Probably the most outrageous statement by
Machiavelli is “trust no one”. In his ideals and way of thinking, Machiavelli
thought that the best way to become a successful leader and person is to
believe that there is no one around us who deserves complete trust. I think
that like many important men who have stated their opinion he is just partially
right.
Throughout our lives we make many mistakes, some
of them are direct consequence of us trusting the wrong people. As humans we
have the tendency to create bonds and become attached to people, once we do it
we tend to become blind to their weaknesses. In this sense, Machiavelli was
right since he knew that these kind of blindness prevents us from being
objective sometimes.
On the other hand, Machiavelli forgot to take something really important into account. In order to live happy, to have peace, to not feel alone we need to have people around us to whom we can give our trust and rest our burdens. We need to love and be loved, to trust and try to become trustworthy. Without this, we may become perfect leaders but in the end incomplete human beings. It is through the faith in others that we understand our humanity
This is the topic of the year it seems, and I am glad that you put your focus on this. Having trust for people is really hard, especially when you are dealing with those who you find untrustworthy, but are attempting to give them a second chance. What happens when it those people who request a second chance that insist on being in your life. Do you continue not to trust them and remove them from your circle or friends?WHen you've witnessed someone in an act of betrayal; I can testify that it is not easy trying to trust people again. You grow bitter towards the idea of having to put trust in others, you are left with the assumption that no one can be trusted. But like you said, Machiavelli didn't take the time to express the other side, leaving in partially correct. It is imperative for us to surround ourselves with those we can trust, otherwise we will remain unhappy.
ReplyDeleteI read something that President Packer wrote once about the topic of trusting other people. He said something along the lines of when he learned to start trusting people, he started to like himself more. I think it is important to be careful about who we trust. However I agree that trusting no one leads to a very unhappy life. That was pretty outrageous for Machiavelli to suggest that.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very good idea and trust is a very difficult issue. I think that if you are in a position of power it would definitely be hard to know who to trust or who's just hanging around for their own benefit and want you to fail. But like that well-known quote "it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all" I believe that they need to take chances on people to have the true quality of life.
ReplyDeleteKelvin I loved your entire third paragraph! I totally agree that through not trusting anyone around us we become paranoid, alone, and unable to love completely. Love is an essential part of our existence and without having a relationship of trust love can only progress so far. I loved when you said that without trust we can become great leaders but we would be incomplete human beings. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean that the statement, "trust no one" is somewhat justified because be overly trustful in others can come back to bite you, but on the flip side we need to be trustful to a point to really accomplish anything in life.
ReplyDelete