greatest wisdom book

Chapter 66 The Science of Wisdom: Wisdom, Wit and Prudence 3
History is the management science of the present world
For the exercise of the mind, the prince should also read history, and study the actions of the great men of history, and see how they behaved in wars, and examine the causes of their victories and defeats, so as not to follow in their footsteps.

——Chapter 14 The Military Responsibilities of the Monarch

History is a precious wealth. It is like a mirror, reflecting the successes and failures, right and wrong grievances and grievances of the predecessors. Later generations can learn many experiences and lessons from them, so as to guide their actions in real life so that people will not repeat the same mistakes.Taking history as a guide to reality can help people avoid many mistakes made by predecessors, and is more conducive to people's life and work.

It is said that Alexander the Great of Macedon followed the example of Achilles, the great hero in ancient Greek mythology, Caesar the Great followed Alexander, and Scipio, the commander of the Roman army, followed Cyrus.People everywhere have heard of Alexander and Caesar, but people may not know Publius Scipio.

Scipio was a very famous general in Rome. He once defeated the one-eyed Hannibal, a famous military strategist in Carthage, an ancient North African country.Hannibal's reputation resounded throughout Europe and was once feared, but he still lost to Scipio.

Scipio's idol is Cyrus, and he highly admires the latter's personality and behavior. At the same time, Scipio is also very similar to Cyrus in terms of purity, kindness, kindness, and magnanimity. People are dumbfounded.He was so tolerant all his life that people even felt that he was cowardly and incompetent. If the Senate hadn't been protecting him, maybe Scipio would soon become a military puppet.However, Scipio never regretted his kindness, even if he was criticized, because he felt that if he could not take good care of his subjects, he might not be able to be an excellent monarch. History tells him that only in this way can he Much loved.

Taking history as one's own guide, or taking history as a lesson to help oneself succeed, is the usual choice of wise people.As big as governing a country, as small as building a person, history can be used as a mirror to observe the right and wrong behaviors of people and help people make the right choices.

On October 1937, 10, Alexander Sachs, President Roosevelt's personal adviser, was commissioned by scientists such as Einstein to have a meeting with Roosevelt at the White House.The main purpose of the talks was to ask the president to attach importance to the research of atomic energy and build an atomic bomb before Germany.

Sachs first presented Einstein's long letter to Roosevelt, and then read the scientists' memorandum on the discovery of nuclear fission.However, the president was not interested in these dry, esoteric scientific discourses. Although Sachs tried his best to persuade the president, Roosevelt finally said: "These are very interesting, but it seems too late for the government to intervene in this matter at this stage." Too early." This conversation, Sachs failed.

The next day, Roosevelt invited Sachs to breakfast.Sachs cherished this opportunity very much and decided to try again.

As soon as they met, before Sachs opened his mouth, Roosevelt said defensively: "Today we have dinner, and we are not allowed to talk about Einstein's letter, not a word, understand?"

Sachs looked at the president's smiling face and said, "Okay, but I want to talk a little about history." Because he knew that although the president didn't understand physics, he was very proficient in history.

"During the Anglo-French War," Sachs went on, "Napoleon, who had advanced on the Continent, was not doing well in naval battles. At this time, a young American inventor, Robert Fulton, came to the great man and proposed to take the French. The mast on the battleship was cut off, a steam engine was installed, and the wooden planks were replaced with steel plates, and it was guaranteed that this would be invincible, and the British Isles would be captured soon. However, Napoleon thought that the ship could not sail without sails, so he replaced the wooden planks with steel plates The ship would have sunk. He thought Fulton was a lunatic and kicked him out. Historians comment on this history and think that if Napoleon had followed Fulton's advice, the history of the 19th century would have been rewritten."

After Sachs finished speaking, he looked deeply at the president.He found the president lost in thought.

After a while, Roosevelt calmly said to Sachs: "You have won!"

Sachs was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. He knew that the victory would definitely belong to the Allies.

Sachs' technique of remonstrating from ancient times has been accomplished.

Familiar with history, we can summarize practical theoretical ideas in reality through the past. In a way, history is a philosophy that guides people to manage reality. The memory bank of the past, not only reminds us of certain people or certain things, it is also an opportunity for our success.

(End of this chapter)