Lau-tzu and Machavelli are great political minds from two different time eras and cultural backgrounds. Lau-tzu has a much more “laissez-faire” type view of the government and the role of political leaders, while Machavelli would rather keep the people in check to avoid any mutiny that would arise from any excessive show of compassion. Lau-tzu wrote his thoughts on what makes a great leader in a work known as Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching. Throughout the text he points out that virtue should be at the center of a master’s, as he refers to the ruler, mind. He believed that all masters should not allow the people know that they are actually being ruled, “When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit. Act for the people’s benefit. Trust them; leave them alone.” ( Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching , stanzas 58 and 59). With this statement Lau-tzu is meaning that people are more willing to do the morally correct thing if they believe that it is of their own choos