Machiavelli's "The Prince", Anyone read this?

[Poh SIti Dawn]

Thanks for the input yaw. Any other books like this that yaw would suggest? We should turn this into a philosophy thread

 

[concise]

You cannot stomach the 48 laws of power?

I purchased it in 1998 when it was first published, my ass probably has a better tolerance for it.

I have all of Robert Greene's Books, that's

I never read it, my only knowledge of it is other people quoting it. I'm just saying though, when I first heard people talking about it, up until I actually started looking at what it's about, I thought it was some old teachings.

"48 Laws of Power" just sounds like a title born in a society where things can be concrete and rigid instead of a typical 90's type title like "Four Dozen Ways of the Powerful and Successful".

I seen the outline, looks interesting and on the surface ranges from yeah, I get that to . Guess I'll try and check it out.

 

[KnowledgeIsQueen]

Thanks for the input yaw. Any other books like this that yaw would suggest? We should turn this into a philosophy thread

My recommendations:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Thick-Face-Black-Heart-Philosophy/dp/0446670200]Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life: Chin-Ning Chu: 9780446670203: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rings-Miyamoto-Musashi/dp/1590308913/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364567588&sr=1-4&keywords=the+book+of+five+rings+by+miyamoto+musashi]The Book of Five Rings: Miyamoto Musashi, Thomas Cleary: 9781590308912: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

I never read it, my only knowledge of it is other people quoting it. I'm just saying though, when I first heard people talking about it, up until I actually started looking at what it's about, I thought it was some old teachings.

"48 Laws of Power" just sounds like a title born in a society where things can be concrete and rigid instead of a typical 90's type title like "Four Dozen Ways of the Powerful and Successful".

I seen the outline, looks interesting and on the surface ranges from yeah, I get that to . Guess I'll try and check it out.

I knew your proper speaking ass didn't read it

The bulk of the book deals with History (why I love it so much).

I learned about Sparta from the 48 laws of power, so when the movie 300 came out I was like awwwwww shyt, I know about this

 

[TheNig]

Thanks for the input yaw. Any other books like this that yaw would suggest? We should turn this into a philosophy thread

The Zarathrusta Collection was already mentioned. Sadly anything written by Nietzsche after 1888 is a joke.

 

[concise]

My recommendations:

Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life: Chin-Ning Chu: 9780446670203: Amazon.com: Books

The Book of Five Rings: Miyamoto Musashi, Thomas Cleary: 9781590308912: Amazon.com: Books





I knew your proper speaking ass didn't read it

The bulk of the book deals with History (why I love it so much).

I learned about Sparta from the 48 laws of power, so when the movie 300 came out I was like awwwwww shyt, I know about this

 

[KnowledgeIsQueen]

 

[Poh SIti Dawn]

The Zarathrusta Collection was already mentioned. Sadly anything written by Nietzsche after 1888 is a joke.

Yeah, I was the one who mentioned it.

Why do you say that? Because he had gon crazy by that time?

 

[TheNig]

Yeah, I was the one who mentioned it.

Why do you say that? Because he had gon crazy by that time?

Yeah. Around 1889 or 1890 is when he had the incident with the horse

I use to do LD Debate in high school and he was one of the hardest philosophers to ever use as your talking point becuz he was such a nut.

 

[Poh SIti Dawn]

The Zarathrusta Collection was already mentioned. Sadly anything written by Nietzsche after 1888 is a joke.

Yeah. Around 1889 or 1890 is when he had the incident with the horse

I use to do LD Debate in high school and he was one of the hardest philosophers to ever use as your talking point becuz he was such a nut.

What incident? Yeah I hear what you're saying but after a while when reading Zarathustra I remember I made a connection and it was crazy.

In the first chapter he spoke about 2 tight rope walkers (I believe) one was overly drunk but still walked the rope and made it across safely, the second was a god fearing man who even prayed before he began to walk the rope, and as he got midway the devil came out of nowhere and spooked him which resulted in the man falling ofc the rope and to his death.

That's not the exact words of the book, but once it dawned on me what he was trying to get across

 

[TheIsleofMan]

Don't know if this applies but The Alchemist was pretty cool, easy read.

 

[TheNig]

What incident? Yeah I hear what you're saying but after a while when reading Zarathustra I remember I made a connection and it was crazy.

In the first chapter he spoke about 2 tight rope walkers (I believe) one was overly drunk but still walked the rope and made it across safely, the second was a god fearing man who even prayed before he began to walk the rope, and as he got midway the devil came out of nowhere and spooked him which resulted in the man falling ofc the rope and to his death.

That's not the exact words of the book, but once it dawned on me what he was trying to get across

He once seen a horse getting flogged or skinned or some crazy shyt like that and it struck a nerve with him so he stepped in front of the horse to cover it from getting beaten or whatever. This incident supposedly changed his life.

Later studies have shown that he eventually died of frontotemporal dementia. Maybe the horse incident is what set it off but he also had syphlis which he may have gotten from a prostitute or from a man. And it could have been the neurosyphilis stage of the disease that killed him.


All in all dude was really fukked up.

 

[Non Sequitur]

It kind of does, and it kind of doesn't. I know he just made it up, but still.

After crossing a river, you should get far away from it.


When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance to meet it in mid-stream. It will be best to let half the army get across, and then deliver your attack.


If you are anxious to fight, you should not go to meet the invader near a river which he has to cross.



Moor your craft higher up than the enemy, and facing the sun.



Do not move up-stream to meet the enemy.



So much for river warfare.

See what I mean? What am I supposed to take from this?

It's just been cleverly marketed as some kind of business/politics strategy guide. A lot of it can be interpreted that way, but if you can find a real-life application for a passage like that, did you really need the book?

 

[craigsagersuit]

Don't know if this applies but The Alchemist was pretty cool, easy read.

that twist at the end bruh had me

anyone here read Robert Greene's Mastery? pretty good read so far

 

[Mr. Pink]

I've been wanting to pick up The Book of Five Rings but I don't know which version to choose. I want the translation to be as close and faithful to the original material as possible, none of that bullshyt "for executives" spin or whatever.


edit: As for Robert Greene's books, they're pretty cool(especially the stories), but I look at them as more of a quick reference guide than anything else. They contain some of the teachings of the greats, but diluted and summed up for easy reference. A cheat sheet basically. They're good to whet your appetite, but I would recommend reading the likes of Machiavelli, Baltasar Gracian or Francis Bacon for that raw shyt.

 

[Poh SIti Dawn]

Don't know if this applies but The Alchemist was pretty cool, easy read.

He once seen a horse getting flogged or skinned or some crazy shyt like that and it struck a nerve with him so he stepped in front of the horse to cover it from getting beaten or whatever. This incident supposedly changed his life.

Later studies have shown that he eventually died of frontotemporal dementia. Maybe the horse incident is what set it off but he also had syphlis which he may have gotten from a prostitute or from a man. And it could have been the neurosyphilis stage of the disease that killed him.


All in all dude was really fukked up.

Oh damn, I thought you were saying he had sex with a horse or something. Lol yeah, but hey it seems reasonable, little shyt can change out train of thought.

Yeah, he was in love with some young girl I believe, but she dumped him. And from there dude lived with his mom until she died. So yeah he was a nutso I agree.

What have you gotten out of reading books from philosophers like Nietzsche or diplomats like Machiavelli? I've also been reading Crime and Punishment by Dostovesky and it's cool. It's not applicable but I've learned many words. It's just a hell of a book to read, can be really boring at times. I'm on page 100 and something and there's 500 pages in the book