repent.” Niccolo Machiavelli
29. “The envious nature of men; so prompt to blame, so slow to praise.” Niccolo Machiavelli
30. “The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.” Niccolo Machiavelli
Bron voor bovenstaande 30 Machiavelli-quotes:
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