  It is shown that an oldest form of variational calculus of mechanics, the
Maupertuis least action principle, can be used as a simple and powerful
approach for the formulation of the variational principle for damped motions,
allowing a simple derivation of the Lagrangian mechanics for any dissipative
systems and an a connection of the optimization of energy dissipation to the
least action principles. On this basis, it is shown that not all motions of
classical mechanics obey the rule of least energy dissipation or follow the
path of least resistance, and that the least action is equivalent to least
dissipation for two kinds of motions : all stationary motions with constant
velocity and all motions damped by Stokes drag.
