a new order

​When embarking on a speculative enterprise, be it personal or professional, keep in mind this quote from Niccolo Machiavelli: “There is nothing more difficult and dangerous, or more doubtful of success, than an attempt to introduce a new order of things.”

Writing in 1513 of the Common Era, Machiavelli was talking about the perilous task of nation-building. His words, however, can be applied to any imaginable effort, goal, task, or undertaking. The above lesson applies to the following: persons seeking to adopt good habits or rid themselves of bad ones; families welcoming new members into their midst; and communities adapting to conditions such as an economic depression, purposeful wealth inequality, or widespread environmental degradation.

Though not an exclusive list, the previous examples indicate that Machiavelli’s teaching covers a range of conditions, exigencies, and topics. As this whorphan struggles with the twin challenges of truly understanding and fundamentally altering the ways in which his conscious and subconscious brain works (without resorting to helpful chemical substances), he sometimes remembers the teaching, and uses it to stay patient with himself.

Sometimes, though, he forgets, and wallows then in quiet, howling desperation. Mahalo.

americanifesto / JPR / whorphan / 場黑麥