“Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than government. It is almost the equal of family.” -Vito Andolini (Don Corleone)
This was a line that I read from Mario Puzo’s masterpiece, ‘The Godfather’ which resonated with me for the longest after finishing the book. It is to this day the best book I have ever read in my life and the ending left me in a confused state of enlightenment, regret and ecstasy. Most people think this book is intended to be read for the purpose of entertainment but me personally, I learned a very valuable lesson from this book regarding the idea of maintaining personal relationships and why that is important.
Basically, the crux behind how Vito Andolini, more commonly known as Don Corleone, a very powerful “legitimate businessman” (Mafia boss) creates his empire factors down to having ‘friendship’ in good faith. The book lays emphasis on ‘you’re only as strong as the people you know’ and it is portrayed brilliantly in a way where Puzo indirectly shows us the Don’s world view and how he establishes his power. Basically the foundation of the Don’s success stems from one single act of kindness in good faith, thus creating a friendship. This act may seem redundant or insignificant at face value but if you keep doing it long enough, you basically end up with an empire at your disposal.
In the book, the Don refuses to live by the corrupt laws set by society such as judiciary and police and how does he go about this? He does it by being friends with the right people in good faith. The intentions of the Don are never to call upon favors when needed and in most cases he does not even end up wanting anything in return but at the same time he would like to have that option. As the Don’s son Michael Corleone sees it, the Don is an eskimo, leaving behind small rations in the north pole so that if the day may come when he might need it, he’ll be safe. So essentially what it boils down to is that being in good faith with many people naturally establishes a foundation for growth and mutual help and with helping enough people, you create your empire.
What I learned from this book that I tried to implement in my life was the act of doing simple acts of kindness in good faith to anyone in need. I believe in a reciprocation of that energy, call it fate, karma or God’s work, whatever you prefer but there is an underlying concept of ‘as you sow, so shall you reap’ that comes back to you. I had no idea of how powerful it can be to have a large group of friends who will willingly help you before I read this book. This book looked me in the eye and told me that my empire was pitifully small and I basically have no eskimo rations. I’m basically running around in the North Pole with no safety net. It was in this moment that I decided my empire needed aggressive expansion. I did not do this with the intent of calling them up one day and asking for return favors, rather it felt like I was creating a foundation to offer my help and for them to offer theirs. My main goal was to achieve friendship and whatever good may come afterwards was voluntary. What this did essentially was that when the day came when I was overburdened, people actually recalled past events where I had helped them and offered their assistance voluntarily. I don’t even have to ask anyone, this empire business just runs itself.
Although I do believe Don Corleone’s empire was a bit utopian/idealistic since there are some ‘besharams’ who will try to manipulate your good faith for their own selfish gain so there were many lessons I learned as a result of this book. In a way I think every book has its own unique contribution to make in our lives and this was how I manifested the experiences from The Godfather into my own life. So what I hoped to accomplish from writing this article was to share a very useful and intriguing concept that I thought could help create a better, more cohesive society in which people are more inclined to help one another and strive for mutual benefit.
Man is a social animal and regardless of how popular it might be to be independent these days, at some point we do need help from people we can trust and having these people in our lives is, in my opinion, very important for mutual survival.
