Assume others up to some good, but prepare for the worst case scenario

All human activities aim at some good, Aristotle says in the first book of Nicomachean ethics, in its first chapter and its first line. This is some great truth.

If so, by assuming all aim at some good, including the evil you have leverage against them: how does that take you to that good you are aiming at? Not doing so, deprives you from that leverage on the evil.

Some people say don't assume an evil aims at some good because that is not so, they believe. They fail to note that assuming so enables you to deal with evil more effectively because you now have a way to induce conflict within the evil.

It really is. The benefits of such assumption is too many to count, but prepare for the worst case scenario not because of absence of good assumption but because of incorrect path.


This also helps you avoid incorrect assumption, which you may later regret doing so.


Paying attention to details balances paying attention to a bigger picture. It also commits to you to the principle of now: do this now or do that now and so on. This soon takes a momentum towards a bigger picture. You better have a goal to reach.