"You must, therefore know that there are two means of fighting: one according to the laws, the other with force; the first way is proper to man, the second to beasts; but because the first, in many cases, is not sufficient, it becomes necessary to have recourse to the second."
Power is viewed in many angles with different lenses. One, it might be seen as the ablility to make a person do something he'd rather not do. Second, it can be in terms of personal capabilities such as material and non-material. Third, it could pertain to written laws for with it comes the principal rights and protection of every individual.
In reviewing the quoted lines from Niccolo Machiavelli, the first and the latter ones should be taken into further understanding. Having power means having greatness over the other. And if the only way to achieve power is in a form of a battle - one can use the natural laws down to the constitutional rights OR simply, force. We see mankind as rational and orderly so it is already pinned that we have the laws to be protected. However, as Machiavelli puts it, we may need force in order to achieve the goal we want. In this repsect, we turned to be beasts - equipped with fangs and spears to hurt, at the same time, gain from each other's weakness.
A question might pop up - isn't it laws were made to refrain mankind from violent acts? Why then, does this have to be a cycle again? When I read the quotation, it seems futile. Not because it isn't true but because it is. In fighting, we already have the written dictum, but it still is never enough. If that is so, why create an endless set of rules for us to follow? If from the start, they are not enough? Whether you like or not, force becomes more powerful than ordered laws. This might be a quirk of fate.
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