Survival quotes and analysis (Sun Tzu Art of War and Niccolò Machiavelli The Prince)

“The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.” - Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

If you've been alive for long enough then you know life is filled with both predators and traps. Wolves represent the predators who prey on the weak, the defenseless, those whom they deem "enemies", in other words if you're trying to survive you have to find a way to protect yourself at all times from predation. There are different ways of doing this, from the mobbing tactics used by birds if you're in a group, to the tactics of the lion which can frighten the wolves.

"All warfare is based on deception" - Sun Tzu

“Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; When using our forces, we must seem inactive; When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; When far away, we must make him believe we are near.” - Sun Tzu

What does this quote mean? It reveals that being the honest person is to survive in a peaceful environment but in war deception is required. Warfare is based on deception because if there are people in the world who wish to do you harm, or who wish to do harm to your interests, then deception becomes one of the only ways you can protect yourself from that harm. In World War 2 the United States protected many lives on it's own side by deceiving the Germans and Japanese. At the same time the Japanese used deception when they did the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.

Individuals use deception regularly for many reasons, whether it's to protect themselves, protect others, or outright scams. Is it possible to be too honest? It all depends on the situation and what it requires and for this reason "do not lie" and "do not cheat" don't work as hard rules if the goal is to survive. There can be many instances where an individual wont survive if they don't lie and don't cheat.

We often judge people as good or bad persons, as doing right or wrong, as if we know intimately the circumstances which may have required or compelled their decisions. The truth is we don't really know what motivates most people, we don't know what stress most people are under or what obligations they have, we don't know their interests, we don't know their fears or emotional state, we don't know what information they had or didn't have. We can't even say we know the laws, because few of us know the majority of laws and their punishments. We can only know a person by watching their behavior for a long enough period of time to determine what they care about, who they care about, what their motivations are, etc.

Each person has their interests, their motivations, their emotions. Interests can include protecting the people they have taken responsibility for, motivations can include acquiring resources, maintaining relationships, obtaining/maintaining respect, having fun, or just avoiding negative consequences. As far as emotions go, while we cannot know with certainty what anyone else is feeling without asking, we can know generally what human beings tend to feel and these feelings can allow us to know that most humans are going to have certain needs, wants, etc. Maslows hierarchy of needs for example indicates or provides a general idea of what most humans feel, need, etc.

It's not enough to just survive for most people, as people usually want to survive and be happy (or at least limit their misery). To truly understand another person requires knowing their motivations, preferences, needs, and sources of happiness. If you don't know these things then you'll not understand other people, and if you cannot understand other people you cannot develop and maintain strong business relationships with other people (win win relations).

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_exchange_theory
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_relations