Five Lessons on Wisdom: Power, Freedom, and Human Nature in the Panchatantra

by Davide Smith Borrelli, Marella Reitani

What happens when the desire for justice blinds us to reality?

In an age where freedom is widely assumed but rarely examined, Five Lessons on Wisdom offers a quiet but incisive reflection on the fragile relationship between power, responsibility, and human nature. This book does not begin with political systems, but with individuals—their illusions, their fears, and their choices.
Drawing on the literary world of Milan Kundera, it explores how modern individuals respond to uncertainty, disillusionment, and the temptation to retreat into comforting narratives. The result is a subtle diagnosis of a recurring condition: the gradual erosion of freedom not through force, but through passivity.
Against this backdrop, the book turns to the ancient wisdom of the Panchatantra, a tradition that approaches knowledge not as abstraction, but as a guide to action. These stories, shaped by centuries of transmission, offer a different perspective—one grounded in prudence, responsibility, and the ability to navigate a complex and often deceptive world.
Moving between literature, history, and philosophy, Five Lessons on Wisdom reflects on the dangers of ideological thinking, the seduction of collective illusions, and the enduring difficulty of acting with clarity and responsibility. It does not offer easy answers. Instead, it invites the reader to reconsider what it means to take freedom seriously—both as a condition and as a personal burden.

79 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 28, 2026

About the author

Davide Borrelli is a writer specializing in the critical analysis of ideologies and social structures. With extensive experience and a deep passion for philosophical thought, Davide offers reflections that challenge conventions and stimulate debate.

Reviews

[Dr. Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It is difficult to imagine a life without a political and social dimension”. The above is obvious once it is spelled out for you by the author, but not necessary something we are all conscious off on a daily basis.
Davide makes thorough and deep analysis of two prevailing systems in which humanity organizes itself socially, and had done- for millennia; his critical analysis is masterly and erudite, with historical references a plenty, starting from ancient Greece, and touching up on the struggles of Eastern European countries, Italy, USA and some others.
Two extremes of societal structure are those of Authoritarianism and Democracy; with the former, individual’s freedom is significantly restricted; the latter affords an individual significant freedom.

According to the author, authoritarian regimes legitimacy is founded on the order and coherence of the system, designed by, and in order to privilege “coarse men ravenous for power” . The system is then presented as a “guarantee of collective wellbeing, even when this translates into the suffering of individuals”.
As for democracy, it is “founded on belief that sovereignty belongs to all, laws are approved by the general assembly of citizens and cannot privilege anyone. Every individual has the right to choose how to live, to follow their own creativity and instinct”.
The book made me wonder what are the possible strengths and weaknesses of each system?
One of the possible reasons that authoritarian regimes persist is that it is comforting for human psyche “ to know what to do”, and the system makes it clear.
One of the possible weaknesses of democracy is that it might be unsettling for human psyche “to not know what to do”; and because there is no system that details all, individuals are faced with needing to make all their life choices for themselves, and find the meaning of life itself, singlehandedly, too. In our search for meaning, we are at risk of being influenced by manipulation- via various media, for instance; and/or, at risk from within ourselves- the risk of adopting “authoritarian thinking”, whereby we convince ourselves that our opinions are beyond dispute and that we know perfectly well what is best not just for ourselves, but for everyone.

When an individual is dissatisfied with life, he tends to act in one of few predictable ways; apparently there could be just four. The author draws parallel from the famous work by Milane Kundera, where the characters display “naïve narcissism of idealism; flight from feeling, surrender to lightness, the desperate search for a deep truth”. What all of the above have in common, according to Davide, is that “ none of them truly tries to change the external world: each, in his or her own way, ends up submitting to it”.
What might be a better way to behave – according to author , is “live in the world, adapting to it or, when possible, changing it”; this is the wisdom that is possibly his own, plus , he does offer a parallel from some famous Indian folklore (Panchatantra).
So, how exactly does one behave in “Panchantantra way”? Davide spells it out for us:
on a societal level, “honest public debate and an independent information industry are the best antidotes to avoid manipulation”;
on an individual level, we need to act from a position of wisdom, which is the level up from merely having knowledge, for wisdom allows us to “foresee the consequences of our actions and accept their limits”.

Overall, the book feels quite light and even entertaining, which is surely unusual for the subject matter that could be regarded as very serious and even grave. I especially enjoyed some deliberations on human behaviour and human nature, for instance, the phenomena of “compassion” ; “ lightness”; “ resilience”.
Davide shares that origin of the word compassion is different in Western and Eastern European languages. With the former, to share another’s suffering—to feel pity—implies a certain sense of superiority in those who pity. With the latter, by contrast, to feel the same emotion is to share deeply in the reasons for that suffering. Accordingly, many Eastern European people who relocated to live the Western world, have experienced “ an
ostentatious and hypocritical compassion of morally self satisfied intellectuals”, and this resonated as true for me.

“Going with the flow” is a well known modern phenomenon; Davide seems to describe the same whilst he uses different words- an attitude of lightness, which he defines as “ hoping to find peace in the rejection of reality”, which, in author’s opinion, is not the best frame of mind, for we have to accept reality and learn to live within.
“Resilience— the capacity to adapt to adversity and reorganize oneself in response to change” is defined by Davide as “useful, but often insufficient, as it risks turning into resignation before an unchangeable fate”. I felt this is so wise, and it really made me reconsider the virtue of resilience.
The book makes you wonder: once you’ve felt compassion in its deepest form of “sharing someone’s pain origins”, what will you do about it? Will you attempt some formidable actions, exercise resilience, feel so overwhelmed that you’ll just give up and go with the flow, or something else?
The author answers with Reinhold Niebuhr quote:
“the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”, for they “ capture precisely the balance between will, possibility, and necessity; only when human will is in equilibrium with its limits—and with those imposed by reality—can lightness be achieved”. This desirable type of lightness is defined by author as " freedom combined with responsibility".

I am not quite agreeing with Davide when he states that “ greed is one of the fundamental traits of human nature”; in my opinion, greed originates from emotional pain, and it would be great if he would consider the latter as one of human phenomena to explore in his next book. I also would have liked a brief summary at the beginning of each of “ five lessons” chapters, so that the essence of each lesson is obvious straight away for a reader; this particular reader had to read the book twice to really grasp the lessons- but may be its just me 😊
Overall, a fantastic book, and I am so glad that Davide wrote it and shared it with us 😊

[Macqueron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derrière un titre de livre de développement personnel se cache en fait un livre de réflexion sur l’autoritarisme et le besoin constant de défendre la démocratie. S’appuyant sur l’insouptonnable légèreté de l’être de Kundera (que je n’ai pas lu) et sur des contes issus d’un livre d’instruction indien (le panchatantra), l’auteur nous met face à nos contradictions, nos compromissions avec l’autoritarisme ou notre résilience menant intrinsèquement à l’accepter, notre hypocrisie dans la défense de façade sans action, etc.
Outre les sources littéraires, il y est beaucoup question des Khmers rouges, du joug anciennement imposé au bloc de l’est, du fascisme italien, etc. Mais bien sûr c’est de notre société et du danger qui nous guette qu’il s’agit. (tout parallèle avec le monde du travail dans certains grands groupes pourrait aussi être pertinent)
C’est érudit mais accessible. J’ai pas mal pensé à Umberto Eco (au sujet duquel l’auteur trouve pourtant à redire). La conclusion mettant en regard liberté individuelle et responsabilité collective (et in fine responsabilité individuelle à maintenir la liberté collective) m’a semblé très éclairante