In the thought of Niccolò Machiavelliprolonged doubt is neither a virtue nor a sign of prudence. On the contrary, it is usually the shortest path to losing power and control over events. The phrase “It is better to act and repent than not to act and repent” It precisely synthesizes that crude and realistic logic with which he analyzed the exercise of government.
For Machiavelli, politics does not allow downtime or wait for ideal conditions. Governing involves deciding in unstable scenarioswith incomplete information, internal pressures and constant external threats. In that context, Standing still is not neutral: it can be more harmful than making a mistake.
The validity of this idea explains why, five centuries later, the phrase is still cited as a direct warning against paralysis, overcalculation and fear of making mistakes.
Action as a central principle of power
Nicholas Machiavelli observes politics as it isnot as it should be according to moral ideals or abstract theories. From that look, Acting is not an option, but an obligation of the ruler. Reality advances, conflicts deepen and opportunities are lost if there is no intervention from authority.
In The princehis most popular and recognized work, action appears linked to virtùa quality that does not refer to ethical goodness but to the ability to take the initiative, adapt to changes and dominate the circumstances. Virtue is expressed in the decision, even when the context is adverse.
Not acting, however, is equivalent to giving up control.. For Machiavelli, even a wrong decision preserves something essential: the possibility of correcting course and maintaining the political initiative.
The fear of error and its consequences
one of the greats dangers that Niccolò Machiavelli identifies in the exercise of power is he fear of making mistakes. This fear, he maintains, weakens the ruler, makes him predictable and leaves him exposed to enemies, internal rivals or unexpected changes.
Politics, in his view, always entails risks. There is no completely safe decision or infallible strategy.. Those who try to avoid any possibility of error end up paralyzed and lose authority compared to those who do dare to act.
In that sense, the phrase It does not glorify error or promote improvisation, but points out something deeper: Inaction also generates damage, and many times this damage is more serious and difficult to reverse..
What does this phrase from Machiavelli teach today?
Read from the present, Machiavelli’s sentence retains remarkable power. He not only talks about politics, but also about leadership, responsibility and decision making in complex contextswhere time plays against you.
The keys left by this well-known phrase from Nicolás Machiavelli are detailed below:
- Inaction is not neutral: it also produces consequences.
- Error allows us to correct and learn; The lost opportunity does not return.
- Deciding involves assuming costs, but not deciding usually has higher costs.
- Power and leadership are exercised by acting, not by waiting for ideal conditions.
Machiavelli proposes an uncomfortable logic that he learned during the difficult political times of the Renaissance Italian; but it is honest, and it made as uncomfortable yesterday as it still does today.
