Table of Contents

T tle Page
Copyr ght Page
Ded cat on
Acknowledgements
PREFACE

LAW 1 - NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER

LAW 2 - NEVER PUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS, LEARN
HOW TO USE ENEMIES
LAW 3 - CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS
LAW 4 - ALWAYS SAY LESS THAN NECESSARY
LAW 5 - SO MUCH DEPENDS ON REPUTATION—GUARD IT
WITH YOUR LIFE
LAW 6 - COURT ATTENTION AT ALL COST
LAW 7 - GET OTHERS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU, BUT
ALWAYS TAKE THE CREDIT
LAW 8 - MAKE OTHER PEOPLE COME TO YOU—USE BAIT IF
NECESSARY
LAW 9 - WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER THROUGH
ARGUMENT
LAW 10 - INFECTION: AVOID THE UNHAPPY AND UNLUCKY
LAW 11 - LEARN TO KEEP PEOPLE DEPENDENT ON YOU
LAW 12 - USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND GENEROSITY TO
DISARM YOUR VICTIM
LAW 13 - WHEN ASKING FOR HELP, APPEAL TO PEOPLE’S
SELF-INTEREST, NEVER TO THEIR ...
LAW 14 - POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY
LAW 15 - CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY
LAW 16 - USE ABSENCE TO INCREASE RESPECT AND HONOR
LAW 17 - KEEP OTHERS IN SUSPENDED TERROR: CULTIVATE
AN AIR OF UNPREDICTABILITY
LAW 18 - DO NOT BUILD FORTRESSES TO PROTECT
YOURSELF—ISOLATION IS DANGEROUS
LAW 19 - KNOW WHO YOU’RE DEALING WITH—DO NOT
OFFEND THE WRONG PERSON
LAW 20 - DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE
LAW 21 - PLAY A SUCKER TO CATCH A SUCKER—SEEM
DUMBER THAN YOUR MARK
LAW 22 - USE THE SURRENDER TACTIC: TRANSFORM
WEAKNESS INTO POWER
LAW 23 - CONCENTRATE YOUR FORCES
LAW 24 - PLAY THE PERFECT COURTIER
LAW 25 - RE-CREATE YOURSELF
LAW 26 - KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN
LAW 27 - PLAY ON PEOPLE’S NEED TO BELIEVE TO CREATE A
CULTLIKE FOLLOWING
LAW 28 - ENTER ACTION WITH BOLDNESS
LAW 29 - PLAN ALL THE WAY TO THE END
LAW 30 - MAKE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS SEEM
EFFORTLESS
LAW 31 - CONTROL THE OPTIONS: GET OTHERS TO PLAY
WITH THE CARDS YOU DEAL
LAW 32 - PLAY TO PEOPLE’S FANTASIES
LAW 33 - DISCOVER EACH MAN’S THUMBSCREW
LAW 34 - BE ROYAL IN YOUR OWN FASHION: ACT LIKE A KING
TO BE TREATED LIKE ONE
LAW 35 - MASTER THE ART OF TIMING
LAW 36 - DISDAIN THINGS YOU CANNOT HAVE: IGNORING
THEM IS THE BEST REVENGE
LAW 37 - CREATE COMPELLING SPECTACLES
LAW 38 - THINK AS YOU LIKE BUT BEHAVE LIKE OTHERS
LAW 39 - STIR UP WATERS TO CATCH FISH
LAW 40 - DESPISE THE FREE LUNCH
LAW 41 - AVOID STEPPING INTO A GREAT MAN’S SHOES
LAW 42 - STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP WILL
SCATTER
LAW 43 - WORK ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF OTHERS
LAW 44 - DISARM AND INFURIATE WITH THE MIRROR EFFECT
LAW 45 - PREACH THE NEED FOR CHANGE, BUT NEVER
REFORM TOO MUCH AT ONCE
LAW 46 - NEVER APPEAR TOO PERFECT
LAW 47 - DO NOT GO PAST THE MARK YOU AIMED FOR; IN
VICTORY, LEARN WHEN TO STOP
LAW 48 - ASSUME FORMLESSNESS

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
FOR THE BEST IN PAPERBACKS, LOOK FOR THE
 PENGUIN BOOKS

THE 48 LAWS OF POWER

Robert Greene has a degree n class cal stud es and has been an
ed tor at Esqu re and other magaz nes. He s also a playwr ght and
l ves n Los Angeles.

Joost Elffers s the producer of Pengu n Stud o’s bestsell ng The

Secret Language of B rthdays, The Secret Language of
Relat onsh ps, and of Play W th Your Food. He l ves n New York
C ty.
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Watts, Inc. Copyr ght © 1987 by L bra r e Artheme Fayard.
Translat on copyr ght © 1989 by Frankl n Watts, Inc.
Var ous Fables from Var ous Places, ed ted by D ane D Pr ma;
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Sons.
Armen an Folk-tales and Fables, translated by Charles Down ng;
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The L ttle Brown Book of Anecdotes, ed ted by Cl fton Fad man;
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The Power of the Charlatan by Grete de Francesco, translated by
M r am Beard. Copyr ght, 1939, by Yale Un vers ty Press. By
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The Oracle: A Manual of the Art of D scret on by Baltasar Grac án,
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T. Corporat on.
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Sc ences de l’Homme and Cambr dge Un vers ty Press 1993. By
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Famous Con Art st as told to W. T. Brannon; Dover Publ cat ons.
Copyr ght © 1948 by W. T. Brannon.
To Anna B ller, and to my parents
R. G.
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

F rst I would l ke to thank Anna B ller, who helped ed t and research

th s book, and whose nvaluable ns ghts played a cr t cal role n the
shape and content of The 48 Laws. W thout her, none of th s would
have been poss ble.
I must also thank my dear fr end M ch el Schwarz who was
respons ble for nvolv ng me n the art school Fabr ka n Italy and
ntroduc ng me there to Joost Elffers, my partner and producer of
The 48 Laws of Power. It was n the schem ng world of Fabr ka that
Joost and I saw the t meless-ness of Mach avell and from our
d scuss ons n Ven ce, Italy, th s book was born.
I would l ke to thank Henr Le Goub n, who suppl ed me w th many
Mach avell an anecdotes over the years, part cularly concern ng the
numerous French characters who play such a large role n th s book.
I would also l ke to thank Les and Sum ko B ller, who lent me the r
l brary on Japanese h story and helped me w th the Japanese Tea
Ceremony part of the book. S m larly, I must thank my good fr end
El zabeth Yang who adv sed me on Ch nese h story.
A book l ke th s depended greatly on the research mater al
ava lable and I am part cularly grateful to the UCLA Research
L brary; I spent many pleasant days wander ng through ts
ncomparable collect ons.
My parents, Laurette and Stanley Green, deserve endless thanks
for the r pat ence and support.
And I must not forget to pay tr bute to my cat, Bor s, who kept me
company throughout the never-end ng days of wr t ng.
F nally, to those people n my l fe who have so sk llfully used the
game of power to man pulate, torture, and cause me pa n over the
years, I bear you no grudges and I thank you for supply ng me w th
nsp rat on for The 48 Laws of Power.
Robert Greene
In add t on, we would l ke to thank Susan Petersen and Barbara
Grossman, the Pengu n publ shers for bel ev ng n th s book; Molly
Stern, ed tor, who oversaw the whole project for V k ng Pengu n.
Soph a Murer, for her new class c des gn. Dav d Frankel, for ed t ng
the text. Ron Axelrod, Barbara Campo, Jaye Z met, Joe Eagle,
Radha Pancham, Mar e T mell, M chael Fragn to, and Eng-San Kho.
Robert Greene
Joost Elffers
 PREFACE

The feel ng of hav ng no power over people and events s generally

unbearable to us—when we feel helpless we feel m serable. No one
wants less power; everyone wants more. In the world today,
however, t s dangerous to seem too power hungry, to be overt w th
your power moves. We have to seem fa r and decent. So we need to
be subtle—congen al yet cunn ng, democrat c yet dev ous.
Th s game of constant dupl c ty most resembles the power
dynam c that ex sted n the schem ng world of the old ar stocrat c
court. Throughout h story, a court has always formed tself around
the person n power—k ng, queen, emperor, leader. The court ers
who f lled th s court were n an espec ally del cate pos t on: They had
to serve the r masters, but f they seemed to fawn, f they curr ed
favor too obv ously, the other court ers around them would not ce
and would act aga nst them. Attempts to w n the master’s favor, then,
had to be subtle. And even sk lled court ers capable of such subtlety
st ll had to protect themselves from the r fellow court ers, who at all
moments were schem ng to push them as de.
Meanwh le the court was supposed to represent the he ght of
c v l zat on and ref nement. V olent or overt power moves were
frowned upon; court ers would work s lently and secretly aga nst any
among them who used force. Th s was the court er’s d lemma: Wh le
appear ng the very paragon of elegance, they had to outw t and
thwart the r own opponents n the subtlest of ways. The successful
court er learned over t me to make all of h s moves nd rect; f he
stabbed an opponent n the back, t was w th a velvet glove on h s
hand and the sweetest of sm les on h s face. Instead of us ng
coerc on or outr ght treachery, the perfect court er got h s way
through seduct on, charm, decept on, and subtle strategy, always
plann ng several moves ahead. L fe n the court was a never-end ng
game that requ red constant v g lance and tact cal th nk ng. It was
c v l zed war.
 Today we face a pecul arly s m lar paradox to that of the court er:
Everyth ng must appear c v l zed, decent, democrat c, and fa r. But f
we play by those rules too str ctly, f we take them too l terally, we are
crushed by those around us who are not so fool sh. As the great
Rena ssance d plomat and court er N ccolò Mach avell wrote, “Any
man who tr es to be good all the t me s bound to come to ru n
among the great number who are not good.” The court mag ned
tself the p nnacle of ref nement, but underneath ts gl tter ng surface
a cauldron of dark emot ons—greed, envy, lust, hatred—bo led and
s mmered. Our world today s m larly mag nes tself the p nnacle of
fa rness, yet the same ugly emot ons st ll st r w th n us, as they have
forever. The game s the same. Outwardly, you must seem to respect
the n cet es, but nwardly, unless you are a fool, you learn qu ckly to
be prudent, and to do as Napoleon adv sed: Place your ron hand
ns de a velvet glove. If, l ke the court er of t mes gone by, you can
master the arts of nd rect on, learn ng to seduce, charm, dece ve,
and subtly outmaneuver your opponents, you w ll atta n the he ghts
of power. You w ll be able to make people bend to your w ll w thout
the r real z ng what you have done. And f they do not real ze what
you have done, they w ll ne ther resent nor res st you.
Courts are, unquest onably, the seats of pol teness and good
breed ng; were they not so, they would be the seats of slaughter and
desolat on. Those who now sm le upon and embrace, would affront
and stab, each other, f manners d d not nterpose....
LORD CHESTERFIELD, 1694-1773
To some people the not on of consc ously play ng power games—no
matter how nd rect—seems ev l, asoc al, a rel c of the past. They
bel eve they can opt out of the game by behav ng n ways that have
noth ng to do w th power. You must beware of such people, for wh le
they express such op n ons outwardly, they are often among the
most adept players at power. They ut l ze strateg es that cleverly
d sgu se the nature of the man pulat on nvolved. These types, for
example, w ll often d splay the r weakness and lack of power as a
k nd of moral v rtue. But true powerlessness, w thout any mot ve of
self- nterest, would not publ c ze ts weakness to ga n sympathy or
respect. Mak ng a show of one’s weakness s actually a very
effect ve strategy, subtle and decept ve, n the game of power (see
Law 22, the Surrender Tact c).
There s noth ng very odd about lambs d sl k ng b rds of prey, but th s
s no reason for hold ng t aga nst large b rds of prey that they carry
off lambs. And when the lambs wh sper among themselves, “These
b rds ofprey are ev l, and does th s not g ve us a r ght to say that
whatever s the oppos te of a b rd of prey must be good?” there s
noth ng ntr ns cally wrong w th such an argument—though the b rds
of prey w ll look somewhat qu zz cally and say, “We have noth ng
aga nst these good lambs; n fact, we love them; noth ng tastes
better than a tender lamb.”
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, 1844-1900
Another strategy of the supposed nonplayer s to demand equal ty
n every area of l fe. Everyone must be treated al ke, whatever the r
status and strength. But f, to avo d the ta nt of power, you attempt to
treat everyone equally and fa rly, you w ll confront the problem that
some people do certa n th ngs better than others. Treat ng everyone
equally means gnor ng the r d fferences, elevat ng the less sk llful
and suppress ng those who excel. Aga n, many of those who behave
th s way are actually deploy ng another power strategy, red str but ng
people’s rewards n a way that they determ ne.
Yet another way of avo d ng the game would be perfect honesty
and stra ghtforwardness, s nce one of the ma n techn ques of those
who seek power s dece t and secrecy. But be ng perfectly honest
w ll nev tably hurt and nsult a great many people, some of whom w ll
choose to njure you n return. No one w ll see your honest statement
as completely object ve and free of some personal mot vat on. And
they w ll be r ght: In truth, the use of honesty s ndeed a power
strategy, ntended to conv nce people of one’s noble, good-hearted,
selfless character. It s a form of persuas on, even a subtle form of
coerc on.
F nally, those who cla m to be nonplayers may affect an a r of
naïveté, to protect them from the accusat on that they are after
power. Beware aga n, however, for the appearance of na vete can be
an effect ve means of dece t (see Law 21, Seem Dumber Than Your
Mark). And even genu ne na vete s not free of the snares of power.
Ch ldren may be na ve n many ways, but they often act from an
elemental need to ga n control over those around them. Ch ldren
suffer greatly from feel ng powerless n the adult world, and they use
any means ava lable to get the r way. Genu nely nnocent people
may st ll be play ng for power, and are often horr bly effect ve at the
game, s nce they are not h ndered by reflect on. Once aga n, those
who make a show or d splay of nnocence are the least nnocent of
all.
The only means to ga n one’s ends w th people are force and
cunn ng. Love also. they say; but that s to wa t for sunsh ne, and l fe
needs every moment.
JOHANN VON GOEIHE, 1749-1832
You can recogn ze these supposed nonplayers by the way they
flaunt the r moral qual t es, the r p ety, the r exqu s te sense of just ce.
But s nce all of us hunger for power, and almost all of our act ons are
a med at ga n ng t, the nonplayers are merely throw ng dust n our
eyes, d stract ng us from the r power plays w th the r a r of moral
super or ty. If you observe them closely, you w ll see n fact that they
are often the ones most sk llful at nd rect man pulat on, even f some
of them pract ce t unconsc ously. And they greatly resent any
publ c z ng of the tact cs they use every day.
The arrow shot by the archer may or may not k ll a s ngle person. But
stratagems dev sed by a w se man can k ll even babes n the womb.
KAUTILYA, INDIAN PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.
If the world s l ke a g ant schem ng court and we are trapped
ns de t, there s no use n try ng to opt out of the game. That w ll
only render you powerless, and powerlessness w ll make you
m serable. Instead of struggl ng aga nst the nev table, nstead of
argu ng and wh n ng and feel ng gu lty, t s far better to excel at
power. In fact, the better you are at deal ng w th power, the better
fr end, lover, husband, w fe, and person you become. By follow ng
the route of the perfect court er (see Law 24) you learn to make
others feel better about themselves, becom ng a source of pleasure
to them. They w ll grow dependent on your ab l t es and des rous of
your presence. By master ng the 48 laws n th s book, you spare
others the pa n that comes from bungl ng w th power—by play ng
w th f re w thout know ng ts propert es. If the game of power s
nescapable, better to be an art st than a den er or a bungler.

Learn ng the game of power requ res a certa n way of look ng at the
world, a sh ft ng of perspect ve. It takes effort and years of pract ce,
for much of the game may not come naturally. Certa n bas c sk lls
are requ red, and once you master these sk lls you w ll be able to
apply the laws of power more eas ly.
The most mportant of these sk lls, and power’s cruc al foundat on,
s the ab l ty to master your emot ons. An emot onal response to a
s tuat on s the s ngle greatest barr er to power, a m stake that w ll
cost you a lot more than any temporary sat sfact on you m ght ga n
by express ng your feel ngs. Emot ons cloud reason, and f you
cannot see the s tuat on clearly, you cannot prepare for and respond
to t w th any degree of control.
Anger s the most destruct ve of emot onal responses, for t clouds
your v s on the most. It also has a r pple effect that nvar ably makes
s tuat ons less controllable and he ghtens your enemy’s resolve. If
you are try ng to destroy an enemy who has hurt you, far better to
keep h m off-guard by fe gn ng fr endl ness than show ng your anger.
Love and affect on are also potent ally destruct ve, n that they
bl nd you to the often self-serv ng nterests of those whom you least
suspect of play ng a power game. You cannot repress anger or love,
or avo d feel ng them, and you should not try. But you should be
careful about how you express them, and most mportant, they
should never nfluence your plans and strateg es n any way.
Related to master ng your emot ons s the ab l ty to d stance
yourself from the present moment and th nk object vely about the
past and future. L ke Janus, the double-faced Roman de ty and
guard an of all gates and doorways, you must be able to look n both
d rect ons at once, the better to handle danger from wherever t
comes. Such s the face you must create for yourself-one face
look ng cont nuously to the future and the other to the past.
I thought to myself w th what means, w th what decept ons, w th how
many var ed arts, w th what ndustry a man sharpens h s w ts to
dece ve another, and through these var at ons the world s made
more beaut ful.
FRANCESCO VETTORI, CONTEMPORARY AND FRIEND OF
MACHIAVELLI, EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY
For the future, the motto s, “No days unalert.” Noth ng should
catch you by surpr se because you are constantly mag n ng
problems before they ar se. Instead of spend ng your t me dream ng
of your plan’s happy end ng, you must work on calculat ng every
poss ble permutat on and p tfall that m ght emerge n t. The further
you see, the more steps ahead you plan, the more powerful you
become.
The other face of Janus looks constantly to the past—though not
to remember past hurts or bear grudges. That would only curb your
power. Half of the game s learn ng how to forget those events n the
past that eat away at you and cloud your reason. The real purpose of
the backward-glanc ng eye s to educate yourself constantly—you
look at the past to learn from those who came before you. (The
many h stor cal examples n th s book w ll greatly help that process.)
Then, hav ng looked to the past, you look closer at hand, to your own
act ons and those of your fr ends. Th s s the most v tal school you
can learn from, because t comes from personal exper ence.
There are no pr nc ples; there are only events. There s no good and
bad, there are only c rcumstances. The super or man espouses
events and c rcumstances n order to gu de them. If there were
pr nc ples and f xed laws, nat ons would not change them as we
change our sh rts and a man can not be expected to be w ser than
an ent re nat on.
HONORÉ DE BALZAC, 1799-1850
You beg n by exam n ng the m stakes you have made n the past,
the ones that have most gr evously held you back. You analyze them
 n terms of the 48 laws of power, and you extract from them a lesson
and an oath: “I shall never repeat such a m stake; I shall never fall
nto such a trap aga n.” If you can evaluate and observe yourself n
th s way, you can learn to break the patterns of the past—an
mmensely valuable sk ll.
Power requ res the ab l ty to play w th appearances. To th s end
you must learn to wear many masks and keep a bag full of decept ve
tr cks. Decept on and masquerade should not be seen as ugly or
mmoral. All human nteract on requ res decept on on many levels,
and n some ways what separates humans from an mals s our ab l ty
to l e and dece ve. In Greek myths, n Ind a’s Mahabharata cycle, n
the M ddle Eastern ep c of G lga mesh, t s the pr v lege of the gods
to use decept ve arts; a great man, Odysseus for nstance, was
judged by h s ab l ty to r val the craft ness of the gods, steal ng some
of the r d v ne power by match ng them n w ts and decept on.
Decept on s a developed art of c v l zat on and the most potent
weapon n the game of power.
You cannot succeed at decept on unless you take a somewhat
d stanced approach to yourself—unless you can be many d fferent
people, wear ng the mask that the day and the moment requ re. W th
such a flex ble approach to all appearances, nclud ng your own, you
lose a lot of the nward heav ness that holds people down. Make
your face as malleable as the actor’s, work to conceal your ntent ons
from others, pract ce lur ng people nto traps. Play ng w th
appearances and master ng arts of decept on are among the
aesthet c pleasures of l fe. They are also key components n the
acqu s t on of power.
If decept on s the most potent weapon n your arsenal, then
pat ence n all th ngs s your cruc al sh eld. Pat ence w ll protect you
from mak ng moron c blunders. L ke master ng your emot ons,
pat ence s a sk ll— t does not come naturally. But noth ng about
power s natural; power s more godl ke than anyth ng n the natural
world. And pat ence s the supreme v rtue of the gods, who have
noth ng but t me. Everyth ng good w ll happen—the grass w ll grow
aga n, f you g ve t t me and see several steps nto the future.
Impat ence, on the other hand, only makes you look weak. It s a
pr nc pal mped ment to power.
Power s essent ally amoral and one of the most mportant sk lls to
acqu re s the ab l ty to see c rcumstances rather than good or ev l.
Power s a game—th s cannot be repeated too often—and n games
you do not judge your opponents by the r ntent ons but by the effect
of the r act ons. You measure the r strategy and the r power by what
you can see and feel. How often are someone’s ntent ons made the
ssue only to cloud and dece ve! What does t matter f another
player, your fr end or r val, ntended good th ngs and had only your
nterests at heart, f the effects of h s act on lead to so much ru n and
confus on? It s only natural for people to cover up the r act ons w th
all k nds of just f cat ons, always assum ng that they have acted out
of goodness. You must learn to nwardly laugh each t me you hear
th s and never get caught up n gaug ng someone’s ntent ons and
act ons through a set of moral judgments that are really an excuse
for the accumulat on of power.
It s a game. Your opponent s ts oppos te you. Both of you behave
as gentlemen or lad es, observ ng the rules of the game and tak ng
noth ng personally. You play w th a strategy and you observe your
opponent’s moves w th as much calmness as you can muster. In the
end, you w ll apprec ate the pol teness of those you are play ng w th
more than the r good and sweet ntent ons. Tra n your eye to follow
the results of the r moves, the outward c rcumstances, and do not be
d stracted by anyth ng else.
Half of your mastery of power comes from what you do not do,
what you do not allow yourself to get dragged nto. For th s sk ll you
must learn to judge all th ngs by what they cost you. As N etzsche
wrote, “The value of a th ng somet mes l es not n what one atta ns
w th t, but n what one pays for t—what t costs us.” Perhaps you w ll
atta n your goal, and a worthy goal at that, but at what pr ce? Apply
th s standard to everyth ng, nclud ng whether to collaborate w th
other people or come to the r a d. In the end, l fe s short,
opportun t es are few, and you have only so much energy to draw on.
And n th s sense t me s as mportant a cons derat on as any other.
Never waste valuable t me, or mental peace of m nd, on the affa rs of
others—that s too h gh a pr ce to pay.
Power s a soc al game. To learn and master t, you must develop
the ab l ty to study and understand people. As the great seventeenth-
century th nker and court er Baltasar Grac án wrote: “Many people
spend t me study ng the propert es of an mals or herbs; how much
more mportant t would be to study those of people, w th whom we
must l ve or d e!” To be a master player you must also be a master
psycholog st. You must recogn ze mot vat ons and see through the
cloud of dust w th wh ch people surround the r act ons. An
understand ng of people’s h dden mot ves s the s ngle greatest
p ece of knowledge you can have n acqu r ng power. It opens up
endless poss b l t es of decept on, seduct on, and man pulat on.
People are of nf n te complex ty and you can spend a l fet me
watch ng them w thout ever fully understand ng them. So t s all the
more mportant, then, to beg n your educat on now. In do ng so you
must also keep one pr nc ple n m nd: Never d scr m nate as to whom
you study and whom you trust. Never trust anyone completely and
study everyone, nclud ng fr ends and loved ones.
F nally, you must learn always to take the nd rect route to power.
D sgu se your cunn ng. L ke a b ll ard ball that caroms several t mes
before t h ts ts target, your moves must be planned and developed
n the least obv ous way. By tra n ng yourself to be nd rect, you can
thr ve n the modern court, appear ng the paragon of decency wh le
be ng the consummate man pulator.

Cons der The 48 Laws of Power a k nd of handbook on the arts of

nd rect on. The laws are based on the wr t ngs of men and women
who have stud ed and mastered the game of power. These wr t ngs
span a per od of more than three thousand years and were created
n c v l zat ons as d sparate as anc ent Ch na and Rena ssance Italy;
yet they share common threads and themes, together h nt ng at an
essence of power that has yet to be fully art culated. The 48 laws of
power are the d st llat on of th s accumulated w sdom, gathered from
the wr t ngs of the most llustr ous strateg sts (Sun-tzu, Clausew tz),
statesmen (B smarck, Talleyrand), court ers (Cast gl one, Grac án),
seducers (N non de Lenclos, Casanova), and con art sts (“Yellow
K d” We l) n h story.
The laws have a s mple prem se: Certa n act ons almost always
ncrease one’s power (the observance of the law), wh le others
decrease t and even ru n us (the transgress on of the law). These
transgress ons and observances are llustrated by h stor cal
examples. The laws are t meless and def n t ve.
The 48 Laws of Power can be used n several ways. By read ng
the book stra ght through you can learn about power n general.
Although several of the laws may seem not to perta n d rectly to your
l fe, n t me you w ll probably f nd that all of them have some
appl cat on, and that n fact they are nterrelated. By gett ng an
overv ew of the ent re subject you w ll best be able to evaluate your
own past act ons and ga n a greater degree of control over your
mmed ate affa rs. A thorough read ng of the book w ll nsp re th nk ng
and reevaluat on long after you f n sh t.
The book has also been des gned for brows ng and for exam n ng
the law that seems at that part cular moment most pert nent to you.
Say you are exper enc ng problems w th a super or and cannot
understand why your efforts have not lead to more grat tude or a
promot on. Several laws spec f cally address the master-underl ng
relat onsh p, and you are almost certa nly transgress ng one of them.
By brows ng the n t al paragraphs for the 48 laws n the table of
contents, you can dent fy the pert nent law.
F nally, the book can be browsed through and p cked apart for
enterta nment, for an enjoyable r de through the fo bles and great
deeds of our predecessors n power. A warn ng, however, to those
who use the book for th s purpose: It m ght be better to turn back.
Power s endlessly seduct ve and decept ve n ts own way. It s a
labyr nth—your m nd becomes consumed w th solv ng ts nf n te
problems, and you soon real ze how pleasantly lost you have
become. In other words, t becomes most amus ng by tak ng t
ser ously. Do not be fr volous w th such a cr t cal matter. The gods of
power frown on the fr volous; they g ve ult mate sat sfact on only to
those who study and reflect, and pun sh those who sk m the surfaces
look ng for a good t me.
Any man who tr es to be good all the t me s bound to come to ru n
among the great number who are not good. Hence a pr nce who
wants to keep h s author ty must learn how not to be good, and use
that knowledge, or refra n from us ng t, as necess ty requ res.
THE PRINCE, N ccolò Mach avell , 1469-1527
 LAW 1

NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER

JUDGMENT
Always make those above you feel comfortably super or. In your
des re to please and mpress them, do not go too far n d splay ng
your talents or you m ght accompl sh the oppos te— nsp re fear and
nsecur ty. Make your masters appear more br ll ant than they are
and you w ll atta n the he ghts of power.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

N colas Fouquet, Lou s XIV’s f nance m n ster n the f rst years of h s

re gn, was a generous man who loved lav sh part es, pretty women,
and poetry. He also loved money, for he led an extravagant l festyle.
Fouquet was clever and very much nd spensable to the k ng, so
when the pr me m n ster, Jules Mazar n, d ed, n 1661, the f nance
m n ster expected to be named the successor. Instead, the k ng
dec ded to abol sh the pos t on. Th s and other s gns made Fouquet
suspect that he was fall ng out of favor, and so he dec ded to
ngrat ate h mself w th the k ng by stag ng the most spectacular party
the world had ever seen. The party’s ostens ble purpose would be to
commemorate the complet on of Fouquet’s château, Vaux-le-
V comte, but ts real funct on was to pay tr bute to the k ng, the guest
of honor.
The most br ll ant nob l ty of Europe and some of the greatest
m nds of the t me—La Fonta ne, La Rochefoucauld, Madame de
Sév gné attended the party. Mol ère wrote a play for the occas on, n
wh ch he h mself was to perform at the even ng’s conclus on. The
party began w th a lav sh seven-course d nner, featur ng foods from
the Or ent never before tasted n France, as well as new d shes
created espec ally for the n ght. The meal was accompan ed w th
mus c comm ss oned by Fouquet to honor the k ng.
After d nner there was a promenade through the château’s
gardens. The grounds and founta ns of Vaux-le-V comte were to be
the nsp rat on for Versa lles.
Fouquet personally accompan ed the young k ng through the
geometr cally al gned arrangements of shrubbery and flower beds.
Arr v ng at the gardens’ canals, they w tnessed a f reworks d splay,
wh ch was followed by the performance of Mol ère’s play. The party
ran well nto the n ght and everyone agreed t was the most amaz ng
affa r they had ever attended.
The next day, Fouquet was arrested by the k ng’s head musketeer,
D’Artagnan. Three months later he went on tr al for steal ng from the
country’s treasury. (Actually, most of the steal ng he was accused of
he had done on the k ng’s behalf and w th the k ng’s perm ss on.)
Fouquet was found gu lty and sent to the most solated pr son n
France, h gh n the Pyrenees Mounta ns, where he spent the last
twenty years of h s l fe n sol tary conf nement.

Interpretat on

Lou s XIV, the Sun K ng, was a proud and arrogant man who wanted
to be the center of attent on at all t mes; he could not countenance
be ng outdone n lav shness by anyone, and certa nly not h s f nance
m n ster. To succeed Fouquet, Lou s chose Jean-Bapt ste Colbert, a
man famous for h s pars mony and for g v ng the dullest part es n
Par s. Colbert made sure that any money l berated from the treasury
went stra ght nto Lou s’s hands. W th the money, Lou s bu lt a palace
even more magn f cent than Fouquet’s—the glor ous palace of
Versa lles. He used the same arch tects, decorators, and garden
des gner. And at Versa lles, Lou s hosted part es even more
extravagant than the one that cost Fouquet h s freedom.
Let us exam ne the s tuat on. The even ng of the party, as Fouquet
presented spectacle on spectacle to Lou s, each more magn f cent
than the one before, he mag ned the affa r as demonstrat ng h s
loyalty and devot on to the k ng. Not only d d he th nk the party would
put h m back n the k ng’s favor, he thought t would show h s good
taste, h s connect ons, and h s popular ty, mak ng h m nd spensable
to the k ng and demonstrat ng that he would make an excellent pr me
m n ster. Instead, however, each new spectacle, each apprec at ve
sm le bestowed by the guests on Fouquet, made t seem to Lou s
that h s own fr ends and subjects were more charmed by the f nance
m n ster than by the k ng h mself, and that Fouquet was actually
flaunt ng h s wealth and power. Rather than flatter ng Lou s XIV,
Fouquet’s elaborate party offended the k ng’s van ty. Lou s would not
adm t th s to anyone, of course— nstead, he found a conven ent
excuse to r d h mself of a man who had nadvertently made h m feel
nsecure.
Such s the fate, n some form or other, of all those who unbalance
the master’s sense of self, poke holes n h s van ty, or make h m
doubt h s pre-em nence.
When the even ng began, Fouquet was at the top of the world.
By the t me t had ended, he was at the bottom.
Volta re, 1694-1778

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In the early 1600s, the Ital an astronomer and mathemat c an Gal leo
found h mself n a precar ous pos t on. He depended on the
generos ty of great rulers to support h s research, and so, l ke all
Rena ssance sc ent sts, he would somet mes make g fts of h s
nvent ons and d scover es to the lead ng patrons of the t me. Once,
for nstance, he presented a m l tary compass he had nvented to the
Duke of Gonzaga. Then he ded cated a book expla n ng the use of
the compass to the Med c s. Both rulers were grateful, and through
them Gal leo was able to f nd more students to teach. No matter how
great the d scovery, however, h s patrons usually pa d h m w th g fts,
not cash. Th s made for a l fe of constant nsecur ty and dependence.
There must be an eas er way, he thought.
Gal leo h t on a new strategy n 1610, when he d scovered the
moons of Jup ter. Instead of d v d ng the d scovery among h s
patrons—g v ng one the telescope he had used, ded cat ng a book to
another, and so on—as he had done n the past, he dec ded to focus
exclus vely on the Med c s. He chose the Med c s for one reason:
Shortly after Cos mo I had establ shed the Med c dynasty, n 1540,
he had made Jup ter, the m ght est of the gods, the Med c symbol—
a symbol of a power that went beyond pol t cs and bank ng, one
l nked to anc ent Rome and ts d v n t es.
Gal leo turned h s d scovery of Jup ter’s moons nto a cosm c event
honor ng the Med c s’ greatness. Shortly after the d scovery, he
announced that “the br ght stars [the moons of Jup ter] offered
themselves n the heavens” to h s telescope at the same t me as
Cos mo II’s enthronement. He sa d that the number of the moons—
four—harmon zed w th the number of the Med c s (Cos mo II had
three brothers) and that the moons orb ted Jup ter as these four sons
revolved around Cos mo I, the dynasty’s founder. More than
co nc dence, th s showed that the heavens themselves reflected the
ascendancy of the Med c fam ly. After he ded cated the d scovery to
the Med c s, Gal leo comm ss oned an emblem represent ng Jup ter
s tt ng on a cloud w th the four stars c rcl ng about h m, and
presented th s to Cos mo II as a symbol of h s l nk to the stars.
In 1610 Cos mo II made Gal leo h s off c al court ph losopher and
mathemat c an, w th a full salary. For a sc ent st th s was the coup of
a l fet me. The days of begg ng for patronage were over.

Interpretat on
In one stroke, Gal leo ga ned more w th h s new strategy than he had
n years of begg ng. The reason s s mple: All masters want to
appear more br ll ant than other people.
They do not care about sc ence or emp r cal truth or the latest
nvent on ; they care about the r name and the r glory. Gal leo gave
the Med c s nf n tely more glory by l nk ng the r name w th cosm c
forces than he had by mak ng them the patrons of some new
sc ent f c gadget or d scovery.
Sc ent sts are not spared the vagar es of court l fe and patronage.
They too must serve masters who hold the purse str ngs. And the r
great ntellectual powers can make the master feel nsecure, as f he
were only there to supply the funds—an ugly, gnoble job. The
producer of a great work wants to feel he s more than just the
prov der of the f nanc ng. He wants to appear creat ve and powerful,
and also more mportant than the work produced n h s name.
Instead of nsecur ty you must g ve h m glory. Gal leo d d not
challenge the ntellectual author ty of the Med c s w th h s d scovery,
or make them feel nfer or n any way; by l terally al gn ng them w th
the stars, he made them sh ne br ll antly among the courts of Italy.
He d d not outsh ne the master, he made the master outsh ne all
others.

KEYS TO POWER

Everyone has nsecur t es. When you show yourself n the world and
d splay your talents, you naturally st r up all k nds of resentment,
envy, and other man festat ons of nsecur ty. Th s s to be expected.
You cannot spend your l fe worry ng about the petty feel ngs of
others. W th those above you, however, you must take a d fferent
approach: When t comes to power, outsh n ng the master s perhaps
the worst m stake of all.
Do not fool yourself nto th nk ng that l fe has changed much s nce
the days of Lou s XIV and the Med c s. Those who atta n h gh
stand ng n l fe are l ke k ngs and queens: They want to feel secure n
the r pos t ons, and super or to those around them n ntell gence, w t,
and charm. It s a deadly but common m spercept on to bel eve that
by d splay ng and vaunt ng your g fts and talents, you are w nn ng the
master’s affect on. He may fe gn apprec at on, but at h s f rst
opportun ty he w ll replace you w th someone less ntell gent, less
attract ve, less threaten ng, just as Lou s XIV replaced the sparkl ng
Fouquet w th the bland Colbert. And as w th Lou s, he w ll not adm t
the truth, but w ll f nd an excuse to r d h mself of your presence.
Th s Law nvolves two rules that you must real ze. F rst, you can
nadvertently outsh ne a master s mply by be ng yourself. There are
masters who are more nsecure than others, monstrously nsecure;
you may naturally outsh ne them by your charm and grace.
No one had more natural talents than Astorre Manfred , pr nce of
Faenza. The most handsome of all the young pr nces of Italy, he
capt vated h s subjects w th h s generos ty and open sp r t.
In the year 1500, Cesare Borg a la d s ege to Faenza. When the
c ty surrendered, the c t zens expected the worst from the cruel
Borg a, who, however, dec ded to spare the town: He s mply
occup ed ts fortress, executed none of ts c t zens, and allowed
Pr nce Manfred , e ghteen at the t me, to rema n w th h s court, n
complete freedom.
A few weeks later, though, sold ers hauled Astorre Manfred away
to a Roman pr son. A year after that, h s body was f shed out of the
R ver T ber, a stone t ed around h s neck. Borg a just f ed the horr ble
deed w th some sort of trumped-up charge of treason and
consp racy, but the real problem was that he was notor ously va n
and nsecure. The young man was outsh n ng h m w thout even
try ng. G ven Manfred ’s natural talents, the pr nce’s mere presence
made Borg a seem less attract ve and char smat c. The lesson s
s mple: If you cannot help be ng charm ng and super or, you must
learn to avo d such monsters of van ty. E ther that, or f nd a way to
mute your good qual t es when n the company of a Cesare Borg a.
Second, never mag ne that because the master loves you, you
can do anyth ng you want. Ent re books could be wr tten about
favor tes who fell out of favor by tak ng the r status for granted, for
dar ng to outsh ne. In late-s xteenth-century Japan, the favor te of
Emperor H deyosh was a man called Sen no R kyu. The prem er
art st of the tea ceremony, wh ch had become an obsess on w th the
nob l ty, he was one of H deyosh ’s most trusted adv sers, had h s
own apartment n the palace, and was honored throughout Japan.
Yet n 1591, H deyosh had h m arrested and sentenced to death.
R kyu took h s own l fe, nstead. The cause for h s sudden change of
fortune was d scovered later: It seems that R kyu, former peasant
and later court favor te, had had a wooden statue made of h mself
wear ng sandals (a s gn of nob l ty) and pos ng loft ly. He had had
th s statue placed n the most mportant temple ns de the palace
gates, n clear s ght of the royalty who often would pass by. To
H deyosh th s s gn f ed that R kyu had no sense of l m ts. Presum ng
that he had the same r ghts as those of the h ghest nob l ty, he had
forgotten that h s pos t on depended on the emperor, and had come
to bel eve that he had earned t on h s own. Th s was an unforg vable
m scalculat on of h s own mportance and he pa d for t w th h s l fe.
Remember the follow ng: Never take your pos t on for granted and
never let any favors you rece ve go to your head.
Know ng the dangers of outsh n ng your master, you can turn th s
Law to your advantage. F rst you must flatter and puff up your
master. Overt flattery can be effect ve but has ts l m ts; t s too d rect
and obv ous, and looks bad to other court ers. D screet flattery s
much more powerful. If you are more ntell gent than your master, for
example, seem the oppos te: Make h m appear more ntell gent than
you. Act na ve. Make t seem that you need h s expert se. Comm t
harmless m stakes that w ll not hurt you n the long run but w ll g ve
you the chance to ask for h s help. Masters adore such requests. A
master who cannot bestow on you the g fts of h s exper ence may
d rect rancor and ll w ll at you nstead.
If your deas are more creat ve than your master’s, ascr be them to
h m, n as publ c a manner as poss ble. Make t clear that your adv ce
s merely an echo of h s adv ce.
If you surpass your master n w t, t s okay to play the role of the
court jester, but do not make h m appear cold and surly by
compar son. Tone down your humor f necessary, and f nd ways to
make h m seem the d spenser of amusement and good cheer. If you
are naturally more soc able and generous than your master, be
careful not to be the cloud that blocks h s rad ance from others. He
must appear as the sun around wh ch everyone revolves, rad at ng
power and br ll ance, the center of attent on. If you are thrust nto the
pos t on of enterta n ng h m, a d splay of your l m ted means may w n
you h s sympathy. Any attempt to mpress h m w th your grace and
generos ty can prove fatal: Learn from Fouquet or pay the pr ce.
In all of these cases t s not a weakness to d sgu se your strengths
f n the end they lead to power. By lett ng others outsh ne you, you
rema n n control, nstead of be ng a v ct m of the r nsecur ty. Th s
w ll all come n handy the day you dec de to r se above your nfer or
status. If, l ke Gal leo, you can make your master sh ne even more n
the eyes of others, then you are a godsend and you w ll be nstantly
promoted.
Image:
The Stars n the
Sky. There can be only
one sun at a t me. Never
obscure the sunl ght, or
r val the sun’s br ll ance;
rather, fade nto the sky and
f nd ways to he ghten
the master star’s
ntens ty.
Author ty: Avo d outsh n ng the master. All super or ty s od ous, but
the super or ty of a subject over h s pr nce s not only stup d, t s
fatal. Th s s a lesson that the stars n the sky teach us—they may be
related to the sun, and just as br ll ant, but they never appear n her
company. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL
You cannot worry about upsett ng every person you come across,
but you must be select vely cruel. If your super or s a fall ng star,
there s noth ng to fear from outsh n ng h m. Do not be merc ful—
your master had no such scruples n h s own cold-blooded cl mb to
the top. Gauge h s strength. If he s weak, d screetly hasten h s
downfall: Outdo, outcharm, outsmart h m at key moments. If he s
very weak and ready to fall, let nature take ts course. Do not r sk
outsh n ng a feeble super or— t m ght appear cruel or sp teful. But f
your master s f rm n h s pos t on, yet you know yourself to be the
more capable, b de your t me and be pat ent. It s the natural course
of th ngs that power eventually fades and weakens. Your master w ll
fall someday, and f you play t r ght, you w ll outl ve and someday
outsh ne h m.
 LAW 2

NEVER PUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS,

LEARN HOW TO USE ENEMIES

JUDGMENT
Be wary of fr ends—they w ll betray you more qu ckly, for they are
eas ly aroused to envy. They also become spo led and tyrann cal.
But h re a former enemy and he w ll be more loyal than a fr end,
because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from
fr ends than from enem es. If you have no enem es, f nd a way to
make them.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In the m d-n nth century A.D., a young man named M chael III
assumed the throne of the Byzant ne Emp re. H s mother, the
Empress Theodora, had been ban shed to a nunnery, and her lover,
Theoct stus, had been murdered ; at the head of the consp racy to
depose Theodora and enthrone M chael had been M chael’s uncle,
Bardas, a man of ntell gence and amb t on. M chael was now a
young, nexper enced ruler, surrounded by n tr guers, murderers,
and profl gates. In th s t me of per l he needed someone he could
trust as h s counc llor, and h s thoughts turned to Bas l us, h s best
fr end. Bas l us had no exper ence whatsoever n government and
pol t cs— n fact, he was the head of the royal stables—but he had
proven h s love and grat tude t me and aga n.
To have a good enemy, choose a fr end: He knows where to str ke.
DIANF DE POITIERS. 1499-1566. MISTRESS OF HENRI II OF
FRANCE
They had met a few years before, when M chael had been v s t ng
the stables just as a w ld horse got loose. Bas l us, a young groom
from peasant Macedon an stock, had saved M chael’s l fe. The
groom’s strength and courage had mpressed M chael, who
mmed ately ra sed Bas l us from the obscur ty of be ng a horse
tra ner to the pos t on of head of the stables. He loaded h s fr end
w th g fts and favors and they became nseparable. Bas l us was sent
to the f nest school n Byzant um, and the crude peasant became a
cultured and soph st cated court er.
Every t me I bestow a vacant off ce I make a hundred d scontented
persons and one ngrate.
Lou s XIV, 1638-1715
Now M chael was emperor, and n need of someone loyal. Who
could he better trust w th the post of chamberla n and ch ef counc llor
than a young man who owed h m everyth ng?
Bas l us could be tra ned for the job and M chael loved h m l ke a
brother. Ignor ng the adv ce of those who recommended the much
more qual f ed Bardas, M chael chose h s fr end.
Thus for my own part l have more than once been dece ved by the
person I loved most and of whose love, above everyone else’s, I
have been most conf dent. So that I bel eve that u may be r ght to
love and serve one person above all others. accord ng to mer t and
worth, but never to trust so much n th s tempt ng trap of fr endsh p
as to have cause to repent of t later on.
BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE, 1478-1529
Bas l us learned well and was soon adv s ng the emperor on all
matters of state. The only problem seemed to be money—Bas us
never had enough. Exposure to the splendor of Byzant ne court l fe
made h m avar c ous for the perks of power. M chael doubled, then
tr pled h s salary, ennobled h m, and marr ed h m off to h s own
m stress, Eudox a Inger na. Keep ng such a trusted fr end and
adv ser sat sf ed was worth any pr ce. But more trouble was to come.
Bardas was now head of the army, and Bas l us conv nced M chael
that the man was hopelessly amb t ous. Under the llus on that he
could control h s nephew, Bardas had consp red to put h m on the
throne, and he could consp re aga n, th s t me to get r d of M chael
and assume the crown h mself. Bas l us poured po son nto M chael’s
ear unt l the emperor agreed to have h s uncle murdered. Dur ng a
great horse race, Bas l us closed n on Bardas n the crowd and
stabbed h m to death. Soon after, Bas l us asked that he replace
Bardas as head of the army, where he could keep control of the
realm and quell rebell on. Th s was granted.
Now Bas l us’s power and wealth only grew, and a few years later
M chael, n f nanc al stra ts from h s own extravagance, asked h m to
pay back some of the money he had borrowed over the years. To
M chael’s shock and aston shment, Bas l us refused, w th a look of
such mpudence that the emperor suddenly real zed h s
pred cament: The former stable boy had more money, more all es n
the army and senate, and n the end more power than the emperor
h mself. A few weeks later, after a n ght of heavy dr nk ng, M chael
awoke to f nd h mself surrounded by sold ers. Bas l us watched as
they stabbed the emperor to death. Then, after procla m ng h mself
emperor, he rode h s horse through the streets of Byzant um,
brand sh ng the head of h s former benefactor and best fr end at the
end of a long p ke.

THE SNAKE. THE FARMER. AND THE HERON

A snake chased by hunters asked a farmer to save ts l fe. To h de t
from ts pursuers, the farmer squatted and let the snake crawl nto
h s belly. But when the danger had passed and the farmer asked the
snake to come out, the snake refused. It was warm and safe ns de.
On h s way home, the man saw a heron and went up to h m and
wh spered what had happened. The heron told h m to squat and
stra n to eject the snake. When the snake snuck ts head out, the
heron caught t, pulled t out, and k lled t. The farmer was worr ed
that the snake’s po son m ght st ll be ns de h m, and the heron told
h m that the cure for snake po son was to cook and eat s x wh te
fowl. “You’re a wh te fowl,” sa d the farmer. “You’ll do for a start.” He
grabbed the heron, put t n a bag, and carr ed t home, where he
hung t up wh le he told h s w fe what had happened. “I’m surpr sed
at you, ” sa d the w fe. “The b rd does you a k ndness, r ds you of the
ev l n your belly, saves your l fe n fact, yet you catch t and talk of
k ll ng t. She mmed ately released the heron, and t flew away. But
on ts way, t gouged out her eyes.
Moral: When you see water flow ng uph ll, t means that someone s
repay ng a k ndness.
AFRICAN FOLK TALE

Interpretat on

M chael III staked h s future on the sense of grat tude he thought

Bas l us must feel for h m. Surely Bas l us would serve h m best; he
owed the emperor h s wealth, h s educat on, and h s pos t on. Then,
once Bas l us was n power, anyth ng he needed t was best to g ve
to h m, strengthen ng the bonds between the two men. It was only on
the fateful day when the emperor saw that mpudent sm le on
Bas l us’s face that he real zed h s deadly m stake.
He had created a monster. He had allowed a man to see power up
close—a man who then wanted more, who asked for anyth ng and
got t, who felt encumbered by the char ty he had rece ved and
s mply d d what many people do n such a s tuat on: They forget the
favors they have rece ved and mag ne they have earned the r
success by the r own mer ts.
At M chael’s moment of real zat on, he could st ll have saved h s
own l fe, but fr endsh p and love bl nd every man to the r nterests.
Nobody bel eves a fr end can betray. And M chael went on
d sbel ev ng unt l the day h s head ended up on a p ke.
Lord, protect me from my fr ends; I can take care of my enem es.
Volta re, 1694-1778
 OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

For several centur es after the fall of the Han Dynasty (A.D. 222),
Ch nese h story followed the same pattern of v olent and bloody
coups, one after the other. Army men would plot to k ll a weak
emperor, then would replace h m on the Dragon Throne w th a strong
general. The general would start a new dynasty and crown h mself
emperor; to ensure h s own surv val he would k ll off h s fellow
generals. A few years later, however, the pattern would resume: New
generals would r se up and assass nate h m or h s sons n the r turn.
To be emperor of Ch na was to be alone, surrounded by a pack of
enem es— t was the least powerful, least secure pos t on n the
realm.
In A.D. 959, General Chao K’uang-y n became Emperor Sung. He
knew the odds, the probab l ty that w th n a year or two he would be
murdered ; how could he break the pattern? Soon after becom ng
emperor, Sung ordered a banquet to celebrate the new dynasty, and
nv ted the most powerful commanders n the army. After they had
drunk much w ne, he d sm ssed the guards and everybody else
except the generals, who now feared he would murder them n one
fell swoop. Instead, he addressed them: “The whole day s spent n
fear, and I am unhappy both at the table and n my bed. For wh ch
one of you does not dream of ascend ng the throne? I do not doubt
your alleg ance, but f by some chance your subord nates, seek ng
wealth and pos t on, were to force the emperor’s yellow robe upon
you n turn, how could you refuse t?” Drunk and fear ng for the r
l ves, the generals procla med the r nnocence and the r loyalty. But
Sung had other deas: “The best way to pass one’s days s n
peaceful enjoyment of r ches and honor. If you are w ll ng to g ve up
your commands, I am ready to prov de you w th f ne estates and
beaut ful dwell ngs where you may take your pleasure w th s ngers
and g rls as your compan ons.”
The aston shed generals real zed that nstead of a l fe of anx ety
and struggle Sung was offer ng them r ches and secur ty. The next
day, all of the generals tendered the r res gnat ons, and they ret red
as nobles to the estates that Sung bestowed on them.
There are manv who th nk therefore that a w se pr nce ought, when
he has the chance, to foment astutely some enm ty, so that by
suppress ng It he w ll augment h s greatness. Pr nces, and espec ally
new ones, have found more fa th and more usefulness n those men,
whom at the beg nn ng of the r power they regarded w th susp c on,
than n those they at f rst conf ded n. Pandolfo Petrucc , pr nce of
S ena, governed h s state more bv those whom he suspected than
by others.
N cco o MACHIAVELLI, 1469-1527
In one stroke, Sung turned a pack of “fr endly” wolves, who would
l kely have betrayed h m, nto a group of doc le lambs, far from all
power.
Over the next few years Sung cont nued h s campa gn to secure
h s rule. In A.D. 971, K ng L u of the Southern Han f nally
surrendered to h m after years of rebell on. To L u’s aston shment,
Sung gave h m a rank n the mper al court and nv ted h m to the
palace to seal the r newfound fr endsh p w th w ne. As K ng L u took
the glass that Sung offered h m, he hes tated, fear ng t conta ned
po son. “Your subject’s cr mes certa nly mer t death,” he cr ed out,
“but I beg Your Majesty to spare your subject’s l fe. Indeed I dare not
dr nk th s w ne.” Emperor Sung laughed, took the glass from L u, and
swallowed t h mself. There was no po son. From then on L u
became h s most trusted and loyal fr end.
At the t me, Ch na had spl ntered nto many smaller k ngdoms.
When Ch‘ en Shu, the k ng of one of these, was defeated, Sung’s
m n sters adv sed the emperor to lock th s rebel up. They presented
documents prov ng that he was st ll consp r ng to k ll Sung. When
Ch’ en Shu came to v s t the emperor, however, nstead of lock ng
h m up, Sung honored h m. He also gave h m a package, wh ch he
told the former k ng to open when he was halfway home. Ch’ en Shu
opened the bundle on h s return journey and saw that t conta ned all
the papers document ng h s consp racy. He real zed that Sung knew
of h s murderous plans, yet had spared h m nonetheless. Th s
generos ty won h m over, and he too became one of Sung’s most
loyal vassals.
A brahman, a great expert n Veda who has become a great archer
as well, offers h s serv ces to h s good fr end, who s now the k ng.
The brahman cr es out when he sees the k ng, “Recogn ze me, your
fr end!” The k ng answers h m w th contempt and then expla ns: “Yes,
we were fr ends before, but our fr endsh p was based on what power
we had.... I was fr ends w th you, good brahman, because t served
my purpose. No pauper s fr end to the r ch, no fool to the w se, no
coward to the brave. An old fr end—who needs h m? It s two men of
equal wealth and equal b rth who contract fr endsh p and marr age,
not a r ch man and a pauper.... An old fr end—who needs h m?
THE MAHABHARATA, C. THIRD CENTURY B.C.

Interpretat on

A Ch nese proverb compares fr ends to the jaws and teeth of a

dangerous an mal: If you are not careful, you w ll f nd them chew ng
you up. Emperor Sung knew the jaws he was pass ng between when
he assumed the throne: H s “fr ends” n the army would chew h m up
l ke meat, and f he somehow surv ved, h s “fr ends” n the
government would have h m for supper. Emperor Sung would have
no truck w th “fr ends”—he br bed h s fellow generals w th splend d
estates and kept them far away. Th s was a much better way to
emasculate them than k ll ng them, wh ch would only have led other
generals to seek vengeance. And Sung would have noth ng to do
w th “fr endly” m n sters. More often than not, they would end up
dr nk ng h s famous cup of po soned w ne.
Instead of rely ng on fr ends, Sung used h s enem es, one after the
other, transform ng them nto far more rel able subjects. Wh le a
fr end expects more and more favors, and seethes w th jealousy,
these former enem es expected noth ng and got everyth ng. A man
suddenly spared the gu llot ne s a grateful man ndeed, and w ll go
to the ends of the earth for the man who has pardoned h m. In t me,
these former enem es became Sung’s most trusted fr ends.
P ck up a bee from k ndness, and learn the l m tat ons of k ndness.
SUFI PROVERB
And Sung was f nally able to break the pattern of coups, v olence,
and c v l war—the Sung Dynasty ruled Ch na for more than three
hundred years.
In a speech Abraham L ncoln del vered at the he ght of the C v l War,
he referred to the Southerners as fellow human be ngs who were n
error. An elderly lady chast sed h m for not call ng them rreconc lable
enem es who must be destroyed. “Why, madam,” L ncoln repl ed,
“do I not destroy my enem es when I make them my fr ends?”

KEYS TO POWER

It s natural to want to employ your fr ends when you f nd yourself n

t mes of need. The world s a harsh place, and your fr ends soften
the harshness. Bes des, you know them. Why depend on a stranger
when you have a fr end at hand?
Men are more ready to repay an njury than a benef t, because
grat tude s a burden and revenge a pleasure.
TACITUS, c. A.D. 55-120
The problem s that you often do not know your fr ends as well as
you mag ne. Fr ends often agree on th ngs n order to avo d an
argument. They cover up the r unpleasant qual t es so as to not
offend each other. They laugh extra hard at each other’s jokes. S nce
honesty rarely strengthens fr endsh p, you may never know how a
fr end truly feels. Fr ends w ll say that they love your poetry, adore
your mus c, envy your taste n clothes—maybe they mean t, often
they do not.
When you dec de to h re a fr end, you gradually d scover the
qual t es he or she has kept h dden. Strangely enough, t s your act
of k ndness that unbalances everyth ng. People want to feel they
deserve the r good fortune. The rece pt of a favor can become
oppress ve: It means you have been chosen because you are a
fr end, not necessar ly because you are deserv ng. There s almost a
touch of condescens on n the act of h r ng fr ends that secretly
affl cts them. The njury w ll come out slowly: A l ttle more honesty,
flashes of resentment and envy here and there, and before you know
t your fr endsh p fades. The more favors and g fts you supply to
rev ve the fr endsh p, the less grat tude you rece ve.
Ingrat tude has a long and deep h story. It has demonstrated ts
powers for so many centur es, that t s truly amaz ng that people
cont nue to underest mate them. Better to be wary. If you never
expect grat tude from a fr end, you w ll be pleasantly surpr sed when
they do prove grateful.
The problem w th us ng or h r ng fr ends s that t w ll nev tably l m t
your power. The fr end s rarely the one who s most able to help you;
and n the end, sk ll and competence are far more mportant than
fr endly feel ngs. (M chael III had a man r ght under h s nose who
would have steered h m r ght and kept h m al ve: That man was
Bardas.)

PROI LING BY OUR \111

K ng H ero chanced upon a t me, speak ng w th one of h s enem es,
to be told n a reproachful manner that he had st nk ng breath.
Whereupon the good k ng, be ng somewhat d smayed n h mself, as
soon as he returned home ch ded h s w fe, “How does t happen that
you never told me of th s problem?” The woman, be ng a s mple,
chaste. and harmless dame, sa d, “S r, l had thought all men breath
had smelled so.” Thus t s pla n that faults that are ev dent to the
senses, gross and corporal, or otherw se notor ous to the world, we
know by our enem es sooner than by our fr ends and fam l ars.
PLUTARCH, C. A.D. 46-120
All work ng s tuat ons requ re a k nd of d stance between people.
You are try ng to work, not make fr ends; fr endl ness (real or false)
only obscures that fact. The key to power, then, s the ab l ty to judge
who s best able to further your nterests n all s tuat ons. Keep
fr ends for fr endsh p, but work w th the sk lled and competent.
 Your enem es, on the other hand, are an untapped gold m ne that
you must learn to explo t. When Talleyrand, Napoleon’s fore gn
m n ster, dec ded n 1807 that h s boss was lead ng France to ru n,
and the t me had come to turn aga nst h m, he understood the
dangers of consp r ng aga nst the emperor; he needed a partner, a
confederate—what fr end could he trust n such a project? He chose
Joseph Fouché, head of the secret pol ce, h s most hated enemy, a
man who had even tr ed to have h m assass nated. He knew that
the r former hatred would create an opportun ty for an emot onal
reconc l at on. He knew that Fouché would expect noth ng from h m,
and n fact would work to prove that he was worthy of Talleyrand’s
cho ce; a person who has someth ng to prove w ll move mounta ns
for you. F nally, he knew that h s relat onsh p w th Fouché would be
based on mutual self- nterest, and would not be contam nated by
personal feel ng. The select on proved perfect; although the
consp rators d d not succeed n toppl ng Napoleon, the un on of such
powerful but unl kely partners generated much nterest n the cause;
oppos t on to the emperor slowly began to spread. And from then on,
Talleyrand and Fouché had a fru tful work ng relat onsh p. Whenever
you can, bury the hatchet w th an enemy, and make a po nt of putt ng
h m n your serv ce.
As L ncoln sa d, you destroy an enemy when you make a fr end of
h m. In 1971, dur ng the V etnam War, Henry K ss nger was the
target of an unsuccessful k dnapp ng attempt, a consp racy nvolv ng,
among others, the renowned ant war act v st pr ests the Berr gan
brothers, four more Cathol c pr ests, and four nuns. In pr vate,
w thout nform ng the Secret Serv ce or the Just ce Department,
K ss nger arranged a Saturday-morn ng meet ng w th three of the
alleged k dnappers. Expla n ng to h s guests that he would have
most Amer can sold ers out of V etnam by m d-1972, he completely
charmed them. They gave h m some “K dnap K ss nger” buttons and
one of them rema ned a fr end of h s for years, v s t ng h m on
several occas ons. Th s was not just a onet me ploy: K ss nger made
a pol cy of work ng w th those who d sagreed w th h m. Colleagues
commented that he seemed to get along better w th h s enem es
than w th h s fr ends.
 W thout enem es around us, we grow lazy. An enemy at our heels
sharpens our w ts, keep ng us focused and alert. It s somet mes
better, then, to use enem es as enem es rather than transform ng
them nto fr ends or all es.
Mao Tse-tung saw confl ct as key n h s approach to power. In
1937 the Japanese nvaded Ch na, nterrupt ng the c v l war between
Mao’s Commun sts and the r enemy, the Nat onal sts.
Fear ng that the Japanese would w pe them out, some Commun st
leaders advocated leav ng the Nat onal sts to f ght the Japanese, and
us ng the t me to recuperate. Mao d sagreed: The Japanese could
not poss bly defeat and occupy a vast country l ke Ch na for long.
Once they left, the Commun sts would have grown rusty f they had
been out of combat for several years, and would be ll prepared to
reopen the r struggle w th the Nat onal sts. To f ght a form dable foe
l ke the Japanese, n fact, would be the perfect tra n ng for the
Commun sts’ ragtag army. Mao’s plan was adopted, and t worked:
By the t me the Japanese f nally retreated, the Commun sts had
ga ned the f ght ng exper ence that helped them defeat the
Nat onal sts.
Years later, a Japanese v s tor tr ed to apolog ze to Mao for h s
country’s nvas on of Ch na. Mao nterrupted, “Should I not thank you
nstead?” W thout a worthy opponent, he expla ned, a man or group
cannot grow stronger.
Mao’s strategy of constant confl ct has several key components.
F rst, be certa n that n the long run you w ll emerge v ctor ous. Never
p ck a f ght w th someone you are not sure you can defeat, as Mao
knew the Japanese would be defeated n t me. Second, f you have
no apparent enem es, you must somet mes set up a conven ent
target, even turn ng a fr end nto an enemy. Mao used th s tact c t me
and aga n n pol t cs. Th rd, use such enem es to def ne your cause
more clearly to the publ c, even fram ng t as a struggle of good
aga nst ev l. Mao actually encouraged Ch na’s d sagreements w th
the Sov et Un on and the Un ted States; w thout clear-cut enem es,
he bel eved, h s people would lose any sense of what Ch nese
Commun sm meant. A sharply def ned enemy s a far stronger
argument for your s de than all the words you could poss bly put
together.
Never let the presence of enem es upset or d stress you—you are
far better off w th a declared opponent or two than not know ng
where your real enem es l e. The man of power welcomes confl ct,
us ng enem es to enhance h s reputat on as a surefooted f ghter who
can be rel ed upon n t mes of uncerta nty.
Image: The Jaws of Ingrat tude. Know ng what would happen f you
put a f nger n the mouth of a l on, you would stay clear of t. W th
fr ends you w ll have no such caut on, and f you h re them, they w ll
eat you al ve w th ngrat tude.
Author ty: Know how to use enem es for your own prof t. You must
learn to grab a sword not by ts blade, wh ch would cut you, but by
the handle, wh ch allows you to defend yourself. The w se man
prof ts more from h s enem es, than a fool from h s fr ends. (Baltasar
Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

Although t s generally best not to m x work w th fr endsh p, there are

t mes when a fr end can be used to greater effect than an enemy. A
man of power, for example, often has d rty work that has to be done,
but for the sake of appearances t s generally preferable to have
other people do t for h m; fr ends often do th s the best, s nce the r
affect on for h m makes them w ll ng to take chances. Also, f your
plans go awry for some reason, you can use a fr end as a conven ent
scapegoat. Th s “fall of the favor te” was a tr ck often used by k ngs
and sovere gns: They would let the r closest fr end at court take the
fall for a m stake, s nce the publ c would not bel eve that they would
del berately sacr f ce a fr end for such a purpose. Of course, after
you play that card, you have lost your fr end forever. It s best, then,
to reserve the scapegoat role for someone who s close to you but
not too close.
 F nally, the problem about work ng w th fr ends s that t confuses
the boundar es and d stances that work ng requ res. But f both
partners n the arrangement understand the dangers nvolved, a
fr end often can be employed to great effect. You must never let your
guard down n such a venture, however; always be on the lookout for
any s gns of emot onal d sturbance such as envy and ngrat tude.
Noth ng s stable n the realm of power, and even the closest of
fr ends can be transformed nto the worst of enem es.
 LAW 3

CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS

JUDGMENT
Keep people off-balance and n the dark by never reveal ng the
purpose beh nd your act ons. If they have no clue what you are up
to, they cannot prepare a defense. Gu de them far enough down the
wrong path, envelop them n enough smoke, and by the t me they
real ze your ntent ons, t w ll be too late.
 PART I: USE DECOYED OBJECTS OF DESIRE
AND RED HERRINGS TO THROW PEOPLE OFF
THE SCENT

If at any po nt n the decept on you pract ce people have the sl ghtest

susp c onas to your ntent ons, all s lost. Do not g ve them the
chance to sense what you are up to: Throw them off the scent by
dragg ng red herr ngs across the path. Use false s ncer ty, send
amb guous s gnals, set up m slead ng objects of des re. Unable to
d st ngu sh the genu ne from the false, they cannot p ck out your real
goal.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Over several weeks, N non de Lenclos, the most nfamous courtesan

of seventeenth-century France, l stened pat ently as the Marqu s de
Sev gné expla ned h s struggles n pursu ng a beaut ful but d ff cult
young countess. N non was s xty-two at the t me, and more than
exper enced n matters of love; the marqu s was a lad of twenty-two,
handsome, dash ng, but hopelessly nexper enced n romance. At
f rst N non was amused to hear the marqu s talk about h s m stakes,
but f nally she had had enough. Unable to bear nept tude n any
realm, least of all n seduc ng a woman, she dec ded to take the
young man under her w ng. F rst, he had to understand that th s was
war, and that the beaut ful countess was a c tadel to wh ch he had to
lay s ege as carefully as any general. Every step had to be planned
and executed w th the utmost attent on to deta l and nuance.
Instruct ng the marqu s to start over, N non told h m to approach
the countess w th a b t of d stance, an a r of nonchalance. The next
t me the two were alone together, she sa d, he would conf de n the
countess as would a fr end but not a potent al lover. Th s was to
throw her off the scent. The countess was no longer to take h s
nterest n her for granted—perhaps he was only nterested n
fr endsh p.
N non planned ahead. Once the countess was confused, t would
be t me to make her jealous. At the next encounter, at a major fête n
Par s, the marqu s would show up w th a beaut ful young woman at
h s s de. Th s beaut ful young woman had equally beaut ful fr ends,
so that wherever the countess would now see the marqu s, he would
be surrounded by the most stunn ng young women n Par s. Not only
would the countess be seeth ng w th jealousy, she would come to
see the marqu s as someone who was des red by others. It was hard
for N non to make the marqu s understand, but she pat ently
expla ned that a woman who s nterested n a man wants to see that
other women are nterested n h m, too. Not only does that g ve h m
nstant value, t makes t all the more sat sfy ng to snatch h m from
the r clutches.
Once the countess was jealous but ntr gued, t would be t me to
begu le her. On N non’s nstruct ons, the marqu s would fa l to show
up at affa rs where the countess expected to see h m. Then,
suddenly, he would appear at salons he had never frequented
before, but that the countess attended often. She would be unable to
pred ct h s moves. All of th s would push her nto the state of
emot onal confus on that s a prerequ s te for successful seduct on.
These moves were executed, and took several weeks. N non
mon tored the marqu s’s progress: Through her network of sp es, she
heard how the countess would laugh a l ttle harder at h s w tt c sms,
l sten more closely to h s stor es. She heard that the countess was
suddenly ask ng quest ons about h m. Her fr ends told her that at
soc al affa rs the countess would often look up at the marqu s,
follow ng h s steps. N non felt certa n that the young woman was
fall ng under h s spell. It was a matter of weeks now, maybe a month
or two, but f all went smoothly, the c tadel would fall.
A few days later the marqu s was at the countess’s home. They
were alone. Suddenly he was a d fferent man: Th s t me act ng on h s
own mpulse, rather than follow ng N non’s nstruct ons, he took the
countess’s hands and told her he was n love w th her. The young
woman seemed confused, a react on he d d not expect. She became
pol te, then excused herself. For the rest of the even ng she avo ded
h s eyes, was not there to say good-n ght to h m. The next few t mes
he v s ted he was told she was not at home. When she f nally
adm tted h m aga n, the two felt awkward and uncomfortable w th
each other. The spell was broken.

Interpretat on

N non de Lenclos knew everyth ng about the art of love. The greatest
wr t ers, th nkers, and pol t c ans of the t me had been her lovers—
men l ke La Rochefoucauld, Mol ère, and R chel eu. Seduct on was a
game to her, to be pract ced w th sk ll. As she got older, and her
reputat on grew, the most mportant fam l es n France would send
the r sons to her to be nstructed n matters of love.
N non knew that men and women are very d fferent, but when t
comes to seduct on they feel the same: Deep down ns de, they often
sense when they are be ng seduced, but they g ve n because they
enjoy the feel ng of be ng led along. It s a pleasure to let go, and to
allow the other person to detour you nto a strange country.
Everyth ng n seduct on, however, depends on suggest on. You
cannot announce your ntent ons or reveal them d rectly n words.
Instead you must throw your targets off the scent. To surrender to
your gu dance they must be appropr ately confused. You have to
scramble your s gnals—appear nterested n another man or woman
(the decoy), then h nt at be ng nterested n the target, then fe gn
nd fference, on and on. Such patterns not only confuse, they exc te.
Imag ne th s story from the countess’s perspect ve: After a few of
the marqu s’s moves, she sensed the marqu s was play ng some sort
of game, but the game del ghted her. She d d not know where he
was lead ng her, but so much the better. H s moves ntr gued her,
each of them keep ng her wa t ng for the next one—she even
enjoyed her jealousy and confus on, for somet mes any emot on s
better than the boredom of secur ty. Perhaps the marqu s had ulter or
mot ves; most men do. But she was w ll ng to wa t and see, and
probably f she had been made to wa t long enough, what he was up
to would not have mattered.
The moment the marqu s uttered that fatal word “love,” however,
all was changed. Th s was no longer a game w th moves, t was an
artless show of pass on. H s ntent on was revealed: He was
seduc ng her. Th s put everyth ng he had done n a new l ght. All that
before had been charm ng now seemed ugly and conn v ng; the
countess felt embarrassed and used. A door closed that would never
open aga n.
Do not be held a cheat, even though t s mposs ble to l ve today
w thout be ng one.
Let your greatest cunn ng l e n cover ng up what looks l ke cunn ng.
Ballasar Grac án, 1601-1658

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In 1850 the young Otto von B smarck, then a th rty-f ve-year-old

deputy n the Pruss an parl ament, was at a turn ng po nt n h s
career. The ssues of the day were the un f cat on of the many states
( nclud ng Pruss a) nto wh ch Germany was then d v ded, and a war
aga nst Austr a, the powerful ne ghbor to the south that hoped to
keep the Germans weak and at odds, even threaten ng to ntervene
f they tr ed to un te. Pr nce W ll am, next n l ne to be Pruss a’s k ng,
was n favor of go ng to war, and the parl ament rall ed to the cause,
prepared to back any mob l zat on of troops. The only ones to
oppose war were the present k ng, Freder ck W ll am IV, and h s
m n sters, who preferred to appease the powerful Austr ans.
Throughout h s career, B smarck had been a loyal, even
pass onate supporter of Pruss an m ght and power. He dreamed of
German un f cat on, of go ng to war aga nst Austr a and hum l at ng
the country that for so long had kept Germany d v ded. A former
sold er, he saw warfare as a glor ous bus ness.
Th s, after all, was the man who years later would say, “The great
quest ons of the t me w ll be dec ded, not by speeches and
resolut ons, but by ron and blood.”
Pass onate patr ot and lover of m l tary glory, B smarck
nevertheless gave a speech n parl ament at the he ght of the war
fever that aston shed all who heard t. “Woe unto the statesman,” he
sa d, “who makes war w thout a reason that w ll st ll be val d when
the war s over! After the war, you w ll all look d fferently at these
quest ons. W ll you then have the courage to turn to the peasant
contemplat ng the ashes of h s farm, to the man who has been
cr ppled, to the father who has lost h s ch ldren?” Not only d d
B smarck go on to talk of the madness of th s war, but, strangest of
all, he pra sed Austr a and defended her act ons. Th s went aga nst
everyth ng he had stood for. The consequences were mmed ate.
B smarck was aga nst the war—what could th s poss bly mean?
Other deput es were confused, and several of them changed the r
votes. Eventually the k ng and h s m n sters won out, and war was
averted.
A few weeks after B smarck’s nfamous speech, the k ng, grateful
that he had spoken for peace, made h m a cab net m n ster. A few
years later he became the Pruss an prem er. In th s role he
eventually led h s country and a peace-lov ng k ng nto a war aga nst
Austr a, crush ng the former emp re and establ sh ng a m ghty
German state, w th Pruss a at ts head.

Interpretat on

At the t me of h s speech n 1850, B smarck made several

calculat ons. F rst, he sensed that the Pruss an m l tary, wh ch had
not kept pace w th other European arm es, was unready for war—
that Austr a, n fact, m ght very well w n, a d sastrous result for the
future. Second, f the war were lost and B smarck had supported t,
h s career would be gravely jeopard zed. The k ng and h s
conservat ve m n sters wanted peace; B smarck wanted power. The
answer was to throw people off the scent by support ng a cause he
detested, say ng th ngs he would laugh at f sa d by another. A whole
country was fooled. It was because of B smarck’s speech that the
k ng made h m a m n ster, a pos t on from wh ch he qu ckly rose to be
pr me m n ster, atta n ng the power to strengthen the Pruss an
m l tary and accompl sh what he had wanted all along: the
hum l at on of Austr a and the un f cat on of Germany under Pruss a’s
leadersh p.
B smarck was certa nly one of the cleverest statesman who ever
l ved, a master of strategy and decept on. No one suspected what he
was up to n th s case. Had he announced h s real ntent ons, argu ng
that t was better to wa t now and f ght later, he would not have won
the argument, s nce most Pruss ans wanted war at that moment and
m stakenly bel eved that the r army was super or to the Austr ans.
Had he played up to the k ng, ask ng to be made a m n ster n
exchange for support ng peace, he would not have succeeded
e ther: The k ng would have d strusted h s amb t on and doubted h s
s ncer ty.
By be ng completely ns ncere and send ng m slead ng s gnals,
however, he dece ved everyone, concealed h s purpose, and
atta ned everyth ng he wanted. Such s the power of h d ng your
ntent ons.

KEYS TO POWER

Most people are open books. They say what they feel, blurt out the r
op n ons at every opportun ty, and constantly reveal the r plans and
ntent ons. They do th s for several reasons. F rst, t s easy and
natural to always want to talk about one’s feel ngs and plans for the
future. It takes effort to control your tongue and mon tor what you
reveal. Second, many bel eve that by be ng honest and open they
are w nn ng people’s hearts and show ng the r good nature.They are
greatly deluded. Honesty s actually a blunt nstrument, wh ch
blood es more than t cuts. Your honesty s l kely to offend people; t
s much more prudent to ta lor your words, tell ng people what they
want to hear rather than the coarse and ugly truth of what you feel or
th nk. More mportant, by be ng unabashedly open you make
yourself so pred ctable and fam l ar that t s almost mposs ble to
respect or fear you, and power w ll not accrue to a person who
cannot nsp re such emot ons.
If you yearn for power, qu ckly lay honesty as de, and tra n yourself
n the art of conceal ng your ntent ons. Master the art and you w ll
always have the upper hand. Bas c to an ab l ty to conceal one’s
ntent ons s a s mple truth about human nature: Our f rst nst nct s to
always trust appearances. We cannot go around doubt ng the real ty
of what we see and hear—constantly mag n ng that appearances
concealed someth ng else would exhaust and terr fy us. Th s fact
makes t relat vely easy to conceal one’s ntent ons. S mply dangle
an object you seem to des re, a goal you seem to a m for, n front of
people’s eyes and they w ll take the appearance for real ty. Once
the r eyes focus on the decoy, they w ll fa l to not ce what you are
really up to. In seduct on, set up confl ct ng s gnals, such as des re
and nd fference, and you not only throw them off the scent, you
nflame the r des re to possess you.
A tact c that s often effect ve n sett ng up a red herr ng s to
appear to support an dea or cause that s actually contrary to your
own sent ments. (B smarck used th s to great effect n h s speech n
1850.) Most people w ll bel eve you have exper enced a change of
heart, s nce t s so unusual to play so l ghtly w th someth ng as
emot onal as one’s op n ons and values. The same appl es for any
decoyed object of des re: Seem to want someth ng n wh ch you are
actually not at all nterested and your enem es w ll be thrown off the
scent, mak ng all k nds of errors n the r calculat ons.
Dur ng the War of the Span sh Success on n 1711, the Duke of
Marlborough, head of the Engl sh army, wanted to destroy a key
French fort, because t protected a v tal thoroughfare nto France. Yet
he knew that f he destroyed t, the French would real ze what he
wanted—to advance down that road. Instead, then, he merely
captured the fort, and garr soned t w th some of h s troops, mak ng t
appear as f he wanted t for some purpose of h s own. The French
attacked the fort and the duke let them recapture t. Once they had t
back, though, they destroyed t, f gur ng that the duke had wanted t
for some mportant reason. Now that the fort was gone, the road was
unprotected, and Marlborough could eas ly march nto France.
Use th s tact c n the follow ng manner: H de your ntent ons not by
clos ng up (w th the r sk of appear ng secret ve, and mak ng people
susp c ous) but by talk ng endlessly about your des res and goals—
just not your real ones. You w ll k ll three b rds w th one stone: You
appear fr endly, open, and trust ng; you conceal your ntent ons; and
you send your r vals on t me-consum ng w ld-goose chases.
Another powerful tool n throw ng people off the scent s false
s ncer ty. People eas ly m stake s ncer ty for honesty. Remember—
the r f rst nst nct s to trust appearances, and s nce they value
honesty and want to bel eve n the honesty of those around them,
they w ll rarely doubt you or see through your act. Seem ng to
bel eve what you say g ves your words great we ght. Th s s how
Iago dece ved and destroyed Othello: G ven the depth of h s
emot ons, the apparent s ncer ty of h s concerns about Desde
mona’s supposed nf del ty, how could Othello d strust h m? Th s s
also how the great con art st Yellow K d We l pulled the wool over
suckers’ eyes: Seem ng to bel eve so deeply n the decoyed object
he was dangl ng n front of them (a phony stock, a touted racehorse),
he made ts real ty hard to doubt. It s mportant, of course, not to go
too far n th s area. S ncer ty s a tr cky tool: Appear overpass onate
and you ra se susp c ons. Be measured and bel evable or your ruse
w ll seem the put-on that t s.
To make your false s ncer ty an effect ve weapon n conceal ng
your ntent ons, espouse a bel ef n honesty and forthr ghtness as
mportant soc al values. Do th s as publ cly as poss ble. Emphas ze
your pos t on on th s subject by occas onally d vulg ng some heartfelt
thought—though only one that s actually mean ngless or rrelevant,
of course. Napoleon’s m n ster Talleyrand was a master at tak ng
people nto h s conf dence by reveal ng some apparent secret. Th s
fe gned conf dence—a decoy—would then el c t a real conf dence on
the other person’s part.
Remember: The best dece vers do everyth ng they can to cloak
the r rogu sh qual t es. They cult vate an a r of honesty n one area to
d sgu se the r d shonesty n others. Honesty s merely another decoy
n the r arsenal of weapons.
 PART II: USE SMOKE SCREENS TO DISGUISE
YOUR ACTIONS

Decept on s always the best strategy, but the best decept ons
requ re a screen of smoke to d stract people attent on from your real
purpose. The bland exter or—l ke the unreadable poker face— s
often the perfect smoke screen, h d ng your ntent ons beh nd the
comfortable and fam l ar. If you lead the sucker down a fam l ar path,
he won’t catch on when you lead h m nto a trap.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I

In 1910, a Mr. Sam Geez l of Ch cago sold h s warehouse bus ness

for close to $1 m ll on. He settled down to sem ret rement and the
manag ng of h s many propert es, but deep ns de he tched for the
old days of deal-mak ng. One day a young man named Joseph We l
v s ted h s off ce, want ng to buy an apartment he had up for sale.
Geez l expla ned the terms: The pr ce was $8,000, but he only
requ red a down payment of $2,000. We l sa d he would sleep on t,
but he came back the follow ng day and offered to pay the full $8,000
n cash, f Geez l could wa t a couple of days, unt l a deal We l was
work ng on came through. Even n sem ret rement, a clever
bus nessman l ke Geez l was cur ous as to how We l would be able
to come up w th so much cash (roughly $150,000 today) so qu ckly.
We l seemed reluctant to say, and qu ckly changed the subject, but
Geez l was pers stent. F nally, after assurances of conf dent al ty,
We l told Geez l the follow ng story.
THE KING OF ISRAEL IGNS WORSHIP OF THE
Then Jehu assembled all the people, and sa d to them, “Ahab served
Ba‘al a l ttle; but Jehu w ll serve h m much more. Now therefore call
to me all the prophets of Ba’al, all h s worsh ppers and all h s pr ests;
let none be m ss ng, for I have a great sacr f ce to offer to Ba‘al;
whoever s m ss ng shall not l ve.” But Jehu d d t w th cunn ng n
order to destroy the worsh ppers of Ba’al. And Jehu ordered,
“Sanct fy a solemn assembly for Ba‘al. ”So they procla med t. And
Jehu sent throughout all Israel; and all the worsh ppers of Ba’al
came, so that there was not a man left who d d not come. And they
entered the house of Ba‘al, and the house of Ba’al was f lled from
one end to the other.... Then Jehu went nto the house of Ba‘al ...
and he sa d to the worsh ppers of Ba’al, “Search, and see that there
s no servant of the LORD here among you, but only the worsh ppers
of Ba‘al.“Then he went n to offer sacr f ces and burnt offer ngs. Now
Jehu had stat oned e ghty men outs de, and sa d, ”The man who
allows any of those whom I g ve nto your hands to escape shall
forfe t h s l fe.“ So as soon as he had made an end of offer ng the
burnt offer ng, Jehu sa d to the guard and to the off cers, ”Go n and
slay them; let not a man escape. ” So when they put them to the
sword, the guard and the off cers cast them out and went nto the
nner room of the house of Ba’al and they brought out the p llar that
was n the house of Ba‘al and burned t. And they demol shed the
p llar of Ba’al and demol shed the house of Ba‘al, and made t a
latr ne to th s day. Thus Jehu w ped out Ba’al from Israel.
OLD TESTAMENT, 2 KINGS 10:18-28
We l’s uncle was the secretary to a coter e of mult m ll ona re
f nanc ers. These wealthy gentlemen had purchased a hunt ng lodge
n M ch gan ten years ago, at a cheap pr ce. They had not used the
lodge for a few years, so they had dec ded to sell t and had asked
We l’s uncle to get whatever he could for t. For reasons—good
reasons—of h s own, the uncle had been nurs ng a grudge aga nst
the m ll ona res for years; th s was h s chance to get back at them.
He would sell the property for $35,000 to a set up man (whom t was
We l’s job to f nd). The f nanc ers were too wealthy to worry about
th s low pr ce. The set-up man would then turn around and sell the
property aga n for ts real pr ce, around $155,000. The uncle, We l,
and the th rd man would spl t the prof ts from th s second sale. It was
all legal and for a good cause—the uncle’s just retr but on.
Geez l had heard enough: He wanted to be the set-up buyer. We l
was reluctant to nvolve h m, but Geez l would not back down: The
dea of a large prof t, plus a l ttle adventure, had h m champ ng at the
b t. We l expla ned that Geez l would have to put up the $35,000 n
cash to br ng the deal off. Geez l, a m ll ona re, sa d he could get the
money w th a snap of h s f ngers. We l f nally relented and agreed to
arrange a meet ng between the uncle, Geez l, and the f nanc ers, n
the town of Galesburg, Ill no s.
On the tra n r de to Galesburg, Geez l met the uncle—an
mpress ve man, w th whom he av dly d scussed bus ness. We l also
brought along a compan on, a somewhat paunchy man named
George Gross. We l expla ned to Geez l that he h mself was a box ng
tra ner, that Gross was one of the prom s ng pr zef ghters he tra ned,
and that he had asked Gross to come along to make sure the f ghter
stayed n shape. For a prom s ng f ghter, Gross was un mpress ve
look ng—he had gray ha r and a beer belly—but Geez l was so
exc ted about the deal that he d dn’t really th nk about the man’s
flabby appearance.
Once n Galesburg, We l and h s uncle went to fetch the f nanc ers
wh le Geez l wa ted n a hotel room w th Gross, who promptly put on
h s box ng trunks. As Geez l half watched, Gross began to
shadowbox. D stracted as he was, Geez l gnored how badly the
boxer wheezed after a few m nutes of exerc se, although h s style
seemed real enough. An hour later, We l and h s uncle reappeared
w th the f nanc ers, an mpress ve, nt m dat ng group of men, all
wear ng fancy su ts. The meet ng went well and the f nanc ers
agreed to sell the lodge to Geez l, who had already had the $35,000
w red to a local bank.
Th s m nor bus ness now settled, the f nanc ers sat back n the r
cha rs and began to banter about h gh f nance, throw ng out the
name “J. P. Morgan” as f they knew the man. F nally one of them
not ced the boxer n the corner of the room. We l expla ned what he
was do ng there. The f nanc er countered that he too had a boxer n
h s entourage, whom he named. We l laughed brazenly and
excla med that h s man could eas ly knock out the r man.
Conversat on escalated nto argument. In the heat of pass on, We l
challenged the men to a bet. The f nanc ers eagerly agreed and left
to get the r man ready for a f ght the next day.
As soon as they had left, the uncle yelled at We l, r ght n front of
Geez l; They d d not have enough money to bet w th, and once the
f nanc ers d scovered th s, the uncle would be f red. We l apolog zed
for gett ng h m n th s mess, but he had a plan: He knew the other
boxer well, and w th a l ttle br be, they could f x the f ght. But where
would the money come from for the bet? the uncle repl ed. W thout t
they were as good as dead. F nally Geez l had heard enough.
Unw ll ng to jeopard ze h s deal w th any ll w ll, he offered h s own
$35,000 cash for part of the bet. Even f he lost that, he would w re
for more money and st ll make a prof t on the sale of the lodge. The
uncle and nephew thanked h m. W th the r own $15,000 and Geez l’s
$35,000 they would manage to have enough for the bet. That
even ng, as Geez l watched the two boxers rehearse the f x n the
hotel room, h s m nd reeled at the k ll ng he was go ng to make from
both the box ng match and the sale of the lodge.
The f ght took place n a gym the next day. We l handled the cash,
wh ch was placed for secur ty n a locked box. Everyth ng was
proceed ng as planned n the hotel room. The f nanc ers were
look ng glum at how badly the r f ghter was do ng, and Geez l was
dream ng about the easy money he was about to make. Then,
suddenly, a w ld sw ng by the f nanc er’s f ghter h t Gross hard n the
face, knock ng h m down. When he h t the canvas, blood spurted
from h s mouth. He coughed, then lay st ll. One of the f nanc ers, a
former doctor, checked h s pulse; he was dead. The m ll ona res
pan cked: Everyone had to get out before the pol ce arr ved-they
could all be charged w th murder.
Terr f ed, Geez l h ghta led t out of the gym and back to Ch cago,
leav ng beh nd h s $35,000 wh ch he was only too glad to forget, for
t seemed a small pr ce to pay to avo d be ng mpl cated n a cr me.
He never wanted to see We l or any of the others aga n.
 After Geez l scurr ed out, Gross stood up, under h s own steam.
The blood that had spurted from h s mouth came from a ball f lled
w th ch cken blood and hot water that he had h dden n h s cheek.
The whole affa r had been masterm nded by We l, better known as
“the Yellow K d,” one of the most creat ve con art sts n h story. We l
spl t the $35,000 w th the f nanc ers and the boxers (all fellow con
art sts)—a n ce l ttle prof t for a few days’ work.
SN BROAD
Th s means to create a front that eventually becomes mbued w th an
atmosphere or mpress on of fam l ar ty, w th n wh ch the strateg st
may maneuver unseen wh le all eyes are tra ned to see obv ous
fam l ar t es. “THE THIRTY-SIX STRATEGIES.” QUOTED IN THF
JAPANESE ART OF WAR.
THOMAS CLEARY, 1991

Interpretat on

The Yellow K d had staked out Geez l as the perfect sucker long
before he set up the con. He knew the box ng-match scam would be
the perfect ruse to separate Geez l from h s money qu ckly and
def n t vely. But he also knew that f he had begun by try ng to
nterest Geez l n the box ng match, he would have fa led m serably.
He had to conceal h s ntent ons and sw tch attent on, create a
smoke screen— n th s case the sale of the lodge.
On the tra n r de and n the hotel room Geez l’s m nd had been
completely occup ed w th the pend ng deal, the easy money, the
chance to hobnob w th wealthy men. He had fa led to not ce that
Gross was out of shape and m ddle-aged at best. Such s the
d stract ng power of a smoke screen. Engrossed n the bus ness
deal, Geez l’s attent on was eas ly d verted to the box ng match, but
only at a po nt when t was already too late for h m to not ce the
deta ls that would have g ven Gross away. The match, after all, now
depended on a br be rather than on the boxer’s phys cal cond t on.
And Geez l was so d stracted at the end by the llus on of the boxer’s
death that he completely forgot about h s money.
Learn from the Yellow K d: The fam l ar, nconsp cuous front s the
perfect smoke screen. Approach your mark w th an dea that seems
ord nary enough—a bus ness deal, f nanc al ntr gue. The sucker’s
m nd s d stracted, h s susp c ons allayed. That s when you gently
gu de h m onto the second path, the sl ppery slope down wh ch he
sl des helplessly nto your trap.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II

In the m d-1920s, the powerful warlords of Eth op a were com ng to

the real zat on that a young man of the nob l ty named Ha le
Selass e, also known as Ras Tafar , was outcompet ng them all and
near ng the po nt where he could procla m h mself the r leader,
un fy ng the country for the f rst t me n decades. Most of h s r vals
could not understand how th s w spy, qu et, m ld-mannered man had
been able to take control. Yet n 1927, Selass e was able to summon
the warlords, one at a t me, to come to Add s Ababa to declare the r
loyalty and recogn ze h m as leader.
Some hurr ed, some hes tated, but only one, Dejazmach Balcha of
S damo, dared defy Selass e totally. A blustery man, Balcha was a
great warr or, and he cons dered the new leader weak and unworthy.
He po ntedly stayed away from the cap tal. F nally Selass e, n h s
gentle but stem way, commanded Balcha to come. The warlord
dec ded to obey, but n do ng so he would turn the tables on th s
pretender to the Eth op an throne: He would come to Add s Ababa at
h s own speed, and w th an army of 10,000 men, a force large
enough to defend h mself, perhaps even start a c v l war. Stat on ng
th s form dable force n a valley three m les from the cap tal, he
wa ted, as a k ng would. Selass e would have to come to h m.
Selass e d d ndeed send em ssar es, ask ng Balcha to attend an
afternoon banquet n h s honor. But Balcha, no fool, knew h story—
he knew that prev ous k ngs and lords of Eth op a had used banquets
as a trap. Once he was there and full of dr nk, Selass e would have
h m arrested or murdered. To s gnal h s understand ng of the
s tuat on, he agreed to come to the banquet, but only f he could
br ng h s personal bodyguard—600 of h s best sold ers, all armed
and ready to defend h m and themselves. To Balcha’s surpr se,
Selass e answered w th the utmost pol teness that he would be
honored to play host to such warr ors.
On the way to the banquet, Balcha warned h s sold ers not to get
drunk and to be on the r guard. When they arr ved at the palace,
Selass e was h s charm ng best. He deferred to Balcha, treated h m
as f he desperately needed h s approval and cooperat on. But
Balcha refused to be charmed, and he warned Selass e that f he d d
not return to h s camp by n ghtfall, h s army had orders to attack the
cap tal. Selass e reacted as f hurt by h s m strust. Over the meal,
when t came t me for the trad t onal s ng ng of songs n honor of
Eth op a’s leaders, he made a po nt of allow ng only songs honor ng
the warlord of S damo. It seemed to Balcha that Selass e was
scared, nt m dated by th s great warr or who could not be outw tted.
Sens ng the change, Balcha bel eved that he would be the one to
call the shots n the days to come.
At the end of the afternoon, Balcha and h s sold ers began the r
march back to camp am dst cheers and gun salutes. Look ng back to
the cap tal over h s shoulder, he planned h s strategy—how h s own
sold ers would march through the cap tal n tr umph w th n weeks,
and Selass e would be put n h s place, h s place be ng e ther pr son
or death. When Balcha came n s ght of h s camp, however, he saw
that someth ng was terr bly wrong. Where before there had been
colorful tents stretch ng as far as the eye could see, now there was
noth ng, only smoke from doused f res. What dev l’s mag c was th s?
A w tness told Balcha what had happened. Dur ng the banquet, a
large army, commanded by an ally of Selass e’s, had stolen up on
Balcha’s encampment by a s de route he had not seen. Th s army
had not come to f ght, however: Know ng that Balcha would have
heard a no sy battle and hurr ed back w th h s 600-man bodyguard,
Selass e had armed h s own troops w th baskets of gold and cash.
They had surrounded Balcha’s army and proceeded to purchase
every last one of the r weapons. Those who refused were eas ly
nt m dated. W th n a few hours, Balcha’s ent re force had been
d sarmed and scattered n all d rect ons.
Real z ng h s danger, Balcha dec ded to march south w th h s 600
sold ers to regroup, but the same army that had d sarmed h s
sold ers blocked h s way. The other way out was to march on the
cap tal, but Selass e had set a large army to defend t. L ke a chess
player, he had pred cted Balcha’s moves, and had checkmated h m.
For the f rst t me n h s l fe, Balcha surrendered. To repent h s s ns of
pr de and amb t on, he agreed to enter a monastery.

Interpretat on

Throughout Selass e’s long re gn, no one could qu te f gure h m out.

Eth op ans l ke the r leaders f erce, but Selass e, who wore the front
of a gentle, peace-lov ng man, lasted longer than any of them. Never
angry or mpat ent, he lured h s v ct ms w th sweet sm les, lull ng
them w th charm and obsequ ousness before he attacked. In the
case of Balcha, Selass e played on the man’s war ness, h s
susp c on that the banquet was a trap—wh ch n fact t was, but not
the one he expected. Selass e’s way of allay ng Balcha’s fears—
lett ng h m br ng h s bodyguard to the banquet, g v ng h m top b ll ng
there, mak ng h m feel n control—created a th ck smoke screen,
conceal ng the real act on three m les away.
Remember: The parano d and wary are often the eas est to
dece ve. W n the r trust n one area and you have a smoke screen
that bl nds the r v ew n another, lett ng you creep up and level them
w th a devastat ng blow. A helpful or apparently honest gesture, or
one that mpl es the other person’s super or ty—these are perfect
d vers onary dev ces.
Properly set up, the smoke screen s a weapon of great power. It
enabled the gentle Selass e to totally destroy h s enemy, w thout
f r ng a s ngle bullet.
 Do not underest mate the power of Tafar . He creeps
l ke a mouse but he has jaws l ke a l on.
Bacha of S damo’s last worlds before enter ng the monastery

KEYS TO POWER

If you bel eve that dece vers are colorful folk who m slead w th
elaborate l es and tall tales, you are greatly m staken. The best
dece vers ut l ze a bland and nconsp cuous front that calls no
attent on to themselves. They know that extravagant words and
gestures mmed ately ra se susp c on. Instead, they envelop the r
mark n the fam l ar, the banal, the harmless. In Yellow K d We l’s
deal ngs w th Sam Geez l, the fam l ar was a bus ness deal. In the
Eth op an case, t was Selass e’s m slead ng obsequ ousness—
exactly what Balcha would have expected from a weaker warlord.
Once you have lulled your suckers’ attent on w th the fam l ar, they
w ll not not ce the decept on be ng perpetrated beh nd the r backs.
Th s der ves from a s mple truth: people can only focus on one th ng
at a t me. It s really too d ff cult for them to mag ne that the bland
and harmless person they are deal ng w th s s multaneously sett ng
up someth ng else. The grayer and more un form the smoke n your
smoke screen, the better t conceals your ntent ons. In the decoy
and red herr ng dev ces d scussed n Part I, you act vely d stract
people; n the smoke screen, you lull your v ct ms, draw ng them nto
your web. Because t s so hypnot c, th s s often the best way of
conceal ng your ntent ons.
The s mplest form of smoke screen s fac al express on. Beh nd a
bland, unreadable exter or, all sorts of mayhem can be planned,
w thout detect on. Th s s a weapon that the most powerful men n
h story have learned to perfect. It was sa d that no one could read
Frankl n D. Roosevelt’s face. Baron James Rothsch ld made a
l felong pract ce of d sgu s ng h s real thoughts beh nd bland sm les
and nondescr pt looks. Stendhal wrote of Talleyrand, “Never was a
face less of a barometer.” Henry K ss nger would bore h s opponents
around the negot at ng table to tears w th h s monotonous vo ce, h s
blank look, h s endless rec tat ons of deta ls; then, as the r eyes
glazed over, he would suddenly h t them w th a l st of bold terms.
Caught off-guard, they would be eas ly nt m dated. As one poker
manual expla ns t, “Wh le play ng h s hand, the good player s
seldom an actor. Instead he pract ces a bland behav or that
m n m zes readable patterns, frustrates and confuses opponents,
perm ts greater concentrat on.”
An adaptable concept, the smoke screen can be pract ced on a
number of levels, all play ng on the psycholog cal pr nc ples of
d stract on and m sd rect on. One of the most effect ve smoke
screens s the noble gesture. People want to bel eve apparently
noble gestures are genu ne, for the bel ef s pleasant. They rarely
not ce how decept ve these gestures can be.
The art dealer Joseph Duveen was once confronted w th a terr ble
problem. The m ll ona res who had pa d so dearly for Duveen’s
pa nt ngs were runn ng out of wall space, and w th nher tance taxes
gett ng ever h gher, t seemed unl kely that they would keep buy ng.
The solut on was the Nat onal Gallery of Art n Wash ngton, D.C.,
wh ch Duveen helped create n 1937 by gett ng Andrew Mellon to
donate h s collect on to t. The Nat onal Gallery was the perfect front
for Duveen. In one gesture, h s cl ents avo ded taxes, cleared wall
space for new purchases, and reduced the number of pa nt ngs on
the market, ma nta n ng the upward pressure on the r pr ces. All th s
wh le the donors created the appearance of be ng publ c
benefactors.
Another effect ve smoke screen s the pattern, the establ shment
of a ser es of act ons that seduce the v ct m nto bel ev ng you w ll
cont nue n the same way. The pattern plays on the psychology of
ant c pat on: Our behav or conforms to patterns, or so we l ke to
th nk.
In 1878 the Amer can robber baron Jay Gould created a company
that began to threaten the monopoly of the telegraph company
Western Un on. The d rectors of Western Un on dec ded to buy
Gould’s company up— they had to spend a hefty sum, but they
f gured they had managed to r d themselves of an rr tat ng
compet tor. A few months later, though, Gould was t at aga n,
compla n ng he had been treated unfa rly. He started up a second
company to compete w th Western Un on and ts new acqu s t on.
The same th ng happened aga n: Western Un on bought h m out to
shut h m up. Soon the pattern began for the th rd t me, but now
Gould went for the jugular: He suddenly staged a bloody takeover
struggle and managed to ga n complete control of Western Un on.
He had establ shed a pattern that had tr cked the company’s
d rectors nto th nk ng h s goal was to be bought out at a handsome
rate. Once they pa d h m off, they relaxed and fa led to not ce that he
was actually play ng for h gher stakes. The pattern s powerful n that
t dece ves the other person nto expect ng the oppos te of what you
are really do ng.
Another psycholog cal weakness on wh ch to construct a smoke
screen s the tendency to m stake appearances for real ty—the
feel ng that f someone seems to belong to your group, the r
belong ng must be real. Th s hab t makes the seamless blend a very
effect ve front. The tr ck s s mple: You s mply blend n w th those
around you. The better you blend, the less susp c ous you become.
Dur ng the Cold War of the 1950s and ’60s, as s now notor ous, a
slew of Br t sh c v l servants passed secrets to the Sov ets. They
went undetected for years because they were apparently decent
chaps, had gone to all the r ght schools, and f t the old-boy network
perfectly. Blend ng n s the perfect smoke screen for spy ng. The
better you do t, the better you can conceal your ntent ons.
Remember: It takes pat ence and hum l ty to dull your br ll ant
colors, to put on the mask of the nconsp cuous. Do not despa r at
hav ng to wear such a bland mask— t s often your unreadab l ty that
draws people to you and makes you appear a person of power.
Image: A Sheep’s Sk n.
A sheep never marauds,
a sheep never dece ves,
a sheep s magn f cently
dumb and doc le. W th a
sheepsk n on h s back,
a fox can pass r ght
nto the ch cken coop.

Author ty: Have you ever heard of a sk llful general, who ntends to
surpr se a c tadel, announc ng h s plan to h s enemy? Conceal your
purpose and h de your progress; do not d sclose the extent of your
des gns unt l they cannot be opposed, unt l the combat s over. W n
the v ctory before you declare the war. In a word, m tate those
warl ke people whose des gns are not known except by the ravaged
country through wh ch they have passed. (N non de Lenclos, 1623-
1706)

REVERSAL

No smoke screen, red herr ng, false s ncer ty, or any other
d vers onary dev ce w ll succeed n conceal ng your ntent ons f you
already have an establ shed reputat on for decept on. And as you get
older and ach eve success, t often becomes ncreas ngly d ff cult to
d sgu se your cunn ng. Everyone knows you pract ce decept on;
pers st n play ng na ve and you run the r sk of seem ng the rankest
hypocr te, wh ch w ll severely l m t your room to maneuver. In such
cases t s better to own up, to appear the honest rogue, or, better,
the repentant rogue. Not only w ll you be adm red for your frankness,
but, most wonderful and strange of all, you w ll be able to cont nue
your stratagems.
As P. T. Barnum, the n neteenth-century k ng of humbuggery, grew
older, he learned to embrace h s reputat on as a grand dece ver. At
one po nt he organ zed a buffalo hunt n New Jersey, complete w th
Ind ans and a few mported buffalo. He publ c zed the hunt as
genu ne, but t came off as so completely fake that the crowd,
nstead of gett ng angry and ask ng for the r money back, was greatly
amused. They knew Barnum pulled tr cks all the t me; that was the
secret of h s success, and they loved h m for t. Learn ng a lesson
from th s affa r, Barnum stopped conceal ng all of h s dev ces, even
reveal ng h s decept ons n a tell-all autob ography. As K erkegaard
wrote, “The world wants to be dece ved.”
F nally, although t s w ser to d vert attent on from your purposes
by present ng a bland, fam l ar exter or, there are t mes when the
colorful, consp cuous gesture s the r ght d vers onary tact c. The
great charlatan mountebanks of seventeenth- and e ghteenth-
century Europe used humor and enterta nment to dece ve the r
aud ences. Dazzled by a great show, the publ c would not not ce the
charlatans’ real ntent ons. Thus the star charlatan h mself would
appear n town n a n ght-black coach drawn by black horses.
Clowns, t ghtrope walkers, and star enterta ners would accompany
h m, pull ng people n to h s demonstrat ons of el x rs and quack
pot ons. The charlatan made enterta nment seem l ke the bus ness
of the day; the bus ness of the day was actually the sale of the el x rs
and quack pot ons.
Spectacle and enterta nment, clearly, are excellent dev ces to
conceal your ntent ons, but they cannot be used ndef n tely. The
publ c grows t red and susp c ous, and eventually catches on to the
tr ck. And ndeed the charlatans had to move qu ckly from town to
town, before word spread that the pot ons were useless and the
enterta nment a tr ck. Powerful people w th bland exter ors, on the
other hand—the Talleyrands, the Rothsch lds, the Selass es—can
pract ce the r decept ons n the same place throughout the r l fet mes.
The r act never wears th n, and rarely causes susp c on. The colorful
smoke screen should be used caut ously, then, and only when the
occas on s r ght.
 LAW 4

ALWAYS SAY LESS THAN NECESSARY

JUDGMENT
When you are try ng to mpress people w th words, the more you
say, the more common you appear, and the less n control. Even f
you are say ng someth ng banal, t w ll seem or g nal f you make t
vague, open-ended, and sph nxl ke. Powerful people mpress and
nt m date by say ng less. The more you say, the more l kely you are
to say someth ng fool sh.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Gnaeus Marc us, also known as Cor olanus, was a great m l tary
hero of anc ent Rome. In the f rst half of the f fth century B.C. he won
many mportant battles, sav ng the c ty from calam ty t me and t me
aga n. Because he spent most of h s t me on the battlef eld, few
Romans knew h m personally, mak ng h m someth ng of a legendary
f gure.
In 454 B.C., Cor olanus dec ded t was t me to explo t h s
reputat on and enter pol t cs. He stood for elect on to the h gh rank of
consul. Cand dates for th s pos t on trad t onally made a publ c
address early n the race, and when Cor olanus came before the
people, he began by d splay ng the dozens of scars he had
accumulated over seventeen years of f ght ng for Rome. Few n the
crowd really heard the lengthy speech that followed; those scars,
proof of h s valor and patr ot sm, moved the people to tears.
Cor olanus’s elect on seemed certa n.
When the poll ng day arr ved, however, Cor olanus made an entry
nto the forum escorted by the ent re senate and by the c ty’s
patr c ans, the ar stocracy. The common people who saw th s were
d sturbed by such a bluster ng show of conf dence on elect on day.
And then Cor olanus spoke aga n, mostly address ng the wealthy
c t zens who had accompan ed h m. H s words were arrogant and
nsolent. Cla m ng certa n v ctory n the vote, he boasted of h s
battlef eld explo ts, made sour jokes that appealed only to the
patr c ans, vo ced angry accusat ons aga nst h s opponents, and
speculated on the r ches he would br ng to Rome. Th s t me the
people l stened: They had not real zed that th s legendary sold er
was also a common braggart.
Down on h s luck, [the screenwr ter] M chael Arlen went to New York
n 1944. To drown h s sorrows he pa d a v s t to the famous
restaurant “21.” In the lobby, he ran nto Sam Goldwyn, who offered
the somewhat mpract cal adv ce that he should buy racehorses. At
the bar Arlen met Lou s B. Mayer, an old acqua ntance, who asked
h m what were h s plans for the future. “I was just talk ng to Sam
Goldwyn ...” began Arlen. “How much d d he offer you? ” nterrupted
Mayer. “Not enough,” he repl ed evas vely. “Would you take f fteen
thousand for th rty weeks?” asked Mayer. No hes tat on th s t me.
“Yes,” sa d Arlen.
THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES, CLIFTON
FADIMAN, ED., 1985
News of Cor olanus’s second speech spread qu ckly through
Rome, and the people turned out n great numbers to make sure he
was not elected. Defeated, Cor olanus returned to the battlef eld,
b tter and vow ng revenge on the common folk who had voted
aga nst h m. Some weeks later a large sh pment of gra n arr ved n
Rome. The senate was ready to d str bute th s food to the people, for
free, but just as they were prepar ng to vote on the quest on
Cor olanus appeared on the scene and took the senate floor. The
d str but on, he argued, would have a harmful effect on the c ty as a
whole. Several senators appeared won over, and the vote on the
d str but on fell nto doubt. Cor olanus d d not stop there: He went on
to condemn the concept of democracy tself. He advocated gett ng
r d of the people’s representat ves—the tr bunes—and turn ng over
the govern ng of the c ty to the patr c ans.
One oft-told tale about K ss nger... nvolved a report that W nston
Lord had worked on for days. After g v ng t to K ss nger, he got t
back w th the notat on, “Is th s the best you can do?” Lord rewrote
and pol shed and f nally resubm tted t; back t came w th the same
curt quest on. After redraft ng t one more t me—and once aga n
gett ng the same quest on from K ss nger-Lord snapped, “Damn t,
yes, t’s the best I can do. ” To wh ch K ss nger repl ed: “F ne, then I
guess I’ll read t th s t me. ”
KISSINGER. WALTER ISAACSON, 1992
When word of Cor olanus’s latest speech reached the people, the r
anger knew no bounds. The tr bunes were sent to the senate to
demand that Cor olanus appear before them. He refused. R ots
broke out all over the c ty. The senate, fear ng the people’s wrath,
f nally voted n favor of the gra n d str but on. The tr bunes were
appeased, but the people st ll demanded that Cor olanus speak to
them and apolog ze. If he repented, and agreed to keep h s op n ons
to h mself, he would be allowed to return to the battlef eld.
Cor olanus d d appear one last t me before the people, who
l stened to h m n rapt s lence. He started slowly and softly, but as the
speech went on, he became more and more blunt. Yet aga n he
hurled nsults! H s tone was arrogant, h s express on d sda nful. The
more he spoke, the angr er the people became. F nally they shouted
h m down and s lenced h m.
The tr bunes conferred, condemned Cor olanus to death, and
ordered the mag strates to take h m at once to the top of the
Tarpe an rock and throw h m over. The del ghted crowd seconded
the dec s on. The patr c ans, however, managed to ntervene, and
the sentence was commuted to a l felong ban shment. When the
people found out that Rome’s great m l tary hero would never return
to the c ty, they celebrated n the streets. In fact no one had ever
seen such a celebrat on, not even after the defeat of a fore gn
enemy.

Interpretat on

Before h s entrance nto pol t cs, the name of Cor olanus evoked
awe.
H s battlef eld accompl shments showed h m as a man of great
bravery. S nce the c t zens knew l ttle about h m, all k nds of legends
became attached to h s name. The moment he appeared before the
Roman c t zens, however, and spoke h s m nd, all that grandeur and
mystery van shed. He bragged and blustered l ke a common sold er.
He nsulted and slandered people, as f he felt threatened and
nsecure. Suddenly he was not at all what the people had mag ned.
The d screpancy between the legend and the real ty proved
mmensely d sappo nt ng to those who wanted to bel eve n the r
hero. The more Cor olanus sa d, the less powerful he appeared—a
person who cannot control h s words shows that he cannot control
h mself, and s unworthy of respect.
The K ng [Lou s XIV] ma nta ns the most mpenetrable secrecy about
affa rs of State. The m n sters attend counc l meet ngs, but he
conf des h s plans to them only when he has reflected at length upon
them and has come to a def n te dec s on. I w sh you m ght see the
K ng. H s express on s nscrutable; h s eyes l ke those of a fox. He
never d scusses State affa rs except w th h s m n sters n Counc l.
When he speaks to court ers he refers only to the r respect ve
prerogat ves or dut es. Even the most fr volous of h s utterances has
the a r of be ng the pronouncement of an oracle.

PRIMI VISCONTI, QUOTED IN LOUIS XIV, LOUIS BERTRAND,

1928
Had Cor olanus sa d less, the people would never have had cause
to be offended by h m, would never have known h s true feel ngs. He
would have ma nta ned h s powerful aura, would certa nly have been
elected consul, and would have been able to accompl sh h s
ant democrat c goals. But the human tongue s a beast that few can
master. It stra ns constantly to break out of ts cage, and f t s not
tamed, t w ll run w ld and cause you gr ef. Power cannot accrue to
those who squander the r treasure of words.
Oysters open completely when the moon s full; and when the crab
sees one
t throws a p ece of stone or seaweed nto t and the oyster cannot
close
aga n so that t serves the crab for meat. Such s the fate of h m who
opens
h s mouth too much and thereby puts h mself at the mercy of the
l stener.
Leonardo da V nc , 1452-1519

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In the court of Lou s XIV, nobles and m n sters would spend days
and n ghts debat ng ssues of state. They would confer, argue, make
and break all ances, and argue aga n, unt l f nally the cr t cal moment
arr ved: Two of them would be chosen to represent the d fferent
s des to Lou s h mself, who would dec de what should be done. After
these persons were chosen, everyone would argue some more: How
should the ssues be phrased? What would appeal to Lou s, what
would annoy h m? At what t me of day should the representat ves
approach h m, and n what part of the Versa lles palace? What
express on should they have on the r faces?
F nally, after all th s was settled, the fateful moment would f nally
arr ve. The two men would approach Lou s—always a del cate
matter—and when they f nally had h s ear, they would talk about the
ssue at hand, spell ng out the opt ons n deta l.
Lou s would l sten n s lence, a most en gmat c look on h s face.
F nally, when each had f n shed h s presentat on and had asked for
the k ng’s op n on, he would look at them both and say, “I shall see.”
Then he would walk away.
The m n sters and court ers would never hear another word on th s
subject from the k ng—they would s mply see the result, weeks later,
when he would come to a dec s on and act. He would never bother
to consult them on the matter aga n.
Undut ful words of a subject do often take deeper root than the
memory of ll deeds.... The late Earl of Essex told Queen El zabeth
that her cond t ons were as crooked as her carcass; but t cost h m
h s head, wh ch h s nsurrect on had not cost h m but for that speech.
SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 1554-1618

Interpretat on

Lou s XIV was a man of very few words. H s most famous remark s
“L‘état, c’est mo ” (“I am the state”); noth ng could be more p thy yet
more eloquent. H s nfamous “I shall see” was one of several
extremely short phrases that he would apply to all manner of
requests.
Lou s was not always th s way; as a young man he was known for
talk ng at length, del ght ng n h s own eloquence. H s later tac turn ty
was self- mposed, an act, a mask he used to keep everybody below
h m off-balance. No one knew exactly where he stood, or could
pred ct h s react ons. No one could try to dece ve h m by say ng what
they thought he wanted to hear, because no one knew what he
wanted to hear. As they talked on and on to the s lent Lou s, they
revealed more and more about themselves, nformat on he would
later use aga nst them to great effect.
In the end, Lou s’s s lence kept those around h m terr f ed and
under h s thumb. It was one of the foundat ons of h s power. As
Sa nt-S mon wrote, “No one knew as well as he how to sell h s
words, h s sm le, even h s glances. Everyth ng n h m was valuable
because he created d fferences, and h s majesty was enhanced by
the sparseness of h s words.”
It s even more damag ng for a m n ster to say fool sh th ngs than to
do them.
Card nal de Retz, 1613-1679

KEYS TO POWER

Power s n many ways a game of appearances, and when you say

less than necessary, you nev tably appear greater and more
powerful than you are. Your s lence w ll make other people
uncomfortable. Humans are mach nes of nterpretat on and
explanat on; they have to know what you are th nk ng. When you
carefully control what you reveal, they cannot p erce your ntent ons
or your mean ng.
Your short answers and s lences w ll put them on the defens ve,
and they w ll jump n, nervously f ll ng the s lence w th all k nds of
comments that w ll reveal valuable nformat on about them and the r
weaknesses. They w ll leave a meet ng w th you feel ng as f they
had been robbed, and they w ll go home and ponder your every
word. Th s extra attent on to your br ef comments w ll only add to
your power.
Say ng less than necessary s not for k ngs and statesmen only. In
most areas of l fe, the less you say, the more profound and
myster ous you appear. As a young man, the art st Andy Warhol had
the revelat on that t was generally mposs ble to get people to do
what you wanted them to do by talk ng to them. They would turn
aga nst you, subvert your w shes, d sobey you out of sheer
pervers ty. He once told a fr end, “I learned that you actually have
more power when you shut up.”
In h s later l fe Warhol employed th s strategy w th great success.
H s nterv ews were exerc ses n oracular speech: He would say
someth ng vague and amb guous, and the nterv ewer would tw st n
c rcles try ng to f gure t out, mag n ng there was someth ng profound
beh nd h s often mean ngless phrases. Warhol rarely talked about h s
work; he let others do the nterpret ng. He cla med to have learned
th s techn que from that master of en gma Marcel Duchamp, another
twent eth-century art st who real zed early on that the less he sa d
about h s work, the more people talked about t. And the more they
talked, the more valuable h s work became.
By say ng less than necessary you create the appearance of
mean ng and power. Also, the less you say, the less r sk you run of
say ng someth ng fool sh, even dangerous. In 1825 a new czar,
N cholas I, ascended the throne of Russ a. A rebell on mmed ately
broke out, led by l berals demand ng that the country modern ze—
that ts ndustr es and c v l structures catch up w th the rest of
Europe. Brutally crush ng th s rebell on (the Decembr st Upr s ng),
N cholas I sentenced one of ts leaders, Kondraty Ryleyev, to death.
On the day of the execut on Ryleyev stood on the gallows, the noose
around h s neck. The trapdoor opened—but as Ryleyev dangled, the
rope broke, dash ng h m to the ground. At the t me, events l ke th s
were cons dered s gns of prov dence or heavenly w ll, and a man
saved from execut on th s way was usually pardoned. As Ryleyev
got to h s feet, bru sed and d rt ed but bel ev ng h s neck had been
saved, he called out to the crowd, “You see, n Russ a they don’t
know how to do anyth ng properly, not even how to make rope!”
A messenger mmed ately went to the W nter Palace w th news of
the fa led hang ng. Vexed by th s d sappo nt ng turnabout, N cholas I
nevertheless began to s gn the pardon. But then: “D d Ryleyev say
anyth ng after th s m racle?” the czar asked the messenger. “S re,”
the messenger repl ed, “he sa d that n Russ a they don’t even know
how to make rope.”
“In that case,” sa d the Czar, “let us prove the contrary,” and he
tore up the pardon. The next day Ryleyev was hanged aga n. Th s
t me the rope d d not break.
Learn the lesson: Once the words are out, you cannot take them
back. Keep them under control. Be part cularly careful w th sarcasm:
The momentary sat sfact on you ga n w th your b t ng words w ll be
outwe ghed by the pr ce you pay.
 Image:
The Oracle at Delph .
When v s tors consulted the
Oracle, the pr estess would utter
a few en gmat c words that seemed
full of mean ng and mport. No one
d sobeyed the words of the Oracle—
they held power over l fe and death.

Author ty: Never start mov ng your own l ps and teeth before the
subord nates do. The longer I keep qu et, the sooner others move
the r l ps and teeth. As they move the r l ps and teeth, I can thereby
understand the r real ntent ons.... If the sovere gn s not myster ous,
the m n sters w ll f nd opportun ty to take and take. (Han-fe -tzu,
Ch nese ph losopher, th rd century B.C.)

REVERSAL

There are t mes when t s unw se to be s lent. S lence can arouse

susp c on and even nsecur ty, espec ally n your super ors; a vague
or amb guous comment can open you up to nterpretat ons you had
not barga ned for. S lence and say ng less than necessary must be
pract ced w th caut on, then, and n the r ght s tuat ons. It s
occas onally w ser to m tate the court jester, who plays the fool but
knows he s smarter than the k ng. He talks and talks and enterta ns,
and no one suspects that he s more than just a fool.
Also, words can somet mes act as a k nd of smoke screen for any
decept on you m ght pract ce. By bend ng your l stener’s ear w th
talk, you can d stract and mesmer ze them; the more you talk, n fact,
the less susp c ous of you they become. The verbose are not
perce ved as sly and man pulat ve but as helpless and
unsoph st cated. Th s s the reverse of the s lent pol cy employed by
the powerful: By talk ng more, and mak ng yourself appear weaker
and less ntell gent than your mark, you can pract ce decept on w th
greater ease.
 LAW 5

SO MUCH DEPENDS ON REPUTATION—GUARD

IT WITH YOUR LIFE

JUDGMENT
Reputat on s the cornerstone of power. Through reputat on alone
you can nt m date and w n; once t sl ps, however, you are
vulnerable, and w ll be attacked on all s des. Make your reputat on
unassa lable. Always be alert to potent al attacks and thwart them
before they happen. Meanwh le, learn to destroy your enem es by
open ng holes n the r own reputat ons. Then stand as de and let
publ c op n on hang them.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I

Dur ng Ch na’s War of the Three K ngdoms (A.D. 207-265), the great
general Chuko L ang, lead ng the forces of the Shu K ngdom,
d spatched h s vast army to a d stant camp wh le he rested n a small
town w th a handful of sold ers. Suddenly sent nels hurr ed n w th the
alarm ng news that an enemy force of over 150,000 troops under
S ma Y was approach ng. W th only a hundred men to defend h m,
Chuko L ang’s s tuat on was hopeless. The enemy would f nally
capture th s renowned leader.
W thout lament ng h s fate, or wast ng t me try ng to f gure out how
he had been caught, L ang ordered h s troops to take down the r
flags, throw open the c ty gates, and h de. He h mself then took a
seat on the most v s ble part of the c ty’s wall, wear ng a Tao st robe.
He l t some ncense, strummed h s lute, and began to chant. M nutes
later he could see the vast enemy army approach ng, an endless
phalanx of sold ers. Pretend ng not to not ce them, he cont nued to
s ng and play the lute.
Soon the army stood at the town gates. At ts head was S ma Y ,
who nstantly recogn zed the man on the wall.
Even so, as h s sold ers tched to enter the unguarded town
through ts open gates, S ma Y hes tated, held them back, and
stud ed L ang on the wall. Then, he ordered an mmed ate and
speedy retreat.
THE ANIMALS STRICKEN WITH THE PLAGUE
A fr ghtful ep dem c sent To earth by Heaven ntent to vent Its fury on
a s nful world, to call It by ts r ghtful name, the pest lence, That
Acheron-f ll ng v al of v rulence Had fallen on every an mal. Not all
were dead, but all lay near to dy ng, And none was any longer try ng
To f nd new fuel to feed l fe’s fl cker ng f res. No foods exc ted the r
des res; No more d d wolves and foxes rove In search of harmless,
helpless prey; And dove would not consort w th dove, For love and
joy had flown away. The L on assumed the cha r to say: “Dear
fr ends, I doubt not t’s for heaven’s h gh ends That on us s nners
woe must fall. Let h m of us who’s s nned the most Fall v ct m to the
aveng ng heavenly host, And may he w n salvat on for us all; For
h story teaches us that n these cr ses We must make sacr f ces.
Undece ved and stern-eyed, let’s nspect Our consc ence. As I
recollect, To put my greedy appet te to sleep, I’ve banqueted on
many a sheep Who’d njured me n no respect, And even n my t me
been known to try Shepherd p e. If need be, then. I’ll d e. Yet I
suspect That others also ought to own the r s ns. It’s only fa r thnt all
should do the r best To s ngle out the gu lt est.” “S re, you’re too good
a k ng,“the Fox beg ns; ”Such scruples are too del cate. My word, To
eat sheep, that profane and vulgar herd. That’s s n? Nay. S re,
enough for such a crew To be devoured by such as you; Wh le of the
shepherds we may say That they deserved the worst they got.
The rs be ng the lot that over us beasts plot A fl msy dream-begotten
sway.” Thus spake the Fox, and toady cheers rose h gh, Wh le none
dared cast too cold an eye On T ger‘s, Bear’s, and other em nences
Most unpardonable offences Each, of never m nd what curr sh
breed, Was really a sa nt, they all agreed. Then came the Ass, to
say: ”I do recall How once I crossed an abbey-mead Where hunger,
grass n plenty, and w thal, I have no doubt, some mp of greed.
Assa led me, and I shaved a tongue’s-breadth w de Where frankly I’d
no r ght to any grass.”All forthw th fell full cry upon the Ass: A Wolf of
some book-learn ng test f ed That that curst beast must suffer the r
desp te, That gallsk nned author of the r p teous pl ght. They judged
h m f t for nought but gallows-ba t: How v le, another’s grass to
sequestrate! H s death alone could exp ate A cr me so he nous, as
full well he learns. The court, as you’re of great or poor estate, W ll
pa nt you e ther wh te or black by turns.
THE BEST FABLES OF LA FONTAINE, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE,
1621-1695

Interpretat on

Chuko L ang was commonly known as the “Sleep ng Dragon.” H s

explo ts n the War of the Three K ngdoms were legendary. Once a
man cla m ng to be a d saffected enemy l eutenant came to h s
camp, offer ng help and nformat on. L ang nstantly recogn zed the
s tuat on as a setup; th s man was a false deserter, and should be
beheaded. At the last m nute, though, as the ax was about to fall,
L ang stopped the execut on and offered to spare the man’s l fe f he
agreed to become a double agent. Grateful and terr f ed, the man
agreed, and began supply ng false nformat on to the enemy. L ang
won battle after battle.
On another occas on L ang stole a m l tary seal and created false
documents d spatch ng h s enemy’s troops to d stant locat ons. Once
the troops had d spersed, he was able to capture three c t es, so that
he controlled an ent re corr dor of the enemy’s k ngdom. He also
once tr cked the enemy nto bel ev ng one of ts best generals was a
tra tor, forc ng the man to escape and jo n forces w th L ang. The
Sleep ng Dragon carefully cult vated h s reputat on of be ng the
cleverest man n Ch na, one who always had a tr ck up h s sleeve.
As powerful as any weapon, th s reputat on struck fear nto h s
enemy.
S ma Y had fought aga nst Chuko L ang dozens of t mes and
knew h m well. When he came on the empty c ty, w th L ang pray ng
on the wall, he was stunned. The Tao st robes, the chant ng, the
ncense—th s had to be a game of nt m dat on. The man was
obv ously taunt ng h m, dar ng h m to walk nto a trap. The game was
so obv ous that for one moment t crossed Y ’s m nd that L ang
actually was alone, and desperate. But so great was h s fear of L ang
that he dared not r sk f nd ng out. Such s the power of reputat on. It
can put a vast army on the defens ve, even force them nto retreat,
w thout a s ngle arrow be ng f red.
For, as C cero says, even those who argue aga nst fame st ll want
the books they
wr te aga nst t to bear the r name n the t tle and hope to become
famous for
desp s ng t. Everyth ng else s subject to barter: we w ll let our
fr ends have
our goods and our l ves f need be; but a case of shar ng our fame
and
mak ng someone else the g ft of our reputat on s hardly to be found.
Monta gne, 1533-1592

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II

In 1841 the young P. T. Barnum, try ng to establ sh h s reputat on as

Amer ca’s prem er showman, dec ded to purchase the Amer can
Museum n Manhattan and turn t nto a collect on of cur os t es that
would secure h s fame. The problem was that he had no money. The
museum’s ask ng pr ce was $15,000, but Barnum was able to put
together a proposal that appealed to the nst tut on’s owners even
though t replaced cash up front w th dozens of guarantees and
references. The owners came to a verbal agreement w th Barnum,
but at the last m nute, the pr nc pal partner changed h s m nd, and
the museum and ts collect on were sold to the d rectors of Peale’s
Museum. Barnum was nfur ated, but the partner expla ned that
bus ness was bus ness—the museum had been sold to Peale’s
because Peale’s had a reputat on and Barnum had none.
Barnum mmed ately dec ded that f he had no reputat on to bank
on, h s only recourse was to ru n the reputat on of Peale’s.
Accord ngly he launched a letter-wr t ng campa gn n the
newspapers, call ng the owners a bunch of “broken-down bank
d rectors” who had no dea how to run a museum or enterta n
people. He warned the publ c aga nst buy ng Peale’s stock, s nce the
bus ness’s purchase of another museum would nvar ably spread ts
resources th n. The campa gn was effect ve, the stock plummeted,
and w th no more conf dence n Peale’s track record and reputat on,
the owners of the Amer can Museum reneged on the r deal and sold
the whole th ng to Barnum.
It took years for Peale’s to recover, and they never forgot what
Barnum had done. Mr. Peale h mself dec ded to attack Barnum by
bu ld ng a reputat on for “h gh-brow enterta nment,” promot ng h s
museum’s programs as more sc ent f c than those of h s vulgar
compet tor. Mesmer sm (hypnot sm) was one of Peale’s “sc ent f c”
attract ons, and for a wh le t drew b g crowds and was qu te
successful. To f ght back, Barnum dec ded to attack Peale’s
reputat on yet aga n.
Barnum organ zed a r val mesmer c performance n wh ch he
h mself apparently put a l ttle g rl nto a trance. Once she seemed to
have fallen deeply under, he tr ed to hypnot ze members of the
aud ence—but no matter how hard he tr ed, none of the spectators
fell under h s spell, and many of them began to laugh. A frustrated
Barnum f nally announced that to prove the l ttle g rl’s trance was
real, he would cut off one of her f ngers w thout her not c ng. But as
he sharpened the kn fe, the l ttle g rl’s eyes popped open and she
ran away, to the aud ence’s del ght. He repeated th s and other
parod es for several weeks. Soon no one could take Peale’s show
ser ously, and attendance went way down. W th n a few weeks, the
show closed. Over the next few years Barnum establ shed a
reputat on for audac ty and consummate showmansh p that lasted
h s whole l fe. Peale’s reputat on, on the other hand, never
recovered.

Interpretat on

Barnum used two d fferent tact cs to ru n Peale’s reputat on. The f rst
was s mple: He sowed doubts about the museum’s stab l ty and
solvency. Doubt s a powerful weapon: Once you let t out of the bag
w th ns d ous rumors, your opponents are n a horr ble d lemma. On
the one hand they can deny the rumors, even prove that you have
slandered them. But a layer of susp c on w ll rema n: Why are they
defend ng themselves so desperately? Maybe the rumor has some
truth to t? If, on the other hand, they take the h gh road and gnore
you, the doubts, unrefuted, w ll be even stronger. If done correctly,
the sow ng of rumors can so nfur ate and unsettle your r vals that n
defend ng themselves they w ll make numerous m stakes. Th s s the
perfect weapon for those who have no reputat on of the r own to
work from.
Once Barnum d d have a reputat on of h s own, he used the
second, gentler tact c, the fake hypnot sm demonstrat on: He
r d culed h s r vals’ reputat on. Th s too was extremely successful.
Once you have a sol d base of respect, r d cul ng your opponent both
puts h m on the defens ve and draws more attent on to you,
enhanc ng your own reputat on. Outr ght slander and nsult are too
strong at th s po nt; they are ugly, and may hurt you more than help
you. But gentle barbs and mockery suggest that you have a strong
enough sense of your own worth to enjoy a good laugh at your r val’s
expense. A humorous front can make you out as a harmless
enterta ner wh le pok ng holes n the reputat on of your r val.
It s eas er to cope w th a bad consc ence than w th a bad reputat on.
Fr edr ch N etzsche, 1844-1900
 KEYS TO POWER

The people around us, even our closest fr ends, w ll always to some
extent rema n myster ous and unfathomable. The r characters have
secret recesses that they never reveal. The unknowableness of
other people could prove d sturb ng f we thought about t long
enough, s nce t would make t mposs ble for us really to judge other
people. So we prefer to gnore th s fact, and to judge people on the r
appearances, on what s most v s ble to our eyes—clothes, gestures,
words, act ons. In the soc al realm, appearances are the barometer
of almost all of our judgments, and you must never be m s led nto
bel ev ng otherw se. One false sl p, one awkward or sudden change
n your appearance, can prove d sastrous.
Th s s the reason for the supreme mportance of mak ng and
ma nta n ng a reputat on that s of your own creat on.
That reputat on w ll protect you n the dangerous game of
appearances, d stract ng the prob ng eyes of others from know ng
what you are really l ke, and g v ng you a degree of control over how
the world judges you—a powerful pos t on to be n. Reputat on has a
power l ke mag c: W th one stroke of ts wand, t can double your
strength. It can also send people scurry ng away from you. Whether
the exact same deeds appear br ll ant or dreadful can depend
ent rely on the reputat on of the doer.
In the anc ent Ch nese court of the We k ngdom there was a man
named M Tzu-hs a who had a reputat on for supreme c v l ty and
grac ousness. He became the ruler’s favor te. It was a law n We
that “whoever r des secretly n the ruler’s coach shall have h s feet
cut off,” but when M Tzu-hs a’s mother fell ll, he used the royal
coach to v s t her, pretend ng that the ruler had g ven h m perm ss on.
When the ruler found out, he sa d, “How dut ful s M Tzu-hs a! For
h s mother’s sake he even forgot that he was comm tt ng a cr me
mak ng h m l able to lose h s feet!”
Another t me the two of them took a stroll n an orchard. M Tzu-
hs a began eat ng a peach that he could not f n sh, and he gave the
ruler the other half to eat. The ruler remarked, “You love me so much
that you would even forget your own sal va taste and let me eat the
rest of the peach!”
Later, however, env ous fellow court ers, spread ng word that M
Tzu-hs a was actually dev ous and arrogant, succeeded n damag ng
h s reputat on; the ruler came to see h s act ons n a new l ght. “Th s
fellow once rode n my coach under pretense of my order,” he told
the court ers angr ly, “and another t me he gave me a half-eaten
peach.” For the same act ons that had charmed the ruler when he
was the favor te, M Tzu-hs a now had to suffer the penalt es. The
fate of h s feet depended solely on the strength of h s reputat on.
In the beg nn ng, you must work to establ sh a reputat on for one
outstand ng qual ty, whether generos ty or honesty or cunn ng. Th s
qual ty sets you apart and gets other people to talk about you. You
then make your reputat on known to as many people as poss ble
(subtly, though; take care to bu ld slowly, and w th a f rm foundat on),
and watch as t spreads l ke w ldf re.
A sol d reputat on ncreases your presence and exaggerates your
strengths w thout your hav ng to spend much energy. It can also
create an aura around you that w ll nst ll respect, even fear. In the
f ght ng n the North Afr can desert dur ng World War II, the German
general Erw n Rommel had a reputat on for cunn ng and for
decept ve maneuver ng that struck terror nto everyone who faced
h m. Even when h s forces were depleted, and when Br t sh tanks
outnumbered h s by f ve to one, ent re c t es would be evacuated at
the news of h s approach.
As they say, your reputat on nev tably precedes you, and f t
nsp res respect, a lot of your work s done for you before you arr ve
on the scene, or utter a s ngle word.
Your success seems dest ned by your past tr umphs. Much of the
success of Henry K ss nger’s shuttle d plomacy rested on h s
reputat on for ron ng out d fferences; no one wanted to be seen as
so unreasonable that K ss nger could not sway h m. A peace treaty
seemed a fa t accompl as soon as K ss nger’s name became
nvolved n the negot at ons.
Make your reputat on s mple and base t on one sterl ng qual ty.
Th s s ngle qual ty—eff c ency, say, or seduct veness—becomes a
k nd of call ng card that announces your presence and places others
under a spell. A reputat on for honesty w ll allow you to pract ce all
manner of decept on. Casanova used h s reputat on as a great
seducer to pave the way for h s future conquests; women who had
heard of h s powers became mmensely cur ous, and wanted to
d scover for themselves what had made h m so romant cally
successful.
Perhaps you have already sta ned your reputat on, so that you are
prevented from establ sh ng a new one. In such cases t s w se to
assoc ate w th someone whose mage counteracts your own, us ng
the r good name to wh tewash and elevate yours. It s hard, for
example, to erase a reputat on for d shonesty by yourself; but a
paragon of honesty can help. When P. T. Barnum wanted to clean up
a reputat on for promot ng vulgar enterta nment, he brought the
s nger Jenny L nd over from Europe. She had a stellar, h gh-class
reputat on, and the Amer can tour Barnum sponsored for her greatly
enhanced h s own mage. S m larly the great robber barons of
n neteenth-century Amer ca were long unable to r d themselves of a
reputat on for cruelty and mean-sp r tedness. Only when they began
collect ng art, so that the names of Morgan and Fr ck became
permanently assoc ated w th those of da V nc and Rembrandt, were
they able to soften the r unpleasant mage.
Reputat on s a treasure to be carefully collected and hoarded.
Espec ally when you are f rst establ sh ng t, you must protect t
str ctly, ant c pat ng all attacks on t. Once t s sol d, do not let
yourself get angry or defens ve at the slanderous comments of your
enem es—that reveals nsecur ty, not conf dence n your reputat on.
Take the h gh road nstead, and never appear desperate n your self-
defense. On the other hand, an attack on another man’s reputat on s
a potent weapon, part cularly when you have less power than he
does. He has much more to lose n such a battle, and your own thus-
far-small reputat on g ves h m a small target when he tr es to return
your f re. Barnum used such campa gns to great effect n h s early
career. But th s tact c must be pract ced w th sk ll; you must not seem
to engage n petty vengeance. If you do not break your enemy’s
reputat on cleverly, you w ll nadvertently ru n your own.
 Thomas Ed son, cons dered the nventor who harnessed
electr c ty, bel eved that a workable system would have to be based
on d rect current (DC). When the Serb an sc ent st N kola Tesla
appeared to have succeeded n creat ng a system based on
alternat ng current (AC), Ed son was fur ous. He determ ned to ru n
Tesla’s reputat on, by mak ng the publ c bel eve that the AC system
was nherently unsafe, and Tesla rrespons ble n promot ng t.
To th s end he captured all k nds of household pets and
electrocuted them to death w th an AC current. When th s wasn’t
enough, n 1890 he got New York State pr son author t es to organ ze
the world’s f rst execut on by electrocut on, us ng an AC current. But
Ed son’s electrocut on exper ments had all been w th small
creatures; the charge was too weak, and the man was only half
k lled. In perhaps the country’s cruelest state-author zed execut on,
the procedure had to be repeated. It was an awful spectacle.
Although, n the long run, t s Ed son’s name that has surv ved, at
the t me h s campa gn damaged h s own reputat on more than
Tesla’s. He backed off. The lesson s s mple—never go too far n
attacks l ke these, for that w ll draw more attent on to your own
vengefulness than to the person you are slander ng. When your own
reputat on s sol d, use subtler tact cs, such as sat re and r d cule, to
weaken your opponent wh le mak ng you out as a charm ng rogue.
The m ghty l on toys w th the mouse that crosses h s path—any other
react on would mar h s fearsome reputat on.
Image:
A M ne Full of
D amonds and Rub es.
You dug for t, you found t,
and your wealth s now assured.
Guard t w th your l fe. Robbers and th eves
w ll appear from all s des. Never take your wealth
for granted, and constantly renew t—t me
w ll d m n sh the jewels’ luster,
and bury them from s ght.
Author ty: Therefore I should w sh our court er to bolster up h s
nherent worth w th sk ll and cunn ng, and ensure that whenever he
has to go where he s a stranger, he s preceded by a good
reputat on.... For the fame wh ch appears to rest on the op n ons of
many fosters a certa n unshakable bel ef n a man’s worth wh ch s
then eas ly strengthened n m nds already thus d sposed and
prepared. (Baldassare Cast gl one, 1478-1529)

REVERSAL

There s no poss ble Reversal. Reputat on s cr t cal; there are no

except ons to th s law. Perhaps, not car ng what others th nk of you,
you ga n a reputat on for nsolence and arrogance, but that can be a
valuable mage n tself—Oscar W lde used t to great advantage.
S nce we must l ve n soc ety and must depend on the op n ons of
others, there s noth ng to be ga ned by neglect ng your reputat on.
By not car ng how you are perce ved, you let others dec de th s for
you. Be the master of your fate, and also of your reputat on.
 LAW 6

COURT ATTENTION AT ALL COST

JUDGMENT
Everyth ng s judged by ts appearance; what s unseen counts for
noth ng. Never let yourself get lost n the crowd, then, or bur ed n
obl v on. Stand out. Be consp cuous, at all cost. Make yourself a
magnet of attent on by appear ng larger, more colorful, more
myster ous than the bland and t m d masses.
 PART I: SURROUND YOUR NAME WITH THE
SENSATIONAL AND SCANDALOUS

Draw attent on to yourself by creat ng an unforgettable, even

controvers al mage. Court scandal. Do anyth ng to make yourself
seem larger than l fe and sh ne more br ghtly than those around you.
Make no d st nct on between k nds of attent on—notor ety of any sort
w ll br ng you power. Better to be slandered and attacked than
gnored.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

P. T. Barnum, Amer ca’s prem er n neteenth-century showman,

started h s career as an ass stant to the owner of a c rcus, Aaron
Turner. In 1836 the c rcus stopped n Annapol s, Maryland, for a
ser es of performances. On the morn ng of open ng day, Barnum
took a stroll through town, wear ng a new black su t. People started
to follow h m. Someone n the gather ng crowd shouted out that he
was the Reverend Ephra m K. Avery, nfamous as a man acqu tted of
the charge of murder but st ll bel eved gu lty by most Amer cans. The
angry mob tore off Barnum’s su t and was ready to lynch h m. After
desperate appeals, Barnum f nally conv nced them to follow h m to
the c rcus, where he could ver fy h s dent ty.
THE WASP AND THE PRINCE
A wasp named P n Ta l was long n quest of some deed that would
make h m forever famous. So one day he entered the k rrg’s palace
and stung the l ttle pr nce, who was n bed. The pr nce awoke w th
loud cr es. The k ng and h s court ers rushed n to see what had
happened. The pr nce was yell ng as the wasp stung h m aga n and
aga n. The court ers tr ed to catch the wasp, and each n turn was
stung. The whole royal household rushed n, the news soon spread,
and people flocked to the palace. The c ty was n an uproar, all
bus ness suspended. Sa d the wasp to tself, before t exp red from
ts efforts, “A name w thout fame s l ke f re w thout flame. There s
noth ng l ke attract ng not ce at any cost.”
INDIAN FABLE
Once there, old Turner conf rmed that th s was all a pract cal joke
—he h mself had spread the rumor that Barnum was Avery. The
crowd d spersed, but Barnum, who had nearly been k lled, was not
amused. He wanted to know what could have nduced h s boss to
play such a tr ck. “My dear Mr. Barnum,” Turner repl ed, “ t was all for
our good. Remember, all we need to ensure success s notor ety.”
And ndeed everyone n town was talk ng about the joke, and the
c rcus was packed that n ght and every n ght t stayed n Annapol s.
Barnum had learned a lesson he would never forget.
Barnum’s f rst b g venture of h s own was the Amer can Museum—
a collect on of cur os t es, located n New York. One day a beggar
approached Barnum n the street. Instead of g v ng h m money,
Barnum dec ded to employ h m. Tak ng h m back to the museum, he
gave the man f ve br cks and told h m to make a slow c rcu t of
several blocks. At certa n po nts he was to lay down a br ck on the
s dewalk, always keep ng one br ck n hand. On the return journey he
was to replace each br ck on the street w th the one he held.
Meanwh le he was to rema n ser ous of countenance and to answer
no quest ons. Once back at the museum, he was to enter, walk
around ns de, then leave through the back door and make the same
br cklay ng c rcu t aga n.
On the man’s f rst walk through the streets, several hundred
people watched h s myster ous movements. By h s fourth c rcu t,
onlookers swarmed around h m, debat ng what he was do ng. Every
t me he entered the museum he was followed by people who bought
t ckets to keep watch ng h m. Many of them were d stracted by the
museum’s collect ons, and stayed ns de. By the end of the f rst day,
the br ck man had drawn over a thousand people nto the museum.
A few days later the pol ce ordered h m to cease and des st from h s
walks—the crowds were block ng traff c. The br cklay ng stopped but
thousands of New Yorkers had entered the museum, and many of
those had become P. T. Barnum converts.
Even when I’m ra led at, I get my quota of renown.

PIETRO ARETINO, 1492-1556

Barnum would put a band of mus c ans on a balcony overlook ng
the street, beneath a huge banner procla m ng FREE MUSIC FOR
THE MILLIONS. What generos ty, New Yorkers thought, and they
flocked to hear the free concerts. But Barnum took pa ns to h re the
worst mus c ans he could f nd, and soon after the band struck up,
people would hurry to buy t ckets to the museum, where they would
be out of earshot of the band’s no se, and of the boo ng of the crowd.

THE COURT ARTIST

A work that was voluntar ly presented to a pr nce was bound to seem
n some way spec al. The art st h mself m ght also try to attract the
attent on of the court through h s behav our. In Vasar ’s judgment
Sodoma was “well known both for h s personal eccentr c t es and for
h s reputat on as a good pa nter.” Because Pope Leo X “found
pleasure n such strange, hare-bra ned nd v duals,” he made
Sodoma a kn ght, caus ng the art st to go completely out of h s m nd.
Van Mander found t odd that the products of Cornel s Ketel’s
exper ments n mouth and foot pa nt ng were bought by notable
persons “because of the r odd ty,” yet Ketel was only add ng a
var at on to s m lar exper ments by T t an, Ugo da Carp and Palma
G ovane, who, accord ng to Bosch n pa nted w th the r f ngers
“because they w shed to m tate the method used by the Supreme
Creator. ” Van Mander reports that Gossaert attracted the attent on
of Emperor Charles V by wear ng a fantast c paper costume. In
do ng so he was adopt ng the tact cs used by D nocrates, who, n
order to ga n access to Alexander the Great, s sa d to have
appeared d sgu sed as the naked Hercules when the monarch was
s tt ng n judgment.
THE COURT ARTIST, MARTIN WARNKE, 1993
One of the f rst odd t es Barnum toured around the country was
Jo ce Heth, a woman he cla med was 161 years old, and whom he
advert sed as a slave who had once been George Wash ngton’s
nurse. After several months the crowds began to dw ndle, so
Barnum sent an anonymous letter to the papers, cla m ng that Heth
was a clever fraud. “Jo ce Heth,” he wrote, “ s not a human be ng but
an automaton, made up of whalebone, nd a-rubber, and numberless
spr ngs.” Those who had not bothered to see her before were
mmed ately cur ous, and those who had already seen her pa d to
see her aga n, to f nd out whether the rumor that she was a robot
was true.
In 1842, Barnum purchased the carcass of what was purported to
be a merma d. Th s creature resembled a monkey w th the body of a
f sh, but the head and body were perfectly jo ned— t was truly a
wonder. After some research Barnum d scovered that the creature
had been expertly put together n Japan, where the hoax had caused
qu te a st r.
He nevertheless planted art cles n newspapers around the
country cla m ng the capture of a merma d n the F j Islands. He also
sent the papers woodcut pr nts of pa nt ngs show ng merma ds. By
the t me he showed the spec men n h s museum, a nat onal debate
had been sparked over the ex stence of these myth cal creatures. A
few months before Barnum’s campa gn, no one had cared or even
known about merma ds; now everyone was talk ng about them as f
they were real. Crowds flocked n record numbers to see the F j
Merma d, and to hear debates on the subject.
A few years later, Barnum toured Europe w th General Tom
Thumb, a f ve-year-old dwarf from Connect cut whom Barnum
cla med was an eleven-year-old Engl sh boy, and whom he had
tra ned to do many remarkable acts. Dur ng th s tour Barnum’s name
attracted such attent on that Queen V ctor a, that paragon of sobr ety,
requested a pr vate aud ence w th h m and h s talented dwarf at
Buck ngham Palace. The Engl sh press may have r d culed Barnum,
but V ctor a was royally enterta ned by h m, and respected h m ever
after.

Interpretat on

Barnum understood the fundamental truth about attract ng attent on:

Once people’s eyes are on you, you have a spec al leg t macy. For
Barnum, creat ng nterest meant creat ng a crowd; as he later wrote,
“Every crowd has a s lver l n ng.” And crowds tend to act n
conjunct on. If one person stops to see your beggarman lay ng br cks
n the street, more w ll do the same. They w ll gather l ke dust
bunn es. Then, g ven a gentle push, they w ll enter your museum or
watch your show. To create a crowd you have to do someth ng
d fferent and odd. Any k nd of cur os ty w ll serve the purpose, for
crowds are magnet cally attracted by the unusual and nexpl cable.
And once you have the r attent on, never let t go. If t veers toward
other people, t does so at your expense. Barnum would ruthlessly
suck attent on from h s compet tors, know ng what a valuable
commod ty t s.
At the beg nn ng of your r se to the top, then, spend all your energy
on attract ng attent on. Most mportant: The qual ty of the attent on s
rrelevant. No matter how badly h s shows were rev ewed, or how
slanderously personal were the attacks on h s hoaxes, Barnum
would never compla n. If a newspaper cr t c rev led h m part cularly
badly, n fact, he made sure to nv te the man to an open ng and to
g ve h m the best seat n the house. He would even wr te anonymous
attacks on h s own work, just to keep h s name n the papers. From
Barnum’s vantage, attent on—whether negat ve or pos t ve—was the
ma n ngred ent of h s success. The worst fate n the world for a man
who yearns fame, glory, and, of course, power s to be gnored.
If the court er happens to engage n arms n some publ c spectacle
such as joust ng ... he w ll ensure that the horse he has s beaut fully
capar soned, that he h mself s su tably att red, w th appropr ate
 mottoes and ngen ous dev ces to attract the eyes of the onlookers
n h s d rect on as surely as the lodestone attracts ron.
Baldassare Cast ghone, 1478-1529

KEYS TO POWER

Burn ng more br ghtly than those around you s a sk ll that no one s

born w th. You have to learn to attract attent on, “as surely as the
lodestone attracts ron.” At the start of your career, you must attach
your name and reputat on to a qual ty, an mage, that sets you apart
from other people. Th s mage can be someth ng l ke a character st c
style of dress, or a personal ty qu rk that amuses people and gets
talked about. Once the mage s establ shed, you have an
appearance, a place n the sky for your star.
It s a common m stake to mag ne that th s pecul ar appearance of
yours should not be controvers al, that to be attacked s somehow
bad. Noth ng could be further from the truth. To avo d be ng a flash n
the pan, and hav ng your notor ety ecl psed by another, you must not
d scr m nate between d fferent types of attent on; n the end, every
k nd w ll work n your favor. Barnum, we have seen, welcomed
personal attacks and felt no need to defend h mself. He del berately
courted the mage of be ng a humbug.
The court of Lou s XIV conta ned many talented wr ters, art sts,
great beaut es, and men and women of mpeccable v rtue, but no
one was more talked about than the s ngular Duc de Lauzun. The
duke was short, almost dwarf sh, and he was prone to the most
nsolent k nds of behav or—he slept w th the k ng’s m stress, and
openly nsulted not only other court ers but the k ng h mself. Lou s,
however, was so begu led by the duke’s eccentr c t es that he could
not bear h s absences from the court. It was s mple: The
strangeness of the duke’s character attracted attent on. Once people
were enthralled by h m, they wanted h m around at any cost.
 Soc ety craves larger-than-l fe f gures, people who stand above
the general med ocr ty. Never be afra d, then, of the qual t es that set
you apart and draw attent on to you. Court controversy, even
scandal. It s better to be attacked, even slandered, than gnored. All
profess ons are ruled by th s law, and all profess onals must have a
b t of the showman about them.
The great sc ent st Thomas Ed son knew that to ra se money he
had to rema n n the publ c eye at any cost. Almost as mportant as
the nvent ons themselves was how he presented them to the publ c
and courted attent on.
Ed son would des gn v sually dazzl ng exper ments to d splay h s
d scover es w th electr c ty. He would talk of future nvent ons that
seemed fantast c at the t me—robots, and mach nes that could
photograph thought—and that he had no ntent on of wast ng h s
energy on, but that made the publ c talk about h m. He d d everyth ng
he could to make sure that he rece ved more attent on than h s great
r val N kola Tesla, who may actually have been more br ll ant than he
was but whose name was far less known. In 1915, t was rumored
that Ed son and Tesla would be jo nt rec p ents of that year’s Nobel
Pr ze n phys cs. The pr ze was eventually g ven to a pa r of Engl sh
phys c sts; only later was t d scovered that the pr ze comm ttee had
actually approached Ed son, but he had turned them down, refus ng
to share the pr ze w th Tesla. By that t me h s fame was more secure
than Tesla’s, and he thought t better to refuse the honor than to
allow h s r val the attent on that would have come even from shar ng
the pr ze.
If you f nd yourself n a lowly pos t on that offers l ttle opportun ty
for you to draw attent on, an effect ve tr ck s to attack the most
v s ble, most famous, most powerful person you can f nd. When
P etro Aret no, a young Roman servant boy of the early s xteenth
century, wanted to get attent on as a wr ter of verses, he dec ded to
publ sh a ser es of sat r cal poems r d cul ng the pope and h s
affect on for a pet elephant. The attack put Aret no n the publ c eye
mmed ately. A slanderous attack on a person n a pos t on of power
would have a s m lar effect. Remember, however, to use such tact cs
spar ngly after you have the publ c’s attent on, when the act can
wear th n.
Once n the l mel ght you must constantly renew t by adapt ng and
vary ng your method of court ng attent on. If you don’t, the publ c w ll
grow t red, w ll take you for granted, and w ll move on to a newer
star. The game requ res constant v g lance and creat v ty. Pablo
P casso never allowed h mself to fade nto the background; f h s
name became too attached to a part cular style, he would
del berately upset the publ c w th a new ser es of pa nt ngs that went
aga nst all expectat ons. Better to create someth ng ugly and
d sturb ng, he bel eved, than to let v ewers grow too fam l ar w th h s
work. Understand: People feel super or to the person whose act ons
they can pred ct. If you show them who s n control by play ng
aga nst the r expectat ons, you both ga n the r respect and t ghten
your hold on the r fleet ng attent on.
Image:
The L mel ght. The
actor who steps nto th s br l
l ant l ght atta ns a he ghtened
presence. All eyes are on h m. There
s room for only one actor at a t me n
the l mel ght’s narrow beam; do what
ever t takes to make yourself ts focus.
Make your gestures so large, amus
ng, and scandalous that the
l ght stays on you wh le the
other actors are left n
the shadows.

Author ty: Be ostentat ous and be seen.... What s not seen s as

though t d d not ex st.... It was l ght that f rst caused all creat on to
sh ne forth. D splay f lls up many blanks, covers up def c enc es, and
g ves everyth ng a second l fe, espec ally when t s backed by
genu ne mer t. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)
 PART II: CREATE AN AIR OF MYSTERY

In a world grow ng ncreas ngly banal and fam l ar, what seems
en gmat c nstantly draws attent on. Never make t too clear what you
are do ng or about to do. Do not show all your cards. An a r of
mystery he ghtens your presence; t also creates ant c pat on—
everyone w ll be watch ng you to see what happens next. Use
mystery to begu le, seduce, even fr ghten.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

Beg nn ng n 1905, rumors started to spread throughout Par s of a

young Or ental g rl who danced n a pr vate home, wrapped n ve ls
that she gradually d scarded. A local journal st who had seen her
danc ng reported that “a woman from the Far East had come to
Europe laden w th perfume and jewels, to ntroduce some of the
r chness of the Or ental colour and l fe nto the sat ated soc ety of
European c t es.” Soon everyone knew the dancer’s name: Mata
Har .
Early that year, n the w nter, small and select aud ences would
gather n a salon f lled w th Ind an statues and other rel cs wh le an
orchestra played mus c nsp red by H ndu and Javanese melod es.
After keep ng the aud ence wa t ng and wonder ng, Mata Har would
suddenly appear, n a startl ng costume: a wh te cotton brass ere
covered w th Ind an-type jewels; jeweled bands at the wa st
support ng a sarong that revealed as much as t concealed; bracelets
up the arms. Then Mata Har would dance, n a style no one n
France had seen before, her whole body sway ng as f she were n a
trance. She told her exc ted and cur ous aud ence that her dances
told stor es from Ind an mythology and Javanese folktales. Soon the
cream of Par s, and ambassadors from far-off lands, were compet ng
for nv tat ons to the salon, where t was rumored that Mata Har was
actually perform ng sacred dances n the nude.
The publ c wanted to know more about her. She told journal sts
that she was actually Dutch n or g n, but had grown up on the sland
of Java. She would also talk about t me spent n Ind a, how she had
learned sacred H ndu dances there, and how Ind an women “can
shoot stra ght, r de horseback, and are capable of do ng logar thms
and talk ph losophy.” By the summer of 1905, although few Par s ans
had actually seen Mata Har dance, her name was on everyone’s
l ps.
As Mata Har gave more nterv ews, the story of her or g ns kept
chang ng: She had grown up n Ind a, her grandmother was the
daughter of a Javanese pr ncess, she had l ved on the sland of
Sumatra where she had spent her t me “horseback r d ng, gun n
hand, and r sk ng her l fe.” No one knew anyth ng certa n about her,
but journal sts d d not m nd these changes n her b ography. They
compared her to an Ind an goddess, a creature from the pages of
Baudela re—whatever the r mag nat on wanted to see n th s
myster ous woman from the East.
In August of 1905, Mata Har performed for the f rst t me n publ c.
Crowds throng ng to see her on open ng n ght caused a r ot. She had
now become a cult f gure, spawn ng many m tat ons. One rev ewer
wrote, “Mata Har person f es all the poetry of Ind a, ts myst c sm, ts
voluptuousness, ts hypnot z ng charm.” Another noted, “If Ind a
possesses such unexpected treasures, then all Frenchmen w ll
em grate to the shores of the Ganges.”
Soon the fame of Mata Har and her sacred Ind an dances spread
beyond Par s. She was nv ted to Berl n, V enna, M lan. Over the next
few years she performed throughout Europe, m xed w th the h ghest
soc al c rcles, and earned an ncome that gave her an ndependence
rarely enjoyed by a woman of the per od. Then, near the end of
World War I, she was arrested n France, tr ed, conv cted, and f nally
executed as a German spy. Only dur ng the tr al d d the truth come
out: Mata Har was not from Java or Ind a, had not grown up n the
Or ent, d d not have a drop of Eastern blood n her body. Her real
name was Margaretha Zelle, and she came from the stol d northern
prov nce of Fr esland, Holland.

Interpretat on

When Margaretha Zelle arr ved n Par s, n 1904, she had half a
franc n her pocket. She was one of the thousands of beaut ful young
g rls who flocked to Par s every year, tak ng work as art sts’ models,
n ghtclub dancers, or vaudev lle performers at the Fol es Bergère.
After a few years they would nev tably be replaced by younger g rls,
and would often end up on the streets, turn ng to prost tut on, or else
return ng to the town they came from, older and chastened.
Zelle had h gher amb t ons. She had no dance exper ence and had
never performed n the theater, but as a young g rl she had traveled
w th her fam ly and had w tnessed local dances n Java and
Sumatra. Zelle clearly understood that what was mportant n her act
was not the dance tself, or even her face or f gure, but her ab l ty to
create an a r of mystery about herself. The mystery she created lay
not just n her danc ng, or her costumes, or the stor es she would tell,
or her endless l es about her or g ns; t lay n an atmosphere
envelop ng everyth ng she d d. There was noth ng you could say for
sure about her—she was always chang ng, always surpr s ng her
aud ence w th new costumes, new dances, new stor es. Th s a r of
mystery left the publ c always want ng to know more, always
wonder ng about her next move. Mata Har was no more beaut ful
than many of the other young g rls who came to Par s, and she was
not a part cularly good dancer. What separated her from the mass,
what attracted and held the publ c’s attent on and made her famous
and wealthy, was her mystery. People are enthralled by mystery;
because t nv tes constant nterpretat on, they never t re of t. The
myster ous cannot be grasped. And what cannot be se zed and
consumed creates power.
 KEYS TO POWER

In the past, the world was f lled w th the terr fy ng and unknowable—
d seases, d sasters, capr c ous despots, the mystery of death tself.
What we could not understand we re mag ned as myths and sp r ts.
Over the centur es, though, we have managed, through sc ence and
reason, to llum nate the darkness; what was myster ous and
forb dd ng has grown fam l ar and comfortable. Yet th s l ght has a
pr ce: n a world that s ever more banal, that has had ts mystery and
myth squeezed out of t, we secretly crave en gmas, people or th ngs
that cannot be nstantly nterpreted, se zed, and consumed.
That s the power of the myster ous: It nv tes layers of
nterpretat on, exc tes our mag nat on, seduces us nto bel ev ng that
t conceals someth ng marvelous. The world has become so fam l ar
and ts nhab tants so pred ctable that what wraps tself n mystery
w ll almost always draw the l mel ght to t and make us watch t.
Do not mag ne that to create an a r of mystery you have to be
grand and awe- nsp r ng. Mystery that s woven nto your day-to-day
demeanor, and s subtle, has that much more power to fasc nate and
attract attent on. Remember: Most people are upfront, can be read
l ke an open book, take l ttle care to control the r words or mage, and
are hopelessly pred ctable. By s mply hold ng back, keep ng s lent,
occas onally utter ng amb guous phrases, del berately appear ng
ncons stent, and act ng odd n the subtlest of ways, you w ll emanate
an aura of mystery. The people around you w ll then magn fy that
aura by constantly try ng to nterpret you.
Both art sts and con art sts understand the v tal l nk between be ng
myster ous and attract ng nterest. Count V ctor Lust g, the ar stocrat
of sw ndlers, played the game to perfect on. He was always do ng
th ngs that were d fferent, or seemed to make no sense. He would
show up at the best hotels n a l mo dr ven by a Japanese chauffeur;
no one had ever seen a Japanese chauffeur before, so th s seemed
exot c and strange. Lust g would dress n the most expens ve
cloth ng, but always w th someth ng—a medal, a flower, an armband
—out of place, at least n convent onal terms. Th s was seen not as
tasteless but as odd and ntr gu ng. In hotels he would be seen
rece v ng telegrams at all hours, one after the other, brought to h m
by h s Japanese chauffeur—telegrams he would tear up w th utter
nonchalance. (In fact they were fakes, completely blank.) He would
s t alone n the d n ng room, read ng a large and mpress ve-look ng
book, sm l ng at people yet rema n ng aloof. W th n a few days, of
course, the ent re hotel would be abuzz w th nterest n th s strange
man.
All th s attent on allowed Lust g to lure suckers n w th ease. They
would beg for h s conf dence and h s company. Everyone wanted to
be seen w th th s myster ous ar stocrat. And n the presence of th s
d stract ng en gma, they wouldn’t even not ce that they were be ng
robbed bl nd.
An a r of mystery can make the med ocre appear ntell gent and
profound. It made Mata Har , a woman of average appearance and
ntell gence, seem l ke a goddess, and her danc ng d v nely nsp red.
An a r of mystery about an art st makes h s or her artwork
mmed ately more ntr gu ng, a tr ck Marcel Duchamp played to great
effect. It s all very easy to do—say l ttle about your work, tease and
t t llate w th allur ng, even contrad ctory comments, then stand back
and let others try to make sense of t all.
Myster ous people put others n a k nd of nfer or pos t on—that of
try ng to f gure them out. To degrees that they can control, they also
el c t the fear surround ng anyth ng uncerta n or unknown. All great
leaders know that an aura of mystery draws attent on to them and
creates an nt m dat ng presence. Mao Tse-tung, for example,
cleverly cult vated an en gmat c mage; he had no worr es about
seem ng ncons stent or contrad ct ng h mself—the very
contrad ctor ness of h s act ons and words meant that he always had
the upper hand. No one, not even h s own w fe, ever felt they
understood h m, and he therefore seemed larger than l fe. Th s also
meant that the publ c pa d constant attent on to h m, ever anx ous to
w tness h s next move.
If your soc al pos t on prevents you from completely wrapp ng your
act ons n mystery, you must at least learn to make yourself less
obv ous. Every now and then, act n a way that does not mesh w th
other people’s percept on of you. Th s way you keep those around
you on the defens ve, el c t ng the k nd of attent on that makes you
powerful. Done r ght, the creat on of en gma can also draw the k nd
of attent on that str kes terror nto your enemy.
Dur ng the Second Pun c War (219-202 B.C.), the great
Carthag n an general Hann bal was wreak ng havoc n h s march on
Rome. Hann bal was known for h s cleverness and dupl c ty.
Under h s leadersh p Carthage’s army, though smaller than those
of the Romans, had constantly outmaneuvered them. On one
occas on, though, Hann bal’s scouts made a horr ble blunder, lead ng
h s troops nto a marshy terra n w th the sea at the r back. The
Roman army blocked the mounta n passes that led nland, and ts
general, Fab us, was ecstat c—at last he had Hann bal trapped.
Post ng h s best sentr es on the passes, he worked on a plan to
destroy Hann bal’s forces. But n the m ddle of the n ght, the sentr es
looked down to see a myster ous s ght: A huge process on of l ghts
was head ng up the mounta n. Thousands and thousands of l ghts. If
th s was Hann bal’s army, t had suddenly grown a hundredfold.
The sentr es argued heatedly about what th s could mean:
Re nforcements from the sea? Troops that had been h dden n the
area? Ghosts? No explanat on made sense.
As they watched, f res broke out all over the mounta n, and a
horr ble no se dr fted up to them from below, l ke the blow ng of a
m ll on horns. Demons, they thought. The sentr es, the bravest and
most sens ble n the Roman army, fled the r posts n a pan c.
By the next day, Hann bal had escaped from the marshland. What
was h s tr ck? Had he really conjured up demons? Actually what he
had done was order bundles of tw gs to be fastened to the horns of
the thousands of oxen that traveled w th h s troops as beasts of
burden. The tw gs were then l t, g v ng the mpress on of the torches
of a vast army head ng up the mounta n. When the flames burned
down to the oxen’s sk n, they stampeded n all d rect ons, bellow ng
l ke mad and sett ng f res all over the mounta ns de. The key to th s
dev ce’s success was not the torches, the f res, or the no ses n
themselves, however, but the fact that Hann bal had created a
puzzle that capt vated the sentr es’ attent on and gradually terr f ed
them. From the mounta ntop there was no way to expla n th s b zarre
s ght. If the sentr es could have expla ned t they would have stayed
at the r posts.
If you f nd yourself trapped, cornered, and on the defens ve n
some s tuat on, try a s mple exper ment: Do someth ng that cannot
be eas ly expla ned or nterpreted. Choose a s mple act on, but carry
t out n a way that unsettles your opponent, a way w th many
poss ble nterpretat ons, mak ng your ntent ons obscure. Don’t just
be unpred ctable (although th s tact c too can be successful—see
Law 17); l ke Hann bal, create a scene that cannot be read. There
w ll seem to be no method to your madness, no rhyme or reason, no
s ngle explanat on. If you do th s r ght, you w ll nsp re fear and
trembl ng and the sentr es w ll abandon the r posts. Call t the
“fe gned madness of Hamlet” tact c, for Hamlet uses t to great effect
n Shakespeare’s play, fr ghten ng h s stepfather Claud us through
the mystery of h s behav or. The myster ous makes your forces seem
larger, your power more terr fy ng.
Image: The Dance of
the Ve ls—the ve ls
envelop the dancer.
What they reveal
causes exc tement.
What they conceal
he ghtens nterest. The
essence of mystery.

Author ty: If you do not declare yourself mmed ately, you arouse
expectat on.... M x a l ttle mystery w th everyth ng, and the very
mystery st rs up venerat on. And when you expla n, be not too
expl c t.... In th s manner you m tate the D v ne way when you cause
men to wonder and watch. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

In the beg nn ng of your r se to the top, you must attract attent on at

all cost, but as you r se h gher you must constantly adapt. Never
wear the publ c out w th the same tact c. An a r of mystery works
wonders for those who need to develop an aura of power and get
themselves not ced, but t must seem measured and under control.
Mata Har went too far w th her fabr cat ons; although the accusat on
that she was a spy was false, at the t me t was a reasonable
presumpt on because all her l es made her seem susp c ous and
nefar ous. Do not let your a r of mystery be slowly transformed nto a
reputat on for dece t. The mystery you create must seem a game,
playful and unthreaten ng. Recogn ze when t goes too far, and pull
back.
There are t mes when the need for attent on must be deferred, and
when scandal and notor ety are the last th ngs you want to create.
The attent on you attract must never offend or challenge the
reputat on of those above you—not, at any rate, f they are secure.
You w ll seem not only paltry but desperate by compar son. There s
an art to know ng when to draw not ce and when to w thdraw.
Lola Montez was one of the great pract t oners of the art of
attract ng attent on. She managed to r se from a m ddle-class Ir sh
background to be ng the lover of Franz L szt and then the m stress
and pol t cal adv ser of K ng Ludw g of Bavar a. In her later years,
though, she lost her sense of proport on.
In London n 1850 there was to be a performance of
Shakespeare’s Macbeth featur ng the greatest actor of the t me,
Charles John Kean. Everyone of consequence n Engl sh soc ety
was to be there; t was rumored that even Queen V ctor a and Pr nce
Albert were to make a publ c appearance. The custom of the per od
demanded that everyone be seated before the queen arr ved. So the
aud ence got there a l ttle early, and when the queen entered her
royal box, they observed the convent on of stand ng up and
applaud ng her. The royal couple wa ted, then bowed. Everyone sat
down and the l ghts were d mmed. Then, suddenly, all eyes turned to
a box oppos te Queen V ctor a’s: A woman appeared from the
shadows, tak ng her seat later than the queen. It was Lola Montez.
She wore a d amond t ara on her dark ha r and a long fur coat over
her shoulders. People wh spered n amazement as the erm ne cloak
was dropped to reveal a low-necked gown of cr mson velvet. By
turn ng the r heads, the aud ence could see that the royal couple
del berately avo ded look ng at Lola’s box. They followed V ctor a’s
example, and for the rest of the even ng Lola Montez was gnored.
After that even ng no one n fash onable soc ety dared to be seen
w th her. All her magnet c powers were reversed. People would flee
her s ght. Her future n England was f n shed.
Never appear overly greedy for attent on, then, for t s gnals
nsecur ty, and nsecur ty dr ves power away. Understand that there
are t mes when t s not n your nterest to be the center of attent on.
When n the presence of a k ng or queen, for nstance, or the
equ valent thereof, bow and retreat to the shadows; never compete.
 LAW 7

GET OTHERS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU, BUT

ALWAYS TAKE THE CREDIT

JUDGMENT
Use the w sdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further
your own cause. Not only w ll such ass stance save you valuable
t me and energy, t w ll g ve you a godl ke aura of eff c ency and
speed. In the end your helpers w ll be forgotten and you w ll be
remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.

TRANSGRESSION AND OBSERVANCE OF THE

LAW

In 1883 a young Serb an sc ent st named N kola Tesla was work ng

for the European d v s on of the Cont nental Ed son Company. He
was a br ll ant nventor, and Charles Batchelor, a plant manager and
a personal fr end of Thomas Ed son, persuaded h m he should seek
h s fortune n Amer ca, g v ng h m a letter of ntroduct on to Ed son
h mself. So began a l fe of woe and tr bulat on that lasted unt l Tesla’s
death.

IIII TORTOISE THE LELP AND THE HIPPOPOI \\1]

One day the torto se met the elephant, who trumpeted, “Out of my
way, you weakl ng—I m ght step on you!” The torto se was not afra d
and stayed where he was, so the elephant stepped on h m, but could
not crush h m. “Do not boast, Mr. Elephant, I am as strong as you
are!” sa d the torto se, but the elephant just laughed. So the torto se
asked h m to come to h s h ll the next morn ng. The next day, before
sunr se, the torto se ran down the h ll to the r ver, where he met the
h ppopotamus, who was just on h s way back nto the water after h s
nocturnal feed ng. “Mr H ppo! Shall we have a tug-of-war? I bet I’m
as strong as you are!” sa d the torto se. The h ppopotamus laughed
at th s r d culous dea, but agreed. The torto se produced a long rope
and told the h ppo to hold t n h s mouth unt l the torto se shouted
“Hey!” Then the torto se ran back up the h ll where he found the
elephant, who was gett ng mpat ent. He gave the elephant the other
end of the rope and sa d, “When I say ‘Hey!’ pull, and you’ll.see
wh ch of us s the strongest. ”Then he ran halfway back down the h ll,
to a place where he couldn’t be seen, and shouted, “Hey!” The
elephant and the h ppopotamus pulled and pulled, but ne ther could
budge the other-they were of equal strength. They both agreed that
the torto se was as strong as they were. Never do what others can
do for you. The torto se let others do the work for h m wh le he got
the cred t.
ZAIREAN FABLE
When Tesla met Ed son n New York, the famous nventor h red
h m on the spot. Tesla worked e ghteen-hour days, f nd ng ways to
mprove the pr m t ve Ed son dynamos. F nally he offered to redes gn
them completely. To Ed son th s seemed a monumental task that
could last years w thout pay ng off, but he told Tesla, “There’s f fty
thousand dollars n t for you— f you can do t.” Tesla labored day
and n ght on the project and after only a year he produced a greatly
mproved vers on of the dynamo, complete w th automat c controls.
He went to Ed son to break the good news and rece ve h s $50,000.
Ed son was pleased w th the mprovement, for wh ch he and h s
company would take cred t, but when t came to the ssue of the
money he told the young Serb, “Tesla, you don’t understand our
Amer can humor!,” and offered a small ra se nstead.
Tesla’s obsess on was to create an alternat ng-current system
(AC) of electr c ty. Ed son bel eved n the d rect-current system (DC),
and not only refused to support Tesla’s research but later d d all he
could to sabotage h m. Tesla turned to the great P ttsburgh magnate
George West nghouse, who had started h s own electr c ty company.
West nghouse completely funded Tesla’s research and offered h m a
generous royalty agreement on future prof ts. The AC system Tesla
developed s st ll the standard today—but after patents were f led n
h s name, other sc ent sts came forward to take cred t for the
nvent on, cla m ng that they had la d the groundwork for h m. H s
name was lost n the shuffle, and the publ c came to assoc ate the
nvent on w th West nghouse h mself.
A year later, West nghouse was caught n a takeover b d from J.
P erpont Morgan, who made h m resc nd the generous royalty
contract he had s gned w th Tesla. West nghouse expla ned to the
sc ent st that h s company would not surv ve f t had to pay h m h s
full royalt es; he persuaded Tesla to accept a buyout of h s patents
for $216,000—a large sum, no doubt, but far less than the $12
m ll on they were worth at the t me. The f nanc ers had d vested Tesla
of the r ches, the patents, and essent ally the cred t for the greatest
nvent on of h s career.
The name of Gugl elmo Marcon s forever l nked w th the nvent on
of rad o. But few know that n produc ng h s nvent on—he broadcast
a s gnal across the Engl sh Channel n 1899—Marcon made use of
a patent Tesla had f led n 1897, and that h s work depended on
Tesla’s research. Once aga n Tesla rece ved no money and no
cred t. Tesla nvented an nduct on motor as well as the AC power
system, and he s the real “father of rad o.” Yet none of these
d scover es bear h s name. As an old man, he l ved n poverty.
In 1917, dur ng h s later mpover shed years, Tesla was told he
was to rece ve the Ed son Medal of the Amer can Inst tute of
Electr cal Eng neers. He turned the medal down. “You propose,” he
sa d, “to honor me w th a medal wh ch I could p n upon my coat and
strut for a va n hour before the members of your Inst tute. You would
decorate my body and cont nue to let starve, for fa lure to supply
recogn t on, my m nd and ts creat ve products, wh ch have suppl ed
the foundat on upon wh ch the major port on of your Inst tute ex sts.”
 Interpretat on

Many harbor the llus on that sc ence, deal ng w th facts as t does, s

beyond the petty r valr es that trouble the rest of the world. N kola
Tesla was one of those. He bel eved sc ence had noth ng to do w th
pol t cs, and cla med not to care for fame and r ches. As he grew
older, though, th s ru ned h s sc ent f c work. Not assoc ated w th any
part cular d scovery, he could attract no nvestors to h s many deas.
Wh le he pondered great nvent ons for the future, others stole the
patents he had already developed and got the glory for themselves.
He wanted to do everyth ng on h s own, but merely exhausted and
mpover shed h mself n the process.
Ed son was Tesla’s polar oppos te. He wasn’t actually much of a
sc ent f c th nker or nventor; he once sa d that he had no need to be
a mathemat c an because he could always h re one. That was
Ed son’s ma n method. He was really a bus nessman and publ c st,
spott ng the trends and the opportun t es that were out there, then
h r ng the best n the f eld to do the work for h m. If he had to he
would steal from h s compet tors. Yet h s name s much better known
than Tesla’s, and s assoc ated w th more nvent ons.
To be sure, f the hunter rel es on the secur ty of the carr age, ut l zes
the legs of the s x horses, and makes Wang L ang hold the r re ns,
then he w ll not t re h mself and w ll f nd t easy to overtake sw ft
an mals. Now suppos ng he d scarded the advantage of the carr age,
gave up the useful legs of the horses and the sk ll of Wang L ang,
and al ghted to run after the an mals, then even though h s legs were
as qu ck as Lou Ch ’s, he would not be n t me to overtake the
an mals. In fact, f good horses and strong carr ages are taken nto
use, then mere bond-men and bondwomen w ll be good enough to
catch the an mals.

HAN-FEI-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.

The lesson s twofold: F rst, the cred t for an nvent on or creat on
s as mportant, f not more mportant, than the nvent on tself. You
must secure the cred t for yourself and keep others from steal ng t
away, or from p ggy-back ng on your hard work. To accompl sh th s
you must always be v g lant and ruthless, keep ng your creat on qu et
unt l you can be sure there are no vultures c rcl ng overhead.
Second, learn to take advantage of other people’s work to further
your own cause. T me s prec ous and l fe s short. If you try to do t
all on your own, you run yourself ragged, waste energy, and burn
yourself out. It s far better to conserve your forces, pounce on the
work others have done, and f nd a way to make t your own.
Everybody steals n commerce and ndustry.
I’ve stolen a lot myself.
But I know how to steal.
Thomas Ed son, 1847-1931

KEYS TO POWER

The world of power has the dynam cs of the jungle: There are those
who l ve by hunt ng and k ll ng, and there are also vast numbers of
creatures (hyenas, vultures) who l ve off the hunt ng of others. These
latter, less mag nat ve types are often ncapable of do ng the work
that s essent al for the creat on of power. They understand early on,
though, that f they wa t long enough, they can always f nd another
an mal to do the work for them. Do not be na ve: At th s very
moment, wh le you are slav ng away on some project, there are
vultures c rcl ng above try ng to f gure out a way to surv ve and even
thr ve off your creat v ty. It s useless to compla n about th s, or to
wear yourself ragged w th b tterness, as Tesla d d. Better to protect
yourself and jo n the game. Once you have establ shed a power
base, become a vulture yourself, and save yourself a lot of t me and
energy.

A hen who had lost her s ght, and was accustomed to scratch ng up
the earth n search of food, although bl nd, st ll cont nued to scratch
away most d l gently. Of what use was t to the ndustr uus fool?
Another sharp-s ghted hen who spared her tender feet never moved
from her s de, and enjoyed, w thout scratch ng, the fru t of the other’s
labor. For as often as the bl nd hen scratched up a barley-corn, her
watchful compan on devoured t.

FABLES, GOITCHOLD LESSING, 1729-1781

Of the two poles of th s game, one can be llustrated by the
example of the explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Balboa had an
obsess on—the d scovery of El Dorado, a legendary c ty of vast
r ches.
Early n the s xteenth century, after countless hardsh ps and
brushes w th death, he found ev dence of a great and wealthy
emp re to the south of Mex co, n present-day Peru. By conquer ng
th s emp re, the Incan, and se z ng ts gold, he would make h mself
the next Cortés. The problem was that even as he made th s
d scovery, word of t spread among hundreds of other conqu stadors.
He d d not understand that half the game was keep ng t qu et, and
carefully watch ng those around h m. A few years after he d scovered
the locat on of the Incan emp re, a sold er n h s own army, Franc sco
P zarro, helped to get h m beheaded for treason. P zarro went on to
take what Balboa had spent so many years try ng to f nd.
The other pole s that of the art st Peter Paul Rubens, who, late n
h s career, found h mself deluged w th requests for pa nt ngs. He
created a system: In h s large stud o he employed dozens of
outstand ng pa nters, one spec al z ng n robes, another n
backgrounds, and so on. He created a vast product on l ne n wh ch
a large number of canvases would be worked on at the same t me.
When an mportant cl ent v s ted the stud o, Rubens would shoo h s
h red pa nters out for the day. Wh le the cl ent watched from a
balcony, Rubens would work at an ncred ble pace, w th unbel evable
energy. The cl ent would leave n awe of th s prod g ous man, who
could pa nt so many masterp eces n so short a t me.
Th s s the essence of the Law: Learn to get others to do the work
for you wh le you take the cred t, and you appear to be of godl ke
strength and power. If you th nk t mportant to do all the work
yourself, you w ll never get far, and you w ll suffer the fate of the
Balboas and Teslas of the world. F nd people w th the sk lls and
creat v ty you lack. E ther h re them, wh le putt ng your own name on
top of the rs, or f nd a way to take the r work and make t your own.
The r creat v ty thus becomes yours, and you seem a gen us to the
world.
There s another appl cat on of th s law that does not requ re the
paras t c use of your contemporar es’ labor: Use the past, a vast
storehouse of knowledge and w sdom. Isaac Newton called th s
“stand ng on the shoulders of g ants.” He meant that n mak ng h s
d scover es he had bu lt on the ach evements of others. A great part
of h s aura of gen us, he knew, was attr butable to h s shrewd ab l ty
to make the most of the ns ghts of anc ent, med eval, and
Rena ssance sc ent sts. Shakespeare borrowed plots,
character zat ons, and even d alogue from Plutarch, among other
wr ters, for he knew that nobody surpassed Plutarch n the wr t ng of
subtle psychology and w tty quotes. How many later wr ters have n
the r turn borrowed from—plag ar zed—Shakespeare ?
We all know how few of today’s pol t c ans wr te the r own
speeches. The r own words would not w n them a s ngle vote; the r
eloquence and w t, whatever there s of t, they owe to a speech
wr ter. Other people do the work, they take the cred t. The ups de of
th s s that t s a k nd of power that s ava lable to everyone. Learn to
use the knowledge of the past and you w ll look l ke a gen us, even
when you are really just a clever borrower.
Wr ters who have delved nto human nature, anc ent masters of
strategy, h stor ans of human stup d ty and folly, k ngs and queens
who have learned the hard way how to handle the burdens of power
—the r knowledge s gather ng dust, wa t ng for you to come and
stand on the r shoulders. The r w t can be your w t, the r sk ll can be
your sk ll, and they w ll never come around to tell people how
unor g nal you really are. You can slog through l fe, mak ng endless
m stakes, wast ng t me and energy try ng to do th ngs from your own
exper ence. Or you can use the arm es of the past. As B smarck
once sa d, “Fools say that they learn by exper ence. I prefer to prof t
by others’ exper ence.”
 Image: The Vulture. Of all the creatures n
the jungle, he has t the eas est. The
hard work of others becomes h s work;
the r fa lure to surv ve becomes h s
nour shment. Keep an eye on
the Vulture—wh le you are
hard at work, he s c r
cl ng above. Do not
f ght h m, jo n
h m.

Author ty: There s much to be known, l fe s short, and l fe s not l fe

w thout knowledge. It s therefore an excellent dev ce to acqu re
knowledge from everybody. Thus, by the sweat of another’s brow,
you w n the reputat on of be ng an oracle. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-
1658)

REVERSAL

There are t mes when tak ng the cred t for work that others have
done s not the w se course: If your power s not f rmly enough
establ shed, you w ll seem to be push ng people out of the l mel ght.
To be a br ll ant ex plo ter of talent your pos t on must be unshakable,
or you w ll be accused of decept on.
Be sure you know when lett ng other people share the cred t
serves your purpose. It s espec ally mportant to not be greedy when
you have a master above you. Pres dent R chard N xon’s h stor c
v s t to the People’s Republ c of Ch na was or g nally h s dea, but t
m ght never have come off but for the deft d plomacy of Henry
K ss nger. Nor would t have been as successful w thout K ss nger’s
sk lls. St ll, when the t me came to take cred t, K ss nger adro tly let
N xon take the l on’s share. Know ng that the truth would come out
later, he was careful not to jeopard ze h s stand ng n the short term
by hogg ng the l mel ght. K ss nger played the game expertly: He
took cred t for the work of those below h m wh le grac ously g v ng
cred t for h s own labors to those above. That s the way to play the
game.
 LAW 8

MAKE OTHER PEOPLE COME TO YOU—USE

BAIT IF NECESSARY

JUDGMENT
When you force the other person to act, you are the one n control. It
s always better to make your opponent come to you, abandon ng h s
own plans n the process. Lure h m w th fabulous ga ns—then attack.
You hold the cards.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

At the Congress of V enna n 1814, the major powers of Europe

gathered to carve up the rema ns of Napoleon’s fallen Emp re. The
c ty was full of ga ety and the balls were the most splend d n
memory. Hover ng over the proceed ngs, however, was the shadow
of Napoleon h mself. Instead of be ng executed or ex led far away,
he had been sent to the sland of Elba, not far from the coast of Italy.
Even mpr soned on an sland, a man as bold and creat ve as
Napoleon Bonaparte made everyone nervous. The Austr ans plotted
to k ll h m on Elba, but dec ded t was too r sky. Alexander I, Russ a’s
temperamental czar, he ghtened the anx ety by throw ng a f t dur ng
the congress when a part of Poland was den ed h m: “Beware, I shall
loose the monster!” he threatened. Everyone knew he meant
Napoleon. Of all the statesmen gathered n V enna, only Talleyrand,
Napoleon’s former fore gn m n ster, seemed calm and unconcerned.
It was as f he knew someth ng the others d d not.
Meanwh le, on the sland of Elba, Napoleon’s l fe was a mockery
of h s prev ous glory. As Elba’s “k ng,” he had been allowed to form a
court—there was a cook, a wardrobe m stress, an off c al p an st, and
a handful of court ers. All th s was des gned to hum l ate Napoleon,
and t seemed to work.
That w nter, however, there occurred a ser es of events so strange
and dramat c they m ght have been scr pted n a play. Elba was
surrounded by Br t sh sh ps, the r cannons cover ng all poss ble ex t
po nts. Yet somehow, n broad dayl ght on 26 February 1815, a sh p
w th n ne hundred men on board p cked up Napoleon and put to sea.
The Engl sh gave chase but the sh p got away. Th s almost
mposs ble escape aston shed the publ c throughout Europe, and
terr f ed the statesmen at the Congress of V enna.
Although t would have been safer to leave Europe, Napoleon not
only chose to return to France, he ra sed the odds by march ng on
Par s w th a t ny army, n hopes of recaptur ng the throne. H s
strategy worked—people of all classes threw themselves at h s feet.
An army under Marshal Ney sped from Par s to arrest h m, but when
the sold ers saw the r beloved former leader, they changed s des.
Napoleon was declared emperor aga n. Volunteers swelled the ranks
of h s new army. Del r um swept the country. In Par s, crowds went
w ld. The k ng who had replaced Napoleon fled the country.
For the next hundred days, Napoleon ruled France. Soon,
however, the g dd ness subs ded. France was bankrupt, ts
resources nearly exhausted, and there was l ttle Napoleon could do
about th s. At the Battle of Waterloo, n June of that year, he was
f nally defeated for good. Th s t me h s enem es had learned the r
lesson: They ex led h m to the barren sland of Sa nt Helena, off the
west coast of Afr ca. There he had no more hope of escape.

Interpretat on
Only years later d d the facts of Napoleon’s dramat c escape from
Elba come to l ght. Before he dec ded to attempt th s bold move,
v s tors to h s court had told h m that he was more popular n France
than ever, and that the country would embrace h m aga n. One of
these v s tors was Austr a’s General Roller, who conv nced Napoleon
that f he escaped, the European powers, England ncluded, would
welcome h m back nto power. Napoleon was t pped off that the
Engl sh would let h m go, and ndeed h s escape occurred n the
m ddle of the afternoon, n full v ew of Engl sh spyglasses.
What Napoleon d d not know was that there was a man beh nd t
all, pull ng the str ngs, and that th s man was h s former m n ster,
Talleyrand. And Talleyrand was do ng all th s not to br ng back the
glory days but to crush Napoleon once and for all. Cons der ng the
emperor’s amb t on unsettl ng to Europe’s stab l ty, he had turned
aga nst h m long ago. When Napoleon was ex led to Elba, Talleyrand
had protested. Napoleon should be sent farther away, he argued, or
Europe would never have peace. But no one l stened.
Instead of push ng h s op n on, Talleyrand b ded h s t me. Work ng
qu etly, he eventually won over Castlereagh and Mettern ch, the
fore gn m n sters of England and Austr a.
Together these men ba ted Napoleon nto escap ng. Even Koller’s
v s t, to wh sper the prom se of glory n the ex le’s ear, was part of the
plan. L ke a master cardplayer, Talleyrand f gured everyth ng out n
advance. He knew Napoleon would fall nto the trap he had set. He
also foresaw that Napoleon would lead the country nto a war, wh ch,
g ven France’s weakened cond t on, could only last a few months.
One d plomat n V enna, who understood that Talleyrand was beh nd
t all, sa d, “He has set the house ablaze n order to save t from the
plague.”
When I have la d ba t for deer,
I don’t shoot at the f rst doe that comes to sn ff,
but wa t unt l the whole herd has gathered round.
Otto von B smarck, 1815-1898
 KEYS TO POWER

How many t mes has th s scenar o played tself out n h story: An

aggress ve leader n t ates a ser es of bold moves that beg n by
br ng ng h m much power. Slowly, however, h s power reaches a
peak, and soon everyth ng turns aga nst h m. H s numerous enem es
band together; try ng to ma nta n h s power, he exhausts h mself
go ng n th s d rect on and that, and nev tably he collapses. The
reason for th s pattern s that the aggress ve person s rarely n full
control. He cannot see more than a couple of moves ahead, cannot
see the consequences of th s bold move or that one. Because he s
constantly be ng forced to react to the moves of h s ever-grow ng
host of enem es, and to the unforeseen consequences of h s own
rash act ons, h s aggress ve energy s turned aga nst h m.
In the realm of power, you must ask yourself, what s the po nt of
chas ng here and there, try ng to solve problems and defeat my
enem es, f I never feel n control? Why am I always hav ng to react
to events nstead of d rect ng them? The answer s s mple: Your dea
of power s wrong. You have m staken aggress ve act on for effect ve
act on. And most often the most effect ve act on s to stay back, keep
calm, and let others be frustrated by the traps you lay for them,
play ng for long-term power rather than qu ck v ctory.
Remember: The essence of power s the ab l ty to keep the
n t at ve, to get others to react to your moves, to keep your opponent
and those around you on the defens ve. When you make other
people come to you, you suddenly become the one controll ng the
s tuat on. And the one who has control has power. Two th ngs must
happen to place you n th s pos t on: You yourself must learn to
master your emot ons, and never to be nfluenced by anger;
meanwh le, however, you must play on people’s natural tendency to
react angr ly when pushed and ba ted. In the long run, the ab l ty to
make others come to you s a weapon far more powerful than any
tool of aggress on.
Study how Talleyrand, the master of the art, performed th s
del cate tr ck. F rst, he overcame the urge to try to conv nce h s
fellow statesmen that they needed to ban sh Napoleon far away. It s
only natural to want to persuade people by plead ng your case,
mpos ng your w ll w th words. But th s often turns aga nst you. Few
of Talleyrand’s contemporar es bel eved Napoleon was st ll a threat,
so that f he had spent a lot of energy try ng to conv nce them, he
would only have made h mself look fool sh. Instead, he held h s
tongue and h s emot ons n check. Most mportant of all, he la d
Napoleon a sweet and rres st ble trap. He knew the man’s
weakness, h s mpetuos ty, h s need for glory and the love of the
masses, and he played all th s to perfect on. When Napoleon went
for the ba t, there was no danger that he m ght succeed and turn the
tables on Talleyrand, who better than anyone knew France’s
depleted state. And even had Napoleon been able to overcome
these d ff cult es, the l kel hood of h s success would have been
greater were he able to choose h s t me and place of act on. By
sett ng the proper trap, Talleyrand took the t me and place nto h s
own hands.
All of us have only so much energy, and there s a moment when
our energ es are at the r peak. When you make the other person
come to you, he wears h mself out, wast ng h s energy on the tr p. In
the year 1905, Russ a and Japan were at war. The Japanese had
only recently begun to modern ze the r warsh ps, so that the
Russ ans had a stronger navy, but by spread ng false nformat on the
Japanese marshal Togo He hach ro ba ted the Russ ans nto leav ng
the r docks n the Balt c Sea, mak ng them bel eve they could w pe
out the Japanese fleet n one sw ft attack. The Russ an fleet could
not reach Japan by the qu ckest route—through the Stra t of
G braltar and then the Suez Canal nto the Ind an Ocean—because
these were controlled by the Br t sh, and Japan was an ally of Great
Br ta n. They had to go around the Cape of Good Hope, at the
southern t p of Afr ca, add ng over more than s x thousand m les to
the voyage. Once the fleet passed the Cape, the Japanese spread
another false story: They were sa l ng to launch a counterattack. So
the Russ ans made the ent re journey to Japan on combat alert. By
the t me they arr ved, the r seamen were tense, exhausted, and
overworked, wh le the Japanese had been wa t ng at the r ease.
Desp te the odds and the r lack of exper ence n modern naval
warfare, the Japanese crushed the Russ ans.
One added benef t of mak ng the opponent come to you, as the
Japanese d scovered w th the Russ ans, s that t forces h m to
operate n your terr tory. Be ng on host le ground w ll make h m
nervous and often he w ll rush h s act ons and make m stakes. For
negot at ons or meet ngs, t s always w se to lure others nto your
terr tory, or the terr tory of your cho ce. You have your bear ngs, wh le
they see noth ng fam l ar and are subtly placed on the defens ve.
Man pulat on s a dangerous game. Once someone suspects he s
be ng man pulated, t becomes harder and harder to control h m. But
when you make your opponent come to you, you create the llus on
that he s controll ng the s tuat on. He does not feel the str ngs that
pull h m, just as Napoleon mag ned that he h mself was the master
of h s dar ng escape and return to power.
Everyth ng depends on the sweetness of your ba t. If your trap s
attract ve enough, the turbulence of your enem es’ emot ons and
des res w ll bl nd them to real ty. The greed er they become, the more
they can be led around.
The great n neteenth-century robber baron Dan el Drew was a
master at play ng the stock market. When he wanted a part cular
stock to be bought or sold, dr v ng pr ces up or down, he rarely
resorted to the d rect approach. One of h s tr cks was to hurry
through an exclus ve club near Wall Street, obv ously on h s way to
the stock exchange, and to pull out h s customary red bandanna to
w pe h s persp r ng brow. A sl p of paper would fall from th s
bandanna that he would pretend not to not ce. The club’s members
were always try ng to foresee Drew’s moves, and they would pounce
on the paper, wh ch nvar ably seemed to conta n an ns de t p on a
stock. Word would spread, and members would buy or sell the stock
n droves, play ng perfectly nto Drew’s hands.
If you can get other people to d g the r own graves, why sweat
yourself? P ckpockets work th s to perfect on. The key to p ck ng a
pocket s know ng wh ch pocket conta ns the wallet. Exper enced
p ckpockets often ply the r trade n tra n stat ons and other places
where there s a clearly marked s gn read ng BEWARE OF
PICKPOCKETS. Passersby see ng the s gn nvar ably feel for the r
wallet to make sure t s st ll there. For the watch ng p ckpockets, th s
s l ke shoot ng f sh n a barrel. P ckpockets have even been known
to place the r own BEWARE OF PICKPOCKETS s gns to ensure
the r success.
When you are mak ng people come to you, t s somet mes better
to let them know you are forc ng the r hand. You g ve up decept on
for overt man pulat on. The psycholog cal ram f cat ons are profound:
The person who makes others come to h m appears powerful, and
demands respect.
F l ppo Brunellesch , the great Rena ssance art st and arch tect,
was a great pract t oner of the art of mak ng others come to h m as a
s gn of h s power. On one occas on he had been engaged to repa r
the dome of the Santa Mar a del F ore cathedral n Florence. The
comm ss on was mportant and prest g ous. But when the c ty
off c als h red a second man, Lorenzo Gh bert , to work w th
Brunellesch , the great art st brooded n secret. He knew that
Gh bert had gotten the job through h s connect ons, and that he
would do none of the work and get half the cred t. At a cr t cal
moment of the construct on, then, Brunellesch suddenly developed
a myster ous llness. He had to stop work, but po nted out to c ty
off c als that they had h red Gh bert , who should have been able to
cont nue the work on h s own. Soon t became clear that Gh bert
was useless and the off c als came begg ng to Brunellesch . He
gnored them, ns st ng that Gh bert should f n sh the project, unt l
f nally they real zed the problem: They f red Gh bert .
By some m racle, Brunellesch recovered w th n days. He d d not
have to throw a tantrum or make a fool of h mself; he s mply
pract ced the art of “mak ng others come to you.”
If on one occas on you make t a po nt of d gn ty that others must
come to you and you succeed, they w ll cont nue to do so even after
you stop try ng.
Image: The Honeyed
Bear Trap. The bear hunter
does not chase h s prey; a bear
 that knows t s hunted s nearly
mposs ble to catch and s fero
c ous f cornered. Instead, the
hunter lays traps ba ted w th
honey. He does not exhaust
h mself and r sk h s l fe n
pursu t. He ba ts, then wa ts.

Author ty: Good warr ors make others come to them, and do not go
to others. Th s s the pr nc ple of empt ness and fullness of others
and self. When you nduce opponents to come to you, then the r
force s always empty; as long as you do not go to them, your force
s always full. Attack ng empt ness w th fullness s l ke throw ng
stones on eggs. (Zhang Yu, eleventh-century commentator on The
Art of War)

REVERSAL

Although t s generally the w ser pol cy to make others exhaust

themselves chas ng you, there are oppos te cases where str k ng
suddenly and aggress vely at the enemy so demoral zes h m that h s
energ es s nk. Instead of mak ng others come to you, you go to
them, force the ssue, take the lead. Fast attack can be an awesome
weapon, for t forces the other person to react w thout the t me to
th nk or plan. W th no t me to th nk, people make errors of judgment,
and are thrown on the defens ve. Th s tact c s the obverse of wa t ng
and ba t ng, but t serves the same funct on: You make your enemy
respond on your terms.
Men l ke Cesare Borg a and Napoleon used the element of speed
to nt m date and control. A rap d and unforeseen move s terr fy ng
and demoral z ng. You must choose your tact cs depend ng on the
s tuat on. If you have t me on your s de, and know that you and your
enem es are at least at equal strength, then deplete the r strength by
mak ng them come to you. If t me s aga nst you—your enem es are
weaker, and wa t ng w ll only g ve them the chance to recover—g ve
them no such chance. Str ke qu ckly and they have nowhere to go.
As the boxer Joe Lou s put t, “He can run, but he can’t h de.”
 LAW 9

WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER

THROUGH ARGUMENT

JUDGMENT
Any momentary tr umph you th nk you have ga ned through
argument s really a Pyrrh c v ctory: The resentment and ll w ll you
st r up s stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of
op n on. It s much more powerful to get others to agree w th you
through your act ons, w thout say ng a word. Demonstrate, do not
expl cate.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In 131 B.C., the Roman consul Publ us Crassus D ves Muc anus,
lay ng s ege to the Greek town of Pergamus, found h mself n need
of a batter ng ram to force through the town’s walls. He had seen a
couple of hefty sh p’s masts n a sh pyard n Athens a few days
before, and he ordered that the larger of these be sent to h m
mmed ately. The m l tary eng neer n Athens who rece ved the order
felt certa n that the consul really wanted the smaller of the masts. He
argued endlessly w th the sold ers who del vered the request: The
smaller mast, he told them, was much better su ted to the task. And
ndeed t would be eas er to transport.
The sold ers warned the eng neer that the r master was not a man
to argue w th, but he ns sted that the smaller mast would be the only
one that would work w th a mach ne that he was construct ng to go
w th t. He drew d agram after d agram, and went so far as to say that
he was the expert and they had no clue what they were talk ng
about. The sold ers knew the r leader and at last conv nced the
eng neer that t would be better to swallow h s expert se and obey.
After they left, though, the eng neer thought about t some more.
What was the po nt, he asked h mself, n obey ng an order that would
lead to fa lure? And so he sent the smaller mast, conf dent that the
consul would see how much more effect ve t was and reward h m
justly.
When the smaller mast arr ved, Muc anus asked h s sold ers for an
explanat on. They descr bed to h m how the eng neer had argued
endlessly for the smaller mast, but had f nally prom sed to send the
larger one. Muc anus went nto a rage. He could not concentrate on
the s ege, or cons der the mportance of breach ng the walls before
the town rece ved re nforcements. All he could th nk about was the
mpudent eng neer, whom he ordered to be brought to h m
mmed ately.
Arr v ng a few days later, the eng neer gladly expla ned to the
consul, one more t me, the reasons for the smaller mast. He went on
and on, us ng the same arguments he had made w th the sold ers.
He sa d t was w se to l sten to experts n these matters, and f the
attack was only tr ed w th the batter ng ram he had sent, the consul
would not regret t. Muc anus let h m f n sh, then had h m str pped
naked before the sold ers and flogged and scourged w th rods unt l
he d ed.

THE SULTAN AND THE VIZIER

A v z er had served h s master for some th rty years and was known
and adm red for h s loyalty, truthfulness, and devot on to God. H s
honesty, however, had made h m many enem es n the court, who
spread stor es of h s dupl c ty and perf dy. They worked on the sultan
day n and day out unt l he too came to d strust the nnocent v z er
and f nally ordered the man who had served h m so well to be put to
death. In th s realm, those condemned to death were t ed up and
thrown nto the pen where the sultan kept h s f ercest hunt ng dogs.
The dogs would promptly tear the v ct m to p eces. Before be ng
thrown to the dogs, however, the v z er asked for one last request. “I
would l ke ten days’ resp te,” he sa d, “so that I can pay my debts,
collect any money due to me, return tems that people have put n
my care, and share out my goods among the members of my fam ly
and my ch ldren and appo nt a guard an for them.” After rece v ng a
guarantee that the v z er would not try to escape, the sultan granted
th s request. The v z er hurr ed home, collected one hundred gold
p eces, then pa d a v s t to the huntsman who looked after the
sultan’s dogs. He offered th s man the one hundred gold p eces and
sa d, “Let me look after the dogs for ten days.” The huntsman
agreed, and for the next ten days the v z er cared for the beasts w th
great attent on, groom ng them well and feed ng them handsomely.
By the end of the ten days they were eat ng out of h s hand.
On the eleventh day the v z er was called before the sultan, the
charges were repeated, and the sultan watched as the v z er was
t ed up and thrown to the dogs. Yet when the beasts saw h m, they
ran up to h m w th wagg ng ta ls. They n bbled affect onately at h s
shoulders and began play ng w th h m. The sultan and the other
w tnesses were amazed, and the sultan asked the v z er why the
dogs had spared h s l fe. The v z er repl ed, “I have looked after
these dogs for ten days. The sultan has seen the result for h mself. I
have looked after you for th rty years, and what s the result? I am
condemned to death on the strength of accusat ons brought by my
enem es. ”The sultan blushed w th shame. He not only pardoned the
v z er but gave h m a f ne set of clothes and handed over to h m the
men who had slandered h s reputat on. The noble v z er set them
free and cont nued to treat them w th k ndness.

THE SUBTLE RUSE: THE BOOK OF ARABIC WISDOM AND

GUILE, THIRTEENTH CENTURY

Interpretat on
The eng neer, whose name has not been recorded by h story, had
spent h s l fe des gn ng masts and p llars, and was respected as the
f nest eng neer n a c ty that had excelled n the sc ence. He knew
that he was r ght. A smaller ram would allow more speed and carry
more force. Larger s not necessar ly better. Of course the consul
would see h s log c, and would eventually understand that sc ence s
neutral and reason super or. How could the consul poss bly pers st n
h s gnorance f the eng neer showed h m deta led d agrams and
expla ned the theor es beh nd h s adv ce?
The m l tary eng neer was the qu ntessence of the Arguer, a type
found everywhere among us. The Arguer does not understand that
words are never neutral, and that by argu ng w th a super or he
mpugns the ntell gence of one more powerful than he. He also has
no awareness of the person he s deal ng w th. S nce each man
bel eves that he s r ght, and words w ll rarely conv nce h m
otherw se, the arguer’s reason ng falls on deaf ears. When cornered,
he only argues more, d gg ng h s own grave. Once he has made the
other person feel nsecure and nfer or n h s bel efs, the eloquence
of Socrates could not save the s tuat on.
It s not s mply a quest on of avo d ng an argument w th those who
stand above you. We all bel eve we are masters n the realm of
op n ons and reason ng. You must be careful, then: Learn to
demonstrate the correctness of your deas nd rectly.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In 1502, n Florence, Italy, an enormous block of marble stood n the

works department of the church of Santa Mar a del F ore. It had once
been a magn f cent p ece of raw stone, but an unsk llful sculptor had
m stakenly bored a hole through t where there should have been a
f gure’s legs, generally mut lat ng t. P ero Soder n , Florence’s mayor,
had contemplated try ng to save the block by comm ss on ng
Leonardo da V nc to work on t, or some other master, but had g ven
up, s nce everyone agreed that the stone had been ru ned. So,
desp te the money that had been wasted on t, t gathered dust n the
dark halls of the church.
Th s was where th ngs stood unt l some Florent ne fr ends of the
great M chelangelo dec ded to wr te to the art st, then l v ng n Rome.
He alone, they sa d, could do someth ng w th the marble, wh ch was
st ll magn f cent raw mater al. M chelangelo traveled to Florence,
exam ned the stone, and came to the conclus on that he could n fact
carve a f ne f gure from t, by adapt ng the pose to the way the rock
had been mut lated. Soder n argued that th s was a waste of t me—
nobody could salvage such a d saster—but he f nally agreed to let
the art st work on t. M chelangelo dec ded he would dep ct a young
Dav d, sl ng n hand.
Weeks later, as M chelangelo was putt ng the f nal touches on the
statue, Soder n entered the stud o. Fancy ng h mself a b t of a
conno sseur, he stud ed the huge work, and told M chelangelo that
wh le he thought t was magn f cent, the nose, he judged, was too
b g. M chelangelo real zed that Soder n was stand ng n a place r ght
under the g ant f gure and d d not have the proper perspect ve.
W thout a word, he gestured for Soder n to follow h m up the
scaffold ng. Reach ng the nose, he p cked up h s ch sel, as well as a
b t of marble dust that lay on the planks. W th Soder n just a few feet
below h m on the scaffold ng, M chelangelo started to tap l ghtly w th
the ch sel, lett ng the b ts of dust he had gathered n h s hand to fall
l ttle by l ttle. He actually d d noth ng to change the nose, but gave
every appearance of work ng on t. After a few m nutes of th s
charade he stood as de: “Look at t now.” “I l ke t better,” repl ed
Soder n , “you’ve made t come al ve.”

Interpretat on

M chelangelo knew that by chang ng the shape of the nose he m ght

ru n the ent re sculpture. Yet Soder n was a patron who pr ded
h mself on h s aesthet c judgment. To offend such a man by argu ng
would not only ga n M chelangelo noth ng, t would put future
comm ss ons n jeopardy. M chelangelo was too clever to argue. H s
solut on was to change Soder n ’s perspect ve (l terally br ng ng h m
closer to the nose) w thout mak ng h m real ze that th s was the
cause of h s m spercept on.
Fortunately for poster ty, M chelangelo found a way to keep the
perfect on of the statue ntact wh le at the same t me mak ng Soder n
bel eve he had mproved t. Such s the double power of w nn ng
through act ons rather than argument: No one s offended, and your
po nt s proven.

THE WORKS OF AMASIS

When Apr es had been deposed n the way I have descr bed, Amas s
came to the throne. He belonged to the d str ct of Sa s and was a
nat ve of the town called S uph. At f rst the Egypt ans were ncl ned to
be contemptuous, and d d not th nk much of h m because of h s
humble and und st ngu shed or g n; but later on he cleverly brought
them to heel, w thout hav ng recourse to harsh measures. Amongst
h s nnumerable treasures, he had a gold footbath, wh ch he and h s
guests used on occas on to wash the r feet n. Th s he broke up, and
w th the mater al had a statue made to one of the gods, wh ch he
then set up n what he thought the most su table spot n the c ty. The
Egypt ans constantly com ng upon the statue, treated t w th
profound reverence, and as soon as Amas s heard of the effect t
had upon them, he called a meet ng and revealed the fact that the
deeply revered statue was once a footbath, wh ch they washed the r
feet and p ssed and vom ted n. He went on to say that h s own case
was much the same, n that once he had been only an ord nary
person and was now the r k ng; so that just as they had come to
revere the transformed footbath, so they had better pay honor and
respect to h m, too. In th s way the Egypt ans were persuaded to
accept h m as the r master.

THE HISTORIES. HERODOTUS. FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

 KEYS TO POWER

In the realm of power you must learn to judge your moves by the r
long-term effects on other people. The problem n try ng to prove a
po nt or ga n a v ctory through argument s that n the end you can
never be certa n how t affects the people you’re argu ng w th: They
may appear to agree w th you pol tely, but ns de they may resent
you. Or perhaps someth ng you sa d nadvertently even offended
them—words have that ns d ous ab l ty to be nterpreted accord ng
to the other person’s mood and nsecur t es. Even the best argument
has no sol d foundat on, for we have all come to d strust the sl ppery
nature of words. And days after agree ng w th someone, we often
revert to our old op n on out of sheer hab t.
Understand th s: Words are a d me a dozen. Everyone knows that
n the heat of an argument, we w ll all say anyth ng to support our
cause. We w ll quote the B ble, refer to unver f able stat st cs. Who
can be persuaded by bags of a r l ke that? Act on and demonstrat on
are much more powerful and mean ngful. They are there, before our
eyes, for us to see—“Yes, now the statue’s nose does look just
r ght.” There are no offens ve words, no poss b l ty of
m s nterpretat on. No one can argue w th a demonstrated proof. As
Baltasar Grac án remarks, “The truth s generally seen, rarely heard.”
S r Chr stopher Wren was England’s vers on of the Rena ssance
man. He had mastered the sc ences of mathemat cs, astronomy,
phys cs, and phys ology. Yet dur ng h s extremely long career as
England’s most celebrated arch tect he was often told by h s patrons
to make mpract cal changes n h s des gns. Never once d d he argue
or offend. He had other ways of prov ng h s po nt.
In 1688 Wren des gned a magn f cent town hall for the c ty of
Westm nster. The mayor, however, was not sat sf ed; n fact he was
nervous. He told Wren he was afra d the second floor was not
secure, and that t could all come crash ng down on h s off ce on the
f rst floor. He demanded that Wren add two stone columns for extra
support. Wren, the consummate eng neer, knew that these columns
would serve no purpose, and that the mayor’s fears were baseless.
But bu ld them he d d, and the mayor was grateful. It was only years
later that workmen on a h gh scaffold saw that the columns stopped
just short of the ce l ng.
They were dumm es. But both men got what they wanted: The
mayor could relax, and Wren knew poster ty would understand that
h s or g nal des gn worked and the columns were unnecessary.
The power of demonstrat ng your dea s that your opponents do
not get defens ve, and are therefore more open to persuas on.
Mak ng them l terally and phys cally feel your mean ng s nf n tely
more powerful than argument.
A heckler once nterrupted N k ta Khrushchev n the m ddle of a
speech n wh ch he was denounc ng the cr mes of Stal n. “You were
a colleague of Stal n’s,” the heckler yelled, “why d dn’t you stop h m
then?” Khrushschev apparently could not see the heckler and barked
out, “Who sa d that?” No hand went up. No one moved a muscle.
After a few seconds of tense s lence, Khrushchev f nally sa d n a
qu et vo ce, “Now you know why I d dn’t stop h m.” Instead of just
argu ng that anyone fac ng Stal n was afra d, know ng that the
sl ghtest s gn of rebell on would mean certa n death, he had made
them feel what t was l ke to face Stal n—had made them feel the
parano a, the fear of speak ng up, the terror of confront ng the leader,
n th s case Khrushchev. The demonstrat on was v sceral and no
more argument was necessary.
The most powerful persuas on goes beyond act on nto symbol.
The power of a symbol—a flag, a myth c story, a monument to some
emot onal event— s that everyone understands you w thout anyth ng
be ng sa d. In 1975, when Henry K ss nger was engaged n some
frustrat ng negot at ons w th the Israel s over the return of part of the
S na desert that they had se zed n the 1967 war, he suddenly broke
off a tense meet ng and dec ded to do some s ght-see ng. He pa d a
v s t to the ru ns of the anc ent fortress of Masada, known to all
Israel s as the place where seven hundred Jew sh warr ors
comm tted mass su c de n A.D. 73 rather than g ve n to the Roman
troops bes eg ng them. The Israel s nstantly understood the
message of K ss nger’s v s t: He was nd rectly accus ng them of
court ng mass su c de. Although the v s t d d not by tself change the r
m nds, t made them th nk far more ser ously than any d rect warn ng
would have. Symbols l ke th s one carry great emot onal s gn f cance.
When a m ng for power, or try ng to conserve t, always look for the
nd rect route. And also choose your battles carefully. If t does not
matter n the long run whether the other person agrees w th you—or
f t me and the r own exper ence w ll make them understand what
you mean—then t s best not even to bother w th a demonstrat on.
Save your energy and walk away.

GOD AND ABRAUIM

The Most H gh God had prom sed that He would not take Abraham’s
soul unless the man wanted to d e and asked H m to do so. When
Abraham’s l fe was draw ng to a close, and God determ ned to se ze
h m, He sent an angel n the gu se of a decrep t old man who was
almost ent rely ncapac tated. The old man stopped outs de Abraham
door and sa d to h m, “Oh Abraham, I would l ke someth ng to eat.”
Abraham was amazed to hear h m say th s. “D e, excla med
Abraham.”It would be better for you than to go on l v ng n that
cond t on.”
Abraham always kept food ready at h s home for pass ng guests. So
he gave the old man a bowl conta n ng broth and meat w th bread
crumbs. The old man sat down to eat. He swallowed labor ously, w th
great effort, and once when he took some food t dropped from h s
hand, scatter ng on the ground. “Oh Abraham, ” he sa d, “help me to
eat.” Abraham took the food n h s hand and l fted t to the old man’s
l ps. But t sl d down h s beard and over h s chest. “What s your age,
old man?” asked Abraham. The old man ment oned a number of
years sl ghtly greater than Abraham’s old age. Then Abraham
excla med: “Oh Lord Our God, take me unto You before I reach th s
man’s age and s nk nto the same cond t on as he s n now. ” No
sooner had Abraham spoken those words than God took possess on
of h s soul.
THE SUBTLE RUSE: THE BOOK OF ARABIC WISDOM AND
GUILE, THIRTEENTH CENTURY
Image: The Seesaw. Up and down and up and down go the arguers,
gett ng nowhere fast. Get off the seesaw and show them your
mean ng w thout k ck ng or push ng. Leave them at the top and let
grav ty br ng them gently to the ground.

Author ty: Never argue. In soc ety noth ng must be d scussed; g ve

only results. (Benjam n D srael , 1804-1881)

REVERSAL

Verbal argument has one v tal use n the realm of power: To d stract
and cover your tracks when you are pract c ng decept on or are
caught n a l e. In such cases t s to your advantage to argue w th all
the conv ct on you can muster. Draw the other person nto an
argument to d stract them from your decept ve move. When caught
n a l e, the more emot onal and certa n you appear, the less l kely t
seems that you are ly ng.
Th s techn que has saved the h de of many a con art st. Once
Count V ctor Lust g, sw ndler par excellence, had sold dozens of
suckers around the country a phony box w th wh ch he cla med to be
able to copy money. D scover ng the r m stake, the suckers generally
chose not to go the pol ce, rather than r sk the embarrassment of
publ c ty. But one Sher ff R chards, of Remsen County, Oklahoma,
was not the k nd of man to accept be ng conned out of $10,000, and
one morn ng he tracked Lust g down to a hotel n Ch cago.
Lust g heard a knock on the door. When he opened t he was
look ng down the barrel of a gun. “What seems to be the problem?”
he calmly asked. “You son of a b tch,” yelled the sher ff, “I’m go ng to
k ll you. You conned me w th that damn box of yours!” Lust g fe gned
confus on. “You mean t’s not work ng?” he asked. “You know t’s not
work ng,” repl ed the sher ff. “But that’s mposs ble,” sa d Lust g.
“There’s no way t couldn’t be work ng. D d you operate t properly?”
“I d d exactly what you told me to do,” sa d the sher ff. “No, you must
have done someth ng wrong,” sa d Lust g. The argument went n
c rcles. The barrel of the gun was gently lowered.
Lust g next went to phase two n the argument tact c: He poured
out a whole bunch of techn cal gobbledygook about the box’s
operat on, completely begu l ng the sher ff, who now appeared less
sure of h mself and argued less forcefully. “Look,” sa d Lust g, “I’ll
g ve you your money back r ght now. I’ll also g ve you wr tten
nstruct ons on how to work the mach ne and I’ll come out to
Oklahoma to make sure t’s work ng properly. There’s no way you
can lose on that.” The sher ff reluctantly agreed. To sat sfy h m
totally, Lust g took out a hundred one-hundred-dollar b lls and gave
them to h m, tell ng h m to relax and have a fun weekend n Ch cago.
Calmer and a l ttle confused, the sher ff f nally left. Over the next few
days Lust g checked the paper every morn ng. He f nally found what
he was look ng for: A short art cle report ng Sher ff R chards’s arrest,
tr al, and conv ct on for pass ng counterfe t notes. Lust g had won the
argument; the sher ff never bothered h m aga n.
 LAW 10

INFECTION: AVOID THE UNHAPPY AND

UNLUCKY

JUDGMENT
You can d e from someone else’s m sery—emot onal states are as
nfect ous as d seases. You may feel you are help ng the drown ng
man but you are only prec p tat ng your own d saster. The
unfortunate somet mes draw m sfortune on themselves; they w ll also
draw t on you. Assoc ate w th the happy and fortunate nstead.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Born n L mer ck, Ireland, n 1818, Mar e G lbert came to Par s n the
1840s to make her fortune as a dancer and performer. Tak ng the
name Lola Montez (her mother was of d stant Span sh descent), she
cla med to be a flamenco dancer from Spa n. By 1845 her career
was langu sh ng, and to surv ve she became a courtesan—qu ckly
one of the more successful n Par s.
Only one man could salvage Lola’s danc ng career: Alexandre
Dujar er, owner of the newspaper w th the largest c rculat on n
France, and also the newspaper’s drama cr t c. She dec ded to woo
and conquer h m. Invest gat ng h s hab ts, she d scovered that he
went r d ng every morn ng. An excellent horsewoman herself, she
rode out one morn ng and “acc dentally” ran nto h m. Soon they
were r d ng together every day. A few weeks later Lola moved nto
h s apartment.
For a wh le the two were happy together. W th Dujar er’s help, Lola
began to rev ve her danc ng career. Desp te the r sk to h s soc al
stand ng, Dujar er told fr ends he would marry her n the spr ng. (Lola
had never told h m that she had eloped at age n neteen w th an
Engl shman, and was st ll legally marr ed.) Although Dujar er was
deeply n love, h s l fe started to sl de downh ll.
H s fortunes n bus ness changed and nfluent al fr ends began to
avo d h m. One n ght Dujar er was nv ted to a party, attended by
some of the wealth est young men n Par s. Lola wanted to go too
but he would not allow t. They had the r f rst quarrel, and Dujar er
attended the party by h mself. There, hopelessly drunk, he nsulted
an nfluent al drama cr t c, Jean-Bapt ste Rosemond de Beauvallon,
perhaps because of someth ng the cr t c had sa d about Lola. The
follow ng morn ng Beauvallon challenged h m to a duel. Beauvallon
was one of the best p stol shots n France. Dujar er tr ed to
apolog ze, but the duel took place, and he was shot and k lled. Thus
ended the l fe of one of the most prom s ng young men of Par s
soc ety. Devastated, Lola left Par s.
In 1846 Lola Montez found herself n Mun ch, where she dec ded
to woo and conquer K ng Ludw g of Bavar a. The best way to
Ludw g, she d scovered, was through h s a de-de-camp, Count Otto
von Rechberg, a man w th a fondness for pretty g rls. One day when
the count was breakfast ng at an outdoor café, Lola rode by on her
horse, was “acc dentally” thrown from the saddle, and landed at
Rechberg’s feet. The count rushed to help her and was enchanted.
He prom sed to ntroduce her to Ludw g.
Rechberg arranged an aud ence w th the k ng for Lola, but when
she arr ved n the anteroom, she could hear the k ng say ng he was
too busy to meet a favor-seek ng stranger. Lola pushed as de the
sentr es and entered h s room anyway. In the process, the front of
her dress somehow got torn (perhaps by her, perhaps by one of the
sentr es), and to the aston shment of all, most espec ally the k ng,
her bare breasts were brazenly exposed. Lola was granted her
aud ence w th Ludw g. F fty-f ve hours later she made her debut on
the Bavar an stage; the rev ews were terr ble, but that d d not stop
Ludw g from arrang ng more performances.

AND THE
A nut found tself carr ed by a crow to the top of a tall campan le, and
by fall ng nto a crev ce succeeded n escap ng ts dread fate. It then
besought the wall to shelter t, by appeal ng to t by the grace of God,
and pra s ng ts he ght, and the beauty and noble tone of us bells.
“Alas,” t went on, “as I have not been able to drop beneath the green
branches of my old Father and to l e n the fallow earth covered by
h s fallen leaves, do you, at least, not abandon me. When I found
myself n the beak of the cruel crow I made a vow, that f I escaped I
would end my l fe n a l ttle hole. ”
At these words, the wall, moved w th compass on, was content to
shelter the nut n the spot where t had fallen. W th n a short t me, the
nut burst open: Its roots reached n between the crev ces of the
stones and began to push them apart; ts shoots pressed up toward
the sky. They soon rose above the bu ld ng, and as the tw sted roots
grew th cker they began to thrust the walls apart and force the
anc ent stones from the r old places. Then the wall, too late and n
va n, bewa led the cause of ts destruct on, and n short t me t fell n
ru n.
LEONARDO DA VINCI. 1452-1519
Ludw g was, n h s own words, “bew tched” by Lola. He started to
appear n publ c w th her on h s arm, and then he bought and
furn shed an apartment for her on one of Mun ch’s most fash onable
boulevards. Although he had been known as a m ser, and was not
g ven to fl ghts of fancy, he started to shower Lola w th g fts and to
wr te poetry for her. Now h s favored m stress, she catapulted to
fame and fortune overn ght.
Lola began to lose her sense of proport on. One day when she
was out r d ng, an elderly man rode ahead of her, a b t too slowly for
her l k ng. Unable to pass h m, she began to slash h m w th her r d ng
crop. On another occas on she took her dog, unleashed, out for a
stroll. The dog attacked a passerby, but nstead of help ng the man
get the dog away, she wh pped h m w th the leash. Inc dents l ke th s
nfur ated the stol d c t zens of Bavar a, but Ludw g stood by Lola and
even had her natural zed as a Bavar an c t zen. The k ng’s entourage
tr ed to wake h m to the dangers of the affa r, but those who cr t c zed
Lola were summar ly f red.
In h s own t me S mon Thomas was a great doctor. I remember that I
happened to meet h m one day at the home of a r ch old
consumpt ve: He told h s pat ent when d scuss ng ways to cure h m
that one means was to prov de occas ons for me to enjoy h s
company: He could then f x h s eyes on the freshness of my
countenance and h s thoughts on the overflow ng cheerfulness and
v gor of my young manhood; by f ll ng all h s senses w th the flower
of my youth h s cond t on m ght mprove. He forgot to add that m ne
m ght get worse.
MONTAIGNE, 1533-1592
Wh le Bavar ans who had loved the r k ng now outwardly d sre
spected h m, Lola was made a countess, had a new palace bu lt for
herself, and began to dabble n pol t cs, adv s ng Ludw g on pol cy.
She was the most powerful force n the k ngdom. Her nfluence n the
k ng’s cab net cont nued to grow, and she treated the other m n sters
w th d sda n. As a result, r ots broke out throughout the realm. A
once peaceful land was v rtually n the gr p of c v l war, and students
everywhere were chant ng, “Raus m t Lola!”
Many th ngs are sa d to be nfect ous. Sleep ness can be nfect ous,
and yawn ng as well. In large-scale strategy when the enemy s
ag tated and shows an ncl nat on to rush, do not m nd n the least.
Make a show of complete calmness, and the enemy w ll be taken by
th s and w ll become relaxed. You nfect the r sp r t. You can nfect
them w th a carefree, drunkl ke sp r t, w th boredom, or even
weakness.

A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS, MIYAMOTO MUSASHI, SEVENTEENTH

CENTURY
 By February of 1848, Ludw g was f nally unable to w thstand the
pressure. W th great sadness he ordered Lola to leave Bavar a
mmed ately. She left, but not unt l she was pa d off. For the next f ve
weeks the Bavar ans’ wrath was turned aga nst the r formerly
beloved k ng. In March of that year he was forced to abd cate.
Lola Montez moved to England. More than anyth ng she needed
respectab l ty, and desp te be ng marr ed (she st ll had not arranged
a d vorce from the Engl shman she had wed years before), she set
her s ghts on George Trafford Heald, a prom s ng young army off cer
who was the son of an nfluent al barr ster. Although he was ten
years younger than Lola, and could have chosen a w fe among the
prett est and wealth est young g rls of Engl sh soc ety, Heald fell
under her spell. They were marr ed n 1849. Soon arrested on the
charge of b gamy, she sk pped ba l, and she and Heald made the r
way to Spa n. They quarreled horr bly and on one occas on Lola
slashed h m w th a kn fe. F nally, she drove h m away. Return ng to
England, he found he had lost h s pos t on n the army. Ostrac zed
from Engl sh soc ety, he moved to Portugal, where he l ved n
poverty. After a few months h s short l fe ended n a boat ng acc dent.
A few years later the man who publ shed Lola Montez’s
autob ography went bankrupt.
In 1853 Lola moved to Cal forn a, where she met and marr ed a
man named Pat Hull. The r relat onsh p was as stormy as all the
others, and she left Hull for another man. He took to dr nk and fell
nto a deep depress on that lasted unt l he d ed, four years later, st ll
a relat vely young man.
At the age of forty-one, Lola gave away her clothes and f nery and
turned to God. She toured Amer ca, lectur ng on rel g ous top cs,
dressed n wh te and wear ng a halol ke wh te headgear. She d ed
two years later, n 1861.
Regard no fool sh man as cultured, though you may reckom a g fted
man as w se; and esteem no gnorant absta ner a true ascet c. Do
not consort w th fools, espec ally those who cons der themselves
w se. And be not self-sat sf ed w th your own gnorance. Let your
ntercourse be only w th men of good repute: for t s by such assot
at on that men themselves atta n to good repute. Do you not
observe how sesame-o l s m ngled w th roses or v olets and how,
when t has been for some t me n assoc at on w th roses or v olets, t
ceases to he sesame-o l and s called o l of roses or o l of v olets?
A MIRROR FOR PRINCES. KAI KAUS IBN ISKANDAR. ELEVENTH
CENTURY

Interpretat on

Lola Montez attracted men w th her w les, but her power over them
went beyond the sexual. It was through the force of her character
that she kept her lovers enthralled. Men were sucked nto the
maelstrom she churned up around her. They felt confused, upset,
but the strength of the emot ons she st rred also made them feel
more al ve.
As s often the case w th nfect on, the problems would only ar se
over t me. Lola’s nherent nstab l ty would beg n to get under her
lovers’ sk n. They would f nd themselves drawn nto her problems,
but the r emot onal attachment to her would make them want to help
her. Th s was the cruc al po nt of the d sease—for Lola Montez could
not be helped. Her problems were too deep. Once the lover
dent f ed w th them, he was lost. He would f nd h mself embro led n
quarrels. The nfect on would spread to h s fam ly and fr ends, or, n
the case of Ludw g, to an ent re nat on. The only solut on would be to
cut her off, or suffer an eventual collapse.
The nfect ng-character type s not restr cted to women; t has
noth ng to do w th gender. It stems from an nward nstab l ty that
rad ates outward, draw ng d saster upon tself. There s almost a
des re to destroy and unsettle. You could spend a l fet me study ng
the pathology of nfect ng characters, but don’t waste your t me—just
learn the lesson. When you suspect you are n the presence of an
nfector, don’t argue, don’t try to help, don’t pass the person on to
your fr ends, or you w ll become enmeshed. Flee the nfector’s
presence or suffer the consequences.
 Yond Cass us has a lean and hungry look. He th nks too much....
I do not know the man I should avo d so soon as that spare
Cass us....
Such men as he be never at heart’s ease wh les they behold a
greater
than themselves, and therefore are they very dangerous.
Jul us Caesar, W ll am Shakespeare. 1564-1616

KEYS TO POWER

Those m sfortunates among us who have been brought down by

c rcumstances beyond the r control deserve all the help and
sympathy we can g ve them. But there are others who are not born
to m sfortune or unhapp ness, but who draw t upon themselves by
the r destruct ve act ons and unsettl ng effect on others. It would be a
great th ng f we could ra se them up, change the r patterns, but more
often than not t s the r patterns that end up gett ng ns de and
chang ng us. The reason s s mple—humans are extremely
suscept ble to the moods, emot ons, and even the ways of th nk ng of
those w th whom they spend the r t me.
The ncurably unhappy and unstable have a part cularly strong
nfect ng power because the r characters and emot ons are so
ntense. They often present themselves as v ct ms, mak ng t d ff cult,
at f rst, to see the r m ser es as self- nfl cted. Before you real ze the
real nature of the r problems you have been nfected by them.
Understand th s: In the game of power, the people you assoc ate
w th are cr t cal. The r sk of assoc at ng w th nfectors s that you w ll
waste valuable t me and energy try ng to free yourself. Through a
k nd of gu lt by assoc at on, you w ll also suffer n the eyes of others.
Never underest mate the dangers of nfect on.
There are many k nds of nfector to be aware of, but one of the
most ns d ous s the sufferer from chron c d ssat sfact on. Cass us,
the Roman consp rator aga nst Jul us Caesar, had the d scontent
that comes from deep envy. He s mply could not endure the
presence of anyone of greater talent. Probably because Caesar
sensed the man’s nterm nable sourness, he passed h m up for the
pos t on of f rst praetorsh p, and gave the pos t on to Brutus nstead.
Cass us brooded and brooded, h s hatred for Caesar becom ng
patl olog cal. Brutus h mself, a devoted republ can, d sl ked Caesar’s
d ctatorsh p; had he had the pat ence to wa t, he would have become
the f rst man n Rome after Caesar’s death, and could have undone
the ev l that the leader had wrought. But Cass us nfected h m w th
h s own rancor, bend ng h s ear da ly w th tales of Caesar’s ev l. He
f nally won Brutus over to the consp racy. It was the beg nn ng of a
great tragedy. How many m sfortunes could have been avo ded had
Brutus learned to fear the power of nfect on.
There s only one solut on to nfect on: quarant ne. But by the t me
you recogn ze the problem t s often too late. A Lola Montez
overwhelms you w th her forceful personal ty. Cass us ntr gues you
w th h s conf d ng nature and the depth of h s feel ngs. How can you
protect yourself aga nst such ns d ous v ruses? The answer l es n
judg ng people on the effects they have on the world and not on the
reasons they g ve for the r prob-Image: A V rus. Unseen, t lems.
Infectors can be recogn zed by the m sfortune they draw on them-
enters your pores w thout selves, the r turbulent past, the r long l ne
of broken relat onsh ps, the r un-warn ng, spread ng s lently and
stable careers, and the very force of the r character, wh ch sweeps
you up slowly. Before you are aware of and makes you lose your
reason. Be forewarned by these s gns of an nfec the nfect on, t s
deep ns de you. tor; learn to see the d scontent n the r eye. Most
mportant of all, do not take p ty. Do not enmesh yourself n try ng to
help. The nfector w ll rema n unchanged, but you w ll be unh nged.
The other s de of nfect on s equally val d, and perhaps more
read ly understood: There are people who attract happ ness to
themselves by the r good cheer, natural buoyancy, and ntell gence.
They are a source of pleasure, and you must assoc ate w th them to
share n the prosper ty they draw upon themselves.
Th s appl es to more than good cheer and success: All pos t ve
qual t es can nfect us. Talleyrand had many strange and nt m dat ng
tra ts, but most agreed that he surpassed all Frenchmen n
grac ousness, ar stocrat c charm, and w t. Indeed he came from one
of the oldest noble fam l es n the country, and desp te h s bel ef n
democracy and the French Republ c, he reta ned h s courtly
manners. H s contemporary Napoleon was n many ways the
oppos te—a peasant from Cors ca, tac turn and ungrac ous, even
v olent.
There was no one Napoleon adm red more than Talleyrand. He
env ed h s m n ster’s way w th people, h s w t and h s ab l ty to charm
women, and as best he could, he kept Talleyrand around h m, hop ng
to soak up the culture he lacked. There s no doubt that Napoleon
changed as h s rule cont nued. Many of the rough edges were
smoothed by h s constant assoc at on w th Talleyrand.
Use the pos t ve s de of th s emot onal osmos s to advantage. If,
for example, you are m serly by nature, you w ll never go beyond a
certa n l m t; only generous souls atta n greatness. Assoc ate w th the
generous, then, and they w ll nfect you, open ng up everyth ng that
s t ght and restr cted n you. If you are gloomy, grav tate to the
cheerful. If you are prone to solat on, force yourself to befr end the
gregar ous. Never assoc ate w th those who share your defects—
they w ll re nforce everyth ng that holds you back. Only create
assoc at ons w th pos t ve aff n t es. Make th s a rule of l fe and you
w ll benef t more than from all the therapy n the world.
Author ty: Recogn ze the fortunate so that you may choose the r
company, and the unfortunate so that you may avo d them.
M sfortune s usually the cr me of folly, and among those who suffer
from t there s no malady more contag ous: Never open your door to
the least of m sfortunes, for, f you do, many others w ll follow n ts
tra n.... Do not d e of another’s m sery. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-
1658)

REVERSAL
Th s law adm ts of no reversal. Its appl cat on s un versal. There s
noth ng to be ga ned by assoc at ng w th those who nfect you w th
the r m sery; there s only power and good fortune to be obta ned by
assoc at ng w th the fortunate. Ignore th s law at your per l.
 LAW 11

LEARN TO KEEP PEOPLE DEPENDENT ON YOU

JUDGMENT
To ma nta n your ndependence you must always be needed and
wanted. The more you are rel ed on, the more freedom you have.
Make people depend on you for the r happ ness and prosper ty and
you have noth ng to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can
do w thout you.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Somet me n the M ddle Ages, a mercenary sold er (a condott ere),

whose name has not been recorded, saved the town of S ena from a
fore gn aggressor. How could the good c t zens of S ena reward h m?
No amount of money or honor could poss bly compare n value to the
preservat on of a c ty’s l berty. The c t zens thought of mak ng the
mercenary the lord of the c ty, but even that, they dec ded, wasn’t
recompense enough. At last one of them stood before the assembly
called to debate th s matter and sa d, “Let us k ll h m and then
worsh p h m as our patron sa nt.” And so they d d.
The Count of Carmagnola was one of the bravest and most
successful of all the condott er . In 1442, late n h s l fe, he was n the
employ of the c ty of Ven ce, wh ch was n the m dst of a long war
w th Florence. The count was suddenly recalled to Ven ce. A favor te
of the people, he was rece ved there w th all k nds of honor and
splendor. That even ng he was to d ne w th the doge h mself, n the
doge’s palace. On the way nto the palace, however, he not ced that
the guard was lead ng h m n a d fferent d rect on from usual.
Cross ng the famous Br dge of S ghs, he suddenly real zed where
they were tak ng h m—to the dungeon. He was conv cted on a
trumped-up charge and the next day n the P azza San Marco,
before a horr f ed crowd who could not understand how h s fate had
changed so drast cally, he was beheaded.
THE TWO HORSES
Two horses were carry ng two loads. The front Horse went well, but
the rear Horse was lazy. The men began to p le the rear Horse’s load
on the front Horse; when they had transferred t all, the rear Horse
found t easy go ng, and he sa d to the front Horse: “To l and sraeat!
The more you try, the more you have to suffer.” When they reached
the tavern, the owner sa d; “Why should I fodder two horses when I
carry all on one? I had better g ve the one all the food t wants, and
cut the throat of the other; at least I shall have the h de.” And so he
d d.

FABLES. LEO TOLSIOY, 1828-1910

Interpretat on

Many of the great condott er of Rena ssance Italy suffered the same
fate as the patron sa nt of S ena and the Count of Carmagnola: They
won battle after battle for the r employers only to f nd themselves
ban shed, mpr soned, or executed. The problem was not ngrat tude;
t was that there were so many other condott er as able and val ant
as they were. They were replaceable. Noth ng was lost by k ll ng
them. Meanwh le, the older among them had grown powerful
themselves, and wanted more and more money for the r serv ces.
How much better, then, to do away w th them and h re a younger,
cheaper mercenary. That was the fate of the Count of Carmagnola,
who had started to act mpudently and ndependently. He had taken
h s power for granted w thout mak ng sure that he was truly
nd spensable.
Such s the fate (to a less v olent degree, one hopes) of those who
do not make others dependent on them. Sooner or later someone
comes along who can do the job as well as they can—someone
younger, fresher, less expens ve, less threaten ng.
Be the only one who can do what you do, and make the fate of
those who h re you so entw ned w th yours that they cannot poss bly
get r d of you. Otherw se you w ll someday be forced to cross your
own Br dge of S ghs.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

When Otto von B smarck became a deputy n the Pruss an

parl ament n 1847, he was th rty-two years old and w thout an ally or
fr end. Look ng around h m, he dec ded that the s de to ally h mself
w th was not the parl ament’s l berals or conservat ves, not any
part cular m n ster, and certa nly not the people. It was w th the k ng,
Freder ck W ll am IV. Th s was an odd cho ce to say the least, for
Freder ck was at a low po nt of h s power. A weak, ndec s ve man,
he cons stently gave n to the l berals n parl ament; n fact he was
sp neless, and stood for much that B smarck d sl ked, personally and
pol t cally. Yet B smarck courted Freder ck n ght and day. When other
deput es attacked the k ng for h s many nept moves, only B smarck
stood by h m.

THE CAT THAT WALKED BY HIMSELF

Then the Woman laughed and set the Cat a bowl of the warm wh te
m lk and sa d, “0 Cat, you are as clever as a man, but remember that
your barga n was not made w th the Man or the Dog, and I do not
know what they w ll do when they come home.” “What s that to me?”
sa d the Cat. “If I have my place n the Cave by the f re and my warm
wh te m lk three t mes a day, I do not care what the Man or the Dog
can do.” ... And from that day to th s, Best Beloved, three proper Men
out of f ve w ll always throw th ngs at a Cat whenever they meet h m,
and all proper Dogs w ll chase h m up a tree. But the Cat keeps h s
s de of the barga n too. He w ll k ll m ce, and he w ll be k nd to Bab es
when he s n the house, just as long as they do not pull h s ta l too
hard. But when he has done that, and between t mes, and when the
moon gets up and the n ght comes, he s the Cat that walks by
h mself, and all places are al ke to h m. Then he goes out to the Wet
W ld Woods or up the Wet W ld Trees or on the Wet W ld Roofs,
wav ng h s w ld ta l and walk ng by h s w ld lone.

JUST SO STORIES, RUDYARD KIPLING, 1865-1936

F nally, t all pa d off: In 1851 B smarck was made a m n ster n the
k ng’s cab net. Now he went to work. T me and aga n he forced the
k ng’s hand, gett ng h m to bu ld up the m l tary, to stand up to the
l berals, to do exactly as B smarck w shed. He worked on Freder ck’s
nsecur ty about h s manl ness, challeng ng h m to be f rm and to rule
w th pr de. And he slowly restored the k ng’s powers unt l the
monarchy was once aga n the most powerful force n Pruss a.
When Freder ck d ed, n 1861, h s brother W ll am assumed the
throne. W ll am d sl ked B smarck ntensely and had no ntent on of
keep ng h m around. But he also nher ted the same s tuat on h s
brother had: enem es galore, who wanted to n bble h s power away.
He actually cons dered abd cat ng, feel ng he lacked the strength to
deal w th th s dangerous and precar ous pos t on. But B smarck
ns nuated h mself once aga n. He stood by the new k ng, gave h m
strength, and urged h m nto f rm and dec s ve act on. The k ng grew
dependent on B smarck’s strong-arm tact cs to keep h s enem es at
bay, and desp te h s ant pathy toward the man, he soon made h m
h s pr me m n ster. The two quarreled often over pol cy—B smarck
was much more conservat ve—but the k ng understood h s own
dependency. Whenever the pr me m n ster threatened to res gn, the
k ng gave n to h m, t me after t me. It was n fact B smarck who set
state pol cy.
 Years later, B smarck’s act ons as Pruss a’s pr me m n ster led the
var ous German states to be un ted nto one country. Now B smarck
f nagled the k ng nto lett ng h mself be crowned emperor of
Germany. Yet t was really B smarck who had reached the he ghts of
power. As r ght-hand man to the emperor, and as mper al chancellor
and kn ghted pr nce, he pulled all the levers.

Interpretat on

Most young and amb t ous pol t c ans look ng out on the pol t cal
landscape of 1840s Germany would have tr ed to bu ld a power base
among those w th the most power. B smarck saw d fferent. Jo n ng
forces w th the powerful can be fool sh: They w ll swallow you up,
just as the doge of Ven ce swallowed up the Count of Carmagnola.
No one w ll come to depend on you f they are already strong. If you
are amb t ous, t s much w ser to seek out weak rulers or masters
w th whom you can create a relat onsh p of dependency. You
become the r strength, the r ntell gence, the r sp ne. What power you
hold! If they got r d of you the whole ed f ce would collapse.
Necess ty rules the world. People rarely act unless compelled to. If
you create no need for yourself, then you w ll be done away w th at
f rst opportun ty. If, on the other hand, you understand the Laws of
Power and make others depend on you for the r welfare, f you can
counteract the r weakness w th your own “ ron and blood,” n
B smarck’s phrase, then you w ll surv ve your masters as B smarck
d d. You w ll have all the benef ts of power w thout the thorns that
come from be ng a master.
Thus a w se pr nce w ll th nk of ways to keep h s c t zens of every
sort
and under every c rcumstance dependent on the state and on h m;
and then they w ll always be trustworthy.
N ccolo Mach avell , 1469-1527
THE I I.M-IRI I AND THE AND
An extravagant young V ne, va nly amb t ous of ndependence, and
fond of rambl ng at large, desp sed the all ance of a slately elm that
grew near, and courted her embraces. Hav ng r sen to some small
he ght w thout any k nd of support, she shot forth her fl msy branches
to a very uncommon and superfluous length; call ng on her
ne ghbour to take not ce how l ttle she wanted h s ass stance. “Poor
nfatuated shrub,” repl ed the elm, “how ncons stent s thy conduct!
Wouldst thou be truly ndependent, thou shouldst carefully apply
those ju ces to the enlargement of thy stem. wh ch thou lav shest n
va n upon unnecessary fol age. I shortly shall behold thee grovell ng
on the ground; yet countenanced, ndeed, by many of the human
race, who, ntox cated w th van ty, have desp sed economy; and who,
to support for a moment the r empty boast of ndependence, have
exhausted the very source of t n fr volous expenses.”
FABLES, ROBERT DODSLFY, 1703-1764

KEYS TO POWER

The ult mate power s the power to get people to do as you w sh.
When you can do th s w thout hav ng to force people or hurt them,
when they w ll ngly grant you what you des re, then your power s
untouchable. The best way to ach eve th s pos t on s to create a
relat onsh p of dependence. The master requ res your serv ces; he s
weak, or unable to funct on w thout you; you have enmeshed
yourself n h s work so deeply that do ng away w th you would br ng
h m great d ff culty, or at least would mean valuable t me lost n
tra n ng another to replace you. Once such a relat onsh p s
establ shed you have the upper hand, the leverage to make the
master do as you w sh. It s the class c case of the man beh nd the
throne, the servant of the k ng who actually controls the k ng.
B smarck d d not have to bully e ther Freder ck or W ll am nto do ng
h s b dd ng. He s mply made t clear that unless he got what he
wanted he would walk away, leav ng the k ng to tw st n the w nd.
Both k ngs soon danced to B smarck’s tune.
Do not be one of the many who m stakenly bel eve that the
ult mate form of power s ndependence. Power nvolves a
relat onsh p between people; you w ll always need others as all es,
pawns, or even as weak masters who serve as your front. The
completely ndependent man would l ve n a cab n n the woods—he
would have the freedom to come and go as he pleased, but he
would have no power. The best you can hope for s that others w ll
grow so dependent on you that you enjoy a k nd of reverse
ndependence: The r need for you frees you.
Lou s XI (1423-1483), the great Sp der K ng of France, had a
weakness for astrology. He kept a court astrologer whom he
adm red, unt l one day the man pred cted that a lady of the court
would d e w th n e ght days. When the prophecy came true, Lou s
was terr f ed, th nk ng that e ther the man had murdered the woman
to prove h s accuracy or that he was so versed n h s sc ence that h s
powers threatened Lou s h mself. In e ther case he had to be k lled.
One even ng Lou s summoned the astrologer to h s room, h gh n
the castle. Before the man arr ved, the k ng told h s servants that
when he gave the s gnal they were to p ck the astrologer up, carry
h m to the w ndow, and hurl h m to the ground, hundreds of feet
below.
The astrologer soon arr ved, but before g v ng the s gnal, Lou s
dec ded to ask h m one last quest on: “You cla m to understand
astrology and to know the fate of others, so tell me what your fate
w ll be and how long you have to l ve.”
“I shall d e just three days before Your Majesty,” the astrologer
repl ed. The k ng’s s gnal was never g ven. The man’s l fe was
spared. The Sp der K ng not only protected h s astrologer for as long
as he was al ve, he lav shed h m w th g fts and had h m tended by
the f nest court doctors.
The astrologer surv ved Lou s by several years, d sprov ng h s
power of prophecy but prov ng h s mastery of power.
Th s s the model: Make others dependent on you. To get r d of
you m ght spell d saster, even death, and your master dares not
tempt fate by f nd ng out. There are many ways to obta n such a
pos t on. Foremost among them s to possess a talent and creat ve
sk ll that s mply cannot be replaced.
Dur ng the Rena ssance, the major obstacle to a pa nter’s success
was f nd ng the r ght patron. M chelangelo d d th s better than anyone
else: H s patron was Pope Jul us II. But he and the pope quarreled
over the bu ld ng of the pope’s marble tomb, and M chelangelo left
Rome n d sgust. To the amazement of those n the pope’s c rcle, not
only d d the pope not f re h m, he sought h m out and n h s own
haughty way begged the art st to stay. M chelangelo, he knew, could
f nd another patron, but he could never f nd another M chelangelo.
You do not have to have the talent of a M chelangelo; you do have
to have a sk ll that sets you apart from the crowd. You should create
a s tuat on n wh ch you can always latch on to another master or
patron but your master cannot eas ly ,f nd another servant w th your
part cular talent. And f, n real ty, you are not actually nd spensable,
you must f nd a way to make t look as f you are. Hav ng the
appearance of spec al zed knowledge and sk ll g ves you leeway n
your ab l ty to dece ve those above you nto th nk ng they cannot do
w thout you. Real dependence on your master’s part, however,
leaves h m more vulnerable to you than the faked var ety, and t s
always w th n your power to make your sk ll nd spensable.
Th s s what s meant by the ntertw n ng of fates: L ke creep ng vy,
you have wrapped yourself around the source of power, so that t
would cause great trauma to cut you away. And you do not
necessar ly have to entw ne yourself around the master; another
person w ll do, as long as he or she too s nd spensable n the cha n.
One day Harry Cohn, pres dent of Columb a P ctures, was v s ted
n h s off ce by a gloomy group of h s execut ves. It was 1951, when
the w tch-hunt aga nst Commun sts n Hollywood, carr ed on by the
U.S. Congress’s House Un-Amer can Act v t es Comm ttee, was at
ts he ght. The execut ves had bad news: One of the r employees,
the screenwr ter John Howard Lawson, had been s ngled out as a
Commun st. They had to get r d of h m r ght away or suffer the wrath
of the comm ttee.
 Harry Cohn was no bleed ng-heart l beral; n fact, he had always
been a d e-hard Republ can.
H s favor te pol t c an was Ben to Mussol n , whom he had once
v s ted, and whose framed photo hung on h s wall. If there was
someone he hated Cohn would call h m a “Commun st bastard.” But
to the execut ves’ amazement Cohn told them he would not f re
Lawson. He d d not keep the screenwr ter on because he was a
good wr ter—there were many good wr ters n Hollywood. He kept
h m because of a cha n of dependence: Lawson was Humphrey
Bogart’s wr ter and Bogart was Columb a’s star. If Cohn messed w th
Lawson he would ru n an mmensely prof table relat onsh p. That was
worth more than the terr ble publ c ty brought to h m by h s def ance
of the comm ttee.
Henry K ss nger managed to surv ve the many bloodlett ngs that
went on n the N xon Wh te House not because he was the best
d plomat N xon could f nd—there were other f ne negot ators—and
not because the two men got along so well: They d d not. Nor d d
they share the r bel efs and pol t cs. K ss nger surv ved because he
entrenched h mself n so many areas of the pol t cal structure that to
do away w th h m would lead to chaos. M chelangelo’s power was
ntens ve, depend ng on one sk ll, h s ab l ty as an art st; K ss nger’s
was extens ve. He got h mself nvolved n so many aspects and
departments of the adm n strat on that h s nvolvement became a
card n h s hand. It also made h m many all es. If you can arrange
such a pos t on for yourself, gett ng r d of you becomes dangerous—
all sorts of nterdependenc es w ll unravel. St ll, the ntens ve form of
power prov des more freedom than the extens ve, because those
who have t depend on no part cular master, or part cular pos t on of
power, for the r secur ty.
To make others dependent on you, one route to take s the secret-
ntell gence tact c. By know ng other people’s secrets, by hold ng
nformat on that they wouldn’t want broadcast, you seal your fate
w th the rs. You are untouchable. M n sters of secret pol ce have held
th s pos t on throughout the ages: They can make or break a k ng, or,
as n the case of J. Edgar Hoover, a pres dent. But the role s so full
of nsecur t es and parano a that the power t prov des almost
cancels tself out. You cannot rest at ease, and what good s power f
t br ngs you no peace?
One last warn ng: Do not mag ne that your master’s dependence
on you w ll make h m love you. In fact, he may resent and fear you.
But, as Mach avell sa d, t s better to be feared than loved. Fear you
can control; love, never. Depend ng on an emot on as subtle and
changeable as love or fr endsh p w ll only make you nsecure. Better
to have others depend on you out of fear of the consequences of
los ng you than out of love of your company.
Image: V nes w th Many Thorns. Below, the roots grow deep
and w de. Above, the v nes push through bushes, entw ne
themselves
around trees and poles and w ndow ledges. To get r d of them
would cost such to l and blood, t s eas er to let them cl mb.
Author ty: Make people depend on you. More s to be ga ned from
such dependence than courtesy. He who has slaked h s th rst,
mmed ately turns h s back on the well, no longer need ng t. When
dependence d sappears, so does c v l ty and decency, and then
respect. The f rst lesson wh ch exper ence should teach you s to
keep hope al ve but never sat sf ed, keep ng even a royal patron ever
n need of you. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

The weakness of mak ng others depend on you s that you are n

some measure dependent on them. But try ng to move beyond that
po nt means gett ng r d of those above you— t means stand ng
alone, depend ng on no one. Such s the monopol st c dr ve of a J. P.
Morgan or a John D. Rockefeller—to dr ve out all compet t on, to be
n complete control. If you can corner the market, so much the better.
No such ndependence comes w thout a pr ce. You are forced to
solate yourself. Monopol es often turn nward and destroy
themselves from the nternal pressure. They also st r up powerful
resentment, mak ng the r enem es bond together to f ght them. The
dr ve for complete control s often ru nous and fru tless.
Interdependence rema ns the law, ndependence a rare and often
fatal except on. Better to place yourself n a pos t on of mutual
dependence, then, and to follow th s cr t cal law rather than look for
ts reversal. You w ll not have the unbearable pressure of be ng on
top, and the master above you w ll n essence be your slave, for he
w ll depend on you.
 LAW 12

USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND GENEROSITY

TO DISARM YOUR VICTIM

JUDGMENT
One s ncere and honest move w ll cover over dozens of d shonest
ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generos ty br ng down
the guard of even the most susp c ous people. Once your select ve
honesty opens a hole n the r armor, you can dece ve and man pulate
them at w ll. A t mely g ft—a Trojan horse—w ll serve the same
purpose.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

Somet me n 1926, a tall, dapperly dressed man pa d a v s t to Al

Capone, the most feared gangster of h s t me. Speak ng w th an
elegant Cont nental accent, the man ntroduced h mself as Count
V ctor Lust g. He prom sed that f Capone gave h m $50,000 he could
double t. Capone had more than enough funds to cover the
“ nvestment,” but he wasn’t n the hab t of entrust ng large sums to
total strangers. He looked the count over: Someth ng about the man
was d fferent—h s classy style, h s manner—and so Capone dec ded
to play along. He counted out the b lls personally and handed them
to Lust g. “Okay, Count,” sa d Capone. “Double t n s xty days l ke
you sa d.” Lust g left w th the money, put t n a safe-depos t box n
Ch cago, then headed to New York, where he had several other
money-mak ng schemes n progress.
The $50,000 rema ned n the bank box untouched. Lust g made no
effort to double t. Two months later he returned to Ch cago, took the
money from the box, and pa d Capone another v s t. He looked at the
gangster’s stony-faced bodyguards, sm led apologet cally, and sa d,
“Please accept my profound regrets, Mr. Capone. I’m sorry to report
that the plan fa led... I fa led.”
Capone slowly stood up. He glowered at Lust g, debat ng wh ch
part of the r ver to throw h m n. But the count reached nto h s coat
pocket, w thdrew the $50,000, and placed t on the desk. “Here, s r,
s your money, to the penny. Aga n, my s ncere apolog es. Th s s
most embarrass ng. Th ngs d dn’t work out the way I thought they
would. I would have loved to have doubled your money for you and
for myself—Lord knows I need t—but the plan just d dn’t
mater al ze.”
Capone sagged back nto h s cha r, confused. “I know you’re a con
man, Count,” sa d Capone. “I knew t the moment you walked n
here. I expected e ther one hundred thousand dollars or noth ng. But
th s... gett ng my money back ... well.” “Aga n my apolog es, Mr.
Capone,” sa d Lust g, as he p cked up h s hat and began to leave.
“My God! You’re honest!” yelled Capone. “If you’re on the spot,
here’s f ve to help you along.” He counted out f ve one-thousand-
dollar b lls out of the $50,000. The count seemed stunned, bowed
deeply, mumbled h s thanks, and left, tak ng the money.
The $5,000 was what Lust g had been after all along.

FRANCESCO BORRI. COURTIER CHARLATAN

Francesco G useppe Borr of M lan, whose death n 1695 fell just
w th n the seventeenth century ... was a forerunner of that spec al
type of charlatan cal adventurer, the court er or “caval er” mpostor....
H s real per od of glory began after he moved to Amsterdam. There
he assumed the t tle of Med co Un versale, ma nta ned a great
ret nue, and drove about n a coach w th s x horses.... Pat ents
streamed to h m, and some nval ds had themselves carr ed n sedan
cha rs all the way from Par s to h s place n Amsterdam. Borr took no
payment for h s consultat ons: He d str buted great sums among the
poor and was never known to rece ve any money through the post or
b lls of exchange. As he cont nued to l ve w th such splendor,
nevertheless, t was presumed that he possessed the ph losophers’
stone. Suddenly th s benefactor d sappeared from Amsterdam. Then
t was d scovered that he had taken w th h m money and d amonds
that had been placed n h s charge.
THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO,
1939

Interpretat on

Count V ctor Lust g, a man who spoke several languages and pr ded
h mself on h s ref nement and culture, was one of the great con
art sts of modem t mes. He was known for h s audac ty, h s
fearlessness, and, most mportant, h s knowledge of human
psychology. He could s ze up a man n m nutes, d scover ng h s
weaknesses, and he had radar for suckers. Lust g knew that most
men bu ld up defenses aga nst crooks and other troublemakers. The
con art st’s job s to br ng those defenses down.
One sure way to do th s s through an act of apparent s ncer ty and
honesty. Who w ll d strust a person l terally caught n the act of be ng
honest? Lust g used select ve honesty many t mes, but w th Capone
he went a step further. No normal con man would have dared such a
con; he would have chosen h s suckers for the r meekness, for that
look about them that says they w ll take the r med c ne w thout
compla nt. Con Capone and you would spend the rest of your l fe
(whatever rema ned of t) afra d. But Lust g understood that a man
l ke Capone spends h s l fe m strust ng others. No one around h m s
honest or generous, and be ng so much n the company of wolves s
exhaust ng, even depress ng. A man l ke Capone yearns to be the
rec p ent of an honest or generous gesture, to feel that not everyone
has an angle or s out to rob h m.
 Lust g’s act of select ve honesty d sarmed Capone because t was
so unexpected. A con art st loves confl ct ng emot ons l ke these,
s nce the person caught up n them s so eas ly d stracted and
dece ved.
Do not shy away from pract c ng th s law on the Capones of the
world. W th a well-t med gesture of honesty or generos ty, you w ll
have the most brutal and cyn cal beast n the k ngdom eat ng out of
your hand.
Everyth ng turns gray when I don’t have at least one mark on the
hor zon.
L fe then seems empty and depress ng. I cannot understand honest
men.
They lead desperate l ves, full of boredom.
Count V ctor Lust g, 1890-1947

KEYS TO POWER

The essence of decept on s d stract on. D stract ng the people you

want to dece ve g ves you the t me and space to do someth ng they
won’t not ce. An act of k ndness, generos ty, or honesty s often the
most powerful form of d stract on because t d sarms other people’s
susp c ons. It turns them nto ch ldren, eagerly lapp ng up any k nd of
affect onate gesture.
In anc ent Ch na th s was called “g v ng before you take”—the
g v ng makes t hard for the other person to not ce the tak ng. It s a
dev ce w th nf n te pract cal uses. Brazenly tak ng someth ng from
someone s dangerous, even for the powerful. The v ct m w ll plot
revenge. It s also dangerous s mply to ask for what you need, no
matter how pol tely: Unless the other person sees some ga n for
themselves, they may come to resent your need ness. Learn to g ve
before you take. It softens the ground, takes the b te out of a future
request, or s mply creates a d stract on. And the g v ng can take
many forms: an actual g ft, a generous act, a k nd favor, an “honest”
adm ss on—whatever t takes.
Select ve honesty s best employed on your f rst encounter w th
someone. We are all creatures of hab t, and our f rst mpress ons last
a long t me. If someone bel eves you are honest at the start of your
relat onsh p t takes a lot to conv nce them otherw se. Th s g ves you
room to maneuver.
Jay Gould, l ke Al Capone, was a man who d strusted everyone.
By the t me he was th rty-three he was already a mult m ll ona re,
mostly through decept on and strong-arm ng. In the late 1860s,
Gould nvested heav ly n the Er e Ra lroad, then d scovered that the
market had been flooded w th a vast amount of phony stock
cert f cates for the company. He stood to lose a fortune and to suffer
a lot of embarrassment.
In the m dst of th s cr s s, a man named Lord John Gordon-Gordon
offered to help. Gordon-Gordon, a Scott sh lord, had apparently
made a small fortune nvest ng n ra lroads.
By h r ng some handwr t ng experts Gordon-Gordon was able to
prove to Gould that the culpr ts for the phony stock cert f cates were
actually several top execut ves w th the Er e Ra lroad tself. Gould
was grateful. Gordon-Gordon then proposed that he and Gould jo n
forces to buy up a controll ng nterest n Er e. Gould agreed. For a
wh le the venture appeared to prosper. The two men were now good
fr ends, and every t me Gordon-Gordon came to Gould ask ng for
money to buy more stock, Gould gave t to h m. In 1873, however,
Gordon-Gordon suddenly dumped all of h s stock, mak ng a fortune
but drast cally lower ng the value of Gould’s own hold ngs. Then he
d sappeared from s ght.
Upon nvest gat on, Gould found out that Gordon-Gordon’s real
name was John Crown ngsf eld, and that he was the bastard son of
a merchant seaman and a London barma d. There had been many
clues before then that Gordon-Gordon was a con man, but h s n t al
act of honesty and support had so bl nded Gould that t took the loss
of m ll ons for h m to see through the scheme.
A s ngle act of honesty s often not enough. What s requ red s a
reputat on for honesty, bu lt on a ser es of acts—but these can be
qu te nconsequent al. Once th s reputat on s establ shed, as w th
f rst mpress ons, t s hard to shake.
In anc ent Ch na, Duke Wu of Chêng dec ded t was t me to take
over the ncreas ngly powerful k ngdom of Hu. Tell ng no one of h s
plan, he marr ed h s daughter to Hu’s ruler. He then called a counc l
and asked h s m n sters, “I am cons der ng a m l tary campa gn.
Wh ch country should we nvade?” As he had expected, one of h s
m n sters repl ed, “Hu should be nvaded.” The duke seemed angry,
and sa d, “Hu s a s ster state now. Why do you suggest nvad ng
her?” He had the m n ster executed for h s mpol t c remark. The ruler
of Hu heard about th s, and cons der ng other tokens ofWu’s honesty
and the marr age w th h s daughter, he took no precaut ons to defend
h mself from Cheng. A few weeks later, Chêng forces swept through
Hu and took the country, never to rel nqu sh t.
Honesty s one of the best ways to d sarm the wary, but t s not
the only one. Any k nd of noble, apparently selfless act w ll serve.
Perhaps the best such act, though, s one of generos ty. Few people
can res st a g ft, even from the most hardened enemy, wh ch s why t
s often the perfect way to d sarm people. A g ft br ngs out the ch ld n
us, nstantly lower ng our defenses. Although we often v ew other
people’s act ons n the most cyn cal l ght, we rarely see the
Mach avell an element of a g ft, wh ch qu te often h des ulter or
mot ves. A g ft s the perfect object n wh ch to h de a decept ve
move.
Over three thousand years ago the anc ent Greeks traveled across
the sea to recapture the beaut ful Helen, stolen away from them by
Par s, and to destroy Par s’s c ty, Troy. The s ege lasted ten years,
many heroes d ed, yet ne ther s de had come close to v ctory. One
day, the prophet Calchas assembled the Greeks.
Image: The Trojan Horse. Your gu le s h dden ns de a magn f cent
g ft that proves rres st ble to your opponent. The walls open. Once
ns de, wreak havoc.
“Stop batter ng away at these walls!” he told them. “You must f nd
some other way, some ruse. We cannot take Troy by force alone. We
must f nd some cunn ng stratagem.” The cunn ng Greek leader
Odysseus then came up w th the dea of bu ld ng a g ant wooden
horse, h d ng sold ers ns de t, then offer ng t to the Trojans as a g ft.
Neoptolemus, son of Ach lles, was d sgusted w th th s dea; t was
unmanly. Better for thousands to d e on the battlef eld than to ga n
v ctory so dece tfully. But the sold ers, faced w th a cho ce between
another ten years of manl ness, honor, and death, on the one hand
and a qu ck v ctory on the other, chose the horse, wh ch was
promptly bu lt. The tr ck was successful and Troy fell. One g ft d d
more for the Greek cause than ten years of f ght ng.
Select ve k ndness should also be part of your arsenal of
decept on. For years the anc ent Romans had bes eged the c ty of
the Fal scans, always unsuccessfully. One day, however, when the
Roman general Cam llus was encamped outs de the c ty, he
suddenly saw a man lead ng some ch ldren toward h m. The man
was a Fal scan teacher, and the ch ldren, t turned out, were the sons
and daughters of the noblest and wealth est c t zens of the town. On
the pretense of tak ng these ch ldren out for a walk, he had led them
stra ght to the Romans, offer ng them as hostages n hopes of
ngrat at ng h mself w th Cam llus, the c ty’s enemy.
Cam llus d d not take the ch ldren hostage. He str pped the
teacher, t ed h s hands beh nd h s back, gave each ch ld a rod, and
let them wh p h m all the way back to the c ty. The gesture had an
mmed ate effect on the Fal scans. Had Cam llus used the ch ldren
as hostages, some n the c ty would have voted to surrender. And
even f the Fal scans had gone on f ght ng, the r res stance would
have been halfhearted. Cam llus’s refusal to take advantage of the
s tuat on broke down the Fal scans’ res stance, and they
surrendered. The general had calculated correctly. And n any case
he had had noth ng to lose: He knew that the hostage ploy would not
have ended the war, at least not r ght away. By turn ng the s tuat on
around, he earned h s enemy’s trust and respect, d sarm ng them.
Select ve k ndness w ll often break down even the most stubborn
foe: A m ng r ght for the heart, t corrodes the w ll to f ght back.
Remember: By play ng on people’s emot ons, calculated acts of
k ndness can turn a Capone nto a gull ble ch ld. As w th any
emot onal approach, the tact c must be pract ced w th caut on: If
people see through t, the r d sappo nted feel ngs of grat tude and
warmth w ll become the most v olent hatred and d strust. Unless you
can make the gesture seem s ncere and heartfelt, do not play w th
f re.
Author ty: When Duke Hs en of Ch n was about to ra d Yü, he
presented to them a jade and a team of horses. When Earl Ch h was
about to ra d Ch’ou-yu, he presented to them grand char ots. Hence
the say ng: “When you are about to take, you should g ve.” (Han-fe -
tzu, Ch nese ph losopher, th rd century B.C.)

REVERSAL

When you have a h story of dece t beh nd you, no amount of

honesty, generos ty, or k ndness w ll fool people. In fact t w ll only
call attent on to tself. Once people have come to see you as
dece tful, to act honest all of a sudden s s mply susp c ous. In these
cases t s better to play the rogue.
Count Lust g, pull ng the b ggest con of h s career, was about to
sell the E ffel Tower to an unsuspect ng ndustr al st who bel eved the
government was auct on ng t off for scrap metal. The ndustr al st
was prepared to hand over a huge sum of money to Lust g, who had
successfully mpersonated a government off c al. At the last m nute,
however, the mark was susp c ous. Someth ng about Lust g bothered
h m. At the meet ng n wh ch he was to hand over the money, Lust g
sensed h s sudden d strust.
Lean ng over to the ndustr al st, Lust g expla ned, n a low wh sper,
how low h s salary was, how d ff cult h s f nances were, on and on.
After a few m nutes of th s, the ndustr al st real zed that Lust g was
ask ng for a br be. For the f rst t me he relaxed. Now he knew he
could trust Lust g: S nce all government off c als were d shonest,
Lust g had to be real. The man forked over the money. By act ng
d shonest, Lust g seemed the real McCoy. In th s case select ve
honesty would have had the oppos te effect.
 As the French d plomat Talleyrand grew older, h s reputat on as a
master l ar and dece ver spread. At the Congress of V enna (1814-
1815), he would sp n fabulous stor es and make mposs ble remarks
to people who knew he had to be ly ng. H s d shonesty had no
purpose except to cloak the moments when he really was dece v ng
them. One day, for example, among fr ends, Talleyrand sa d w th
apparent s ncer ty, “In bus ness one ought to show one’s hand.” No
one who heard h m could bel eve the r ears: A man who never once
n h s l fe had shown h s cards was tell ng other people to show
the rs. Tact cs l ke th s made t mposs ble to d st ngu sh Talleyrand’s
real decept ons from h s fake ones. By embrac ng h s reputat on for
d shonesty, he preserved h s ab l ty to dece ve.
Noth ng n the realm of power s set n stone. Overt decept veness
w ll somet mes cover your tracks, even mak ng you adm red for the
honesty of your d shonesty.
 LAW 13

WHEN ASKING FOR HELP, APPEAL TO PEOPLE’S

SELF-INTEREST, NEVER TO THEIR MERCY OR
GRATITUDE

JUDGMENT
If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to rem nd h m of
your past ass stance and good deeds. He w ll f nd a way to gnore
you. Instead, uncover someth ng n your request, or n your all ance
w th h m, that w ll benef t h m, and emphas ze t out of all proport on.
He w ll respond enthus ast cally when he sees someth ng to be
ga ned for h mself.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In the early fourteenth century, a young man named Castrucc o

Castracan rose from the rank of common sold er to become lord of
the great c ty of Lucca, Italy. One of the most powerful fam l es n the
c ty, the Pogg os, had been nstrumental n h s cl mb (wh ch
succeeded through treachery and bloodshed), but after he came to
power, they came to feel he had forgotten them. H s amb t on
outwe ghed any grat tude he felt. In 1325, wh le Castrucc o was
away f ght ng Lucca’s ma n r val, Florence, the Pogg os consp red
w th other noble fam l es n the c ty to r d themselves of th s
troublesome and amb t ous pr nce.
 THE PEASANT AND THE APPLE-TREE
A peasant had n h s garden an apple-tree, wh ch bore no fru t, but
only served as a perch for the sparrows and grasshoppers. He
resolved to cut t down, and, tak ng h s ax n hand, made a bold
stroke at ts roots. The grasshoppers and sparrows entreated h m
not to cut down the tree that sheltered them, but to spare t, and they
would s ng to h m and l ghten h s labors. He pa d no attent on to the r
request, but gave the tree a second and a th rd blow w th h s ax.
When he reached the hollow of the tree, he found a h ve full of
honey. Hav ng tasted the honeycomb, he threw down h s ax, and,
look ng on the tree as sacred, took great care of t. Self- nterest
alone moves some men.

FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.

Mount ng an nsurrect on, the plotters attacked and murdered the
governor whom Castrucc o had left beh nd to rule the c ty. R ots
broke out, and the Castrucc o supporters and the Pogg o supporters
were po sed to do battle. At the he ght of the tens on, however,
Stefano d Pogg o, the oldest member of the fam ly, ntervened, and
made both s des lay down the r arms.
A peaceful man, Stefano had not taken part n the consp racy. He
had told h s fam ly t would end n a useless bloodbath. Now he
ns sted he should ntercede on the fam ly’s behalf and persuade
Castrucc o to l sten to the r compla nts and sat sfy the r demands.
Stefano was the oldest and w sest member of the clan, and h s
fam ly agreed to put the r trust n h s d plomacy rather than n the r
weapons.
When news of the rebell on reached Castrucc o, he hurr ed back to
Lucca. By the t me he arr ved, however, the f ght ng had ceased,
through Stefano’s agency, and he was surpr sed by the c ty’s calm
and peace. Stefano d Pogg o had mag ned that Castrucc o would
be grateful to h m for h s part n quell ng the rebell on, so he pa d the
pr nce a v s t. He expla ned how he had brought peace, then begged
for Castrucc o’s mercy. He sa d that the rebels n h s fam ly were
young and mpetuous, hungry for power yet nexper enced; he
recalled h s fam ly’s past generos ty to Castrucc o. For all these
reasons, he sa d, the great pr nce should pardon the Pogg os and
l sten to the r compla nts. Th s, he sa d, was the only just th ng to do,
s nce the fam ly had w ll ngly la d down the r arms and had always
supported h m.
Castrucc o l stened pat ently. He seemed not the sl ghtest b t angry
or resentful. Instead, he told Stefano to rest assured that just ce
would preva l, and he asked h m to br ng h s ent re fam ly to the
palace to talk over the r gr evances and come to an agreement. As
they took leave of one another, Castrucc o sa d he thanked God for
the chance he had been g ven to show h s clemency and k ndness.
That even ng the ent re Pogg o fam ly came to the palace. Castrucc o
mmed ately had them mpr soned and a few days later all were
executed, nclud ng Stefano.

Interpretat on

Stefano d Pogg o s the embod ment of all those who bel eve that
the just ce and nob l ty of the r cause w ll preva l. Certa nly appeals to
just ce and grat tude have occas onally succeeded n the past, but
more often than not they have had d re consequences, espec ally n
deal ngs w th the Castruc c os of the world. Stefano knew that the
pr nce had r sen to power through treachery and ruthlessness. Th s
was a man, after all, who had put a close and devoted fr end to
death. When Castrucc o was told that t had been a terr ble wrong to
k ll such an old fr end, he repl ed that he had executed not an old
fr end but a new enemy.
A man l ke Castrucc o knows only force and self- nterest. When
the rebell on began, to end t and place oneself at h s mercy was the
most dangerous poss ble move. Even once Stefano d Pogg o had
made that fatal m stake, however, he st ll had opt ons: He could have
offered money to Castrucc o, could have made prom ses for the
future, could have po nted out what the Pogg os could st ll contr bute
to Castrucc o’s power—the r nfluence w th the most nfluent al
fam l es of Rome, for example, and the great marr age they could
have brokered.
Instead Stefano brought up the past, and debts that carr ed no
obl gat on. Not only s a man not obl ged to be grateful, grat tude s
often a terr ble burden that he gladly d scards. And n th s case
Castrucc o r d h mself of h s obl gat ons to the Pogg os by el m nat ng
the Pogg os.
Most men are so thoroughly subject ve that noth ng really nterests
them but themselves. They always th nk of the r own case as soon
as ever any remark s made, and the r whole attent on s engrossed
and absorbed by the merest chance reference to anyth ng wh ch
affects them personally, be t never so remote.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In 433 B.C., just before the Peloponnes an War, the sland of Corcyra
(later called Corfu) and the Greek c ty-state of Cor nth stood on the
br nk of confl ct. Both part es sent ambassadors to Athens to try to
w n over the Athen ans to the r s de. The stakes were h gh, s nce
whoever had Athens on h s s de was sure to w n. And whoever won
the war would certa nly g ve the defeated s de no mercy.
Corcyra spoke f rst. Its ambassador began by adm tt ng that the
sland had never helped Athens before, and n fact had all ed tself
w th Athens’s enem es. There were no t es of fr endsh p or grat tude
between Corcyra and Athens. Yes, the ambassador adm tted, he
had come to Athens now out of fear and concern for Corcyra’s
safety. The only th ng he could offer was an all ance of mutual
nterests. Corcyra had a navy only surpassed n s ze and strength by
Athens’s own; an all ance between the two states would create a
form dable force, one that could nt m date the r val state of Sparta.
That, unfortunately, was all Corcyra had to offer.
 The representat ve from Cor nth then gave a br ll ant, pass onate
speech, n sharp contrast to the dry, colorless approach of the
Corcyran. He talked of everyth ng Cor nth had done for Athens n the
past. He asked how t would look to Athens’s other all es f the c ty
put an agreement w th a former enemy over one w th a present
fr end, one that had served Athens’s nterest loyally: Perhaps those
all es would break the r agreements w th Athens f they saw that the r
loyalty was not valued. He referred to Hellen c law, and the need to
repay Cor nth for all ts good deeds. He f nally went on to l st the
many serv ces Cor nth had performed for Athens, and the
mportance of show ng grat tude to one’s fr ends.
After the speech, the Athen ans debated the ssue n an assembly.
On the second round, they voted overwhelm ngly to ally w th Corcyra
and drop Cor nth.

Interpretat on

H story has remembered the Athen ans nobly, but they were the
preem nent real sts of class cal Greece. W th them, all the rhetor c,
all the emot onal appeals n the world, could not match a good
pragmat c argument, espec ally one that added to the r power.
What the Cor nth an ambassador d d not real ze was that h s
references to Cor nth’s past generos ty to Athens only rr tated the
Athen ans, subtly ask ng them to feel gu lty and putt ng them under
obl gat on. The Athen ans couldn’t care less about past favors and
fr endly feel ngs. At the same t me, they knew that f the r other all es
thought them ungrateful for abandon ng Cor nth, these c ty-states
would st ll be unl kely to break the r t es to Athens, the preem nent
power n Greece. Athens ruled ts emp re by force, and would s mply
compel any rebell ous ally to return to the fold.
When people choose between talk about the past and talk about
the future, a pragmat c person w ll always opt for the future and
forget the past. As the Corcyrans real zed, t s always best to speak
pragmat cally to a pragmat c person. And n the end, most people
are n fact pragmat c—they w ll rarely act aga nst the r own self-
nterest.
It has always been a rule that the weak should be subject to the
strong;
and bes des, we cons der that we are worthy of our power. Up t ll the
present moment you, too, used to th nk that we were; but now, after
calculat ng your own nterest, you are beg nn ng to talk n terms of
r ght
and wrong. Cons derat ons of th s k nd have never yet turned people
as de
from the opportun t es of aggrand zement offered by super or
strength.
Athen an representat ve to Sparta,
quoted n The Peloponnes an War, Thucyd des, c. 465-395 B.C.

KEYS TO POWER

In your quest for power, you w ll constantly f nd yourself n the

pos t on of ask ng for help from those more powerful than you. There
s an art to ask ng for help, an art that depends on your ab l ty to
understand the person you are deal ng w th, and to not confuse your
needs w th the rs.
Most people never succeed at th s, because they are completely
trapped n the r own wants and des res. They start from the
assumpt on that the people they are appeal ng to have a selfless
nterest n help ng them. They talk as f the r needs mattered to these
people—who probably couldn’t care less. Somet mes they refer to
larger ssues: a great cause, or grand emot ons such as love and
grat tude. They go for the b g p cture when s mple, everyday real t es
would have much more appeal. What they do not real ze s that even
the most powerful person s locked ns de needs of h s own, and that
f you make no appeal to h s self- nterest, he merely sees you as
desperate or, at best, a waste of t me.
 In the s xteenth century, Portuguese m ss onar es tr ed for years to
convert the people of Japan to Cathol c sm, wh le at the same t me
Portugal had a monopoly on trade between Japan and Europe.
Although the m ss onar es d d have some success, they never got far
among the rul ng el te; by the beg nn ng of the seventeenth century,
n fact, the r proselyt z ng had completely antagon zed the Japanese
emperor Ieyasu. When the Dutch began to arr ve n Japan n great
numbers, Ieyasu was much rel eved. He needed Europeans for the r
know-how n guns and nav gat on, and here at last were Europeans
who cared noth ng for spread ng rel g on—the Dutch wanted only to
trade. Ieyasu sw ftly moved to ev ct the Portuguese. From then on,
he would only deal w th the pract cal-m nded Dutch.
Japan and Holland were vastly d fferent cultures, but each shared
a t meless and un versal concern: self- nterest. Every person you
deal w th s l ke another culture, an al en land w th a past that has
noth ng to do w th yours. Yet you can bypass the d fferences
between you and h m by appeal ng to h s self- nterest. Do not be
subtle: You have valuable knowledge to share, you w ll f ll h s coffers
w th gold, you w ll make h m l ve longer and happ er. Th s s a
language that all of us speak and understand.
A key step n the process s to understand the other person’s
psychology. Is he va n? Is he concerned about h s reputat on or h s
soc al stand ng? Does he have enem es you could help h m
vanqu sh? Is he s mply mot vated by money and power?
When the Mongols nvaded Ch na n the twelfth century, they
threatened to obl terate a culture that had thr ved for over two
thousand years. The r leader, Gengh s Khan, saw noth ng n Ch na
but a country that lacked pastur ng for h s horses, and he dec ded to
destroy the place, level ng all ts c t es, for “ t would be better to
exterm nate the Ch nese and let the grass grow.” It was not a sold er,
a general, or a k ng who saved the Ch nese from devastat on, but a
man named Yelu Ch‘u-Ts’a . A fore gner h mself, Ch‘u-Ts’a had
come to apprec ate the super or ty of Ch nese culture. He managed
to make h mself a trusted adv ser to Gengh s Khan, and persuaded
h m that he would reap r ches out of the place f, nstead of
destroy ng t, he s mply taxed everyone who l ved there. Khan saw
the w sdom n th s and d d as Ch‘u-Ts’a adv sed.
When Khan took the c ty of Ka feng, after a long s ege, and
dec ded to massacre ts nhab tants (as he had n other c t es that
had res sted h m), Ch‘u-Ts’a told h m that the f nest craftsmen and
eng neers n Ch na had fled to Ka feng, and t would be better to put
them to use. Ka feng was spared. Never before had Gengh s Khan
shown such mercy, but then t really wasn’t mercy that saved
Ka feng. Ch‘u-Ts’a knew Khan well. He was a barbar c peasant who
cared noth ng for culture, or ndeed for anyth ng other than warfare
and pract cal results. Ch‘u-Ts’a chose to appeal to the only emot on
that would work on such a man: greed.
Self- nterest s the lever that w ll move people. Once you make
them see how you can n some way meet the r needs or advance
the r cause, the r res stance to your requests for help w ll mag cally
fall away. At each step on the way to acqu r ng power, you must tra n
yourself to th nk your way ns de the other person’s m nd, to see the r
needs and nterests, to get r d of the screen of your own feel ngs that
obscure the truth. Master th s art and there w ll be no l m ts to what
you can accompl sh.
Image: A Cord that
B nds. The cord of
mercy and grat
tude s threadbare,
and w ll break at
the f rst shock.
Do not throw
such a l fel ne.
The cord of
mutual self- nter
est s woven of
many f bers and
cannot eas ly be
severed. It w ll serve
you well for years.
Author ty: The shortest and best way to make your fortune s to let
people see clearly that t s n the r nterests to promote yours. (Jean
de La Bruyère, 1645-1696)

REVERSAL

Some people w ll see an appeal to the r self- nterest as ugly and

gnoble. They actually prefer to be able to exerc se char ty, mercy,
and just ce, wh ch are the r ways of feel ng super or to you: When
you beg them for help, you emphas ze the r power and pos t on.
They are strong enough to need noth ng from you except the chance
to feel super or. Th s s the w ne that ntox cates them. They are
dy ng to fund your project, to ntroduce you to powerful people—
prov ded, of course, that all th s s done n publ c, and for a good
cause (usually the more publ c, the better). Not everyone, then, can
be approached through cyn cal self- nterest. Some people w ll be put
off by t, because they don’t want to seem to be mot vated by such
th ngs. They need opportun t es to d splay the r good heart.
Do not be shy. G ve them that opportun ty. It’s not as f you are
conn ng them by ask ng for help— t s really the r pleasure to g ve,
and to be seen g v ng. You must d st ngu sh the d fferences among
powerful people and f gure out what makes them t ck. When they
ooze greed, do not appeal to the r char ty. When they want to look
char table and noble, do not appeal to the r greed.
 LAW 14

POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY

JUDGMENT
Know ng about your r val s cr t cal. Use sp es to gather valuable
nformat on that w ll keep you a step ahead. Better st ll: Play the spy
yourself. In pol te soc al encounters, learn to probe. Ask nd rect
quest ons to get people to reveal the r weaknesses and ntent ons.
There s no occas on that s not an opportun ty for artful spy ng.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

Joseph Duveen was undoubtedly the greatest art dealer of h s t me

—from 1904 to 1940 he almost s ngle-handedly monopol zed
Amer ca’s m ll ona re art-collect ng market. But one pr ze plum
eluded h m: the ndustr al st Andrew Mellon. Before he d ed, Duveen
was determ ned to make Mellon a cl ent.
Duveen’s fr ends sa d th s was an mposs ble dream. Mellon was a
st ff, tac turn man. The stor es he had heard about the congen al,
talkat ve Duveen rubbed h m the wrong way—he had made t clear
he had no des re to meet the man. Yet Duveen told h s doubt ng
fr ends, “Not only w ll Mellon buy from me but he w ll buy only from
me.” For several years he tracked h s prey, learn ng the man’s
hab ts, tastes, phob as. To do th s, he secretly put several of Mellon’s
staff on h s own payroll, worm ng valuable nformat on out of them.
By the t me he moved nto act on, he knew Mellon about as well as
Mellon’s w fe d d.
 In 1921 Mellon was v s t ng London, and stay ng n a palat al su te
on the th rd floor of Clar dge’s Hotel. Duveen booked h mself nto the
su te just below Mellon’s, on the second floor. He had arranged for
h s valet to befr end Mellon’s valet, and on the fateful day he had
chosen to make h s move, Mellon’s valet told Duveen’s valet, who
told Duveen, that he had just helped Mellon on w th h s overcoat,
and that the ndustr al st was mak ng h s way down the corr dor to
r ng for the l ft.
Duveen’s valet hurr edly helped Duveen w th h s own overcoat.
Seconds later, Duveen entered the l ft, and lo and behold, there was
Mellon. “How do you do, Mr. Mellon?” sa d Duveen, ntroduc ng
h mself. “I am on my way to the Nat onal Gallery to look at some
p ctures.” How uncanny—that was prec sely where Mellon was
headed. And so Duveen was able to accompany h s prey to the one
locat on that would ensure h s success. He knew Mellon’s taste
ns de and out, and wh le the two men wandered through the
museum, he dazzled the magnate w th h s knowledge. Once aga n
qu te uncann ly, they seemed to have remarkably s m lar tastes.
Mellon was pleasantly surpr sed: Th s was not the Duveen he had
expected. The man was charm ng and agreeable, and clearly had
exqu s te taste. When they returned to New York, Mellon v s ted
Duveen’s exclus ve gallery and fell n love w th the collect on.
Everyth ng, surpr s ngly enough, seemed to be prec sely the k nd of
work he wanted to collect. For the rest of h s l fe he was Duveen’s
best and most generous cl ent.

Interpretat on

A man as amb t ous and compet t ve as Joseph Duveen left noth ng

to chance. What’s the po nt of w ng ng t, of just hop ng you may be
able to charm th s or that cl ent? It’s l ke shoot ng ducks bl ndfolded.
Arm yourself w th a l ttle knowledge and your a m mproves.
Mellon was the most spectacular of Duveen’s catches, but he
sp ed on many a m ll ona re. By secretly putt ng members of h s
cl ents’ household staffs on h s own payroll, he would ga n constant
access to valuable nformat on about the r masters’ com ngs and
go ngs, changes n taste, and other such t db ts of nformat on that
would put h m a step ahead. A r val of Duveen’s who wanted to
make Henry Fr ck a cl ent not ced that whenever he v s ted th s
wealthy New Yorker, Duveen was there before h m, as f he had a
s xth sense. To other dealers Duveen seemed to be everywhere, and
to know everyth ng before they d d. H s powers d scouraged and
d sheartened them, unt l many s mply gave up go ng after the
wealthy cl ents who could make a dealer r ch.
Such s the power of artful spy ng: It makes you seem all-powerful,
cla rvoyant. Your knowledge of your mark can also make you seem
charm ng, so well can you ant c pate h s des res. No one sees the
source of your power, and what they cannot see they cannot f ght.
Rulers see through sp es, as cows through smell, Brahm ns through
scr ptures and the rest of the people through the r normal eyes.
Kaut lya, Ind an ph losopher th rd century B. C.

KEYS TO POWER

In the realm of power, your goal s a degree of control over future

events. Part of the problem you face, then, s that people won’t tell
you all the r thoughts, emot ons, and plans. Controll ng what they
say, they often keep the most cr t cal parts of the r character h dden
—the r weaknesses, ulter or mot ves, obsess ons. The result s that
you cannot pred ct the r moves, and are constantly n the dark. The
tr ck s to f nd a way to probe them, to f nd out the r secrets and
h dden ntent ons, w thout lett ng them know what you are up to.
Th s s not as d ff cult as you m ght th nk. A fr endly front w ll let you
secretly gather nformat on on fr ends and enem es al ke. Let others
consult the horoscope, or read tarot cards: You have more concrete
means of see ng nto the future.
The most common way of spy ng s to use other people, as
Duveen d d. The method s s mple, powerful, but r sky: You w ll
certa nly gather nformat on, but you have l ttle control over the
people who are do ng the work. Perhaps they w ll neptly reveal your
spy ng, or even secretly turn aga nst you. It s far better to be the spy
yourself, to pose as a fr end wh le secretly gather ng nformat on.
The French pol t c an Talleyrand was one of the greatest
pract t oners of th s art. He had an uncanny ab l ty to worm secrets
out of people n pol te conversat on. A contemporary of h s, Baron de
V trolles, wrote, “W t and grace marked h s conversat on. He
possessed the art of conceal ng h s thoughts or h s mal ce beneath a
transparent ve l of ns nuat ons, words that mply someth ng more
than they express. Only when necessary d d he nject h s own
personal ty.” The key here s Talleyrand’s ab l ty to suppress h mself
n the conversat on, to make others talk endlessly about themselves
and nadvertently reveal the r ntent ons and plans.
Throughout Talleyrand’s l fe, people sa d he was a superb
conversa t onal st—yet he actually sa d very l ttle. He never talked
about h s own deas; he got others to reveal the rs. He would
organ ze fr endly games of charades for fore gn d plomats, soc al
gather ngs where, however, he would carefully we gh the r words,
cajole conf dences out of them, and gather nformat on nvaluable to
h s work as France’s fore gn m n ster. At the Congress of V enna
(1814-1815) he d d h s spy ng n other ways: He would blurt out what
seemed to be a secret (actually someth ng he had made up), then
watch h s l steners’ react ons. He m ght tell a gather ng of d plomats,
for nstance, that a rel able source had revealed to h m that the czar
of Russ a was plann ng to arrest h s top general for treason. By
watch ng the d plomats’ react ons to th s made-up story, he would
know wh ch ones were most exc ted by the weaken ng of the
Russ an army—perhaps the r goverments had des gns on Russ a?
As Baron von Stetten sa d, “Mons eur Talleyrand f res a p stol nto
the a r to see who w ll jump out the w ndow.”
If you have reason to suspect that a person s tell ng you a l e, look
as though you bel eved every word he sa d. Th s w ll g ve h m
courage to go on; he w ll become more vehement n h s assert ons,
and n the end betray h mself. Aga n, f you perce ve that a person s
try ng to conceal someth ng from you, but w th only part al success,
look as though you d d not bel eve h m. The oppos t on on your part
w ll provoke h m nto lead ng out h s reserve of truth and br ng ng the
whole force of t to bear upon your ncredul ty.
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860
Dur ng soc al gather ngs and nnocuous encounters, pay attent on.
Th s s when people’s guards are down. By suppress ng your own
personal ty, you can make them reveal th ngs. The br ll ance of the
maneuver s that they w ll m stake your nterest n them for
fr endsh p, so that you not only learn, you make all es.
Nevertheless, you should pract ce th s tact c w th caut on and care.
If people beg n to suspect you are worm ng secrets out of them
under the cover of conversat on, they w ll str ctly avo d you.
Emphas ze fr endly chatter, not valuable nformat on. Your search for
gems of nformat on cannot be too obv ous, or your prob ng
quest ons w ll reveal more about yourself and your ntent ons than
about the nformat on you hope to f nd.
A tr ck to try n spy ng comes from La Rochefoucauld, who wrote,
“S ncer ty s found n very few men, and s often the cleverest of
ruses—one s s ncere n order to draw out the conf dence and
secrets of the other.” By pretend ng to bare your heart to another
person, n other words, you make them more l kely to reveal the r
own secrets. G ve them a false confess on and they w ll g ve you a
real one. Another tr ck was dent f ed by the ph losopher Arthur
Schopenhauer, who suggested vehemently contrad ct ng people
you’re n conversat on w th as a way of rr tat ng them, st rr ng them
up so that they lose some of the control over the r words. In the r
emot onal react on they w ll reveal all k nds of truths about
themselves, truths you can later use aga nst them.
Another method of nd rect spy ng s to test people, to lay l ttle
traps that make them reveal th ngs about themselves. Chosroes II, a
notor ously clever seventh-century k ng of the Pers ans, had many
ways of see ng through h s subjects w thout ra s ng susp c on. If he
not ced, for nstance, that two of h s court ers had become
part cularly fr endly, he would call one of them as de and say he had
 nformat on that the other was a tra tor, and would soon be k lled.
The k ng would tell the court er he trusted h m more than anyone,
and that he must keep th s nformat on secret. Then he would watch
the two men carefully. If he saw that the second court er had not
changed n h s behav or toward the k ng, he would conclude that the
f rst court er had kept the secret, and he would qu ckly promote the
man, later tak ng h m as de to confess, “I meant to k ll your fr end
because of certa n nformat on that had reached me, but, when I
nvest gated the matter, I found t was untrue.” If, on the other hand,
the second court er started to avo d the k ng, act ng aloof and tense,
Chosroes would know that the secret had been revealed. He would
ban the second court er from h s court, lett ng h m know that the
whole bus ness had only been a test, but that even though the man
had done noth ng wrong, he could no longer trust h m. The f rst
court er, however, had revealed a secret, and h m Chosroes would
ban from h s ent re k ngdom.
It may seem an odd form of spy ng that reveals not emp r cal
nformat on but a person’s character. Often, however, t s the best
way of solv ng problems before they ar se.
By tempt ng people nto certa n acts, you learn about the r loyalty,
the r honesty, and so on. And th s k nd of knowledge s often the
most valuable of all: Armed w th t, you can pred ct the r act ons n
the future.
Image:
The Th rd Eye of
the Spy. In the land of
the two-eyed, the th rd eye
g ves you the omn sc ence
of a god. You see further than
others, and you see deeper
nto them. Nobody s
safe from the eye
but you.
Author ty: Now, the reason a br ll ant sovere gn and a w se general
conquer the enemy whenever they move, and the r ach evements
surpass those of ord nary men, s the r foreknowledge of the enemy
s tuat on. Th s “foreknowledge” cannot be el c ted from sp r ts, nor
from gods, nor by analogy w th past events, nor by astrolog c
calculat ons. It must be obta ned from men who know the enemy
s tuat on—from sp es. (Sun-tzu, The Art of War, fourth century B.C.)

REVERSAL

Informat on s cr t cal to power, but just as you spy on other people,

you must be prepared for them to spy on you. One of the most
potent weapons n the battle for nformat on, then, s g v ng out false
nformat on. As W nston Church ll sa d, “Truth s so prec ous that she
should always be attended by a bodyguard of l es.” You must
surround yourself w th such a bodyguard, so that your truth cannot
be penetrated. By plant ng the nformat on of your cho ce, you control
the game.
In 1944 the Naz s’ rocket-bomb attacks on London suddenly
escalated. Over two thousand V-1 fly ng bombs fell on the c ty, k ll ng
more than f ve thousand people and wound ng many more.
Somehow, however, the Germans cons stently m ssed the r targets.
Bombs that were ntended for Tower Br dge, or P ccad lly, would fall
well short of the c ty, land ng n the less populated suburbs. Th s was
because, n f x ng the r targets, the Germans rel ed on secret agents
they had planted n England. They d d not know that these agents
had been d scovered, and that n the r place, Engl sh-controlled
agents were feed ng them subtly decept ve nformat on.
The bombs would h t farther and farther from the r targets every
t me they fell. By the end of the campa gn they were land ng on cows
n the country. By feed ng people wrong nformat on, then, you ga n a
potent advantage. Wh le spy ng g ves you a th rd eye, d s nformat on
puts out one of your enemy’s eyes. A cyclops, he always m sses h s
target.
 LAW 15

CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY

JUDGMENT
All great leaders s nce Moses have known that a feared enemy must
be crushed completely. (Somet mes they have learned th s the hard
way.) If one ember s left al ght, no matter how d mly t smolders, a
f re w ll eventually break out. More s lost through stopp ng halfway
than through total ann h lat on: The enemy w ll recover, and w ll seek
revenge. Crush h m, not only n body but n sp r t.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

No r valry between leaders s more celebrated n Ch nese h story

than the struggle between Hs ang Yu and L u Pang. These two
generals began the r careers as fr ends, f ght ng on the same s de.
Hs ang Yu came from the nob l ty; large and powerful, g ven to bouts
of v olence and temper, a b t dull w tted, he was yet a m ghty warr or
who always fought at the head of h s troops. L u Pang came from
peasant stock. He had never been much of a sold er, and preferred
women and w ne to f ght ng; n fact, he was someth ng of a
scoundrel. But he was w ly, and he had the ab l ty to recogn ze the
best strateg sts, keep them as h s adv sers, and l sten to the r adv ce.
He had r sen n the army through these strengths.
The remnants of an enemy can become act ve l ke those of a
d sease or f re. Hence, these should be exterm nated completely....
One should never gnore an enemy, know ng h m to be weak. He
becomes dangerous n due course, l ke the spark of f re n a
haystack.
KAUTILYA, INDIAN PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.
In 208 B.C., the k ng of Ch‘u sent two mass ve arm es to conquer
the powerful k ngdom of Ch’ n. One army went north, under the
generalsh p of Sung Y , w th Hs ang Yu second n command; the
other, led by L u Pang, headed stra ght toward Ch’ n. The target was
the k ngdom’s splend d cap tal, Hs en-yang. And Hs ang Yu, ever
v olent and mpat ent, could not stand the dea that L u Pang would
get to Hs en-yang f rst, and perhaps would assume command of the
ent re army.

THE TRAP AT SINIGAGLIA

On the day Ram ro was executed, Cesare [Borg a] qu t Cesena,
leav ng the mut lated body on the town square, and marched south.
Three days later he arr ved at Fano, where he rece ved the envoys
of the c ty of Ancona, who assured h m of the r loyalty. A messenger
from V tellozzo V tell announced that the l ttle Adr at c port of
S n gagl a had surrendered to the condott er [mercenary sold ers].
Only the c tadel, n charge of the Genoese Andrea Dor a, st ll held
out, and Dor a refused to hand t over to anyone except Cesare
h mself. [Borg a] sent word that he would arr ve the next day, wh ch
was just what the condott er wanted to hear. Once he reached
S n gagl a. Cesare would be an easy prey, caught between the
c tadel and the r forces r ng ng the town.... The condott er were sure
they had m l tary super or ty, bel ev ng that the departure of the
French troops had lef? Cesare w th only a small force.
In fact, accord ng to Mach avell . [Borg a] had left Cesena w th ten
thousand nfantry-men and three thousand horse, tak ng pa ns to
spl t up h s men so that they would march along parallel routes
before converg ng on S n gagl a. The reason for such a large force
was that he knew, from a confess on extracted from Ram ro de
Lorca, what the condott er had up the r sleeve. He therefore dec ded
to turn the r own trap aga nst them. Th s was the masterp ece of
tr ckery that the h stor an Paolo G ov o later called “the magn f cent
dece t. ” At dawn on December 31 [1502], Cesare reached the
outsk rts of S n gagl a.... Led by M chelotto Corella, Cesare’s
advance guard of two hundred lances took up ts pos t on on the
canal br dge.... Th s control of the br dge effect vely prevented the
consp rators’ troops from w thdraw ng....
Cesare greeted the condott er effus vely and nv ted them to jo n
h m.... M chelotto had prepared the Palazzo Bernard no for Cesare’s
use, and the duke nv ted the condott er ns de.... Once ndoors the
men were qu etly arrested by guards who crept up from the rear....
[Cesare] gave orders for an attack on V tell ’s and Ors n ’s sold ers n
the outly ng areas.... That n ght, wh le the r troops were be ng
crushed, M chelotto throttled Ol veretto and V tell n the Bernard no
palace.... At one fell swoop, [Borg a] had got r d of h s former
generals and worst enem es.

THE BORGIAS, IVAN CLOULAS, 1989

At one po nt on the northern front, Hs ang’s commander, Sung Y ,
hes tated n send ng h s troops nto battle. Fur ous, Hs ang entered
Sung Y ’s tent, procla med h m a tra tor, cut off h s head, and
assumed sole command of the army. W thout wa t ng for orders, he
left the northern front and marched d rectly on Hs en-yang. He felt
certa n he was the better sold er and general than L u, but, to h s
utter aston shment, h s r val, lead ng a smaller, sw fter army,
managed to reach Hs en-yang f rst. Hs ang had an adv ser, Fan
Tseng, who warned h m, “Th s v llage headman [L u Pang] used to
be greedy only for r ches and women, but s nce enter ng the cap tal
he has not been led astray by wealth, w ne, or sex. That shows he s
a m ng h gh.”
Fan Tseng urged Hs ang to k ll h s r val before t was too late. He
told the general to nv te the w ly peasant to a banquet at the r camp
outs de Hs en-yang, and, n the m dst of a celebratory sword dance,
to have h s head cut off. The nv tat on was sent; L u fell for the trap,
and came to the banquet. But Hs ang hes tated n order ng the sword
dance, and by the t me he gave the s gnal, L u had sensed a trap,
and managed to escape. “Bah!” cr ed Fan Tseng n d sgust, see ng
that Hs ang had botched the plot. “One cannot plan w th a s mpleton.
L u Pang w ll steal your emp re yet and make us all h s pr soners.”
Real z ng h s m stake, Hs ang hurr edly marched on Hs en-yang,
th s t me determ ned to hack off h s r val’s head. L u was never one to
f ght when the odds were aga nst h m, and he abandoned the c ty.
Hs ang captured Hs en-yang, murdered the young pr nce of Ch’ n,
and burned the c ty to the ground. L u was now Hs ang’s b tter
enemy, and he pursued h m for many months, f nally corner ng h m
n a walled c ty. Lack ng food, h s army n d sarray, L u sued for
peace.
Aga n Fan Tseng warned Hs ang, “Crush h m now! If you let h m
go aga n, you w ll be sorry later.” But Hs ang dec ded to be merc ful.
He wanted to br ng L u back to Ch’u al ve, and to force h s former
fr end to acknowledge h m as master. But Fan proved r ght: L u
managed to use the negot at ons for h s surrender as a d stract on,
and he escaped w th a small army. Hs ang, amazed that he had yet
aga n let h s r val sl p away, once more set out after L u, th s t me
w th such feroc ty that he seemed to have lost h s m nd. At one po nt,
hav ng captured L u’s father n battle, Hs ang stood the old man up
dur ng the f ght ng and yelled to L u across the l ne of troops,
“Surrender now, or I shall bo l your father al ve!” L u calmly
answered, “But we are sworn brothers. So my father s your father
also. If you ns st on bo l ng your own father, send me a bowl of the
soup!” Hs ang backed down, and the struggle cont nued.
A few weeks later, n the th ck of the hunt, Hs ang scattered h s
forces unw sely, and n a surpr se attack L u was able to surround h s
ma n garr son. For the f rst t me the tables were turned. Now t was
Hs ang who sued for peace. L u’s top adv ser urged h m to destroy
Hs ang, crush h s army, show no mercy. “To let h m go would be l ke
rear ng a t ger— t w ll devour you later,” the adv ser sa d. L u agreed.
Mak ng a false treaty, he lured Hs ang nto relax ng h s defense,
then slaughtered almost all of h s army. Hs ang managed to escape.
Alone and on foot, know ng that L u had put a bounty on h s head, he
came upon a small group of h s own retreat ng sold ers, and cr ed
out, “I hear L u Pang has offered one thousand p eces of gold and a
f ef of ten thousand fam l es for my head. Let me do you a favor.”
Then he sl t h s own throat and d ed.

Interpretat on

Hs ang Yu had proven h s ruthlessness on many an occas on. He

rarely hes tated n do ng away w th a r val f t served h s purposes.
But w th L u Pang he acted d fferently. He respected h s r val, and d d
not want to defeat h m through decept on; he wanted to prove h s
super or ty on the battlef eld, even to force the clever L u to surrender
and to serve h m. Every t me he had h s r val n h s hands, someth ng
made h m hes tate—a fatal sympathy w th or respect for the man
who, after all, had once been a fr end and comrade n arms. But the
moment Hs ang made t clear that he ntended to do away w th L u,
yet fa led to accompl sh t, he sealed h s own doom. L u would not
suffer the same hes tat on once the tables were turned.
Th s s the fate that faces all of us when we sympath ze w th our
enem es, when p ty, or the hope of reconc l at on, makes us pull back
from do ng away w th them. We only strengthen the r fear and hatred
of us. We have beaten them, and they are hum l ated; yet we nurture
these resentful v pers who w ll one day k ll us. Power cannot be dealt
w th th s way. It must be exterm nated, crushed, and den ed the
chance to return to haunt us. Th s s all the truer w th a former fr end
who has become an enemy. The law govern ng fatal antagon sms
reads: Reconc l at on s out of the quest on. Only one s de can w n,
and t must w n totally.
L u Pang learned th s lesson well. After defeat ng Hs ang Yu, th s
son of a farmer went on to become supreme commander of the
arm es of Ch‘u. Crush ng h s next r val—the k ng of Ch’u, h s own
former leader—he crowned h mself emperor, defeated everyone n
h s path, and went down n h story as one of the greatest rulers of
Ch na, the mmortal Han Kao-tsu, founder of the Han Dynasty.
To have ult mate v ctory, you must be ruthless.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821

 Those who seek to ach eve th ngs should show no mercy.
Kaut lya, Ind an ph losopher th rd century B.C.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

Wu Chao, born n A.D. 625, was the daughter of a duke, and as a

beaut ful young woman of many charms, she was accord ngly
attached to the harem of Emperor T’a Tsung.
The mper al harem was a dangerous place, full of young
concub nes vy ng to become the emperor’s favor te. Wu’s beauty
and forceful character qu ckly won her th s battle, but, know ng that
an emperor, l ke other powerful men, s a creature of wh m, and that
she could eas ly be replaced, she kept her eye on the future.
Wu managed to seduce the emperor’s d ssolute son, Kao Tsung,
on the only poss ble occas on when she could f nd h m alone: wh le
he was rel ev ng h mself at the royal ur nal. Even so, when the
emperor d ed and Kao Tsung took over the throne, she st ll suffered
the fate to wh ch all w ves and concub nes of a deceased emperor
were bound by trad t on and law: Her head shaven, she entered a
convent, for what was supposed to be the rest of her l fe. For seven
years Wu schemed to escape. By commun cat ng n secret w th the
new emperor, and by befr end ng h s w fe, the empress, she
managed to get a h ghly unusual royal ed ct allow ng her to return to
the palace and to the royal harem. Once there, she fawned on the
empress, wh le st ll sleep ng w th the emperor. The empress d d not
d scourage th s—she had yet to prov de the emperor w th an he r,
her pos t on was vulnerable, and Wu was a valuable ally.
In 654 Wu Chao gave b rth to a ch ld. One day the empress came
to v s t, and as soon as she had left, Wu smothered the newborn—
her own baby. When the murder was d scovered, susp c on
mmed ately fell on the empress, who had been on the scene
moments earl er, and whose jealous nature was known by all. Th s
was prec sely Wu’s plan. Shortly thereafter, the empress was
charged w th murder and executed. Wu Chao was crowned empress
n her place. Her new husband, add cted to h s l fe of pleasure, gladly
gave up the re ns of government to Wu Chao, who was from then on
known as Empress Wu.
Although now n a pos t on of great power, Wu hardly felt secure.
There were enem es everywhere; she could not let down her guard
for one moment. Indeed, when she was forty-one, she began to fear
that her beaut ful young n ece was becom ng the emperor’s favor te.
She po soned the woman w th a clay m xed nto her food. In 675 her
own son, touted as the he r apparent, was po soned as well. The
next-eldest son— lleg t mate, but now the crown pr nce—was ex led
a l ttle later on trumped-up charges. And when the emperor d ed, n
683, Wu managed to have the son after that declared unf t for the
throne. All th s meant that t was her youngest, most neffectual son
who f nally became emperor. In th s way she cont nued to rule.
Over the next f ve years there were nnumerable palace coups. All
of them fa led, and all of the consp rators were executed. By 688
there was no one left to challenge Wu. She procla med herself a
d v ne descendant of Buddha, and n 690 her w shes were f nally
granted: She was named Holy and D v ne “Emperor” of Ch na.
Wu became emperor because there was l terally nobody left from
the prev ous T’ang dynasty. And so she ruled unchallenged, for over
a decade of relat ve peace. In 705, at the age of e ghty, she was
forced to abd cate.

Interpretat on

All who knew Empress Wu remarked on her energy and ntell gence.
At the t me, there was no glory ava lable for an amb t ous woman
beyond a few years n the mper al harem, then a l fet me walled up
n a convent. In Wu’s gradual but remarkable r se to the top, she was
never na ve. She knew that any hes tat on, any momentary
weakness, would spell her end. If, every t me she got r d of a r val a
new one appeared, the solut on was s mple: She had to crush them
all or be k lled herself. Other emperors before her had followed the
same path to the top, but Wu—who, as a woman, had next to no
chance to ga n power—had to be more ruthless st ll.
Empress Wu’s forty-year re gn was one of the longest n Ch nese
h story. Although the story of her bloody r se to power s well known,
n Ch na she s cons dered one of the per od’s most able and
effect ve rulers.
A pr est asked the dy ng Span sh statesman and general Ramón
Mar a Narváez.
(1800-1868), “Does your Excellency forg ve all your enem es ? ”I do
not
have to forg ve my enem es,” answered Narváez, ”I have had them
all shot. ”

KEYS TO POWER

It s no acc dent that the two stor es llustrat ng th s law come from
Ch na: Ch nese h story abounds w th examples of enem es who were
left al ve and returned to haunt the len ent. “Crush the enemy” s a
key strateg c tenet of Sun-tzu, the fourth-century-B.C. author of The
Art of War. The dea s s mple: Your enem es w sh you ll. There s
noth ng they want more than to el m nate you. If, n your struggles
w th them, you stop halfway or even three quarters of the way, out of
mercy or hope of reconc l at on, you only make them more
determ ned, more emb ttered, and they w ll someday take revenge.
They may act fr endly for the t me be ng, but th s s only because you
have defeated them. They have no cho ce but to b de the r t me.
The solut on: Have no mercy. Crush your enem es as totally as
they would crush you. Ult mately the only peace and secur ty you
can hope for from your enem es s the r d sappearance.
Mao Tse-tung, a devoted reader of Sun-tzu and of Ch nese h story
generally, knew the mportance of th s law. In 1934 the Commun st
leader and some 75,000 poorly equ pped sold ers fled nto the
desolate mounta ns of western Ch na to escape Ch ang Ka -shek’s
much larger army, n what has s nce been called the Long March.
Ch ang was determ ned to el m nate every last Commun st, and by
a few years later Mao had less than 10,000 sold ers left. By 1937, n
fact, when Ch na was nvaded by Japan, Ch ang calculated that the
Commun sts were no longer a threat. He chose to g ve up the chase
and concentrate on the Japanese. Ten years later the Commun sts
had recovered enough to rout Ch ang’s army. Ch ang had forgotten
the anc ent w sdom of crush ng the enemy; Mao had not. Ch ang
was pursued unt l he and h s ent re army fled to the sland of Ta wan.
Noth ng rema ns of h s reg me n ma nland Ch na to th s day.
The w sdom beh nd “crush ng the enemy” s as anc ent as the
B ble: Its f rst pract t oner may have been Moses, who learned t from
God H mself, when He parted the Red Sea for the Jews, then let the
water flow back over the pursu ng Egypt ans so that “not so much as
one of them rema ned.” When Moses returned from Mount S na w th
the Ten Commandments and found h s people worsh pp ng the
Golden Calf, he had every last offender slaughtered. And just before
he d ed, he told h s followers, f nally about to enter the Prom sed
Land, that when they had defeated the tr bes of Canaan they should
“utterly destroy them... make no covenant w th them, and show no
mercy to them.”
The goal of total v ctory s an ax om of modern warfare, and was
cod f ed as such by Carl von Clausew tz, the prem er ph losopher of
war. Analyz ng the campa gns of Napoleon, von Clausew tz wrote,
“We do cla m that d rect ann h lat on of the enemy’s forces must
always be the dom nant cons derat on.... Once a major v ctory s
ach eved there must be no talk of rest, of breath ng space... but only
of the pursu t, go ng for the enemy aga n, se z ng h s cap tal,
attack ng h s reserves and anyth ng else that m ght g ve h s country
a d and comfort.” The reason for th s s that after war come
negot at on and the d v s on of terr tory. If you have only won a part al
v ctory, you w ll nev tably lose n negot at on what you have ga ned
by war.
The solut on s s mple: Allow your enem es no opt ons. Ann h late
them and the r terr tory s yours to carve. The goal of power s to
control your enem es completely, to make them obey your w ll. You
cannot afford to go halfway. If they have no opt ons, they w ll be
forced to do your b dd ng. Th s law has appl cat ons far beyond the
battlef eld. Negot at on s the ns d ous v per that w ll eat away at your
v ctory, so g ve your enem es noth ng to negot ate, no hope, no room
to maneuver. They are crushed and that s that.
Real ze th s: In your struggle for power you w ll st r up r valr es and
create enem es. There w ll be people you cannot w n over, who w ll
rema n your enem es no matter what. But whatever wound you
nfl cted on them, del berately or not, do not take the r hatred
personally. Just recogn ze that there s no poss b l ty of peace
between you, espec ally as long as you stay n power. If you let them
st ck around, they w ll seek revenge, as certa nly as n ght follows
day. To wa t for them to show the r cards s just s lly; as Empress Wu
understood, by then t w ll be too late.
Be real st c: W th an enemy l ke th s around, you w ll never be
secure. Remember the lessons of h story, and the w sdom of Moses
and Mao: Never go halfway.
It s not, of course, a quest on of murder, t s a quest on of
ban shment. Suff c ently weakened and then ex led from your court
forever, your enem es are rendered harmless. They have no hope of
recover ng, ns nuat ng themselves and hurt ng you. And f they
cannot be ban shed, at least understand that they are plott ng
aga nst you, and pay no heed to whatever fr endl ness they fe gn.
Your only weapon n such a s tuat on s your own war ness. If you
cannot ban sh them mmed ately, then plot for the best t me to act.
Image: A V per crushed beneath your foot but left al ve, w ll rear up
and b te you w th a double dose of venom. An enemy that s left
around s l ke a half-dead v per that you nurse back to health. T me
makes the venom grow stronger.

Author ty: For t must be noted, that men must e ther be caressed or
else ann h lated; they w ll revenge themselves for small njur es, but
cannot do so for great ones; the njury therefore that we do to a man
must be such that we need not fear h s vengeance. (N ccolò
Mach avell , 1469-1527)

REVERSAL

Th s law should very rarely be gnored, but t does somet mes

happen that t s better to let your enem es destroy themselves, f
such a th ng s poss ble, than to make them suffer by your hand. In
warfare, for example, a good general knows that f he attacks an
army when t s cornered, ts sold ers w ll f ght much more f ercely. It
s somet mes better, then, to leave them an escape route, a way out.
As they retreat, they wear themselves out, and are ult mately more
demoral zed by the retreat than by any defeat he m ght nfl ct on the
battlef eld. When you have someone on the ropes, then—but only
when you are sure they have no chance of recovery—you m ght let
them hang themselves. Let them be the agents of the r own
destruct on. The result w ll be the same, and you won’t feel half as
bad.
F nally, somet mes by crush ng an enemy, you emb tter them so
much that they spend years and years plott ng revenge. The Treaty
of Versa lles had such an effect on the Germans. Some would argue
that n the long run t would be better to show some len ency. The
problem s, your len ency nvolves another r sk— t may embolden the
enemy, wh ch st ll harbors a grudge, but now has some room to
operate. It s almost always w ser to crush your enemy. If they plot
revenge years later, do not let your guard down, but s mply crush
them aga n.
 LAW 16

USE ABSENCE TO INCREASE RESPECT AND

HONOR

JUDGMENT
Too much c rculat on makes the pr ce go down: The more you are
seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are
already establ shed n a group, temporary w thdrawal from t w ll
make you more talked about, even more adm red. You must learn
when to leave. Create value through scarc ty.

TRANSGRESSION AND OBSERVANCE OF THE

LAW

S r Gu llaume de Balaun was a troubadour who roamed the South of

France n the M ddle Ages, go ng from castle to castle, rec t ng
poetry, and play ng the perfect kn ght. At the castle of Jav ac he met
and fell n love w th the beaut ful lady of the house, Madame
Gu llelma de Jav ac. He sang her h s songs, rec ted h s poetry,
played chess w th her, and l ttle by l ttle she n turn fell n love w th
h m. Gu llaume had a fr end, S r P erre de Barjac, who traveled w th
h m and who was also rece ved at the castle. And P erre too fell n
love w th a lady n Jav ac, the grac ous but temperamental V ernetta.

THE CAMEL AND THE FLOATING STICKS

The f rst man who saw a camel fled; The second ventured w th n
d stance; The th rd dared sl p a halter round ts head. Fam l ar ty n
th s ex stence Makes all th ngs tame, for what may seem Terr ble or
b zarre, when once our eyes Have had t me to accl mat ze, Becomes
qu te commonplace. S nce I’m on th s theme, I’ve heard of sent nels
posted by the shore Who, spott ng someth ng far-away afloat,
Couldn’t res st the shout: “A sa l! A sa l! A m ghty man-of-war!” F ve
m nutes later t’s a packet boat, And then a sk ff, and then a bale,
And f nally some st cks bobb ng about. I know of plenty such To
whom th s story appl es—People whom d stance magn f es, Who,
close to, don’t amount to much.

SELECTED FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695

Then one day P erre and V ernetta had a v olent quarrel. The lady
d sm ssed h m, and he sought out h s fr end Gu llaume to help heal
the breach and get h m back n her good graces. Gu llaume was
about to leave the castle for a wh le, but on h s return, several weeks
later, he worked h s mag c, and P erre and the lady were reconc led.
P erre felt that h s love had ncreased tenfold—that there was no
stronger love, n fact, than the love that follows reconc l at on. The
stronger and longer the d sagreement, he told Gu llaume, the
sweeter the feel ng that comes w th peace and rapprochement.
As a troubadour, S r Gu llaume pr ded h mself on exper enc ng all
the joys and sorrows of love. On hear ng h s fr end’s talk, he too
wanted know the bl ss of reconc l at on after a quarrel. He therefore
fe gned great anger w th Lady Gu llelma, stopped send ng her love
letters, and abruptly left the castle and stayed away, even dur ng the
fest vals and hunts. Th s drove the young lady w ld.
Gu llelma sent messengers to Gu llaume to f nd out what had
happened, but he turned the messengers away. He thought all th s
would make her angry, forc ng h m to plead for reconc l at on as
P erre had. Instead, however, h s absence had the oppos te effect: It
made Gu llelma love h m all the more. Now the lady pursued her
kn ght, send ng messengers and love notes of her own. Th s was
almost unheard of—a lady never pursued her troubadour. And
Gu llaume d d not l ke t. Gu llelma’s forwardness made h m feel she
had lost some of her d gn ty. Not only was he no longer sure of h s
plan, he was no longer sure of h s lady.
F nally, after several months of not hear ng from Gu llaume,
Gu llelma gave up. She sent h m no more messengers, and he
began to wonder—perhaps she was angry? Perhaps the plan had
worked after all? So much the better f she was. He would wa t no
more— t was t me to reconc le. So he put on h s best robe, decked
the horse n ts fanc est capar son, chose a magn f cent helmet, and
rode off to Jav ac.
On hear ng that her beloved had returned, Gu llelma rushed to see
h m, knelt before h m, dropped her ve l to k ss h m, and begged
forg veness for whatever sl ght had caused h s anger. Imag ne h s
confus on and despa r—h s plan had fa led abysmally. She was not
angry, she had never been angry, she was only deeper n love, and
he would never exper ence the joy of reconc l at on after a quarrel.
See ng her now, and st ll desperate to taste that joy, he dec ded to try
one more t me: He drove her away w th harsh words and threaten ng
gestures. She left, th s t me vow ng never to see h m aga n.
The next morn ng the troubadour regretted what he had done. He
rode back to Jav ac, but the lady would not rece ve h m, and ordered
her servants to chase h m away, across the drawbr dge and over the
h ll. Gu llaume fled. Back n h s chamber he collapsed and started to
cry: He had made a terr ble m stake. Over the next year, unable to
see h s lady, he exper enced the absence, the terr ble absence, that
can only nflame love. He wrote one of h s most beaut ful poems, “My
song ascends for mercy pray ng.” And he sent many letters to
Gu llelma, expla n ng what he had done, and begg ng forg veness.
After a great deal of th s, Lady Gu llelma, remember ng h s
beaut ful songs, h s handsome f gure, and h s sk lls n danc ng and
falconry, found herself yearn ng to have h m back. As penance for
h s cruelty, she ordered h m to remove the na l from the l ttle f nger of
h s r ght hand, and to send t to her along w th a poem descr b ng h s
m ser es.
He d d as she asked. F nally Gu llaume de Balaun was able to
taste the ult mate sensat on—a reconc l at on even surpass ng that of
h s fr end P erre.
IIII MROSON IIII. COCK
Wh le serv ng under the Duke A of Lu, T‘ en Jao, resent ng h s
obscure pos t on, sa d to h s master, “I am go ng to wander far away
l ke a snow goose. ” “What do you mean by that?” nqu red the Duke.
“Do you see the cock?” sa d T’ en Jao n reply. “Its crest s a symbol
of c v l ty; ts powerful talons suggest strength; ts dar ng to f ght any
enemy denotes courage; ts nst nct to nv te others whenever food s
obta ned shows benevolence; and, last but not least, ts punctual ty
n keep ng the t me through the n ght g ves us an example of
verac ty. In sp te. however, of these f ve v rtues, the cock s da ly
k lled to f ll a d sh on your table. Why? I’he reason s that t s found
w th n our reach. On the other hand, the snow goose traverses n
one fl ght a thousand l . Rest ng n your garden, t preys on your
f shes and turtles and pecks your m llet. Though devo d of any of the
cock’s f ve v rtues, yet you pr ze th s b rd for the sake of ts scarc ty.
Th s be ng so, I shall fly far l ke a snow goose.”
ANCIENT CHINESE PARABLES, YU HSIU SEN, ED., 1974

Interpretat on

Try ng to d scover the joys of reconc l at on, Gu llaume de Balaun

nadvertently exper enced the truth of the law of absence and
presence. At the start of an affa r, you need to he ghten your
presence n the eyes of the other. If you absent yourself too early,
you may be forgotten. But once your lover’s emot ons are engaged,
and the feel ng of love has crystall zed, absence nflames and
exc tes. G v ng no reason for your absence exc tes even more: The
other person assumes he or she s at fault. Wh le you are away, the
lover’s mag nat on takes fl ght, and a st mulated mag nat on cannot
help but make love grow stronger. Conversely, the more Gu llelma
pursued Gu llaume, the less he loved her—she had become too
present, too access ble, leav ng no room for h s mag nat on and
fancy, so that h s feel ngs were suffocat ng. When she f nally stopped
send ng messengers, he was able to breathe aga n, and to return to
h s plan.
What w thdraws, what becomes scarce, suddenly seems to
deserve our respect and honor. What stays too long, nundat ng us
w th ts presence, makes us d sda n t. In the M ddle Ages, lad es
were constantly putt ng the r kn ghts through tr als of love, send ng
them on some long and arduous quest—all to create a pattern of
absence and presence. Indeed, had Gu llaume not left h s lady n the
f rst place, she m ght have been forced to send h m away, creat ng
an absence of her own.
Absence d m n shes m nor pass ons and nflames great ones,
as the w nd douses a candle and fans a f re.
La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

For many centur es the Assyr ans ruled upper As a w th an ron f st.
In the e ghth century B.C., however, the people of Medea (now
northwestern Iran) revolted aga nst them, and f nally broke free. Now
the Medes had to establ sh a new government. Determ ned to avo d
any form of despot sm, they refused to g ve ult mate power to any
one man, or to establ sh a monarchy. W thout a leader, however, the
country soon fell nto chaos, and fractured nto small k ngdoms, w th
v llage f ght ng aga nst v llage.
In one such v llage l ved a man named De oces, who began to
make a name for h mself for fa r deal ng and the ab l ty to settle
d sputes.
He d d th s so successfully, n fact, that soon any legal confl ct n
the area was brought to h m, and h s power ncreased. Throughout
the land, the law had fallen nto d srepute—the judges were corrupt,
and no one entrusted the r cases to the courts any more, resort ng to
v olence nstead. When news spread of De oces’ w sdom,
 ncorrupt b l ty, and unshakable mpart al ty, Medean v llages far and
w de turned to h m to settle all manner of cases. Soon he became
the sole arb ter of just ce n the land.
At the he ght of h s power, De oces suddenly dec ded he had had
enough. He would no longer s t n the cha r of judgment, would hear
no more su ts, settle no more d sputes between brother and brother,
v llage and v llage. Compla n ng that he was spend ng so much t me
deal ng w th other people’s problems that he had neglected h s own
affa rs, he ret red. The country once aga n descended nto chaos.
W th the sudden w thdrawal of a powerful arb ter l ke De oces, cr me
ncreased, and contempt for the law was never greater. The Medes
held a meet ng of all the v llages to dec de how to get out of the r
pred cament. “We cannot cont nue to l ve n th s country under these
cond t ons,” sa d one tr bal leader. “Let us appo nt one of our number
to rule so that we can l ve under orderly government, rather than
los ng our homes altogether n the present chaos.”
And so, desp te all that the Medes had suffered under the Assyr an
despot sm, they dec ded to set up a monarchy and name a k ng. And
the man they most wanted to rule, of course, was the fa r-m nded
De oces. He was hard to conv nce, for he wanted noth ng more to do
w th the v llages’ n-f ght ng and b cker ng, but the Medes begged
and pleaded—w thout h m the country had descended nto a state of
lawlessness. De oces f nally agreed.
Yet he also mposed cond t ons. An enormous palace was to be
constructed for h m, he was to be prov ded w th bodyguards, and a
cap tal c ty was to be bu lt from wh ch he could rule. All of th s was
done, and De oces settled nto h s palace. In the center of the
cap tal, the palace was surrounded by walls, and completely
naccess ble to ord nary people. De oces then establ shed the terms
of h s rule: Adm ss on to h s presence was forb dden.
Commun cat on w th the k ng was only poss ble through
messengers. No one n the royal court could see h m more than
once a week, and then only by perm ss on.
De oces ruled for f fty-three years, extended the Medean emp re,
and establ shed the foundat on for what would later be the Pers an
emp re, under h s great-great-grandson Cyrus. Dur ng De oces’
re gn, the people’s respect for h m gradually turned nto a form of
worsh p: He was not a mere mortal, they bel eved, but the son of a
god.

Interpretat on

De oces was a man of great amb t on. He determ ned early on that
the country needed a strong ruler, and that he was the man for the
job.
In a land plagued w th anarchy, the most powerful man s the
judge and arb ter. So De oces began h s career by mak ng h s
reputat on as a man of mpeccable fa rness.
At the he ght of h s power as a judge, however, De oces real zed
the truth of the law of absence and presence: By serv ng so many
cl ents, he had become too not ceable, too ava lable, and had lost
the respect he had earl er enjoyed. People were tak ng h s serv ces
for granted. The only way to rega n the venerat on and power he
wanted was to w thdraw completely, and let the Medes taste what l fe
was l ke w thout h m. As he expected, they came begg ng for h m to
rule.
Once De oces had d scovered the truth of th s law, he carr ed t to
ts ult mate real zat on. In the palace h s people had bu lt for h m,
none could see h m except a few court ers, and those only rarely. As
Herodotus wrote, “There was a r sk that f they saw h m hab tually, t
m ght lead to jealousy and resentment, and plots would follow; but f
nobody saw h m, the legend would grow that he was a be ng of a
d fferent order from mere men.”
A man sa d to a Derv sh: “Why do I not see you more often?” The
Derv sh
repl ed, “Because the words ‘Why have you not been to see me?’
are
sweeter to my ear than the words ‘Why have you come aga n?”’
Mulla jam , quoted n ldr es Shah’s Caravan of Dreams, 1968
 KEYS TO POWER

Everyth ng n the world depends on absence and presence. A strong

presence w ll draw power and attent on to you—you sh ne more
br ghtly than those around you. But a po nt s nev tably reached
where too much presence creates the oppos te effect: The more you
are seen and heard from, the more your value degrades. You
become a hab t. No matter how hard you try to be d fferent, subtly,
w thout your know ng why, people respect you less and less. At the
r ght moment you must learn to w thdraw yourself before they
unconsc ously push you away. It s a game of h de-and-seek.
The truth of th s law can most eas ly be apprec ated n matters of
love and seduct on. In the beg nn ng stages of an affa r, the lover’s
absence st mulates your mag nat on, form ng a sort of aura around
h m or her. But th s aura fades when you know too much—when your
mag nat on no longer has room to roam. The loved one becomes a
person l ke anyone else, a person whose presence s taken for
granted. Th s s why the seventeenth-century French courtesan
N non de Lenclos adv sed constant fe nts at w thdrawal from one’s
lover. “Love never d es of starvat on,” she wrote, “but often of
nd gest on.”
The moment you allow yourself to be treated l ke anyone else, t s
too late—you are swallowed and d gested. To prevent th s you need
to starve the other person of your presence. Force the r respect by
threaten ng them w th the poss b l ty that they w ll lose you for good;
create a pattern of presence and absence.
Once you d e, everyth ng about you w ll seem d fferent. You w ll be
surrounded by an nstant aura of respect. People w ll remember the r
cr t c sms of you, the r arguments w th you, and w ll be f lled w th
regret and gu lt. They are m ss ng a presence that w ll never return.
But you do not have to wa t unt l you d e: By completely w thdraw ng
for a wh le, you create a k nd of death before death. And when you
come back, t w ll be as f you had come back from the dead—an a r
of resurrect on w ll cl ng to you, and people w ll be rel eved at your
return. Th s s how De oces made h mself k ng.
 Napoleon was recogn z ng the law of absence and presence when
he sa d, “If I am often seen at the theater, people w ll cease to not ce
me.” Today, n a world nundated w th presence through the flood of
mages, the game of w thdrawal s all the more powerful. We rarely
know when to w thdraw anymore, and noth ng seems pr vate, so we
are awed by anyone who s able to d sappear by cho ce. Novel sts J.
D. Sal nger and Thomas Pynchon have created cultl ke follow ngs by
know ng when to d sappear.
Another, more everyday s de of th s law, but one that
demonstrates ts truth even further, s the law of scarc ty n the
sc ence of econom cs. By w thdraw ng someth ng from the market,
you create nstant value. In seventeenth-century Holland, the upper
classes wanted to make the tul p more than just a beaut ful flower—
they wanted t to be a k nd of status symbol. Mak ng the flower
scarce, ndeed almost mposs ble to obta n, they sparked what was
later called tul poman a. A s ngle flower was now worth more than ts
we ght n gold. In our own century, s m larly, the art dealer Joseph
Duveen ns sted on mak ng the pa nt ngs he sold as scarce and rare
as poss ble. To keep the r pr ces elevated and the r status h gh, he
bought up whole collect ons and stored them n h s basement. The
pa nt ngs that he sold became more than just pa nt ngs—they were
fet sh objects, the r value ncreased by the r rar ty. “You can get all
the p ctures you want at f fty thousand dollars ap ece—that’s easy,”
he once sa d. “But to get p ctures at a quarter of a m ll on ap ece—
that wants do ng!”
Image:
The Sun. It can only be
apprec ated by ts absence.
The longer the days of ra n, the
more the sun s craved. But too many
hot days and the sun overwhelms.
Learn to keep yourself obscure and
make people demand your return.
Extend the law of scarc ty to your own sk lls. Make what you are
offer ng the world rare and hard to f nd, and you nstantly ncrease ts
value.
There always comes a moment when those n power overstay
the r welcome. We have grown t red of them, lost respect for them;
we see them as no d fferent from the rest of mank nd, wh ch s to say
that we see them as rather worse, s nce we nev tably compare the r
current status n our eyes to the r former one. There s an art to
know ng when to ret re. If t s done r ght, you rega n the respect you
had lost, and reta n a part of your power.
The greatest ruler of the s xteenth century was Charles V. K ng of
Spa n, Hapsburg emperor, he governed an emp re that at one po nt
ncluded much of Europe and the New World. Yet at the he ght of h s
power, n 1557, he ret red to the monastery of Yuste. All of Europe
was capt vated by h s sudden w thdrawal; people who had hated and
feared h m suddenly called h m great, and he came to be seen as a
sa nt. In more recent t mes, the f lm actress Greta Garbo was never
more adm red than when she ret red, n 1941. For some her absence
came too soon—she was n her m d-th rt es—but she w sely
preferred to leave on her own terms, rather than wa t ng for her
aud ence to grow t red of her.
Make yourself too ava lable and the aura of power you have
created around yourself w ll wear away. Turn the game around:
Make yourself less access ble and you ncrease the value of your
presence.
Author ty:
Use absence to create
respect and esteem. If presence
d m n shes fame, absence augments t.
A man who when absent s regarded as a
l on becomes when present someth ng com
mon and r d culous. Talents lose the r luster
f we become too fam l ar w th them, for the
outer shell of the m nd s more read ly seen
than ts r ch nner kernel. Even the outstand
ng gen us makes use of ret rement so that
men may honor h m and so that the
 yearn ng aroused by h s absence
may cause h m to be esteemed.
(Baltasar Grac án,
1601-1658)

REVERSAL

Th s law only appl es once a certa n level of power has been

atta ned. The need to w thdraw only comes after you have
establ shed your presence; leave too early and you do not ncrease
your respect, you are s mply forgotten. When you are f rst enter ng
onto the world’s stage, create an mage that s recogn zable,
reproduc ble, and s seen everywhere. Unt l that status s atta ned,
absence s dangerous— nstead of fann ng the flames, t w ll
ext ngu sh them.
In love and seduct on, s m larly, absence s only effect ve once you
have surrounded the other w th your mage, been seen by h m or her
everywhere. Everyth ng must rem nd your lover of your presence, so
that when you do choose to be away, the lover w ll always be
th nk ng of you, w ll always be see ng you n h s or her m nd’s eye.
Remember: In the beg nn ng, make yourself not scarce but
omn present. Only what s seen, apprec ated, and loved w ll be
m ssed n ts absence.
 LAW 17

KEEP OTHERS IN SUSPENDED TERROR:

CULTIVATE AN AIR OF UNPREDICTABILITY

JUDGMENT
Humans are creatures of hab t w th an nsat able need to see
fam l ar ty n other people’s act ons. Your pred ctab l ty g ves them a
sense of control. Turn the tables: Be del berately unpred ctable.
Behav or that seems to have no cons stency or purpose w ll keep
them off-balance, and they w ll wear themselves out try ng to expla n
your moves. Taken to an extreme, th s strategy can nt m date and
terror ze.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In May of 1972, chess champ on Bor s Spassky anx ously awa ted
h s r val Bobby F scher n Reykjav k, Iceland. The two men had been
scheduled to meet for the World Champ onsh p of Chess, but
F scher had not arr ved on t me and the match was on hold. F scher
had problems w th the s ze of the pr ze money, problems w th the
way the money was to be d str buted, problems w th the log st cs of
hold ng the match n Iceland. He m ght back out at any moment.
Spassky tr ed to be pat ent. H s Russ an bosses felt that F scher
was hum l at ng h m and told h m to walk away, but Spassky wanted
th s match. He knew he could destroy F scher, and noth ng was
go ng to spo l the greatest v ctory of h s career. “So t seems that all
our work may come to noth ng,” Spassky told a comrade. “But what
can we do? It s Bobby’s move. If he comes, we play. If he does not
come, we do not play. A man who s w ll ng to comm t su c de has the
n t at ve.”
F scher f nally arr ved n Reykjav k, but the problems, and the
threat of cancellat on, cont nued. He d sl ked the hall where the
match was to be fought, he cr t c zed the l ght ng, he compla ned
about the no se of the cameras, he even hated the cha rs n wh ch he
and Spassky were to s t. Now the Sov et Un on took the n t at ve and
threatened to w thdraw the r man.
The bluff apparently worked: After all the weeks of wa t ng, the
endless and nfur at ng negot at ons, F scher agreed to play.
Everyone was rel eved, no one more than Spassky. But on the day
of the off c al ntroduct ons, F scher arr ved very late, and on the day
when the “Match of the Century” was to beg n, he was late aga n.
Th s t me, however, the consequences would be d re: If he showed
up too late he would forfe t the f rst game. What was go ng on? Was
he play ng some sort of m nd game? Or was Bobby F scher perhaps
afra d of Bor s Spassky? It seemed to the assembled grand masters,
and to Spassky, that th s young k d from Brooklyn had a terr ble case
of the j tters. At 5:09 F scher showed up, exactly one m nute before
the match was to be canceled.
The f rst game of a chess tournament s cr t cal, s nce t sets the
tone for the months to come. It s often a slow and qu et struggle,
w th the two players prepar ng themselves for the war and try ng to
read each other’s strateg es. Th s game was d fferent. F scher made
a terr ble move early on, perhaps the worst of h s career, and when
Spassky had h m on the ropes, he seemed to g ve up. Yet Spassky
knew that F scher never gave up. Even when fac ng checkmate, he
fought to the b tter end, wear ng the opponent down. Th s t me,
though, he seemed res gned. Then suddenly he broke out a bold
move that put the room n a buzz. The move shocked Spassky, but
he recovered and managed to w n the game. But no one could f gure
out what F scher was up to. Had he lost del berately? Or was he
rattled? Unsettled? Even, as some thought, nsane?
 After h s defeat n the f rst game, F scher compla ned all the more
loudly about the room, the cameras, and everyth ng else. He also
fa led to show up on t me for the second game. Th s t me the
organ zers had had enough: He was g ven a forfe t. Now he was
down two games to none, a pos t on from wh ch no one had ever
come back to w n a chess champ onsh p. F scher was clearly
unh nged. Yet n the th rd game, as all those who w tnessed t
remember, he had a feroc ous look n h s eye, a look that clearly
bothered Spassky. And desp te the hole he had dug for h mself, he
seemed supremely conf dent. He d d make what appeared to be
another blunder, as he had n the f rst game—but h s cocky a r made
Spassky smell a trap. Yet desp te the Russ an’s susp c ons, he could
not f gure out the trap, and before he knew t F scher had
checkmated h m. In fact F scher’s unorthodox tact cs had completely
unnerved h s opponent. At the end of the game, F scher leaped up
and rushed out, yell ng to h s confederates as he smashed a f st nto
h s palm, “I’m crush ng h m w th brute force!”
In the next games F scher pulled moves that no one had seen
from h m before, moves that were not h s style. Now Spassky started
to make blunders. After los ng the s xth game, he started to cry. One
grand master sa d, “After th s, Spassky’s got to ask h mself f t’s safe
to go back to Russ a.” After the e ghth game Spassky dec ded he
knew what was happen ng: Bobby F scher was hypnot z ng h m. He
dec ded not to look F scher n the eye; he lost anyway.
After the fourteenth game he called a staff conference and
announced, “An attempt s be ng made to control my m nd.” He
wondered whether the orange ju ce they drank at the chess table
could have been drugged. Maybe chem cals were be ng blown nto
the a r. F nally Spassky went publ c, accus ng the F scher team of
putt ng someth ng n the cha rs that was alter ng Spassky’s m nd.
The KGB went on alert: Bor s Spassky was embarrass ng the Sov et
Un on!
The cha rs were taken apart and X-rayed. A chem st found noth ng
unusual n them. The only th ngs anyone found anywhere, n fact,
were two dead fl es n a l ght ng f xture. Spassky began to compla n
of halluc nat ons. He tr ed to keep play ng, but h s m nd was
unravel ng. He could not go on. On September 2, he res gned.
Although st ll relat vely young, he never recovered from th s defeat.

Interpretat on

In prev ous games between F scher and Spassky, F scher had not
fared well. Spassky had an uncanny ab l ty to read h s opponent’s
strategy and use t aga nst h m. Adaptable and pat ent, he would
bu ld attacks that would defeat not n seven moves but n seventy.
He defeated F scher every t me they played because he saw much
further ahead, and because he was a br ll ant psycholog st who
never lost control. One master sa d, “He doesn’t just look for the best
move. He looks for the move that w ll d sturb the man he s play ng.”
F scher, however, f nally understood that th s was one of the keys
to Spassky’s success: He played on your pred ctab l ty, defeated you
at your own game. Everyth ng F scher d d for the champ onsh p
match was an attempt to put the n t at ve on h s s de and to keep
Spassky off-balance. Clearly the endless wa t ng had an effect on
Spassky’s psyche. Most powerful of all, though, were F scher’s
del berate blunders and h s appearance of hav ng no clear strategy.
In fact, he was do ng everyth ng he could to scramble h s old
patterns, even f t meant los ng the f rst match and forfe t ng the
second.
Spassky was known for h s sangfro d and levelheadedness, but for
the f rst t me n h s l fe he could not f gure out h s opponent. He
slowly melted down, unt l at the end he was the one who seemed
nsane.
Chess conta ns the concentrated essence of l fe: F rst, because to
w n you have to be supremely pat ent and farsee ng; and second,
because the game s bu lt on patterns, whole sequences of moves
that have been played before and w ll be played aga n, w th sl ght
alterat ons, n any one match. Your opponent analyzes the patterns
you are play ng and uses them to try to foresee your moves.
Allow ng h m noth ng pred ctable to base h s strategy on g ves you a
b g advantage. In chess as n l fe, when people cannot f gure out
what you are do ng, they are kept n a state of terror—wa t ng,
uncerta n, confused.
L fe at court s a ser ous, melancholy game of chess, wh ch requ res
us to draw
up our p eces and batter es, form a plan, pursue t, parry that of our
adversary. Somet mes, however, t s better to take r sks
and play the most capr c ous, unpred ctable move.
Jean de La Bruyère, 1645-1696

KEYS TO POWER

Noth ng s more terr fy ng than the sudden and unpred ctable. That s
why we are so fr ghtened by earthquakes and tornadoes: We do not
know when they w ll str ke. After one has occurred, we wa t n terror
for the next one. To a lesser degree, th s s the effect that
unpred ctable human behav or has on us.
An mals behave n set patterns, wh ch s why we are able to hunt
and k ll them. Only man has the capac ty to consc ously alter h s
behav or, to mprov se and overcome the we ght of rout ne and hab t.
Yet most men do not real ze th s power. They prefer the comforts of
rout ne, of g v ng n to the an mal nature that has them repeat ng the
same compuls ve act ons t me and t me aga n. They do th s because
t requ res no effort, and because they m stakenly bel evé that f they
do not unsettle others, they w ll be left alone. Understand: A person
of power nst lls a k nd of fear by del berately unsettl ng those around
h m to keep the n t at ve on h s s de. You somet mes need to str ke
w thout warn ng, to make others tremble when they least expect t. It
s a dev ce that the powerful have used for centur es.
F l ppo Mar a, the last of the V scont dukes of M lan n f fteenth-
century Italy, consc ously d d the oppos te of what everyone
expected of h m. For nstance, he m ght suddenly shower a court er
w th attent on, and then, once the man had come to expect a
promot on to h gher off ce, would suddenly start treat ng h m w th the
utmost d sda n. Confused, the man m ght leave the court, when the
duke would suddenly recall h m and start treat ng h m well aga n.
Doubly confused, the court er would wonder whether h s assumpt on
that he would be promoted had become obv ous, and offens ve, to
the duke, and would start to behave as f he no longer expected such
honor. The duke would rebuke h m for h s lack of amb t on and would
send h m away.
The secret of deal ng w th F l ppo was s mple: Do not presume to
know what he wants. Do not try to guess what w ll please h m. Never
nject your w ll; just surrender to h s w ll. Then wa t to see what
happens. Am dst the confus on and uncerta nty he created, the duke
ruled supreme, unchallenged and at peace.
Unpred ctab l ty s most often the tact c of the master, but the
underdog too can use t to great effect. If you f nd yourself
outnumbered or cornered, throw n a ser es of unpred ctable moves.
Your enem es w ll be so confused that they w ll pull back or make a
tact cal blunder.
In the spr ng of 1862, dur ng the Amer can C v l War, General
Stonewall Jackson and a force of 4,600 Confederate sold ers were
torment ng the larger Un on forces n the Shenandoah Valley.
Meanwh le, not far away, General George Br nton McClellan,
head ng a force of 90,000 Un on sold ers, was march ng south from
Wash ngton, D.C., to lay s ege to R chmond, V rg n a, the
Confederate cap tal. As the weeks of the campa gn went by, Jackson
repeatedly led h s sold ers out of the Shenandoah Valley, then back
to t.
H s movements made no sense. Was he prepar ng to help defend
R chmond? Was he march ng on Wash ngton, now that McClellan’s
absence had left t unprotected? Was he head ng north to wreak
havoc up there? Why was h s small force mov ng n c rcles?
Jackson’s nexpl cable moves made the Un on generals delay the
march on R chmond as they wa ted to f gure out what he was up to.
Meanwh le, the South was able to pour re nforcements nto the town.
A battle that could have crushed the Confederacy turned nto a
stalemate. Jackson used th s tact c t me and aga n when fac ng
numer cally super or forces. “Always myst fy, m slead, and surpr se
the enemy, f poss ble,” he sa d, “... such tact cs w ll w n every t me
and a small army may thus destroy a large one.”
Th s law appl es not only to war but to everyday s tuat ons. People
are always try ng to read the mot ves beh nd your act ons and to use
your pred ctab l ty aga nst you. Throw n a completely nexpl cable
move and you put them on the defens ve. Because they do not
understand you, they are unnerved, and n such a state you can
eas ly nt m date them.
Pablo P casso once remarked, “The best calculat on s the
absence of calculat on. Once you have atta ned a certa n level of
recogn t on, others generally f gure that when you do someth ng, t’s
for an ntell gent reason. So t’s really fool sh to plot out your
movements too carefully n advance. You’re better off act ng
capr c ously.”
For a wh le, P casso worked w th the art dealer Paul Rosenberg.
At f rst he allowed h m a fa r amount of lat tude n handl ng h s
pa nt ngs, then one day, for no apparent reason, he told the man he
would no longer g ve h m any work to sell. As P casso expla ned,
“Rosenberg would spend the next forty-e ght hours try ng to f gure
out why. Was I reserv ng th ngs for some other dealer? I’d go on
work ng and sleep ng and Rosenberg would spend h s t me f gur ng.
In two days he’d come back, nerves jangled, anx ous, say ng, ‘After
all, dear fr end, you wouldn’t turn me down f I offered you th s much
[nam ng a substant ally h gher f gure] for those pa nt ngs rather than
the pr ce I’ve been accustomed to pay ng you, would you?”’
Unpred ctab l ty s not only a weapon of terror: Scrambl ng your
patterns on a day-to-day bas s w ll cause a st r around you and
st mulate nterest. People w ll talk about you, ascr be mot ves and
explanat ons that have noth ng to do w th the truth, but that keep you
constantly n the r m nds. In the end, the more capr c ous you appear,
the more respect you w ll garner. Only the term nally subord nate act
n a pred ctable manner.
Image: The Cyclone. A
w nd that cannot be fore
seen. Sudden sh fts n
 the barometer, n
expl cable changes
n d rect on and
veloc ty. There s
no defense: A
cyclone sows
terror and
confus on.

Author ty: The enl ghtened ruler s so myster ous that he seems to
dwell nowhere, so nexpl cable that no one can seek h m. He
reposes n nonact on above, and h s m n sters tremble below. (Han-
fe -tzu, Ch nese ph losopher, th rd century B.C.)

REVERSAL

Somet mes pred ctab l ty can work n your favor: By creat ng a

pattern for people to be fam l ar and comfortable w th, you can lull
them to sleep. They have prepared everyth ng accord ng to the r
preconce ved not ons about you. You can use th s n several ways:
F rst, t sets up a smoke screen, a comfortable front beh nd wh ch
you can carry on decept ve act ons. Second, t allows you on rare
occas ons to do someth ng completely aga nst the pattern, unsettl ng
your opponent so deeply he w ll fall to the ground w thout be ng
pushed.
In 1974 Muhammad Al and George Foreman were scheduled to
f ght for the world heavywe ght box ng champ onsh p. Everyone
knew what would happen: B g George Foreman would try to land a
knockout punch wh le Al would dance around h m, wear ng h m out.
That was Al ’s way of f ght ng, h s pattern, and he had not changed t
n more than ten years. But n th s case t seemed to g ve Foreman
the advantage: He had a devastat ng punch, and f he wa ted, sooner
or later Al would have to come to h m. Al , the master strateg st, had
other plans: In press conferences before the b g f ght, he sa d he
was go ng to change h s style and punch t out w th Foreman. No
one, least of all Foreman, bel eved th s for a second. That plan would
be su c de on Al ’s part; he was play ng the comed an, as usual.
Then, before the f ght, Al ’s tra ner loosened the ropes around the
r ng, someth ng a tra ner would do f h s boxer were ntend ng to slug
t out. But no one bel eved th s ploy; t had to be a setup.
To everyone’s amazement, Al d d exactly what he had sa d he
would do. As Foreman wa ted for h m to dance around, Al went r ght
up to h m and slugged t out. He completely upset h s opponent’s
strategy. At a loss, Foreman ended up wear ng h mself out, not by
chas ng Al but by throw ng punches w ldly, and tak ng more and
more counterpunches. F nally, Al landed a dramat c r ght cross that
knocked out Foreman. The hab t of assum ng that a person’s
behav or w ll f t ts prev ous patterns s so strong that not even Al ’s
announcement of a strategy change was enough to upset t.
Foreman walked nto a trap—the trap he had been told to expect.
A warn ng: Unpred ctab l ty can work aga nst you somet mes,
espec ally f you are n a subord nate pos t on. There are t mes when
t s better to let people feel comfortable and settled around you than
to d sturb them. Too much unpred ctab l ty w ll be seen as a s gn of
ndec s veness, or even of some more ser ous psych c problem.
Patterns are powerful, and you can terr fy people by d srupt ng them.
Such power should only be used jud c ously.
 LAW 18

DO NOT BUILD FORTRESSES TO PROTECT

YOURSELF—ISOLATION IS DANGEROUS

JUDGMENT
The world s dangerous and enem es are everywhere—everyone
has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But solat on
exposes you to more dangers than t Protects you from— t cuts you
off from valuable nformat on, t makes you consp cuous and an easy
target. Better to c rculate among people, f nd all es, m ngle. You are
sh elded from your enem es by the crowd.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Ch‘ n Sh h Huang T , the f rst emperor of Ch na (221-210 B.C.), was

the m ght est man of h s day. H s emp re was vaster and more
powerful than that of Alexander the Great. He had conquered all of
the k ngdoms surround ng h s own k ngdom of Ch’ n and un f ed
them nto one mass ve realm called Ch na. But n the last years of
h s l fe, few, f anyone, saw h m.
The emperor l ved n the most magn f cent palace bu lt to that date,
n the cap tal of Hs en-yang. The palace had 270 pav l ons; all of
these were connected by secret underground passageways,
allow ng the emperor to move through the palace w thout anyone
see ng h m. He slept n a d fferent room every n ght, and anyone who
nadvertently la d eyes on h m was nstantly beheaded. Only a
handful of men knew h s whereabouts, and f they revealed t to
anyone, they, too, were put to death.
The f rst emperor had grown so terr f ed of human contact that
when he had to leave the palace he traveled ncogn to, d sgu s ng
h mself carefully. On one such tr p through the prov nces, he
suddenly d ed. H s body was borne back to the cap tal n the
emperor’s carr age, w th a cart packed w th salted f sh tra l ng beh nd
t to cover up the smell of the rott ng corpse—no one was to know of
h s death. He d ed alone, far from h s w ves, h s fam ly, h s fr ends,
and h s court ers, accompan ed only by a m n ster and a handful of
eunuchs.
IIII MASQU I OI IIII. RI.DDI ATH
The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pest lence had
ever been so fatal, or so h deous. Blood was ts Avatur and ts seal—
the redness and horror of blood. There were sharp pa ns, and
sudden d zz ness, and then profuse bleed ng at the pores, w th
d ssolut on.... And the whole se zure, progress, and term nat on of
the d sease, were the nc dents of half an hour. But the Pr nce
Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagac ous. When h s
dom n ons were half-depopulated, he summoned to h s presence a
thousand hale and l ght-hearted fr ends from among the kn ght, and
dames of h s court, and w th these ret red to the deep seclus on of
one of h s castellated abbeys. Th s was an extens ve and
magn f cent structure, the creat on of the pr nce’s own eccentr c yet
august taste. A strong and lofty wall g rdled t n. Th s wall had gates
of ron. The court er.s, hav ng entered, brought furnaces and massy
hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means
ne ther of ngress nor egress to the sudden mpulses of despa r or of
frenzy from w th n. The abbey was amply prov s oned. W th such
precaut ons the court ers m ght b d def ance to contag on. The
external world could take care of tself In the meant me t was folly to
gr eve, or to th nk. The pr nce had prov ded all the appl ances of
pleasure. There were buffoons, there were mprov sator , there were
ballet-dancers, there were mus c ans, there was Beauty, there was
w ne. All these and secur ty were w th n. W thout was the “Red
Death.” It was toward the close of the f fth or s xth month of h s
seclus on, and wh le the pest lence raged most fur ously abroad, that
the Pr nce Prospero enterta ned h s thousand fr ends at a masked
ball of the most unusual magn f cence. It was a voluptuous scene,
that masquerade.... ... And the revel went wh rl ngly on, unt l at
length there commenced the sound ng of m dn ght upon the clock....
And thus too, t happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of
the last ch me had utterly sunk nto s lence, there were many
nd v duals n the crowd who had found le sure to become aware of
the presence of a masked fzgecre wh ch had arrested the attent on
of no s ngle nd v dual before.... The f gure was tall and gaunt, and
shrouded from head to foot n the hab l ments of the grave. The
mask wh ch concealed the v sage was made so nearly to resemble
the countenance of a st ffened corpse that the closest scrut ny must
have had d ff culty n detect ng the cheat. And yet all th s m ght have
been endured, f not approved, by the mad revellers around. But the
mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death.
H s vesture was dabbled n blood—and h s broad brow, w th all the
features of the face, was spr nkled w th the scarlet horror ... ... A
throng of the revellers at once threw themselves nto the black
apartment, and, se z ng the mummer, whose tall f gure stood erect
and mot onless w th n the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped n
unutterable horror at f nd ng the grave cerements and corpse-l ke
mask, wh ch they handled w th so v olent a rudeness, untenanted by
any tang ble form. And now was acknowledged the presence of the
Red Death. He had come l ke a th ef n the n ght. And one by one
dropped the revellers n the blood-bedewed halls of the r revel, and
d ed each n the despa r ng posture of h s fall. And the l fe of the
ebony clock went out w th that of the last of the gay. And the flames
of the tr pods exp red. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death
held ll m table dom n on over all.

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEAIH, EDGAR ALLAN POE, 1809-

1849
 Interpretat on

Sh h Huang T started off as the k ng of Ch’ n, a fearless warr or of

unbr dled amb t on. Wr ters of the t me descr bed h m as a man w th
“a wasp sh nose, eyes l ke sl ts, the vo ce of a jackal, and the heart
of a t ger or wolf.” He could be merc ful somet mes, but more often
he “swallowed men up w thout a scruple.” It was through tr ckery and
v olence that he conquered the prov nces surround ng h s own and
created Ch na, forg ng a s ngle nat on and culture out of many. He
broke up the feudal system, and to keep an eye on the many
members of the royal fam l es that were scattered across the realm’s
var ous k ngdoms, he moved 120,000 of them to the cap tal, where
he housed the most mportant court ers n the vast palace of Hs en-
yang. He consol dated the many walls on the borders and bu lt them
nto the Great Wall of Ch na. He standard zed the country’s laws, ts
wr tten language, even the s ze of ts cartwheels.
As part of th s process of un f cat on, however, the f rst emperor
outlawed the wr t ngs and teach ngs of Confuc us, the ph losopher
whose deas on the moral l fe had already become v rtually a rel g on
n Ch nese culture. On Sh h Huang T ’s order, thousands of books
relat ng to Confuc us were burned, and anyone who quoted
Confuc us was to be beheaded. Th s made many enem es for the
emperor, and he grew constantly afra d, even parano d. The
execut ons mounted. A contemporary, the wr ter Han-fe -tzu, noted
that “Ch’ n has been v ctor ous for four generat ons, yet has l ved n
constant terror and apprehens on of destruct on.”
As the emperor w thdrew deeper and deeper nto the palace to
protect h mself, he slowly lost control of the realm. Eunuchs and
m n sters enacted pol t cal pol c es w thout h s approval or even h s
knowledge; they also plotted aga nst h m. By the end, he was
emperor n name only, and was so solated that barely anyone knew
he had d ed. He had probably been po soned by the same schem ng
m n sters who encouraged h s solat on.
That s what solat on br ngs: Retreat nto a fortress and you lose
contact w th the sources of your power. You lose your ear for what s
happen ng around you, as well as a sense of proport on. Instead of
be ng safer, you cut yourself off from the k nd of knowledge on wh ch
your l fe depends. Never enclose yourself so far from the streets that
you cannot hear what s happen ng around you, nclud ng the plots
aga nst you.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

Lou s XIV had the palace of Versa lles bu lt for h m and h s court n
the 1660s, and t was l ke no other royal palace n the world. As n a
beeh ve, everyth ng revolved around the royal person. He l ved
surrounded by the nob l ty, who were allotted apartments nestled
around h s, the r closeness to h m dependent on the r rank. The
k ng’s bedroom occup ed the l teral center of the palace and was the
focus of everyone’s attent on. Every morn ng the k ng was greeted n
th s room by a r tual known as the lever.
At e ght A.M., the k ng’s f rst valet, who slept at the foot of the royal
bed, would awaken H s Majesty. Then pages would open the door
and adm t those who had a funct on n the lever. The order of the r
entry was prec se: F rst came the k ng’s lleg t mate sons and h s
grandch ldren, then the pr nces and pr ncesses of the blood, and
then h s phys c an and surgeon. There followed the grand off cers of
the wardrobe, the k ng’s off c al reader, and those n charge of
enterta n ng the k ng. Next would arr ve var ous government off c als,
n ascend ng order of rank. Last but not least came those attend ng
the lever by spec al nv tat on. By the end of the ceremony, the room
would be packed w th well over a hundred royal attendants and
v s tors.
The day was organ zed so that all the palace’s energy was
d rected at and passed through the k ng. Lou s was constantly
attended by court ers and off c als, all ask ng for h s adv ce and
judgment. To all the r quest ons he usually repl ed, “I shall see.”
As Sa nt-S mon noted, “If he turned to someone, asked h m a
quest on, made an ns gn f cant remark, the eyes of all present were
turned on th s person. It was a d st nct on that was talked of and
ncreased prest ge.” There was no poss b l ty of pr vacy n the palace,
not even for the k ng—every room commun cated w th another, and
every hallway led to larger rooms where groups of nobles gathered
constantly. Everyone’s act ons were nterdependent, and noth ng and
no one passed unnot ced: “The k ng not only saw to t that all the
h gh nob l ty was present at h s court,” wrote Sa nt-S mon, “he
demanded the same of the m nor nob l ty. At h s lever and coucher,
at h s meals, n h s gardens of Versa lles, he always looked about
h m, not c ng everyth ng. He was offended f the most d st ngu shed
nobles d d not l ve permanently at court, and those who showed
themselves never or hardly ever, ncurred h s full d spleasure. If one
of these des red someth ng, the k ng would say proudly: ‘I do not
know h m,’ and the judgment was rrevocable.”

Interpretat on

Lou s XIV came to power at the end of a terr ble c v l war, the
Fronde. A pr nc pal nst gator of the war had been the nob l ty, wh ch
deeply resented the grow ng power of the throne and yearned for the
days of feudal sm, when the lords ruled the r own f efdoms and the
k ng had l ttle author ty over them. The nobles had lost the c v l war,
but they rema ned a fract ous, resentful lot.
The construct on of Versa lles, then, was far more than the
decadent wh m of a luxury-lov ng k ng. It served a cruc al funct on:
The k ng could keep an eye and an ear on everyone and everyth ng
around h m. The once proud nob l ty was reduced to squabbl ng over
the r ght to help the k ng put on h s robes n the morn ng. There was
no poss b l ty here of pr vacy—no poss b l ty of solat on. Lou s XIV
very early grasped the truth that for a k ng to solate h mself s
gravely dangerous. In h s absence, consp rac es w ll spr ng up l ke
mushrooms after ra n, an mos t es w ll crystall ze nto fact ons, and
rebell on w ll break out before he has the t me to react. To combat
th s, soc ab l ty and openness must not only be encouraged, they
must be formally organ zed and channeled.
 These cond t ons at Versa lles lasted for Lou s’s ent re re gn, some
f fty years of relat ve peace and tranqu ll ty. Through t all, not a p n
dropped w thout Lou s hear ng t.
Sol tude s dangerous to reason, w thout be ng favorable to v rtue....
Remember that the sol tary mortal s certa nly luxur ous,
probably superst t ous, and poss bly mad.
Dr. Samuel John son, 1709-1784

KEYS TO POWER

Mach avell makes the argument that n a str ctly m l tary sense a
fortress s nvar ably a m stake. It becomes a symbol of power’s
solat on, and s an easy target for ts bu lders’ enem es. Des gned to
defend you, fortresses actually cut you off from help and cut nto
your flex b l ty. They may appear mpregnable, but once you ret re to
one, everyone knows where you are; and a s ege does not have to
succeed to turn your fortress nto a pr son. W th the r small and
conf ned spaces, fortresses are also extremely vulnerable to the
plague and contag ous d seases. In a strateg c sense, the solat on of
a fortress prov des no protect on, and actually creates more
problems than t solves.
Because humans are soc al creatures by nature, power depends
on soc al nteract on and c rculat on. To make yourself powerful you
must place yourself at the center of th ngs, as Lou s XIV d d at
Versa lles. All act v ty should revolve around you, and you should be
aware of everyth ng happen ng on the street, and of anyone who
m ght be hatch ng plots aga nst you. The danger for most people
comes when they feel threatened. In such t mes they tend to retreat
and close ranks, to f nd secur ty n a k nd of fortress. In do ng so,
however, they come to rely for nformat on on a smaller and smaller
c rcle, and lose perspect ve on events around them. They lose
maneuverab l ty and become easy targets, and the r solat on makes
them parano d. As n warfare and most games of strategy, solat on
often precedes defeat and death.
In moments of uncerta nty and danger, you need to f ght th s
des re to turn nward. Instead, make yourself more access ble, seek
out old all es and make new ones, force yourself nto more and more
d fferent c rcles. Th s has been the tr ck of powerful people for
centur es.
The Roman statesman C cero was born nto the lower nob l ty, and
had l ttle chance of power unless he managed to make a place for
h mself among the ar stocrats who controlled the c ty. He succeeded
br ll antly, dent fy ng everyone w th nfluence and f gur ng out how
they were connected to one another. He m ngled everywhere, knew
everyone, and had such a vast network of connect ons that an
enemy here could eas ly be counterbalanced by an ally there.
The French statesman Talleyrand played the game the same way.
Although he came from one of the oldest ar stocrat c fam l es n
France, he made a po nt of always stay ng n touch w th what was
happen ng n the streets of Par s, allow ng h m to foresee trends and
troubles. He even got a certa n pleasure out of m ngl ng w th shady
cr m nal types, who suppl ed h m w th valuable nformat on. Every
t me there was a cr s s, a trans t on of power—the end of the
D rectory, the fall of Napoleon, the abd cat on of Lou s XVIII—he was
able to surv ve and even thr ve, because he never closed h mself up
n a small c rcle but always forged connect ons w th the new order.
Th s law perta ns to k ngs and queens, and to those of the h ghest
power: The moment you lose contact w th your people, seek ng
secur ty n solat on, rebell on s brew ng. Never mag ne yourself so
elevated that you can afford to cut yourself off from even the lowest
echelons. By retreat ng to a fortress, you make yourself an easy
target for your plott ng subjects, who v ew your solat on as an nsult
and a reason for rebell on.
S nce humans are such soc al creatures, t follows that the soc al
arts that make us pleasant to be around can be pract ced only by
constant exposure and c rculat on. The more you are n contact w th
others, the more graceful and at ease you become. Isolat on, on the
other hand, engenders an awkwardness n your gestures, and leads
to further solat on, as people start avo d ng you.
In 1545 Duke Cos mo I de’ Med c dec ded that to ensure the
mmortal ty of h s name he would comm ss on frescoes for the ma n
chapel of the church of San Lorenzo n Florence. He had many great
pa nters to choose from, and n the end he p cked Jacopo da
Pontormo. Gett ng on n years, Pontormo wanted to make these
frescoes h s chef d’oeuvre and legacy. H s f rst dec s on was to close
the chapel off w th walls, part t ons, and bl nds. He wanted no one to
w tness the creat on of h s masterp ece, or to steal h s deas. He
would outdo M chelangelo h mself. When some young men broke
nto the chapel out of cur os ty, Jacopo sealed t off even further.
Pontormo f lled the chapel’s ce l ng w th b bl cal scenes—the
Creat on, Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, on and on. At the top of the
m ddle wall he pa nted Chr st n h s majesty, ra s ng the dead on
Judgment Day. The art st worked on the chapel for eleven years,
rarely leav ng t, s nce he had developed a phob a for human contact
and was afra d h s deas would be stolen.
Pontormo d ed before complet ng the frescoes, and none of them
has surv ved. But the great Rena ssance wr ter Vasar , a fr end of
Pontormo’s who saw the frescoes shortly after the art st’s death, left
a descr pt on of what they looked l ke. There was a total lack of
proport on. Scenes bumped aga nst scenes, f gures n one story
be ng juxtaposed w th those n another, n madden ng numbers.
Pontormo had become obsessed w th deta l but had lost any sense
of the overall compos t on. Vasar left off h s descr pt on of the
frescoes by wr t ng that f he cont nued, “I th nk I would go mad and
become entangled n th s pa nt ng, just as I bel eve that n the eleven
years of t me Jacopo spent on t, he entangled h mself and anyone
else who saw t.” Instead of crown ng Pontormo’s career, the work
became h s undo ng.
These frescoes were v sual equ valents of the effects of solat on
on the human m nd: a loss of proport on, an obsess on w th deta l
comb ned w th an nab l ty to see the larger p cture, a k nd of
extravagant ugl ness that no longer commun cates. Clearly, solat on
s as deadly for the creat ve arts as for the soc al arts. Shakespeare
 s the most famous wr ter n h story because, as a dramat st for the
popular stage, he opened h mself up to the masses, mak ng h s work
access ble to people no matter what the r educat on and taste. Art sts
who hole themselves up n the r fortress lose a sense of proport on,
the r work commun cat ng only to the r small c rcle. Such art rema ns
cornered and powerless.
F nally, s nce power s a human creat on, t s nev tably ncreased
by contact w th other people. Instead of fall ng nto the fortress
mental ty, v ew the world n the follow ng manner: It s l ke a vast
Versa lles, w th every room commun cat ng w th another. You need to
be permeable, able to float n and out of d fferent c rcles and m x w th
d fferent types. That k nd of mob l ty and soc al contact w ll protect
you from plotters, who w ll be unable to keep secrets from you, and
from your enem es, who w ll be unable to solate you from your all es.
Always on the move, you m x and m ngle n the rooms of the palace,
never s tt ng or settl ng n one place. No hunter can f x h s a m on
such a sw ft-mov ng creature.
Image: The Fortress. H gh
up on the h ll, the c tadel be
comes a symbol of all that s
hateful n power and author ty.
The c t zens of the town betray
you to the f rst enemy that comes.
Cut off from commun cat on and n
tell gence, the c tadel falls w th ease.

Author ty: A good and w se pr nce, des rous of ma nta n ng that

character, and to avo d g v ng the opportun ty to h s sons to become
oppress ve, w ll never bu ld fortresses, so that they may place the r
rel ance upon the good w ll of the r subjects, and not upon the
strength of c tadels. (N ccolò Mach avell , 1469-1527)
 REVERSAL

It s hardly ever r ght and prop t ous to choose solat on. W thout
keep ng an ear on what s happen ng n the streets, you w ll be
unable to protect yourself. About the only th ng that constant human
contact cannot fac l tate s thought. The we ght of soc ety’s pressure
to conform, and the lack of d stance from other people, can make t
mposs ble to th nk clearly about what s go ng on around you. As a
temporary recourse, then, solat on can help you to ga n perspect ve.
Many a ser ous th nker has been produced n pr sons, where we
have noth ng to do but th nk. Mach avell could wr te The Pr nce only
once he found h mself n ex le and solated on a farm far from the
pol t cal ntr gues of Florence.
The danger s, however, that th s k nd of solat on w ll s re all k nds
of strange and perverted deas. You may ga n perspect ve on the
larger p cture, but you lose a sense of your own smallness and
l m tat ons. Also, the more solated you are, the harder t s to break
out of your solat on when you choose to— t s nks you deep nto ts
qu cksand w thout your not c ng. If you need t me to th nk, then,
choose solat on only as a last resort, and only n small doses. Be
careful to keep your way back nto soc ety open.
 LAW 19

KNOW WHO YOU’RE DEALING WITH—DO NOT

OFFEND THE WRONG PERSON

JUDGMENT
There are many d fferent k nds of people n the world, and you can
never assume that everyone w ll react to your strateg es n the same
way. Dece ve or outmaneuver some people and they w ll spend the
rest of the r l ves seek ng revenge. They are wolves n lambs’
cloth ng. Choose your v ct ms and opponents carefully, then—never
of fend or dece ve the wrong person.
OPPONENTS, SUCKERS, AND VICTIMS: Prel m nary Typology In
your r se to power you w ll come across many breeds of opponent,
sucker, and v ct m. The h ghest form of the art of power s the ab l ty
to d st ngu sh the wolves from the lambs, the foxes from the hares,
the hawks from the vultures. If you make th s d st nct on well, you w ll
succeed w thout need ng to coerce anyone too much. But f you deal
bl ndly w th whomever crosses your path, you w ll have a l fe of
constant sorrow, f you even l ve that long. Be ng able to recogn ze
types of people, and to act accord ngly, s cr t cal. The follow ng are
the f ve most dangerous and d ff cult types of mark n the jungle, as
dent f ed by art sts—con and otherw se—of the past.
When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not rec te poetry
to one who s not a poet.
FROM A CH’AN BUDDHIST CLASSIC, QUOTED IN THUNDER IN
THE SKY, TRANSLATED BY THOMAS CLEARY, 1993
The Arrogant and Proud Man. Although he may n t ally d sgu se t,
th s man’s touchy pr de makes h m very dangerous. Any perce ved
sl ght w ll lead to a vengeance of overwhelm ng v olence. You may
say to yourself, “But I only sa d such-and-such at a party, where
everyone was drunk....” It does not matter. There s no san ty beh nd
h s overreact on, so do not waste t me try ng to f gure h m out. If at
any po nt n your deal ngs w th a person you sense an oversens t ve
and overact ve pr de, flee. Whatever you are hop ng for from h m
sn’t worth t.
THE REVENCE OF LOPE. DE AGI IRRE
[Lope de] Agu rre’s character s amply llustrated n an anecdote from
the chron cle of Garc laso de la Vega, who related that n 1548
Agu rre was a member of a platoon of sold ers escort ng Ind an
slaves from the m nes at Potos [Bol v a] to a royal treasury depot.
The Ind ans were llegally burdened w th great quant t es of s lver,
and a local off c al arrested Agu rre, sentenc ng h m to rece ve two
hundred lashes n l eu of a f ne for oppress ng the Ind ans. “The
sold er Agu rre, hav ng rece ved a not f cat on of the sentence,
besought the alcalde that, nstead of flogg ng h m, he would put h m
to death, for that he was a gentleman by b rth.... All th s had no effect
on the alcalde, who ordered the execut oner to br ng a beast, and
execute the sentence. The execut oner came to the pr son, and put
Agu rre on the heast.... The beast was dr ven on, and he rece ved
the lashes....”
When freed, Agu rre announced h s ntent on of k ll ng the off c al
who had sentenced h m, the alcalde Esqu vel. Esqu vel’s term of
off ce exp red and he fled to L ma. three hundred twenty leagues
away, b tt w th n f fteen days Agu rre had tracked h m there. The
fr ghtened judge journeyed to Qu to, a tr p of four hundred leagues,
and n twenty days Agu rre arr ved. “When Esqu vel heard of h s
presence, ” accord ng to Garc laso, “he made another journey of f ve
hundred leagues to Cuzco; but n a few days Agu rre also arr ved,
hav ng travelled on foot and w thout shoes, say ng that a wh pped
man has no bus ness to r de a horse, or to go where he would be
seen by others. In th s way, Agu rre followed h s judge for three
years, and four months.” Weary ng of the pursu t, Esqu vel rema ned
at Cuzco, a c ty so sternly governed that he felt he would be safe
from Agu rre. He took a house near the cathedral and never
ventured outdoors w thout a sword and a dagger. “However, on a
certa n Monday, at noon, Agu rre entered h s house, and hav ng
walked all over t, and hav ng traversed a corr dor, a saloon, a
chamber, and an nner chamber where the judge kept h s books, he
at last found h m asleep over one of h s books, and stabbed h m to
death. The murderer then went out, but when he came to the door of
the house, he found that he had forgotten h s hat, and had the
temer ty to return and fetch t, and then walked down the street.”

THE GOLDEN DREAM: SEEKERS OF EL DORADO, WALKER

CHAPMAN, 1967
The Hopelessly Insecure Man. Th s man s related to the proud
and arrogant type, but s less v olent and harder to spot. H s ego s
frag le, h s sense of self nsecure, and f he feels h mself dece ved or
attacked, the hurt w ll s mmer. He w ll attack you n b tes that w ll take
forever to get b g enough for you to not ce. If you f nd you have
dece ved or harmed such a man, d sappear for a long t me. Do not
stay around h m or he w ll n bble you to death.

Mr. Susp c on. Another var ant on the breeds above, th s s a future
Joe Stal n. He sees what he wants to see—usually the worst— n
other people, and mag nes that everyone s after h m. Mr. Susp c on
s n fact the least dangerous of the three: Genu nely unbalanced, he
s easy to dece ve, just as Stal n h mself was constantly dece ved.
Play on h s susp c ous nature to get h m to turn aga nst other people.
But f you do become the target of h s susp c ons, watch out.

The Serpent w th a Long Memory. If hurt or dece ved, th s man w ll

show no anger on the surface; he w ll calculate and wa t. Then, when
he s n a pos t on to turn the tables, he w ll exact a revenge marked
by a cold-blooded shrewdness. Recogn ze th s man by h s
calculat on and cunn ng n the d fferent areas of h s l fe. He s usually
cold and unaffect onate. Be doubly careful of th s snake, and f you
have somehow njured h m, e ther crush h m completely or get h m
out of your s ght.

The Pla n, Unassum ng, and Often Un ntell gent Man. Ah, your
ears pr ck up when you f nd such a tempt ng v ct m. But th s man s a
lot harder to dece ve than you mag ne. Fall ng for a ruse often takes
ntell gence and mag nat on—a sense of the poss ble rewards. The
blunt man w ll not take the ba t because he does not recogn ze t. He
s that unaware. The danger w th th s man s not that he w ll harm
you or seek revenge, but merely that he w ll waste your t me, energy,
resources, and even your san ty n try ng to dece ve h m. Have a test
ready for a mark—a joke, a story. If h s react on s utterly l teral, th s
s the type you are deal ng w th. Cont nue at your own r sk.

TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW

Transgress on I

In the early part of the th rteenth century, Muhammad, the shah of

Khwarezm, managed after many wars to forge a huge emp re,
extend ng west to present-day Turkey and south to Afghan stan. The
emp re’s center was the great As an cap tal of Samarkand. The shah
had a powerful, well-tra ned army, and could mob l ze 200,000
warr ors w th n days.
In 1219 Muhammad rece ved an embassy from a new tr bal leader
to the east, Gengh s Khan. The embassy ncluded all sorts of g fts to
the great Muhammad, represent ng the f nest goods from Khan’s
small but grow ng Mongol emp re. Gengh s Khan wanted to reopen
the S lk Route to Europe, and offered to share t w th Muhammad,
wh le prom s ng peace between the two emp res.
Muhammad d d not know th s upstart from the east, who, t
seemed to h m, was extremely arrogant to try to talk as an equal to
one so clearly h s super or. He gnored Khan’s offer. Khan tr ed
aga n: Th s t me he sent a caravan of a hundred camels f lled w th
the rarest art cles he had plundered from Ch na. Before the caravan
reached Muhammad, however, Inalch k, the governor of a reg on
border ng on Samarkand, se zed t for h mself, and executed ts
leaders.
Gengh s Khan was sure that th s was a m stake—that Inalch k had
acted w thout Muhammad’s approval. He sent yet another m ss on to
Muhammad, re terat ng h s offer and ask ng that the governor be
pun shed. Th s t me Muhammad h mself had one of the
ambassadors beheaded, and sent the other two back w th shaved
heads—a horr fy ng nsult n the Mongol code of honor. Khan sent a
message to the shah: “You have chosen war. What w ll happen w ll
happen, and what t s to be we know not; only God knows.”
Mob l z ng h s forces, n 1220 he attacked Inalch k’s prov nce, where
he se zed the cap tal, captured the governor, and ordered h m
executed by hav ng molten s lver poured nto h s eyes and ears.
Over the next year, Khan led a ser es of guerr lla-l ke campa gns
aga nst the shah’s much larger army. H s method was totally novel
for the t me—h s sold ers could move very fast on horseback, and
had mastered the art of f r ng w th bow and arrow wh le mounted.
The speed and flex b l ty of h s forces allowed h m to dece ve
Muhammad as to h s ntent ons and the d rect ons of h s movements.
Eventually he managed f rst to surround Samarkand, then to se ze t.
Muhammad fled, and a year later d ed, h s vast emp re broken and
destroyed. Gengh s Khan was sole master of Samarkand, the S lk
Route, and most of northern As a.

Interpretat on

Never assume that the person you are deal ng w th s weaker or less
mportant than you are. Some men are slow to take offense, wh ch
may make you m sjudge the th ckness of the r sk n, and fa l to worry
about nsult ng them. But should you offend the r honor and the r
pr de, they w ll overwhelm you w th a v olence that seems sudden
and extreme g ven the r slowness to anger. If you want to turn people
down, t s best to do so pol tely and respectfully, even f you feel
the r request s mpudent or the r offer r d culous. Never reject them
w th an nsult unt l you know them better; you may be deal ng w th a
Gengh s Khan.

THE CROW AND THE SHEEP

A troublesome Crow seated herself on the back of a Sheep. The
Sheep, much aga nst h s w ll, carr ed her backward and forward for a
long t me, and at last sa d, “If you had treated a dog n th s way, you
would have had your deserts from h s sharp teeth.”To th s the Crow
repl ed, “I desp se the weak, and y eld to the strong. I know whom I
may bully, and whom I must flatter; and thus I hope to prolong my l fe
to a good old age.
FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.

Transgress on II

In the late 1910s some of the best sw ndlers n Amer ca formed a

con-art st r ng based n Denver, Colorado. In the w nter months they
would spread across the southern states, ply ng the r trade. In 1920
Joe Furey, a leader of the r ng, was work ng h s way through Texas,
mak ng hundreds of thousands of dollars w th class c con games. In
Fort Worth, he met a sucker named J. Frank Norfleet, a cattleman
who owned a large ranch. Norfleet fell for the con. Conv nced of the
r ches to come, he empt ed h s bank account of $45,000 and handed
t over to Furey and h s confederates. A few days later they gave h m
h s “m ll ons,” wh ch turned out to be a few good dollars wrapped
around a packet of newspaper cl pp ngs.
Furey and h s men had worked such cons a hundred t mes before,
and the sucker was usually so embarrassed by h s gull b l ty that he
qu etly learned h s lesson and accepted the loss. But Norfleet was
not l ke other suckers. He went to the pol ce, who told h m there was
l ttle they could do. “Then I’ll go after those people myself,” Norfleet
told the detect ves. “I’ll get them, too, f t takes the rest of my l fe.”
H s w fe took over the ranch as Norfleet scoured the country, look ng
for others who had been fleeced n the same game. One such
sucker came forward, and the two men dent f ed one of the con
art sts n San Franc sco, and managed to get h m locked up. The
man comm tted su c de rather than face a long term n pr son.
Norfleet kept go ng. He tracked down another of the con art sts n
Montana, roped h m l ke a calf, and dragged h m through the muddy
streets to the town ja l. He traveled not only across the country but to
England, Canada, and Mex co n search of Joe Furey, and also of
Furey’s r ght-hand man, W. B. Spencer. F nd ng Spencer n Montreal,
Norfleet chased h m through the streets. Spencer escaped but the
rancher stayed on h s tra l and caught up w th h m n Salt Lake C ty.
Preferr ng the mercy of the law to Norfleet’s wrath, Spencer turned
h mself n.
Norfleet found Furey n Jacksonv lle, Flor da, and personally
hauled h m off to face just ce n Texas. But he wouldn’t stop there:
He cont nued on to Denver, determ ned to break up the ent re r ng.
Spend ng not only large sums of money but another year of h s l fe n
the pursu t, he managed to put all of the con r ng’s leaders beh nd
bars. Even some he d dn’t catch had grown so terr f ed of h m that
they too turned themselves n.
After f ve years of hunt ng, Norfleet had s ngle-handedly destroyed
the country’s largest confederat on of con art sts. The effort
bankrupted h m and ru ned h s marr age, but he d ed a sat sf ed man.

Interpretat on

Most men accept the hum l at on of be ng conned w th a sense of

res gnat on. They learn the r lesson, recogn z ng that there s no such
th ng as a free lunch, and that they have usually been brought down
by the r own greed for easy money. Some, however, refuse to take
the r med c ne. Instead of reflect ng on the r own gull b l ty and
avar ce, they see themselves as totally nnocent v ct ms.
Men l ke th s may seem to be crusaders for just ce and honesty,
but they are actually mmoderately nsecure. Be ng fooled, be ng
conned, has act vated the r self-doubt, and they are desperate to
repa r the damage. Were the mortgage on Norfleet’s ranch, the
collapse of h s marr age, and the years of borrow ng money and
l v ng n cheap hotels worth h s revenge over h s embarrassment at
be ng fleeced? To the Norfleets of the world, overcom ng the r
embarrassment s worth any pr ce.
All people have nsecur t es, and often the best way to dece ve a
sucker s to play upon h s nsecur t es. But n the realm of power,
everyth ng s a quest on of degree, and the person who s dec dedly
more nsecure than the average mortal presents great dangers. Be
warned: If you pract ce decept on or tr ckery of any sort, study your
mark well. Some people’s nsecur ty and ego frag l ty cannot tolerate
the sl ghtest offense. To see f you are deal ng w th such a type, test
them f rst—make, say, a m ld joke at the r expense. A conf dent
person w ll laugh; an overly nsecure one w ll react as f personally
nsulted. If you suspect you are deal ng w th th s type, f nd another
v ct m.

Transgress on III

In the f fth century B.C., Ch‘ung-erh, the pr nce of Ch’ n ( n present-

day Ch na), had been forced nto ex le. He l ved modestly—even,
somet mes, n poverty—wa t ng for the t me when he could return
home and resume h s pr ncely l fe. Once he was pass ng through the
state of Cheng, where the ruler, not know ng who he was, treated
h m rudely. The ruler’s m n ster, Shu Chan, saw th s and sa d, “Th s
man s a worthy pr nce. May Your H ghness treat h m w th great
courtesy and thereby place h m under an obl gat on!” But the ruler,
able to see only the pr nce’s lowly stat on, gnored th s adv ce and
nsulted the pr nce aga n. Shu Chan aga n warned h s master,
say ng, “If Your H ghness cannot treat Ch’ung-erh w th courtesy, you
should put h m to death, to avo d calam ty n the future.” The ruler
only scoffed.
Years later, the pr nce was f nally able to return home, h s
c rcumstances greatly changed. He d d not forget who had been k nd
to h m, and who had been nsolent, dur ng h s years of poverty. Least
of all d d he forget h s treatment at the hands of the ruler of Cheng.
At h s f rst opportun ty he assembled a vast army and marched on
Cheng, tak ng e ght c t es, destroy ng the k ngdom, and send ng the
ruler nto an ex le of h s own. Interpretat on
You can never be sure who you are deal ng w th. A man who s of
l ttle mportance and means today can be a person of power
tomorrow. We forget a lot n our l ves, but we rarely forget an nsult.
How was the ruler of Cheng to know that Pr nce Ch’ung-erh was
an amb t ous, calculat ng, cunn ng type, a serpent w th a long
memory? There was really no way for h m to know, you may say—
but s nce there was no way, t would have been better not to tempt
the fates by f nd ng out. There s noth ng to be ga ned by nsult ng a
person unnecessar ly. Swallow the mpulse to offend, even f the
other person seems weak. The sat sfact on s meager compared to
the danger that someday he or she w ll be n a pos t on to hurt you.

Transgress on IV

The year of 1920 had been a part cularly bad one for Amer can art
dealers. B g buyers—the robber-baron generat on of the prev ous
century—were gett ng to an age where they were dy ng off l ke fl es,
and no new m ll ona res had emerged to take the r place. Th ngs
were so bad that a number of the major dealers dec ded to pool the r
resources, an unheard-of event, s nce art dealers usually get along
l ke cats and dogs.
Joseph Duveen, art dealer to the r chest tycoons of Amer ca, was
suffer ng more than the others that year, so he dec ded to go along
w th th s all ance. The group now cons sted of the f ve b ggest
dealers n the country. Look ng around for a new cl ent, they dec ded
that the r last best hope was Henry Ford, then the wealth est man n
Amer ca. Ford had yet to venture nto the art market, and he was
such a b g target that t made sense for them to work together.
The dealers dec ded to assemble a l st, “The 100 Greatest
Pa nt ngs n the World” (all of wh ch they happened to have n stock),
and to offer the lot of them to Ford. W th one purchase he could
make h mself the world’s greatest collector. The consort um worked
for weeks to produce a magn f cent object: a three-volume set of
books conta n ng beaut ful reproduct ons of the pa nt ngs, as well as
scholarly texts accompany ng each p cture. Next they made a
personal v s t to Ford at h s home n Dearborn, M ch gan. There they
were surpr sed by the s mpl c ty of h s house: Mr. Ford was obv ously
an extremely unaffected man.
Ford rece ved them n h s study. Look ng through the book, he
expressed aston shment and del ght. The exc ted dealers began
mag n ng the m ll ons of dollars that would shortly flow nto the r
coffers. F nally, however, Ford looked up from the book and sa d,
“Gentlemen, beaut ful books l ke these, w th beaut ful colored
p ctures l ke these, must cost an awful lot!” “But Mr. Ford!” excla med
Duveen, “we don’t expect you to buy these books. We got them up
espec ally for you, to show you the p ctures. These books are a
present to you.” Ford seemed puzzled. “Gentlemen,” he sa d, “ t s
extremely n ce of you, but I really don’t see how I can accept a
beaut ful, expens ve present l ke th s from strangers.” Duveen
expla ned to Ford that the reproduct ons n the books showed
pa nt ngs they had hoped to sell to h m. Ford f nally understood. “But
gentlemen,” he excla med, “what would I want w th the or g nal
p ctures when the ones r ght here n these books are so beaut ful?”

Interpretat on

Joseph Duveen pr ded h mself on study ng h s v ct ms and cl ents n

advance, f gur ng out the r weaknesses and the pecul ar t es of the r
tastes before he ever met them. He was dr ven by desperat on to
drop th s tact c just once, n h s assault on Henry Ford. It took h m
months to recover from h s m sjudgment, both mentally and
monetar ly. Ford was the unassum ng pla n-man type who just sn’t
worth the bother. He was the ncarnat on of those l teral-m nded folk
who do not possess enough mag nat on to be dece ved. From then
on, Duveen saved h s energ es for the Mellons and Mor gans of the
world—men crafty enough for h m to entrap n h s snares.

KEYS TO POWER

The ab l ty to measure people and to know who you’re deal ng w th s

the most mportant sk ll of all n gather ng and conserv ng power.
W thout t you are bl nd: Not only w ll you offend the wrong people,
you w ll choose the wrong types to work on, and w ll th nk you are
flatter ng people when you are actually nsult ng them. Before
embark ng on any move, take the measure of your mark or potent al
opponent. Otherw se you w ll waste t me and make m stakes. Study
people’s weaknesses, the ch nks n the r armor, the r areas of both
pr de and nsecur ty. Know the r ns and outs before you even dec de
whether or not to deal w th them.
Two f nal words of caut on: F rst, n judg ng and measur ng your
opponent, never rely on your nst ncts. You w ll make the greatest
m stakes of all f you rely on such nexact nd cators. Noth ng can
subst tute for gather ng concrete knowledge. Study and spy on your
opponent for however long t takes; th s w ll pay off n the long run.
Second, never trust appearances. Anyone w th a serpent’s heart
can use a show of k ndness to cloak t; a person who s blustery on
the outs de s often really a coward. Learn to see through
appearances and the r contrad ct ons. Never trust the vers on that
people g ve of themselves— t s utterly unrel able.
Image: The Hunter. He does not lay the same trap for a wolf as for a
fox. He does not set ba t where no one w ll take t. He knows h s prey
thoroughly, ts hab ts and h deaways, and hunts accord ngly.

Author ty: Be conv nced, that there are no persons so ns gn f cant

and ncons derable, but may, some t me or other, have t n the r
power to be of use to you; wh ch they certa nly w ll not, f you have
once shown them contempt. Wrongs are often forg ven, but
contempt never s. Our pr de remembers t for ever. (Lord
Chesterf eld, 1694-1773)

REVERSAL

What poss ble good can come from gnorance about other people?
Learn to tell the l ons from the lambs or pay the pr ce. Obey th s law
to ts fullest extent; t has no reversal—do not bother look ng for one.
 LAW 20

DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE

JUDGMENT
It s the fool who always rushes to take s des. Do not comm t to any
s de or cause but yourself. By ma nta n ng your ndependence, you
become the master of others—play ng people aga nst one another,
mak ng them pursue you.
PART I: DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE, BUT BE COURTED BY
ALL
If you allow people to feel they possess you to any degree, you lose
all power over them. By not comm tt ng your affect ons, they w ll only
try harder to w n you over. Stay aloof and you ga n the power that
comes from the r attent on and frustrated des re. Play the V rg n
Queen: G ve them hope but never sat sfact on.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

When Queen El zabeth I ascended the throne of England, n 1558,

there was much to-do about her f nd ng a husband. The ssue was
debated n Parl ament, and was a ma n top c of conversat on among
Engl shmen of all classes; they often d sagreed as to whom she
should marry, but everyone thought she should marry as soon as
poss ble, for a queen must have a k ng, and must bear he rs for the
k ngdom. The debates raged on for years. Meanwh le the most
handsome and el g ble bachelors n the realm—S r Robert Dudley,
the Earl of Essex, S r Walter Rale gh—v ed for El zabeth’s hand. She
d d not d scourage them, but she seemed to be n no hurry, and her
h nts as to wh ch man m ght be her favor te often contrad cted each
other. In 1566, Parl ament sent a delegat on to El zabeth urg ng her
to marry before she was too old to bear ch ldren. She d d not argue,
nor d d she d scourage the delegat on, but she rema ned a v rg n
nonetheless.
The del cate game that El zabeth played w th her su tors slowly
made her the subject of nnumerable sexual fantas es and the object
of cult sh worsh p. The court phys c an, S mon Forman, used h s
d ary to descr be h s dreams of deflower ng her. Pa nters represented
her as D ana and other goddesses. The poet Edmund Spenser and
others wrote eulog es to the V rg n Queen. She was referred to as
“the world’s Empresse,” “that v rtuous V rgo” who rules the world and
sets the stars n mot on. In conversat on w th her, her many male
su tors would employ bold sexual nnuendo, a dare that El zabeth d d
not d scourage. She d d all she could to st r the r nterest and
s multaneously keep them at bay.
Throughout Europe, k ngs and pr nces knew that a marr age w th
El zabeth would seal an all ance between England and any nat on.
The k ng of Spa n wooed her, as d d the pr nce of Sweden and the
archduke of Austr a. She pol tely refused them all.
The great d plomat c ssue of El zabeth’s day was posed by the
revolt of the Flem sh and Dutch Lowlands, wh ch were then
possess ons of Spa n. Should England break ts all ance w th Spa n
and choose France as ts ma n ally on the Cont nent, thereby
encourag ng Flem sh and Dutch ndependence ? By 1570 t had
come to seem that an all ance w th France would be England’s
w sest course. France had two el g ble men of noble blood, the
dukes of Anjou and Alençon, brothers of the French k ng. Would
e ther of them marry El zabeth? Both had advantages, and El zabeth
kept the hopes of both al ve. The ssue s mmered for years. The
duke of Anjou made several v s ts to England, k ssed El zabeth n
publ c, even called her by pet names; she appeared to requ te h s
affect ons. Meanwh le, as she fl rted w th the two brothers, a treaty
was s gned that sealed peace between France and England. By
1582 El zabeth felt she could break off the courtsh p. In the case of
the duke of Anjou n part cular, she d d so w th great rel ef: For the
sake of d plomacy she had allowed herself to be courted by a man
whose presence she could not stand and whom she found phys cally
repuls ve. Once peace between France and England was secure,
she dropped the unctuous duke as pol tely as she could.
By th s t me El zabeth was too old to bear ch ldren. She was
accord ngly able to l ve the rest of her l fe as she des red, and she
d ed the V rg n Queen. She left no d rect he r, but ruled through a
per od of ncomparable peace and cultural fert l ty.

Interpretat on

El zabeth had good reason not to marry: She had w tnessed the
m stakes of Mary Queen of Scots, her cous n. Res st ng the dea of
be ng ruled by a woman, the Scots expected Mary to marry and
marry w sely. To wed a fore gner would be unpopular; to favor any
part cular noble house would open up terr ble r valr es. In the end
Mary chose Lord Darnley, a Cathol c. In do ng so she ncurred the
wrath of Scotland’s Protestants, and endless turmo l ensued.
El zabeth knew that marr age can often lead to a female ruler’s
undo ng: By marry ng and comm tt ng to an all ance w th one party or
nat on, the queen becomes embro led n confl cts that are not of her
choos ng, confl cts wh ch may eventually overwhelm her or lead her
nto a fut le war. Also, the husband becomes the de facto ruler, and
often tr es to do away w th h s w fe the queen, as Darnley tr ed to get
r d of Mary. El zabeth learned the lesson well. She had two goals as
a ruler: to avo d marr age and to avo d war. She managed to
comb ne these goals by dangl ng the poss b l ty of marr age n order
to forge all ances. The moment she comm tted to any s ngle su tor
would have been the moment she lost her power. She had to
emanate mystery and des rab l ty, never d scourag ng anyone’s
hopes but never y eld ng.
Through th s l felong game of fl rt ng and w thdraw ng, El zabeth
dom nated the country and every man who sought to conquer her.
As the center of attent on, she was n control. Keep ng her
ndependence above all, El zabeth protected her power and made
herself an object of worsh p.
I would rather be a beggar and s ngle than a queen and marr ed.
Queen El zabeth I, 1533-1603

KEYS TO POWER

S nce power depends greatly on appearances, you must learn the

tr cks that w ll enhance your mage. Refus ng to comm t to a person
or group s one of these. When you hold yourself back, you ncur not
anger but a k nd of respect. You nstantly seem powerful because
you make yourself ungraspable, rather than succumb ng to the
group, or to the relat onsh p, as most people do. Th s aura of power
only grows w th t me: As your reputat on for ndependence grows,
more and more people w ll come to des re you, want ng to be the
one who gets you to comm t. Des re s l ke a v rus: If we see that
someone s des red by other people, we tend to f nd th s person
des rable too.
The moment you comm t, the mag c s gone. You become l ke
everyone else. People w ll try all k nds of underhanded methods to
get you to comm t. They w ll g ve you g fts, shower you w th favors,
all to put you under obl gat on. Encourage the attent on, st mulate
the r nterest, but do not comm t at any cost. Accept the g fts and
favors f you so des re, but be careful to ma nta n your nner
aloofness. You cannot nadvertently allow yourself to feel obl gated
to anyone.
Remember, though: The goal s not to put people off, or to make t
seem that you are ncapable of comm tment. L ke the V rg n Queen,
you need to st r the pot, exc te nterest, lure people w th the
poss b l ty of hav ng you. You have to bend to the r attent on
occas onally, then—but never too far.
 The Greek sold er and statesman Alc b ades played th s game to
perfect on. It was Alc b ades who nsp red and led the mass ve
Athen an armada that nvaded S c ly n 414 B.C. When env ous
Athen ans back home tr ed to br ng h m down by accus ng h m of
trumped-up charges, he defected to the enemy, the Spartans,
nstead of fac ng a tr al back home. Then, after the Athen ans were
defeated at Syracuse, he left Sparta for Pers a, even though the
power of Sparta was now on the r se. Now, however, both the
Athen ans and the Spartans courted Alc b ades because of h s
nfluence w th the Pers ans; and the Pers ans showered h m w th
honors because of h s power over the Athen ans and the Spartans.
He made prom ses to every s de but comm tted to none, and n the
end he held all the cards.
If you asp re to power and nfluence, try the Alc b ades tact c: Put
yourself n the m ddle between compet ng powers. Lure one s de
w th the prom se of your help; the other s de, always want ng to
outdo ts enemy, w ll pursue you as well. As each s de v es for your
attent on, you w ll mmed ately seem a person of great nfluence and
des rab l ty. More power w ll accrue to you than f you had rashly
comm tted to one s de. To perfect th s tact c you need to keep
yourself nwardly free from emot onal entanglements, and to v ew all
those around you as pawns n your r se to the top. You cannot let
yourself become the lackey for any cause.
In the m dst of the 1968 U.S. pres dent al elect on, Henry K ss nger
made a phone call to R chard N xon’s team. K ss nger had been
all ed w th Nelson Rockefeller, who had unsuccessfully sought the
Republ can nom na t on. Now K ss nger offered to supply the N xon
camp w th valuable ns de nformat on on the negot at ons for peace
n V etnam that were then go ng on n Par s. He had a man on the
negot at ng team keep ng h m nformed of the latest developments.
The N xon team gladly accepted h s offer.
At the same t me, however, K ss nger also approached the
Democrat c nom nee, Hubert Humphrey, and offered h s a d. The
Humphrey people asked h m for ns de nformat on on N xon and he
suppl ed t. “Look,” K ss nger told Humphrey’s people, “I’ve hated
N xon for years.” In fact he had no nterest n e ther s de. What he
really wanted was what he got: the prom se of a h gh-level cab net
post from both N xon and Humphrey. Wh chever man won the
elect on, K ss nger’s career was secure.
The w nner, of course, was N xon, and K ss nger duly went on to
h s cab net post. Even so, he was careful never to appear too much
of a N xon man. When N xon was reelected n 1972, men much more
loyal to h m than K ss nger were f red. K ss nger was also the only
N xon h gh off c al to surv ve Watergate and serve under the next
pres dent, Gerald Ford. By ma nta n ng a l ttle d stance he thr ved n
turbulent t mes.
Those who use th s strategy often not ce a strange phenomenon:
People who rush to the support of others tend to ga n l ttle respect n
the process, for the r help s so eas ly obta ned, wh le those who
stand back f nd themselves bes eged w th suppl cants. The r
aloofness s powerful, and everyone wants them on the r s de.
When P casso, after early years of poverty, had become the most
successful art st n the world, he d d not comm t h mself to th s dealer
or that dealer, although they now bes eged h m from all s des w th
attract ve offers and grand prom ses. Instead, he appeared to have
no nterest n the r serv ces; th s techn que drove them w ld, and as
they fought over h m h s pr ces only rose. When Henry K ss nger, as
U.S. secretary of state, wanted to reach detente w th the Sov et
Un on, he made no concess ons or conc l atory gestures, but courted
Ch na nstead. Th s nfur ated and also scared the Sov ets—they
were already pol t cally solated and feared further solat on f the
Un ted States and Ch na came together. K ss nger’s move pushed
them to the negot at ng table. The tact c has a parallel n seduct on:
When you want to seduce a woman, Stendhal adv ses, court her
s ster f rst.
Stay aloof and people w ll come to you. It w ll become a challenge
for them to w n your affect ons. As long as you m tate the w se V rg n
Queen and st mulate the r hopes, you w ll rema n a magnet of
attent on and des re.
Image:
The V rg n Queen.
 The center of attent on,
des re, and worsh p. Never
succumb ng to one su tor or the
other, the V rg n Queen keeps
them all revolv ng around
her l ke planets, unable to
leave her orb t but never
gett ng any closer
to her.
Author ty: Do not comm t yourself to anybody or anyth ng, for that s
to be a slave, a slave to every man.... Above all, keep yourself free
of comm tments and obl gat ons—they are the dev ce of another to
get you nto h s power.... (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)
 PART II: DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE-STAY
ABOVE THE FRAY

Do not let people drag you nto the r petty f ghts and squabbles.
Seem nterested and support ve, but f nd a way to rema n neutral; let
others do the f ght ng wh le you stand back, watch and wa t. When
the f ght ng part es are good and t red they w ll be r pe for the p ck ng.
You can make t a pract ce, n fact, to st r up quarrels between other
people, and then offer to med ate, ga n ng power as the go-between.

THE KITES, THE CROWS, AND THE FOX

The k tes and the crows made an agreement among themselves that
they should go halves n everyth ng obta ned n the forest. One day
they saw a fox that had been wounded by hunters ly ng helpless
under a tree, and gathered round t. The crows sa d, “We w ll take
the upper half of the fox.” “Then we w ll take the lower half,” sa d the
k tes. The fox laughed at th s, and sa d, “I always thought the k tes
were super or n creat on to the crows; as such they must get the
upper half of my body, of wh ch my head, w th the bra n and other
del cate th ngs n t, forms a port on. ” “Oh, yes, that s r ght,” sa d the
k tes, “we w ll have that part of the fox.” “Not at all,” sa d the crows,
“we must have t, as already agreed.” Then a war arose between the
r val part es, and a great many fell on both s des, and the rema n ng
few escaped w th d ff culty. The fox cont nued there for some days,
le surely feed ng on the dead k tes and crows, and then left the place
hale and hearty, observ ng, The weak benef t by the quarrels of the
m ghty. ”
INDIAN FABLES

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In the late f fteenth century, the strongest c ty-states n Italy—Ven ce,
Florence, Rome, and M lan—found themselves constantly
squabbl ng. Hover ng above the r struggles were the nat ons of
France and Spa n, ready to grab whatever they could from the
weakened Ital an powers. And trapped n the m ddle was the small
state of Mantua, ruled by the young Duke G anfrancesco Gonzaga.
Mantua was strateg cally located n northern Italy, and t seemed only
a matter of t me before one of the powers swallowed t up and t
ceased to ex st as an ndependent k ngdom.
Gonzaga was a f erce warr or and a sk lled commander of troops,
and he became a k nd of mercenary general for whatever s de pa d
h m best. In the year 1490, he marr ed Isabella d’Este, daughter of
the ruler of another small Ital an duchy, Ferrara. S nce he now spent
most of h s t me away from Mantua, t fell to Isabella to rule n h s
stead.
Isabella’s f rst true test as ruler came n 1498, when K ng Lou s XII
of France was prepar ng arm es to attack M lan. In the r usual
perf d ous fash on, the Ital an states mmed ately looked for ways to
prof t from M lan’s d ff cult es. Pope Alexander VI prom sed not to
ntervene, thereby g v ng the French carte blanche. The Venet ans
s gnaled that they would not help M lan, e ther—and n exchange for
th s, they hoped the French would g ve them Mantua. The ruler of
M lan, Lodov co Sforza, suddenly found h mself alone and
abandoned. He turned to Isabella d’Este, one of h s closest fr ends
(also rumored to be h s lover), and begged her to persuade Duke
Gonzaga to come to h s a d. Isabella tr ed, but her husband balked,
for he saw Sforza’s cause as hopeless. And so, n 1499, Lou s
swooped down on M lan and took t w th ease.
Isabella now faced a d lemma: If she stayed loyal to Lodov co, the
French would now move aga nst her. But f, nstead, she all ed
herself w th France, she would make enem es elsewhere n Italy,
comprom s ng Mantua once Lou s eventually w thdrew. And f she
looked to Ven ce or Rome for help, they would s mply swallow up
Mantua under the cloak of com ng to her a d. Yet she had to do
someth ng. The m ghty k ng of France was breath ng down her neck:
She dec ded to befr end h m, as she had befr ended Lodov co Sforza
before h m—w th allur ng g fts, w tty, ntell gent letters, and the
poss b l ty of her company, for Isabella was famous as a woman of
ncomparable beauty and charm.
In 1500 Lou s nv ted Isabella to a great party n M lan to celebrate
h s v ctory. Leonardo da V nc bu lt an enormous mechan cal l on for
the affa r: When the l on opened ts mouth, t spewed fresh l l es, the
symbols of French royalty. At the party Isabella wore one of her
celebrated dresses (she had by far the largest wardrobe of any of
the Ital an pr ncesses), and just as she had hoped, she charmed and
capt vated Lou s, who gnored all the other lad es vy ng for h s
attent on. She soon became h s constant compan on, and n
exchange for her fr endsh p he pledged to protect Mantua’s
ndependence from Ven ce.
Men of great ab l t es are slow to act. for t s eas er to avo d
occas ons for comm tt ng yourself than to come well out of a
comm tment. Such occas ons test your judgment; t s safer to avo d
them than to emerge v ctor ous from them. One obl gat on leads to a
greater one, and you come very near to the br nk of d saster.
BALTASAR GRACIAN, 1601-1658
As one danger receded, however, another, more worry ng one
arose, th s t me from the south, n the form of Cesare Borg a. Start ng
n 1500, Borg a had marched stead ly northward, gobbl ng up all the
small k ngdoms n h s path n the name of h s father, Pope
Alexander. Isabella understood Cesare perfectly: He could be ne ther
trusted nor n any way offended. He had to be cajoled and kept at
arm’s length. Isabella began by send ng h m g fts—falcons, pr ze
dogs, perfumes, and dozens of masks, wh ch she knew he always
wore when he walked the streets of Rome. She sent messengers
w th flatter ng greet ngs (although these messengers also acted as
her sp es). At one po nt Cesare asked f he could house some troops
n Mantua; Isabella managed to d ssuade h m pol tely, know ng full
well that once the troops were quartered n the c ty, they would never
leave.
Even wh le Isabella was charm ng Cesare, she conv nced
everyone around her to take care never to utter a harsh word about
h m, s nce he had sp es everywhere and would use the sl ghtest
pretext for nvas on. When Isabella had a ch ld, she asked Cesare to
be the godfather. She even dangled n front of h m the poss b l ty of a
marr age between her fam ly and h s. Somehow t all worked, for
although elsewhere he se zed everyth ng n h s path, he spared
Mantua.
In 1503 Cesare’s father, Alexander, d ed, and a few years later the
new pope, Jul us II, went to war to dr ve the French troops from Italy.
When the ruler of Ferrara—Alfonso, Isabella’s brother—s ded w th
the French, Jul us dec ded to attack and humble h m. Once aga n
Isabella found herself n the m ddle: the pope on one s de, the
French and her brother on the other. She dared not ally herself w th
e ther, but to offend e ther would be equally d sastrous. Aga n she
played the double game at wh ch she had become so expert. On the
one hand she got her husband Gonzaga to f ght for the pope,
know ng he would not f ght very hard. On the other she let French
troops pass through Mantua to come to Ferrara’s a d. Wh le she
publ cly compla ned that the French had “ nvaded” her terr tory, she
pr vately suppl ed them w th valuable nformat on. To make the
nvas on plaus ble to Jul us, she even had the French pretend to
plunder Mantua. It worked once aga n: The pope left Mantua alone.
In 1513, after a lengthy s ege, Jul us defeated Ferrara, and the
French troops w thdrew. Worn out by the effort, the pope d ed a few
months later. W th h s death, the n ghtmar sh cycle of battles and
petty squabbles began to repeat tself.
A great deal changed n Italy dur ng Isabella’s re gn: Popes came
and went, Cesare Borg a rose and then fell, Ven ce lost ts emp re,
M lan was nvaded, Florence fell nto decl ne, and Rome was sacked
by the Hapsburg Emperor Charles V Through all th s, t ny Mantua
not only surv ved but thr ved, ts court the envy of Italy. Its wealth and
sovere gnty would rema n ntact for a century after Isabella’s death,
n 1539.

THE EAGLE AND THE SOW

An eagle bu lt a nest on a tree, and hatched out some eaglets. And a
w ld sow brought her l tter under the tree. The eagle used to fly off
after her prey, and br ng t back to her young. And the sow rooted
around the tree and hunted n the woods, and when n ght came she
would br ng her young someth ng to eat.
And the eagle and the sow l ved n ne ghborly fash on. And a
gr malk n la d her plans to destroy the eaglets and the l ttle suck ng
p gs. She went to the eagle, and sa d: “Eagle, you had better not fly
very far away. Beware of the sow; she s plann ng an ev l des gn.
She s go ng to underm ne the roots of the tree. You see she s
root ng all the t me.”
Then the gr malk n went to the sow and sa d: “Sow, you have not a
good ne ghbor. Last even ng I heard the eagle say ng to her eaglets:
‘My dear l ttle eaglets, I am go ng to treat you to a n ce l ttle p g. Just
as soon as the sow s gone, I w ll br ng you a l ttle young suck ng
p g.”’
From that t me the eagle ceased to fly out after prey, and the sow d d
not go any more nto the forest. The eaglets and the young p gs
per shed of starvat on, and gr malk n feasted on them.
FABLES, LEO TOLSTOY, 1828-1910

Interpretat on

Isabella d’Este understood Italy’s pol t cal s tuat on w th amaz ng

clar ty: Once you took the s de of any of the forces n the f eld, you
were doomed. The powerful would take you over, the weak would
wear you down. Any new all ance would lead to a new enemy, and
as th s cycle st rred up more confl ct, other forces would be dragged
n, unt l you could no longer extr cate yourself. Eventually you would
collapse from exhaust on.
Isabella steered her k ngdom on the only course that would br ng
her safely through. She would not allow herself to lose her head
through loyalty to a duke or a k ng. Nor would she try to stop the
confl ct that raged around her—that would only drag her nto t. And
n any case the confl ct was to her advantage. If the var ous part es
were f ght ng to the death, and exhaust ng themselves n the
process, they were n no pos t on to gobble up Mantua. The source
of Isabella’s power was her clever ab l ty to seem nterested n the
affa rs and nterests of each s de, wh le actually comm tt ng to no one
but herself and her k ngdom.
Once you step nto a f ght that s not of your own choos ng, you
lose all n t at ve. The combatants’ nterests become your nterests;
you become the r tool. Learn to control yourself, to restra n your
natural tendency to take s des and jo n the f ght. Be fr endly and
charm ng to each of the combatants, then step back as they coll de.
W th every battle they grow weaker, wh le you grow stronger w th
every battle you avo d.
When the sn pe and the mussel struggle, the f sherman gets the
benef t.
Anc ent Ch nese say ng

KEYS TO POWER

To succeed n the game of power, you have to master your emot ons.
But even f you succeed n ga n ng such self-control, you can never
control the temperamental d spos t ons of those around you. And th s
presents a great danger. Most people operate n a wh rlpool of
emot ons, constantly react ng, churn ng up squabbles and confl cts.
Your self-control and autonomy w ll only bother and nfur ate them.
They w ll try to draw you nto the wh rlpool, begg ng you to take s des
n the r endless battles, or to make peace for them. If you succumb
to the r emot onal entreat es, l ttle by l ttle you w ll f nd your m nd and
t me occup ed by the r problems. Do not allow whatever compass on
and p ty you possess to suck you n. You can never w n n th s game;
the confl cts can only mult ply.
On the other hand, you cannot completely stand as de, for that
would cause needless offense. To play the game properly, you must
seem nterested n other people’s problems, even somet mes appear
to take the r s de. But wh le you make outward gestures of support,
you must ma nta n your nner energy and san ty by keep ng your
emot ons d sengaged. No matter how hard people try to pull you n,
never let your nterest n the r affa rs and petty squabbles go beyond
the surface. G ve them g fts, l sten w th a sympathet c look, even
occas onally play the charmer—but nwardly keep both the fr endly
k ngs and the perf d ous Borg as at arm’s length. By refus ng to
comm t and thus ma nta n ng your autonomy you reta n the n t at ve:
Your moves stay matters of your own choos ng, not defens ve
react ons to the push-and-pull of those around you.
THE PRICE OF
Wh le a poor woman stood n the market place sell ng cheeses, a cat
came along and carr ed off a cheese. A dog saw the p lferer and
tr ed to take the cheese away from h m. The cat stood up to the dog.
So they p tched nto each other. The dog barked and snapped; the
cat spat and scratched, but they could br ng the battle to no dec s on.
“Let’s go to the fox and have h m referee the matter, ” the cat f nally
suggested. “Agreed, ” sa d the dog. So they went to the fox. The fox
l stened to the r arguments w th a jud c ous a r.
“Fool sh an mals,” he ch ded them, “why carry on l ke that? If both of
you are w ll ng, I’ll d v de the cheese n two and you’ll both be
sat sf ed. ”
“Agreed, ” sa d the cat and the dog.
So the fox took out h s kn fe and cut the cheese n two, but, nstead
of cutt ng t lengthw se, he cut t n the w dth. “My half s smaller!”
protested the dog.
The fox looked jud c ously through h s spectacles at the dog’s share.
“You’re r ght, qu te r ght!” he dec ded.
So he went and b t off a p ece of the cat’s share.
“That w ll make t even!” he sa d.
When the cat saw what the fox d d she began to yowl:
“Just look! My part’s smaller now!”
The fox aga n put on h s spectacles and looked jud c ously at the
cat’s share.
“R ght you are!” sa d the fox. “Just a moment, and I’ll make t r ght.”
And he went and b t off a p ece from the dog’s cheese Th s went on
so long, w th the fox n bbl ng f rst at the dog’s and then at the cat’s
share. that he f nally ate up the whole cheese before the r eyes.
A TREASURY OF JEWISH FOLKLORE, NATHAN AUSUBEL, ED.,
1948
Slowness to p ck up your weapons can be a weapon tself,
espec ally f you let other people exhaust themselves f ght ng, then
take advantage of the r exhaust on. In anc ent Ch na, the k ngdom of
Ch n once nvaded the k ngdom of Hs ng. Huan, the ruler of a nearby
prov nce, thought he should rush to Hs ng’s defense, but h s adv ser
counseled h m to wa t: “Hs ng s not yet go ng to ru n,” he sa d, “and
Ch n s not yet exhausted. If Ch n s not exhausted, [we] cannot
become very nfluent al. Moreover, the mer t of support ng a state n
danger s not as great as the v rtue of rev v ng a ru ned one.” The
adv ser’s argument won the day, and as he had pred cted, Huan later
had the glory both of rescu ng Hs ng from the br nk of destruct on
and then of conquer ng an exhausted Ch n. He stayed out of the
f ght ng unt l the forces engaged n t had worn each other down, at
wh ch po nt t was safe for h m to ntervene.
That s what hold ng back from the fray allows you: t me to pos t on
yourself to take advantage of the s tuat on once one s de starts to
lose. You can also take the game a step further, by prom s ng your
support to both s des n a confl ct wh le maneuver ng so that the one
to come out ahead n the struggle s you. Th s was what Castrucc o
Castracan , ruler of the Ital an town of Lucca n the fourteenth
century, d d when he had des gns on the town of P sto a. A s ege
would have been expens ve, cost ng both l ves and money, but
Castrucc o knew that P sto a conta ned two r val fact ons, the Blacks
and the Wh tes, wh ch hated one another. He negot ated w th the
Blacks, prom s ng to help them aga nst the Wh tes; then, w thout
the r knowledge, he prom sed the Wh tes he would help them aga nst
the Blacks. And Castrucc o kept h s prom ses—he sent an army to a
Black-controlled gate to the c ty, wh ch the sentr es of course
welcomed n. Meanwh le another of h s arm es entered through a
Wh te-controlled gate. The two arm es un ted n the m ddle, occup ed
the town, k lled the leaders of both fact ons, ended the nternal war,
and took P sto a for Castrucc o.
Preserv ng your autonomy g ves you opt ons when people come to
blows—you can play the med ator, broker the peace, wh le really
secur ng your own nterests. You can pledge support to one s de and
the other may have to court you w th a h gher b d. Or, l ke
Castrucc o, you can appear to take both s des, then play the
antagon sts aga nst each other.
Oftent mes when a confl ct breaks out, you are tempted to s de
w th the stronger party, or the one that offers you apparent
advantages n an all ance. Th s s r sky bus ness. F rst, t s often
d ff cult to foresee wh ch s de w ll preva l n the long run. But even f
you guess r ght and ally yourself w th the stronger party, you may
f nd yourself swallowed up and lost, or conven ently forgotten, when
they become v ctors. S de w th the weaker, on the other hand, and
you are doomed. But play a wa t ng game and you cannot lose.
In France’s July Revolut on of 1830, after three days of r ots, the
statesman Talleyrand, now elderly, sat by h s Par s w ndow, l sten ng
to the peal ng bells that s gnaled the r ots were over. Turn ng to an
ass stant, he sa d, “Ah, the bells! We’re w nn ng.” “Who’s ‘we,’ mon
pr nce?” the ass stant asked. Gestur ng for the man to keep qu et,
Talleyrand repl ed, “Not a word! I’ll tell you who we are tomorrow.” He
well knew that only fools rush nto a s tuat on—that by comm tt ng too
qu ckly you lose your maneuverab l ty. People also respect you less:
Perhaps tomorrow, they th nk, you w ll comm t to another, d fferent
cause, s nce you gave yourself so eas ly to th s one. Good fortune s
a f ckle god and w ll often pass from one s de to the other.
Comm tment to one s de depr ves you of the advantage of t me and
the luxury of wa t ng. Let others fall n love w th th s group or that; for
your part don’t rush n, don’t lose your head.
F nally, there are occas ons when t s w sest to drop all pretence
of appear ng support ve and nstead to trumpet your ndependence
and self-rel ance. The ar stocrat c pose of ndependence s
part cularly mportant for those who need to ga n respect. George
Wash ngton recogn zed th s n h s work to establ sh the young
Amer can republ c on f rm ground. As pres dent, Wash ngton avo ded
the temptat on of mak ng an all ance w th France or England, desp te
the pressure on h m to do so. He wanted the country to earn the
world’s respect through ts ndependence. Although a treaty w th
France m ght have helped n the short term, n the long run he knew
t would be more effect ve to establ sh the nat on’s autonomy. Europe
would have to see the Un ted States as an equal power.
Remember: You have only so much energy and so much t me.
Every moment wasted on the affa rs of others subtracts from your
strength. You may be afra d that people w ll condemn you as
heartless, but n the end, ma nta n ng your ndependence and self-
rel ance w ll ga n you more respect and place you n a pos t on of
power from wh ch you can choose to help others on your own
n t at ve.
Image: A Th cket of Shrubs. In the forest, one shrub latches on to
another, entangl ng ts ne ghbor w th ts thorns, the th cket slowly
extend ng ts mpenetrable doma n. Only what keeps ts d stance and
stands apart can grow and r se above the th cket.

Author ty: Regard t as more courageous not to become nvolved n

an engagement than to w n n battle, and where there s already one
nterfer ng fool, take care that there shall not be two. (Baltasar
Grac an, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

Both parts of th s law w ll turn aga nst you f you take t too far. The
game proposed here s del cate and d ff cult. If you play too many
part es aga nst one another, they w ll see through the maneuver and
w ll gang up on you. If you keep your grow ng number of su tors
wa t ng too long, you w ll nsp re not des re but d strust. People w ll
start to lose nterest. Eventually you may f nd t worthwh le to comm t
to one s de— f only for appearances’ sake, to prove you are capable
of attachment.
Even then, however, the key w ll be to ma nta n your nner
ndependence—to keep yourself from gett ng emot onally nvolved.
Preserve the unspoken opt on of be ng able to leave at any moment
and recla m your freedom f the s de you are all ed w th starts to
collapse. The fr ends you made wh le you were be ng courted w ll
g ve you plenty of places to go once you jump sh p.
 LAW 21

PLAY A SUCKER TO CATCH A SUCKER—SEEM

DUMBER THAN YOUR MARK

JUDGMENT
No one l kes feel ng stup der than the next person. The tr ck, then, s
to make your v ct ms feel smart—and not just smart, but smarter
than you are. Once conv nced of th s, they w ll never suspect that
you may have ulter or mot ves.
In the w nter of 1872, the U.S. f nanc er Asbury Harpend ng was
v s t ng London when he rece ved a cable: A d amond m ne had been
d scovered n the Amer can West. The cable came from a rel able
source—W ll am Ralston, owner of the Bank of Cal forn a—but
Harpend ng nevertheless took t as a pract cal joke, probably nsp red
by the recent d scovery of huge d amond m nes n South Afr ca.
True, when reports had f rst come n of gold be ng d scovered n the
western Un ted States, everyone had been skept cal, and those had
turned out to be true. But a d amond m ne n the West! Harpend ng
showed the cable to h s fellow f nanc er Baron Rothsch ld (one of the
r chest men n the world), say ng t must be a joke. The baron,
however, repl ed, “Don’t be too sure about that. Amer ca s a very
large country. It has furn shed the world w th many surpr ses already.
Perhaps t has others n store.” Harpend ng promptly took the f rst
sh p back to the States.
Now, there s noth ng of wh ch a man s prouder than of nterlecutal
ab l ty, for t s th s that g ves h m h s command ng place n the an mal
world. It s an exceed ngly rash th ng to ter anyone see that you are
dec dedly super or to h m n th s respect, and to let other people see
 t too.... hence, wh te rank and r ches may always reckon upon
deferent al treatment n soc ety, that s someth ng wh ch ntellectual
ab l ty can never expect To be gnorea s the greatest favour shown
to t; and f people not ce t at all, t s because they regard t us a
p ece of mper nence, or else as someth ng to wh ch ts possessor
has no leg t mate r ght, and upon wh ch he dares to pr de h mself;
and n retal at on and revenge for h s conduct, people secretly try
and hum l are h m n some other way; un t f they wa t to ao th s, t s
only for a fut ng opporun ty. A man may be as humble as poss ble n
h s demeanour and yet hardly ever get people to overlook h s cr me
n stand ng ntellectually above them. In the Garden of Roses, Sad
makes the remark: “You should know that fool sh people are a
hundredfold more averse to meet ng the w se than the w se are
nd sposed for the company of the fool sh. ”
On the other hand, t s a real recommendat on to be stup d. For just
as warmth s agreeable to the body, so t does the m nd good to feel
ts super or ty; and a man w ll seek company l kely to g ve h m th s
feel ng, as nst nct vely as he w ll approach the f replace or walk n
the sun f he wants to get warm. But th s means that he w ll be
d sl ked on account of h s super or ty; and f a man s to be l ked, he
must really be nfer or n po nt of ntellect.
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860
When Harpend ng reached San Franc sco, there was an
exc tement n the a r recall ng the Gold Rush days of the late 1840s.
Two crusty prospectors named Ph l p Arnold and John Slack had
been the ones to f nd the d amond m ne. They had not d vulged ts
locat on, n Wyom ng, but had led a h ghly respected m n ng expert to
t several weeks back, tak ng a c rcular route so he could not guess
h s whereabouts. Once there, the expert had watched as the m ners
dug up d amonds. Back n San Franc sco the expert had taken the
gems to var ous jewelers, one of whom had est mated the r worth at
$1.5 m ll on.
Harpend ng and Ralston now asked Arnold and Slack to
accompany them back to New York, where the jeweler Charles
T ffany would ver fy the or g nal est mates. The prospectors
responded uneas ly—they smelled a trap: How could they trust these
c ty sl ckers? What f T ffany and the f nanc ers managed to steal the
whole m ne out from under them? Ralston tr ed to allay the r fears by
g v ng them $100,000 and plac ng another $300,000 n escrow for
them. If the deal went through, they would be pa d an add t onal
$300,000. The m ners agreed.
The l ttle group traveled to New York, where a meet ng was held at
the mans on of Samuel L. Barlow. The cream of the c ty’s ar stocracy
was n attendance—General George Br nton McClellan, commander
of the Un on forces n the C v l War; General Benjam n Butler;
Horace Greeley, ed tor of the newspaper the New York Tr bune;
Harpend ng; Ralston; and T ffany. Only Slack and Arnold were
m ss ng—as tour sts n the c ty, they had dec ded to go s ght-see ng.
When T ffany announced that the gems were real and worth a
fortune, the f nanc ers could barely control the r exc tement. They
w red Rothsch ld and other tycoons to tell them about the d amond
m ne and nv t ng them to share n the nvestment. At the same t me,
they also told the prospectors that they wanted one more test: They
ns sted that a m n ng expert of the r choos ng accompany Slack and
Arnold to the s te to ver fy ts wealth. The prospectors reluctantly
agreed. In the meant me, they sa d, they had to return to San
Franc sco. The jewels that T ffany had exam ned they left w th
Harpend ng for safekeep ng.
Several weeks later, a man named Lou s Jan n, the best m n ng
expert n the country, met the prospectors n San Franc sco. Jan n
was a born skept c who was determ ned to make sure that the m ne
was not a fraud. Accompany ng Jan n were Harpend ng, and several
other nterested f nanc ers. As w th the prev ous expert, the
prospectors led the team through a complex ser es of canyons,
completely confus ng them as to the r whereabouts. Arr v ng at the
s te, the f nanc ers watched n amazement as Jan n dug the area up,
level ng anth lls, turn ng over boulders, and f nd ng emeralds, rub es,
sapph res, and most of all d amonds. The d g lasted e ght days, and
by the end, Jan n was conv nced: He told the nvestors that they now
possessed the r chest f eld n m n ng h story. “W th a hundred men
and proper mach nery,” he told them, “I would guarantee to send out
one m ll on dollars n d amonds every th rty days.”
Return ng to San Franc sco a few days later, Ralston, Harpend ng,
and company acted fast to form a $10 m ll on corporat on of pr vate
nvestors. F rst, however, they had to get r d of Arnold and Slack.
That meant h d ng the r exc tement—they certa nly d d not want to
reveal the f eld’s real value. So they played possum. Who knows f
Jan n s r ght, they told the prospectors, the m ne may not be as r ch
as we th nk. Th s just made the prospectors angry. Try ng a d fferent
tact c, the f nanc ers told the two men that f they ns sted on hav ng
shares n the m ne, they would end up be ng fleeced by the
unscrupulous tycoons and nvestors who would run the corporat on ;
better, they sa d, to take the $700,000 already offered—an enormous
sum at the t me—and put the r greed as de. Th s the prospectors
seemed to understand, and they f nally agreed to take the money, n
return s gn ng the r ghts to the s te over to the f nanc ers, and leav ng
maps to t.
News of the m ne spread l ke w ldf re. Prospectors fanned out
across Wyom ng. Meanwh le Harpend ng and group began spend ng
the m ll ons they had collected from the r nvestors, buy ng
equ pment, h r ng the best men n the bus ness, and furn sh ng
luxur ous off ces n New York and San Franc sco.
A few weeks later, on the r f rst tr p back to the s te, they learned
the hard truth: Not a s ngle d amond or ruby was to be found. It was
all a fake. They were ru ned. Harpend ng had unw tt ngly lured the
r chest men n the world nto the b ggest scam of the century.

Interpretat on

Arnold and Slack pulled off the r stupendous con not by us ng a fake
eng neer or br b ng T ffany: All of the experts had been real. All of
them honestly bel eved n the ex stence of the m ne and n the value
of the gems. What had fooled them all was noth ng else than Arnold
and Slack themselves. The two men seemed to be such rubes, such
hayseeds, so na ve, that no one for an nstant had bel eved them
capable of an audac ous scam. The prospectors had s mply
observed the law of appear ng more stup d than the mark—the
dece ver’s F rst Commandment.
The log st cs of the con were qu te s mple. Months before Arnold
and Slack announced the “d scovery” of the d amond m ne, they
traveled to Europe, where they purchased some real gems for
around $12,000 (part of the money they had saved from the r days
as gold m ners). They then salted the “m ne” w th these gems, wh ch
the f rst expert dug up and brought to San Franc sco. The jewelers
who had appra sed these stones, nclud ng T ffany h mself, had
gotten caught up n the fever and had grossly overest mated the r
value. Then Ralston gave the prospectors $100,000 as secur ty, and
mmed ately after the r tr p to New York they s mply went to
Amsterdam, where they bought sacks of uncut gems, before
return ng to San Franc sco. The second t me they salted the m ne,
there were many more jewels to be found.
The effect veness of the scheme, however, rested not on tr cks l ke
these but on the fact that Arnold and Slack played the r parts to
perfect on. On the r tr p to New York, where they m ngled w th
m ll ona res and tycoons, they played up the r clodhopper mage,
wear ng pants and coats a s ze or two too small and act ng
ncredulous at everyth ng they saw n the b g c ty. No one bel eved
that these country s mpletons could poss bly be conn ng the most
dev ous, unscrupulous f nanc ers of the t me. And once Harpend ng,
Ralston, and even Rothsch ld accepted the m ne’s ex stence, anyone
who doubted t was quest on ng the ntell gence of the world’s most
successful bus nessmen.
In the end, Harpend ng’s reputat on was ru ned and he never
recovered; Rothsch ld learned h s lesson and never fell for another
con; Slack took h s money and d sappeared from v ew, never to be
found. Arnold s mply went home to Kentucky. After all, h s sale of h s
m n ng r ghts had been leg t mate; the buyers had taken the best
adv ce, and f the m ne had run out of d amonds, that was the r
problem. Arnold used the money to greatly enlarge h s farm and
open up a bank of h s own.

KEYS TO POWER

The feel ng that someone else s more ntell gent than we are s
almost ntolerable. We usually try to just fy t n d fferent ways: “He
only has book knowledge, whereas I have real knowledge.” “Her
parents pa d for her to get a good educat on. If my parents had had
as much money, f I had been as pr v leged....” “He’s not as smart as
he th nks.” Last but not least: “She may know her narrow l ttle f eld
better than I do, but beyond that she’s really not smart at all. Even
E nste n was a boob outs de phys cs.”
G ven how mportant the dea of ntell gence s to most people’s
van ty, t s cr t cal never nadvertently to nsult or mpugn a person’s
bra n power. That s an unforg vable s n. But f you can make th s ron
rule work for you, t opens up all sorts of avenues of decept on.
Subl m nally reassure people that they are more ntell gent than you
are, or even that you are a b t of a moron, and you can run r ngs
around them. The feel ng of ntellectual super or ty you g ve them w ll
d sarm the r susp c on-muscles.
In 1865 the Pruss an counc llor Otto von B smarck wanted Austr a
to s gn a certa n treaty. The treaty was totally n the nterests of
Pruss a and aga nst the nterests of Austr a, and B smarck would
have to strateg ze to get the Austr ans to agree to t. But the Austr an
negot ator, Count Blome, was an av d cardplayer. H s part cular
game was qu nze, and he often sa d that he could judge a man’s
character by the way he played qu nze. B smarck knew of th s say ng
of Blome’s.
The n ght before the negot at ons were to beg n, B smarck
nnocently engaged Blome n a game of qu nze. The Pruss an would
later wr te, “That was the very last t me I ever played qu nze. I played
so recklessly that everyone was aston shed. I lost several thousand
talers [the currency of the t me], but I succeeded n fool ng [Blome],
for he bel eved me to be more venturesome than I am and I gave
way.” Bes des appear ng reckless, B smarck also played the w tless
fool, say ng r d culous th ngs and bumbl ng about w th a surplus of
nervous energy.
All th s made Blome feel he had gathered valuable nformat on. He
knew that B smarck was aggress ve—the Pruss an already had that
reputat on, and the way he played had conf rmed t. And aggress ve
men, Blome knew, can be fool sh and rash. Accord ngly, when the
t me came to s gn the treaty, Blome thought he had the advantage. A
heedless fool l ke B smarck, he thought, s ncapable of cold-blooded
calculat on and decept on, so he only glanced at the treaty before
s gn ng t—he fa led to read the f ne pr nt. As soon as the nk was
dry, a joyous B smarck excla med n h s face, “Well, I could never
have bel eved that I should f nd an Austr an d plomat w ll ng to s gn
that document!”
The Ch nese have a phrase, “Masquerad ng as a sw ne to k ll the
t ger.” Th s refers to an anc ent hunt ng techn que n wh ch the hunter
clothes h mself n the h de and snout of a p g, and m m cs ts
grunt ng. The m ghty t ger th nks a p g s com ng h s way, and lets t
get close, savor ng the prospect of an easy meal. But t s the hunter
who has the last laugh.
Masquerad ng as a sw ne works wonders on those who, l ke
t gers, are arrogant and overconf dent: The eas er they th nk t s to
prey on you, the more eas ly you can turn the tables. Th s tr ck s
also useful f you are amb t ous yet f nd yourself low n the h erarchy:
Appear ng less ntell gent than you are, even a b t of a fool, s the
perfect d sgu se. Look l ke a harmless p g and no one w ll bel eve
you harbor dangerous amb t ons. They may even promote you s nce
you seem so l kable, and subserv ent. Claud us before he became
emperor of Rome, and the pr nce of France who later became Lou s
XIII, used th s tact c when those above them suspected they m ght
have des gns on the throne. By play ng the fool as young men, they
were left alone. When the t me came for them to str ke, and to act
w th v gor and dec s veness, they caught everyone off-guard.
 Intell gence s the obv ous qual ty to downplay, but why stop there?
Taste and soph st cat on rank close to ntell gence on the van ty
scale; make people feel they are more soph st cated than you are
and the r guard w ll come down. As Arnold and Slack knew, an a r of
complete na vete can work wonders. Those fancy f nanc ers were
laugh ng at them beh nd the r backs, but who laughed loudest n the
end? In general, then, always make people bel eve they are smarter
and more soph st cated than you are. They w ll keep you around
because you make them feel better about themselves, and the
longer you are around, the more opportun t es you w ll have to
dece ve them.
Image:
The Opossum. In play ng
dead, the opossum plays stup d.
Many a predator has therefore left t
alone. Who could bel eve that such an
ugly, un ntell gent, nervous l ttle creature
could be capable of such decept on?

Author ty: Know how to make use of stup d ty: The w sest man plays
th s card at t mes. There are occas ons when the h ghest w sdom
cons sts n appear ng not to know—you must not be gnorant but
capable of play ng t. It s not much good be ng w se among fools and
sane among lunat cs. He who poses as a fool s not a fool. The best
way to be well rece ved by all s to clothe yourself n the sk n of the
dumbest of brutes. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

To reveal the true nature of your ntell gence rarely pays; you should
get n the hab t of downplay ng t at all t mes. If people nadvertently
learn the truth—that you are actually much smarter than you look—
they w ll adm re you more for be ng d screet than for mak ng your
br ll ance show. At the start of your cl mb to the top, of course, you
cannot play too stup d: You may want to let your bosses know, n a
subtle way, that you are smarter than the compet t on around you. As
you cl mb the ladder, however, you should to some degree try to
dampen your br ll ance.
There s, however, one s tuat on where t pays to do the oppos te—
when you can cover up a decept on w th a show of ntell gence. In
matters of smarts as n most th ngs, appearances are what count. If
you seem to have author ty and knowledge, people w ll bel eve what
you say. Th s can be very useful n gett ng you out of a scrape.
The art dealer Joseph Duveen was once attend ng a so ree at the
New York home of a tycoon to whom he had recently sold a Dürer
pa nt ng for a h gh pr ce. Among the guests was a young French art
cr t c who seemed extremely knowledgeable and conf dent. Want ng
to mpress th s man, the tycoon’s daughter showed h m the Dürer,
wh ch had not yet been hung. The cr t c stud ed t for a t me, then
f nally sa d, “You know, I don’t th nk th s Dürer s r ght.” He followed
the young woman as she hurr ed to tell her father what he had sa d,
and l stened as the magnate, deeply unsettled, turned to Duveen for
reassurance. Duveen just laughed. “How very amus ng,” he sa d.
“Do you real ze, young man, that at least twenty other art experts
here and n Europe have been taken n too, and have sa d that
pa nt ng sn’t genu ne? And now you’ve made the same m stake.” H s
conf dent tone and a r of author ty nt m dated the Frenchman, who
apolog zed for h s m stake.
Duveen knew that the art market was flooded w th fakes, and that
many pa nt ngs had been falsely ascr bed to old masters. He tr ed h s
best to d st ngu sh the real from the fake, but n h s zeal to sell he
often overplayed a work’s authent c ty. What mattered to h m was
that the buyer bel eved he had bought a Dürer, and that Duveen
h mself conv nced everyone of h s “expertness” through h s a r of
rreproachable author ty. Thus, t s mportant to be able to play the
professor when necessary and never mpose such an att tude for ts
own sake.
 LAW 22

USE THE SURRENDER TACTIC: TRANSFORM

WEAKNESS INTO POWER

JUDGMENT
When you are weaker, never f ght for honor’s sake; choose
surrender nstead. Surrender g ves you t me to recover, t me to
torment and rr tate your conqueror, t me to wa t for h s power to
wane. Do not g ve h m the sat sfact on of f ght ng and defeat ng you
—surrender f rst. By turn ng the other cheek you nfur ate and
unsettle h m. Make surrender a tool of power.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

The sland of Melos s strateg cally s tuated n the heart of the

Med terranean. In class cal t mes, the c ty of Athens dom nated the
sea and coastal areas around Greece, but Sparta, n the
Peloponnese, had been Melos’s or g nal colon zer. Dur ng the
Peloponnes an War, then, the Mel ans refused to ally themselves
w th Athens and rema ned loyal to Mother Sparta. In 416 B.C. the
Athen ans sent an exped t on aga nst Melos. Before launch ng an all-
out attack, however, they d spatched a delegat on to persuade the
Mel ans to surrender and become an ally rather than suffer
devastat on and defeat.
THE CHESTNUT AND THE FIG TREE
A man who had cl mbed upon a certa n f g tree, was bend ng the
boughs toward h m and pluck ng the r pe fru t, wh ch he then put nto
h s mouth to destroy and gnaw w th h s hard teeth. The chestnut,
see ng th s, tossed ts long branches and w th tumultuous rustle
excla med: “Oh F g! How much less protected by nature you are than
I. See how my sweet offspr ng are set n close array; f rst clothed n
soft wrappers over wh ch s the hard but softly l ned husk. And not
content w th th s much care, nature has also g ven us these sharp
and close-set sp nes, so that the hand of man cannot hurt us.” Then
the f g tree began to laugh, and after the laughter t sa d: “You know
well that man s of such ngenu ty that he w ll bereave even you of
your ch ldren. But n your case he w ll do t by means of rods and
stones; and when they are felled he w ll trample them w th h s feet or
h t them w th stones, so that your offspr ng w ll emerge from the r
armor crushed and ma med; wh le I am touched carefully by h s
hands, and never, l ke you, w th rouglxness”
LEONARDO DAVINCI, 1452-1519
“You know as well as we do,” the delegates sa d, “that the
standard of just ce depends on the equal ty of power to compel, and
that n fact the strong do what they have the power to do and the
weak accept what they have to accept.” When the Mel ans
responded that th s den ed the not on of fa r play, the Athen ans sa d
that those n power determ ned what was fa r and what was not. The
Mel ans argued that th s author ty belonged to the gods, not to
mortals. “Our op n on of the gods and our knowledge of men,” repl ed
a member of the Athen an delegat on, “lead us to conclude that t s a
general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can.”
The Mel ans would not budge. Sparta, they ns sted, would come
to the r defense. The Athen ans countered that the Spartans were a
conservat ve, pract cal people, and would not help Melos because
they had noth ng to ga n and a lot to lose by do ng so.
F nally the Mel ans began to talk of honor and the pr nc ple of
res st ng brute force. “Do not be led astray by a false sense of
honor,” sa d the Athen ans. “Honor often br ngs men to ru n when
they are faced w th an obv ous danger that somehow affects the r
pr de. There s noth ng d sgraceful n g v ng way to the greatest c ty
n Hellas when she s offer ng you such reasonable terms.” The
debate ended. The Mel ans d scussed the ssue among themselves,
and dec ded to trust n the a d of the Spartans, the w ll of the gods,
and the r ghtness of the r cause. They pol tely decl ned the
Athen ans’ offer.
A few days later the Athen ans nvaded Melos. The Mel ans fought
nobly, even w thout the Spartans, who d d not come to the r rescue.
It took several attempts before the Athen ans could surround and
bes ege the r ma n c ty, but the Mel ans f nally surrendered. The
Athen ans wasted no t me—they put to death all the men of m l tary
age that they could capture, they sold the women and ch ldren as
slaves, and they repopulated the sland w th the r own colon sts. Only
a handful of Mel ans surv ved.

Interpretat on

The Athen ans were one of the most em nently pract cal people n
h story, and they made the most pract cal argument they could w th
the Mel ans: When you are weaker, there s noth ng to be ga ned by
f ght ng a useless f ght. No one comes to help the weak—by do ng
so they would only put themselves n jeopardy. The weak are alone
and must subm t. F ght ng g ves you noth ng to ga n but martyrdom,
and n the process a lot of people who do not bel eve n your cause
w ll d e.
Weakness s no s n, and can even become a strength f you learn
how to play t r ght. Had the Mel ans surrendered n the f rst place,
they would have been able to sabotage the Athen ans n subtle
ways, or m ght have gotten what they could have out of the all ance
and then left t when the Athen ans themselves were weakened, as
n fact happened several years later. Fortunes change and the
m ghty are often brought down. Surrender conceals great power:
Lull ng the enemy nto complacency, t g ves you t me to recoup, t me
to underm ne, t me for revenge. Never sacr f ce that t me n
exchange for honor n a battle that you cannot w n.
Volta re was l v ng n ex le n London at a t me when ant -French
sent ment was at ts h ghest. One day walk ng through the streets. he
found h mself surrounded by an angry crowd. “Hang h m. Hang the
Frenchman,”they yelled. Volta re calmly addressed the mob w th the
follow ng words: “Men of England’ You w sh to k ll me because I am
a Frenchman. Am I not pun shed enough n not be ng born an
Engl shman?” The crowd cheered h s thoughtf ll words, and escorted
h m safely back to h s lodg ngs.
THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES. CLIFTON
FADIMAN, ED., 1985
Weak people never g ve way when they ought to.
Card nal de Retz, 1613-1679

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

Somet me n the 1920s the German wr ter Bertolt Brecht became a

convert to the cause of Commun sm. From then on h s plays,
essays, and poems reflected h s revolut onary fervor, and he
generally tr ed to make h s deolog cal statements as clear as
poss ble. When H tler came to power n Germany, Brecht and h s
Commun st colleagues became marked men. He had many fr ends
n the Un ted States—Amer cans who sympath zed w th h s bel efs,
as well as fellow German ntellectuals who had fled H tler. In 1941,
accord ngly, Brecht em grated to the Un ted States, and chose to
settle n Los Angeles, where he hoped to make a l v ng n the f lm
bus ness.
Over the next few years Brecht wrote screenplays w th a po ntedly
an t cap tal st slant. He had l ttle success n Hollywood, so n 1947,
the war hav ng ended, he dec ded to return to Europe. That same
year, however, the U.S. Congress’s House Un-Amer can Act v t es
Comm ttee began ts nvest gat on nto supposed Commun st
nf ltrat on n Hollywood. It began to gather nformat on on Brecht,
who had so openly espoused Marx sm, and on September 19, 1947,
only a month before he had planned to leave the Un ted States, he
rece ved a subpoena to appear before the comm ttee. In add t on to
Brecht, a number of other wr ters, producers, and d rectors were
summoned to appear as well, and th s group came to be known as
the Hollywood 19.
Before go ng to Wash ngton, the Hollywood 19 met to dec de on a
plan of act on. The r approach would be confrontat onal. Instead of
answer ng quest ons about the r membersh p, or lack of t, n the
Commun st Party, they would read prepared statements that would
challenge the author ty of the comm ttee and argue that ts act v t es
were unconst tut onal. Even f th s strategy meant mpr sonment, t
would ga n publ c ty for the r cause.
Brecht d sagreed. What good was t, he asked, to play the martyr
and ga n a l ttle publ c sympathy f n the process they lost the ab l ty
to stage the r plays and sell the r scr pts for years to come? He felt
certa n they were all more ntell gent than the members of the
comm ttee. Why lower themselves to the level of the r opponents by
argu ng w th them? Why not outfox the comm ttee by appear ng to
surrender to t wh le subtly mock ng t? The Hollywood 19 l stened to
Brecht pol tely, but dec ded to st ck to the r plan, leav ng Brecht to go
h s own way.
The comm ttee f nally summoned Brecht on October 30. They
expected h m to do what others among the Hollywood 19 who had
test f ed before h m had done: Argue, refuse to answer quest ons,
challenge the comm ttee’s r ght to hold ts hear ng, even yell and hurl
nsults. Much to the r surpr se, however, Brecht was the very p cture
of congen al ty. He wore a su t (someth ng he rarely d d), smoked a
c gar (he had heard that the comm ttee cha rman was a pass onate
c gar smoker), answered the r quest ons pol tely, and generally
deferred to the r author ty.
Unl ke the other w tnesses, Brecht answered the quest on of
whether he belonged to the Commun st Party: He was not a
member, he sa d, wh ch happened to be the truth. One comm ttee
member asked h m, “Is t true you have wr tten a number of
revolut onary plays?” Brecht had wr tten many plays w th overt
Commun st messages, but he responded, “I have wr tten a number
of poems and songs and plays n the f ght aga nst H tler and, of
course, they can be cons dered, therefore, as revolut onary because
I, of course, was for the overthrow of that government.” Th s
statement went unchallenged.
Brecht’s Engl sh was more than adequate, but he used an
nterpreter throughout h s test mony, a tact c that allowed h m to play
subtle games w th language. When comm ttee members found
Commun st lean ngs n l nes from Engl sh ed t ons of h s poems, he
would repeat the l nes n German for the nterpreter, who would then
retranslate them; and somehow they would come out nnocuous. At
one po nt a comm ttee member read one of Brecht’s revolut onary
poems out loud n Engl sh, and asked h m f he had wr tten t. “No,”
he responded, “I wrote a German poem, wh ch s very d fferent from
th s.” The author’s elus ve answers baffled the comm ttee members,
but h s pol teness and the way he y elded to the r author ty made t
mposs ble for them to get angry w th h m.
After only an hour of quest on ng, the comm ttee members had
had enough. “Thank you very much,” sa d the cha rman, “You are a
good example to the [other] w tnesses.” Not only d d they free h m,
they offered to help h m f he had any trouble w th mm grat on
off c als who m ght deta n h m for the r own reasons. The follow ng
day, Brecht left the Un ted States, never to return.

Interpretat on

The Hollywood 19’s confrontat onal approach won them a lot of

sympathy, and years later they ga ned a k nd of v nd cat on n publ c
op n on. But they were also blackl sted, and lost valuable years of
prof table work ng t me. Brecht, on the other hand, expressed h s
d sgust at the comm ttee more nd rectly. It was not that he changed
h s bel efs or comprom sed h s values; nstead, dur ng h s short
test mony, he kept the upper hand by appear ng to y eld wh le all the
t me runn ng c rcles around the comm ttee w th vague responses,
outr ght l es that went unchallenged because they were wrapped n
en gmas, and word games. In the end he kept the freedom to
cont nue h s revolut onary wr t ng (as opposed to suffer ng
mpr sonment or deta nment n the Un ted States), even wh le subtly
mock ng the comm ttee and ts author ty w th h s pseudo-obed ence.
Keep n m nd the follow ng: People try ng to make a show of the r
author ty are eas ly dece ved by the surrender tact c. Your outward
s gn of subm ss on makes them feel mportant; sat sf ed that you
respect them, they become eas er targets for a later counterattack,
or for the k nd of nd rect r d cule used by Brecht. Measur ng your
power over t me, never sacr f ce long-term maneuverab l ty for the
short-l ved glor es of martyrdom.
When the great lord passes, the w se peasant bows deeply and
s lently farts.
Eth ophan proverb

KEYS TO POWER

What gets us nto trouble n the realm of power s often our own
overreact on to the moves of our enem es and r vals. That
overreact on creates problems we would have avo ded had we been
more reasonable. It also has an endless rebound effect, for the
enemy then overreacts as well, much as the Athen ans d d to the
Mel ans. It s always our f rst nst nct to react, to meet aggress on
w th some other k nd of aggress on. But the next t me someone
pushes you and you f nd yourself start ng to react, try th s: Do not
res st or f ght back, but y eld, turn the other cheek, bend. You w ll f nd
that th s often neutral zes the r behav or—they expected, even
wanted you to react w th force and so they are caught off-guard and
confounded by your lack of res stance. By y eld ng, you n fact
control the s tuat on, because your surrender s part of a larger plan
to lull them nto bel ev ng they have defeated you.
Th s s the essence of the surrender tact c: Inwardly you stay f rm,
but outwardly you bend. Depr ved of a reason to get angry, your
opponents w ll often be bew ldered nstead. And they are unl kely to
react w th more v olence, wh ch would demand a react on from you.
Instead you are allowed the t me and space to plot the countermoves
that w ll br ng them down. In the battle of the ntell gent aga nst the
brutal and the aggress ve, the surrender tact c s the supreme
weapon. It does requ re self-control: Those who genu nely surrender
g ve up the r freedom, and may be crushed by the hum l at on of the r
defeat. You have to remember that you only appear to surrender, l ke
the an mal that plays dead to save ts h de.
We have seen that t can be better to surrender than to f ght; faced
w th a more powerful opponent and a sure defeat, t s often also
better to surrender than to run away. Runn ng away may save you
for the t me be ng, but the aggressor w ll eventually catch up w th
you. If you surrender nstead, you have an opportun ty to co l around
your enemy and str ke w th your fangs from close up.
In 473 B.C., n anc ent Ch na, K ng Gouj an of Yue suffered a
horr ble defeat from the ruler of Wu n the battle of Fuj ao. Gouj an
wanted to flee, but he had an adv ser who told h m to surrender and
to place h mself n the serv ce of the ruler of Wu, from wh ch pos t on
he could study the man and plot h s revenge. Dec d ng to follow th s
adv ce, Gouj an gave the ruler all of h s r ches, and went to work n
h s conqueror’s stables as the lowest servant. For three years he
humbled h mself before the ruler, who then, f nally sat sf ed of h s
loyalty, allowed h m to return home. Inwardly, however, Gouj an had
spent those three years gather ng nformat on and plott ng revenge.
When a terr ble drought struck Wu, and the k ngdom was weakened
by nner turmo l, he ra sed an army, nvaded, and won w th ease.
That s the power beh nd surrender: It g ves you the t me and the
flex b l ty to plot a devastat ng counterblow. Had Gouj an run away,
he would have lost th s chance.
When fore gn trade began to threaten Japanese ndependence n
the m d-n neteenth century, the Japanese debated how to defeat the
fore gners. One m n ster, Hotta Masayosh , wrote a memorandum n
1857 that nfluenced Japanese pol cy for years to come: “I am
therefore conv nced that our pol cy should be to conclude fr endly
all ances, to send sh ps to fore gn countr es everywhere and conduct
trade, to copy the fore gners where they are at the r best and so
repa r our own shortcom ngs, to foster our nat onal strength and
complete our armaments, and so gradually subject the fore gners to
our nfluence unt l n the end all the countr es of the world know the
bless ngs of perfect tranqu ll ty and our hegemony s acknowledged
throughout the globe.” Th s s a br ll ant appl cat on of the Law: Use
surrender to ga n access to your enemy. Learn h s ways, ns nuate
yourself w th h m slowly, outwardly conform to h s customs, but
nwardly ma nta n your own culture. Eventually you w ll emerge
v ctor ous, for wh le he cons ders you weak and nfer or, and takes no
precaut ons aga nst you, you are us ng the t me to catch up and
surpass h m. Th s soft, permeable form of nvas on s often the best,
for the enemy has noth ng to react aga nst, prepare for, or res st. And
had Japan res sted Western nfluence by force, t m ght well have
suffered a devastat ng nvas on that would have permanently altered
ts culture.
Surrender can also offer a way of mock ng your enem es, of
turn ng the r power aga nst them, as t d d for Brecht. M lan
Kundera’s novel The Joke, based on the author’s exper ences n a
penal camp n Czechoslovak a, tells the story of how the pr son
guards organ zed a relay race, guards aga nst pr soners. For the
guards th s was a chance to show off the r phys cal super or ty. The
pr soners knew they were expected to lose, so they went out of the r
way to obl ge—m m ng exaggerated exert on wh le barely mov ng,
runn ng a few yards and collaps ng, l mp ng, jogg ng ever so slowly
wh le the guards raced ahead at full speed. Both by jo n ng the race
and by los ng t, they had obl ged the guards obed ently; but the r
“overobed ence” had mocked the event to the po nt of ru n ng t.
Overobed ence—surrender—was here a way to demonstrate
super or ty n a reverse manner. Res stance would have engaged the
pr soners n the cycle of v olence, lower ng them to the guards’ level.
Overobey ng the guards, however, made them r d culous, yet they
could not r ghtly pun sh the pr soners, who had only done what they
asked.
Power s always n flux—s nce the game s by nature flu d, and an
arena of constant struggle, those w th power almost always f nd
themselves eventually on the downward sw ng. If you f nd yourself
temporar ly weakened, the surrender tact c s perfect for ra s ng
yourself up aga n— t d sgu ses your amb t on; t teaches you
pat ence and self-control, key sk lls n the game; and t puts you n
the best poss ble pos t on for tak ng advantage of your oppressor’s
sudden sl de. If you run away or f ght back, n the long run you
cannot w n. If you surrender, you w ll almost always emerge
v ctor ous.
Image: An Oak
Tree. The oak
that res sts the
w nd loses ts
branches one
by one, and
w th noth ng
left to protect
t, the trunk f
nally snaps.
The oak that
bends l ves long
er, ts trunk grow
ng w der, ts roots
deeper and more tenac ous.

Author ty: Ye have heard that t hath been sa d, An eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye res st not ev l: but
whosoever shall sm te thee on thy r ght cheek, turn to h m the other
also. And f any man w ll sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat,
let them have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go
a m le, go w th h m twa n. (Jesus Chr st, n Matthew 5:38-41)
 REVERSAL

The po nt of surrender ng s to save your h de for a later date when

you can reassert yourself. It s prec sely to avo d martyrdom that one
surrenders, but there are t mes when the enemy w ll not relent, and
martyrdom seems the only way out. Furthermore, f you are w ll ng to
d e, others may ga n power and nsp rat on from your example.
Yet martyrdom, surrender’s reversal, s a messy, nexact tact c,
and s as v olent as the aggress on t combats. For every famous
martyr there are thousands more who have nsp red ne ther a
rel g on nor a rebell on, so that f martyrdom does somet mes grant a
certa n power, t does so unpred ctably. More mportant, you w ll not
be around to enjoy that power, such as t s. And there s f nally
someth ng self sh and arrogant about martyrs, as f they felt the r
followers were less mportant than the r own glory.
When power deserts you, t s best to gnore th s Law’s reversal.
Leave martyrdom alone: The pendulum w ll sw ng back your way
eventually, and you should stay al ve to see t.
 LAW 23

CONCENTRATE YOUR FORCES

JUDGMENT
Conserve your forces and energ es by keep ng them concentrated at
the r strongest po nt. You ga n more by f nd ng a r ch m ne and
m n ng t deeper, than by fl tt ng from one shallow m ne to another—
ntens ty defeats extens ty every t me. When look ng for sources of
power to elevate you, f nd the one key patron, the fat cow who w ll
g ve you m lk for a long t me to come.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In Ch na n the early s xth century B.C., the k ngdom of Wu began a

war w th the ne ghbor ng northern prov nces of the M ddle K ngdom.
Wu was a grow ng power, but t lacked the great h story and
c v l zat on of the M ddle K ngdom, for centur es the center of
Ch nese culture. By defeat ng the M ddle K ngdom, the k ng of Wu
would nstantly ra se h s status.
The war began w th great fanfare and several v ctor es, but t soon
bogged down. A v ctory on one front would leave the Wu arm es
vulnerable on another. The k ng’s ch ef m n ster and adv ser, Wu
Tzu-hs u, warned h m that the barbarous state of Yueh, to the south,
was beg nn ng to not ce the k ngdom of Wu’s problems and had
des gns to nvade. The k ng only laughed at such worr es—one more
b g v ctory and the great M ddle K ngdom would be h s.
 THE GOOSE AND THE HOUSE
A goose who was pluck ng grass upon a common thought herself
affronted by a horse who fed near her; and, n h ss ng accents, thus
addressed h m: “I am certa nly a more noble and perfect an mal than
you, for the whole range and extent of your facult es s conf ned to
one element. I can walk upon the ground as well as you; I have,
bes des, w ngs, w th wh ch I can ra se myself n the a r; and when I
please, I can sport on ponds and lakes, and refresh myself n the
cool waters. I enjoy the d fferent powers of a b rd, a f sh, and a
quadruped.”
The horse, snort ng somewhat d sda nfully, repl ed: “It s true you
nhab t three elements, but you make no very d st ngu shed f gure n
any one of them. You fly, ndeed; but your fl ght s so heavy and
clumsy, that you have no r ght to put yourself on a level w th the lark
or the swallow. You can sw m on the surface of the waters, but you
cannot l ve n them as f shes do; you cannot f nd your food n that
element, nor gl de smoothly along the bottom of the waves. And
when you walk, or rather waddle, upon the ground, w th your broad
feet and your long neck stretched out, h ss ng at everyone who
passes by, you br ng upon yourself the der s on of all beholders. I
confess that I am only formed to move upon the ground; but how
graceful s my make! How well turned mv lunbs! How h ghly f n shed
my whole body! How great my strength! How aston sh ng my speed!
I had much rather be conf ned to one element, and be adm red n
that, than be a goose n all!”
FABLES FROM BOCCAACCIO AND CHAUCER. DR. JOHN AIKIN,
1747-1822
In the year 490, Wu Tzu-hs u sent h s son away to safety n the
k ngdom of Ch’ . In do ng so he sent the k ng a s gnal that he
d sapproved of the war, and that he bel eved the k ng’s self sh
amb t on was lead ng Wu to ru n. The k ng, sens ng betrayal, lashed
out at h s m n ster, accus ng h m of a lack of loyalty and, n a f t of
anger, ordered h m to k ll h mself. Wu Tzu-hs u obeyed h s k ng, but
before he plunged the kn fe nto h s chest, he cr ed, “Tear out my
eyes, oh K ng, and f x them on the gate of Wu, so that I may see the
tr umphant entry of Yueh.”
As Wu Tzu-hs u had pred cted, w th n a few years a Yueh army
passed beneath the gate of Wu. As the barbar ans surrounded the
palace, the k ng remembered h s m n ster’s last words—and felt the
dead man’s d sembod ed eyes watch ng h s d sgrace. Unable to bear
h s shame, the k ng k lled h mself, “cover ng h s face so that he
would not have to meet the reproachful gaze of h s m n ster n the
next world.”

Interpretat on

The story of Wu s a parad gm of all the emp res that have come to
ru n by overreach ng. Drunk w th success and s ck w th amb t on,
such emp res expand to grotesque proport ons and meet a ru n that
s total. Th s s what happened to anc ent Athens, wh ch lusted for
the faraway sland of S c ly and ended up los ng ts emp re. The
Romans stretched the boundar es of the r emp re to encompass vast
terr tor es; n do ng so they ncreased the r vulnerab l ty, and the
chances of nvas on from yet another barbar an tr be. The r useless
expans on led the r emp re nto obl v on.
For the Ch nese, the fate of the k ngdom of Wu serves as an
elemental lesson on what happens when you d ss pate your forces
on several fronts, los ng s ght of d stant dangers for the sake of
present ga n. “If you are not n danger,” says Sun-tzu, “do not f ght.”
It s almost a phys cal law: What s bloated beyond ts proport ons
nev tably collapses. The m nd must not wander from goal to goal, or
be d stracted by success from ts sense of purpose and proport on.
What s concentrated, coherent, and connected to ts past has
power. What s d ss pated, d v ded, and d stended rots and falls to
the ground. The b gger t bloats, the harder t falls.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

The Rothsch ld bank ng fam ly had humble beg nn ngs n the Jew sh
ghetto of Frankfurt, Germany. The c ty’s harsh laws made t
mposs ble for Jews to m ngle outs de the ghetto, but the Jews had
turned th s nto a v rtue— t made them self-rel ant, and zealous to
preserve the r culture at all costs. Mayer Amschel, the f rst of the
Rothsch lds to accumulate wealth by lend ng money, n the late
e ghteenth century, well understood the power that comes from th s
k nd of concentrat on and cohes on.
F rst, Mayer Amschel all ed h mself w th one fam ly, the powerful
pr nces of Thurn und Tax s. Instead of spread ng h s serv ces out, he
made h mself these pr nces’ pr mary banker. Second, he entrusted
none of h s bus ness to outs ders, us ng only h s ch ldren and close
relat ves. The more un f ed and t ght-kn t the fam ly, the more
powerful t would become. Soon Mayer Amschel’s f ve sons were
runn ng the bus ness. And when Mayer Amschel lay dy ng, n 1812,
he refused to name a pr nc pal he r, nstead sett ng up all of h s sons
to cont nue the fam ly trad t on, so that they would stay un ted and
would res st the dangers of d ffus on and of nf ltrat on by outs ders.
Beware of d ss pat ng your powers: str ve constantly to concentrate
them. Gen us th nks t can do whatever t sees others do ng, but t s
sure to repent of every ll-judged outlay.
JOHANN VON GOETHE, 1749-1832
Once Mayer Amschel’s sons controlled the fam ly bus ness, they
dec ded that the key to wealth on a larger scale was to secure a
foothold n the f nances of Europe as a whole, rather than be ng t ed
to any one country or pr nce. Of the f ve brothers, Nathan had
already opened up shop n London. In 1813 James moved to Par s.
Amschel rema ned n Frankfurt, Salomon establ shed h mself n
V enna, and Karl, the youngest son, went to Naples. W th each
sphere of nfluence covered, they could t ghten the r hold on
Europe’s f nanc al markets.
Th s w despread network, of course, opened the Rothsch lds to the
very danger of wh ch the r father had warned them: d ffus on,
d v s on, d ssens on. They avo ded th s danger, and establ shed
themselves as the most powerful force n European f nance and
pol t cs, by once aga n resort ng to the strategy of the ghetto—
exclud ng outs ders, concentrat ng the r forces. The Rothsch lds
establ shed the fastest cour er system n Europe, allow ng them to
get news of events before all the r compet tors. They held a v rtual
monopoly on nformat on. And the r nternal commun cat ons and
correspondence were wr tten n Frankfurt Y dd sh, and n a code that
only the brothers could dec pher. There was no po nt n steal ng th s
nformat on—no one could understand t. “Even the shewdest
bankers cannot f nd the r way through the Rothsch ld maze,”
adm tted a f nanc er who had tr ed to nf ltrate the clan.
In 1824 James Rothsch ld dec ded t was t me to get marr ed. Th s
presented a problem for the Rothsch lds, s nce t meant ncorporat ng
an outs der nto the Rothsch ld clan, an outs der who could betray ts
secrets. James therefore dec ded to marry w th n the fam ly, and
chose the daughter of h s brother Salomon. The brothers were
ecstat c—th s was the perfect solut on to the r marr age problems.
James’s cho ce now became the fam ly pol cy: Two years later,
Nathan marr ed off h s daughter to Salomon’s son. In the years to
come, the f ve brothers arranged e ghteen matches among the r
ch ldren, s xteen of these be ng contracted between f rst cous ns.
“We are l ke the mechan sm of a watch: Each part s essent al,”
sa d brother Salomon. As n a watch, every part of the bus ness
moved n concert w th every other, and the nner work ngs were
nv s ble to the world, wh ch only saw the movement of the hands.
Wh le other r ch and powerful fam l es suffered rrecoverable
downturns dur ng the tumultous f rst half of the n neteenth century,
the t ght-kn t Rothsch lds managed not only to preserve but to
expand the r unprecedented wealth.

Interpretat on

The Rothsch lds were born n strange t mes. They came from a place
that had not changed n centur es, but l ved n an age that gave b rth
to the Industr al Revolut on, the French Revolut on, and an endless
ser es of upheavals. The Rothch lds kept the past al ve, res sted the
patterns of d spers on of the r era and for th s are emblemat c of the
law of concentra t on.
No one represents th s better than James Rothsch ld, the son who
establ shed h mself n Par s. In h s l fet me James w tnessed the
defeat of Napoleon, the restorat on of the Bourbon monarchy, the
bourgeo s monarchy of Orleans, the return to a republ c, and f nally
the enthronement of Napoleon III. French styles and fash ons
changed at a relentless pace dur ng all th s turmo l. W thout
appear ng to be a rel c of the past, James steered h s fam ly as f the
ghetto l ved on w th n them. He kept al ve h s clan’s nner cohes on
and strength. Only through such an anchor ng n the past was the
fam ly able to thr ve am dst such chaos. Concentrat on was the
foundat on of the Rothsch lds’ power, wealth, and stab l ty.
The best strategy s always to be very strony f rst n general, then
at the dec s ve po nt.... There s no h gher and s mpler law of strategy
than that of keep ng one’s forces concentrated.... In short the
f rst pr nc ple s: act w th the utmost concentrat on.
On War, Carl von Clausew tz, 1780-1831

KEYS TO POWER

The world s plagued by greater and greater d v s on—w th n

countr es, pol t cal groups, fam l es, even nd v duals. We are all n a
state of total d stract on and d ffus on, hardly able to keep our m nds
n one d rect on before we are pulled n a thousand others. The
modern world’s level of confl ct s h gher than ever, and we have
nternal zed t n our own l ves.
The solut on s a form of retreat ns de ourselves, to the past, to
more concentrated forms of thought and act on. As Schopenhauer
wrote, “Intellect s a magn tude of ntens ty, not a magn tude of
extens ty.” Napoleon knew the value of concentrat ng your forces at
the enemy’s weakest spot— t was the secret of h s success on the
battlef eld. But h s w llpower and h s m nd were equally modeled on
th s not on. S ngle-m ndedness of purpose, total concentrat on on the
goal, and the use of these qual t es aga nst people less focused,
people n a state of d stract on—such an arrow w ll f nd ts mark
every t me and overwhelm the enemy.
Casanova attr buted h s success n l fe to h s ab l ty to concentrate
on a s ngle goal and push at t unt l t y elded. It was h s ab l ty to g ve
h mself over completely to the women he des red that made h m so
ntensely seduct ve. For the weeks or months that one of these
women l ved n h s orb t, he thought of no one else. When he was
mpr soned n the treacherous “leads” of the doge’s palace n Ven ce,
a pr son from wh ch no one had ever escaped, he concentrated h s
m nd on the s ngle goal of escape, day after day. A change of cells,
wh ch meant that months of d gg ng had all been for naught, d d not
d scourage h m; he pers sted and eventually escaped. “I have always
bel eved,” he later wrote, “that when a man gets t nto h s head to do
someth ng, and when he exclus vely occup es h mself n that des gn,
he must succeed, whatever the d ff cult es. That man w ll become
Grand V z er or Pope.”
Concentrate on a s ngle goal, a s ngle task, and beat t nto
subm ss on. In the world of power you w ll constantly need help from
other people, usually those more powerful than you. The fool fl ts
from one person to another, bel ev ng that he w ll surv ve by
spread ng h mself out. It s a corollary of the law of concentrat on,
however, that much energy s saved, and more power s atta ned, by
aff x ng yourself to a s ngle, appropr ate source of power. The
sc ent st N kola Tesla ru ned h mself by bel ev ng that he somehow
ma nta ned h s ndependence by not hav ng to serve a s ngle master.
He even turned down J. P. Morgan, who offered h m a r ch contract.
In the end, Tesla’s “ ndependence” meant that he could depend on
no s ngle patron, but was always hav ng to toady up to a dozen of
them. Later n h s l fe he real zed h s m stake.
All the great Rena ssance pa nters and wr ters wrestled w th th s
problem, none more so than the s xteenth-century wr ter P etro
Aret no. Throughout h s l fe Aret no suffered the nd gn t es of hav ng
to please th s pr nce and that. At last, he had had enough, and
dec ded to woo Charles V, prom s ng the emperor the serv ces of h s
powerful pen. He f nally d scovered the freedom that came from
attachment to a s ngle source of power. M chelangelo found th s
freedom w th Pope Jul us II, Gal leo w th the Med c s. In the end, the
s ngle patron apprec ates your loyalty and becomes dependent on
your serv ces; n the long run the master serves the slave.
F nally, power tself always ex sts n concentrated forms. In any
organ zat on t s nev table for a small group to hold the str ngs. And
often t s not those w th the t tles. In the game of power, only the fool
fla ls about w thout f x ng h s target. You must f nd out who controls
the operat ons, who s the real d rector beh nd the scenes. As
R chel eu d scovered at the beg nn ng of h s r se to the top of the
French pol t cal scene dur ng the early seventeenth century, t was
not K ng Lou s XIII who dec ded th ngs, t was the k ng’s mother. And
so he attached h mself to her, and catapulted through the ranks of
the court ers, all the way to the top.
It s enough to str ke o l once—your wealth and power are assured
for a l fet me.
Image: The Arrow. You cannot h t two targets
w th one arrow. If your thoughts stray, you
m ss the enemy’s heart. M nd and
arrow must become one. Only
w th such concentrat on of
mental and phys cal
power can your arrow
h t the target and
p erce the
heart.

Author ty: Pr ze ntens ty more than extens ty. Perfect on res des n
qual ty, not quant ty. Extent alone never r ses above med ocr ty, and t
s the m sfortune of men w th w de general nterests that wh le they
would l ke to have the r f nger n every p e, they have one n none.
Intens ty g ves em nence, and r ses to the hero c n matters subl me.
(Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

There are dangers n concentrat on, and moments when d spers on

s the proper tact cal move. F ght ng the Nat onal sts for control of
Ch na, Mao Tse-tung and the Commun sts fought a protracted war
on several fronts, us ng sabotage and ambush as the r ma n
weapons. D spersal s often su table for the weaker s de; t s, n fact,
a cruc al pr nc ple of guerr lla warfare. When f ght ng a stronger army,
concentrat ng your forces only makes you an eas er target—better to
d ssolve nto the scenery and frustrate your enemy w th the
elus veness of your presence.
Ty ng yourself to a s ngle source of power has one preem nent
danger: If that person d es, leaves, or falls from grace, you suffer.
Th s s what happened to Cesare Borg a, who der ved h s power
from h s father, Pope Alexander VI. It was the pope who gave
Cesare arm es to f ght w th and wars to wage n h s name. When he
suddenly d ed (perhaps from po son), Cesare was as good as dead.
He had made far too many enem es over the years, and was now
w thout h s father’s protect on. In cases when you may need
protect on, then, t s often w se to entw ne yourself around several
sources of power. Such a move would be espec ally prudent n
per ods of great tumult and v olent change, or when your enem es
are numerous. The more patrons and masters you serve the less
r sk you run f one of them falls from power. Such d spers on w ll
even allow you to play one off aga nst the other. Even f you
concentrate on the s ngle source of power, you st ll must pract ce
caut on, and prepare for the day when your master or patron s no
longer there to help you.
F nally, be ng too s ngle-m nded n purpose can make you an
ntolerable bore, espec ally n the arts. The Rena ssance pa nter
Paolo Uccello was so obsessed w th perspect ve that h s pa nt ngs
look l feless and contr ved. Whereas Leonardo da V nc nterested
h mself n everyth ng—arch tecture, pa nt ng, warfare, sculpture,
mechan cs. D ffus on was the source of h s power. But such gen us s
rare, and the rest of us are better off err ng on the s de of ntens ty.
 LAW 24

PLAY THE PERFECT COURTIER

JUDGMENT
The perfect court er thr ves n a world where everyth ng revolves
around power and pol t cal dexter ty. He has mastered the art of
nd rect on; he flatters, y elds to super ors, and asserts power over
others n the most obl que and graceful manner. Learn and apply the
laws of court ersh p and there w ll be no l m t to how far you can r se
n the court.

COURT SOCIETY

It s a fact of human nature that the structure of a court soc ety forms
tself around power. In the past, the court gathered around the ruler,
and had many funct ons: Bes des keep ng the ruler amused, t was a
way to sol d fy the h erarchy of royalty, nob l ty, and the upper
classes, and to keep the nob l ty both subord nate and close to the
ruler, so that he could keep an eye on them. The court serves power
n many ways, but most of all t glor f es the ruler, prov d ng h m w th
a m crocosm c world that must struggle to please h m.
To be a court er was a dangerous game. A n neteenth-century
Arab traveler to the court of Darfur, n what s now Sudan, reported
that court ers there had to do whatever the sultan d d: If he were
njured, they had to suffer the same njury; f he fell off h s horse
dur ng a hunt, they fell, too. M m cry l ke th s appeared n courts all
over the world. More troublesome was the danger of d spleas ng the
ruler—one wrong move spelled death or ex le. The successful
court er had to walk a t ghtrope, pleas ng but not pleas ng too much,
obey ng but somehow d st ngu sh ng h mself from the other court ers,
wh le also never d st ngu sh ng h mself so far as to make the ruler
nsecure.
Great court ers throughout h story have mastered the sc ence of
man pulat ng people. They make the k ng feel more k ngly; they
make everyone else fear the r power. They are mag c ans of
appearance, know ng that most th ngs at court are judged by how
they seem. Great court ers are grac ous and pol te; the r aggress on
s ve led and nd rect. Masters of the word, they never say more than
necessary, gett ng the most out of a compl ment or h dden nsult.
They are magnets of pleasure—people want to be around them
because they know how to please, yet they ne ther fawn nor
hum l ate themselves. Great court ers become the k ng’s favor tes,
enjoy ng the benef ts of that pos t on. They often end up more
powerful than the ruler, for they are w zards n the accumulat on of
nfluence.
Many today d sm ss court l fe as a rel c of the past, a h stor cal
cur os ty. They reason, accord ng to Mach avell , “as though heaven,
the sun, the elements, and men had changed the order of the r
mot ons and power, and were d fferent from what they were n
anc ent t mes.” There may be no more Sun K ngs but there are st ll
plenty of people who bel eve the sun revolves around them. The
royal court may have more or less d sappeared, or at least lost ts
power, but courts and court ers st ll ex st because power st ll ex sts.
A court er s rarely asked to fall off a horse anymore, but the laws
that govern court pol t cs are as t meless as the laws of power. There
s much to be learned, then, from great court ers past and present.

THE TWO DOGS

Barbos, the fa thful yard-dog who serves h s master zealously,
happens to see h s old acqua ntance Joujou, the curly lapdog,
seated at the w ndow on a soft down cush on. S dl ng fondly up to
her, l ke a ch ld to a parent, he all but weeps w th emot on; and there,
under the w ndow. he wh nes, wags h s ta l, and bounds about.
“What sort of l fe do you lead now, Joujoutka, ever s nce the master
took you nto h s mans on? You remember, no doubt, how we often
used to suffer hunger out n the yard. What s your present serv ce
l ke?” “It would be a s n n me to murmur aga nst my good fortune, ”
answers Joujoutka. “My master cannot make enough of me. I l ve
am dst r ches and plenty, and I eat and dr nk off s lver. I frol c w th the
master, and, f I get t red, I take my ease on carpets or on a soft
couch. And how do you get on?” “I?” repl es Barbos, lett ng h s ta l
dangle l ke a wh p, and hang ng h s head. “I l ve as I used to do. I
suffer from cold and hunger; and here, wh le guard ng my master’s
house, I have to sleep at the foot of the wall, and I get drenched n
the ra n. And f I bark at the wrong t me, I am wh pped. But how d d
you, Joujou, who were so small and weak, get taken nto favor, wh le
I jump out of my sk n to no purpose?
What s t you do?” “‘What s t you do?’ A pretty quest on to ask!”
repl ed Joujou, mock ngly. “I walk upon my h nd legs.”
FABLES, IVAN KRILOFF, 1768-1844

THE LAWS OF COURT POLITICS

Avo d Ostentat on. It s never prudent to prattle on about yourself or

call too much attent on to your act ons. The more you talk about your
deeds the more susp c on you cause. You also st r up enough envy
among your peers to nduce treachery and backstabb ng. Be careful,
ever so careful, n trumpet ng your own ach evements, and always
talk less about yourself than about other people. Modesty s
generally preferable.

Pract ce Nonchalance. Never seem to be work ng too hard. Your

talent must appear to flow naturally, w th an ease that makes people
take you for a gen us rather than a workahol c. Even when
someth ng demands a lot of sweat, make t look effortless—people
prefer to not see your blood and to l, wh ch s another form of
ostentat on. It s better for them to marvel at how gracefully you have
ach eved your accompl shment than to wonder why t took so much
work.
Be Frugal w th Flattery. It may seem that your super ors cannot get
enough flattery, but too much of even a good th ng loses ts value. It
also st rs up susp c on among your peers. Learn to flatter nd rectly—
by downplay ng your own contr but on, for example, to make your
master look bet ter.
It s a w se th ng to be pol te; consequently, t s a stup d th ng to be
rude. To make enem es by unnecessary and w lful nc v l ty, s just as
nsane a proceed ng as to set your house on f re. For pol teness s
l ke a counter—an avowedly false co n, w th wh ch t s fool sh to be
st ngy. A sens ble man w ll be generous n the use of t.... Wax, a
substance naturally hard and br ttle, can be made soft by the
appl cat on of a l ttle warmth, so that t w ll take any shape you
please. In the same way, by be ng pol te and fr endly, you can make
people pl able and obl g ng, even though they are apt to be crabbed
and malevolent. Hence pol teness s to human nature what warmth s
to wax.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860

Arrange to Be Not ced. There s a paradox: You cannot d splay
yourself too brazenly, yet you must also get yourself not ced. In the
court of Lou s XIV, whoever the k ng dec ded to look at rose nstantly
n the court h erarchy. You stand no chance of r s ng f the ruler does
not not ce you n the swamp of court ers. Th s task requ res much art.
It s often n t ally a matter of be ng seen, n the l teral sense. Pay
attent on to your phys cal appearance, then, and f nd a way to create
a d st nct ve—a subtly d st nct ve—style and mage.

Alter Your Style and Language Accord ng to the Person You Are
Deal ng W th. The pseudo-bel ef n equal ty—the dea that talk ng
and act ng the same way w th everyone, no matter what the r rank,
makes you somehow a paragon of c v l zat on— s a terr ble m stake.
Those below you w ll take t as a form of condescens on, wh ch t s,
and those above you w ll be offended, although they may not adm t
t. You must change your style and your way of speak ng to su t each
person. Th s s not ly ng, t s act ng, and act ng s an art, not a g ft
from God. Learn the art. Th s s also true for the great var ety of
cultures found n the modern court: Never assume that your cr ter a
of behav or and judgment are un versal. Not only s an nab l ty to
adapt to another culture the he ght of barbar sm, t puts you at a
d sadvantage.

Never Be the Bearer of Bad News. The k ng k lls the messenger

who br ngs bad news: Th s s a cl che but there s truth to t. You
must struggle and f necessary l e and cheat to be sure that the lot of
the bearer of bad news falls on a colleague, never on you. Br ng only
good news and your approach w ll gladden your master.
Never Affect Fr endl ness and Int macy w th Your Master. He
does not want a fr end for a subord nate, he wants a subord nate.
Never approach h m n an easy, fr endly way, or act as f you are on
the best of terms—that s h s prerogat ve. If he chooses to deal w th
you on th s level, assume a wary chumm ness. Otherw se err n the
oppos te d rect on, and make the d stance between you clear.

Never Cr t c ze Those Above You D rectly. Th s may seem

obv ous, but there are often t mes when some sort of cr t c sm s
necessary—to say noth ng, or to g ve no adv ce, would open you to
r sks of another sort. You must learn, however, to couch your adv ce
and cr t c sm as nd rectly and as pol tely as poss ble. Th nk tw ce, or
three t mes, before dec d ng you have made them suff c ently
c rcu tous. Err on the s de of subtlety and gentleness.

Be Frugal n Ask ng Those Above You for Favors. Noth ng

rr tates a master more than hav ng to reject someone’s request. It
st rs up gu lt and resentment. Ask for favors as rarely as poss ble,
and know when to stop. Rather than mak ng yourself the suppl cant,
t s always better to earn your favors, so that the ruler bestows them
w ll ngly. Most mportant: Do not ask for favors on another person’s
behalf, least of all a fr end’s.

Never Joke About Appearances or Taste. A l vely w t and a

humorous d spos t on are essent al qual t es for a good court er, and
there are t mes when vulgar ty s appropr ate and engag ng. But
avo d any k nd of joke about appearance or taste, two h ghly
sens t ve areas, espec ally w th those above you. Do not even try t
when you are away from them. You w ll d g your own grave.

Do Not Be the Court Cyn c. Express adm rat on for the good work
of others. If you constantly cr t c ze your equals or subord nates
some of that cr t c sm w ll rub off on you, hover ng over you l ke a
gray cloud wherever you go. People w ll groan at each new cyn cal
comment, and you w ll rr tate them. By express ng modest
adm rat on for other people’s ach evements, you paradox cally call
attent on to your own. The ab l ty to express wonder and
amazement, and seem l ke you mean t, s a rare and dy ng talent,
but one st ll greatly valued.

Be Self-observant. The m rror s a m raculous nvent on; w thout t

you would comm t great s ns aga nst beauty and decorum. You also
need a m rror for your act ons. Th s can somet mes come from other
people tell ng you what they see n you, but that s not the most
trustworthy method: You must be the m rror, tra n ng your m nd to try
to see yourself as others see you. Are you act ng too obsequ ous?
Are you try ng too hard to please? Do you seem desperate for
attent on, g v ng the mpress on that you are on the decl ne? Be
observant about yourself and you w ll avo d a mounta n of blunders.
Master Your Emot ons. As an actor n a great play, you must learn to
cry and laugh on command and when t s appropr ate. You must be
able both to d sgu se your anger and frustrat on and to fake your
contentment and agreement. You must be the master of your own
face. Call t ly ng f you l ke; but f you prefer to not play the game and
to always be honest and upfront, do not compla n when others call
you obnox ous and arrogant.

F t the Sp r t of the T mes. A sl ght affectat on of a past era can be

charm ng, as long as you choose a per od at least twenty years
back; wear ng the fash ons of ten years ago s lud crous, unless you
enjoy the role of court jester. Your sp r t and way of th nk ng must
keep up w th the t mes, even f the t mes offend your sens b l t es. Be
too forward-th nk ng, however, and no one w ll understand you. It s
never a good dea to stand out too much n th s area; you are best off
at least be ng able to m m c the sp r t of the t mes.

Be a Source of Pleasure. Th s s cr t cal. It s an obv ous law of

human nature that we w ll flee what s unpleasant and d stasteful,
wh le charm and the prom se of del ght w ll draw us l ke moths to a
flame. Make yourself the flame and you w ll r se to the top. S nce l fe
s otherw se so full of unpleasantness and pleasure so scarce, you
w ll be as nd spensable as food and dr nk. Th s may seem obv ous,
but what s obv ous s often gnored or unapprec ated. There are
degrees to th s: Not everyone can play the role of favor te, for not
everyone s blessed w th charm and w t. But we can all control our
unpleasant qual t es and obscure them when necessary.
A man who knows the court s master of h s gestures, of h s eyes
and
of h s face; he s profound, mpenetrable; he d ss mulates bad
off ces,
sm les at h s enem es, controls h s rr tat on, d sgu ses h s pass ons,
bel es h s heart, speaks and acts aga nst h s feel ngs.
Jean de La Bruyère, 1645-1696

SCENES OF COURT LIFE: Exemplary Deeds and

Fatal M stakes
 Scene I

Alexander the Great, conqueror of the Med terranean bas n and the
M ddle East through to Ind a, had had the great Ar stotle as h s tutor
and mentor, and throughout h s short l fe he rema ned devoted to
ph losophy and h s master’s teach ngs. He once compla ned to
Ar stotle that dur ng h s long campa gns he had no one w th whom he
could d scuss ph losoph cal matters. Ar stotle responded by
suggest ng that he take Call sthenes, a former pup l of Ar stotle’s and
a prom s ng ph losopher n h s own r ght, along on the next
campa gn.
Ar stotle had schooled Call sthenes n the sk lls of be ng a court er,
but the young man secretly scoffed at them. He bel eved n pure
ph losophy, n unadorned words, n speak ng the naked truth. If
Alexander loved learn ng so much, Call sthenes thought, he could
not object to one who spoke h s m nd. Dur ng one of Alexander’s
major campa gns, Call sthenes spoke h s m nd one too many t mes
and Alexander had h m put to death. Interpretat on
In court, honesty s a fool’s game. Never be so self-absorbed as to
bel eve that the master s nterested n your cr t c sms of h m, no
matter how accurate they are.

Scene II

Beg nn ng n the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago, Ch nese

scholars comp led a ser es of wr t ngs called the 21 H stor es, an
off c al b ography of each dynasty, nclud ng stor es, stat st cs, census
f gures, and war chron cles. Each h story also conta ned a chapter
called “Unusual Events,” and here, among the l st ngs of
earthquakes and floods, there would somet mes suddenly appear
descr pt ons of such b zarre man festat ons as two-headed sheep,
geese fly ng backward, stars suddenly appear ng n d fferent parts of
the sky, and so on. The earthquakes could be h stor cally ver f ed,
but the monsters and we rd natural phenomena were clearly nserted
on purpose, and nvar ably occurred n clusters. What could th s
mean?
The Ch nese emperor was cons dered more than a man—he was
a force of nature. H s k ngdom was the center of the un verse, and
everyth ng revolved around h m. He embod ed the world’s perfect on.
To cr t c ze h m or any of h s act ons would have been to cr t c ze the
d v ne order. No m n ster or court er dared approach the emperor
w th even the sl ghtest caut onary word. But emperors were fall ble
and the k ngdom suffered greatly by the r m stakes. Insert ng
s ght ngs of strange phenomena nto the court chron cles was the
only way to warn them. The emperor would read of geese fly ng
backward and moons out of orb t, and real ze that he was be ng
caut oned. H s act ons were unbalanc ng the un verse and needed to
change.

Interpretat on

For Ch nese court ers, the problem of how to g ve the emperor

adv ce was an mportant ssue. Over the years, thousands of them
had d ed try ng to warn or counsel the r master. To be made safely,
the r cr t c sms had to be nd rect—yet f they were too nd rect they
would not be heeded. The chron cles were the r solut on: Ident fy no
one person as the source of cr t c sm, make the adv ce as
mpersonal as poss ble, but let the emperor know the grav ty of the
s tuat on.
Your master s no longer the center of the un verse, but he st ll
mag nes that everyth ng revolves around h m. When you cr t c ze
h m he sees the person cr t c z ng, not the cr t c sm tself. L ke the
Ch nese court ers, you must f nd a way to d sappear beh nd the
warn ng. Use symbols and other nd rect methods to pa nt a p cture
of the problems to come, w thout putt ng your neck on the l ne.

Scene III
Early n h s career, the French arch tect Jules Mansart rece ved
comm ss ons to des gn m nor add t ons to Versa lles for K ng Lou s
XIV. For each des gn he would draw up h s plans, mak ng sure they
followed Lou s’s nstruct ons closely. He would then present them to
H s Majesty.
The court er Sa nt-S mon descr bed Mansart’s techn que n deal ng
w th the k ng: “H s part cular sk ll was to show the k ng plans that
purposely ncluded someth ng mperfect about them, often deal ng
w th the gardens, wh ch were not Mansart’s spec alty. The k ng, as
Mansart expected, would put h s f nger exactly on the problem and
propose how to solve t, at wh ch po nt Mansart would excla m for all
to hear that he would never have seen the problem that the k ng had
so masterfully found and solved; he would burst w th adm rat on,
confess ng that next to the k ng he was but a lowly pup l.” At the age
of th rty, hav ng used these methods t me and t me aga n, Mansart
rece ved a prest g ous royal comm ss on: Although he was less
talented and exper enced than a number of other French des gners,
he was to take charge of the enlargement of Versa lles. He was the
k ng’s arch tect from then on.

Interpretat on

As a young man, Mansart had seen how many royal craftsmen n the
serv ce of Lou s XIV had lost the r pos t ons not through a lack of
talent but through a costly soc al blunder. He would not make that
m stake. Mansart always strove to make Lou s feel better about
h mself, to feed the k ng’s van ty as publ cly as poss ble.
Never mag ne that sk ll and talent are all that matter. In court the
court er’s art s more mportant than h s talent; never spend so much
t me on your stud es that you neglect your soc al sk lls. And the
greatest sk ll of all s the ab l ty to make the master look more
talented than those around h m.

Scene IV
Jean-Bapt ste Isabey had become the unoff c al pa nter of the
Napoleon c court. Dur ng the Congress of V enna n 1814, after
Napoleon, defeated, had been mpr soned on the sland of Elba, the
part c pants n these meet ngs, wh ch were to dec de the fate of
Europe, nv ted Isabey to mmortal ze the h stor c events n an ep c
pa nt ng.
When Isabey arr ved n V enna, Talleyrand, the ma n negot ator for
the French, pa d the art st a v s t. Cons der ng h s role n the
proceed ngs, the statesman expla ned, he expected to occupy center
stage n the pa nt ng. Isabey cord ally agreed. A few days later the
Duke of Well ngton, the ma n negot ator for the Engl sh, also
approached Isabey, and sa d much the same th ng that Talleyrand
had. The ever pol te Isabey agreed that the great duke should
ndeed be the center of attent on.
Back n h s stud o, Isabey pondered the d lemma. If he gave the
spotl ght to e ther of the two men, he could create a d plomat c r ft,
st rr ng up all sorts of resentment at a t me when peace and concord
were cr t cal. When the pa nt ng was f nally unve led, however, both
Talleyrand and Well ngton felt honored and sat sf ed. The work
dep cts a large hall f lled w th d plomats and pol t c ans from all over
Europe. On one s de the Duke of Well ngton enters the room, and all
eyes are turned toward h m; he s the “center” of attent on. In the
very center of the pa nt ng, meanwh le, s ts Talleyrand.

Interpretat on

It s often very d ff cult to sat sfy the master, but to sat sfy two
masters n one stroke takes the gen us of a great court er. Such
pred caments are common n the l fe of a court er: By g v ng attent on
to one master, he d spleases another. You must f nd a way to
nav gate th s Scylla and Charybd s safely. Masters must rece ve the r
due; never nadvertently st r up the resentment of one n pleas ng
another.
 Scene V

George Brummell, also known as Beau Brummell, made h s mark n

the late 1700s by the supreme elegance of h s appearance, h s
popular zat on of shoe buckles (soon m tated by all the dand es),
and h s clever way w th words. H s London house was the
fash onable spot n town, and Brummell was the author ty on all
matters of fash on. If he d sl ked your footwear, you mmed ately got
r d of t and bought whatever he was wear ng. He perfected the art of
ty ng a cravat; Lord Byron was sa d to spend many a n ght n front of
the m rror try ng to f gure out the secret beh nd Brummell’s perfect
knots.
One of Brummell’s greatest adm rers was the Pr nce of Wales,
who fanc ed h mself a fash onable young man. Becom ng attached to
the pr nce’s court (and prov ded w th a royal pens on), Brummell was
soon so sure of h s own author ty there that he took to jok ng about
the pr nce’s we ght, referr ng to h s host as B g Ben. S nce tr mness
of f gure was an mportant qual ty for a dandy, th s was a w ther ng
cr t c sm. At d nner once, when the serv ce was slow, Brummell sa d
to the pr nce, “Do r ng, B g Ben.” The pr nce rang, but when the valet
arr ved he ordered the man to show Brummell the door and never
adm t h m aga n.
Desp te fall ng nto the pr nce’s d sfavor, Brummell cont nued to
treat everyone around h m w th the same arrogance. W thout the
Pr nce of Wales’ patronage to support h m, he sank nto horr ble
debt, but he ma nta ned h s nsolent manners, and everyone soon
abandoned h m. He d ed n the most p t able poverty, alone and
deranged.

Interpretat on

Beau Brummell’s devastat ng w t was one of the qual t es that

endeared h m to the Pr nce of Wales. But not even he, the arb ter of
taste and fash on, could get away w th a joke about the pr nce’s
appearance, least of all to h s face. Never joke about a person’s
plumpness, even nd rectly—and part cularly when he s your master.
The poorhouses of h story are f lled w th people who have made
such jokes at the r master’s expense.

Scene VI

Pope Urban VIII wanted to be remembered for h s sk lls n wr t ng

poetry, wh ch unfortunately were med ocre at best. In 1629 Duke
Francesco d‘Este, know ng the pope’s l terary pretens ons, sent the
poet Fulv o Test as h s ambassador to the Vat can. One of Test ’s
letters to the duke reveals why he was chosen: “Once our d scuss on
was over, I kneeled to depart, but H s Hol ness made a s gnal and
walked to another room where he sleeps, and after reach ng a small
table, he grabbed a bundle of papers and thus, turn ng to me w th a
sm l ng face, he sa d: ‘We want Your Lordsh p to l sten to some of our
compos t ons.’ And, n fact, he read me two very long P ndar c
poems, one n pra se of the most holy V rg n, and the other one
about Countess Mat lde.”
We do not know exactly what Test thought of these very long
poems, s nce t would have been dangerous for h m to state h s
op n on freely, even n a letter. But he went on to wr te, “I, follow ng
the mood, commented on each l ne w th the needed pra se, and,
after hav ng k ssed H s Hol ness’s foot for such an unusual s gn of
benevolence [the read ng of the poetry], I left.” Weeks later, when the
duke h mself v s ted the pope, he managed to rec te ent re verses of
the pope’s poetry and pra sed t enough to make the pope “so
jub lant he seemed to lose h s m nd.” Interpretat on
In matters of taste you can never be too obsequ ous w th your
master. Taste s one of the ego’s pr ckl est parts; never mpugn or
quest on the master’s taste—h s poetry s subl me, h s dress
mpeccable, and h s manner the model for all.

Scene VII
One afternoon n anc ent Ch na, Chao, ruler of Han from 358 to 333
B.C., got drunk and fell asleep n the palace gardens. The court
crown-keeper, whose sole task was to look after the ruler’s head
apparel, passed through the gardens and saw h s master sleep ng
w thout a coat. S nce t was gett ng cold, the crown-keeper placed h s
own coat over the ruler, and left.
When Chao awoke and saw the coat upon h m, he asked h s
attendants, “Who put more clothes on my body?” “The crown-
keeper,” they repl ed. The ruler mmed ately called for h s off c al
coat-keeper and had h m pun shed for neglect ng h s dut es. He also
called for the crown-keeper, whom he had beheaded.

Interpretat on

Do not overstep your bounds. Do what you are ass gned to do, to the
best of your ab l t es, and never do more. To th nk that by do ng more
you are do ng better s a common blunder. It s never good to seem
to be try ng too hard— t s as f you were cover ng up some
def c ency. Fulf ll ng a task that has not been asked of you just
makes people susp c ous. If you are a crown-keeper, be a crown-
keeper. Save your excess energy for when you are not n the court.

Scene VIII

One day, for amusement, the Ital an Rena ssance pa nter Fra F l ppo
L pp (1406-1469) and some fr ends went sa l ng n a small boat off
Ancona. There they were captured by two Moor sh galleys, wh ch
hauled them off n cha ns to Barbary, where they were sold as
slaves. For e ghteen long months F l ppo to led w th no hope of
return ng to Italy.
On several occas ons F l ppo saw the man who had bought h m
pass by, and one day he dec ded to sketch th s man’s portra t, us ng
burnt coal—charcoal—from the f re. St ll n h s cha ns, he found a
wh te wall, where he drew a full-length l keness of h s owner n
Moor sh cloth ng. The owner soon heard about th s, for no one had
seen such sk ll n draw ng before n these parts; t seemed l ke a
m racle, a g ft from God. The draw ng so pleased the owner that he
nstantly gave F l ppo h s freedom and employed h m n h s court. All
the b g men on the Barbary coast came to see the magn f cent color
portra ts that Fra F l ppo then proceeded to do, and f nally, n
grat tude for the honor n th s way brought upon h m, F l ppo’s owner
returned the art st safely to Italy.

Interpretat on

We who to l for other people have all n some way been captured by
p rates and sold nto slavery. But l ke Fra F l ppo ( f to a lesser
degree), most of us possess some g ft, some talent, an ab l ty to do
someth ng better than other people. Make your master a g ft of your
talents and you w ll r se above other court ers. Let h m take the cred t
f necessary, t w ll only be temporary: Use h m as a stepp ng stone,
a way of d splay ng your talent and eventually buy ng your freedom
from enslavement.

Scene IX

Alfonso I of Aragon once had a servant who told the k ng that the
n ght before he had had a dream: Alfonso had g ven h m a g ft of
weapons, horses, and clothes. Alfonso, a generous, lordly man,
dec ded t would be amus ng to make th s dream come true, and
promptly gave the servant exactly these g fts.
A l ttle wh le later, the same servant announced to Alfonso that he
had had yet another dream, and n th s one Alfonso had g ven h m a
cons derable p le of gold flor ns. The k ng sm led and sa d, “Don’t
bel eve n dreams from now on; they l e.”

Interpretat on
In h s treatment of the servant’s f rst dream, Alfonso rema ned n
control. By mak ng a dream come true, he cla med a godl ke power
for h mself, f n a m ld and humorous way. In the second dream,
however, all appearance of mag c was gone; th s was noth ng but an
ugly con game on the servant’s part. Never ask for too much, then,
and know when to stop. It s the master’s prerogat ve to g ve—to g ve
when he wants and what he wants, and to do so w thout prompt ng.
Do not g ve h m the chance to reject your requests. Better to w n
favors by deserv ng them, so that they are bestowed w thout your
ask ng.

Scene X

The great Engl sh landscape pa nter J. M. W Turner (1775-1851)

was known for h s use of color, wh ch he appl ed w th a br ll ance and
a strange r descence. The color n h s pa nt ngs was so str k ng, n
fact, that other art sts never wanted h s work hung next to the rs: It
nev tably made everyth ng around t seem dull.
The pa nter S r Thomas Lawrence once had the m sfortune of
see ng Turner’s masterp ece Cologne hang ng n an exh b t on
between two works of h s own. Lawrence compla ned b tterly to the
gallery owner, who gave h m no sat sfact on: After all, someone’s
pa nt ngs had to hang next to Turner’s. But Turner heard of
Lawrence’s compla nt, and before the exh b t on opened, he toned
down the br ll ant golden sky n Cologne, mak ng t as dull as the
colors n Lawrence’s works. A fr end of Turner’s who saw the
pa nt ng approached the art st w th a horr f ed look: “What have you
done to your p cture!” he sa d. “Well, poor Lawrence was so
unhappy,” Turner repl ed, “and t’s only lampblack. It’ll wash off after
the exh b t on.” Interpretat on
Many of a court er’s anx et es have to do w th the master, w th whom
most dangers l e. Yet t s a m stake to mag ne that the master s the
only one to determ ne your fate. Your equals and subord nates play
ntegral parts also. A court s a vast stew of resentments, fears, and
powerful envy. You have to placate everyone who m ght someday
harm you, deflect ng the r resentment and envy and d vert ng the r
host l ty onto other people.
Turner, em nent court er, knew that h s good fortune and fame
depended on h s fellow pa nters as well as on h s dealers and
patrons. How many of the great have been felled by env ous
colleagues! Better temporar ly to dull your br ll ance than to suffer the
sl ngs and arrows of envy.

Scene XI

W nston Church ll was an amateur art st, and after World War II h s
pa nt ngs became collector’s tems. The Amer can publ sher Henry
Luce, n fact, creator of T me and L fe magaz nes, kept one of
Church ll’s landscapes hang ng n h s pr vate off ce n New York.
On a tour through the Un ted States once, Church ll v s ted Luce n
h s off ce, and the two men looked at the pa nt ng together. The
publ sher remarked, “It’s a good p cture, but I th nk t needs
someth ng n the foreground—a sheep, perhaps.” Much to Luce’s
horror, Church ll’s secretary called the publ sher the next day and
asked h m to have the pa nt ng sent to England. Luce d d so,
mort f ed that he had perhaps offended the former pr me m n ster. A
few days later, however, the pa nt ng was sh pped back, but sl ghtly
altered: a s ngle sheep now grazed peacefully n the foreground.

Interpretat on

In stature and fame, Church ll stood head and shoulders above

Luce, but Luce was certa nly a man of power, so let us mag ne a
sl ght equal ty between them. St ll, what d d Church ll have to fear
from an Amer can publ sher? Why bow to the cr t c sm of a
d lettante?
A court— n th s case the ent re world of d plomats and
nternat onal statesmen, and also of the journal sts who court them—
s a place of mutual dependence. It s unw se to nsult or offend the
taste of people of power, even f they are below or equal to you. If a
man l ke Church ll can swallow the cr t c sms of a man l ke Luce, he
proves h mself a court er w thout peer. (Perhaps h s correct on of the
pa nt ng mpl ed a certa n condescens on as well, but he d d t so
subtly that Luce d d not perce ve any sl ght.) Im tate Church ll: Put n
the sheep. It s always benef c al to play the obl g ng court er, even
when you are not serv ng a master.

THE DELICATE GAME OF COURTIERSHIP: A

Warn ng

Talleyrand was the consummate court er, espec ally n serv ng h s

master Napoleon. When the two men were f rst gett ng to know each
other, Napoleon once sa d n pass ng, “I shall come to lunch at your
house one of these days.” Talleyrand had a house at Auteu l, n the
suburbs of Par s. “I should be del ghted, mon général,” the m n ster
repl ed, “and s nce my house s close to the Bo s de Boulogne, you
w ll be able to amuse yourself w th a b t of shoot ng n the afternoon.”
“I do not l ke shoot ng,” sa d Napoleon, “But I love hunt ng. Are
there any boars n the Bo s de Boulogne?” Napoleon came from
Cors ca, where boar hunt ng was a great sport. By ask ng f there
were boars n a Par s park, he showed h mself st ll a prov nc al,
almost a rube. Talleyrand d d not laugh, however, but he could not
res st a pract cal joke on the man who was now h s master n pol t cs,
although not n blood and nob l ty, s nce Talleyrand came from an old
ar stocrat c fam ly. To Napoleon’s quest on, then, he s mply repl ed,
“Very few, mon général, but I dare say you w ll manage to f nd one.”
It was arranged that Napoleon would arr ve at Talleyrand’s house
the follow ng day at seven A.M. and would spend the morn ng there.
The “boar hunt” would take place n the afternoon. Throughout the
morn ng the exc ted general talked noth ng but boar hunt ng.
Meanwh le, Talleyrand secretly had h s servants go to the market,
buy two enormous black p gs, and take them to the great park.
 After lunch, the hunters and the r hounds set off for the Bo s de
Boulogne. At a secret s gnal from Talleyrand, the servants loosed
one of the p gs. “I see a boar,” Napoleon cr ed joyfully, jump ng onto
h s horse to g ve chase. Talleyrand stayed beh nd. It took half an
hour of gallop ng through the park before the “boar” was f nally
captured. At the moment of tr umph, however, Napoleon was
approached by one of h s a des, who knew the creature could not
poss bly be a boar, and feared the general would be r d culed once
the story got out: “S r,” he told Napoleon, “you real ze of course that
th s s not a boar but a p g.”
Fly ng nto a rage, Napoleon mmed ately set off at a gallop for
Talleyrand’s house. He real zed along the way that he would now be
the butt of many a joke, and that explod ng at Talleyrand would only
make h m more r d culous; t would be better to make a show of good
humor. St ll, he d d not h de h s d spleasure well.
Talleyrand dec ded to try to soothe the general’s bru sed ego. He
told Napoleon not to go back to Par s yet—he should aga n go
hunt ng n the park. There were many rabb ts there, and hunt ng
them had been a favor te past me of Lou s XVI. Talleyrand even
offered to let Napoleon use a set of guns that had once belonged to
Lou s. W th much flattery and cajolery, he once aga n got Napoleon
to agree to a hunt.
The party left for the park n the late afternoon. Along the way,
Napoleon told Talleyrand, “I’m not Lou s XVI, I surely won’t k ll even
one rabb t.” Yet that afternoon, strangely enough, the park was
teem ng w th rabb ts. Napoleon k lled at least f fty of them, and h s
mood changed from anger to sat sfact on. At the end of h s w ld
shoot ng spree, however, the same a de approached h m and
wh spered n h s ear, “To tell the truth, s r, I am beg nn ng to bel eve
these are not w ld rabb ts. I suspect that rascal Talleyrand has played
another joke on us.” (The a de was r ght: Talleyrand had n fact sent
h s servants back to the market, where they had purchased dozens
of rabb ts and then had released them n the Bo s de Boulogne.)
Napoleon mmed ately mounted h s horse and galloped away, th s
t me return ng stra ght to Par s. He later threatened Talleyrand,
warned h m not to tell a soul what had happened; f he became the
laugh ngstock of Par s, there would be hell to pay.
It took months for Napoleon to be able to trust Talleyrand aga n,
and he never totally forgave h m h s hum l at on.

Interpretat on

Court ers are l ke mag c ans: They decept vely play w th

appearances, only lett ng those around them see what they want
them to see. W th so much decept on and man pulat on afoot, t s
essent al to keep people from see ng your tr cks and gl mps ng your
sle ght of hand.
Talleyrand was normally the Grand W zard of Court ersh p, and but
for Napoleon’s a de, he probably would have gotten away completely
w th both pleas ng h s master and hav ng a joke at the general’s
expense. But court ersh p s a subtle art, and overlooked traps and
nadvertent m stakes can ru n your best tr cks. Never r sk be ng
caught n your maneuvers; never let people see your dev ces. If that
happens you nstantly pass n people’s percept ons from a court er of
great manners to a loathsome rogue. It s a del cate game you play;
apply the utmost attent on to cover ng your tracks, and never let your
master unmask you.
 LAW 25

RE-CREATE YOURSELF

JUDGMENT
Do not accept the roles that soc ety fo sts on you. Re-create yourself
by forg ng a new dent ty, one that commands attent on and never
bores the aud ence. Be the master of your own mage rather than
lett ng others def ne t for you. Incorporate dramat c dev ces nto your
publ c gestures and act ons—your power w ll be enhanced and your
character w ll seem larger than l fe.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I

Jul us Caesar made h s f rst s gn f cant mark on Roman soc ety n 65

B.C., when he assumed the post of aed le, the off c al n charge of
gra n d str but on and publ c games. He began h s entrance nto the
publ c eye by organ z ng a ser es of carefully crafted and well-t med
spectacles—w ld-beast hunts, extravagant glad ator shows,
theatr cal contests. On several occas ons, he pa d for these
spectacles out of h s own pocket. To the common man, Jul us
Caesar became ndel bly assoc ated w th these much-loved events.
As he slowly rose to atta n the pos t on of consul, h s popular ty
among the masses served as the foundat on of h s power. He had
created an mage of h mself as a great publ c showman.
The man who ntends to make h s fortune n th s anc ent cap tal of
the world [Rome] must be a chameleon suscept ble of reflect ng the
colors of the atmosphere that surrounds h m—a Proteus apt to
assume every form, every shape. He must be supple, flex ble,
ns nuat ng, close, nscrutable, often base, somet mes s ncere,
somet mes perf d ous, always conceal ng a part of h s knowledge,
ndulg ng n but one tone of vo ce, pat ent, a perfect master of h s
own countenance, as cold as ce when any other man would be all
f re; and f unfortunately he s not rel g ous at heart—a very common
occurrence for a soul possess ng the above requ s tes-he must have
rel g on n h s m nd, that s to say, on h s face, on h s l ps, n h s
manners; he must suffer qu etly, f he be an honest man, the
necess ty of know ng h mself an arrant hypocr te. The man whose
soul would loathe such a l fe should leave Rome and seek h s
fortune elsewhere. I do not know whether I am pra s ng or excus ng
myself, but of all those qual t es I possessed but one—namely,
flex b l ty.
MEMOIRS, GIOVANNI CASANOVA, 1725-1798
In 49 B.C., Rome was on the br nk of a c v l war between r val
leaders, Caesar and Pompey. At the he ght of the tens on, Caesar,
an add ct of the stage, attended a theatr cal performance, and
afterward, lost n thought, he wandered n the darkness back to h s
camp at the Rub con, the r ver that d v des Italy from Gaul, where he
had been campa gn ng. To march h s army back nto Italy across the
Rub con would mean the beg nn ng of a war w th Pompey.
Before h s staff Caesar argued both s des, form ng the opt ons l ke
an actor on stage, a precursor of Hamlet. F nally, to put h s sol loquy
to an end, he po nted to a seem ngly nnocent appar t on at the edge
of the r ver—a very tall sold er blast ng a call on a trumpet, then
go ng across a br dge over the Rub con—and pronounced, “Let us
accept th s as a s gn from the Gods and follow where they beckon, n
vengeance on our double-deal ng enem es. The d e s cast.” All of
th s he spoke portentously and dramat cally, gestur ng toward the
r ver and look ng h s generals n the eye. He knew that these
generals were uncerta n n the r support, but h s oratory
overwhelmed them w th a sense of the drama of the moment, and of
the need to se ze the t me. A more prosa c speech would never have
had the same effect. The generals rall ed to h s cause; Caesar and
h s army crossed the Rub con and by the follow ng year had
vanqu shed Pompey, mak ng Caesar d ctator of Rome.
In warfare, Caesar always played the lead ng man w th gusto. He
was as sk lled a horseman as any of h s sold ers, and took pr de n
outdo ng them n feats of bravery and endurance. He entered battle
astr de the strongest mount, so that h s sold ers would see h m n the
th ck of battle, urg ng them on, always pos t on ng h mself n the
center, a godl ke symbol of power and a model for them to follow. Of
all the arm es n Rome, Caesar’s was the most devoted and loyal.
H s sold ers, l ke the common people who had attended h s
enterta nments, had come to dent fy w th h m and w th h s cause.
After the defeat of Pompey, the enterta nments grew n scale.
Noth ng l ke them had ever been seen n Rome. The char ot races
became more spectacular, the glad ator f ghts more dramat c, as
Caesar staged f ghts to the death among the Roman nob l ty. He
organ zed enormous mock naval battles on an art f c al lake. Plays
were performed n every Roman ward. A g ant new theater was bu lt
that sloped dramat cally down the Tarpe an Rock. Crowds from all
over the emp re flocked to these events, the roads to Rome l ned
w th v s tors’ tents. And n 45 B.C., t m ng h s entry nto the c ty for
max mum effect and surpr se, Caesar brought Cleopatra back to
Rome after h s Egypt an campa gn, and staged even more
extravagant publ c spectacles.
These events were more than dev ces to d vert the masses; they
dramat cally enhanced the publ c’s sense of Caesar’s character, and
made h m seem larger than l fe. Caesar was the master of h s publ c
mage, of wh ch he was forever aware. When he appeared before
crowds he wore the most spectacular purple robes. He would be
upstaged by no one. He was notor ously va n about h s appearance
— t was sa d that one reason he enjoyed be ng honored by the
Senate and people was that on these occas ons he could wear a
laurel wreath, h d ng h s baldness. Caesar was a masterful orator. He
knew how to say a lot by say ng a l ttle, ntu ted the moment to end a
speech for max mum effect. He never fa led to ncorporate a surpr se
 nto h s publ c appearances—a startl ng announcement that would
he ghten the r drama.
Immensely popular among the Roman people, Caesar was hated
and feared by h s r vals. On the des of March—March 15— n the
year 44 B.C., a group of consp rators led by Brutus and Cass us
surrounded h m n the senate and stabbed h m to death. Even dy ng,
however, he kept h s sense of drama. Draw ng the top of h s gown
over h s face, he let go of the cloth’s lower part so that t draped h s
legs, allow ng h m to d e covered and decent. Accord ng to the
Roman h stor an Sueton us, h s f nal words to h s old fr end Brutus,
who was about to del ver a second blow, were n Greek, and as f
rehearsed for the end of a play: “You too, my ch ld?”

Interpretat on

The Roman theater was an event for the masses, attended by

crowds un mag nable today. Packed nto enormous aud tor ums, the
aud ence would be amused by raucous comedy or moved by h gh
tragedy. Theater seemed to conta n the essence of l fe, n ts
concentrated, dramat c form. L ke a rel g ous r tual, t had a powerful,
nstant appeal to the common man.
Jul us Caesar was perhaps the f rst publ c f gure to understand the
v tal l nk between power and theater. Th s was because of h s own
obsess ve nterest n drama. He subl mated th s nterest by mak ng
h mself an actor and d rector on the world stage. He sa d h s l nes as
f they had been scr pted; he gestured and moved through a crowd
w th a constant sense of how he appeared to h s aud ence. He
ncorporated surpr se nto h s reperto re, bu ld ng drama nto h s
speeches, stag ng nto h s publ c appearances. H s gestures were
broad enough for the common man to grasp them nstantly. He
became mmensely popular.
Caesar set the deal for all leaders and people of power. L ke h m,
you must learn to enlarge your act ons through dramat c techn ques
such as surpr se, suspense, the creat on of sympathy, and symbol c
dent f cat on. Also l ke h m, you must be constantly aware of your
aud ence—of what w ll please them and what w ll bore them. You
must arrange to place yourself at the center, to command attent on,
and never to be upstaged at any cost.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II

In the year 1831, a young woman named Aurore Dup n Dudevant left
her husband and fam ly n the prov nces and moved to Par s. She
wanted to be a wr ter; marr age, she felt, was worse than pr son, for
t left her ne ther the t me nor the freedom to pursue her pass on. In
Par s she would establ sh her ndependence and make her l v ng by
wr t ng.
Soon after Dudevant arr ved n the cap tal, however, she had to
confront certa n harsh real t es. To have any degree of freedom n
Par s you had to have money. For a woman, money could only come
through marr age or prost tut on. No woman had ever come close to
mak ng a l v ng by wr t ng. Women wrote as a hobby, supported by
the r husbands, or by an nher tance. In fact when Dudevant f rst
showed her wr t ng to an ed tor, he told her, “You should make
bab es, Madame, not l terature.”
Clearly Dudevant had come to Par s to attempt the mposs ble. In
the end, though, she came up w th a strategy to do what no woman
had ever done—a strategy to re-create herself completely, forg ng a
publ c mage of her own mak ng. Women wr ters before her had
been forced nto a ready-made role, that of the second-rate art st
who wrote mostly for other women. Dudevant dec ded that f she had
to play a role, she would turn the game around: She would play the
part of a man.
In 1832 a publ sher accepted Dudevant’s f rst major novel,
Ind ana. She had chosen to publ sh t under a pseudonym, “George
Sand,” and all of Par s assumed th s mpress ve new wr ter was
male. Dudevant had somet mes worn men’s clothes before creat ng
“George Sand” (she had always found men’s sh rts and r d ng
breeches more comfortable); now, as a publ c f gure, she
exaggerated the mage. She added long men’s coats, gray hats,
heavy boots, and dandy sh cravats to her wardrobe. She smoked
c gars and n conversat on expressed herself l ke a man, unafra d to
dom nate the conversat on or to use a saucy word.
Th s strange “male/female” wr ter fasc nated the publ c. And unl ke
other women wr ters, Sand found herself accepted nto the cl que of
male art sts. She drank and smoked w th them, even carr ed on
affa rs w th the most famous art sts of Europe—Musset, L szt,
Chop n. It was she who d d the woo ng, and also the abandon ng—
she moved on at her d scret on.
Those who knew Sand well understood that her male persona
protected her from the publ c’s pry ng eyes. Out n the world, she
enjoyed play ng the part to the extreme; n pr vate she rema ned
herself. She also real zed that the character of “George Sand” could
grow stale or pred ctable, and to avo d th s she would every now and
then dramat cally alter the character she had created; nstead of
conduct ng affa rs w th famous men, she would beg n meddl ng n
pol t cs, lead ng demonstrat ons, nsp r ng student rebell ons. No one
would d ctate to her the l m ts of the character she had created. Long
after she d ed, and after most people had stopped read ng her
novels, the larger-than-l fe theatr cal ty of that character has
cont nued to fasc nate and nsp re.

Interpretat on

Throughout Sand’s publ c l fe, acqua ntances and other art sts who
spent t me n her company had the feel ng they were n the presence
of a man. But n her journals and to her closest fr ends, such as
Gustave Flaubert, she confessed that she had no des re to be a
man, but was play ng a part for publ c consumpt on. What she really
wanted was the power to determ ne her own character. She refused
the l m ts her soc ety would have set on her. She d d not atta n her
power, however, by be ng herself; nstead she created a persona that
she could constantly adapt to her own des res, a persona that
attracted attent on and gave her presence.
Understand th s: The world wants to ass gn you a role n l fe. And
once you accept that role you are doomed. Your power s l m ted to
the t ny amount allotted to the role you have selected or have been
forced to assume. An actor, on the other hand, plays many roles.
Enjoy that protean power, and f t s beyond you, at least forge a
new dent ty, one of your own mak ng, one that has had no
boundar es ass gned to t by an env ous and resentful world. Th s act
of def ance s Promethean: It makes you respons ble for your own
creat on.
Your new dent ty w ll protect you from the world prec sely because
t s not “you”; t s a costume you put on and take off. You need not
take t personally. And your new dent ty sets you apart, g ves you
theatr cal presence. Those n the back rows can see you and hear
you. Those n the front rows marvel at your audac ty.
Do not people talk n soc ety of a man be ng a great actor? They do
not mean by
that that he feels, but that he excels n s mulat ng, though he feels
noth ng.
Den s D derot, 1713-1784

KEYS TO POWER

The character you seem to have been born w th s not necessar ly

who you are; beyond the character st cs you have nher ted, your
parents, your fr ends, and your peers have helped to shape your
personal ty. The Promethean task of the powerful s to take control of
the process, to stop allow ng others that ab l ty to l m t and mold
them. Remake yourself nto a character of power. Work ng on
yourself l ke clay should be one of your greatest and most
pleasurable l fe tasks. It makes you n essence an art st—an art st
creat ng yourself.
 In fact, the dea of self-creat on comes from the world of art. For
thousands of years, only k ngs and the h ghest court ers had the
freedom to shape the r publ c mage and determ ne the r own
dent ty. S m larly, only k ngs and the wealth est lords could
contemplate the r own mage n art, and consc ously alter t. The rest
of mank nd played the l m ted role that soc ety demanded of them,
and had l ttle self-consc ousness.
A sh ft n th s cond t on can be detected n Velázquez’s pa nt ng
Las Men nas, made n 1656. The art st appears at the left of the
canvas, stand ng before a pa nt ng that he s n the process of
creat ng, but that has ts back to us—we cannot see t. Bes de h m
stands a pr ncess, her attendants, and one of the court dwarves, all
watch ng h m work. The people pos ng for the pa nt ng are not
d rectly v s ble, but we can see them n t ny reflect ons n a m rror on
the back wall—the k ng and queen of Spa n, who must be s tt ng
somewhere n the foreground, outs de the p cture.
The pa nt ng represents a dramat c change n the dynam cs of
power and the ab l ty to determ ne one’s own pos t on n soc ety. For
Velázquez, the art st, s far more prom nently pos t oned than the
k ng and queen. In a sense he s more powerful than they are, s nce
he s clearly the one controll ng the mage—the r mage. Velázquez
no longer saw h mself as the slav sh, dependent art st. He had
remade h mself nto a man of power. And ndeed the f rst people
other than ar stocrats to play openly w th the r mage n Western
soc ety were art sts and wr ters, and later on dand es and
bohem ans. Today the concept of self-creat on has slowly f ltered
down to the rest of soc ety, and has become an deal to asp re to.
L ke Velazquez, you must demand for yourself the power to
determ ne your pos t on n the pa nt ng, and to create your own
mage.
The f rst step n the process of self-creat on s self-consc ousness
—be ng aware of yourself as an actor and tak ng control of your
appearance and emot ons. As D derot sa d, the bad actor s the one
who s always s ncere. People who wear the r hearts on the r sleeves
out n soc ety are t resome and embarrass ng. The r s ncer ty
notw thstand ng, t s hard to take them ser ously. Those who cry n
publ c may temporar ly el c t sympathy, but sympathy soon turns to
scorn and rr tat on at the r self obsess veness—they are cry ng to
get attent on, we feel, and a mal c ous part of us wants to deny them
the sat sfact on.
Good actors control themselves better. They can play s ncere and
heartfelt, can affect a tear and a compass onate look at w ll, but they
don’t have to feel t. They external ze emot on n a form that others
can understand. Method act ng s fatal n the real world. No ruler or
leader could poss bly play the part f all of the emot ons he showed
had to be real. So learn self-control. Adopt the plast c ty of the actor,
who can mold h s or her face to the emot on requ red.
The second step n the process of self-creat on s a var at on on
the George Sand strategy: the creat on of a memorable character,
one that compels attent on, that stands out above the other players
on the stage. Th s was the game Abraham L ncoln played. The
homespun, common country man, he knew, was a k nd of pres dent
that Amer ca had never had but would del ght n elect ng. Although
many of these qual t es came naturally to h m, he played them up—
the hat and clothes, the beard. (No pres dent before h m had worn a
beard.) L ncoln was also the f rst pres dent to use photographs to
spread h s mage, help ng to create the con of the “homespun
pres dent.”
Good drama, however, needs more than an nterest ng
appearance, or a s ngle stand-out moment. Drama takes place over
t me— t s an unfold ng event. Rhythm and t m ng are cr t cal. One of
the most mportant elements n the rhythm of drama s suspense.
Houd n for nstance, could somet mes complete h s escape acts n
seconds—but he drew them out to m nutes, to make the aud ence
sweat.
The key to keep ng the aud ence on the edge of the r seats s
lett ng events unfold slowly, then speed ng them up at the r ght
moment, accord ng to a pattern and tempo that you control. Great
rulers from Napoleon to Mao Tse-tung have used theatr cal t m ng to
surpr se and d vert the r publ c. Frankl n Delano Roosevelt
understood the mportance of stag ng pol t cal events n a part cular
order and rhythm.
 At the t me of h s 1932 pres dent al elect on, the Un ted States was
n the m dst of a d re econom c cr s s. Banks were fa l ng at an
alarm ng rate. Shortly after w nn ng the elect on, Roosevelt went nto
a k nd of retreat. He sa d noth ng about h s plans or h s cab net
appo ntments. He even refused to meet the s tt ng pres dent, Herbert
Hoover, to d scuss the trans t on. By the t me of Roosevelt’s
naugurat on the country was n a state of h gh anx ety.
In h s naugural address, Roosevelt sh fted gears. He made a
powerful speech, mak ng t clear that he ntended to lead the country
n a completely new d rect on, sweep ng away the t m d gestures of
h s predecessors. From then on the pace of h s speeches and publ c
dec s ons—cab net appo ntments, bold leg slat on—unfolded at an
ncred bly rap d rate. The per od after the naugurat on became
known as the “Hundred Days,” and ts success n alter ng the
country’s mood partly stemmed from Roosevelt’s clever pac ng and
use of dramat c contrast. He held h s aud ence n suspense, then h t
them w th a ser es of bold gestures that seemed all the more
momentous because they came from nowhere. You must learn to
orchestrate events n a s m lar manner, never reveal ng all your cards
at once, but unfold ng them n a way that he ghtens the r dramat c
effect.
Bes des cover ng a mult tude of s ns, good drama can also
confuse and dece ve your enemy. Dur ng World War II, the German
playwr ght Bertolt Brecht worked n Hollywood as a screenwr ter.
After the war he was called before the House Comm ttee on Un-
Amer can Act v t es for h s supposed Commun st sympath es. Other
wr ters who had been called to test fy planned to hum l ate the
comm ttee members w th an angry emot onal stand. Brecht was
w ser: He would play the comm ttee l ke a v ol n, charm ng them
wh le fool ng them as well. He carefully rehearsed h s responses,
and brought along some props, notably a c gar on wh ch he puffed
away, know ng the head of the comm ttee l ked c gars. And ndeed
he proceeded to begu le the comm ttee w th well-crafted responses
that were amb guous, funny, and double-edged. Instead of an angry,
heartfelt t rade, he ran c rcles around them w th a staged product on,
and they let h m off scot-free.
 Other dramat c effects for your reperto re nclude the beau geste,
an act on at a cl mact c moment that symbol zes your tr umph or your
boldness. Caesar’s dramat c cross ng of the Rub con was a beau
geste—a move that dazzled the sold ers and gave h m hero c
proport ons. You must also apprec ate the mportance of stage
entrances and ex ts. When Cleopatra f rst met Caesar n Egypt, she
arr ved rolled up n a carpet, wh ch she arranged to have unfurled at
h s feet. George Wash ngton tw ce left power w th flour sh and
fanfare (f rst as a general, then as a pres dent who refused to s t for
a th rd term), show ng he knew how to make the moment count,
dramat cally and symbol cally. Your own entrances and ex ts should
be crafted and planned as carefully.
Remember that overact ng can be counterproduct ve— t s another
way of spend ng too much effort try ng to attract attent on. The actor
R chard Burton d scovered early n h s career that by stand ng totally
st ll onstage, he drew attent on to h mself and away from the other
actors. It s less what you do that matters, clearly, than how you do t
—your gracefulness and mpos ng st llness on the soc al stage count
for more than overdo ng your part and mov ng around too much.
F nally: Learn to play many roles, to be whatever the moment
requ res. Adapt your mask to the s tuat on—be protean n the faces
you wear. B smarck played th s game to perfect on: To a l beral he
was a l beral, to a hawk he was a hawk. He could not be grasped,
and what cannot be grasped cannot be consumed.
Image:
The Greek Sea-God Proteus.
H s power came from h s ab l ty to
change shape at w ll, to be whatever the
moment requ red. When Menelaus, brother
of Agamemnon, tr ed to se ze h m, Proteus
transformed h mself nto a l on, then a serpent, a
panther, a boar, runn ng water, and f nally a leafy tree.
Author ty: Know how to be all th ngs to all men. A d screet Proteus—
a scholar among scholars, a sa nt among sa nts. That s the art of
w nn ng over everyone, for l ke attracts l ke. Take note of
temperaments and adapt yourself to that of each person you meet—
follow the lead of the ser ous and jov al n turn, chang ng your mood
d screetly. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

There can really be no reversal to th s cr t cal law: Bad theater s bad

theater. Even appear ng natural requ res art— n other words, act ng.
Bad act ng only creates embarrassment. Of course you should not
be too dramat c—avo d the h str on c gesture. But that s s mply bad
theater anyway, s nce t v olates centur es-old dramat c laws aga nst
overact ng. In essence there s no reversal to th s law.
 LAW 26

KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN

JUDGMENT
You must seem a paragon of c v l ty and eff c ency: Your hands are
never so led by m stakes and nasty deeds. Ma nta n such a spotless
appearance by us ng others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to
d sgu se your nvolvement.
 PART I: CONCEAL YOUR MISTAKES—HAVE A
SCAPEGOAT AROUND TO TAKE THE BLAME

Our good name and reputat on depend more on what we conceal

than on what we reveal. Everyone makes m stakes, but those who
are truly clever manage to h de them, and to make sure someone
else s blamed. A conven ent scapegoat should always be kept
around for such moments.

(III 1.\I, l .II ,1”/( F

A great calam ty befell the town of Chelm one day. The town cobbler
murdered one of h s customers. So he was brought before the judge,
who sentenced h m to d e by hang ng. When the verd ct was read a
townsman arose and cr ed out, “If your Honor pleases—you have
sentenced to death the town cobbler! He’s the only one we’ve got. lf
you hang h m who w ll mend our shoes?” “Who? Who?” cr ed all the
people of Chelm w th one vo ce.
The judge nodded n agreement and recons dered h s verd ct. “Good
people of Chelm,”he sa d, “what you say s true. S nce we have only
one cobbler t would he a great wrong aga nst the commun ty to let
h m d e. As there are two roofers n the town let one of them be
hanged nstead.”

A TREASURY OF JEWISH FOLKLORE, NATHAN AUSUBEL, ED..

1948

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I

Near the end of the second century A.D., as Ch na’s m ghty Han
Emp re slowly collapsed, the great general and mper al m n ster
Ts‘ao Ts’ao emerged as the most powerful man n the country.
Seek ng to extend h s power base and to r d h mself of the last of h s
r vals, Ts‘ao Ts’ao began a campa gn to take control of the
strateg cally v tal Central Pla n. Dur ng the s ege of a key c ty, he
sl ghtly m scalculated the t m ng for suppl es of gra n to arr ve from
the cap tal. As he wa ted for the sh pment to come n, the army ran
low on food, and Ts‘ao Ts’ao was forced to order the ch ef of
comm ssar at to reduce ts rat ons.
Ts‘ao Ts’ao kept a t ght re n on the army, and ran a network of
nformers. H s sp es soon reported that the men were compla n ng,
grumbl ng that he was l v ng well wh le they themselves had barely
enough to eat. Perhaps Ts‘ao Ts’ao was keep ng the food for h mself,
they murmured. If the grumbl ng spread, Ts‘ao Ts’ao could have a
mut ny on h s hands. He summoned the ch ef of comm ssar at to h s
tent.
“I want to ask you to lend me someth ng, and you must not
refuse,” Ts‘ao Ts’ao told the ch ef. “What s t?” the ch ef repl ed. “I
want the loan of your head to show to the troops,” sa d Ts‘ao Ts’ao.
“But I’ve done noth ng wrong!” cr ed the ch ef. “I know,” sa d Ts‘ao
Ts’ao w th a s gh, “but f I do not put you to death, there w ll be a
mut ny. Do not gr eve—after you’re gone, I’ll look after your fam ly.”
Put th s way, the request left the ch ef no cho ce, so he res gned
h mself to h s fate and was beheaded that very day. See ng h s head
on publ c d splay, the sold ers stopped grumbl ng. Some saw through
Ts‘ao Ts’ao’s gesture, but kept qu et, stunned and nt m dated by h s
v olence. And most accepted h s vers on of who was to blame,
preferr ng to bel eve n h s w sdom and fa rness than n h s
ncompetence and cruelty.

Interpretat on

Ts‘ao Ts’ao came to power n an extremely tumultuous t me. In the

struggle for supremacy n the crumbl ng Han Emp re, enem es had
emerged from all s des. The battle for the Central Pla n had proven
more d ff cult than he mag ned, and money and prov s ons were a
constant concern. No wonder that under such stress, he had
forgotten to order suppl es n t me.
Once t became clear that the delay was a cr t cal m stake, and
that the army was seeth ng w th mut ny, Ts‘ao Ts’ao had two opt ons:
apology and excuses, or a scapegoat. Understand ng the work ngs
of power and the mportance of appearances as he d d, Ts‘ao Ts’ao
d d not hes tate for a moment: He shopped around for the most
conven ent head and had t served up mmed ately.
Occas onal m stakes are nev table—the world s just too
unpred ctable. People of power, however, are undone not by the
m stakes they make, but by the way they deal w th them. L ke
surgeons, they must cut away the tumor w th speed and f nal ty.
Excuses and apolog es are much too blunt tools for th s del cate
operat on; the powerful avo d them. By apolog z ng you open up all
sorts of doubts about your competence, your ntent ons, any other
m stakes you may not have confessed. Excuses sat sfy no one and
apolog es make everyone uncomfortable. The m stake does not
van sh w th an apology; t deepens and festers. Better to cut t off
nstantly, d stract attent on from yourself, and focus attent on on a
conven ent scapegoat before people have t me to ponder your
respons b l ty or your poss ble ncompetence.
I would rather betray the whole world than let the world betray me.
General Ts‘ao Ts’ao, c. A.D. 155-220

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II

For several years Cesare Borg a campa gned to ga n control of large

parts of Italy n the name of h s father, Pope Alexander. In the year
1500 he managed to take Romagna, n northern Italy. The reg on
had for years been ruled by a ser es of greedy masters who had
plundered ts wealth for themselves. W thout pol ce or any
d sc pl n ng force, t had descended nto lawlessness, whole areas
be ng ruled by robbers and feud ng fam l es. To establ sh order,
Cesare appo nted a l eutenant general of the reg on—Rem rro de
Orco, “a cruel and v gorous man,” accord ng to N ccolõ Mach avell .
Cesare gave de Orco absolute powers.
W th energy and v olence, de Orco establ shed a severe, brutal
just ce n Romagna, and soon r d t of almost all of ts lawless
elements. But n h s zeal he somet mes went too far, and after a
couple of years the local populat on resented and even hated h m. In
December of 1502, Cesare took dec s ve act on. He f rst let t be
known that he had not approved of de Orco’s cruel and v olent
deeds, wh ch stemmed from the l eutenant’s brutal nature. Then, on
December 22, he mpr soned de Orco n the town of Cesena, and the
day after Chr stmas the townspeople awoke to f nd a strange
spectacle n the m ddle of the p azza: de Orco’s headless body,
dressed n a lav sh su t w th a purple cape, the head mpaled bes de
t on a p ke, the bloody kn fe and execut oner’s block la d out bes de
the head. As Mach avell concluded h s comments on the affa r, “The
feroc ty of th s scene left the people at once stunned and sat sf ed.”

Interpretat on

Cesare Borg a was a master player n the game of power. Always

plann ng several moves ahead, he set h s opponents the cleverest
traps. For th s Mach avell honored h m above all others n The
Pr nce.
Cesare foresaw the future w th amaz ng clar ty n Romagna: Only
brutal just ce would br ng order to the reg on. The process would
take several years, and at f rst the people would welcome t. But t
would soon make many enem es, and the c t zens would come to
resent the mpos t on of such unforg v ng just ce, espec ally by
outs ders. Cesare h mself, then, could not be seen as the agent of
th s just ce—the people’s hatred would cause too many problems n
the future. And so he chose the one man who could do the d rty
work, know ng n advance that once the task was done he would
have to d splay de Orco’s head on a p ke. The scapegoat n th s case
had been planned from the beg nn ng.
W th Ts‘ao Ts’ao, the scapegoat was an ent rely nnocent man; n
the Romagna, he was the offens ve weapon n Cesare’s arsenal that
let h m get the d rty work done w thout bloody ng h s own hands.
W th th s second k nd of scapegoat t s w se to separate yourself
from the hatchet man at some po nt, e ther leav ng h m dangl ng n
the w nd or, l ke Cesare, even mak ng yourself the one to br ng h m
to just ce. Not only are you free of nvolvement n the problem, you
can appear as the one who cleaned t up.
The Athen ans regularly ma nta ned a number of degraded and
useless
be ngs at the publ c expense; and when any calam ty, such as
plague,
drought, or fam ne, befell the c ty ... [these scapegoats] were led
about ...
and then sacr f ced, apparently by be ng stoned outs de the c ty.
The Golden Bough, S r James George Frazer, 1854-1941

KEYS TO POWER

The use of scapegoats s as old as c v l zat on tself, and examples of

t can be found n cultures around the world. The ma n dea beh nd
these sacr f ces s the sh ft ng of gu lt and s n to an outs de f gure—
object, an mal, or man—wh ch s then ban shed or destroyed. The
Hebrews used to take a l ve goat (hence the term “scapegoat”) upon
whose head the pr est would lay both hands wh le confess ng the
s ns of the Ch ldren of Israel. Hav ng thus had those s ns transferred
to t, the beast would be led away and abandoned n the w lderness.
W th the Athen ans and the Aztecs, the scapegoat was human, often
a person fed and ra sed for the purpose. S nce fam ne and plague
were thought to be v s ted on humans by the gods, n pun shment for
wrongdo ng, the people suffered not only from the fam ne and plague
themselves but from blame and gu lt. They freed themselves of gu lt
by transferr ng t to an nnocent person, whose death was ntended
to sat sfy the d v ne powers and ban sh the ev l from the r m dst.
It s an extremely human response to not look nward after a
m stake or cr me, but rather to look outward and to aff x blame and
gu lt on a conven ent object. When the plague was ravag ng Thebes,
Oed pus looked everywhere for ts cause, everywhere except ns de
h mself and h s own s n of ncest, wh ch had so offended the gods
and occas oned the plague. Th s profound need to exter or ze one’s
gu lt, to project t on another person or object, has an mmense
power, wh ch the clever know how to harness. Sacr f ce s a r tual,
perhaps the most anc ent r tual of all; r tual too s a well-spr ng of
power. In the k ll ng of de Orco, note Cesare’s symbol c and r tual st c
d splay of h s body. By fram ng t n th s dramat c way he focused
gu lt outward. The c t zens of Romagna responded nstantly.
Because t comes so naturally to us to look outward rather than
nward, we read ly accept the scapegoat’s gu lt.
The bloody sacr f ce of the scapegoat seems a barbar c rel c of the
past, but the pract ce l ves on to th s day, f nd rectly and
symbol cally; s nce power depends on appearances, and those n
power must seem never to make m stakes, the use of scapegoats s
as popular as ever. What modem leader w ll take respons b l ty for
h s blunders? He searches out others to blame, a scapegoat to
sacr f ce. When Mao Tse-tung’s Cultural Revolut on fa led m serably,
he made no apolog es or excuses to the Ch nese people; nstead,
l ke Ts‘ao Ts’ao before h m, he offered up scapegoats, nclud ng h s
own personal secretary and h gh-rank ng member of the Party, Ch’en
Po-ta.
Frankl n D. Roosevelt had a reputat on for honesty and fa rness.
Throughout h s career, however, he faced many s tuat ons n wh ch
be ng the n ce guy would have spelled pol t cal d saster—yet he
could not be seen as the agent of any foul play. For twenty years,
then, h s secretary, Lou s Howe, played the role de Orco had. He
handled the backroom deals, the man pulat on of the press, the
underhanded campa gn maneuvers. And whenever a m stake was
comm tted, or a d rty tr ck contrad ct ng Roosevelt’s carefully crafted
 mage became publ c, Howe served as the scapegoat, and never
compla ned.
Bes des conven ently sh ft ng blame, a scapegoat can serve as a
warn ng to others. In 1631 a plot was hatched to oust France’s
Card nal R chel eu from power, a plot that became known as “The
Day of the Dupes.” It almost succeeded, s nce t nvolved the upper
echelons of government, nclud ng the queen mother. But through
luck and h s own conn vances, R chel eu surv ved.
One of the key consp rators was a man named Mar llac, the
keeper of the seals. R chel eu could not mpr son h m w thout
mpl cat ng the queen mother, an extremely dangerous tact c, so he
targeted Mar llac’s brother, a marshal n the army. Th s man had no
nvolvement n the plot. R chel eu, however, afra d that other
consp rac es m ght be n the a r, espec ally n the army, dec ded to
set an example. He tr ed the brother on trumped-up charges and had
h m executed. In th s way he nd rectly pun shed the real perpetrator,
who had thought h mself protected, and warned any future
consp rators that he would not shr nk from sacr f c ng the nnocent to
protect h s own power.
In fact t s often w se to choose the most nnocent v ct m poss ble
as a sacr f c al goat. Such people w ll not be powerful enough to f ght
you, and the r na ve protests may be seen as protest ng too much—
may be seen, n other words, as a s gn of the r gu lt. Be careful,
however, not to create a martyr. It s mportant that you rema n the
v ct m, the poor leader betrayed by the ncompetence of those
around you. If the scapegoat appears too weak and h s pun shment
too cruel, you may end up the v ct m of your own dev ce. Somet mes
you should f nd a more powerful scapegoat—one who w ll el c t less
sympathy n the long run.
In th s ve n, h story has t me and aga n shown the value of us ng a
close assoc ate as a scapegoat. Th s s known as the “fall of the
favor te.” Most k ngs had a personal favor te at court, a man whom
they s ngled out, somet mes for no apparent reason, and lav shed
w th favors and attent on. But th s court favor te could serve as a
conven ent scapegoat n case of a threat to the k ng’s reputat on.
The publ c would read ly bel eve n the scapegoat’s gu lt—why would
the k ng sacr f ce h s favor te unless he were gu lty? And the other
court ers, resentful of the favor te anyway, would rejo ce at h s
downfall. The k ng, meanwh le, would r d h mself of a man who by
that t me had probably learned too much about h m, perhaps
becom ng arrogant and even d sda nful of h m. Choos ng a close
assoc ate as a scapegoat has the same value as the “fall of the
favor te.” You may lose a fr end or a de, but n the long-term scheme
of th ngs, t s more mportant to h de your m stakes than to hold on
to someone who one day w ll probably turn aga nst you. Bes des,
you can always f nd a new favor te to take h s place.
Image: The Innocent Goat. On
the Day of Atonement, the h gh
pr est br ngs the goat nto the
temple, places h s hands on ts
head, and confesses the peo
ple’s s ns, transferr ng gu lt to
the gu ltless beast, wh ch s
then led to the w lderness and
abandoned, the people’s s ns
and blame van sh ng w th h m.

Author ty: Folly cons sts not n comm tt ng Folly, but n be ng

ncapable of conceal ng t. All men make m stakes, but the w se
conceal the blunders they have made, wh le fools make them publ c.
Reputat on depends more on what s h dden than on what s seen. If
you can’t be good, be careful. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)
 PART II: MAKE USE OF THE CAT’S-PAW

In the fable, the Monkey grabs the paw of h s fr end, the Cat, and
uses t to f sh chestnuts out of the f re, thus gett ng the nuts he
craves, w thout hurt ng h mself.
If there s someth ng unpleasant or unpopular that needs to be
done, t s far too r sky for you to do the work yourself. You need a
cat‘s-paw-someone who does the d rty, dangerous work for you. The
cat’s-paw grabs what you need, hurts whom you need hurt, and
keeps people from not c ng that you are the one respons ble. Let
someone else be the execut oner, or the bearer of bad news, wh le
you br ng only joy and glad t d ngs.
THE MONKEY AND THE CAT
A monkey and cat, n roguery and fun Sworn brothers twa n, both
owned a common master, Whatever m sch ef n the house was done
By Pug and Tom was contr ved each d saster.... One w nter’s day
was seen th s hopeful pa r Close to the k tchen f re, as usual, posted.
Amongst the red-hot coals the cook w th care Had plac’d some n ce
plump chestnuts to be roasted, From whence n smoke a pungent
odor rose, Whose o ly fragrance struck the monkey’s nose. “Tom!”
says sly Pug, “pray could not you and I Share th s dessert the cook
s pleased to cater? Had I such claws as yours, I’d qu ckly try: Lend
me a hand—’tw ll be a coup-de-maître.” So sa d, he se zed h s
colleague’s ready paw, Pulled out the fru t, and crammed t n h s jaw.
Now came the sh n ng M stress of the fane. And off n haste the two
marauders scampered.
Tom for h s share of the plunder had the pa n.
Wh lst Pug h s palate w th the da nt es pampered.
FABLES, JEAN OF LA FONTAINE. 1621-1695
 OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I

In 59 B.C., the future queen Cleopatra of Egypt, then ten years old,
w tnessed the overthrow and ban shment of her father, Ptolemy XII,
at the hand of h s elder daughters—her own s sters. One of the
daughters, Beren ce, emerged as the leader of the rebell on, and to
ensure that she would now rule Egypt alone, she mpr soned her
other s sters and murdered her own husband. Th s may have been
necessary as a pract cal step to secure her rule. But that a member
of the royal fam ly, a queen no less, would so overtly exact such
v olence on her own fam ly horr f ed her subjects and st rred up
powerful oppos t on. Four years later th s oppos t on was able to
return Ptolemy to power, and he promptly had Beren ce and the
other elder s sters beheaded.
In 51 B.C. Ptolemy d ed, leav ng four rema n ng ch ldren as he rs.
As was the trad t on n Egypt, the eldest son, Ptolemy XIII (only ten
at the t me), marr ed the elder s ster, Cleopatra (now e ghteen), and
the couple took the throne together as k ng and queen. None of the
four ch ldren felt sat sf ed w th th s; everyone, nclud ng Cleopatra,
wanted more power. A struggle emerged between Cleopatra and
Ptolemy, each try ng to push the other to the s de.
In 48 B.C., w th the help of a government fact on that feared
Cleopatra’s amb t ons, Ptolemy was able to force h s s ster to flee the
country, leav ng h mself as sole ruler. In ex le, Cleopatra schemed.
She wanted to rule alone and to restore Egypt to ts past glory, a
goal she felt none of her other s bl ngs could ach eve; yet as long as
they were al ve, she could not real ze her dream. And the example of
Beren ce had made t clear that no one would serve a queen who
was seen murder ng her own k nd. Even Ptolemy XIII had not dared
murder Cleopatra, although he knew she would plot aga nst h m from
abroad.
W th n a year after Cleopatra’s ban shment, the Roman d ctator
Jul us Caesar arr ved n Egypt, determ ned to make the country a
Roman colony. Cleopatra saw her chance: Reenter ng Egypt n
d sgu se, she traveled hundreds of m les to reach Caesar n
Alexandr a. Legend has t that she had herself smuggled nto h s
presence rolled up ns de a carpet, wh ch was gracefully unfurled at
h s feet, reveal ng the young queen. Cleopatra mmed ately went to
work on the Roman. She appealed to h s love of spectacle and h s
nterest n Egypt an h story, and poured on her fem n ne charms.
Caesar soon succumbed and restored Cleopatra to the throne.
Cleopatra’s s bl ngs seethed—she had outmaneuvered them.
Ptolemy XIII would not wa t to see what happened next: From h s
palace n Alexandr a, he summoned a great army to march on the
c ty and attack Caesar. In response, Caesar mmed ately put
Ptolemy and the rest of the fam ly under house arrest. But
Cleopatra’s younger s ster Ars noe escaped from the palace and
placed herself at the head of the approach ng Egypt an troops,
procla m ng herself queen of Egypt. Now Cleopatra f nally saw her
chance: She conv nced Caesar to release Ptolemy from house
arrest, under the agreement that he would broker a truce. Of course
she knew he would do the oppos te—that he would f ght Ars noe for
control of the Egypt an army. But th s was to Cleopatra’s benef t, for t
would d v de the royal fam ly. Better st ll, t would g ve Caesar the
chance to defeat and k ll her s bl ngs n battle.
Re nforced by troops from Rome, Caesar sw ftly defeated the
rebels. In the Egypt ans’ retreat, Ptolemy drowned n the N le.
Caesar captured Ars noe and had her sent to Rome as a pr soner.
He also executed the numerous enem es who had consp red aga nst
Cleopatra, and mpr soned others who had opposed her. To re nforce
her pos t on as uncontested queen, Cleopatra now marr ed the only
s bl ng left, Ptolemy XIV—only eleven at the t me, and the weakest of
the lot. Four years later Ptolemy myster ously d ed, of po son.
In 41 B.C., Cleopatra employed on a second Roman leader, Marc
Antony, the same tact cs she had used so well on Jul us Caesar.
After seduc ng h m, she h nted to h m that her s ster Ars noe, st ll a
pr soner n Rome, had consp red to destroy h m. Marc Antony
bel eved her and promptly had Ars noe executed, thereby gett ng r d
of the last of the s bl ngs who had posed such a threat to Cleopatra.

IIII ( ROW COBRA AND

Once upon a t me there was a crow and h s w fe who had bu lt a nest
n a banyan tree. A b g snake crawled nto the hollow trunk and ate
up the ch cks as they were hatched. The crow d d not want to move,
s nce he loved the tree dearly. So he went to h s fr end the jackal for
adv ce. A plan of act on was dev sed. The crow and h s w fe flew
about n mplementat on.
As the w fe approached a pond, she saw the women of the k ng’s
court bath ng, w th pearls, necklaces, gems, garments, and a golden
cha n lay ng on the shore. The crow-hen se zed the golden cha n n
her beak and flew toward the banyan tree w th the eunuchs n
pursu t. When she reached the tree, she dropped the cha n nto the
hole. As the k ngs’ men cl mbed the tree for the cha n, they saw the
swell ng hood of the cobra. So they k lled the snake w th the r clubs,
retr eved the golden cha n, and went back to the pond. And the crow
and h s w fe l ved happ ly ever after.
A TALE FROM THE PANCHATANTRA, FOURTH CENTURY,
RETOLD IN THE CRAFT OF POWER, R. G. H. SIU, 1979

Interpretat on

Legend has t that Cleopatra succeeded through her seduct ve

charms, but n real ty her power came from an ab l ty to get people to
do her b dd ng w thout real z ng they were be ng man pulated.
Caesar and Antony not only r d her of her most dangerous s bl ngs—
Ptolemy XIII and Ars noe—they dec mated all of her enem es, n both
the government and the m l tary. The two men became her cat’s-
paws. They entered the f re for her, d d the ugly but necessary work,
wh le sh eld ng her from appear ng as the destroyer of her s bl ngs
and fellow Egypt ans. And n the end, both men acqu esced to her
des re to rule Egypt not as a Roman colony but as an ndependent
all ed k ngdom. And they d d all th s for her w thout real z ng how she
had man pulated them. Th s was persuas on of the subtlest and most
powerful k nd.
A queen must never d rty her hands w th ugly tasks, nor can a k ng
appear n publ c w th blood on h s face. Yet power cannot surv ve
w thout the constant squash ng of enem es—there w ll always be
d rty l ttle tasks that have to be done to keep you on the throne. L ke
Cleopatra, you need a cat’s-paw.
Th s w ll usually be a person from outs de your mmed ate c rcle,
who w ll therefore be unl kely to real ze how he or she s be ng used.
You w ll f nd these dupes everywhere—people who enjoy do ng you
favors, espec ally f you throw them a m n mal bone or two n
exchange. But as they accompl sh tasks that may seem to them
nnocent enough, or at least completely just f ed, they are actually
clear ng the f eld for you, spread ng the nformat on you feed them,
underm n ng people they do not real ze are your r vals, nadvertently
further ng your cause, d rty ng the r hands wh le yours rema n
spotless.

HOW TO BROADCAST NEWS

When Omar, son of al-Khattab, was converted to Islam, he wanted
the news of h s convers on to reach everyone qu ckly. He went to
see Jam l, son of Ma’mar al-Jumah . The latter was renowned for the
speed w th wh ch he passed on secrets. If he was told anyth ng n
conf dence, he let everyone know about t mmed ately. Omar sa d to
h m: “I have become a Musl m. Do not say anyth ng. Keep t dark. Do
not ment on t n front of anyone.” Jam l went out nto the street and
began shout ng at the top of h s vo ce: “Do you bel eve that Omar,
son of al-Khattab, has not become a Musl m? Well, do not bel eve
that! I am tell ng you that he has!”
The news of Omar’s convers on to Islam was spread everywhere.
And that was just what he ntended.

I HE SUBTLE RUSE: THE BOOK OF ARABIC WISDOM AND

GUILE, IHIRTEENTH CENTURY

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II

In the late 1920s, c v l war broke out n Ch na as the Nat onal st and
Commun st part es battled for control of the country. In 1927 Ch ang
Ka -shek, the Nat onal st leader, vowed to k ll every last Commun st,
and over the next few years he nearly accompl shed h s task,
push ng h s enem es hard unt l, n 1934-1935, he forced them nto
the Long March, a s x-thousand-m le retreat from the southeast to
the remote northwest, through harsh terra n, n wh ch most of the r
ranks were dec mated. In late 1936 Ch ang planned one last
offens ve to w pe them out, but he was caught n a mut ny: H s own
sold ers captured h m and turned h m over to the Commun sts. Now
he could only expect the worst.
Meanwh le, however, the Japanese began an nvas on of Ch na,
and much to Ch ang’s surpr se, nstead of k ll ng h m the Commun st
leader, Mao Tse-tung, proposed a deal: The Commun sts would let
h m go, and would recogn ze h m as commander of the r forces as
well as h s, f he would agree to f ght alongs de them aga nst the r
common enemy. Ch ang had expected torture and execut on; now he
could not bel eve h s luck. How soft these Reds had become.
W thout hav ng to f ght a rearguard act on aga nst the Commun sts,
he knew he could beat the Japanese, and then a few years down the
l ne he would turn around and destroy the Reds w th ease. He had
noth ng to lose and everyth ng to ga n by agree ng to the r terms.
The Commun sts proceeded to f ght the Japanese n the r usual
fash on, w th h t-and-run guerr lla tact cs, wh le the Nat onal sts
fought a more convent onal war. Together, after several years, they
succeeded n ev ct ng the Japanese. Now, however, Ch ang f nally
understood what Mao had really planned. H s own army had met the
brunt of the Japanese art llery, was greatly weakened, and would
take a few years to recover. The Commun sts, meanwh le, had not
only avo ded any d rect h ts from the Japanese, they had used the
t me to recoup the r strength, and to spread out and ga n pockets of
nfluence all over Ch na. As soon as the war aga nst the Japanese
ended, the c v l war started aga n—but th s t me the Commun sts
enveloped the weakened Nat onal sts and slowly beat them nto
subm ss on. The Japanese had served as Mao’s cat’s-paw,
nadvertently plough ng the f elds for the Commun sts and mak ng
poss ble the r v ctory over Ch ang Ka -shek.

Interpretat on

Most leaders who had taken as powerful an enemy as Ch ang Ka -

shek pr soner would have made sure to k ll h m. But n do ng so they
would have lost the chance Mao explo ted. W thout the exper enced
Ch ang as leader of the Nat onal sts, the f ght to dr ve the Japanese
out m ght have lasted much longer, w th devastat ng results. Mao
was far too clever to let anger spo l the chance to k ll two b rds w th
one stone. In essence, Mao used two cat‘s-paws to help h m atta n
total v ctory. F rst, he cleverly ba ted Ch ang nto tak ng charge of the
war aga nst the Japanese. Mao knew the Nat onal sts led by Ch ang
would do most of the hard f ght ng and would succeed n push ng the
Japanese out of Ch na, f they d d not have to concern themselves
w th f ght ng the Commun sts at the same t me. The Nat onal sts,
then, were the f rst cat’s-paw, used to ev ct the Japanese. But Mao
also knew that n the process of lead ng the war aga nst the
nvaders, the Japanese art llery and a r support would dec mate the
convent onal forces of the Nat onal sts, do ng damage t could take
the Commun sts decades to nfl ct. Why waste t me and l ves f the
Japanese could do the job qu ckly? It was th s w se pol cy of us ng
one cat’s-paw after another that allowed the Commun sts to preva l.
There are two uses of the cat‘s-paw: to save appearances, as
Cleopatra d d, and to save energy and effort. The latter case n
part cular demands that you plan several moves n advance,
real z ng that a temporary move backward (lett ng Ch ang go, say)
can lead to a g ant leap forward. If you are temporar ly weakened
and need t me to recover, t w ll often serve you well to use those
around you both as a screen to h de your ntent ons and as a cat’s-
paw to do your work for you. Look for a powerful th rd party who
shares an enemy w th you ( f for d fferent reasons), then take
advantage of the r super or power to deal blows wh ch would have
cost you much more energy, s nce you are weaker. You can even
gently gu de them nto host l t es. Always search out the overly
aggress ve as potent al cat’s-paws—they are often more than w ll ng
to get nto a f ght, and you can choose just the r ght f ght for your
purposes.

\OOAND
A w se man, walk ng alone, Was be ng bothered by a fool throw ng
stones at h s head. Turn ng to face h m, he sa d: “My dear chap, well
thrown! Please accept these few francs. You’ve worked hard enough
to get more than mere thanks. Every effort deserves ts reward. But
see that man over there? He can afford More than I can. Present h m
w th some of your stones: they’ll earn a good wage.” Lured by the
ba t, the stup d man Ran off to repeat the outrage On the other
worthy c t zen. Th s t me he wasn’t pa d n money for h s stones. Up
rushed serv ng-men, And se zed h m and thrashed h m and broke all
h s bones. In the courts of k ngs there are pests l ke th s. devo d of
sense: They’ll make the r master laugh at your expense. To s lence
the r cackle, should you hand out rough Pun shment? Maybe you’re
not strong enough. Better persuade them to attack Somebody else,
who can more than pay them back.

SELECTED FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW III

Kur yama Da zen was an adept of Cha-no-yu (Hot Water for Tea, the
Japanese tea ceremony) and a student of the teach ngs of the great
tea master Sen no R kyu. Around 1620 Da zen learned that a fr end
of h s, Hosh no Soemon, had borrowed a large sum of money (300
ryo) to help a relat ve who had fallen nto debt. But although Soemon
had managed to ba l out h s relat ve, he had s mply d splaced the
burden onto h mself. Da zen knew Soemon well—he ne ther cared
nor understood much about money, and could eas ly get nto trouble
through slowness n repay ng the loan, wh ch had been made by a
wealthy merchant called Kawach ya Sanemon. Yet f Da zen offered
to help Soemon pay back the loan, he would refuse, out of pr de, and
m ght even be offended.
One day Da zen v s ted h s fr end, and after tour ng the garden and
look ng at Soemon’s pr zed peon es, they ret red to h s recept on
room. Here Da zen saw a pa nt ng by the master Kano Tennyu. “Ah,”
Da zen excla med, “a splend d p ece of pa nt ng.... I don’t know when
I have seen anyth ng I l ke better.” After several more bouts of pra se,
Soemon had no cho ce: “Well,” he sa d, “s nce you l ke t so much, I
hope you w ll do me the favor of accept ng t.”
At f rst Da zen refused, but when Soemon ns sted he gave n. The
next day Soemon n turn rece ved a package from Da zen. Ins de t
was a beaut ful and del cate vase, wh ch Da zen, n an
accompany ng note, asked h s fr end to accept as a token of h s
apprec at on for the pa nt ng that Soemon had so grac ously g ven
h m the day before. He expla ned that the vase had been made by
Sen no R kyu h mself, and bore an nscr pt on from Emperor
H deyosh . If Soemon d d not care for the vase, Da zen suggested,
he m ght make a g ft of t to an adherent of Cha-no-yu—perhaps the
merchant Kawach ya Sanemon, who had often expressed a des re to
possess t. “I hear,” Da zen cont nued, “he has a f ne p ece of fancy
paper [the 300-ryo I.O.U.] wh ch you would much l ke. It s poss ble
you m ght arrange an exchange.”
Real z ng what h s grac ous fr end was up to, Soemon took the
vase to the wealthy lender. “However d d you get th s,” excla med
Sanemon, when Soemon showed h m the vase. “I have often heard
of t, but th s s the f rst t me I have ever seen t. It s such a treasure
that t s never allowed outs de the gate!” He nstantly offered to
exchange the debt note for the flower vase, and to g ve Soemon 300
ryo more on top of t. But Soemon, who d d not care for money, only
wanted the debt note back, and Sanemon gladly gave t to h m. Then
Soemon mmed ately hurr ed to Da zen’s house to thank h m for h s
clever support.

THE INDIAN BIRD

A merchant kept a b rd n a cage. He was go ng to Ind a, the land
from wh ch the b rd came, and asked t whether he could br ng
anyth ng back for t. The b rd asked for ts freedom, but was refused.
So he asked the merchant to v s t a jungle n Ind a and announce h s
capt v ty to the free b rds who were there. The merchant d d so, and
no sooner had he spoken when a w ld b rd, just l ke h s own, fell
senseless out of a tree on to the ground. The merchant thought that
th s must be a relat ve of h s own b rd, and felt sad that he should
have caused th s death. When he got home, the b rd asked h m
whether he had brought good news from Ind a.
“No,” sa d the merchant, “I fear that my news s bad. One of your
relat ons collapsed and fell at my feet when I ment oned your
capt v ty.”.
As soon as these words were spoken the merchant’s b rd collapsed
and fell to the bottom of the cage. “The news of h s k ns-man’s death
has k lled h m, too, ”thot ght the merchant. Sorrowfully he p cked up
the b rd and put t on the w ndows ll. At once the b rd rev ved and
flew to a nearby tree. “Now you know, ”the b rd sa d, “that what you
hought was d saster was n fact good news for me. And how the
message, the suggest on of how to behave n order to free myself,
was transm tted to me through you, my captor.” And he flew away,
free at last.
TALES OF THE DERVISHES. IDRIES SHAH. 1967

Interpretat on

Kur yama Da zen understood that the grant ng of a favor s never

s mple: If t s done w th fuss and obv ousness, ts rece ver feels
burdened by an obl gat on. Th s may g ve the doer a certa n power,
but t s a power that w ll eventually self-destruct, for t w ll st r up
resentment and res stance. A favor done nd rectly and elegantly has
ten t mes more power. Da zen knew a d rect approach would only
have offended Soemon. By lett ng h s fr end g ve h m the pa nt ng,
however, he made Soemon feel that he too had pleased h s fr end
w th a g ft. In the end, all three part es emerged from the encounter
feel ng fulf lled n the r own way.
In essence, Da zen made h mself the cat‘s-paw, the tool to take
the chestnuts out of the f re. He must have felt some pa n n los ng
the vase, but he ga ned not only the pa nt ng but, more mportant, the
power of the court er. The court er uses h s gloved hand to soften
any blows aga nst h m, d sgu se h s scars, and make the act of
rescue more elegant and clean. By help ng others, the court er
eventually helps h mself. Da zen’s example prov des the parad gm
for every favor done between fr ends and peers: never mpose your
favors. Search out ways to make yourself the cat’s-paw, nd rectly
extr cat ng your fr ends from d stress w thout mpos ng yourself or
mak ng them feel obl gated to you.
One should not be too stra ghtforward. Go and see the forest.
The stra ght trees are cut down, the crooked ones are left stand ng.
Kaut lya, Ind an ph losopher, th rd century B.C.

KEYS TO POWER

As a leader you may mag ne that constant d l gence, and the

appearance of work ng harder than anyone else, s gn fy power.
Actually, though, they have the oppos te effect: They mply
weakness. Why are you work ng so hard? Perhaps you are
ncompetent, and have to put n extra effort just to keep up; perhaps
you are one of those people who does not know how to delegate,
and has to meddle n everyth ng. The truly powerful, on the other
hand, seem never to be n a hurry or overburdened. Wh le others
work the r f ngers to the bone, they take the r le sure. They know how
to f nd the r ght people to put n the effort wh le they save the r
energy and keep the r hands out of the f re. S m larly, you may
bel eve that by tak ng on the d rty work yourself, nvolv ng yourself
d rectly n unpleasant act ons, you mpose your power and nst ll fear.
In fact you make yourself look ugly, and abus ve of your h gh
pos t on. Truly powerful people keep the r hands clean. Only good
th ngs surround them, and the only announcements they make are of
glor ous ach evements.
You w ll often f nd t necessary, of course, to expend energy, or to
effect an ev l but necessary act on. But you must never appear to be
th s act on’s agent. F nd a cat‘s-paw. Develop the arts of f nd ng,
us ng, and, n t me, gett ng r d of these people when the r cat’s-paw
role has been fulf lled.
On the eve of an mportant r ver battle, the great th rd-century
Ch nese strateg st Chuko L ang found h mself falsely accused of
secretly work ng for the other s de. As proof of h s loyalty, h s
commander ordered h m to produce 100,000 arrows for the army
w th n three days, or be put to death. Instead of try ng to manufacture
the arrows, an mposs ble task, L ang took a dozen boats and had
bundles of straw lashed to the r s des. In the late afternoon, when
m st always blanketed the r ver, he floated the boats toward the
enemy camp. Fear ng a trap from the w ly Chuko L ang, the enemy
d d not attack the barely v s ble boats w th boats of the r own, but
showered them w th arrows from the bank. As L ang’s boats nched
closer, they redoubled the ra n of arrows, wh ch stuck n the th ck
straw. After several hours, the men h d ng on board sa led the
vessels qu ckly downstream, where Chuko L ang met them and
collected h s 100,000 arrows.
Chuko L ang would never do work that others could do for h m—
he was always th nk ng up tr cks l ke th s one. The key to plann ng
such a strategy s the ab l ty to th nk far ahead, to mag ne ways n
wh ch other people can be ba ted nto do ng the job for you.
An essent al element n mak ng th s strategy work s to d sgu se
your goal, shroud ng t n mystery, l ke the strange enemy boats
appear ng d mly n the m st. When your r vals cannot be sure what
you are after, they w ll react n ways that often work aga nst them n
the long run. In fact they w ll become your cat’s-paws. If you d sgu se
your ntent ons, t s much eas er to gu de them nto moves that
accompl sh exactly what you want done, but prefer not to do
yourself. Th s may requ re plann ng several moves n advance, l ke a
b ll ard ball that bounces off the s des a few t mes before head ng
nto the r ght pocket.
The early-twent eth-century Amer can con art st Yellow K d We l
knew that no matter how sk llfully he homed n on the perfect wealthy
sucker, f he, a stranger, approached th s man d rectly, the sucker
m ght become susp c ous. So We l would f nd someone the sucker
already knew to serve as a cat‘s-paw—someone lower on the totem
pole who was h mself an unl kely target, and would therefore be less
susp c ous. We l would nterest th s man n a scheme prom s ng
ncred ble wealth. Conv nced the scheme was for real, the cat’s-paw
would often suggest, w thout prompt ng, that h s boss or wealthy
fr end should get nvolved: Hav ng more cash to nvest, th s man
would ncrease the s ze of the pot, mak ng b gger bucks for all
concerned. The cat‘s-paw would then nvolve the wealthy sucker
who had been We l’s target all along, but who would not suspect a
trap, s nce t was h s trusty subord nate who had roped h m n.
Dev ces l ke th s are often the best way to approach a person of
power: Use an assoc ate or subord nate to hook you up w th your
pr mary target. The cat’s-paw establ shes your cred b l ty and sh elds
you from the unsavory appearance of be ng too pushy n your
courtsh p.
The eas est and most effect ve way to use a cat’s-paw s often to
plant nformat on w th h m that he w ll then spread to your pr mary
target. False or planted nformat on s a powerful tool, espec ally f
spread by a dupe whom no one suspects. You w ll f nd t very easy to
play nnocent and d sgu se yourself as the source.

DAVID AND BATHSHEBA

At the turn of the year, when k ngs take the f eld, Dav d sent Joab out
w th h s other off cers and all the Israel te forces, and they ravaged
Ammon and la d s ege to Rabbah, wh le Dav d rema ned n
Jerusalem. One even ng Dav d got up from h s couch and, as he
walked about on the roof of the palace, he saw from there a woman
bath ng and she was very beaut ful. He sent to nqu re who she was,
and the answer came, “It must be Bathsheba, daughter of El am and
w fe of Ur ah the H tt te....” Dav d wrote a letter to Joab and sent
Ur ah w th t. He wrote n the letter: “Put Ur ah oppos te the enemy
where the f ght ng s f ercest and then fall back, and leave h m to
meet h s death.”... Joab... stat oned Ur ah at a po nt where he knew
they would put up a stout f ght. The men of the c ty sall ed out and
engaged Joab, and some of Dav d’s guards fell; Ur ah the H tt te was
also k lled. Joab sent Dav d a d spatch w th all the news of the
battle.... When Ur ah’s w fe heard that her husband was dead, she
mourned for h m; and when the per od of mourn ng was over, Dav d
sent for her and brought her nto h s house. She became h s w fe
and bore h m a son.

OLD TESTAMENT, 2 SAMUEL,11-12

The strateg c therap st Dr. M lton H. Er ckson would often
encounter among h s pat ents a marr ed couple n wh ch the w fe
wanted the therapy but the husband absolutely refused t. Rather
than wast ng energy try ng to deal w th the man d rectly, Dr. Er ckson
would see the w fe alone, and as she talked he would nterject
nterpretat ons of the husband’s behav or that he knew would r le the
husband up f he heard them. Sure enough, the w fe would tell her
husband what the doctor had sa d. After a few weeks the husband
would be so fur ous he would ns st on jo n ng h s w fe n the sess ons
so he could set the doctor stra ght.
F nally, you may well f nd cases n wh ch del berately offer ng
yourself as the cat’s-paw w ll ult mately ga n you great power. Th s s
the ruse of the perfect court er. Its symbol s S r Walter Rale gh, who
once placed h s own cloak on the muddy ground so that Queen
El zabeth would not sully her shoes. As the nstrument that protects
a master or peer from unpleasantness or danger, you ga n mmense
respect, wh ch sooner or later w ll pay d v dends. And remember: If
you can make your ass stance subtle and grac ous rather than
boastful and burdensome, your recompense w ll be that much the
more sat sfy ng and powerful.
Image: The Cat’s-Paw.
It has long claws to grab
 th ngs. It s soft and
padded. Take hold of the cat
and use ts paw to pluck
th ngs out of the f re, to claw
your enemy, to play w th the
mouse before devour ng t.
Somet mes you hurt the
cat, but most often t
doesn’t feel a th ng.

Author ty: Do everyth ng pleasant yourself, everyth ng unpleasant

through th rd part es. By adopt ng the f rst course you w n favor, by
tak ng the second you deflect ll w ll. Important affa rs often requ re
rewards and pun shments. Let only the good come from you and the
ev l from others. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

The cat’s-paw and the scapegoat must be used w th extreme caut on

and del cacy. They are l ke screens that h de your own nvolvement
n d rty work from the publ c; f at any moment the screen s l fted and
you are seen as the man pulator, the puppet master, the whole
dynam c turns around—your hand w ll be seen everywhere, and you
w ll be blamed for m sfortunes you may have had noth ng to do w th.
Once the truth s revealed, events w ll snowball beyond your control.
In 1572, Queen Cather ne de’ Méd c s of France consp red to do
away w th Gaspard de Col gny, an adm ral n the French navy and a
lead ng member of the Huguenot (French Protestant) commun ty.
Col gny was close to Cather ne’s son, Charles IX, and she feared h s
grow ng nfluence on the young k ng. So she arranged for a member
of the Gu se fam ly, one of the most powerful royal clans n France,
to assass nate h m.
Secretly, however, Cather ne had another plan: She wanted the
Huguenots to blame the Gu ses for k ll ng one of the r leaders, and to
take revenge. W th one blow, she would erase or njure two
threaten ng r vals, Col gny and the Gu se fam ly. Yet both plans went
awry. The assass n m ssed h s target, only wound ng Col gny;
know ng Cather ne as h s enemy, he strongly suspected t was she
who had set up the attack on h m, and he told the k ng so. Eventually
the fa led assass nat on and the arguments that ensued from t set
off a cha n of events that led to a bloody c v l war between Cathol cs
and Protestants, culm nat ng n the horr fy ng Massacre of St.
Bartholomew’s Eve, n wh ch thousands of Protestants were k lled.
If you have to use a cat’s-paw or a scapegoat n an act on of great
consequence, be very careful: Too much can go wrong. It s often
w ser to use such dupes n more nnocent endeavors, where
m stakes or m scalculat ons w ll cause no ser ous harm.
F nally, there are moments when t s advantageous to not d sgu se
your nvolvement or respons b l ty, but rather to take the blame
yourself for some m stake. If you have power and are secure n t,
you should somet mes play the pen tent: W th a sorrowful look, you
ask for forg veness from those weaker than you. It s the ploy of the
k ng who makes a show of h s own sacr f ces for the good of the
people. S m larly, upon occas on you may want to appear as the
agent of pun shment n order to nst ll fear and trembl ng n your
subord nates. Instead of the cat‘s-paw you show your own m ghty
hand as a threaten ng gesture. Play such a card spar ngly. If you
play t too often, fear w ll turn nto resentment and hatred. Before you
know t, such emot ons w ll spark a v gorous oppos t on that w ll
someday br ng you down. Get n the hab t of us ng a cat’s-paw— t s
far safer.
 LAW 27

PLAY ON PEOPLE’S NEED TO BELIEVE TO

CREATE A CULTLIKE FOLLOWING

JUDGMENT
People have an overwhelm ng des re to bel eve n someth ng.
Become the focal po nt of such des re by offer ng them a cause, a
new fa th to follow. Keep your words vague but full of prom se ;
emphas ze enthus asm over rat onal ty and clear th nk ng. G ve your
new d sc ples r tuals to perform, ask them to make sacr f ces on your
behalf. In the absence of organ zed rel g on and grand causes, your
new bel ef system w ll br ng you untold power.

THE SCIENCE OF CHARLATANISM, OR HOW TO

CREATE A CULT IN FIVE EASY STEPS

In search ng, as you must, for the methods that w ll ga n you the
most power for the least effort, you w ll f nd the creat on of a cultl ke
follow ng one of the most effect ve. Hav ng a large follow ng opens
up all sorts of poss b l t es for decept on; not only w ll your followers
worsh p you, they w ll defend you from your enem es and w ll
voluntar ly take on the work of ent c ng others to jo n your fledgl ng
cult. Th s k nd of power w ll l ft you to another realm: You w ll no
longer have to struggle or use subterfuge to enforce your w ll. You
are adored and can do no wrong.
 You m ght th nk t a gargantuan task to create such a follow ng, but
n fact t s fa rly s mple. As humans, we have a desperate need to
bel eve n someth ng, anyth ng. Th s makes us em nently gull ble: We
s mply cannot endure long per ods of doubt, or of the empt ness that
comes from a lack of someth ng to bel eve n. Dangle n front of us
some new cause, el x r, get-r ch-qu ck scheme, or the latest
technolog cal trend or art movement and we leap from the water as
one to take the ba t. Look at h story: The chron cles of the new
trends and cults that have made a mass follow ng for themselves
could f ll a l brary. After a few centur es, a few decades, a few years,
a few months, they generally look r d culous, but at the t me they
seem so attract ve, so transcendental, so d v ne.
Always n a rush to bel eve n someth ng, we w ll manufacture
sa nts and fa ths out of noth ng. Do not let th s gull b l ty go to waste:
Make yourself the object of worsh p. Make people form a cult around
you.
The great European charlatans of the s xteenth and seventeenth
centur es mastered the art of cultmak ng. They l ved, as we do now,
n a t me of transformat on: Organ zed rel g on was on the wane,
sc ence on the r se. People were desperate to rally around a new
cause or fa th. The charlatans had begun by peddl ng health el x rs
and alchem c shortcuts to wealth. Mov ng qu ckly from town to town,
they or g nally focused on small groups—unt l, by acc dent, they
stumbled on a truth of human nature: The larger the group they
gathered around themselves, the eas er t was to dece ve.
The charlatan would stat on h mself on a h gh wooden platform
(hence the term “mountebank”) and crowds would swarm around
h m. In a group sett ng, people were more emot onal, less able to
reason. Had the charlatan spoken to them nd v dually, they m ght
have found h m r d culous, but lost n a crowd they got caught up n a
communal mood of rapt attent on. It became mposs ble for them to
f nd the d stance to be skept cal. Any def c enc es n the charlatan’s
deas were h dden by the zeal of the mass. Pass on and enthus asm
swept through the crowd l ke a contag on, and they reacted v olently
to anyone who dared to spread a seed of doubt. Both consc ously
study ng th s dynam c over decades of exper ment and
spontaneously adapt ng to these s tuat ons as they happened, the
charlatans perfected the sc ence of attract ng and hold ng a crowd,
mold ng the crowd nto followers and the followers nto a cult.
It was to the charlatan’s advantage that the nd v duals pred sposed
to credul ty should mult ply, that the groups of h s adherents should
enlarge to mass proport ons, guarantee ng an ever greater scope for
h s tr umphs. And th s was n fact to occur, as sc ence was
popular zed, from the Rena ssance on down through succeed ng
centur es. W th the mmense growth of knowledge and ts spread
through pr nt ng n modern t mes, the mass of the half educated, the
eagerly gull ble prey of the quack, also ncreased, became ndeed a
major ty; real power could be based on the r w shes, op n ons,
preferences, and reject ons. The charlatan’s emp re accord ngly
w dened w th the modern d ssem nat on of knowledge; s nce he
operated on the bas s of sc ence, however much he perverted t,
produc ng gold w th a techn que borrowed from chem stry and h s
wonderful balsams w th the apparatus of med c ne, he could not
appeal to an ent rely gnorant folk. The ll terate would be protected
aga nst h s absurd t es by the r healthy common sense. H s cho cest
aud ence would be composed of the sem l terate, those who had
exchanged the r common sense for a l ttle d storted nformat on and
had encountered sc ence and educat on at some t me, though br efly
and unsuccessfully.... The great mass of mank nd has always been
pred sposed to marvel at myster es, and th s was espec ally true at
certa n h stor c per ods when the secure foundat ons of l fe seemed
shaken and old values, econom c or sp r tual, long accepted as
certa nt es, could no longer be rel ed upon. Then the numbers of the
charlatan’s dupes mult pl ed—the “self k llers,” as a seventeenth-
century Engl shman called them.

THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO,

1939
The g mm cks of the charlatans may seem qua nt today, but there
are thousands of charlatans among us st ll, us ng the same tr ed-
and-true methods the r predecessors ref ned centur es ago, only
chang ng the names of the r el x rs and modern z ng the look of the r
cults. We f nd these latter-day charlatans n all arenas of l fe—
bus ness, fash on, pol t cs, art. Many of them, perhaps, are follow ng
n the charlatan trad t on w thout hav ng any knowledge of ts h story,
but you can be more systemat c and del berate. S mply follow the
f ve steps of cultmak ng that our charlatan ancestors perfected over
the years.

Step 1: Keep It Vague; Keep It S mple. To create a cult you must

f rst attract attent on. Th s you should do not through act ons, wh ch
are too clear and readable, but through words, wh ch are hazy and
decept ve. Your n t al speeches, conversat ons, and nterv ews must
nclude two elements: on the one hand the prom se of someth ng
great and transformat ve, and on the other a total vagueness. Th s
comb nat on w ll st mulate all k nds of hazy dreams n your l steners,
who w ll make the r own connect ons and see what they want to see.
To make your vagueness attract ve, use words of great resonance
but cloudy mean ng, words full of heat and enthus asm. Fancy t tles
for s mple th ngs are helpful, as are the use of numbers and the
creat on of new words for vague concepts. All of these create the
mpress on of spec al zed knowledge, g v ng you a veneer of
profund ty. By the same token, try to make the subject of your cult
new and fresh, so that few w ll understand t. Done r ght, the
comb nat on of vague prom ses, cloudy but allur ng concepts, and
f ery enthus asm w ll st r people’s souls and a group w ll form around
you.
Talk too vaguely and you have no cred b l ty. But t s more
dangerous to be spec f c. If you expla n n deta l the benef ts people
w ll ga n by follow ng your cult, you w ll be expected to sat sfy them.
As a corollary to ts vagueness your appeal should also be s mple.
Most people’s problems have complex causes: deep-rooted
neuros s, nterconnected soc al factors, roots that go way back n
t me and are exceed ngly hard to unravel. Few, however, have the
pat ence to deal w th th s; most people want to hear that a s mple
solut on w ll cure the r problems. The ab l ty to offer th s k nd of
solut on w ll g ve you great power and bu ld you a follow ng. Instead
of the compl cated explanat ons of real l fe, return to the pr m t ve
solut ons of our ancestors, to good old country remed es, to
myster ous panaceas.

Step 2: Emphas ze the V sual and the Sensual over the

Intellectual. Once people have begun to gather around you, two
dangers w ll present themselves: boredom and skept c sm. Boredom
w ll make people go elsewhere ; skept c sm w ll allow them the
d stance to th nk rat onally about whatever t s you are offer ng,
blow ng away the m st you have artfully created and reveal ng your
deas for what they are. You need to amuse the bored, then, and
ward off the cyn cs.

THE OW WHO WAS GOD

Once upon a starless m dn ght there was an owl who sat on the
branch of an oak tree. Two ground moles tr ed to sl p qu etly by,
unnot ced. “You!” sa d the owl. “Who?” they quavered, n fear and
aston shment, for they could not bel eve t was poss ble for anyone to
see them n that th ck darkness. “You two!” sa d the owl. The moles
hurr ed away and told the other creatures of the f eld and forest that
the owl was the greatest and w sest of all an mals because he could
see n the dark and because he could answer any quest on. “I’ll see
about that,” sa d a secretary b rd, and he called on the owl one n ght
when t was aga n very dark. “How many claws am I hold ng up?”
sa d the secretary b rd. “Two,” sa d the owl, and that was r ght. “Can
you g ve me another express on for ‘that s to say’ or ‘namely?’ ”
asked the secretary b rd. “To w t,” sa d the owl. “Why does a lover
call on h s love?” asked the secretary b rd. “To woo,” sa d the owl.
The secretary b rd hastened back to the other creatures and
reported that the owl was ndeed the greatest and w sest an mal n
the world because he could see n the dark and because he could
answer any quest on.
“Can he see n the dayt me, too?” asked a red fox. “Yes,” echoed a
dormouse and a French poodle. “Can he see n the dayt me, too?”
All the other creatures laughed loudly at th s s lly quest on, and they
set upon the red fox and h s fr ends and drove them out of the
reg on. Then they sent a messenger to the owl and asked h m to be
the r leader. When the owl appeared among the an mals t was h gh
noon and the sun was sh n ng br ghtly. He walked very slowly, wh ch
gave h m an appearance of great d gn ty, and he peered about h m
w th large, star ng eyes, wh ch gave h m an a r of tremendous
mportance. “He’s God!” screamed a Plymouth Rock hen. And the
others took up the cry “He’s God!” So they followed h m wherever he
went and when he began to bump nto th ngs they began to bump
nto th ngs. too. F nally he came to a concrete h ghway and he
started up the m ddle of t and all the other creatures followed h m.
Presently a hawk, who was act ng as outr der, observed a truck
com ng toward them at f fty m les an hour, and he reported to the
secretary b rd and the secretary b rd reported to the owl. “There’s
danger ahead, ” sa d the secretary b rd. “To w t?” sa d the owl. The
secretary b rd told h m. “Aren’t you afra d?” He asked. “Who?” sa d
the owl calmly, for he could not see the truck. “He’s God!” cr ed all
the creatures aga n, and they were st ll cry ng “He’s God!” when the
truck h t them and ran them down. Some of the an mals were merely
njured, but most of them, nclud ng the owl, were k lled. Moral: You
can fool too many of the people too much of the t me.
THE THURBER CARNIVAI , JAMES THURBER , 1894-1961
The best way to do th s s through theater, or other dev ces of ts
k nd. Surround yourself w th luxury, dazzle your followers w th v sual
splendor, f ll the r eyes w th spectacle. Not only w ll th s keep them
from see ng the r d culousness of your deas, the holes n your bel ef
system, t w ll also attract more attent on, more followers. Appeal to
all the senses: Use ncense for scent, sooth ng mus c for hear ng,
colorful charts and graphs for the eye. You m ght even t ckle the
m nd, perhaps by us ng new technolog cal gadgets to g ve your cult a
pseudo-sc ent f c veneer—as long as you do not make anyone really
th nk. Use the exot c—d stant cultures, strange customs—to create
theatr cal effects, and to make the most banal and ord nary affa rs
seem s gns of someth ng extraord nary.
Step 3: Borrow the Forms of Organ zed Rel g on to Structure
the Group. Your cultl ke follow ng s grow ng; t s t me to organ ze t.
F nd a way both elevat ng and comfort ng. Organ zed rel g ons have
long held unquest oned author ty for large numbers of people, and
cont nue to do so n our supposedly secular age. And even f the
rel g on tself has faded some, ts forms st ll resonate w th power. The
lofty and holy assoc at ons of organ zed rel g on can be endlessly
explo ted. Create r tuals for your followers; organ ze them nto a
h erarchy, rank ng them n grades of sanct ty, and g v ng them names
and t tles that resound w th rel g ous overtones; ask them for
sacr f ces that w ll f ll your coffers and ncrease your power. To
emphas ze your gather ng’s quas -rel g ous nature, talk and act l ke a
prophet. You are not a d ctator, after all; you are a pr est, a guru, a
sage, a shaman, or any other word that h des your real power n the
m st of rel g on.

Step 4: D sgu se Your Source of Income. Your group has grown,

and you have structured t n a churchl ke form. Your coffers are
beg nn ng to f ll w th your followers’ money. Yet you must never be
seen as hungry for money and the power t br ngs. It s at th s
moment that you must d sgu se the source of your ncome.
Your followers want to bel eve that f they follow you all sorts of
good th ngs w ll fall nto the r lap. By surround ng yourself w th luxury
you become l v ng proof of the soundness of your bel ef system.
Never reveal that your wealth actually comes from your followers’
pockets; nstead, make t seem to come from the truth of your
methods. Followers w ll copy your each and every move n the bel ef
that t w ll br ng them the same results, and the r m tat ve enthus asm
w ll bl nd them to the charlatan nature of your wealth.

Step 5: Set Up an Us-Versus-Them Dynam c. The group s now

large and thr v ng, a magnet attract ng more and more part cles. If
you are not careful, though, nert a w ll set n, and t me and boredom
w ll demagnet ze the group. To keep your followers un ted, you must
now do what all rel g ons and bel ef systems have done: create an
us-versus-them dynam c.
F rst, make sure your followers bel eve they are part of an
exclus ve club, un f ed by a bond of common goals. Then, to
strengthen th s bond, manufacture the not on of a dev ous enemy out
to ru n you. There s a force of nonbel evers that w ll do anyth ng to
stop you. Any outs der who tr es to reveal the charlatan nature of
your bel ef system can now be descr bed as a member of th s
dev ous force.
If you have no enem es, nvent one. G ven a straw man to react
aga nst, your followers w ll t ghten and cohere. They have your
cause to bel eve n and nf dels to destroy.

OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW

Observance I

In the year 1653, a twenty-seven-year-old M lan man named

Francesco G useppe Borr cla med to have had a v s on. He went
around town tell ng one and all that the archangel M chael had
appeared to h m and announced that he had been chosen to be the
cap tano generale of the Army of the New Pope, an army that would
se ze and rev tal ze the world. The archangel had further revealed
that Borr now had the power to see people’s souls, and that he
would soon d scover the ph losopher’s stone—a long-sought-after
substance that could change base metals nto gold. Fr ends and
acqua ntances who heard Borr expla n the v s on, and who
w tnessed the change that had come over h m, were mpressed, for
Borr had prev ously devoted h mself to a l fe of w ne, women, and
gambl ng. Now he gave all that up, plung ng h mself nto the study of
alchemy and talk ng only of myst c sm and the occult.
The transformat on was so sudden and m raculous, and Borr ’s
words were so f lled w th enthus asm, that he began to create a
follow ng. Unfortunately the Ital an Inqu s t on began to not ce h m as
well—they prosecuted anyone who delved nto the occult—so he left
Italy and began to wander Europe, from Austr a to Holland, tell ng
one and all that “to those who follow me all joy shall be granted.”
Wherever Borr stayed he attracted followers. H s method was
s mple: He spoke of h s v s on, wh ch had grown more and more
elaborate, and offered to “look nto” the soul of anyone who bel eved
h m (and they were many). Seem ngly n a trance, he would stare at
th s new follower for several m nutes, then cla m to have seen the
person’s soul, degree of enl ghtenment, and potent al for sp r tual
greatness. If what he saw showed prom se, he would add the person
to h s grow ng order of d sc ples, an honor ndeed.
The cult had s x degrees, nto wh ch the d sc ples were ass gned
accord ng to what Borr had gl mpsed n the r souls. W th work and
total devot on to the cult they could graduate to a h gher degree.
Borr —whom they called “H s Excellency,” and “Un versal Doctor”—
demanded from them the str ctest vows of poverty. All the goods and
moneys they possessed had to be turned over to h m. But they d d
not m nd hand ng over the r property, for Borr had told them, “I shall
soon br ng my chem cal stud es to a happy conclus on by the
d scovery of the ph losopher’s stone, and by th s means we shall all
have as much gold as we des re.”
G ven h s grow ng wealth, Borr began to change h s style of l v ng.
Rent ng the most splend d apartment n the c ty nto wh ch he had
temporar ly settled, he would furn sh t w th fabulous furn ture and
accessor es, wh ch he had begun to collect. He would dr ve through
the c ty n a coach studded w th jewels, w th s x magn f cent black
horses at ts head. He never stayed too long n one place, and when
he d sappeared, say ng he had more souls to gather nto h s flock,
h s reputat on only grew n h s absence. He became famous,
although n fact he had never done a s ngle concrete th ng.
To become the founder of a new rel g on one must be
psycholog cally nfall ble n one’s knowledge of a certa n average
type of souls who have not yet recogn zed that they belong together.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, 1844-1900
Men are so s mple of m nd, and so much dom nated by the r
mmed ate needs, that a dece tful man w ll always f nd plenty who
are ready to be dece ved.

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI, 1469-1527

From all over Europe, the bl nd, the cr ppled, and the desperate
came to v s t Borr , for word had spread that he had heal ng powers.
He asked no fee for h s serv ces, wh ch only made h m seem more
marvelous, and ndeed some cla med that n th s or that c ty he had
performed a m racle cure. By only h nt ng at h s accompl shments, he
encouraged people’s mag nat ons to blow them up to fantast c
proport ons. H s wealth, for example, actually came from the vast
sums he was collect ng from h s ncreas ngly select group of r ch
d sc ples; yet t was presumed that he had n fact perfected the
ph losopher’s stone. The Church cont nued to pursue h m,
denounc ng h m for heresy and w tchcraft, and Borr ’s response to
these charges was a d gn f ed s lence; th s only enhanced h s
reputat on and made h s followers more pass onate. Only the great
are persecuted, after all; how many understood Jesus Chr st n h s
own t me? Borr d d not have to say a word—h s followers now called
the Pope the Ant chr st.
And so Borr ’s power grew and grew, unt l one day he left the c ty
of Amsterdam (where he had settled for a wh le), abscond ng w th
huge sums of borrowed money and d amonds that had been
entrusted to h m. (He cla med to be able to remove the flaws from
d amonds through the power of h s g fted m nd.) Now he was on the
run. The Inqu s t on eventually caught up w th h m, and for the last
twenty years of h s l fe he was mpr soned n Rome. But so great was
the bel ef n h s occult powers that to h s dy ng day he was v s ted by
wealthy bel evers, nclud ng Queen Chr st na of Sweden. Supply ng
h m w th money and mater als, these v s tors allowed h m to cont nue
h s search for the elus ve ph losopher’s stone. Interpretat on

THE TEMPLE OF HEALTH

[In the late 1780s] the Scott sh quack James Graham... was w nn ng
a large follow ng and great r ches n London.... [Graham] ma nta ned
a show of great sc ent f c techn que. In 1772 ... he had v s ted
Ph ladelph a, where he met Benjam n Frankl n and became
nterested n the latter’s exper ments w th electr c ty. These appear to
have nsp red the apparatus n the “Temple of Health,”
the fabulous establ shment he opened n London for the sale of h s
el x rs.... In the ch ef room, where he rece ved pat ents, stood “the
largest a r pump n the world” to ass st h m n h s “ph losoph cal
nvest gat ons” nto d sease, and also a “stupendous metall c
conductor,” a r chly g lded pedestal surrounded w th retorts and v als
of “ether al and other essences.” ... Accord ng to J. Ennemoser, who
publ shed a h story of mag c n 1844 at Le pz g, Graham’s “house...
un ted the useful w th the pleasurable. Everywhere the utmost
magn f cence was d splayed. Even n the outer court, averred an
eye-w tness, t seemed as though art, nvent on, and r ches had been
exhausted. On the s de walls n the chambers an arc-shaped glow
was prov ded by art f c al electr c l ght; star rays darted forth;
transparent glasses of all colors were placed w th clever select on
and much taste. All th s, the same eyew tness assures us, was
rav sh ng and exalted the mag nat on to the h ghest degree.” V s tors
were g ven a pr nted sheet of rules for healthy l v ng. In the Great
Apollo Apartment they m ght jo n n myster ous r tuals, accompan ed
by chants : “Ha l, V tal A r, aethereal ! Magnet c Mag c, ha l !” And
wh le they ha led the mag c of magnet sm, the w ndows were
darkened, reveal ng a ce l ng studded w th electr c stars and a young
and lovely “Rosy Goddess of Health” n a n che.... Every even ng th s
Temple of Health was crowded w th guests; t had become the
fash on to v s t t and try the great twelve-foot bed of state, the
“Grand Celest al Bed,” sa d to cure any d sease.... Th s bed,
accord ng to Ennemoser, “stood n a splend d room, nto wh ch a
cyl nder led from an adjo n ng chamber to conduct the heal ng
currents... at the same t me all sorts of pleas ng scents of
strengthen ng herbs and Or ental ncense were also brought n
through glass tubes. The heavenly bed tself rested upon s x sol d
transparent p llars; the bedclothes were of purple and sky-blue Atlas
s lk, spread over a mattress saturated w th Arab an perfumed waters
to su t the tastes of the Pers an court. The chamber n wh ch t was
placed he called the Sanctum Sanctorum.... To add to all th s, there
were the melod ous notes of the harmon ca, soft flutes, agreeable
vo ces, and a great organ.”
THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO,
1939
Before he formed h s cult, Borr seems to have stumbled on a cr t cal
d scovery. T r ng of h s l fe of debauchery, he had dec ded to g ve t
up and to devote h mself to the occult, a genu ne nterest of h s. He
must have not ced, however, that when he alluded to a myst cal
exper ence (rather than phys cal exhaust on) as the source of h s
convers on, people of all classes wanted to hear more. Real z ng the
power he could ga n by ascr b ng the change to someth ng external
and myster ous, he went further w th h s manufactured v s ons. The
grander the v s on, and the more sacr f ces he asked for, the more
appeal ng and bel evable h s story seemed to become.
Remember: People are not nterested n the truth about change.
They do not want to hear that t has come from hard work, or from
anyth ng as banal as exhaust on, boredom, or depress on; they are
dy ng to bel eve n someth ng romant c, otherworldly. They want to
hear of angels and out-of-body exper ences. Indulge them. H nt at
the myst cal source of some personal change, wrap t n ethereal
colors, and a cultl ke follow ng w ll form around you. Adapt to
people’s needs: The mess ah must m rror the des res of h s
followers. And always a m h gh. The b gger and bolder your llus on,
the better.

Observance II

In the m d-1700s, word spread n Europe’s fash onable soc ety of a

Sw ss country doctor named M chael Schüppach who pract ced a
d fferent k nd of med c ne: He used the heal ng powers of nature to
perform m raculous cures. Soon well-to-do people from all over the
Cont nent, the r a lments both ser ous and m ld, were mak ng the trek
to the alp ne v llage of Langnau, where Schüppach l ved and worked.
Trudg ng through the mounta ns, these v s tors w tnessed the most
dramat c natural landscapes that Europe has to offer. By the t me
they reached Langnau, they were already feel ng transformed and
on the r way to health.
Schüppach, who had become known as s mply the “Mounta n
Doctor,” had a small pharmacy n town. Th s place became qu te a
scene: Crowds of people from many d fferent countr es would cram
the small room, ts walls l ned w th colorful bottles f lled w th herbal
cures. Where most doctors of the t me prescr bed foul-tast ng
concoct ons that bore ncomprehens ble Lat n t tles (as med c nes
often do st ll), Schüppach’s cures had names such as “The O l of
Joy,” “L ttle Flower’s Heart,” or “Aga nst the Monster,” and they tasted
sweet and pleas ng.
V s tors to Langnau would have to wa t pat ently for a v s t w th the
Mounta n Doctor, because every day some e ghty messengers would
arr ve at the pharmacy bear ng flasks of ur ne from all over Europe.
Schüppach cla med he could d agnose what a led you s mply by
look ng at a sample of your ur ne and read ng a wr tten descr pt on of
your a lment. (Naturally he read the descr pt on very carefully before
prescr b ng a cure.) When he f nally had a spare m nute (the ur ne
samples took up much of h s t me), he would call the v s tor nto h s
off ce n the pharmacy. He would then exam ne th s person’s ur ne
sample, expla n ng that ts appearance would tell h m everyth ng he
needed to know. Country people had a sense for these th ngs, he
would say—the r w sdom came from l v ng a s mple, godly l fe w th
none of the compl cat ons of urban l v ng. Th s personal consultat on
would also nclude a d scuss on as to how one m ght br ng one’s soul
more nto harmony w th nature.
Schüppach had dev sed many forms of treatment, each profoundly
unl ke the usual med cal pract ces of the t me. He was a bel ever, for
nstance, n electr c shock therapy. To those who wondered whether
th s was n keep ng w th h s bel ef n the heal ng power of nature, he
would expla n that electr c ty s a natural phenomenon; he was
merely m tat ng the power of l ghtn ng. One of h s pat ents cla med to
be nhab ted by seven dev ls. The doctor cured h m w th electr cal
shocks, and as he adm n stered these he excla med that he could
see the dev ls fly ng out of the man’s body, one by one. Another man
cla med to have swallowed a hay wagon and ts dr ver, wh ch were
caus ng h m mass ve pa ns n the chest. The Mounta n Doctor
l stened pat ently, cla med to be able to hear the crack of a wh p n
the man’s belly, prom sed to cure h m, and gave h m a sedat ve and
a purgat ve. The man fell asleep on a cha r outs de the pharmacy. As
soon as he awoke he vom ted, and as he vom ted a hay wagon sped
past h m (the Mounta n Doctor had h red t for the occas on), the
crack of ts wh p mak ng h m feel that somehow he had ndeed
expelled t under the doctor’s care.
Over the years, the Mounta n Doctor’s fame grew. He was
consulted by the powerful—even the wr ter Goethe made the trek to
h s v llage—and he became the center of a cult of nature n wh ch
everyth ng natural was cons dered worthy of worsh p. Schüppach
was careful to create effects that would enterta n and nsp re h s
pat ents. A professor who v s ted h m once wrote, “One stands or s ts
n company, one plays cards, somet mes w th a young woman; now
a concert s g ven, now a lunch or supper, and now a l ttle ballet s
presented. W th a very happy effect, the freedom of nature s
everywhere un ted w th the pleasures of the beau monde, and f the
doctor s not able to heal any d seases, he can at least cure
hypochondr a and the vapors.”

Interpretat on

Schüppach had begun h s career as an ord nary v llage doctor. He

would somet mes use n h s pract ce some of the v llage remed es he
had grown up w th, and apparently he not ced some results, for soon
these herbal t nctures and natural forms of heal ng became h s
spec alty. And n fact h s natural form of heal ng d d have profound
psycholog cal effects on h s pat ents. Where the normal drugs of the
t me created fear and pa n, Schüppach’s treatments were
comfortable and sooth ng. The result ng mprovement n the pat ent’s
mood was a cr t cal element n the cures he brought about. H s
pat ents bel eved so deeply n h s sk lls that they w lled themselves
nto health. Instead of scoff ng at the r rrat onal explanat ons for the r
a lments, Schüppach used the r hypochondr a to make t seem that
he had effected a great cure.
The case of the Mounta n Doctor teaches us valuable lessons n
the creat on of a cultl ke follow ng. F rst, you must f nd a way to
engage people’s w ll, to make the r bel ef n your powers strong
enough that they mag ne all sorts of benef ts. The r bel ef w ll have a
self-fulf ll ng qual ty, but you must make sure that t s you, rather
than the r own w ll, who s seen as the agent of transformat on. F nd
the bel ef, cause, or fantasy that w ll make them bel eve w th a
pass on and they w ll mag ne the rest, worsh pp ng you as healer,
prophet, gen us, whatever you l ke.
Second, Schüppach teaches us the everlast ng power of bel ef n
nature, and n s mpl c ty. Nature, n real ty, s full of much that s
terr fy ng—po sonous plants, f erce an mals, sudden d sasters,
plagues. Bel ef n the heal ng, comfort ng qual ty of nature s really a
constructed myth, a romant c sm. But the appeal to nature can br ng
you great power, espec ally n compl cated and stressful t mes.
Th s appeal, however, must be handled r ght. Dev se a k nd of
theater of nature n wh ch you, as the d rector, p ck and choose the
qual t es that f t the romant c sm of the t mes. The Mounta n Doctor
played the part to perfect on, play ng up h s homespun w sdom and
w t, and stag ng h s cures as dramat c p eces. He d d not make
h mself one w th nature; nstead he molded nature nto a cult, an
art f c al construct on. To create a “natural” effect you actually have to
work hard, mak ng nature theatr cal and del ghtfully pagan.
Otherw se no one w ll not ce. Nature too must follow trends and be
progress ve.

Observance III

In 1788, at the age of f fty-f ve, the doctor and sc ent st Franz
Mesmer was at a crossroads. He was a p oneer n the study of
an mal magnet sm—the bel ef that an mals conta n magnet c matter,
and that a doctor or spec al st can effect m raculous cures by
work ng on th s charged substance—but n V enna, where he l ved,
h s theor es had met w th scorn and r d cule from the med cal
establ shment. In treat ng women for convuls ons, Mesmer cla med
to have worked a number of cures, h s proudest ach evement be ng
the restorat on of s ght to a bl nd g rl. But another doctor who
exam ned the young g rl sa d she was as bl nd as ever, an
assessment w th wh ch she herself agreed. Mesmer countered that
h s enem es were out to slander h m by w nn ng her over to the r
s de. Th s cla m only el c ted more r d cule. Clearly the sober-m nded
V ennese were the wrong aud ence for h s theor es, and so he
dec ded to move to Par s and start aga n.
Rent ng a splend d apartment n h s new c ty, Mesmer decorated t
appropr ately. Sta ned glass n most of the w ndows created a
rel g ous feel ng, and m rrors on all the walls produced an hypnot c
effect. The doctor advert sed that n h s apartment he would g ve
demonstrat ons of the powers of an mal magnet sm, nv t ng the
d seased and melanchol c to feel ts powers. Soon Par s ans of all
classes (but mostly women, who seemed more attracted to the dea
than men d d) were pay ng for entry to w tness the m racles that
Mesmer prom sed.
Ins de the apartment, the scents of orange blossom and exot c
ncense wafted through spec al vents. As the n t ates f ltered nto the
salon where the demonstrat ons took place, they heard harp mus c
and the lull ng sounds of a female vocal st com ng from another
room. In the center of the salon was a long oval conta ner f lled w th
water that Mesmer cla med had been magnet zed. From holes n the
conta ner’s metal l d protruded long movable ron rods. The v s tors
were nstructed to s t around the conta ner, place these magnet zed
rods on the body part that gave them pa ns or problems, and then
hold hands w th the r ne ghbors, s tt ng as close as poss ble to one
another to help the magnet c force pass between the r bod es.
Somet mes, too, they were attached to each other by cords.
THE POWIROI II
In the town of Tarnopol l ved a man by the name of Reb Fe vel. One
day, as he sat n h s house deeply-absorbed n h s Talmud, he heard
a loud no se outs de. When he went to the w ndow he saw a lot of
l ttle pranksters. “Up to some new p ece of m sch ef, no doubt.” he
thought. “Ch ldren, run qu ckly to the synagogue,” he cr ed, lean ng
out and mprov s ng the f rst story that occurred to h m. “You’ll see
there a sea monster, and what a monster ! It’s a creature w th f ve
feet, three eyes, and a beard l ke that of a goat, only t’s green !”
And sure enough the ch ldren scampered off and Reb Fe vel
returned to h s stud es. He sm led nto h s beard as he thought of the
tr ck he had played on those l ttle rascals. It wasn’t long before h s
stud es were nterrupted aga n, th s t me by runn ng footsteps. When
he went to the w ndow he saw several Jews runn ng. “Where are you
runn ng ?” he called out.
“To the sonagogue !” answered the Jews. “Haven’t you heard?
There’s a sea monster, there’s a creature w th f ve legs, three eyes,
and a beard l ke that of a goat, only t’s green !” Reb Fe vel laughed
w th glee, th nk ng of the tr ck he had played, and sat down aga n to
h s Talmud. But no sooner had he begun to concentrate when
suddenly he heard a d nn ng tumult outs de. And what d d he see? A
great crowd of men, women and ch ldren, all runn ng toward the
synagogue. “What’s ep?” he cr ed, st ck ng h s head out of the
w ndow.
“What a quest on! Why, don’t you know?” they answered. “R ght n
front of the synagogue there’s a sea monster. It’s a creature w th f ve
legs, three eyes, and a beard l ke that of a goat, only t’s green!”
And as the crowd hurr ed by, Reb Fe vel suddenly not ced that the
rabb h mself was among them.
“Lord of the world!” he excla med. “If the rabb h mself s runn ng w th
them surely there must be someth ng happen ng. Where there’s
smoke there’s f re!” W thout further thought Reb Fe vel grabbed h s
hat, left h s house, and also began runn ng. “Who can tell?” he
muttered to h mself as he ran, all out of breath, toward the
synagogue.
A TREASURY OF JEWISH FOLKLORE, NATHAN AUSUBEL, ED.,
1948
 Mesmer would leave the room, and “ass stant magnet zers”—all
handsome and strapp ng young men—would enter w th jars of
magnet zed water that they would spr nkle on the pat ents, rubb ng
the heal ng flu d on the r bod es, massag ng t nto the r sk n, mov ng
them toward a trancel ke state. And after a few m nutes a k nd of
del r um would overcome the women. Some would sob, some would
shr ek and tear the r ha r, others would laugh hyster cally. At the
he ght of the del r um Mesmer would reenter the salon, dressed n a
flow ng s lk robe embro dered w th golden flowers and carry ng a
wh te magnet c rod. Mov ng around the conta ner, he would stroke
and soothe the pat ents unt l calm was restored. Many women would
later attr bute the strange power he had on them to h s p erc ng look,
wh ch, they thought, was exc t ng or qu et ng the magnet c flu ds n
the r bod es.
W th n months of h s arr val n Par s, Mesmer became the rage.
H s supporters ncluded Mar e-Anto nette herself, the queen of
France, w fe of Lou s XVI. As n V enna, he was condemned by the
off c al faculty of med c ne, but t d d not matter. H s grow ng follow ng
of pup ls and pat ents pa d h m handsomely.
Mesmer expanded h s theor es to procla m that all human ty could
be brought nto harmony through the power of magnet sm, a concept
w th much appeal dur ng the French Revolut on. A cult of Mesmer sm
spread across the country; n many towns, “Soc et es of Harmony”
sprang up to exper ment w th magnet sm. These soc et es eventually
became notor ous: They tended to be led by l bert nes who would
turn the r sess ons nto a k nd of group orgy.
At the he ght of Mesmer’s popular ty, a French comm ss on
publ shed a report based on years of test ng the theory of an mal
magnet sm. The conclus on: Magnet sm’s effects on the body
actually came from a k nd of group hyster a and autosuggest on. The
report was well documented, and ru ned Mesmer’s reputat on n
France. He left the country and went nto ret rement. Only a few
years later, however, m tators sprang up all over Europe and the cult
of Mesmer sm spread once aga n, ts bel evers more numerous than
ever.
 Interpretat on

Mesmer’s career can be broken nto two parts. When st ll n V enna,

he clearly bel eved n the val d ty of h s theory, and d d all he could to
prove t. But h s grow ng frustrat on and the d sapproval of h s
colleagues made h m adopt another strategy. F rst he moved to
Par s, where no one knew h m, and where h s extravagant theor es
found a more fru tful so l. Then he appealed to the French love of
theater and spectacle, mak ng h s apartment nto a k nd of mag cal
world n wh ch a sensory overload of smells, s ghts, and sounds
entranced h s customers. Most mportant, from now on he pract ced
h s magnet sm only on a group. The group prov ded the sett ng n
wh ch the magnet sm would have ts proper effect, one bel ever
nfect ng the other, overwhelm ng any nd v dual doubter.
Mesmer thus passed from be ng a conf rmed advocate of
magnet sm to the role of a charlatan us ng every tr ck n the book to
capt vate the publ c. The b ggest tr ck of all was to play on the
repressed sexual ty that bubbles under the surface of any group
sett ng. In a group, a long ng for soc al un ty, a long ng older than
c v l zat on, cr es out to be awakened. Th s des re may be subsumed
under a un fy ng cause, but beneath t s a repressed sexual ty that
the charlatan knows how to explo t and man pulate for h s own
purposes.
Th s s the lesson that Mesmer teaches us: Our tendency to doubt,
the d stance that allows us to reason, s broken down when we jo n a
group. The warmth and nfect ousness of the group overwhelm the
skept cal nd v dual. Th s s the power you ga n by creat ng a cult.
Also, by play ng on people’s repressed sexual ty, you lead them nto
m stak ng the r exc ted feel ngs for s gns of your myst cal strength.
You ga n untold power by work ng on people’s unreal zed des re for a
k nd of prom scuous and pagan un ty.
Remember too that the most effect ve cults m x rel g on w th
sc ence. Take the latest technolog cal trend or fad and blend t w th a
noble cause, a myst cal fa th, a new form of heal ng. People’s
nterpretat ons of your hybr d cult w ll run rampant, and they w ll
attr bute powers to you that you had never even thought to cla m.
Image: The Magnet. An unseen force draws objects to t, wh ch n
turn become magnet zed themselves, draw ng other p eces to them,
the magnet c power of the whole constantly ncreas ng. But take
away the or g nal magnet and t all falls apart. Become the magnet,
the nv s ble force that attracts people’s mag nat ons and holds them
together. Once they have clustered around you, no power can wrest
them away.

Author ty: The charlatan ach eves h s great power by s mply open ng
a poss b l ty for men to bel eve what they already want to bel eve....
The credulous cannot keep at a d stance; they crowd around the
wonder worker, enter ng h s personal aura, surrender ng themselves
to llus on w th a heavy solemn ty, l ke cattle. (Grete de Francesco)

REVERSAL

One reason to create a follow ng s that a group s often eas er to

dece ve than an nd v dual, and turns over to you that much more
power. Th s comes, however, w th a danger: If at any moment the
group sees through you, you w ll f nd yourself fac ng not one
dece ved soul but an angry crowd that w ll tear you to p eces as
av dly as t once followed you. The charlatans constantly faced th s
danger, and were always ready to move out of town as t nev tably
became clear that the r el x rs d d not work and the r deas were
sham. Too slow and they pa d w th the r l ves. In play ng w th the
crowd, you are play ng w th f re, and must constantly keep an eye
out for any sparks of doubt, any enem es who w ll turn the crowd
aga nst you. When you play w th the emot ons of a crowd, you have
to know how to adapt, attun ng yourself nstantaneously to all of the
moods and des res that a group w ll produce. Use sp es, be on top of
everyth ng, and keep your bags packed.
For th s reason you may often prefer to deal w th people one by
one. Isolat ng them from the r normal m l eu can have the same
effect as putt ng them n a group— t makes them more prone to
suggest on and nt m dat on. Choose the r ght sucker and f he
eventually sees through you he may prove eas er to escape than a
crowd.
 LAW 28

ENTER ACTION WITH BOLDNESS

JUDGMENT
If you are unsure of a course of act on, do not attempt t. Your doubts
and hes tat ons w ll nfect your execut on. T m d ty s dangerous:
Better to enter w th boldness. Any m stakes you comm t through
audac ty are eas ly corrected w th more audac ty. Everyone adm res
the bold; no one honors the t m d.
THE TWO ADVENTURERS
The path of pleasure never leads to glory! The prod g ous
ach evements of Hercules were the result of h gh adventure, and
though there s l ttle, e ther n fable or h story, to show that he had
any r vals, st ll t s recorded that a kn ght errant, n company w th a
fellow adventurer, sought h s fortune n a romant c country. He had
not traveled far when h s compan on observed a post, on wh ch was
wr tten the follow ng nscr pt on: “Brave adventurer, f you have a
des re to d scover that wh ch has never been seen by any kn ght
errant, you have only to pass th s torrent, and then take n your arms
an elephant of stone and carry t n one breath to the summ t of th s
mounta n, whose noble head seems blended w th the sky.” “But,”
sa d the kn ght’s compan on, “the water may be deep as well as
rap d, and though, notw thstand ng, we should pass t, why should
we be encumbered w th the elephant? What a r d culous
undertak ng!” And ph losoph cally and w th n ce calculat on, he
observed that the elephant m ght be carr ed four steps; but for
convey ng t to the top of the mounta n n one breath, that was not n
the power of a mortal, unless t should
be the dwarf f gure of an elephant, f t only to be placed on the top of
a st ck; and then what honor would there be n such an adventure?
“There s,” sa d he, “some decept on n th s wr t ng. It s an en gma
only f t to amuse a ch ld. I shall therefore leave you and your
elephant.”
The reasoner then departed; but the adventurous man rushed w th
h s eyes closed across the water; ne ther depth nor v olence
prevented h m. and accord ng to the nscr pt on he saw the elephant
ly ng on the oppos te bank.
He took t and carr ed t to the top of the h ll, where he saw a town. A
shr ek from the elephant alarmed the people of the c ty, who rose n
arms; but the adventurer, noth ng daunted, was determ ned to d e a
hero. The people, however, were awed by h s presence, and he was
aston shed to hear them procla m h m successor to the r k ng, who
had recently d ed. Great enterpr ses are only ach eved by
adventurous sp r ts. They who calculate w th too great n cety every
d ff culty and obstacle wh ch s l kely to l e n the r way, lose that t me
n hes tat on, wh ch the more dar ng se ze and render ava lable to the
loft est purposes.

FABLES. JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695

BOLDNESS AND HESITATION: A Br ef Psycholog cal Compar son
Boldness and hes tat on el c t very d fferent psycholog cal responses
n the r targets: Hes tat on puts obstacles n your path, boldness
el m nates them. Once you understand th s, you w ll f nd t essent al
to overcome your natural t m d ty and pract ce the art of audac ty.
The follow ng are among the most pronounced psycholog cal effects
of boldness and t m d ty.

The Bolder the L e the Better. We all have weaknesses, and our
efforts are never perfect. But enter ng act on w th boldness has the
mag cal effect of h d ng our def c enc es. Con art sts know that the
bolder the l e, the more conv nc ng t becomes. The sheer audac ty of
the story makes t more cred ble, d stract ng attent on from ts
ncons stenc es. When putt ng together a con or enter ng any k nd of
negot at on, go further than you planned. Ask for the moon and you
w ll be surpr sed how often you get t.

L ons C rcle the Hes tant Prey. People have a s xth sense for the
weaknesses of others. If, n a f rst encounter, you demonstrate your
w ll ngness to comprom se, back down, and retreat, you br ng out the
l on even n people who are not necessar ly bloodth rsty. Everyth ng
depends on percept on, and once you are seen as the k nd of person
who qu ckly goes on the defens ve, who s w ll ng to negot ate and be
amenable, you w ll be pushed around w thout mercy.

Boldness Str kes Fear; Fear Creates Author ty. The bold move
makes you seem larger and more powerful than you are. If t comes
suddenly, w th the stealth and sw ftness of a snake, t nsp res that
much more fear. By nt m dat ng w th a bold move, you establ sh a
precedent: n every subsequent encounter, people w ll be on the
defens ve, n terror of your next str ke.

Go ng Halfway w th Half a Heart D gs the Deeper Grave. If you

enter an act on w th less than total conf dence, you set up obstacles
n your own path. When a problem ar ses you w ll grow confused,
see ng opt ons where there are none and nadvertently creat ng more
problems st ll. Retreat ng from the hunter, the t m d hare scurr es
more eas ly nto h s snares.

Hes tat on Creates Gaps, Boldness Obl terates Them. When you
take t me to th nk, to hem and haw, you create a gap that allows
others t me to th nk as well. Your t m d ty nfects people w th awkward
energy, el c ts embarrassment. Doubt spr ngs up on all s des.
Boldness destroys such gaps. The sw ftness of the move and the
energy of the act on leave others no space to doubt and worry. In
seduct on, hes tat on s fatal— t makes your v ct m consc ous of your
ntent ons. The bold move crowns seduct on w th tr umph: It leaves
no t me for reflect on.
Audac ty Separates You from the Herd. Boldness g ves you
presence and makes you seem larger than l fe. The t m d fade nto
the wallpaper, the bold draw attent on, and what draws attent on
draws power. We cannot keep our eyes off the audac ous—we
cannot wa t to see the r next bold move.

OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW

Observance I

In May of 1925, f ve of the most successful dealers n the French

scrap-metal bus ness found themselves nv ted to an “off c al” but
“h ghly conf dent al” meet ng w th the deputy d rector general of the
M n stry of Post and Telegraphs at the Hotel Cr llon, then the most
luxur ous hotel n Par s. When the bus nessmen arr ved, t was the
d rector general h mself, a Mons eur Lust g, who met them n a
swank su te on the top floor.
The bus nessmen had no dea why they had been summoned to
th s meet ng, and they were burst ng w th cur os ty. After dr nks, the
d rector expla ned. “Gentlemen,” he sa d, “th s s an urgent matter
that requ res complete secrecy. The government s go ng to have to
tear down the E ffel Tower.” The dealers l stened n stunned s lence
as the d rector expla ned that the tower, as recently reported n the
news, desperately needed repa rs. It had or g nally been meant as a
temporary structure (for the Expos t on of 1889), ts ma ntenance
costs had soared over the years, and now, n a t me of a f scal cr s s,
the government would have to spend m ll ons to f x t. Many
Par s ans cons dered the E ffel Tower an eyesore and would be
del ghted to see t go. Over t me, even the tour sts would forget about
t— t would l ve on n photographs and postcards. “Gentlemen,”
Lust g sa d, “you are all nv ted to make the government an offer for
the E ffel Tower.”
 He gave the bus nessmen sheets of government stat onery f lled
w th f gures, such as the tonnage of the tower’s metal. The r eyes
popped as they calculated how much they could make from the
scrap. Then Lust g led them to a wa t ng l mo, wh ch brought them to
the E ffel Tower. Flash ng an off c al badge, he gu ded them through
the area, sp c ng h s tour w th amus ng anecdotes. At the end of the
v s t he thanked them and asked them to have the r offers del vered
to h s su te w th n four days.
Several days after the offers were subm tted, one of the f ve, a
Mons eur P., rece ved not ce that h s b d was the w nner, and that to
secure the sale he should come to the su te at the hotel w th n two
days, bear ng a cert f ed check for more than 250,000 francs (the
equ valent today of about $1,000,000)—a quarter of the total pr ce.
On del very of the check, he would rece ve the documents conf rm ng
h s ownersh p of the E ffel Tower. Mons eur P. was exc ted—he would
go down n h story as the man who had bought and torn down the
nfamous landmark. But by the t me he arr ved at the su te, check n
hand, he was beg nn ng to have doubts about the whole affa r. Why
meet n a hotel nstead of a government bu ld ng? Why hadn’t he
heard from other off c als? Was th s a hoax, a scam? As he l stened
to Lust g d scuss the arrangements for the scrapp ng of the tower, he
hes tated, and contemplated back ng out.
Suddenly, however, he real zed that the d rector had changed h s
tone. Instead of talk ng about the tower, he was compla n ng about
h s low salary, about h s w fe’s des re for a fur coat, about how gall ng
t was to work hard and be unapprec ated. It dawned on Mons eur P.
that th s h gh government off c al was ask ng for a br be. The effect
on h m, though, was not outrage but rel ef. Now he was sure that
Lust g was for real, s nce n all of h s prev ous encounters w th
French bureaucrats, they had nev tably asked for a l ttle greas ng of
the palm. H s conf dence restored, Mons eur P. sl pped the d rector
several thousand francs n b lls, then handed h m the cert f ed check.
In return he rece ved the documentat on, nclud ng an mpress ve-
look ng b ll of sale. He left the hotel, dream ng of the prof ts and fame
to come.
 Over the next few days, however, as Mons eur P. wa ted for
correspondence from the government, he began to real ze that
someth ng was am ss. A few telephone calls made t clear that there
was no deputy d rector general Lust g, and there were no plans to
destroy the E ffel Tower: He had been b lked of over 250,000 francs!
Mons eur P. never went to the pol ce. He knew what k nd of
reputat on he would get f word got out that he had fallen for one of
the most absurdly audac ous cons n h story. Bes des the publ c
hum l at on, t would have been bus ness su c de.

Interpretat on

Had Count V ctor Lust g, con art st extraord na re, tr ed to sell the Arc
de Tr omphe, a br dge over the Se ne, a statue of Balzac, no one
would have bel eved h m. But the E ffel Tower was just too large, too
mprobable to be part of a con job. In fact t was so mprobable that
Lust g was able to return to Par s s x months later and “resell” the
E ffel Tower to a d fferent scrap- ron dealer, and for a h gher pr ce—a
sum n francs equ valent today to over $1,500,000!
Largeness of scale dece ves the human eye. It d stracts and awes
us, and s so self-ev dent that we cannot mag ne there s any llus on
or decept on afoot. Arm yourself w th b gness and boldness—stretch
your decept ons as far as they w ll go and then go further. If you
sense that the sucker has susp c ons, do as the ntrep d Lust g d d:
Instead of back ng down, or lower ng h s pr ce, he s mply ra sed h s
pr ce h gher, by ask ng for and gett ng a br be. Ask ng for more puts
the other person on the defens ve, cuts out the n bbl ng effect of
comprom se and doubt, and overwhelms w th ts boldness.
Always set to work w thout m sg v ngs on the score of mprudence.
Fear of fa lure n the m nd of a performer s, for an onlooker, already
ev dence of fa lure.... Act ons are dangerous when there s doubt as
to the r w sdom; t would be safer to do noth ng.
BALTASAR GRACIÁN, 1601-1658

THE STORY OF HUH SAENG

In a lowly thatched cottage n the Namsan Valley there l ved a poor
couple, Mr. and Mrs. Huh Saeng. The husband conf ned h mself for
seven years and only read books n h s cold room.... One day h s
w fe, all n tears, sa d to h m: “Look here, my good man! What s the
use of all your book read ng? I have spent my youth n wash ng and
sew ng for other people and yet I have no spare jacket or sk rt to
wear and I have had no food to eat dur ng the past three days. I am
hungry and cold. I can stand t no more!” ... Hear ng these words, the
m ddle-aged scholar closed h s book... rose to h s feet and... w thout
say ng another word, he went out of doors.... Arr v ng n the heart of
the c ty, he slopped a pass ng gentleman. “Hello, my fr end! Who s
the r chest man n town?” “Poor countryman! Don’t you know Bvôn-
ss , the m ll ona re? H s gl tter ng t le-roofed house p erced by twelve
gates s just over there.” Huh Saeng bent h s steps to the r ch man’s
house. Hav ng entered the btg gate, he flung the guest-room door
open and addressed the host:“I need 10,000 yang for cap tal for my
commerc al bus ness and I want you to lend me the money.” “Alr ght,
s r. Where shall I send the money?”
“To the Ansông Market n care of a comm ss on merchant.” “Very
well. s r. I w ll draw on K m, who does the b ggest comm ss on
bus ness n the Ansông Market. You’ll get the money there.” “Good-
bye. s r.” When Huh Saeng was gone, all the other guests n the
room asked Bvôn-ss why he gave so much money to a beggarl ke
stranger whose fam ly name was unknown to h m. But the r ch man
repl ed w th a tr umphant face: “Even though he was n ragged
clothes, he spoke clearly to the po nt w thout betray ng shame or
nfer or ty, unl ke common people who want to borrow money for a
bad debt. Such a man as he s e ther mad or self-conf dent n do ng
bus ness. But judg ng from h s dauntless eyes and boom ng vo ce he
s an uncommon man w th a superhuman bra n, worthy of my trust. I
know money and I know men. Money often makes a man small, but
a man l ke h m makes b g money. I am only glad to have helped a
b g man do b g bus ness.”
BEHIND THE SCENES OF ROYAL PALACES IN KOREA, HA TAE-
HUNG, 1983
 Observance II

On h s deathbed n 1533, Vas ly III, the Grand Duke of Moscow and

ruler of a sem -un ted Russ a, procla med h s three-year-old son,
Ivan IV, as h s successor. He appo nted h s young w fe, Helena, as
regent unt l Ivan reached h s major ty and could rule on h s own. The
ar stocracy—the boyars—secretly rejo ced: For years the dukes of
Moscow had been try ng to extend the r author ty over the boyars’
turf. W th Vas ly dead, h s he r a mere three years old, and a young
woman n charge of the dukedom, the boyars would be able to roll
back the dukes’ ga ns, wrest control of the state, and hum l ate the
royal fam ly.
Aware of these dangers, young Helena turned to her trusted fr end
Pr nce Ivan Obolensky to help her rule. But after f ve years as regent
she suddenly d ed—po soned by a member of the Shu sky fam ly,
the most fearsome boyar clan. The Shu sky pr nces se zed control of
the government and threw Obolensky n pr son, where he starved to
death. At the age of e ght, Ivan was now a desp sed orphan, and any
boyar or fam ly member who took an nterest n h m was mmed ately
ban shed or k lled.
And so Ivan roamed the palace, hungry, ll clothed, and often n
h d ng from the Shu skys, who treated h m roughly when they saw
h m. On some days they would search h m out, clothe h m n royal
robes, hand h m a scepter, and set h m on the throne—a k nd of
mock r tual n wh ch they lampooned h s royal pretens ons. Then
they would shoo h m away. One even ng several of them chased the
Metropol tan—the head of the Russ an church—through the palace,
and he sought refuge n Ivan’s room; the boy watched n horror as
the Shu skys entered, hurled nsults, and beat the Metropol tan
merc lessly.
Ivan had one fr end n the palace, a boyar named Vorontsov who
consoled and adv sed h m. One day, however, as he, Vorontsov, and
the newest Metropol tan conferred n the palace refectory, several
Shu skys burst n, beat up Uorontsov, and nsulted the Metropol tan
by tear ng and tread ng on h s robes. Then they ban shed Vorontsov
from Moscow.
 Throughout all th s Ivan ma nta ned a str ct s lence. To the boyars t
seemed that the r plan had worked: The young man had turned nto
a terr f ed and obed ent d ot. They could gnore h m now, even leave
h m alone. But on the even ng of December 29, 1543, Ivan, now
th rteen, asked Pr nce Andre Shu sky to come to h s room. When the
pr nce arr ved, the room was f lled w th palace guards. Young Ivan
then po nted h s f nger at Andre and ordered the guards to arrest
h m, have h m k lled, and throw h s body to the bloodhounds n the
royal kennel. Over the next few days Ivan had all of Andre ’s close
assoc ates arrested and ban shed. Caught off-guard by h s sudden
boldness, the boyars now stood n mortal terror of th s youth, the
future Ivan the Terr ble, who had planned and wa ted for f ve years to
execute th s one sw ft and bold act that would secure h s power for
decades to come.

Interpretat on

The world s full of boyars—men who desp se you, fear your

amb t on, and jealously guard the r shr nk ng realms of power. You
need to establ sh your author ty and ga n respect, but the moment
the boyars sense your grow ng boldness, they w ll act to thwart you.
Th s s how Ivan met such a s tuat on: He lay low, show ng ne ther
amb t on nor d scontent. He wa ted, and when the t me came he
brought the palace guards over to h s s de. The guards had come to
hate the cruel Shu skys. Once they agreed to Ivan’s plan, he struck
w th the sw ftness of a snake, po nt ng h s f nger at Shu sky and
g v ng h m no t me to react.
Negot ate w th a boyar and you create opportun t es for h m. A
small comprom se becomes the toehold he needs to tear you apart.
The sudden bold move, w thout d scuss on or warn ng, obl terates
these toeholds, and bu lds your author ty. You terr fy doubters and
desp sers and ga n the conf dence of the many who adm re and
glor fy those who act boldly.
 Observance III

In 1514 the twenty-two-year-old P etro Aret no was work ng as a

lowly ass stant scull on to a wealthy Roman fam ly. He had amb t ons
of greatness as a wr ter, to enflame the world w th h s name, but how
could a mere lackey hope to real ze such dreams?
That year Pope Leo X rece ved from the k ng of Portugal an
embassy that ncluded many g fts, most prom nent among them a
great elephant, the f rst n Rome s nce mper al t mes. The pont ff
adored th s elephant and showered t w th attent on and g fts. But
desp te h s love and care, the elephant, wh ch was called Hanno,
became deathly ll. The pope summoned doctors, who adm n stered
a f ve-hundred-pound purgat ve to the elephant, but all to no ava l.
The an mal d ed and the pope went nto mourn ng. To console
h mself he summoned the great pa nter Raphael and ordered h m to
create a l fe-s zed pa nt ng of Hanno above the an mal’s tomb,
bear ng the nscr pt on, “What nature took away, Raphael has w th
h s art restored.”
Over the next few days, a pamphlet c rculated throughout Rome
that caused great merr ment and laughter. Ent tled “The Last W ll and
Testament of the Elephant Hanno,” t read, n part, “To my he r the
Card nal Santa Croce, I g ve my knees, so that he can m tate my
genuflect ons.... To my he r Card nal Sant Quattro, I g ve my jaws, so
that he can more read ly devour all of Chr st’s revenues.... To my he r
Card nal Med c , I g ve my ears, so that he can hear everyone’s
do ngs....” To Card nal Grass , who had a reputat on for lechery, the
elephant bequeathed the appropr ate, overs zed part of h s own
anatomy.
On and on the anonymous pamphlet went, spar ng none of the
great n Rome, not even the pope. W th each one t took a m at the r
best-known weakness. The pamphlet ended w th verse, “See to t
that Aret no s your fr end / For he s a bad enemy to have. / H s
words alone could ru n the h gh pope / So God guard everyone from
h s tongue.”
 Interpretat on

W th one short pamphlet, Aret no, son of a poor shoemaker and a

servant h mself, hurled h mself to fame. Everyone n Rome rushed to
f nd out who th s dar ng young man was. Even the pope, amused by
h s audac ty, sought h m out and ended up g v ng h m a job n the
papal serv ce. Over the years he came to be known as the “Scourge
of Pr nces,” and h s b t ng tongue earned h m the respect and fear of
the great, from the k ng of France to the Hapsburg emperor.
Fear, wh ch always magn f es objects, g ves a body to all the r
fanc es, wh ch takes for ts form whatever they conce ve to ex st n
the r enem es’ thoughts; so that fearful persons seldom fa l to fall nto
real nconven ences, occas oned by mag nary dangers.... And the
duke, whose predom nant character was to be always full of fear and
of d strust, was, of all men I have ever seen, the most capable of
fall ng nto false steps, by the dread he had of fall ng nto them; be ng
n that l ke unto hares.

CARDINAL DE RETZ, 1613-1679

The Aret no strategy s s mple: When you are as small and
obscure as Dav d was, you must f nd a Gol ath to attack. The larger
the target, the more attent on you ga n. The bolder the attack, the
more you stand out from the crowd, and the more adm rat on you
earn. Soc ety s full of those who th nk dar ng thoughts but lack the
guts to pr nt and publ c ze them. Vo ce what the publ c feels—the
express on of shared feel ngs s always powerful. Search out the
most prom nent target poss ble and sl ng your boldest shot. The
world w ll enjoy the spectacle, and w ll honor the underdog—you,
that s—w th glory and power.

1111. BOY AND

A boy play ng n the f elds got stung by a nettle. He ran home to h s
mother, tell ng her that he had but touched that nasty weed, and t
had stung h m. “It was just your touch ng t, my boy,” sa d the mother,
“that caused t to st ng you; the next t me you meddle w th a nettle,
grasp t t ghtly, and t w ll do you no hurt.”
Do boldly what you do at all.

FABLES, AESOP. SIXTH CENTURY B.C.

KEYS TO POWER

Most of us are t m d. We want to avo d tens on and confl ct and we

want to be l ked by all. We may contemplate a bold act on but we
rarely br ng t to l fe. We are terr f ed of the consequences, of what
others m ght th nk of us, of the host l ty we w ll st r up f we dare go
beyond our usual place.
Although we may d sgu se our t m d ty as a concern for others, a
des re not to hurt or offend them, n fact t s the oppos te—we are
really self-absorbed, worr ed about ourselves and how others
perce ve us. Boldness, on the other hand, s outer-d rected, and
often makes people feel more at ease, s nce t s less self-consc ous
and less repressed.
Th s can be seen most clearly n seduct on. All great seducers
succeed through effrontery. Casanova’s boldness was not revealed
n a dar ng approach to the woman he des red, or n ntrep d words to
flatter her; t cons sted n h s ab l ty to surrender h mself to her
completely and to make her bel eve he would do anyth ng for her,
even r sk h s l fe, wh ch n fact he somet mes d d. The woman on
whom he lav shed th s attent on understood that he held noth ng
back from her. Th s was nf n tely more flatter ng than compl ments.
At no po nt dur ng the seduct on would he show hes tat on or doubt,
s mply because he never felt t.
Part of the charm of be ng seduced s that t makes us feel
engulfed, temporar ly outs de of ourselves and the usual doubts that
permeate our l ves. The moment the seducer hes tates, the charm s
broken, because we become aware of the process, of the r
del berate effort to seduce us, of the r self-consc ousness. Boldness
d rects attent on outward and keeps the llus on al ve. It never
nduces awkwardness or embarrassment. And so we adm re the
bold, and prefer to be around them, because the r self-conf dence
nfects us and draws us outs de our own realm of nwardness and
reflect on.

HOW IOBL.
But w th those who have made an mpress on upon your heart, I
have not ced that you are t m d. Th s qual ty m ght affect a
bourgeo se, but you must attack the heart of a woman of the world
w th other weapons.... I tell you on behalf of women: there s not one
of us who does not prefer a l ttle rough handl ng to too much
cons derat on. Men lose through blunder ng more hearts than v rtue
saves. The more t m d ty a lover shows w th us the more t concerns
our pr de to goad h m on; the more respect he has for our res stance,
the more respect we demand of h m. We would w ll ngly say to you
men: “Ah, n p ty’s name do not suppose us to be so very v rtuous;
you are forc ng us to have too much of t....”
We are cont nually struggl ng to h de the fact that we have perm tted
ourselves to be loved. Put a woman n a pos t on to say that she has
y elded only to a spec es of v olence, or to surpr se: persuade her
that you do not undervalue her, and I w ll answer for her heart....A
l ttle more boldness on your part would put you both at your ease. Do
you remember what M. de la Rochefoucauld told you lately: “A
reasonable man n love may act l ke a madman, but he should not
and cannot act l ke an d ot.”

LIFE, LETTERS, AND EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY OF NINON DE

LENCLOS, NINON DE LENCLOS, 1620-1705
Few are born bold. Even Napoleon had to cult vate the hab t on
the battlef eld, where he knew t was a matter of l fe and death. In
soc al sett ngs he was awkward and t m d, but he overcame th s and
pract ced boldness n every part of h s l fe because he saw ts
tremendous power, how t could l terally enlarge a man (even one
who, l ke Napoleon, was n fact consp cuously small). We also see
th s change n Ivan the Terr ble: A harmless boy suddenly transforms
h mself nto a powerful young man who commands author ty, s mply
by po nt ng a f nger and tak ng bold act on.
You must pract ce and develop your boldness. You w ll often f nd
uses for t. The best place to beg n s often the del cate world of
negot at on, part cularly those d scuss ons n wh ch you are asked to
set your own pr ce. How often we put ourselves down by ask ng for
too l ttle. When Chr stopher Columbus proposed that the Span sh
court f nance h s voyage to the Amer cas, he also made the nsanely
bold demand that he be called “Grand Adm ral of the Ocean.” The
court agreed. The pr ce he set was the pr ce he rece ved—he
demanded to be treated w th respect, and so he was. Henry
K ss nger too knew that n negot at on, bold demands work better
than start ng off w th p ecemeal concess ons and try ng to meet the
other person halfway. Set your value h gh, and then, as Count Lust g
d d, set t h gher.
Understand: If boldness s not natural, ne ther s t m d ty. It s an
acqu red hab t, p cked up out of a des re to avo d confl ct. If t m d ty
has taken hold of you, then, root t out. Your fears of the
consequences of a bold act on are way out of proport on to real ty,
and n fact the consequences of t m d ty are worse. Your value s
lowered and you create a self-fulf ll ng cycle of doubt and d saster.
Remember: The problems created by an audac ous move can be
d sgu sed, even remed ed, by more and greater audac ty.
Image: The L on and the
Hare. The l on creates no
gaps n h s way—h s
movements are too
sw ft, h s jaws too qu ck
and powerful. The
t m d hare w ll do any
th ng to escape danger,
but n ts haste to
retreat and flee, t backs
 nto traps, hops smack
nto ts enem es’ jaws.

Author ty: I certa nly th nk that t s better to be mpetuous than

caut ous, for fortune s a woman, and t s necessary, f you w sh to
master her, to conquer her by force; and t can be seen that she lets
herself be overcome by the bold rather than by those who proceed
coldly. And therefore, l ke a woman, she s always a fr end to the
young, because they are less caut ous, f ercer, and master her w th
greater audac ty. (N ccolò Mach avell , 1469-1527)

REVERSAL

Boldness should never be the strategy beh nd all of your act ons. It s
a tact cal nstrument, to be used at the r ght moment. Plan and th nk
ahead, and make the f nal element the bold move that w ll br ng you
success. In other words, s nce boldness s a learned response, t s
also one that you learn to control and ut l ze at w ll. To go through l fe
armed only w th audac ty would be t r ng and also fatal. You would
offend too many people, as s proven by those who cannot control
the r boldness. One such person was Lola Montez; her audac ty
brought her tr umphs and led to her seduct on of the k ng of Bavar a.
But s nce she could never re n n her boldness, t also led to her
downfall— n Bavar a, n England, wherever she turned. It crossed
the border between boldness and the appearance of cruelty, even
nsan ty. Ivan the Terr ble suffered the same fate: When the power of
boldness brought h m success, he stuck to t, to the po nt where t
became a l felong pattern of v olence and sad sm. He lost the ab l ty
to tell when boldness was appropr ate and when t was not.
 T m d ty has no place n the realm of power; you w ll often benef t,
however, by be ng able to fe gn t. At that po nt, of course, t s no
longer t m d ty but an offens ve weapon: You are lur ng people n w th
your show of shyness, all the better to pounce on them boldly later.
 LAW 29

PLAN ALL THE WAY TO THE END

JUDGMENT
The end ng s everyth ng. Plan all the way to t, tak ng nto account all
the poss ble consequences, obstacles, and tw sts of fortune that
m ght reverse your hard work and g ve the glory to others. By
plann ng to the end you w ll not be overwhelmed by c rcumstances
and you w ll know when to stop. Gently gu de fortune and help
determ ne the future by th nk ng far ahead.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In 1510 a sh p set out from the sland of H span ola (now Ha t and
the Dom n can Republ c) for Venezuela, where t was to rescue a
bes eged Span sh colony. Several m les out of port, a stowaway
cl mbed out of a prov s on chest: Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a noble
Span ard who had come to the New World n search of gold but had
fallen nto debt and had escaped h s cred tors by h d ng n the chest.
There are very few men—and they are the except ons—who are
able to th nk and feel beyond the present moment.

CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ, 1780-1831

Balboa had been obsessed w th gold ever s nce Columbus had
returned to Spa n from h s voyages w th tales of a fabulous but as
yet und scovered k ngdom called El Dorado. Balboa was one of the
f rst adventurers to come n search of Columbus’s land of gold, and
he had dec ded from the beg nn ng that he would be the one to f nd
t, through sheer audac ty and s ngle-m ndedness. Now that he was
free of h s cred tors, noth ng would stop h m.
Unfortunately the sh p’s owner, a wealthy jur st named Franc sco
Fer nández de Enc so, was fur ous when told of the stowaway, and
he ordered that Balboa be left on the f rst sland they came across.
Before they found any sland, however, Enc so rece ved news that
the colony he was to rescue had been abandoned. Th s was
Balboa’s chance. He told the sa lors of h s prev ous voyages to
Panama, and of the rumors he had heard of gold n the area. The
exc ted sa lors conv nced Enc so to spare Balboa’s l fe, and to
establ sh a colony n Panama. Weeks later they named the r new
settlement “Dar en.”
Dar en’s f rst governor was Enc so, but Balboa was not a man to
let others steal the n t at ve. He campa gned aga nst Enc so among
the sa lors, who eventually made t clear that they preferred h m as
governor. Enc so fled to Spa n, fear ng for h s l fe. Months later, when
a representat ve of the Span sh crown arr ved to establ sh h mself as
the new, off c al governor of Dar en, he was turned away. On h s
return voyage to Spa n, th s man drowned; the drown ng was
acc dental, but under Span sh law, Balboa had murdered the
governor and usurped h s pos t on.
Balboa’s bravado had got h m out of scrapes before, but now h s
hopes of wealth and glory seemed doomed. To lay cla m to El
Dorado, should he d scover t, he would need the approval of the
Span sh k ng—wh ch, as an outlaw, he would never rece ve. There
was only one solut on. Panaman an Ind ans had told Balboa of a vast
ocean on the other s de of the Central Amer can sthmus, and had
sa d that by travel ng south upon th s western coast, he would reach
a fabulous land of gold, called by a name that to h s ears sounded
l ke “B ru.” Balboa dec ded he would cross the treacherous jungles of
Panama and become the f rst European to bathe h s feet n th s new
ocean. From there he would march on El Dorado. If he d d th s on
Spa n’s behalf, he would obta n the eternal grat tude of the k ng, and
would secure h s own repr eve—only he had to act before Span sh
author t es came to arrest h m.

THE TWO FROGS

Two frogs dwelt n the same pool. The pool be ng dr ed up under the
summer’s heat, they left t, and set out together to seek another
home. As they went along they chanced to pass a deep well, amply
suppl ed w th water, on see ng wh ch one of the frogs sa d to the
other: “Let us descend and make our abode n th s well, t w ll furn sh
us w th shelter and food.” The other repl ed w th greater caut on: “But
suppose the water should fa l us, how can we get out aga n from so
great a depth?” Do noth ng w thout a regard to the consequences.

FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.

In 1513, then, Balboa set out, w th 190 sold ers. Halfway across
the sthmus (some n nety m les w de at that po nt), only s xty sold ers
rema ned, many hav ng succumbed to the harsh cond t ons—the
blood-suck ng nsects, the torrent al ra nfall, fever. F nally, from a
mounta ntop, Balboa became the f rst European to lay eyes on the
Pac f c Ocean. Days later he marched n h s armor nto ts waters,
bear ng the banner of Cast le and cla m ng all ts seas, lands, and
slands n the name of the Span sh throne.
Look to the end, no matter what t s you are cons der ng. Often
enough, God g ves a man a gl mpse of happ ness, and then utterly
ru ns h m.
THE HISTORIES, HERODOTUS, FIFTH CENTURY B.C.
Ind ans from the area greeted Balboa w th gold, jewels, and
prec ous pearls, the l ke of wh ch he had never seen. When he asked
where these had come from, the Ind ans po nted south, to the land of
the Incas. But Balboa had only a few sold ers left. For the moment,
he dec ded, he should return to Dar en, send the jewels and gold to
Spa n as a token of good w ll, and ask for a large army to a d h m n
the conquest of El Dorado.
 When news reached Spa n of Balboa’s bold cross ng of the
sthmus, h s d scovery of the western ocean, and h s planned
conquest of El Dorado, the former cr m nal became a hero. He was
nstantly procla med governor of the new land. But before the k ng
and queen rece ved word of h s d scovery, they had already sent a
dozen sh ps, under the command of a man named Pedro Ar as
Dáv la, “Pedrar as,” w th orders to arrest Balboa for murder and to
take command of the colony. By the t me Pedrar as arr ved n
Panama, he had learned that Balboa had been pardoned, and that
he was to share the governorsh p w th the former outlaw.
All the same, Balboa felt uneasy. Gold was h s dream, El Dorado
h s only des re. In pursu t of th s goal he had nearly d ed many t mes
over, and to share the wealth and glory w th a newcomer would be
ntolerable. He also soon d scovered that Pedrar as was a jealous,
b tter man, and equally unhappy w th the s tuat on. Once aga n, the
only solut on for Balboa was to se ze the n t at ve by propos ng to
cross the jungle w th a larger army, carry ng sh p-bu ld ng mater als
and tools. Once on the Pac f c coast, he would create an armada
w th wh ch to conquer the Incas. Surpr s ngly enough, Pedrar as
agreed to the plan—perhaps sens ng t would never work. Hundreds
d ed n th s second march through the jungle, and the t mber they
carr ed rotted n the torrent al ra ns. Balboa, as usual, was undaunted
—no power n the world could thwart h s plan—and on arr v ng at the
Pac f c he began to cut down trees for new lumber. But the men
rema n ng to h m were too few and too weak to mount an nvas on,
and once aga n Balboa had to return to Dar en.
Pedrar as had n any case nv ted Balboa back to d scuss a new
plan, and on the outsk rts of the settlement, the explorer was met by
Franc sco P zarro, an old fr end who had accompan ed h m on h s
f rst cross ng of the sthmus. But th s was a trap: Lead ng one
hundred sold ers, P zarro surrounded h s former fr end, arrested h m,
and returned h m to Pedrar as, who tr ed h m on charges of rebell on.
A few days later Balboa’s head fell nto a basket, along w th those of
h s most trusted followers. Years later P zarro h mself reached Peru,
and Balboa’s deeds were forgotten.
 THE KING. THE SUFI. AND THE SURGEON
In anc ent t mes a k ng of Tartary was out walk ng w th some of h s
noblemen. At the roads de was an abdal (a wander ng Suf ), who
cr ed out: “Whoever w ll g ve me a hundred d nars, I w ll g ve h m
some good adv ce.” The k ng stopped, and sa d: “Abdal, what s th s
good adv ce for a hundred d nars?” “S r,” answered the abdal, “order
the sum to be g ven to me, and I w ll tell t you mmed ately.” The k ng
d d so, expect ng to hear someth ng extraord nary. The derv sh sa d
to h m: “My adv ce s th s: Never beg n anyth ng unt l you have
reflected what w ll be the end of t.” At th s the nobles and everyone
else present laughed, say ng that the abdal had been w se to ask for
h s money n advance. But the k ng sa d: “You have no reason to
laugh at the good adv ce th s abdal has g ven me. No one s
unaware of the fact that we should th nk well before do ng anyth ng.
But we are da ly gu lty of not remember ng, and the consequences
are ev l. I very much value th s derv sh’s adv ce. ”
The k ng dec ded to bear the adv ce always n h s m nd, and
commanded t to be wr tten n gold on the walls and even engraved
on h s s lver plate.
Not long afterward a plotter des red to k ll the k ng. He br bed the
royal surgeon w th a prom se of the pr me m n stersh p f he thrust a
po soned lancet nto the k ng’s arm. When the t me came to let some
of the k ng’s blood, a s lver bas n was placed to catch the blood.
Suddenly the surgeon became aware of the words engraved upon t:
“Never beg n anyth ng unt l you have reflected what w ll be the end of
t. ” It was only then that he real zed that f the plotter became k ng he
could have the surgeon k lled nstantly, and would not need to fulf ll
h s barga n.
The k ng, see ng that the surgeon was now trembl ng, asked h m
what was wrong w th hun. And so he confessed the truth, at that very
moment.
The plotter was se zed; and the k ng sent for all the people who had
been present when the abdal gave h s adv ce, and sa d to them: “Do
you st ll laugh at the derv sh?”
CARAVAN OF DREAMS. IDRIES SHAH, 1968

Interpretat on

Most men are ruled by the heart, not the head. The r plans are
vague, and when they meet obstacles they mprov se. But
mprov sat on w ll only br ng you as far as the next cr s s, and s
never a subst tute for th nk ng several steps ahead and plann ng to
the end.
Balboa had a dream of glory and wealth, and a vague plan to
reach t. Yet h s bold deeds, and h s d scovery of the Pac f c, are
largely forgotten, for he comm tted what n the world of power s the
ult mate s n: He went part way, leav ng the door open for others to
take over. A real man of power would have had the prudence to see
the dangers n the d stance—the r vals who would want to share n
the conquests, the vultures that would hover once they heard the
word “gold.” Balboa should have kept h s knowledge of the Incas
secret unt l after he had conquered Peru. Only then would h s
wealth, and h s head, have been secure. Once Pedrar as arr ved on
the scene, a man of power and prudence would have schemed to k ll
or mpr son h m, and to take over the army he had brought for the
conquest of Peru. But Balboa was locked n the moment, always
react ng emot onally, never th nk ng ahead.
What good s t to have the greatest dream n the world f others
reap the benef ts and the glory? Never lose your head over a vague,
open-ended dream—plan to the end.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In 1863 the Pruss an prem er Otto von B smarck surveyed the

chessboard of European power as t then stood. The ma n players
were England, France, and Austr a. Pruss a tself was one of several
states n the loosely all ed German Federat on. Austr a, dom nant
member of the Federat on, made sure that the other German states
rema ned weak, d v ded and subm ss ve. B smarck bel eved that
Pruss a was dest ned for someth ng far greater than servant boy to
Austr a.
Th s s how B smarck played the game. H s f rst move was to start
a war w th lowly Denmark, n order to recover the former Pruss an
lands of Schlesw g-Holste n. He knew that these rumbl ngs of
Pruss an ndependence m ght worry France and England, so he
enl sted Austr a n the war, cla m ng that he was recover ng
Schlesw g-Holste n for the r benef t. In a few months, after the war
was dec ded, B smarck demanded that the newly conquered lands
be made part of Pruss a. The Austr ans of course were fur ous, but
they comprom sed: F rst they agreed to g ve the Pruss ans
Schlesw g, and a year later they sold them Holste n. The world
began to see that Austr a was weaken ng and that Pruss a was on
the r se.
B smarck’s next move was h s boldest: In 1866 he conv nced K ng
W ll am of Pruss a to w thdraw from the German Federat on, and n
do ng so to go to war w th Austr a tself. K ng W ll am’s w fe, h s son
the crown pr nce, and the pr nces of the other German k ngdoms
vehemently opposed such a war. But B smarck, undaunted,
succeeded n forc ng the confl ct, and Pruss a’s super or army
defeated the Austr ans n the brutally short Seven Weeks War. The
k ng and the Pruss an generals then wanted to march on V enna,
tak ng as much land from Austr a as poss ble. But B smarck stopped
them—now he presented h mself as on the s de of peace. The result
was that he was able to conclude a treaty w th Austr a that granted
Pruss a and the other German states total autonomy. B smarck could
now pos t on Pruss a as the dom nant power n Germany and the
head of a newly formed North German Confederat on.
The French and the Engl sh began to compare B smarck to Att la
the Hun, and to fear that he had des gns on all of Europe. Once he
had started on the path to conquest, there was no tell ng where he
would stop. And, ndeed, three years later B smarck provoked a war
w th France. F rst he appeared to g ve h s perm ss on to France’s
annexat on of Belg um, then at the last moment he changed h s
m nd. Play ng a cat-and-mouse game, he nfur ated the French
emperor, Napoleon III, and st rred up h s own k ng aga nst the
French. To no one’s surpr se, war broke out n 1870. The newly
formed German federat on enthus ast cally jo ned n the war on
France, and once aga n the Pruss an m l tary mach ne and ts all es
destroyed the enemy army n a matter of months. Although B smarck
opposed tak ng any French land, the generals conv nced h m that
Alsace-Lorra ne would become part of the federat on.
Now all of Europe feared the next move of the Pruss an monster,
led by B smarck, the “Iron Chancellor.” And n fact a year later
B smarck founded the German Emp re, w th the Pruss an k ng as the
newly crowned emperor and B smarck h mself a pr nce. But then
someth ng strange happened: B smarck nst gated no more wars.
And wh le the other European powers grabbed up land for colon es
n other cont nents, he severely l m ted Germany’s colon al
acqu s t ons. He d d not want more land for Germany, but more
secur ty. For the rest of h s l fe he struggled to ma nta n peace n
Europe and to prevent further wars. Everybody assumed he had
changed, mellow ng w th the years. They had fa led to understand:
Th s was the f nal move of h s or g nal plan.
He who asks fortune-tellers the future unw tt ngly forfe ts an nner
nt mat on of com ng events that s a thousand t mes more exact than
anyth ng they may say.
WALTER BENJAMIN, 1892-1940

Interpretat on

There s a s mple reason why most men never know when to come
off the attack: They form no concrete dea of the r goal. Once they
ach eve v ctory they only hunger for more. To stop—to a m for a goal
and then keep to t—seems almost nhuman, n fact; yet noth ng s
more cr t cal to the ma ntenance of power. The person who goes too
far n h s tr umphs creates a react on that nev tably leads to a
decl ne. The only solut on s to plan for the long run. Foresee the
future w th as much clar ty as the gods on Mount Olympus, who look
through the clouds and see the ends of all th ngs.
From the beg nn ng of h s career n pol t cs, B smarck had one
goal: to form an ndependent German state led by Pruss a. He
nst gated the war w th Denmark not to conquer terr tory but to st r up
Pruss an nat onal sm and un te the country. He nc ted the war w th
Austr a only to ga n Pruss an ndependence. (Th s was why he
refused to grab Austr an terr tory.) And he fomented the war w th
France to un te the German k ngdoms aga nst a common enemy,
and thus to prepare for the format on of a un ted Germany.
Once th s was ach eved, B smarck stopped. He never let tr umph
go to h s head, was never tempted by the s ren call of more. He held
the re ns t ghtly, and whenever the generals, or the k ng, or the
Pruss an people demanded new conquests, he held them back.
Noth ng would spo l the beauty of h s creat on, certa nly not a false
euphor a that pushed those around h m to attempt to go past the end
that he had so carefully planned.
Exper ence shows that, f one foresees from far away the des gns to
be
undertaken, one can act w th speed when the moment comes to
execute them.
Card nall R chel eu, 1585-1642

KEYS TO POWER

Accord ng to the cosmology of the anc ent Greeks, the gods were
thought to have complete v s on nto the future. They saw everyth ng
to come, r ght down to the ntr cate deta ls. Men, on the other hand,
were seen as v ct ms of fate, trapped n the moment and the r
emot ons, unable to see beyond mmed ate dangers. Those heroes,
such as Odysseus, who were able to look beyond the present and
plan several steps ahead, seemed to defy fate, to approx mate the
gods n the r ab l ty to determ ne the future. The compar son s st ll
val d—those among us who th nk further ahead and pat ently br ng
the r plans to fru t on seem to have a godl ke power.
Because most people are too mpr soned n the moment to plan
w th th s k nd of fores ght, the ab l ty to gnore mmed ate dangers
and pleasures translates nto power. It s the power of be ng able to
overcome the natural human tendency to react to th ngs as they
happen, and nstead to tra n oneself to step back, mag n ng the
larger th ngs tak ng shape beyond one’s mmed ate v s on. Most
people bel eve that they are n fact aware of the future, that they are
plann ng and th nk ng ahead. They are usually deluded: What they
are really do ng s succumb ng to the r des res, to what they want the
future to be. The r plans are vague, based on the r mag nat ons
rather than the r real ty. They may bel eve they are th nk ng all the
way to the end, but they are really only focus ng on the happy
end ng, and delud ng themselves by the strength of the r des re.
In 415 B.C., the anc ent Athen ans attacked S c ly, bel ev ng the r
exped t on would br ng them r ches, power, and a glor ous end ng to
the s xteen-year Peloponnes an War. They d d not cons der the
dangers of an nvas on so far from home; they d d not foresee that
the S c l ans would f ght all the harder s nce the battles were n the r
own homeland, or that all of Athens’s enem es would band together
aga nst them, or that war would break out on several fronts,
stretch ng the r forces way too th n. The S c l an exped t on was a
complete d saster, lead ng to the destruct on of one of the greatest
c v l zat ons of all t me. The Athen ans were led nto th s d saster by
the r hearts, not the r m nds. They saw only the chance of glory, not
the dangers that loomed n the d stance.
Card nal de Retz, the seventeenth-century Frenchman who pr ded
h mself on h s ns ghts nto human schemes and why they mostly fa l,
analyzed th s phenomenon. In the course of a rebell on he
spearheaded aga nst the French monarchy n 1651, the young k ng,
Lou s XIV, and h s court had suddenly left Par s and establ shed
themselves n a palace outs de the cap tal. The presence of the k ng
so close to the heart of the revolut on had been a tremendous
burden on the revolut onar es, and they breathed a s gh of rel ef. Th s
later proved the r downfall, however, s nce the court’s absence from
Par s gave t much more room to maneuver. “The most ord nary
cause of people’s m stakes,” Card nal de Retz later wrote, “ s the r
be ng too much fr ghtened at the present danger, and not enough so
at that wh ch s remote.”
The dangers that are remote, that loom n the d stance— f we can
see them as they take shape, how many m stakes we avo d. How
many plans we would nstantly abort f we real zed we were avo d ng
a small danger only to step nto a larger one. So much of power s
not what you do but what you do not do—the rash and fool sh
act ons that you refra n from before they get you nto trouble. Plan n
deta l before you act—do not let vague plans lead you nto trouble.
W ll th s have un ntended consequences? W ll I st r up new
enem es? W ll someone else take advantage of my labors? Unhappy
end ngs are much more common than happy ones—do not be
swayed by the happy end ng n your m nd.
The French elect ons of 1848 came down to a struggle between
Lou s-Adolphe Th ers, the man of order, and General Lou s Eugène
Cava gnac, the rabble-rouser of the r ght. When Th ers real zed he
was hopelessly beh nd n th s h gh-stakes race, he searched
desperately for a solut on. H s eye fell on Lou s Bonaparte, grand-
nephew of the great general Napoleon, and a lowly deputy n the
parl ament. Th s Bonaparte seemed a b t of an mbec le, but h s
name alone could get h m elected n a country yearn ng for a strong
ruler. He would be Th ers’s puppet and eventually would be pushed
offstage. The f rst part of the plan worked to perfect on, and
Napoleon was elected by a large marg n. The problem was that
Th ers had not foreseen one s mple fact: Th s “ mbec le” was n fact a
man of enormous amb t on. Three years later he d ssolved
parl ament, declared h mself emperor, and ruled France for another
e ghteen years, much to the horror of Th ers and h s party.
The end ng s everyth ng. It s the end of the act on that determ nes
who gets the glory, the money, the pr ze. Your conclus on must be
crystal clear, and you must keep t constantly n m nd. You must also
f gure out how to ward off the vultures c rcl ng overhead, try ng to l ve
off the carcass of your creat on. And you must ant c pate the many
poss ble cr ses that w ll tempt you to mprov se. B smarck overcame
these dangers because he planned to the end, kept on course
through every cr s s, and never let others steal the glory. Once he
had reached h s stated goal, he w thdrew nto h s shell l ke a turtle.
Th s k nd of self-control s godl ke.
When you see several steps ahead, and plan your moves all the
way to the end, you w ll no longer be tempted by emot on or by the
des re to mprov se. Your clar ty w ll r d you of the anx ety and
vagueness that are the pr mary reasons why so many fa l to
conclude the r act ons successfully. You see the end ng and you
tolerate no dev at on.
Image:
The Gods on
Mount Olympus.
Look ng down on
human act ons from the
clouds, they see n advance the
end ngs of all the great dreams that
lead to d saster and tragedy. And
they laugh at our nab l ty to see beyond
the moment, and at how we delude ourselves.

Author ty: How much eas er t s never to get n than to get yourself
out! We should act contrary to the reed wh ch, when t f rst appears,
throws up a long stra ght stem but afterwards, as though t were
exhausted ... makes several dense knots, nd cat ng that t no longer
has ts or g nal v gor and dr ve. We must rather beg n gently and
coolly, sav ng our breath for the encounter and our v gorous thrusts
for f n sh ng off the job. In the r beg nn ngs t s we who gu de affa rs
and hold them n our power; but so often once they are set n mot on,
t s they wh ch gu de us and sweep us along. (Monta gne, 1533-
1592)

REVERSAL

It s a cl ché among strateg sts that your plan must nclude

alternat ves and have a degree of flex b l ty. That s certa nly true. If
you are locked nto a plan too r g dly, you w ll be unable to deal w th
sudden sh fts of fortune. Once you have exam ned the future
poss b l t es and dec ded on your target, you must bu ld n
alternat ves and be open to new routes toward your goal.
Most people, however, lose less from overplann ng and r g d ty
than from vagueness and a tendency to mprov se constantly n the
face of c rcumstance. There s no real purpose n contemplat ng a
reversal to th s Law, then, for no good can come from refus ng to
th nk far nto the future and plann ng to the end. If you are clear- and
far-th nk ng enough, you w ll understand that the future s uncerta n,
and that you must be open to adaptat on. Only hav ng a clear
object ve and a far-reach ng plan allows you that freedom.
 LAW 30

MAKE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS SEEM

EFFORTLESS

JUDGMENT
Your act ons must seem natural and executed w th ease. All the to l
and pract ce that go nto them, and also all the clever tr cks, must be
concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as f you could do much
more. Avo d the temptat on of reveal ng how hard you work— t only
ra ses quest ons. Teach no one your tr cks or they w ll be used
aga nst you.

KANO TANNYU. MASTER ARTIST

Date Masamune once sent for Tannyu to decorate a pa r of gold
screens seven feet h gh. The art st sa d he thought black-and-wh te
sketches would su t them, and went home aga n after cons der ng
them carefully. The next morn ng he came early and made a large
quant ty of nk nto wh ch he d pped a horseshoe he had brought w th
h m, and then proceeded to make mpress ons of th s all over one of
the screens. Then, w th a large brush, he drew a number of l nes
across them. Meanwh le Masamune had come n to watch h s work,
and at th s he could conta n h s rr tat on no longer, and mutter ng,
“What a beastly mess!” he strode away to h s own apartments. The
reta ners told Tannyu he was n a very bad temper ndeed. “He
shouldn’t look on wh le I am at work, then,” repl ed the pa nter, “he
should wa t t ll t s f n shed.” Then he took up a smaller brush and
dashed n touches here and there, and as he d d so the pr nts of the
horse-shoe turned nto crabs, wh le the b g broad strokes became
rushes. He then turned to the other screen and splashed drops of nk
all over t, and when he had added a few brush-strokes here and
there they became a fl ght of swallows over w llow trees. When
Masamune saw the f n shed work he was as overjoyed at the art st’s
sk ll as he had prev ously been annoyed at the apparent mess he
was mak ng of the screens.
CHA-NO-YU: THE JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY A. L. SADLER,
1962

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I

The Japanese tea ceremony called Cha-no-yu (“Hot Water for Tea”)
has or g ns n anc ent t mes, but t reached ts peak of ref nement n
the s xteenth century under ts most renowned pract t oner, Sen no
R kyu. Although not from a noble fam ly, R kyu rose to great power,
becom ng the preferred tea master of the Emperor H deyosh , and an
mportant adv ser on aesthet c and even pol t cal matters. For R kyu,
the secret of success cons sted n appear ng natural, conceal ng the
effort beh nd one’s work.
One day R kyu and h s son went to an acqua ntance’s house for a
tea ceremony. On the way n, the son remarked that the lovely
ant que-look ng gate at the r host’s house gave t an evocat vely
lonely appearance. “I don’t th nk so,” repl ed h s father, “ t looks as
though t had been brought from some mounta n temple a long way
off, and as f the labor requ red to mport t must have cost a lot of
money.” If the owner of the house had put th s much effort nto one
gate, t would show n h s tea ceremony—and ndeed Sen no R kyu
had to leave the ceremony early, unable to endure the affectat on
and effort t nadvertently revealed.
On another even ng, wh le hav ng tea at a fr end’s house, R kyu
saw h s host go outs de, hold up a lantern n the darkness, cut a
lemon off a tree, and br ng t n. Th s charmed R kyu—the host
needed a rel sh for the d sh he was serv ng, and had spontaneously
gone outs de to get one. But when the man offered the lemon w th
some Osaka r ce cake, R kyu real zed that he had planned the
cutt ng of the lemon all along, to go w th th s expens ve del cacy. The
gesture no longer seemed spontaneous— t was a way for the host to
prove h s cleverness. He had acc dentally revealed how hard he was
try ng. Hav ng seen enough, R kyu pol tely decl ned the cake,
excused h mself, and left.
Emperor H deyosh once planned to v s t R kyu for a tea ceremony.
On the n ght before he was to come, snow began to fall. Th nk ng
qu ckly, R kyu la d round cush ons that f t exactly on each of the
stepp ng-stones that led through the garden to h s house. Just before
dawn, he rose, saw that t had stopped snow ng, and carefully
removed the cush ons. When H deyosh arr ved, he marveled at the
s mple beauty of the s ght—the perfectly round stepp ng stones,
unencumbered by snow—and not ced how t called no attent on to
the manner n wh ch R kyu had accompl shed t, but only to the pol te
gesture tself.
After Sen no R kyu d ed, h s deas had a profound nfluence on the
pract ce of the tea ceremony. The Tokugawa shogun Yor nobu, son
of the great Emperor Ieyasu, was a student of R kyu’s teach ngs. In
h s garden he had a stone lantern made by a famous master, and
Lord Saka Tadakatsu asked f he could come by one day to see t.
Yor nobu repl ed that he would be honored, and commanded h s
gardeners to put everyth ng n order for the v s t. These gardeners,
unfam l ar w th the precepts of Cha-no-yu, thought the stone lantern
m sshapen, ts w ndows be ng too small for the present taste. They
had a local workman enlarge the w ndows. A few days before Lord
Saka ’s v s t, Yor nobu toured the garden. When he saw the altered
w ndows he exploded w th rage, ready to mpale on h s sword the
fool who had ru ned the lantern, upsett ng ts natural grace and
destroy ng the whole purpose of Lord Saka ’s v s t.
When Yor nobu calmed down, however, he remembered that he
had or g nally bought two of the lanterns, and that the second was n
h s garden on the sland of K shu. At great expense, he h red a whale
boat and the f nest rowers he could f nd, order ng them to br ng the
lantern to h m w th n two days—a d ff cult feat at best. But the sa lors
rowed day and n ght, and w th the luck of a good w nd they arr ved
just n t me. To Yor nobu’s del ght, th s stone lantern was more
magn f cent than the f rst, for t had stood untouched for twenty years
n a bamboo th cket, acqu r ng a br ll ant ant que appearance and a
del cate cover ng of moss. When Lord Saka arr ved, later that same
day, he was awed by the lantern, wh ch was more magn f cent than
he had mag ned—so graceful and at one w th the elements.
Fortunately he had no dea what t me and effort t had cost Yor nobu
to create th s subl me effect.

THE RESILING MASTER

There was once a wrestl ng master who was versed n 360 fe nts
and holds. He took a spec al l k ng to one of h s pup ls, to whom he
taught 359 of them over a per od of t me. Somehow he never got
around to the last tr ck. As months went by the young man became
so prof c ent n the art that he bested everyone who dared to face
h m n the r ng. He was so proud of h s prowess that one day he
boasted before the sultan that he could read ly wh p h s master, were
t not out of respect for h s age and grat tude for h s tutelage.
The sultan became ncensed at th s rreverence and ordered an
mmed ate match w th the royal court n attendance.
At the gong the youth barged forward w th a lusty yell, only to be
confronted w th the unfam l ar 360th fe nt. The master se zed h s
former pup l, l fted h m h gh above h s head, and flung h m crash ng
to the ground. The sultan and the assembly let out a loud cheer.
When the sultan asked the master how he was able to overcome
such a strong opponent, the master confessed that he had reserved
a secret techn que for h mself for just such a cont ngency. Then he
related the lamentat on of a master of archery, who taught everyth ng
he knew. “No one has learned archery from me,” the poor fellow
compla ned, “who has not tr ed to use me as a butt n the end.”

A STORY OF SAADI, AS TOLD IN THE CRAFT OF POWER, R.G.

H. SIU, 1979
 Interpretat on

To Sen no R kyu, the sudden appearance of someth ng naturally,

almost acc dentally graceful was the he ght of beauty. Th s beauty
came w thout warn ng and seemed effortless. Nature created such
th ngs by ts own laws and processes, but men had to create the r
effects through labor and contr vance. And when they showed the
effort of produc ng the effect, the effect was spo led. The gate came
from too far away, the cutt ng of the lemon looked contr ved.
You w ll often have to use tr cks and ngenu ty to create your
effects—the cush ons n the snow, the men row ng all n ght—but
your aud ence must never suspect the work or the th nk ng that has
gone nto them. Nature does not reveal ts tr cks, and what m tates
nature by appear ng effortless approx mates nature’s power.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II

The great escape art st Harry Houd n once advert sed h s act as
“The Imposs ble Poss ble.” And ndeed those who w tnessed h s
dramat c escapes felt that what he d d onstage contrad cted
commonsense deas of human capac ty.
One even ng n 1904, an aud ence of 4,000 Londoners f lled a
theater to watch Houd n accept a challenge: to escape from a pa r of
manacles b lled as the strongest ever nvented. They conta ned s x
sets of locks and n ne tumblers n each cuff; a B rm ngham maker
had spent f ve years construct ng them. Experts who exam ned them
sa d they had never seen anyth ng so ntr cate, and th s ntr cacy was
thought to make them mposs ble to escape.
The crowd watched the experts secure the manacles on Houd n ’s
wr sts. Then the escape art st entered a black cab net on stage. The
m nutes went by; the more t me passed, the more certa n t seemed
that these manacles would be the f rst to defeat h m. At one po nt he
emerged from the cab net, and asked that the cuffs be temporar ly
removed so that he could take off h s coat— t was hot ns de. The
challengers refused, suspect ng h s request was a tr ck to f nd out
how the locks worked. Undeterred, and w thout us ng h s hands,
Houd n managed to l ft the coat over h s shoulders, turn t ns de out,
remove a penkn fe from h s vest pocket w th h s teeth, and, by
mov ng h s head, cut the coat off h s arms. Freed from the coat, he
stepped back nto the cab net, the aud ence roar ng w th approval at
h s grace and dexter ty.
F nally, hav ng kept the aud ence wa t ng long enough, Houd n
emerged from the cab net a second t me, now w th h s hands free,
the manacles ra sed h gh n tr umph. To th s day no one knows how
he managed the escape. Although he had taken close to an hour to
free h mself, he had never looked concerned, had shown no s gn of
doubt. Indeed t seemed by the end that he had drawn out the
escape as a way to he ghten the drama, to make the aud ence worry
—for there was no other s gn that the performance had been
anyth ng but easy. The compla nt about the heat was equally part of
the act. The spectators of th s and other Houd n performances must
have felt he was toy ng w th them: These manacles are noth ng, he
seemed to say, I could have freed myself a lot sooner, and from a lot
worse.
Over the years, Houd n escaped from the cha ned carcass of an
embalmed “sea monster” (a half octopus, half whalel ke beast that
had beached near Boston); he had h mself sealed ns de an
enormous envelope from wh ch he emerged w thout break ng the
paper; he passed through br ck walls; he wr ggled free from
stra tjackets wh le dangl ng h gh n the a r; he leaped from br dges
nto cy waters, h s hands manacled and h s legs n cha ns; he had
h mself submerged n glass cases full of water, hands pad-locked,
wh le the aud ence watched n amazement as he worked h mself
free, struggl ng for close to an hour apparently w thout breath ng.
Each t me he seemed to court certa n death yet surv ved w th
superhuman aplomb. Meanwh le, he sa d noth ng about h s methods,
gave no clues as to how he accompl shed any of h s tr cks—he left
h s aud ences and cr t cs speculat ng, h s power and reputat on
enhanced by the r struggles w th the nexpl cable. Perhaps the most
baffl ng tr ck of all was mak ng a ten-thousand-pound elephant
d sappear before an aud ence’s eyes, a feat he repeated on stage
for over n neteen weeks. No one has ever really expla ned how he
d d th s, for n the aud tor um where he performed the tr ck, there was
s mply nowhere for an elephant to h de.
The effortlessness of Houd n ’s escapes led some to th nk he used
occult forces, h s super or psych c ab l t es g v ng h m spec al control
over h s body. But a German escape art st named Klepp n cla med
to know Houd n ’s secret: He s mply used elaborate gadgets.
Klepp n also cla med to have defeated Houd n n a handcuff
challenge n Holland.
Houd n d d not m nd all k nds of speculat on float ng around about
h s methods, but he would not tolerate an outr ght l e, and n 1902 he
challenged Klepp n to a handcuff duel. Klepp n accepted. Through a
spy, he found out the secret word to unlock a pa r of French
comb nat on-lock cuffs that Houd n l ked to use. H s plan was to
choose these cuffs to escape from onstage. Th s would def n t vely
debunk Houd n —h s “gen us” s mply lay n h s use of mechan cal
gadgets.
On the n ght of the challenge, just as Klepp n had planned,
Houd n offered h m a cho ce of cuffs and he selected the ones w th
the comb nat on lock. He was even able to d sappear w th them
beh nd a screen to make a qu ck test, and reemerged seconds later,
conf dent of v ctory.
Act ng as f he sensed fraud, Houd n refused to lock Klepp n n
the cuffs. The two men argued and began to f ght, even wrestl ng
w th each other onstage. After a few m nutes of th s, an apparently
angry, frustrated Houd n gave up and locked Klepp n n the cuffs.
For the next few m nutes Klepp n stra ned to get free. Someth ng
was wrong—m nutes earl er he had opened the cuffs beh nd the
screen; now the same code no longer worked. He sweated, rack ng
h s bra ns. Hours went by, the aud ence left, and f nally an exhausted
and hum l ated Klepp n gave up and asked to be released.
The cuffs that Klepp n h mself had opened beh nd the screen w th
the word “C-L-E-F-S” (French for “keys”) now cl cked open only w th
the word “F-R-A-U-D.” Klepp n never f gured out how Houd n had
accompl shed th s uncanny feat.
Keep the extent of your ab l t es unknown. The w se man does not
allow h s knowledge and ab l t es to be sounded to the bottom, f he
des res to be honored by all. He allows you to know them but not to
comprehend them. No one must know the extent of h s ab l t es, lest
he be d sappo nted. No one ever has an opportun ty of fathom ng
h m ent rely. For guesses and doubts about the extent of h s talents
arouse more venerat on than accurate knowledge of them, be they
ever so great.
BALTASAR GRACIÁN. 1601-1658

Interpretat on

Although we do not know for certa n how Houd n accompl shed

many of h s most ngen ous escapes, one th ng s clear: It was not
the occult, or any k nd of mag c, that gave h m h s powers, but hard
work and endless pract ce, all of wh ch he carefully concealed from
the world. Houd n never left anyth ng to chance—day and n ght he
stud ed the work ngs of locks, researched centur es-old sle ght-of-
hand tr cks, pored over books on mechan cs, whatever he could use.
Every moment not spent research ng he spent work ng h s body,
keep ng h mself except onally l mber, and learn ng how to control h s
muscles and h s breath ng.
Early on n Houd n ’s career, an old Japanese performer whom he
toured w th taught h m an anc ent tr ck: how to swallow an vory ball,
then br ng t back up. He pract ced th s endlessly w th a small peeled
potato t ed to a str ng—up and down he would man pulate the potato
w th h s throat muscles, unt l they were strong enough to move t
w thout the str ng. The organ zers of the London handcuff challenge
had searched Houd n ’s body thoroughly beforehand, but no one
could check the ns de of h s throat, where he could have concealed
small tools to help h m escape. Even so, Klepp n was fundamentally
wrong: It was not Houd n ’s tools but h s pract ce, work, and research
that made h s escapes poss ble.
 Klepp n , n fact, was completely outw tted by Houd n , who set the
whole th ng up. He let h s opponent learn the code to the French
cuffs, then ba ted h m nto choos ng those cuffs onstage. Then,
dur ng the two men’s tussle, the dexterous Houd n was able to
change the code to “F-R-A-U-D.” He had spent weeks pract c ng th s
tr ck, but the aud ence saw none of the sweat and to l beh nd the
scenes. Nor was Houd n ever nervous; he nduced nervousness n
others. (He del berately dragged out the t me t would take to escape,
as a way of he ghten ng the drama, and mak ng the aud ence
squ rm.) H s escapes from death, always graceful and easy, made
h m look l ke a superman.
As a person of power, you must research and pract ce endlessly
before appear ng n publ c, onstage or anywhere else. Never expose
the sweat and labor beh nd your po se. Some th nk such exposure
w ll demonstrate the r d l gence and honesty, but t actually just
makes them look weaker—as f anyone who pract ced and worked at
t could do what they had done, or as f they weren’t really up to the
job. Keep your effort and your tr cks to yourself and you seem to
have the grace and ease of a god. One never sees the source of a
god’s power revealed; one only sees ts effects.
A l ne [of poetry] w ll take us hours maybe;
Yet f t does not seem a moment’s thought,
Our st tch ng and unst tch ng has been naught.
Adam’s Curse, W ll am Buller Yeats, 1865-1939

KEYS TO POWER

Human ty’s f rst not ons of power came from pr m t ve encounters

w th nature—the flash of l ghtn ng n the sky, a sudden flood, the
speed and feroc ty of a w ld an mal. These forces requ red no
th nk ng, no plann ng—they awed us by the r sudden appearance,
the r gracefulness, and the r power over l fe and death. And th s
rema ns the k nd of power we have always wanted to m tate.
Through sc ence and technology we have re-created the speed and
subl me power of nature, but someth ng s m ss ng: Our mach nes
are no sy and jerky, they reveal the r effort. Even the very best
creat ons of technology cannot root out our adm rat on for th ngs that
move eas ly and effortlessly. The power of ch ldren to bend us to
the r w ll comes from a k nd of seduct ve charm that we feel n the
presence of a creature less reflect ve and more graceful than we are.
We cannot return to such a state, but f we can create the
appearance of th s k nd of ease, we el c t n others the k nd of
pr m t ve awe that nature has always evoked n hu mank nd.
One of the f rst European wr ters to expound on th s pr nc ple
came from that most unnatural of env ronments, the Rena ssance
court. In The Book of the Court er, publ shed n 1528, Baldassare
Cast gl one descr bes the h ghly elaborate and cod f ed manners of
the perfect court c t zen. And yet, Cast gl one expla ns, the court er
must execute these gestures w th what he calls sprezzatura, the
capac ty to make the d ff cult seem easy. He urges the court er to
“pract ce n all th ngs a certa n nonchalance wh ch conceals all
art stry and makes whatever one says or does seem uncontr ved and
effortless.” We all adm re the ach evement of some unusual feat, but
f t s accompl shed naturally and gracefully, our adm rat on
ncreases tenfold—“whereas ... to labor at what one s do ng and ...
to make bones over t, shows an extreme lack of grace and causes
everyth ng, whatever ts worth, to be d scounted.”
Much of the dea of sprezzatura came from the world of art. All the
great Rena ssance art sts carefully kept the r works under wraps.
Only the f n shed masterp ece could be shown to the publ c.
M chelangelo forbade even popes to v ew h s work n process. A
Rena ssance art st was always careful to keep h s stud os shut to
patrons and publ c al ke, not out of fear of m tat on, but because to
see the mak ng of the works would mar the mag c of the r effect, and
the r stud ed atmosphere of ease and natural beauty.
The Rena ssance pa nter Vasar , also the f rst great art cr t c,
r d culed the work of Paolo Uccello, who was obsessed w th the laws
of perspect ve. The effort Uccello spent on mprov ng the
appearance of perspect ve was too obv ous n h s work— t made h s
pa nt ngs ugly and labored, overwhelmed by the effort of the r
effects. We have the same response when we watch performers who
put too much effort nto the r act: See ng them try ng so hard breaks
the llus on. It also makes us uncomfortable. Calm, graceful
performers, on the other hand, set us at ease, creat ng the llus on
that they are not act ng but be ng natural and themselves, even
when everyth ng they are do ng nvolves labor and pract ce.
The dea of sprezzatura s relevant to all forms of power, for power
depends v tally on appearances and the llus ons you create. Your
publ c act ons are l ke artworks: They must have v sual appeal, must
create ant c pat on, even enterta n. When you reveal the nner
work ngs of your creat on, you become just one more mortal among
others. What s understandable s not awe- nsp r ng—we tell
ourselves we could do as well f we had the money and t me. Avo d
the temptat on of show ng how clever you are— t s far more clever
to conceal the mechan sms of your cleverness.
Talleyrand’s appl cat on of th s concept to h s da ly l fe greatly
enhanced the aura of power that surrounded h m. He never l ked to
work too hard, so he made others do the work for h m—the spy ng,
the research, the deta led analyses. W th all th s labor at h s
d sposal, he h mself never seemed to stra n. When h s sp es
revealed that a certa n event was about to take place, he would talk
n soc al conversat on as f he sensed ts mm nence. The result was
that people thought he was cla rvoyant. H s short p thy statements
and w tt c sms always seemed to summar ze a s tuat on perfectly, but
they were based on much research and thought. To those n
government, nclud ng Napoleon h mself, Talleyrand gave the
mpress on of mmense power—an effect ent rely dependent on the
apparent ease w th wh ch he accompl shed h s feats.
There s another reason for conceal ng your shortcuts and tr cks:
When you let th s nformat on out, you g ve people deas they can
use aga nst you. You lose the advantages of keep ng s lent. We tend
to want the world to know what we have done—we want our van ty
grat f ed by hav ng our hard work and cleverness applauded, and we
may even want sympathy for the hours t has taken to reach our
po nt of art stry. Learn to control th s propens ty to blab, for ts effect
 s often the oppos te of what you expected. Remember: The more
mystery surrounds your act ons, the more awesome your power
seems. You appear to be the only one who can do what you do—
and the appearance of hav ng an exclus ve g ft s mmensely
powerful. F nally, because you ach eve your accompl shments w th
grace and ease, people bel eve that you could always do more f you
tr ed harder. Th s el c ts not only adm rat on but a touch of fear. Your
powers are untapped—no one can fathom the r l m ts.
Image: The Racehorse. From up close we would see the
stra n, the effort to control the horse, the labored, pa nful
breath ng. But from the d stance where we s t and watch, t
s all gracefulness, fly ng through the a r. Keep others at a
d stance and they w ll only see the ease w th wh ch you move.

Author ty: For whatever act on [nonchalance] accompan es, no

matter how tr v al t s, t not only reveals the sk ll of the person do ng
t but also very often causes t to be cons dered far greater than t
really s. Th s s because t makes the onlookers bel eve that a man
who performs well w th so much fac l ty must possess even greater
sk ll than he does. (Baldassare Cast gl one, 1478-1529)

REVERSAL

The secrecy w th wh ch you surround your act ons must seem

l ghthearted n sp r t. A zeal to conceal your work creates an
unpleasant, almost parano ac mpress on: you are tak ng the game
too ser ously. Houd n was careful to make the concealment of h s
tr cks seem a game, all part of the show. Never show your work unt l
t s f n shed, but f you put too much effort nto keep ng t under
wraps you w ll be l ke the pa nter Pontormo, who spent the last years
of h s l fe h d ng h s frescoes from the publ c eye and only succeeded
 n dr v ng h mself mad. Always keep your sense of humor about
yourself.
There are also t mes when reveal ng the nner work ngs of your
projects can prove worthwh le. It all depends on your aud ence’s
taste, and on the t mes n wh ch you operate. P. T. Barnum
recogn zed that h s publ c wanted to feel nvolved n h s shows, and
that understand ng h s tr cks del ghted them, partly, perhaps,
because mpl c tly debunk ng people who kept the r sources of power
h dden from the masses appealed to Amer ca’s democrat c sp r t.
The publ c also apprec ated the showman’s humor and honesty.
Barnum took th s to the extreme of publ c z ng h s own humbuggery
n h s popular autob ography, wr tten when h s career was at ts
he ght.
As long as the part al d sclosure of tr cks and techn ques s
carefully planned, rather than the result of an uncontrollable need to
blab, t s the ult mate n cleverness. It g ves the aud ence the llus on
of be ng super or and nvolved, even wh le much of what you do
rema ns concealed from them.
 LAW 31

CONTROL THE OPTIONS: GET OTHERS TO PLAY

WITH THE CARDS YOU DEAL

JUDGMENT
The best decept ons are the ones that seem to g ve the other person
a cho ce: Your v ct ms feel they are n control, but are actually your
puppets. G ve people opt ons that come out n your favor wh chever
one they choose. Force them to make cho ces between the lesser of
two ev ls, both of wh ch serve your purpose. Put them on the horns
of a d lemma: They are gored wherever they turn.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I

From early n h s re gn, Ivan IV, later known as Ivan the Terr ble, had
to confront an unpleasant real ty: The country desperately needed
reform, but he lacked the power to push t through. The greatest l m t
to h s author ty came from the boyars, the Russ an pr ncely class that
dom nated the country and terror zed the peasantry.
In 1553, at the age of twenty-three, Ivan fell ll. Ly ng n bed,
near ng death, he asked the boyars to swear alleg ance to h s son as
the new czar. Some hes tated, some even refused. Then and there
Ivan saw he had no power over the boyars. He recovered from h s
llness, but he never forgot the lesson: The boyars were out to
destroy h m. And ndeed n the years to come, many of the most
powerful of them defected to Russ a’s ma n enem es, Poland and
L thuan a, where they plotted the r return and the overthrow of the
czar. Even one of Ivan’s closest fr ends, Pr nce Andrey Kurbsk ,
suddenly turned aga nst h m, defect ng to L thuan a n 1564, and
becom ng the strongest of Ivan’s enem es.
When Kurbsk began ra s ng troops for an nvas on, the royal
dynasty seemed suddenly more precar ous than ever. W th ém gré
nobles foment ng nvas on from the west, Tartars bear ng down from
the east, and the boyars st rr ng up trouble w th n the country,
Russ a’s vast s ze made t a n ghtmare to defend. In whatever
d rect on Ivan struck, he would leave h mself vulnerable on the other
s de. Only f he had absolute power could he deal w th th s many-
headed Hydra. And he had no such power.
Ivan brooded unt l the morn ng of December 3, 1564, when the
c t zens of Moscow awoke to a strange s ght. Hundreds of sleds f lled
the square before the Kreml n, loaded w th the czar’s treasures and
w th prov s ons for the ent re court. They watched n d sbel ef as the
czar and h s court boarded the sleds and left town. W thout
expla n ng why, he establ shed h mself n a v llage south of Moscow.
For an ent re month a k nd of terror gr pped the cap tal, for the
Muscov tes feared that Ivan had abandoned them to the bloodth rsty
boyars. Shops closed up and r otous mobs gathered da ly. F nally, on
January 3 of 1565, a letter arr ved from the czar, expla n ng that he
could no longer bear the boyars’ betrayals and had dec ded to
abd cate once and for all.
The German Chancellor B smarck, enraged at the constant cr t c sms
from Rudolf V rchow (the German patholog st and l beral pol t c an),
had h s seconds call upon the sc ent st to challenge h m to a duel.
“As the challenged party, I have the cho ce of weapons,” sa d
V rchow, “and I choose these.” He held aloft two large and
apparently dent cal sausages. “One of these,” he went on, “ s
nfected w th deadly germs; the orher s perfectly sound. Let H s
Excellency dec de wh ch one he w shes to eat, and I w ll eat the
other.” Almost mmed ately the message came back that the
chancellor had dec ded to cancel the duel.
THE LITTLE. BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES. CLIFTON
FADIMAN, FD., 1985
Read aloud n publ c, the letter had a startl ng effect: Merchants
and commoners blamed the boyars for Ivan’s dec s on, and took to
the streets, terr fy ng the nob l ty w th the r fury. Soon a group of
delegates represent ng the church, the pr nces, and the people made
the journey to Ivan’s v llage, and begged the czar, n the name of the
holy land of Russ a, to return to the throne. Ivan l stened but would
not change h s m nd. After days of hear ng the r pleas, however, he
offered h s subjects a cho ce: E ther they grant h m absolute powers
to govern as he pleased, w th no nterference from the boyars, or
they f nd a new leader.
Faced w th a cho ce between c v l war and the acceptance of
despot c power, almost every sector of Russ an soc ety “opted” for a
strong czar, call ng for Ivan’s return to Moscow and the restorat on of
law and order. In February, w th much celebrat on, Ivan returned to
Moscow. The Russ ans could no longer compla n f he behaved
d ctator ally—they had g ven h m th s power themselves.
Interpretat on

Ivan the Terr ble faced a terr ble d lemma: To g ve n to the boyars
would lead to certa n destruct on, but c v l war would br ng a d fferent
k nd of ru n. Even f Ivan came out of such a war on top, the country
would be devastated and ts d v s ons would be stronger than ever.
H s weapon of cho ce n the past had been to make a bold, offens ve
move. Now, however, that k nd of move would turn aga nst h m—the
more boldly he confronted h s enem es, the worse the react ons he
would spark.
The ma n weakness of a show of force s that t st rs up
resentment and eventually leads to a response that eats at your
author ty. Ivan, mmensely creat ve n the use of power, saw clearly
that the only path to the k nd of v ctory he wanted was a false
w thdrawal. He would not force the country over to h s pos t on, he
would g ve t “opt ons”: e ther h s abd cat on, and certa n anarchy, or
h s access on to absolute power. To back up h s move, he made t
clear that he preferred to abd cate: “Call my bluff,” he sa d, “and
watch what happens.” No one called h s bluff. By w thdraw ng for just
a month, he showed the country a gl mpse of the n ghtmares that
would follow h s abd cat on—Tartar nvas ons, c v l war, ru n. (All of
these d d eventually come to pass after Ivan’s death, n the nfamous
“T me of the Troubles.”)
W thdrawal and d sappearance are class c ways of controll ng the
opt ons. You g ve people a sense of how th ngs w ll fall apart w thout
you, and you offer them a “cho ce”: I stay away and you suffer the
consequences, or I return under c rcumstances that I d ctate. In th s
method of controll ng people’s opt ons, they choose the opt on that
g ves you power because the alternat ve s just too unpleasant. You
force the r hand, but nd rectly: They seem to have a cho ce.
Whenever people feel they have a cho ce, they walk nto your trap
that much more eas ly.
THE I IAR
Once upon a t me there was a k ng of Armen a, who, be ng of a
cur ous turn of m nd and n need of some new d vers on, sent h s
heralds throughout the land to make the follow ng proclamat on:
“Hear th s! Whatever man among you can prove h mself the most
outrageous l ar n Armen a shall rece ve an apple made of pure gold
from the hands of H s Majesty the K ng!” People began to swarm to
the palace from every town and hamlet n the country, people of all
ranks and cond t ons, pr nces, merchants, farmers, pr ests, r ch and
poor, tall and short, fat and th n. There was no lack of l ars n the
land, and each one told h s tale to the k ng. A ruler, however, has
heard pract cally every sort of l e, and none of those now told h m
conv nced the k ng that he had l stened to the best of them. The k ng
was beg nn ng to grow t red of h s new sport and was th nk ng of
call ng the whole contest off w thout declar ng a w nner, when there
appeared before h m a poor, ragged man, carry ng a large
earthenware p tcher under h s arm. “What can I do for you?” asked
H s Majesty. “S re!” sa d the poor man, sl ghtly bew ldered “Surely
you remember? You owe me a pot of gold, and I have come to
collect t.” “You are a pet feet l ar, s r!’ excla med the k ng ”I owe you
no money’” ”A perfect l ar, am I?” sa d the poor man. ”Then g ve me
the golden apple!” The k ng, real z ng that the man was Irv ng to tr ck
h m. started to hedge. ”No. no! You are not a l ar!” ”Then g ve me the
pot of gold you owe me. s re.” sa d the man. The k ng saw the
d lemma, He handed over the golden apple.
ARMENIAN FOLK-IALES AND FABLES. REIOLD BY CAHARLES
DOWNING. 1993

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II

As a seventeenth-century French courtesan, N non de Lenclos found

that her l fe had certa n pleasures. Her lovers came from royalty and
ar stocracy, and they pa d her well, enterta ned her w th the r w t and
ntellect, sat sf ed her rather demand ng sensual needs, and treated
her almost as an equal. Such a l fe was nf n tely preferable to
marr age. In 1643, however, N non’s mother d ed suddenly, leav ng
her, at the age of twenty-three, totally alone n the world—no fam ly,
no dowry, noth ng to fall back upon. A k nd of pan c overtook her and
she entered a convent, turn ng her back on her llustr ous lovers. A
year later she left the convent and moved to Lyons. When she f nally
reappeared n Par s, n 1648, lovers and su tors flocked to her door
n greater numbers than ever before, for she was the w tt est and
most sp r ted courtesan of the t me and her presence had been
greatly m ssed.
N non’s followers qu ckly d scovered, however, that she had
changed her old way of do ng th ngs, and had set up a new system
of opt ons. The dukes, se gneurs, and pr nces who wanted to pay for
her serv ces could cont nue to do so, but they were no longer n
control—she would sleep w th them when she wanted, accord ng to
her wh m. All the r money bought them was a poss b l ty. If t was her
pleasure to sleep w th them only once a month, so be t.
 Those who d d not want to be what N non called a payeur could
jo n the large and grow ng group of men she called her martyrs—
men who v s ted her apartment pr nc pally for her fr endsh p, her
b t ng w t, her lute-play ng, and the company of the most v brant
m nds of the per od, nclud ng Mol ère, La Rochefoucauld, and Sa nt-
Évremond. The martyrs, too, however, enterta ned a poss b l ty: She
would regularly select from them a favor , a man who would become
her lover w thout hav ng to pay, and to whom she would abandon
herself completely for as long as she so des red—a week, a few
months, rarely longer. A payeur could not become a favor , but a
martyr had no guarantee of becom ng one, and ndeed could rema n
d sappo nted for an ent re l fet me. The poet Charleval, for example,
never enjoyed N non’s favors, but never stopped com ng to v s t—he
d d not want to do w thout her company.
As word of th s system reached pol te French soc ety, N non
became the object of ntense host l ty. Her reversal of the pos t on of
the courtesan scandal zed the queen mother and her court. Much to
the r horror, however, t d d not d scourage her male su tors— ndeed
t only ncreased the r numbers and ntens f ed the r des re. It became
an honor to be a payeur, help ng N non to ma nta n her l festyle and
her gl tter ng salon, accompany ng her somet mes to the theater, and
sleep ng w th her when she chose. Even more d st ngu shed were
the martyrs, enjoy ng her company w thout pay ng for t and
ma nta n ng the hope, however remote, of some day becom ng her
favor . That poss b l ty spurred on many a young nobleman, as word
spread that none among the courtesans could surpass N non n the
art of love. And so the marr ed and the s ngle, the old and the young,
entered her web and chose one of the two opt ons presented to
them, both of wh ch amply sat sf ed her.

Interpretat on

The l fe of the courtesan enta led the poss b l ty of a power that was
den ed a marr ed woman, but t also had obv ous per ls. The man
who pa d for the courtesan’s serv ces n essence owned her,
determ n ng when he could possess her and when, later on, he
would abandon her. As she grew older, her opt ons narrowed, as
fewer men chose her. To avo d a l fe of poverty she had to amass her
fortune wh le she was young. The courtesan’s legendary greed,
then, reflected a pract cal necess ty, yet also lessened her allure,
s nce the llus on of be ng des red s mportant to men, who are often
al enated f the r partner s too nterested n the r money. As the
courtesan aged, then, she faced a most d ff cult fate.
N non de Lenclos had a horror of any k nd of dependence. She
early on tasted a k nd of equal ty w th her lovers, and she would not
settle nto a system that left her such d stasteful opt ons. Strangely
enough, the system she dev sed n ts place seemed to sat sfy her
su tors as much as t d d her. The payeurs may have had to pay, but
the fact that N non would only sleep w th them when she wanted to
gave them a thr ll unava lable w th every other courtesan: She was
y eld ng out of her own des re. The martyrs’ avo dance of the ta nt of
hav ng to pay gave them a sense of super or ty; as members of
N non’s fratern ty of adm rers, they also m ght some day exper ence
the ult mate pleasure of be ng her favor . F nally, N non d d not force
her su tors nto e ther category. They could “choose” wh ch s de they
preferred—a freedom that left them a vest ge of mascul ne pr de.
Such s the power of g v ng people a cho ce, or rather the llus on
of one, for they are play ng w th cards you have dealt them. Where
the alternat ves set up by Ivan the Terr ble nvolved a certa n r sk—
one opt on would have led to h s los ng h s power—N non created a
s tuat on n wh ch every opt on redounded to her favor. From the
payeurs she rece ved the money she needed to run her salon. And
from the martyrs she ga ned the ult mate n power: She could
surround herself w th a bevy of adm rers, a harem from wh ch to
choose her lovers.
The system, though, depended on one cr t cal factor: the
poss b l ty, however remote, that a martyr could become a favor . The
llus on that r ches, glory, or sensual sat sfact on may someday fall
nto your v ct m’s lap s an rres st ble carrot to nclude n your l st of
cho ces. That hope, however sl m, w ll make men accept the most
r d culous s tuat ons, because t leaves them the all- mportant opt on
of a dream. The llus on of cho ce, marr ed to the poss b l ty of future
good fortune, w ll lure the most stubborn sucker nto your gl tter ng
web.
J. P. Morgan Sr. once told a jeweler of h s acqua ntance that he was
nterested n buy ng a pearl scarf-p n. Just a few weeks later, the
jeweler happened upon a magn f cent pearl. He had t mounted n an
appropr ate sett ng and sent t to Morgan, together w th a b ll for
$5,000. The follow ng day the package was returned. Morgan’s
accompany ng note read: “I l ke the p n, but I don’t l ke the pr ce. If
you w ll accept the enclosed check for $4,000, please send back the
box w th the seal unbroken.” The enraged jeweler refused the check
and d sm ssed the messenger n d sgust. He opened up the box to
recla m the unwanted p n, only to f nd that t had been removed. In ts
place was a check for $5,000.
THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES. CLIFTON
FADIMAN, ED.. 1985

KEYS TO POWER

Words l ke “freedom,” “opt ons,” and “cho ce” evoke a power of

poss b l ty far beyond the real ty of the benef ts they enta l. When
exam ned closely, the cho ces we have— n the marketplace, n
elect ons, n our jobs—tend to have not ceable l m tat ons: They are
often a matter of a cho ce s mply between A and B, w th the rest of
the alphabet out of the p cture. Yet as long as the fa ntest m rage of
cho ce fl ckers on, we rarely focus on the m ss ng opt ons. We
“choose” to bel eve that the game s fa r, and that we have our
freedom. We prefer not to th nk too much about the depth of our
l berty to choose.
Th s unw ll ngness to probe the smallness of our cho ces stems
from the fact that too much freedom creates a k nd of anx ety. The
phrase “unl m ted opt ons” sounds nf n tely prom s ng, but unl m ted
opt ons would actually paralyze us and cloud our ab l ty to choose.
Our l m ted range of cho ces comforts us.
Th s suppl es the clever and cunn ng w th enormous opportun t es
for decept on. For people who are choos ng between alternat ves
f nd t hard to bel eve they are be ng man pulated or dece ved; they
cannot see that you are allow ng them a small amount of free w ll n
exchange for a much more powerful mpos t on of your own w ll.
Sett ng up a narrow range of cho ces, then, should always be a part
of your decept ons. There s a say ng: If you can get the b rd to walk
nto the cage on ts own, t w ll s ng that much more prett ly.
The follow ng are among the most common forms of “controll ng
the opt ons”:

Color the Cho ces. Th s was a favored techn que of Henry K ss nger.
As Pres dent R chard N xon’s secretary of state, K ss nger
cons dered h mself better nformed than h s boss, and bel eved that
n most s tuat ons he could make the best dec s on on h s own. But f
he tr ed to determ ne pol cy, he would offend or perhaps enrage a
notor ously nsecure man. So K ss nger would propose three or four
cho ces of act on for each s tuat on, and would present them n such
a way that the one he preferred always seemed the best solut on
compared to the others. T me after t me, N xon fell for the ba t, never
suspect ng that he was mov ng where K ss nger pushed h m. Th s s
an excellent dev ce to use on the nsecure master.

Force the Res ster. One of the ma n problems faced by Dr. M lton
H. Er ckson, a p oneer of hypnos s therapy n the 1950s, was the
relapse. H s pat ents m ght seem to be recover ng rap dly, but the r
apparent suscept b l ty to the therapy masked a deep res stance:
They would soon relapse nto old hab ts, blame the doctor, and stop
com ng to see h m. To avo d th s, Er ckson began order ng some
pat ents to have a relapse, to make themselves feel as bad as when
they f rst came n—to go back to square one. Faced w th th s opt on,
the pat ents would usually “choose” to avo d the relapse—wh ch, of
course, was what Er ckson really wanted.
 Th s s a good techn que to use on ch ldren and other w llful people
who enjoy do ng the oppos te of what you ask them to: Push them to
“choose” what you want them to do by appear ng to advocate the
oppos te.

Alter the Play ng F eld. In the 1860s, John D. Rockefeller set out to
create an o l monopoly. If he tr ed to buy up the smaller o l
compan es they would f gure out what he was do ng and f ght back.
Instead, he began secretly buy ng up the ra lway compan es that
transported the o l. When he then attempted to take over a part cular
company, and met w th res stance, he rem nded them of the r
dependence on the ra ls. Refus ng them sh pp ng, or s mply ra s ng
the r fees, could ru n the r bus ness. Rockefeller altered the play ng
f eld so that the only opt ons the small o l producers had were the
ones he gave them.
In th s tact c your opponents know the r hand s be ng forced, but t
doesn’t matter. The techn que s effect ve aga nst those who res st at
all costs.
The Shr nk ng Opt ons. The late-n neteenth-century art dealer
Ambro se Vollard perfected th s techn que.
Customers would come to Vollard’s shop to see some Cézannes.
He would show three pa nt ngs, neglect to ment on a pr ce, and
pretend to doze off. The v s tors would have to leave w thout
dec d ng. They would usually come back the next day to see the
pa nt ngs aga n, but th s t me Vollard would pull out less nterest ng
works, pretend ng he thought they were the same ones. The baffled
customers would look at the new offer ngs, leave to th nk them over,
and return yet aga n. Once aga n the same th ng would happen:
Vollard would show pa nt ngs of lesser qual ty st ll. F nally the buyers
would real ze they had better grab what he was show ng them,
because tomorrow they would have to settle for someth ng worse,
perhaps at even h gher pr ces.
A var at on on th s techn que s to ra se the pr ce every t me the
buyer hes tates and another day goes by. Th s s an excellent
negot at ng ploy to use on the chron cally ndec s ve, who w ll fall for
the dea that they are gett ng a better deal today than f they wa t t ll
tomorrow.

The Weak Man on the Prec p ce. The weak are the eas est to
maneuver by controll ng the r opt ons. Card nal de Retz, the great
seventeenth-century provocateur, served as an unoff c al ass stant to
the Duke of Orléans, who was notor ously ndec s ve. It was a
constant struggle to conv nce the duke to take act on—he would hem
and haw, we gh the opt ons, and wa t t ll the last moment, g v ng
everyone around h m an ulcer. But Retz d scovered a way to handle
h m: He would descr be all sorts of dangers, exaggerat ng them as
much as poss ble, unt l the duke saw a yawn ng abyss n every
d rect on except one: the one Retz was push ng h m to take.
Th s tact c s s m lar to “Color the Cho ces,” but w th the weak you
have to be more aggress ve. Work on the r emot ons—use fear and
terror to propel them nto act on. Try reason and they w ll always f nd
a way to procrast nate.

Brothers n Cr me. Th s s a class c con-art st techn que: You attract

your v ct ms to some cr m nal scheme, creat ng a bond of blood and
gu lt between you. They part c pate n your decept on, comm t a
cr me (or th nk they do—see the story of Sam Geez l n Law 3), and
are eas ly man pulated. Serge Stav sky, the great French con art st of
the 1920s, so entangled the government n h s scams and sw ndles
that the state d d not dare to prosecute h m, and “chose” to leave h m
alone. It s often w se to mpl cate n your decept ons the very person
who can do you the most harm f you fa l. The r nvolvement can be
subtle—even a h nt of the r nvolvement w ll narrow the r opt ons and
buy the r s lence.

The Horns of a D lemma. Th s dea was demonstrated by General

W ll am Sherman’s nfamous march through Georg a dur ng the
Amer can C v l War. Although the Confederates knew what d rect on
Sherman was head ng n, they never knew f he would attack from
the left or the r ght, for he d v ded h s army nto two w ngs—and f the
rebels retreated from one w ng they found themselves fac ng the
other. Th s s a class c tr al lawyer’s techn que: The lawyer leads the
w tnesses to dec de between two poss ble explanat ons of an event,
both of wh ch poke a hole n the r story. They have to answer the
lawyer’s quest ons, but whatever they say they hurt themselves. The
key to th s move s to str ke qu ckly: Deny the v ct m the t me to th nk
of an escape. As they wr ggle between the horns of the d lemma,
they d g the r own grave.

Understand: In your struggles w th your r vals, t w ll often be

necessary for you to hurt them. And f you are clearly the agent of
the r pun shment, expect a counterattack—expect revenge. If,
however, they seem to themselves to be the agents of the r own
m sfortune, they w ll subm t qu etly. When Ivan left Moscow for h s
rural v llage, the c t zens ask ng h m to return agreed to h s demand
for absolute power. Over the years to come, they resented h m less
for the terror he unleashed on the country, because, after all, they
had granted h m h s power themselves. Th s s why t s always good
to allow your v ct ms the r cho ce of po son, and to cloak your
nvolvement n prov d ng t to them as far as poss ble.
Image: The Horns of the Bull. The bull backs you nto the corner w th
ts horns—not a s ngle horn, wh ch you m ght be e able to escape,
but a pa r of horns that trap you w th n the r hold. Run r ght or run left
—e ther way you move nto the r p erc ng ends and are gored.
Author ty: For the wounds and every other ev l that men nfl ct upon
themselves spontaneously, and of the r own cho ce, are n the long
run less pa nful than those nfl cted by others. (N ccolò Mach avell ,
1469-1527)

REVERSAL
Controll ng the opt ons has one ma n purpose: to d sgu se yourself
as the agent of power and pun shment. The tact c works best, then,
for those whose power s frag le, and who cannot operate too openly
w thout ncurr ng susp c on, resentment, and anger. Even as a
general rule, however, t s rarely w se to be seen as exert ng power
d rectly and forcefully, no matter how secure or strong you are. It s
usually more elegant and more effect ve to g ve people the llus on of
cho ce.
On the other hand, by l m t ng other people’s opt ons you
somet mes l m t your own. There are s tuat ons n wh ch t s to your
advantage to allow your r vals a large degree of freedom: As you
watch them operate, you g ve yourself r ch opportun t es to spy,
gather nformat on, and plan your decept ons. The n neteenth-
century banker James Rothsch ld l ked th s method: He felt that f he
tr ed to control h s opponents’ movements, he lost the chance to
observe the r strategy and plan a more effect ve course. The more
freedom he allowed them n the short term, the more forcefully he
could act aga nst them n the long run.
 LAW 32

PLAY TO PEOPLE’S FANTASIES

JUDGMENT
The truth s often avo ded because t s ugly and unpleasant. Never
appeal to truth and real ty unless you are prepared for the anger that
comes from d senchantment. L fe s so harsh and d stress ng that
people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are l ke
oases n the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There s great power n
tapp ng nto the fantas es of the masses.
THE FUNERAL OF THE LIONESS
The l on hav ng suddenly lost h s queen, every one hastened to
show alleg ance to the monarch, by offer ng consolat on. These
compl ments, alas, served but to ncrease the w dower’s affl ct on.
Due not ce was g ven throughout the k ngdom that the funeral would
be performed at a certa n t me and place; the l on’s off cers were
ordered to be n attendance, to regulate the ceremony, and place the
company accord ng to the r respect ve rank. One may well judge no
one absented h mself. The monarch gave way to h s gr ef, and the
whole cave, l ons hav ng no other temples, resounded w th h s cr es.
After h s example, all the court ers roared n the r d fferent tones. A
court s the sort of place where everyone s e ther sorrowful, gay, or
nd fferent to everyth ng, just as the re gn ng pr nce may th nk f t; or f
any one s not actually, he at least tr es to appear so; each
endeavors to m m c the master. It s truly sa d that one m nd
an mates a thousand bod es, clearly show ng that human be ngs are
mere mach nes. But let us return to our subject. The stag alone shed
no tears. How could he, forsooth? The death of the queen avenged
h m; she had formerly strangled h s w fe and son. A court er thought
f t to nform the bereaved monarch, and even aff rmed that he had
seen the stag laugh. The rage of a k ng, says Solomon, s terr ble,
and espec ally that of a l on-k ng. “P t ful forester!” he excla med,
“darest thou laugh when all around are d ssolved n tears? We w ll
not so l our royal claws w th thy profane blood! Do thou, brave wolf,
avenge our queen, by mmolat ng th s tra tor to her august manes. ”
Hereupon the stag repl ed: “S re, the t me for weep ng s passed;
gr ef s here superfluous. Your revered spouse appeared to me but
now, repos ng on a bed of roses; I nstantly recogn zed her. ‘Fr end,’
sa d she to me, ‘have done w th th s funereal pomp, cease these
useless tears. I have tasted a thousand del ghts n the Elys an f elds,
convers ng w th those who are sa nts l ke myself. Let the k ng’s
despa r rema n for some t me unchecked, t grat f es me.’” Scarcely
had he spoken, when every one shouted: “A m racle! a m racle!” The
stag, nstead of be ng pun shed, rece ved a handsome g ft. Do but
enterta n a k ng w th dreams, flatter h m, and tell h m a few pleasant
fantast c l es: whatever h s nd gnat on aga nst you may be, he w ll
swallow the ba t, and make you h s dearest fr end.
FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

The c ty-state of Ven ce was prosperous for so long that ts c t zens

felt the r small republ c had dest ny on ts s de. In the M ddle Ages
and H gh Rena ssance, ts v rtual monopoly on trade to the east
made t the wealth est c ty n Europe. Under a benef cent republ can
government, Venet ans enjoyed l bert es that few other Ital ans had
ever known. Yet n the s xteenth century the r fortunes suddenly
changed. The open ng of the New World transferred power to the
Atlant c s de of Europe—to the Span sh and Portuguese, and later
the Dutch and Engl sh. Ven ce could not compete econom cally and
ts emp re gradually dw ndled. The f nal blow was the devastat ng
loss of a pr zed Med terranean possess on, the sland of Cyprus,
captured from Ven ce by the Turks n 1570.
Now noble fam l es went broke n Ven ce, and banks began to fold.
A k nd of gloom and depress on settled over the c t zens. They had
known a gl tter ng past—had e ther l ved through t or heard stor es
about t from the r elders. The closeness of the glory years was
hum l at ng. The Venet ans half bel eved that the goddess Fortune
was only play ng a joke on them, and that the old days would soon
return. For the t me be ng, though, what could they do?
In 1589 rumors began to sw rl around Ven ce of the arr val not far
away of a myster ous man called “Il Bragad no,” a master of
alchemy, a man who had won ncred ble wealth through h s ab l ty, t
was sa d, to mult ply gold through the use of a secret substance. The
rumor spread qu ckly because a few years earl er, a Venet an
nobleman pass ng through Poland had heard a learned man
prophesy that Ven ce would recover her past glory and power f she
could f nd a man who understood the alchem c art of manufactur ng
gold. And so, as word reached Ven ce of the gold th s Bragad no
possessed—he cl nked gold co ns cont nuously n h s hands, and
golden objects f lled h s palace—some began to dream: Through
h m, the r c ty would prosper aga n.
Members of Ven ce’s most mportant noble fam l es accord ngly
went together to Bresc a, where Bragad no l ved. They toured h s
palace and watched n awe as he demonstrated h s gold-mak ng
ab l t es, tak ng a p nch of seem ngly worthless m nerals and
transform ng t nto several ounces of gold dust. The Venet an senate
prepared to debate the dea of extend ng an off c al nv tat on to
Bragad no to stay n Ven ce at the c ty’s expense, when word
suddenly reached them that they were compet ng w th the Duke of
Mantua for h s serv ces. They heard of a magn f cent party n
Bragad no’s palace for the duke, featur ng garments w th golden
buttons, gold watches, gold plates, and on and on. Worr ed they
m ght lose Bragad no to Mantua, the senate voted almost
unan mously to nv te h m to Ven ce, prom s ng h m the mounta n of
money he would need to cont nue l v ng n h s luxur ous style—but
only f he came r ght away.
 Late that year the myster ous Bragad no arr ved n Ven ce. W th h s
p erc ng dark eyes under th ck brows, and the two enormous black
mast ffs that accompan ed h m everywhere, he was forb dd ng and
mpress ve. He took up res dence n a sumptuous palace on the
sland of the G udecca, w th the republ c fund ng h s banquets, h s
expens ve clothes, and all h s other wh ms. A k nd of alchemy fever
spread through Ven ce. On street corners, hawkers would sell coal,
d st ll ng apparatus, bellows, how-to books on the subject. Everyone
began to pract ce alchemy—everyone except Bragad no.
The alchem st seemed to be n no hurry to beg n manufactur ng
the gold that would save Ven ce from ru n. Strangely enough th s
only ncreased h s popular ty and follow ng; people thronged from all
over Europe, even As a, to meet th s remarkable man. Months went
by, w th g fts pour ng n to Bragad no from all s des. St ll he gave no
s gn of the m racle that the Venet ans conf dently expected h m to
produce. Eventually the c t zens began to grow mpat ent, wonder ng
f he would wa t forever. At f rst the senators warned them not to
hurry h m—he was a capr c ous dev l, who needed to be cajoled.
F nally, though, the nob l ty began to wonder too, and the senate
came under pressure to show a return on the c ty’s balloon ng
nvestment.
Bragad no had only scorn for the doubters, but he responded to
them. He had, he sa d, already depos ted n the c ty’s m nt the
myster ous substance w th wh ch he mult pl ed gold. He could use
th s substance up all at once, and produce double the gold, but the
more slowly the process took place, the more t would y eld. If left
alone for seven years, sealed n a casket, the substance would
mult ply the gold n the m nt th rty t mes over. Most of the senators
agreed to wa t to reap the gold m ne Bragad no prom sed. Others,
however, were angry: seven more years of th s man l v ng royally at
the publ c trough! And many of the common c t zens of Ven ce
echoed these sent ments. F nally the alchem st’s enem es demanded
he produce a proof of h s sk lls: a substant al amount of gold, and
soon.
Lofty, apparently devoted to h s art, Bragad no responded that
Ven ce, n ts mpat ence, had betrayed h m, and would therefore lose
h s serv ces. He left town, go ng f rst to nearby Padua, then, n 1590,
to Mun ch, at the nv tat on of the Duke of Bavar a, who, l ke the
ent re c ty of Ven ce, had known great wealth but had fallen nto
bankruptcy through h s own profl gacy, and hoped to rega n h s
fortune through the famous alchem st’s serv ces. And so Bragad no
resumed the comfortable arrangement he had known n Ven ce, and
the same pattern repeated tself.

Interpretat on

The young Cypr ot Mamugna had l ved n Ven ce for several years
before re ncarnat ng h mself as the alchem st Bragad no. He saw
how gloom had settled on the c ty, how everyone was hop ng for a
redempt on from some ndef n te source. Wh le other charlatans
mastered everyday cons based on sle ght of hand, Mamugnà
mastered human nature. W th Ven ce as h s target from the start, he
traveled abroad, made some money through h s alchemy scams,
and then returned to Italy, sett ng up shop n Bresc a. There he
created a reputat on that he knew would spread to Ven ce. From a
d stance, n fact, h s aura of power would be all the more mpress ve.
At f rst Mamugna d d not use vulgar demonstrat ons to conv nce
people of h s alchem c sk ll. H s sumptuous palace, h s opulent
garments, the cl nk of gold n h s hands, all these prov ded a super or
argument to anyth ng rat onal. And these establ shed the cycle that
kept h m go ng: H s obv ous wealth conf rmed h s reputat on as an
alchem st, so that patrons l ke the Duke of Mantua gave h m money,
wh ch allowed h m to l ve n wealth, wh ch re nforced h s reputat on
as an alchem st, and so on. Only once th s reputat on was
establ shed, and dukes and senators were f ght ng over h m, d d he
resort to the tr fl ng necess ty of a demonstrat on. By then, however,
people were easy to dece ve: They wanted to bel eve. The Venet an
senators who watched h m mult ply gold wanted to bel eve so badly
that they fa led to not ce the glass p pe up h s sleeve, from wh ch he
sl pped gold dust nto h s p nches of m nerals. Br ll ant and
capr c ous, he was the alchem st of the r fantas es—and once he had
created an aura l ke th s, no one not ced h s s mple decept ons.
Such s the power of the fantas es that take root n us, espec ally n
t mes of scarc ty and decl ne. People rarely bel eve that the r
problems ar se from the r own m sdeeds and stup d ty. Someone or
someth ng out there s to blame—the other, the world, the gods—and
so salvat on comes from the outs de as well. Had Bragad no arr ved
n Ven ce armed w th a deta led analys s of the reasons beh nd the
c ty’s econom c decl ne, and of the hard-nosed steps that t could
take to turn th ngs around, he would have been scorned. The real ty
was too ugly and the solut on too pa nful—mostly the k nd of hard
work that the c t zens’ ancestors had mustered to create an emp re.
Fantasy, on the other hand— n th s case the romance of alchemy—
was easy to understand and nf n tely more palatable.
To ga n power, you must be a source of pleasure for those around
you—and pleasure comes from play ng to people’s fantas es. Never
prom se a gradual mprovement through hard work; rather, prom se
the moon, the great and sudden transformat on, the pot of gold.
No man need despa r of ga n ng converts to the most extravagant
hypothes s who has art enough to represent t n favorable colors.
Dav d Hume, 1711-1776
If you want to tell l es that w ll be bel eved, don’t tell the truth that
won’t.

EMPEROR TOKUGAWA IEYASU OF JAPAN, SEVENTEENTH

CENTURY

KEYS TO POWER

Fantasy can never operate alone. It requ res the backdrop of the
humdrum and the mundane. It s the oppress veness of real ty that
allows fantasy to take root and bloom. In s xteenth-century Ven ce,
the real ty was one of decl ne and loss of prest ge. The
correspond ng fantasy descr bed a sudden recovery of past glor es
through the m racle of alchemy. Wh le the real ty only got worse, the
Venet ans nhab ted a happy dream world n wh ch the r c ty restored
ts fabulous wealth and power overn ght, turn ng dust nto gold.
The person who can sp n a fantasy out of an oppress ve real ty
has access to untold power. As you search for the fantasy that w ll
take hold of the masses, then, keep your eye on the banal truths that
we gh heav ly on us all. Never be d stracted by people’s glamorous
portra ts of themselves and the r l ves; search and d g for what really
mpr sons them. Once you f nd that, you have the mag cal key that
w ll put great power n your hands.
Although t mes and people change, let us exam ne a few of the
oppress ve real t es that endure, and the opportun t es for power they
prov de:

The Real ty: Change s slow and gradual. It requ res hard work, a b t
of luck, a fa r amount of self-sacr f ce, and a lot of pat ence.
The Fantasy: A sudden transformat on w ll br ng a total change n
one’s fortunes, bypass ng work, luck, self-sacr f ce, and t me n one
fantast c stroke.

Th s s of course the fantasy par excellence of the charlatans who

prowl among us to th s day, and was the key to Bragad no’s success.
Prom se a great and total change—from poor to r ch, s ckness to
health, m sery to ecstasy—and you w ll have followers.
How d d the great s xteenth-century German quack Leonhard
Thurne sser become the court phys c an for the Elector of
Brandenburg w thout ever study ng med c ne? Instead of offer ng
amputat ons, leeches, and foul-tast ng purgat ves (the med caments
of the t me), Thurne sser offered sweet-tast ng el x rs and prom sed
nstant recovery. Fash onable court ers espec ally wanted h s
solut on of “dr nkable gold,” wh ch cost a fortune. If some nexpl cable
llness assa led you, Thurne sser would consult a horoscope and
prescr be a tal sman. Who could res st such a fantasy—health and
well-be ng w thout sacr f ce and pa n!

The Real ty: The soc al realm has hard-set codes and boundar es.
We understand these l m ts and know that we have to move w th n
the same fam l ar c rcles, day n and day out.
The Fantasy: We can enter a totally new world w th d fferent codes
and the prom se of adventure.

In the early 1700s, all London was abuzz w th talk of a myster ous
stranger, a young man named George Psalmanazar. He had arr ved
from what was to most Engl shmen a fantast cal land: the sland of
Formosa (now Ta wan), off the coast of Ch na. Oxford Un vers ty
engaged Psalmanazar to teach the sland’s language; a few years
later he translated the B ble nto Formosan, then wrote a book—an
mmed ate best-seller—on Formosa’s h story and geography. Engl sh
royalty w ned and d ned the young man, and everywhere he went he
enterta ned h s hosts w th wondrous stor es of h s homeland, and ts
b zarre customs.
After Psalmanazar d ed, however, h s w ll revealed that he was n
fact merely a Frenchman w th a r ch mag nat on. Everyth ng he had
sa d about Formosa— ts alphabet, ts language, ts l terature, ts
ent re culture—he had nvented. He had bu lt on the Engl sh publ c’s
gnorance of the place to concoct an elaborate story that fulf lled the r
des re for the exot c and strange. Br t sh culture’s r g d control of
people’s dangerous dreams gave h m the perfect opportun ty to
explo t the r fantasy.
The fantasy of the exot c, of course, can also sk rt the sexual. It
must not come too close, though, for the phys cal h nders the power
of fantasy; t can be seen, grasped, and then t red of—the fate of
most courtesans. The bod ly charms of the m stress only whet the
master’s appet te for more and d fferent pleasures, a new beauty to
adore. To br ng power, fantasy must rema n to some degree
unreal zed, l terally unreal. The dancer Mata Har , for nstance, who
rose to publ c prom nence n Par s before World War I, had qu te
ord nary looks. Her power came from the fantasy she created of
be ng strange and exot c, unknowable and ndec pherable. The
taboo she worked w th was less sex tself than the break ng of soc al
codes.
Another form of the fantasy of the exot c s s mply the hope for
rel ef from boredom. Con art sts love to play on the oppress veness
of the work ng world, ts lack of adventure. The r cons m ght nvolve,
say, the recovery of lost Span sh treasure, w th the poss ble
part c pat on of an allur ng Mex can señor ta and a connect on to the
pres dent of a South Amer can country—anyth ng offer ng release
from the humdrum.

The Real ty: Soc ety s fragmented and full of confl ct.
The Fantasy: People can come together n a myst cal un on of souls.

In the 1920s the con man Oscar Hartzell made a qu ck fortune out
of the age-old S r Franc s Drake sw ndle—bas cally prom s ng any
sucker who happened to be surnamed “Drake” a substant al share of
the long-lost “Drake treasure,” to wh ch Hartzell had access.
Thousands across the M dwest fell for the scam, wh ch Hartzell
cleverly turned nto a crusade aga nst the government and everyone
else who was try ng to keep the Drake fortune out of the r ghtful
hands of ts he rs. There developed a myst cal un on of the
oppressed Drakes, w th emot onal rall es and meet ngs. Prom se
such a un on and you can ga n much power, but t s a dangerous
power that can eas ly turn aga nst you. Th s s a fantasy for
demagogues to play on.

The Real ty: Death. The dead cannot be brought back, the past
cannot be changed. The Fantasy: A sudden reversal of th s
ntolerable fact.

Th s con has many var at ons, but requ res great sk ll and subtlety.
The beauty and mportance of the art of Vermeer have long been
recogn zed, but h s pa nt ngs are small n number, and are extremely
rare. In the 1930s, though, Vermeers began to appear on the art
market. Experts were called on to ver fy them, and pronounced them
real. Possess on of these new Vermeers would crown a collector’s
career. It was l ke the resurrect on of Lazarus: In a strange way,
Vermeer had been brought back to l fe. The past had been changed.
Only later d d t come out that the new Vermeers were the work of
a m ddle-aged Dutch forger named Han van Meegeren. And he had
chosen Vermeer for h s scam because he understood fantasy: The
pa nt ngs would seem real prec sely because the publ c, and the
experts as well, so desperately wanted to bel eve they were.
Remember: The key to fantasy s d stance. The d stant has allure
and prom se, seems s mple and problem free. What you are offer ng,
then, should be ungraspable. Never let t become oppress vely
fam l ar; t s the m rage n the d stance, w thdraw ng as the sucker
approaches. Never be too d rect n descr b ng the fantasy—keep t
vague. As a forger of fantas es, let your v ct m come close enough to
see and be tempted, but keep h m far away enough that he stays
dream ng and des r ng.
Image: The
Moon. Unatta nable,
always chang ng shape,
d sappear ng and reappear
ng. We look at t, mag ne,
wonder, and p ne—never fa
m l ar, cont nuous provoker
of dreams. Do not offer
the obv ous. Prom se
the moon.
Author ty: A l e s an allurement, a fabr cat on, that can be
embell shed nto a fantasy. It can be clothed n the ra ments of a
myst c concept on. Truth s cold, sober fact, not so comfortable to
absorb. A l e s more palatable. The most detested person n the
world s the one who always tells the truth, who never romances.... I
found t far more nterest ng and prof table to romance than to tell the
truth. (Joseph We l, a.k.a. “The Yellow K d,” 1875-1976)

REVERSAL

If there s power n tapp ng nto the fantas es of the masses, there s

also danger. Fantasy usually conta ns an element of play—the publ c
half real zes t s be ng duped, but t keeps the dream al ve anyway,
rel sh ng the enterta nment and the temporary d vers on from the
everyday that you are prov d ng. So keep t l ght—never come too
close to the place where you are actually expected to produce
results. That place may prove extremely hazardous.
After Bragad no establ shed h mself n Mun ch, he found that the
sober-m nded Bavar ans had far less fa th n alchemy than the
temperamental Venet ans. Only the duke really bel eved n t, for he
needed t desperately to rescue h m from the hopeless mess he was
n. As Bragad no played h s fam l ar wa t ng game, accept ng g fts
and expect ng pat ence, the publ c grew angry. Money was be ng
spent and was y eld ng no results. In 1592 the Bavar ans demanded
just ce, and eventually Bragad no found h mself sw ng ng from the
gallows. As before, he had prom sed and had not del vered, but th s
t me he had m sjudged the forbearance of h s hosts, and h s nab l ty
to fulf ll the r fantasy proved fatal.
One last th ng: Never make the m stake of mag n ng that fantasy
s always fantast cal. It certa nly contrasts w th real ty, but real ty tself
 s somet mes so theatr cal and styl zed that fantasy becomes a
des re for s mple th ngs. The mage Abraham L ncoln created of
h mself, for example, as a homespun country lawyer w th a beard,
made h m the common man’s pres dent.
P. T. Barnum created a successful act w th Tom Thumb, a dwarf
who dressed up as famous leaders of the past, such as Napoleon,
and lampooned them w ckedly. The show del ghted everyone, r ght
up to Queen V ctor a, by appeal ng to the fantasy of the t me:
Enough of the va nglor ous rulers of h story, the common man knows
best. Tom Thumb reversed the fam l ar pattern of fantasy n wh ch
the strange and unknown becomes the deal. But the act st ll obeyed
the Law, for underly ng t was the fantasy that the s mple man s
w thout problems, and s happ er than the powerful and the r ch.
Both L ncoln and Tom Thumb played the commoner but carefully
ma nta ned the r d stance. Should you play w th such a fantasy, you
too must carefully cult vate d stance and not allow your “common”
persona to become too fam l ar or t w ll not project as fantasy.
 LAW 33

DISCOVER EACH MAN’S THUMBSCREW

JUDGMENT
Everyone has a weakness, a gap n the castle wall. That weakness
s usually an nsecur ty, an uncontrollable emot on or need; t can
also be a small secret pleasure. E ther way, once found, t s a
thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.

FINDING THE THUMBSCREW: A Strateg c Plan of

Act on

We all have res stances. We l ve w th a perpetual armor around

ourselves to defend aga nst change and the ntrus ve act ons of
fr ends and r vals. We would l ke noth ng more than to be left to do
th ngs our own way. Constantly butt ng up aga nst these res stances
w ll cost you a lot of energy. One of the most mportant th ngs to
real ze about people, though, s that they all have a weakness, some
part of the r psycholog cal armor that w ll not res st, that w ll bend to
your w ll f you f nd t and push on t. Some people wear the r
weaknesses openly, others d sgu se them. Those who d sgu se them
are often the ones most effect vely undone through that one ch nk n
the r armor.
THE LION. THE CHAMOIS. AND THE FOX
A l on was chas ng a chamo s along a valley. He had all but caught t,
and w th long ng eyes was ant c pat ng a certa n and a sat sfy ng
repast. It seemed as f t were utterly mposs ble for the v ct m to
escape; for a deep rav ne appeared to bar the way for both the
hunter and the hunted. But the n mble chamo s, gather ng together
all ts strength, shot l ke an arrow from a bow across the chasm, and
stood st ll on the rocky cl ff on the other s de. Our l on pulled up
short. But at that moment a fr end of h s happened to be near at
hand. That fr end was the fox. “What!” sa d he, “w th your strength
and ag l ty, s t poss ble that you w ll y eld to a feeble chamo s? You
have only to w ll, and you w ll be able to work wonders. Though the
abyss be deep, yet, f you are only n earnest, I am certa n you w ll
clear t. Surely you can conf de n my d s nterested fr endsh p. I
would not expose your l fe to danger f I were not so well aware of
your strength and dexter ty. ” The l on’s blood waxed hot, and began
to bo l n h s ve ns. He flung h mself w th all h s m ght nto space. But
he could not clear the chasm; so down he tumbled headlong, and
was k lled by the fall. Then what d d h s dear fr end do? He
caut ously made h s way down to the bottom of the rav ne. and there,
out n the open space and the free a r, see ng that the l on wanted
ne ther flattery nor obed ence now, he set to work to pay the last sad
r tes to h s dead fr end, and n a month p cked h s bones clean.

FABLES, IVAN KRILOFF, 1768-1844

In plann ng your assault, keep these pr nc ples n m nd:

Pay Attent on to Gestures and Unconsc ous S gnals. As

S gmund Freud remarked, “No mortal can keep a secret. If h s l ps
are s lent, he chatters w th h s f ngert ps; betrayal oozes out of h m at
every pore.” Th s s a cr t cal concept n the search for a person’s
weakness— t s revealed by seem ngly un mportant gestures and
pass ng words.
The key s not only what you look for but where and how you look.
Everyday conversat on suppl es the r chest m ne of weaknesses, so
tra n yourself to l sten. Start by always seem ng nterested—the
appearance of a sympathet c ear w ll spur anyone to talk. A clever
tr ck, often used by the n neteenth-century French statesman
Talleyrand, s to appear to open up to the other person, to share a
secret w th them. It can be completely made up, or t can be real but
of no great mportance to you—the mportant th ng s that t should
seem to come from the heart. Th s w ll usually el c t a response that
s not only as frank as yours but more genu ne—a response that
reveals a weakness.
If you suspect that someone has a part cular soft spot, probe for t
nd rectly. If, for nstance, you sense that a man has a need to be
loved, openly flatter h m. If he laps up your compl ments, no matter
how obv ous, you are on the r ght track. Tra n your eye for deta ls—
how someone t ps a wa ter, what del ghts a person, the h dden
messages n clothes. F nd people’s dols, the th ngs they worsh p
and w ll do anyth ng to get—perhaps you can be the suppl er of the r
fantas es. Remember: S nce we all try to h de our weaknesses, there
s l ttle to be learned from our consc ous behav or. What oozes out n
the l ttle th ngs outs de our consc ous control s what you want to
know.

F nd the Helpless Ch ld. Most weaknesses beg n n ch ldhood,

before the self bu lds up compensatory defenses. Perhaps the ch ld
was pampered or ndulged n a part cular area, or perhaps a certa n
emot onal need went unfulf lled; as he or she grows older, the
ndulgence or the def c ency may be bur ed but never d sappears.
Know ng about a ch ldhood need g ves you a powerful key to a
person’s weakness.
One s gn of th s weakness s that when you touch on t the person
w ll often act l ke a ch ld. Be on the lookout, then, for any behav or
that should have been outgrown. If your v ct ms or r vals went w thout
someth ng mportant, such as parental support, when they were
ch ldren, supply t, or ts facs m le. If they reveal a secret taste, a
h dden ndulgence, ndulge t. In e ther case they w ll be unable to
res st you.
Look for Contrasts. An overt tra t often conceals ts oppos te.
People who thump the r chests are often b g cowards; a prud sh
exter or may h de a lasc v ous soul; the upt ght are often scream ng
for adventure; the shy are dy ng for attent on. By prob ng beyond
appearances, you w ll often f nd people’s weaknesses n the
oppos te of the qual t es they reveal to you.

F nd the Weak L nk. Somet mes n your search for weaknesses t s

not what but who that matters. In today’s vers ons of the court, there
s often someone beh nd the scenes who has a great deal of power,
a tremendous nfluence over the person superf c ally on top. These
beh nd-the-scenes powerbrokers are the group’s weak l nk: W n the r
favor and you nd rectly nfluence the k ng. Alternat vely, even n a
group of people act ng w th the appearance of one w ll—as when a
group under attack closes ranks to res st an outs der—there s
always a weak l nk n the cha n. F nd the one person who w ll bend
under pressure.

F ll the Vo d. The two ma n emot onal vo ds to f ll are nsecur ty and

unhapp ness. The nsecure are suckers for any k nd of soc al
val dat on; as for the chron cally unhappy, look for the roots of the r
unhapp ness. The nsecure and the unhappy are the people least
able to d sgu se the r weaknesses. The ab l ty to f ll the r emot onal
vo ds s a great source of power, and an ndef n tely prolongable one.

Feed on Uncontrollable Emot ons. The uncontrollable emot on can

be a parano d fear—a fear d sproport onate to the s tuat on—or any
base mot ve such as lust, greed, van ty, or hatred. People n the gr p
of these emot ons often cannot control themselves, and you can do
the controll ng for them.
IRING IZAR
[Hollywood super-agent] Irv ng Paul Lazar was once anx ous to sell
[stud o mogul] Jack L. Warner a play. “I had a long meet ng w th h m
today,” Lazar expla ned [to screenwr ter Garson Kan n], “but I d dn’t
ment on t, I d dn’t even br ng t up.” “Why not?” I asked. “Because
I’m go ng to wa t unt l the weekend after next, when I go to Palm
Spr ngs.” “I don’t understand.” “You don’t? I go to Palm Spr ngs
every weekend, but Warner sn’t go ng th s weekend. He’s got a
prev ew or someth ng. So he’s not com ng down t ll the next
weekend, so that’s when I’m go ng to br ng t up. ” “Irv ng, I’m more
and more confused.” “Look,” sa d Irv ng mpat ently, ”I know what I’m
do ng. I know how to sell Warner. Th s s a type of mater al that he’s
uneasy w th, so I have to h t h m w th t hard and suddenly to get an
okay.” ”But why Palm Spr ngs?” ”Because n Palm Spr ngs, every
day he goes to the baths at The Spa. And that’s where I’m go ng to
be when he’s there. Now there’s a th ng about Jack: He’s e ghty and
he’s very va n, and he doesn’t l ke people to see h m naked. So
when I walk up to h m naked at The Spa—I mean he’s naked—well,
I’m naked too, but I don’t care who sees me. He does. And I walk up
to h m naked, and I start to talk to h m about th s th ng, he’ll be very
embarrassed.And he’ll want to get away from me, and the eas est
way s to say ‘Yes,’ because he knows f he says ‘No,’ then I’m go ng
to st ck w th h m, and stay r ght on t, and not g ve up. So to get r d of
me, he’ll probably say, ‘Yes.’” Two weeks later, I read of the
acqu s t on of th s part cular property by Warner Brothers. I phoned
Lazar and asked how t had been accompl shed. ”How do you
th nk?” he asked. ”In the buff, that’s how... just the way I told you t
was go ng to work.”
HOLLYWOOD, GARSON KANIN, 1974

OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW

Observance I

In 1615 the th rty-year-old b shop of Luçon, later known as Card nal

R chel eu, gave a speech before representat ves of the three estates
of France—clergy, nob l ty, and commoners. R chel eu had been
chosen to serve as the mouthp ece for the clergy—an mmense
respons b l ty for a man st ll young and not part cularly well known.
On all of the mportant ssues of the day, the speech followed the
Church l ne. But near the end of t R chel eu d d someth ng that had
noth ng to do w th the Church and everyth ng to do w th h s career.
He turned to the throne of the f fteen-year-old K ng Lou s XIII, and to
the Queen Mother Mar e de’ Méd c s, who sat bes de Lou s, as the
regent rul ng France unt l her son reached h s major ty. Everyone
expected R chel eu to say the usual k nd words to the young k ng.
Instead, however, he looked d rectly at and only at the queen mother.
Indeed h s speech ended n long and fulsome pra se of her, pra se so
glow ng that t actually offended some n the Church. But the sm le
on the queen’s face as she lapped up R chel eu’s compl ments was
unforgettable.
A year later the queen mother appo nted R chel eu secretary of
state for fore gn affa rs, an ncred ble coup for the young b shop. He
had now entered the nner c rcle of power, and he stud ed the
work ngs of the court as f t were the mach nery of a watch. An
Ital an, Conc no Conc n , was the queen mother’s favor te, or rather
her lover, a role that made h m perhaps the most powerful man n
France. Conc n was va n and fopp sh, and R chel eu played h m
perfectly—attend ng to h m as f he were the k ng. W th n months
R chel eu had become one of Conc n ’s favor tes. But someth ng
happened n 1617 that turned everyth ng ups de down: the young
k ng, who up unt l then had shown every s gn of be ng an d ot, had
Conc n murdered and h s most mportant assoc ates mpr soned. In
so do ng Lou s took command of the country w th one blow,
sweep ng the queen mother as de.
Had R chel eu played t wrong? He had been close to both Conc n
and Mar e de Méd c s, whose adv sers and m n sters were now all
out of favor, some even arrested. The queen mother herself was
shut up n the Louvre, a v rtual pr soner. R chel eu wasted no t me. If
everyone was desert ng Mar e de Méd c s, he would stand by her. He
knew Lou s could not get r d of her, for the k ng was st ll very young,
and had n any case always been nord nately attached to her. As
Mar e’s only rema n ng powerful fr end, R chel eu f lled the valuable
funct on of l a son between the k ng and h s mother. In return he
rece ved her protect on, and was able to surv ve the palace coup,
even to thr ve. Over the next few years the queen mother grew st ll
more dependent on h m, and n 1622 she repa d h m for h s loyalty:
Through the ntercess on of her all es n Rome, R chel eu was
elevated to the powerful rank of card nal.
By 1623 K ng Lou s was n trouble. He had no one he could trust
to adv se h m, and although he was now a young man nstead of a
boy, he rema ned ch ld sh n sp r t, and affa rs of state came hard to
h m. Now that he had taken the throne, Mar e was no longer the
regent and theoret cally had no power, but she st ll had her son’s ear,
and she kept tell ng h m that R chel eu was h s only poss ble sav or.
At f rst Lou s would have none of t—he hated the card nal w th a
pass on, only tolerat ng h m out of love for Mar e. In the end,
however, solated n the court and cr ppled by h s own
ndec s veness, he y elded to h s mother and made R chel eu f rst h s
ch ef counc lor and later pr me m n ster.
Now R chel eu no longer needed Mar e de Méd c s. He stopped
v s t ng and court ng her, stopped l sten ng to her op n ons, even
argued w th her and opposed her w shes. Instead he concentrated
on the k ng, mak ng h mself nd spensable to h s new master. All the
prev ous prem ers, understand ng the k ng’s ch ld shness, had tr ed
to keep h m out of trouble; the shrewd R chel eu played h m
d fferently, del berately push ng h m nto one amb t ous project after
another, such as a crusade aga nst the Huguenots and f nally an
extended war w th Spa n. The mmens ty of these projects only made
the k ng more dependent on h s powerful prem er, the only man able
to keep order n the realm. And so, for the next e ghteen years,
R chel eu, explo t ng the k ng’s weaknesses, governed and molded
France accord ng to h s own v s on, un fy ng the country and mak ng
t a strong European power for centur es to come.

Interpretat on
R chel eu saw everyth ng as a m l tary campa gn, and no strateg c
move was more mportant to h m than d scover ng h s enemy’s
weaknesses and apply ng pressure to them. As early as h s speech
n 1615, he was look ng for the weak l nk n the cha n of power, and
he saw that t was the queen mother. Not that Mar e was obv ously
weak—she governed both France and her son; but R chel eu saw
that she was really an nsecure woman who needed constant
mascul ne attent on. He showered her w th affect on and respect,
even toady ng up to her favor te, Conc n . He knew the day would
come when the k ng would take over, but he also recogn zed that
Lou s loved h s mother dearly and would always rema n a ch ld n
relat on to her. The way to control Lou s, then, was not by ga n ng h s
favor, wh ch could change overn ght, but by ga n ng sway over h s
mother, for whom h s affect on would never change.
Once R chel eu had the pos t on he des red—pr me m n ster—he
d scarded the queen mother, mov ng on to the next weak l nk n the
cha n: the k ng’s own character. There was a part of h m that would
always be a helpless ch ld n need of h gher author ty. It was on the
foundat on of the k ng’s weakness that R chel eu establ shed h s own
power and fame.
Remember: When enter ng the court, f nd the weak l nk. The
person n control s often not the k ng or queen; t s someone beh nd
the scenes—the favor te, the husband or w fe, even the court fool.
Th s person may have more weaknesses than the k ng h mself,
because h s power depends on all k nds of capr c ous factors outs de
h s control.
F nally, when deal ng w th helpless ch ldren who cannot make
dec s ons, play on the r weakness and push them nto bold ventures.
They w ll have to depend on you even more, for you w ll become the
adult f gure whom they rely on to get them out of scrapes and to
safety.

THE THINGS ON
As t me went on I came to look for the l ttle weaknesses.... It’s the
l ttle th ngs that count. On one occas on, I worked on the pres dent of
a large bank n Omaha. The [phony] deal nvolved the purchase of
the street ra lway system of Omaha, nclud ng a br dge across the
M ss ss pp R ver. My pr nc pals were supposedly German and I had
to negot ate w th Berl n. Wh le awa t ng word from them I ntroduced
my fake m n ng-stock propos t on. S nce th s man was r ch, I dec ded
to play for h gh stakes.... Meanwh le, I played golf w th the banker,
v s ted h s home, and went to the theater w th h m and h s w fe.
Though he showed some nterest n my stock deal, he st ll wasn’t
conv nced. I had bu lt t up to the po nt that an nvestment of
$1,250,000 was requ red. Of th s I was to put up $900,000, the
banker $350,000. But st ll he hes tated. One even ng when I was at
h s home for d nner I wore some perfume-Coty’s “Apr l V olets.” It
was not then cons dered effem nate for a man to use a dash of
perfume. The banker’s w fe thought t very lovely. “Where d d you get
t?” “It s a rare blend,” I told her, “espec ally made for me by a
French perfumer. Do you l ke t?” ”l love t,” she repl ed. The follow ng
day I went through my effects and found two empty bottles. Both had
come from France, but were empty. I went to a downtown
department store and purchased ten ounces of Coty’s ”Apr l V olets.”
I poured th s nto the two French bottles, carefully sealed them,
wrapped them n t ssue paper. That even ng I dropped by the
banker’s home and presented the two bottles to h s w fe. ”They were
espec ally put up for me n Cologne,” I told her. The next day the
banker called at my hotel. H s w fe was enraptured by the perfume.
She cons dered t the most wonderful, the most exot c fragrance she
had ever used. I d d not tell the banker he could get all he wanted
r ght n Omaha. ”She sa d,” the banker added, ”that I was fortunate to
be assoc ated w th a man l ke you.” From then on h s att tude was
changed, for he had complete fa th n h s w fe’s judgment .... He
parted w th $350,000. Th s, nc dentally was my b ggest [con] score.
“YELLOW KID” WEIL, 1875-1976

Observance II
In December of 1925, guests at the swank est hotel n Palm Beach,
Flor da, watched w th nterest as a myster ous man arr ved n a Rolls-
Royce dr ven by a Japanese chauffeur. Over the next few days they
stud ed th s handsome man, who walked w th an elegant cane,
rece ved telegrams at all hours, and only engaged n the br efest of
conversat ons. He was a count, they heard, Count V ctor Lust g, and
he came from one of the wealth est fam l es n Europe—but th s was
all they could f nd out.
Imag ne the r amazement, then, when Lust g one day walked up to
one of the least d st ngu shed guests n the hotel, a Mr. Herman
Loller, head of an eng neer ng company, and entered nto
conversat on w th h m. Loller had made h s fortune only recently, and
forg ng soc al connect ons was very mportant to h m. He felt
honored and somewhat nt m dated by th s soph st cated man, who
spoke perfect Engl sh w th a h nt of a fore gn accent. Over the days
to come, the two became fr ends.
Loller of course d d most of the talk ng, and one n ght he
confessed that h s bus ness was do ng poorly, w th more troubles
ahead. In return, Lust g conf ded n h s new fr end that he too had
ser ous money problems—Commun sts had se zed h s fam ly estate
and all ts assets. He was too old to learn a trade and go to work.
Luck ly he had found an answer—“ a money-mak ng mach ne.” “You
counterfe t?” Loller wh spered n half-shock. No, Lust g repl ed,
expla n ng that through a secret chem cal process, h s mach ne could
dupl cate any paper currency w th complete accuracy. Put n a dollar
b ll and s x hours later you had two, both perfect. He proceeded to
expla n how the mach ne had been smuggled out of Europe, how the
Germans had developed t to underm ne the Br t sh, how t had
supported the count for several years, and on and on. When Loller
ns sted on a demonstrat on, the two men went to Lust g’s room,
where the count produced a magn f cent mahogany box f tted w th
slots, cranks, and d als. Loller watched as Lust g nserted a dollar b ll
n the box. Sure enough, early the follow ng morn ng Lust g pulled
out two b lls, st ll wet from the chem cals.
Lust g gave the notes to Loller, who mmed ately took the b lls to a
local bank—wh ch accepted them as genu ne. Now the bus nessman
fever shly begged Lust g to sell h m a mach ne. The count expla ned
that there was only one n ex stence, so Loller made h m a h gh offer:
$25,000, then a cons derable amount (more than $400,000 n
today’s terms). Even so, Lust g seemed reluctant: He d d not feel
r ght about mak ng h s fr end pay so much. Yet f nally he agreed to
the sale. After all, he sa d, “I suppose t matters l ttle what you pay
me. You are, after all, go ng to recover the amount w th n a few days
by dupl cat ng your own b lls.” Mak ng Loller swear never to reveal
the mach ne’s ex stence to other people, Lust g accepted the money.
Later the same day he checked out of the hotel. A year later, after
many fut le attempts at dupl cat ng b lls, Loller f nally went to the
pol ce w th the story of how Count Lust g had conned h m w th a pa r
of dollar b lls, some chem cals, and a worthless mahogany box.
Interpretat on
Count Lust g had an eagle eye for other people’s weaknesses. He
saw them n the smallest gesture. Loller, for nstance, overt pped
wa ters, seemed nervous n conversat on w th the conc erge, talked
loudly about h s bus ness. H s weakness, Lust g knew, was h s need
for soc al val dat on and for the respect that he thought h s wealth
had earned h m. He was also chron cally nsecure. Lust g had come
to the hotel to hunt for prey. In Loller he homed n on the perfect
sucker—a man hunger ng for someone to f ll h s psych c vo ds.
In offer ng Loller h s fr endsh p, then, Lust g knew he was offer ng
h m the mmed ate respect of the other guests. As a count, Lust g
was also offer ng the newly r ch bus nessman access to the gl tter ng
world of old wealth. And for the coup de grace, he apparently owned
a mach ne that would rescue Loller from h s worr es. It would even
put h m on a par w th Lust g h mself, who had also used the mach ne
to ma nta n h s status. No wonder Loller took the ba t.
Remember: When search ng for suckers, always look for the
d ssat sf ed, the unhappy, the nsecure. Such people are r ddled w th
weaknesses and have needs that you can f ll. The r need ness s the
groove n wh ch you place your thumbna l and turn them at w ll.

Observance III
In the year 1559, the French k ng Henr II d ed n a joust ng
exh b t on. H s son assumed the throne, becom ng Franc s II, but n
the background stood Henr ’s w fe and queen, Cather ne de’ Méd c s,
a woman who had long ago proven her sk ll n affa rs of state. When
Franc s d ed the next year, Cather ne took control of the country as
regent to her next son n l ne of success on, the future Charles IX, a
mere ten years old at the t me.
The ma n threats to the queen’s power were Anto ne de Bourbon,
k ng of Navarre, and h s brother, Lou s, the powerful pr nce of Condé,
both of whom could cla m the r ght to serve as regent nstead of
Cather ne, who, after all, was Ital an—a fore gner. Cather ne qu ckly
appo nted Anto ne l eutenant general of the k ngdom, a t tle that
seemed to sat sfy h s amb t on. It also meant that he had to rema n n
court, where Cather ne could keep an eye on h m. Her next move
proved smarter st ll: Anto ne had a notor ous weakness for young
women, so she ass gned one of her most attract ve ma ds of honor,
Lou se de Rouet, to seduce h m. Now Anto ne’s nt mate, Lou se
reported all of h s act ons to Cather ne. The move worked so
br ll antly that Cather ne ass gned another of her ma ds to Pr nce
Condé, and thus was formed her escadron volant—“fly ng
squadron”—of young g rls whom she used to keep the unsuspect ng
males n the court under her control.
In 1572 Cather ne marr ed off her daughter, Marguer te de Valo s,
to Henr , the son of Anto ne and the new k ng of Navarre. To put a
fam ly that had always struggled aga nst her so close to power was a
dangerous move, so to make sure of Henr ’s loyalty she unleashed
on h m the lovel est member of her “fly ng squadron,” Charlotte de
Beaune Semblançay, baroness of Sauves. Cather ne d d th s even
though Henr was marr ed to her daughter. W th n weeks, Marguer te
de Valo s wrote n her memo rs, “Mme. de Sauves so completely
ensnared my husband that we no longer slept together, nor even
conversed.”
And wh le I am on the subject, there s another fact that deserves
ment on. It s th s. A man shows h s character just n the way n
wh ch he deals w th tr fles-for then he s off h s guard. Th s w ll often
afford a good opportun ty of observ ng the boundless ego sm of a
man’s nature, and h s total lack of cons derat on for others; and f
these defects show themselves n small th ngs, or merely n h s
general demeanour, you w ll f nd that they also underl e h s act on n
matters of mportance, although he may d sgu se the fact. Th s s an
opportun ty wh ch should not be m ssed. If n the l ttle affa rs of every
day—the tr fles of l fe...—a man s ncons derate and seeks only what
s advantageous or conven ent to h mself, to the prejud ce of others’
r ghts; f he appropr ates to h mself that wh ch belongs to all al ke,
you may be sure there s no just ce n h s heart, and that he would be
a scoundrel on a wholesale scale, only that law and compuls on b nd
h s hands.

Arthur SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860

The baroness was an excellent spy and helped to keep Henr
under Cather ne’s thumb. When the queen’s youngest son, the Duke
of Alençon, grew so close to Henr that she feared the two m ght plot
aga nst her, she ass gned the baroness to h m as well. Th s most
nfamous member of the fly ng squadron qu ckly seduced Alençon,
and soon the two young men fought over her and the r fr endsh p
qu ckly ended, along w th any danger of a consp racy.

Interpretat on

Cather ne had seen very early on the sway that a m stress has over
a man of power: Her own husband, Henr II, had kept one of the
most nfamous m stresses of them all, D ane de Po t ers. What
Cather ne learned from the exper ence was that a man l ke her
husband wanted to feel he could w n a woman over w thout hav ng to
rely on h s status, wh ch he had nher ted rather than earned. And
such a need conta ned a huge bl nd spot: As long as the woman
began the affa r by act ng as f she had been conquered, the man
would fa l to not ce that as t me passed the m stress had come to
hold power over h m, as D ane de Po t ers d d over Henr . It was
Cather ne’s strategy to turn th s weakness to her advantage, us ng t
as a way to conquer and control men. All she had to do was unleash
the lovel est women n the court, her “fly ng squadron,” on men
whom she knew shared her husband’s vulnerab l ty.
Remember: Always look for pass ons and obsess ons that cannot
be controlled. The stronger the pass on, the more vulnerable the
person. Th s may seem surpr s ng, for pass onate people look
strong. In fact, however, they are s mply f ll ng the stage w th the r
theatr cal ty, d stract ng people from how weak and helpless they
really are. A man’s need to conquer women actually reveals a
tremendous helplessness that has made suckers out of them for
thousands of years. Look at the part of a person that s most v s ble
—the r greed, the r lust, the r ntense fear. These are the emot ons
they cannot conceal, and over wh ch they have the least control. And
what people cannot control, you can control for them.
THE BATTLE AT PHARSALIA
When the two arm es [Jul us Caesar’s and Pompey‘s] were come
nto Pharsal a, and both encamped there, Pompey’s thoughts ran the
same way as they had done before, aga nst f ght ng.... But those
who were about h m were greatly conf dent of success ... as f they
had already conquered.... The cavalry espec ally were obst nate for
f ght ng, be ng splend dly armed and bravely mounted, and valu ng
themselves upon the f ne horses they kept, and upon the r own
handsome persons; as also upon the advantage of the r numbers,
for they were f ve thousand aga nst one thousand of Caesar’s. Nor
were the numbers of the nfantry less d sproport onate, there be ng
forty-f ve thousand of Pompey’s aga nst twenty-two thousand of the
enemy. [The next day] wh lst the nfantry was thus sharply engaged
n the ma n battle, on the flank Pompey’s horse rode up conf dently,
and opened [h s cavalry’s] ranks very w de, that they m ght surround
the r ght w ng of Caesar. But before they engaged, Caesar’s cohorts
rushed out and attacked them, and d d not dart the r javel ns at a
d stance, nor str ke at the th ghs and legs, as they usually d d n
close battle, but a med at the r faces. For thus Caesar had nstructed
them, n hopes that young gentlemen, who had nol known much of
battles and wounds, but came wear ng the r ha r long, n the flower of
the r age and he ght of the r beauty, would be more apprehens ve of
such blows, and not care for hazard ng both a danger at present and
a blem sh for the future.
And so t proved, for they were so far from bear ng the stroke of the
javel ns, that they could not stand the s ght of them, but turned
about, and covered the r faces to secure them. Once n d sorder,
presently they turned about to fly; and so most shamefully ru ned all.
For those who had beat them back at once outflanked the nfantry,
and fall ng on the r rear, cut them to p eces. Pompey, who
commanded the other w ng of the army, when he saw h s cavalry
thus broken and fly ng, was no longer h mself, nor d d he now
remember that he was Pompey the Great, but, l ke one whom some
god had depr ved of h s senses, ret red to h s tent w thout speak ng a
word, and there sat to expect the event, t ll the whole army was
routed.
THE LIFE OF JULIUS CAESAR. PLUIARCH, c. A.D. 46-120

Observance IV

Arabella Hunt ngton, w fe of the great late-n neteenth-century

ra lroad magnate Coll s P. Hunt ngton, came from humble or g ns and
always struggled for soc al recogn t on among her wealthy peers.
When she gave a party n her San Franc sco mans on, few of the
soc al el te would show up; most of them took her for a gold d gger,
not the r k nd. Because of her husband’s fabulous wealth, art dealers
courted her, but w th such condescens on they obv ously saw her as
an upstart. Only one man of consequence treated her d fferently: the
dealer Joseph Duveen.
For the f rst few years of Duveen’s relat onsh p w th Arabella, he
made no effort to sell expens ve art to her. Instead he accompan ed
her to f ne stores, chatted endlessly about queens and pr ncesses he
knew, on and on. At last, she thought, a man who treated her as an
equal, even a super or, n h gh soc ety. Meanwh le, f Duveen d d not
try to sell art to her, he d d subtly educate her n h s aesthet c deas—
namely, that the best art was the most expens ve art. And after
Arabella had soaked up h s way of see ng th ngs, Duveen would act
as f she always had exqu s te taste, even though before she met
h m her aesthet cs had been abysmal.
When Coll s Hunt ngton d ed, n 1900, Arabella came nto a
fortune. She suddenly started to buy expens ve pa nt ngs, by
Rembrandt and Velázquez, for example—and only from Duveen.
Years later Duveen sold her Ga nsborough’s Blue Boy for the h ghest
pr ce ever pa d for a work of art at the t me, an astound ng purchase
for a fam ly that prev ously had shown l ttle nterest n collect ng.

Interpretat on

Joseph Duveen nstantly understood Arabella Hunt ngton and what

made her t ck: She wanted to feel mportant, at home n soc ety.
Intensely nsecure about her lower-class background, she needed
conf rmat on of her new soc al status. Duveen wa ted. Instead of
rush ng nto try ng to persuade her to collect art, he subtly went to
work on her weaknesses. He made her feel that she deserved h s
attent on not because she was the w fe of one of the wealth est men
n the world but because of her own spec al character—and th s
completely melted her. Duveen never condescended to Arabella;
rather than lectur ng to her, he nst lled h s deas n her nd rectly. The
result was one of h s best and most devoted cl ents, and also the
sale of The Blue Boy.
People’s need for val dat on and recogn t on, the r need to feel
mportant, s the best k nd of weakness to explo t. F rst, t s almost
un versal; second, explo t ng t s so very easy. All you have to do s
f nd ways to make people feel better about the r taste, the r soc al
stand ng, the r ntell gence. Once the f sh are hooked, you can reel
them n aga n and aga n, for years—you are f ll ng a pos t ve role,
g v ng them what they cannot get on the r own. They may never
suspect that you are turn ng them l ke a thumbscrew, and f they do
they may not care, because you are mak ng them feel better about
themselves, and that s worth any pr ce.
 Observance V

In 1862 K ng W ll am of Pruss a named Otto von B smarck prem er

and m n ster for fore gn affa rs. B smarck was known for h s
boldness, h s amb t on—and h s nterest n strengthen ng the m l tary.
S nce W ll am was surrounded by l berals n h s government and
cab net, pol t c ans who already wanted to l m t h s powers, t was
qu te dangerous for h m to put B smarck n th s sens t ve pos t on. H s
w fe, Queen Augusta, had tr ed to d ssuade h m, but although she
usually got her way w th h m, th s t me W ll am stuck to h s guns.
Only a week after becom ng pr me m n ster, B smarck made an
mpromptu speech to a few dozen m n sters to conv nce them of the
need to enlarge the army. He ended by say ng, “The great quest ons
of the t me w ll be dec ded, not by speeches and resolut ons of
major t es, but by ron and blood.” H s speech was mmed ately
d ssem nated throughout Germany. The queen screamed at her
husband that B smarck was a barbar c m l tar st who was out to
usurp control of Pruss a, and that W ll am had to f re h m. The l berals
n the government agreed w th her. The outcry was so vehement that
W ll am began to be afra d he would end up on a scaffold, l ke Lou s
XVI of France, f he kept B smarck on as pr me m n ster.
B smarck knew he had to get to the k ng before t was too late. He
also knew he had blundered, and should have tempered h s f ery
words. Yet as he contemplated h s strategy, he dec ded not to
apolog ze but to do the exact oppos te. B smarck knew the k ng well.
When the two men met, W ll am, pred ctably, had been worked nto
a t zzy by the queen. He re terated h s fear of be ng gu llot ned. But
B smarck only repl ed, “Yes, then we shall be dead! We must d e
sooner or later, and could there be a more respectable way of dy ng?
I should d e f ght ng for the cause of my k ng and master. Your
Majesty would d e seal ng w th your own blood your royal r ghts
granted by God’s grace. Whether upon the scaffold or upon the
battlef eld makes no d fference to the glor ous stak ng of body and
l fe on behalf of r ghts granted by God’s grace!” On he went,
appeal ng to W ll am’s sense of honor and the majesty of h s pos t on
as head of the army. How could the k ng allow people to push h m
around? Wasn’t the honor of Germany more mportant than qu bbl ng
over words? Not only d d the pr me m n ster conv nce the k ng to
stand up to both h s w fe and h s parl ament, he persuaded h m to
bu ld up the army—B smarck’s goal all along.

Interpretat on

B smarck knew the k ng felt bull ed by those around h m. He knew

that W ll am had a m l tary background and a deep sense of honor,
and that he felt ashamed at h s cravenness before h s w fe and h s
government. W ll am secretly yearned to be a great and m ghty k ng,
but he dared not express th s amb t on because he was afra d of
end ng up l ke Lou s XVI. Where a show of courage often conceals a
man’s t m d ty, W ll am’s t m d ty concealed h s need to show courage
and thump h s chest.
B smarck sensed the long ng for glory beneath W ll am’s pac f st
front, so he played to the k ng’s nsecur ty about h s manhood, f nally
push ng h m nto three wars and the creat on of a German emp re.
T m d ty s a potent weakness to explo t. T m d souls often yearn to
be the r oppos te—to be Napoleons. Yet they lack the nner strength.
You, n essence, can become the r Napoleon, push ng them nto bold
act ons that serve your needs wh le also mak ng them dependent on
you. Remember: Look to the oppos tes and never take appearances
at face value.
Image: The
Thumbscrew.
Your enemy
has secrets that
he guards, th nks
thoughts he w ll
not reveal. But
they come out n
ways he cannot
help. It s there some
where, a groove of
 weakness on h s head,
at h s heart, over h s
belly. Once you f nd the
groove, put your thumb n
t and turn h m at w ll.
Author ty: F nd out each man’s thumbscrew. ’T s the art of sett ng
the r w lls n act on. It needs more sk ll than resolut on. You must
know where to get at anyone. Every vol t on has a spec al mot ve
wh ch var es accord ng to taste. All men are dolaters, some of fame,
others of self- nterest, most of pleasure. Sk ll cons sts n know ng
these dols n order to br ng them nto play. Know ng any man’s
ma nspr ng of mot ve you have as t were the key to h s w ll. (Baltasar
Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

Play ng on people’s weakness has one s gn f cant danger: You may

st r up an act on you cannot control.
In your games of power you always look several steps ahead and
plan accord ngly. And you explo t the fact that other people are more
emot onal and ncapable of such fores ght. But when you play on
the r vulnerab l t es, the areas over wh ch they have least control, you
can unleash emot ons that w ll upset your plans. Push t m d people
nto bold act on and they may go too far; answer the r need for
attent on or recogn t on and they may need more than you want to
g ve them. The helpless, ch ld sh element you are play ng on can
turn aga nst you.
The more emot onal the weakness, the greater the potent al
danger. Know the l m ts to th s game, then, and never get carr ed
away by your control over your v ct ms. You are after power, not the
thr ll of control.
 LAW 34

BE ROYAL IN YOUR OWN FASHION: ACT LIKE A

KING TO BE TREATED LIKE ONE

JUDGMENT
The way you carry yourself w ll often determ ne how you are treated:
In the long run, appear ng vulgar or common w ll make people
d srespect you. For a k ng respects h mself and nsp res the same
sent ment n others. By act ng regally and conf dent of your powers,
you make yourself seem dest ned to wear a crown.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In July of 1830, a revolut on broke out n Par s that forced the k ng,
Charles X, to abd cate. A comm ss on of the h ghest author t es n the
land gathered to choose a successor, and the man they p cked was
Lou s-Ph l ppe, the Duke of Orléans.
From the beg nn ng t was clear that Lou s-Ph l ppe would be a
d fferent k nd of k ng, and not just because he came from a d fferent
branch of the royal fam ly, or because he had not nher ted the crown
but had been g ven t, by a comm ss on, putt ng h s leg t macy n
quest on. Rather t was that he d sl ked ceremony and the trapp ngs
of royalty; he had more fr ends among the bankers than among the
nob l ty; and h s style was not to create a new k nd of royal rule, as
Napoleon had done, but to downplay h s status, the better to m x
w th the bus nessmen and m ddle-class folk who had called h m to
lead. Thus the symbols that came to be assoc ated w th Lou s-
Ph l ppe were ne ther the scepter nor the crown, but the gray hat and
umbrella w th wh ch he would proudly walk the streets of Par s, as f
he were a bourgeo s out for a stroll. When Lou s-Ph l ppe nv ted
James Rothsch ld, the most mportant banker n France, to h s
palace, he treated h m as an equal. And unl ke any k ng before h m,
not only d d he talk bus ness w th Mons eur Rothsch ld but that was
l terally all he talked, for he loved money and had amassed a huge
fortune.
As the re gn of the “bourgeo s k ng” plodded on, people came to
desp se h m. The ar stocracy could not endure the s ght of an
unk ngly k ng, and w th n a few years they turned on h m. Meanwh le
the grow ng class of the poor, nclud ng the rad cals who had chased
out Charles X, found no sat sfact on n a ruler who ne ther acted as a
k ng nor governed as a man of the people. The bankers to whom
Lou s-Ph l ppe was the most beholden soon real zed that t was they
who controlled the country, not he, and they treated h m w th grow ng
contempt. One day, at the start of a tra n tr p organ zed for the royal
fam ly, James Rothsch ld actually berated h m—and n publ c—for
be ng late. Once the k ng had made news by treat ng the banker as
an equal; now the banker treated the k ng as an nfer or.
Eventually the workers’ nsurrect ons that had brought down Lou s-
Ph l ppe’s predecessor began to reemerge, and the k ng put them
down w th force. But what was he defend ng so brutally? Not the
nst tut on of the monarchy, wh ch he d sda ned, nor a democrat c
republ c, wh ch h s rule prevented. What he was really defend ng, t
seemed, was h s own fortune, and the fortunes of the bankers—not
a way to nsp re loyalty among the c t zenry.
Never lose your self-respect, nor be too fam l ar w th yoetrself when
you are alone. Let your ntegr ty tself be your own standard of
rect tude, and be more ndebted to the sever ty of your own judgment
of yourself than to all external precepts. Des st from unseemly
conduct, rather out of respect for your own v rtue than for the
str ctures of external author ty. Come to hold yourself n awe, and
you w ll have no need of Seneca’s mag nary t ttor.
BALIASAR GRACIAN. 1601-1658
In early 1848, Frenchmen of all classes began to demonstrate for
electoral reforms that would make the country truly democrat c. By
February the demonstrat ons had turned v olent. To assuage the
populace, Lou s-Ph l ppe f red h s pr me m n ster and appo nted a
l beral as a replacement. But th s created the oppos te of the des red
effect: The people sensed they could push the k ng around. The
demonstrat ons turned nto a full-fledged revolut on, w th gunf re and
barr cades n the streets.
On the n ght of February 23, a crowd of Par s ans surrounded the
palace. W th a suddenness that caught everyone by surpr se, Lou s-
Ph l ppe abd cated that very even ng and fled to England. He left no
successor, nor even the suggest on of one—h s whole government
folded up and d ssolved l ke a travel ng c rcus leav ng town.

Interpretat on

Lou s-Ph l ppe consc ously d ssolved the aura that naturally perta ns
to k ngs and leaders. Scoff ng at the symbol sm of grandeur, he
bel eved a new world was dawn ng, where rulers should act and be
l ke ord nary c t zens. He was r ght: A new world, w thout k ngs and
queens, was certa nly on ts way. He was profoundly wrong,
however, n pred ct ng a change n the dynam cs of power.
The bourgeo s k ng’s hat and umbrella amused the French at f rst,
but soon grew rr tat ng. People knew that Lou s-Ph l ppe was not
really l ke them at all—that the hat and umbrella were essent ally a
k nd of tr ck to encourage them n the fantasy that the country had
suddenly grown more equal. Actually, though, the d v s ons of wealth
had never been greater. The French expected the r ruler to be a b t
of a showman, to have some presence. Even a rad cal l ke
Robesp erre, who had br efly come to power dur ng the French
Revolut on f fty years earl er, had understood th s, and certa nly
Napoleon, who had turned the revolut onary republ c nto an mper al
reg me, had known t n h s bones. Indeed as soon as Lou s-Ph l ppe
fled the stage, the French revealed the r true des re: They elected
Napoleon’s grand-nephew pres dent. He was a v rtual unknown, but
they hoped he would re-create the great general’s powerful aura,
eras ng the awkward memory of the “bourgeo s k ng.”
Powerful people may be tempted to affect a common-man aura,
try ng to create the llus on that they and the r subjects or underl ngs
are bas cally the same. But the people whom th s false gesture s
ntended to mpress w ll qu ckly see through t. They understand that
they are not be ng g ven more power—that t only appears as f they
shared n the powerful person’s fate. The only k nd of common touch
that works s the k nd affected by Frankl n Roosevelt, a style that
sa d the pres dent shared values and goals w th the common people
even wh le he rema ned a patr c an at heart. He never pretended to
erase h s d stance from the crowd.
Leaders who try to d ssolve that d stance through a false
chumm ness gradually lose the ab l ty to nsp re loyalty, fear, or love.
Instead they el c t contempt. L ke Lou s-Ph l ppe, they are too
un nsp r ng even to be worth the gu llot ne—the best they can do s
s mply van sh n the n ght, as f they were never there.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

When Chr stopher Columbus was try ng to f nd fund ng for h s

legendary voyages, many around h m bel eved he came from the
Ital an ar stocracy. Th s v ew was passed nto h story through a
b ography wr tten after the explorer’s death by h s son, wh ch
descr bes h m as a descendant of a Count Colombo of the Castle of
Cuccaro n Montferrat. Colombo n turn was sa d to be descended
from the legendary Roman general Colon us, and two of h s f rst
cous ns were supposedly d rect descendants of an emperor of Con
stant nople. An llustr ous background ndeed. But t was noth ng
more than llustr ous fantasy, for Columbus was actually the son of
Domen co Colombo, a humble weaver who had opened a w ne shop
when Chr stopher was a young man, and who then made h s l v ng
by sell ng cheese.
Columbus h mself had created the myth of h s noble background,
because from early on he felt that dest ny had s ngled h m out for
great th ngs, and that he had a k nd of royalty n h s blood.
Accord ngly he acted as f he were ndeed descended from noble
stock. After an uneventful career as a merchant on a commerc al
vessel, Columbus, or g nally from Genoa, settled n L sbon. Us ng the
fabr cated story of h s noble background, he marr ed nto an
establ shed L sbon fam ly that had excellent connect ons w th
Portuguese royalty.
Through h s n-laws, Columbus f nagled a meet ng w th the k ng of
Portugal, Joao II, whom he pet t oned to f nance a westward voyage
a med at d scover ng a shorter route to As a. In return for announc ng
that any d scover es he ach eved would be made n the k ng’s name,
Columbus wanted a ser es of r ghts: the t tle Grand Adm ral of the
Ocean c Sea; the off ce of v ceroy over any lands he found; and 10
percent of the future commerce w th such lands. All of these r ghts
were to be hered tary and for all t me. Columbus made these
demands even though he had prev ously been a mere merchant, he
knew almost noth ng about nav gat on, he could not work a quadrant,
and he had never led a group of men. In short he had absolutely no
qual f cat ons for the journey he proposed. Furthermore, h s pet t on
ncluded no deta ls as to how he would accompl sh h s plans, just
vague prom ses.
When Columbus f n shed h s p tch, João II sm led: He pol tely
decl ned the offer, but left the door open for the future. Here
Columbus must have not ced someth ng he would never forget: Even
as the k ng turned down the sa lor’s demands, he treated them as
leg t mate. He ne ther laughed at Columbus nor quest oned h s
background and credent als. In fact the k ng was mpressed by the
boldness of Columbus’s requests, and clearly felt comfortable n the
company of a man who acted so conf dently. The meet ng must have
conv nced Columbus that h s nst ncts were correct: By ask ng for the
moon, he had nstantly ra sed h s own status, for the k ng assumed
that unless a man who set such a h gh pr ce on h mself were mad,
wh ch Columbus d d not appear to be, he must somehow be worth t.
HIPPOFIDES IT SI
In the next generat on the fam ly became much more famous than
before through the d st nct on conferred upon t by Cle sthenes the
master of S cyon. Cle sthenes... had a daughter, Agar sta, whom he
w shed to marry to the best man n all Greece. So dur ng the Olymp c
games, n wh ch he had h mself won the char ot race, he had a
publ c announcement made, to the effect that any Greek who
thought h mself good enough to become Cle sthenes’ son- n-law
should present h mself n S cyon w th n s xty days—or sooner f he
w shed—because he ntended, w th n the year follow ng the s xt eth
day, to betroth h s daughter to her future husband. Cle sthenes had
had a race-track and a wrestl ng-r ng spec ally made for h s purpose,
and presently the su tors began to arr ve—every man of Greek
nat onal ty who had someth ng to be proud of e ther n h s country or
n h mself.... Cle sthenes began by ask ng each [of the numerous
su tors] n turn to name h s country and parentage; then he kept
them n h s house for a year, to get to know them well, enter ng nto
conversat on w th them somet mes s ngly, somet mes all together,
and test ng each of them for h s manly qual t es and temper,
educat on and manners.... But the most mportant test of all was the r
behav our at the d nner-table. All th s went on throughout the r stay n
S cyon, and all the t me he enterta ned them handsomely. For one
reason or another t was the two Athen ans who mpressed
Cle sthenes most favourably, and of the two T sander’s son
H ppocle des came to be preferred.... At last the day came wh ch had
been f xed for the betrothal, and Cle sthenes had to declare h s
cho ce. He nzarked the day by the sacr f ce of a hundred oxen, and
then gave a great banquet, to wh ch not only the su tors but
everyone of note n S cyon was nv ted. When d nner was over, the
su tors began to compete w th each other n mus c and n talk ng n
company. In both these accompl shments t was H ppocle des who
proved by far the dought est champ on, unt l at last, as more and
more w ne was drunk, he asked the flute-player to play h m a tune
and began to dance to t. Now t may well be that he danced to h s
own sat sfact on; Cle sthenes, however, who was watch ng the
performance, began to have ser ous doubts about the whole
bus ness. Presently, after a br ef pause, H ppocle des sent for a
table; the table was brought, and H ppocle des, cl mb ng on to t,
danced f rst some Lacon an dances, next some Att c ones, and
ended by stand ng on h s head and beat ng t me w th h s legs n the
a r The Lacon an and Att c dances were bad enough; but
Cle sthenes, though he already loathed the thought of hav ng a son-
n-law l ke that, nevertheless restra ned h mself and managed to
avo d an outburst; but when he saw H ppocle des beat ng t me w th
h s legs, he could bear t no longer. “Son of T sander, ”he cr ed, “you
have danced away your marr age. ”
THE HISTORIES, Herodotus, FIFTH CENTURY B.C.
A few years later Columbus moved to Spa n. Us ng h s Portuguese
connect ons, he moved n elevated c rcles at the Span sh court,
rece v ng subs d es from llustr ous f nanc ers and shar ng tables w th
dukes and pr nces. To all these men he repeated h s request for
f nanc ng for a voyage to the west—and also for the r ghts he had
demanded from João II. Some, such as the powerful duke of
Med na, wanted to help, but could not, s nce they lacked the power
to grant h m the t tles and r ghts he wanted. But Columbus would not
back down. He soon real zed that only one person could meet h s
demands: Queen Isabella. In 1487 he f nally managed a meet ng
w th the queen, and although he could not conv nce her to f nance
the voyage, he completely charmed her, and became a frequent
guest n the palace.
In 1492 the Span sh f nally expelled the Moor sh nvaders who
centur es earl er had se zed parts of the country. W th the wart me
burden on her treasury l fted, Isabella felt she could f nally respond to
the demands of her explorer fr end, and she dec ded to pay for three
sh ps, equ pment, the salar es of the crews, and a modest st pend for
Columbus. More mportant, she had a contract drawn up that
granted Columbus the t tles and r ghts on wh ch he had ns sted. The
only one she den ed—and only n the contract’s f ne pr nt—was the
10 percent of all revenues from any lands d scovered: an absurd
demand, s nce he wanted no t me l m t on t. (Had the clause been
left n, t would eventually have made Columbus and h s he rs the
wealth est fam ly on the planet. Columbus never read the f ne pr nt.)
Sat sf ed that h s demands had been met, Columbus set sa l that
same year n search of the passage to As a. (Before he left he was
careful to h re the best nav gator he could f nd to help h m get there.)
The m ss on fa led to f nd such a passage, yet when Columbus
pet t oned the queen to f nance an even more amb t ous voyage the
follow ng year, she agreed. By then she had come to see Columbus
as dest ned for great th ngs.

Interpretat on

As an explorer Columbus was med ocre at best. He knew less about

the sea than d d the average sa lor on h s sh ps, could never
determ ne the lat tude and long tude of h s d scover es, m stook
slands for vast cont nents, and treated h s crew badly. But n one
area he was a gen us: He knew how to sell h msel£ How else to
expla n how the son of a cheese vendor, a low-level sea merchant,
managed to ngrat ate h mself w th the h ghest royal and ar stocrat c
fam l es?
Columbus had an amaz ng power to charm the nob l ty, and t all
came from the way he carr ed h mself. He projected a sense of
conf dence that was completely out of proport on to h s means. Nor
was h s conf dence the aggress ve, ugly self-promot on of an upstart
— t was a qu et and calm self-assurance. In fact t was the same
conf dence usually shown by the nob l ty themselves. The powerful n
the old-style ar stocrac es felt no need to prove or assert themselves;
be ng noble, they knew they always deserved more, and asked for t.
W th Columbus, then, they felt an nstant aff n ty, for he carr ed
h mself just the way they d d—elevated above the crowd, dest ned
for greatness.
 Understand: It s w th n your power to set your own pr ce. How you
carry yourself reflects what you th nk of yourself. If you ask for l ttle,
shuffle your feet and lower your head, people w ll assume th s
reflects your character. But th s behav or s not you— t s only how
you have chosen to present yourself to other people. You can just as
eas ly present the Columbus front: buoyancy, conf dence, and the
feel ng that you were born to wear a crown.
W th all great dece vers there s a noteworthy occurrence to wh ch
they owe the r power. In the actual act of decept on they are
overcome by bel ef n themselves: t s th s wh ch then speaks so
m raculously and compell ngly to those around them.
Fr edr ch N etzsche, 1844-1900

KEYS TO POWER

As ch ldren, we start our l ves w th great exuberance, expect ng and

demand ng everyth ng from the world. Th s generally carr es over
nto our f rst forays nto soc ety, as we beg n our careers. But as we
grow older the rebuffs and fa lures we exper ence set up boundar es
that only get f rmer w th t me. Com ng to expect less from the world,
we accept l m tat ons that are really self- mposed. We start to bow
and scrape and apolog ze for even the s mplest of requests. The
solut on to such a shr nk ng of hor zons s to del berately force
ourselves n the oppos te d rect on—to downplay the fa lures and
gnore the l m tat ons, to make ourselves demand and expect as
much as the ch ld. To accompl sh th s, we must use a part cular
strategy upon ourselves. Call t the Strategy of the Crown.
The Strategy of the Crown s based on a s mple cha n of cause
and effect: If we bel eve we are dest ned for great th ngs, our bel ef
w ll rad ate outward, just as a crown creates an aura around a k ng.
Th s outward rad ance w ll nfect the people around us, who w ll th nk
we must have reasons to feel so conf dent. People who wear crowns
seem to feel no nner sense of the l m ts to what they can ask for or
what they can accompl sh. Th s too rad ates outward. L m ts and
boundar es d sappear. Use the Strategy of the Crown and you w ll be
surpr sed how often t bears fru t. Take as an example those happy
ch ldren who ask for whatever they want, and get t. The r h gh
expectat ons are the r charm. Adults enjoy grant ng the r w shes—
just as Isabella enjoyed grant ng the w shes of Columbus.
Throughout h story, people of und st ngu shed b rth—the
Theodoras of Byzant um, the Columbuses, the Beethovens, the
D srael s—have managed to work the Strategy of the Crown,
bel ev ng so f rmly n the r own greatness that t becomes a self-
fulf ll ng prophecy. The tr ck s s mple: Be overcome by your self-
bel ef. Even wh le you know you are pract c ng a k nd of decept on on
yourself, act l ke a k ng. You are l kely to be treated as one.
The crown may separate you from other people, but t s up to you
to make that separat on real: You have to act d fferently,
demonstrat ng your d stance from those around you. One way to
emphas ze your d fference s to always act w th d gn ty, no matter the
c rcumstance. Lou s-Ph l ppe gave no sense of be ng d fferent from
other people—he was the banker k ng. And the moment h s subjects
threatened h m, he caved n. Everyone sensed th s and pounced.
Lack ng regal d gn ty and f rmness of purpose, Lou s-Ph l ppe
seemed an mpostor, and the crown was eas ly toppled from h s
head.
Regal bear ng should not be confused w th arrogance. Arrogance
may seem the k ng’s ent tlement, but n fact t betrays nsecur ty. It s
the very oppos te of a royal demeanor.
Ha le Selass e, ruler of Eth op a for forty or so years beg nn ng n
1930, was once a young man named L j Tafar . He came from a
noble fam ly, but there was no real chance of h m com ng to power,
for he was far down the l ne of success on from the k ng then on the
throne, Menel k II. Nevertheless, from an early age he exh b ted a
self-conf dence and a royal bear ng that surpr sed everyone around
h m.
At the age of fourteen, Tafar went to l ve at the court, where he
mmed ately mpressed Menel k and became h s favor te. Tafar ’s
grace under f re, h s pat ence, and h s calm self-assurance
fasc nated the k ng. The other young nobles, arrogant, blustery, and
env ous, would push th s sl ght, book sh teenager around. But he
never got angry—that would have been a s gn of nsecur ty, to wh ch
he would not stoop. There were already people around h m who felt
he would someday r se to the top, for he acted as f he were already
there.
Years later, n 1936, when the Ital an Fasc sts had taken over
Eth op a and Tafar , now called Ha le Selass e, was n ex le, he
addressed the League of Nat ons to plead h s country’s case. The
Ital ans n the aud ence heckled h m w th vulgar abuse, but he
ma nta ned h s d gn f ed pose, as f completely unaffected. Th s
elevated h m wh le mak ng h s opponents look even ugl er. D gn ty, n
fact, s nvar ably the mask to assume under d ff cult c rcumstances:
It s as f noth ng can affect you, and you have all the t me n the
world to respond. Th s s an extremely powerful pose.
A royal demeanor has other uses. Con art sts have long known the
value of an ar stocrat c front; t e ther d sarms people and makes
them less susp c ous, or else t nt m dates them and puts them on
the defens ve—and as Count V ctor Lust g knew, once you put a
sucker on the defens ve he s doomed. The con man Yellow K d
We l, too, would often assume the trapp ngs of a man of wealth,
along w th the nonchalance that goes w th them. Allud ng to some
mag cal method of mak ng money, he would stand aloof, l ke a k ng,
exud ng conf dence as f he really were fabulously r ch. The suckers
would beg to be n on the con, to have a chance at the wealth that he
so clearly d splayed.
F nally, to re nforce the nner psycholog cal tr cks nvolved n
project ng a royal demeanor, there are outward strateg es to help you
create the effect. F rst, the Columbus Strategy: Always make a bold
demand. Set your pr ce h gh and do not waver. Second, n a d gn f ed
way, go after the h ghest person n the bu ld ng. Th s mmed ately
puts you on the same plane as the ch ef execut ve you are attack ng.
It s the Dav d and Gol ath Strategy: By choos ng a great opponent,
you create the appearance of greatness.
Th rd, g ve a g ft of some sort to those above you. Th s s the
strategy of those who have a patron: By g v ng your patron a g ft, you
are essent ally say ng that the two of you are equal. It s the old con
game of g v ng so that you can take. When the Rena ssance wr ter
P etro Aret no wanted the Duke of Mantua as h s next patron, he
knew that f he was slav sh and sycophant c, the duke would th nk
h m unworthy; so he approached the duke w th g fts, n th s case
pa nt ngs by the wr ter’s good fr end T t an. Accept ng the g fts
created a k nd of equal ty between duke and wr ter: The duke was
put at ease by the feel ng that he was deal ng w th a man of h s own
ar stocrat c stamp. He funded Aret no generously. The g ft strategy s
subtle and br ll ant because you do not beg: You ask for help n a
d gn f ed way that mpl es equal ty between two people, one of whom
just happens to have more money.
Remember: It s up to you to set your own pr ce. Ask for less and
that s just what you w ll get. Ask for more, however, and you send a
s gnal that you are worth a k ng’s ransom. Even those who turn you
down respect you for your conf dence, and that respect w ll
eventually pay off n ways you cannot mag ne.
Image: The Crown. Place t upon your head
and you assume a d fferent pose—tranqu l
yet rad at ng assurance. Never show
doubt, never lose your d gn ty beneath
the crown, or t w ll not f t. It w ll seem
to be dest ned for one more worthy. Do
not wa t for a coronat on; the great
est emperors crown themselves.
Author ty: Everyone should be royal after h s own fash on. Let all
your act ons, even though they are not those of a k ng, be, n the r
own sphere, worthy of one. Be subl me n your deeds, lofty n your
thoughts; and n all your do ngs show that you deserve to be a k ng
even though you are not one n real ty. (Baltasar Grac án, 1601-
1658)

REVERSAL

The dea beh nd the assumpt on of regal conf dence s to set yourself
apart from other people, but f you take th s too far t w ll be your
undo ng. Never make the m stake of th nk ng that you elevate
yourself by hum l at ng people. Also, t s never a good dea to loom
too h gh above the crowd—you make an easy target. And there are
t mes when an ar stocrat c pose s em nently dangerous.
Charles I, k ng of England dur ng the 1640s, faced a profound
publ c d senchantment w th the nst tut on of monarchy. Revolts
erupted throughout the country, led by Ol ver Cromwell. Had Charles
reacted to the t mes w th ns ght, support ng reforms and mak ng a
show of sacr f c ng some of h s power, h story m ght have been
d fferent. Instead he reverted to an even more regal pose, seem ng
outraged by the assault on h s power and on the d v ne nst tut on of
monarchy. H s st ff k ngl ness offended people and spurred on the r
revolts. And eventually Charles lost h s head, l terally. Understand:
You are rad at ng conf dence, not arrogance or d sda n.
F nally, t s true that you can somet mes f nd some power through
affect ng a k nd of earthy vulgar ty, wh ch w ll prove amus ng by ts
extreme-ness. But to the extent that you w n th s game by go ng
beyond the l m ts, separat ng yourself from other people by
appear ng even more vulgar than they are, the game s dangerous:
There w ll always be people more vulgar than you, and you w ll
eas ly be replaced the follow ng season by someone younger and
worse.
 LAW 35

MASTER THE ART OF TIMING

JUDGMENT
Never seem to be n a hurry-hurry ng betrays a lack of control over
yourself, and over t me. Always seem pat ent, as f you know that
everyth ng w ll come to you eventually. Become a detect ve of the
r ght moment; sn ff out the sp r t of the t mes, the trends that w ll carry
you to power. Learn to stand back when the t me s not yet r pe, and
to str ke f ercely when t has reached fru t on.
SERTORIUS’S LESSON
Sertor us’s strength was now rap dly ncreas ng, for all the tr bes
between the Ebro and the Pyrenees came over to h s s de, and
troops came flock ng da ly to jo n h m from every quarter. At the
same t me he was troubled by the lack of d sc pl ne and the
overconf dence of these newly arr ved barbar ans, who would shout
at h m to attack the enemy and had no pat ence w th h s delay ng
tact cs, and he therefore tr ed to w n them over by argument. them
over by argument. But when he saw that they were d scontented and
pers sted n press ng the r demands regardless of the c rcumstances,
he let them have the r way and allowed them to engage the enemy;
he hoped that they would suffer a severe defeat w thout be ng
completely crushed, and that th s would make them better d sposed
to obey h s orders n future. The event turned out as he expected
and Sertor us came to the r rescue, prov ded a rally ng po nt for the
fug t ves, and led them safely back to h s camp. H s next step was to
rev ve the r dejected sp r ts, and so a few days later he summoned a
general assembly. Before t he produced two horses, one of them old
and enfeebled, the other large and lusty and possess ng a flow ng
ta l, wh ch was remarkable for the th ckness and beauty of ts ha r. By
the s de of the weak horse stood a tall strong man, and by the s de of
the powerful horse a short man of mean phys que. At a s gnal the
strong man se zed the ta l of h s horse and tr ed w th all h s strength
to pull t towards h m, as f to tear t off, wh le the weak man began to
pull the ha rs one by one from the ta l of the strong horse.
The strong man, after tugg ng w th all h s m ght to no purpose and
caus ng the spectators a great deal of amusement n the process,
f nally gave up the attempt, wh le the weak man qu ckly and w th very
l ttle trouble str pped h s horse’s ta l completely bare. Then Sertor us
rose to h s feet and sa d, “Now you can see, my fr ends and all es,
that perseverance s more effect ve than brute strength and that
there are many d ff cult es that cannot be overcome f you try to do
everyth ng at once, but wh ch w ll y eld f you master them l ttle by
l ttle. The truth s that a steady cont nuous effort s rres st ble, for th s
s the way n wh ch T me captures and subdues the greatest powers
on earth. Now T me, you should remember, s a good fr end and ally
to those who use the r ntell gence to choose the r ght moment, but a
most dangerous enemy to those who rush nto act on at the wrong
one.”

LIFE OF SERTORIUS, PLUTARCH, C.A.D. 46-120

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

Start ng out n l fe as a nondescr pt French sem nary-school teacher,

Joseph Fouché wandered from town to town for most of the decade
of the 1780s, teach ng mathemat cs to young boys. Yet he never
completely comm tted h mself to the church, never took h s vows as
a pr est—he had b gger plans. Pat ently wa t ng for h s chance, he
kept h s opt ons open. And when the French Revolut on broke out, n
1789, Fouché wa ted no longer: He got r d of h s cassock, grew h s
ha r long, and became a revolut onary. For th s was the sp r t of the
t mes. To m ss the boat at th s cr t cal moment could have spelt
d saster. Fouché d d not m ss the boat: Befr end ng the revolut onary
leader Robesp erre, he qu ckly rose n the rebel ranks. In 1792 the
town of Nantes elected Fouche to be ts representat ve to the
Nat onal Convent on (created that year to frame a new const tut on
for a French republ c).
When Fouché arr ved n Par s to take h s seat at the convent on, a
v olent r ft had broken out between the moderates and the rad cal
Jacob ns. Fouché sensed that n the long run ne ther s de would
emerge v ctor ous. Power rarely ends up n the hands of those who
start a revolut on, or even of those who further t; power st cks to
those who br ng t to a conclus on. That was the s de Fouche wanted
to be on.
H s sense of t m ng was uncanny. He started as a moderate, for
moderates were n the major ty. When the t me came to dec de on
whether or not to execute Lou s XVI, however, he saw that the
people were clamor ng for the k ng’s head, so he cast the dec d ng
vote—for the gu llot ne. Now he had become a rad cal. Yet as
tens ons came to the bo l n Par s, he foresaw the danger of be ng
too closely assoc ated w th any one fact on, so he accepted a
pos t on n the prov nces, where he could l e low for a wh le. A few
months later he was ass gned to the post of proconsul n Lyons,
where he oversaw the execut on of dozens of ar stocrats. At a
certa n moment, however, he called a halt to the k ll ngs, sens ng that
the mood of the country was turn ng-and desp te the blood already
on h s hands, the c t zens of Lyons ha led h m as a sav or from what
had become known as the Terror.
So far Fouché had played h s cards br ll antly, but n 1794 h s old
fr end Robesp erre recalled h m to Par s to account for h s act ons n
Lyons. Robesp erre had been the dr v ng force beh nd the Terror. He
had sent heads on both the r ght and the left roll ng, and Fouché,
whom he no longer trusted, seemed dest ned to prov de the next
head. Over the next few weeks, a tense struggle ensued: Wh le
Robesp erre ra led openly aga nst Fouché, accus ng of h m
dangerous amb t ons and call ng for h s arrest, the crafty Fouché
worked more nd rectly, qu etly ga n ng support among those who
were beg nn ng to t re of Robesp erre’s d ctator al control. Fouche
was play ng for t me. He knew that the longer he surv ved, the more
d saffected c t zens he could rally aga nst Robesp erre. He had to
have broad support before he moved aga nst the powerful leader. He
rall ed support among both the moderates and the Jacob ns, play ng
on the w despread fear of Robesp erre-everyone was afra d of be ng
the next to go to the gu llot ne. It all came to fru t on on July 27: The
convent on turned aga nst Robesp erre, shout ng down h s usual
lengthy speech. He was qu ckly arrested, and a few days later t was
Robesp erre’s head, not Fouché’s, that fell nto the basket.
When Fouché returned to the convent on after Robesp erre’s
death, he played h s most unexpected move: Hav ng led the
consp racy aga nst Robesp erre, he was expected to s t w th the
moderates, but lo and behold, he once aga n changed s des, jo n ng
the rad cal Jacob ns. For perhaps the f rst t me n h s l fe he al gned
h mself w th the m nor ty. Clearly he sensed a react on st rr ng: He
knew that the moderate fact on that had executed Robesp erre, and
was now about to take power, would n t ate a new round of the
Terror, th s t me aga nst the rad cals. In s d ng w th the Jacob ns,
then, Fouché was s tt ng w th the martyrs of the days to come—the
people who would be cons dered blameless n the troubles that were
on the r way. Tak ng s des w th what was about to become the los ng
team was a r sky gamb t, of course, but Fouché must have
calculated he could keep h s head long enough to qu etly st r up the
populace aga nst the moderates and watch them fall from power.
And ndeed, although the moderates d d call for h s arrest n
December of 1795, and would have sent h m to the gu llot ne, too
much t me had passed. The execut ons had become unpopular w th
the people, and Fouché surv ved the sw ng of the pendulum one
more t me.
A new government took over, the D recto re. It was not, however, a
Jacob n government, but a moderate one—more moderate than the
government that had re mposed the Terror. Fouché, the rad cal, had
kept h s head, but now he had to keep a low prof le. He wa ted
pat ently on the s del nes for several years, allow ng t me to soften
any b tter feel ngs aga nst h m, then he approached the D recto re
and conv nced them he had a new pass on: ntell gence-gather ng.
He became a pa d spy for the government, excelled at the job, and n
1799 was rewarded by be ng made m n ster of pol ce. Now he was
not just empowered but requ red to extend h s spy ng to every corner
of France—a respons b l ty that would greatly re nforce h s natural
ab l ty to sn ff out where the w nd was blow ng. One of the f rst soc al
trends he detected, n fact, came n the person of Napoleon, a brash
young general whose dest ny he r ght away saw was entw ned w th
the future of France. When Napoleon unleashed a coup d‘etat, on
November 9, 1799, Fouche pretended to be asleep. Indeed he slept
the whole day. For th s nd rect ass stance— t m ght have been
thought h s job, after all, to prevent a m l tary coup—Napoleon kept
h m on as m n ster of pol ce n the new reg me.
Over the next few years, Napoleon came to rely on Fouché more
and more. He even gave th s former revolut onary a t tle, duke of
Otranto, and rewarded h m w th great wealth. By 1808, however,
Fouché, always attuned to the t mes, sensed that Napoleon was on
the downsw ng. H s fut le war w th Spa n, a country that posed no
threat to France, was a s gn that he was los ng a sense of
proport on. Never one to be caught on a s nk ng sh p, Fouché
consp red w th Talleyrand to br ng about Napoleon’s downfall.
Although the consp racy fa led—Talleyrand was f red; Fouché
stayed, but was kept on a t ght leash— t publ c zed a grow ng
d scontent w th the emperor, who seemed to be los ng control. By
1814 Napoleon’s power had crumbled and all ed forces f nally
conquered h m.
The next government was a restorat on of the monarchy, n the
form of K ng Lou s XVIII, brother of Lou s XVI. Fouché, h s nose
always sn ff ng the a r for the next soc al sh ft, knew Lou s would not
last long—he had none of Napoleon’s fla r. Fouché once aga n
played h s wa t ng game, ly ng low, stay ng away from the spotl ght.
Sure enough, n February of 1815, Napoleon escaped from the
sland of Elba, where he had been mpr soned. Lou s XVIII pan cked:
H s pol c es had al enated the c t zenry, who were clamor ng for
Napoleon’s return. So Lou s turned to the one man who could maybe
have saved h s h de, Fouché, the former rad cal who had sent h s
brother, Lou s XVI, to the gu llot ne, but was now one of the most
popular and w dely adm red pol t c ans n France. Fouché, however,
would not s de w th a loser: He refused Lou s’s request for help by
pretend ng that h s help was unnecessary—by swear ng that
Napoleon would never return to power (although he knew
otherw se). A short t me later, of course, Napoleon and h s new
c t zen army were clos ng n on Par s.
See ng h s re gn about to collapse, feel ng that Fouché had
betrayed h m, and certa n that he d d not want th s powerful and able
man on Napoleon’s team, K ng Lou s ordered the m n ster’s arrest
and execut on. On March 16, 1815, pol cemen surrounded Fouché’s
coach on a Par s boulevard. Was th s f nally h s end? Perhaps, but
not mmed ately: Fouché told the pol ce that an ex-member of
government could not be arrested on the street. They fell for the
story and allowed h m to return home. Later that day, though, they
came to h s house and once aga n declared h m under arrest.
Fouché nodded—but would the off cers be so k nd as allow a
gentleman to wash and to change h s clothes before leav ng h s
house for the last t me? They gave the r perm ss on, Fouché left the
room, and the m nutes went by. Fouché d d not return. F nally the
pol cemen went nto the next room—where they saw a ladder
aga nst an open w ndow, lead ng down to the garden below.
That day and the next the pol ce combed Par s for Fouche, but by
then Napoleon’s cannons were aud ble n the d stance and the k ng
and all the k ng’s men had to flee the c ty. As soon as Napoleon
entered Par s, Fouché came out of h d ng. He had cheated the
execut oner once aga n. Napoleon greeted h s former m n ster of
pol ce and gladly restored h m to h s old post. Dur ng the 100 days
that Napoleon rema ned n power, unt l Waterloo, t was essent ally
Fouché who governed France. After Napoleon fell, Lou s XVIII
returned to the throne, and l ke a cat w th n ne l ves, Fouche stayed
on to serve n yet another government—by then h s power and
nfluence had grown so great that not even the k ng dared challenge
h m.
Mr. Sh h had two sons: one loved learn ng; the other war. The f rst
expounded h s moral teach ngs at the adm r ng court of Ch‘ and was
made a tutor, wh le the second talked strategy at the bell cose court
of Ch’u and was made a general. The mpecun ous Mr. Meng,
hear ng of these successes, sent h s own two sons out to follow the
example of the Sh h boys. The f rst expounded h s moral teach ngs
at the court ofCh‘ n, but the K ng of Ch’ n sa d: “At present the states
are quarrel ng v olently and every pr nce s busy arm ng h s troops to
the teeth. If I followed th s pr g’s prat ngs we should soon be
ann h lated.” So he had the fellow castrated. Meanwh le, the second
brother d splayed h s m l tary gen us at the court of We . But the K ng
of We sa d: “M ne s a weak state. If I rel ed on force nstead of
d plomacy, we should soon be w ped out. If, on the other hand, I let
th s f re-eater go, he w ll offer h s serv ces to another state and then
we shall be n trouble.” So he had the fellow’s feet cut off
Both.fam l es d d exactly the same th ng, but one t med t r ght, the
other wrong. Thtts success depends not on rat oc nat on but on
rhythm.
LlEH TZU. QUOTED IN THE CHINESE LOOKING GLASS. DENNIS
BLOODWORTH, 1967

Interpretat on

In a per od of unprecedented turmo l, Joseph Fouché thr ved through

h s mastery of the art of t m ng. He teaches us a number of key
lessons.
F rst, t s cr t cal to recogn ze the sp r t of the t mes. Fouché
always looked two steps ahead, found the wave that would carry h m
to power, and rode t. You must always work w th the t mes,
ant c pate tw sts and turns, and never m ss the boat. Somet mes the
sp r t of the t mes s obscure: Recogn ze t not by what s loudest and
most obv ous n t, but by what l es h dden and dormant. Look
forward to the Napoleons of the future rather than hold ng on to the
ru ns of the past.
 Second, recogn z ng the preva l ng w nds does not necessar ly
mean runn ng w th them. Any potent soc al movement creates a
powerful react on, and t s w se to ant c pate what that react on w ll
be, as Fouché d d after the execut on of Robesp erre. Rather than
r de the crest ng wave of the moment, wa t for the t de’s ebb to carry
you back to power. Upon occas on bet on the react on that s
brew ng, and place yourself n the vanguard of t.
F nally, Fouché had remarkable pat ence. W thout pat ence as
your sword and sh eld, your t m ng w ll fa l and you w ll nev tably f nd
yourself a loser. When the t mes were aga nst Fouché, he d d not
struggle, get emot onal, or str ke out rashly. He kept h s cool and
ma nta ned a low prof le, pat ently bu ld ng support among the
c t zenry, the bulwark n h s next r se to power. Whenever he found
h mself n the weaker pos t on, he played for t me, wh ch he knew
would always be h s ally f he was pat ent. Recogn ze the moment,
then, to h de n the grass or sl ther under a rock, as well as the
moment to bare your fangs and attack.
Space we can recover, t me never.
Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821

KEYS TO POWER

T me s an art f c al concept that we ourselves have created to make

the l m tlessness of etern ty and the un verse more bearable, more
human. S nce we have constructed the concept of t me, we are also
able to mold t to some degree, to play tr cks w th t. The t me of a
ch ld s long and slow, w th vast expanses; the t me of an adult
wh zzes by fr ghten ngly fast. T me, then, depends on percept on,
wh ch, we know, can be w llfully altered. Th s s the f rst th ng to
understand n master ng the art of t m ng. If the nner turmo l caused
by our emot ons tends to make t me move faster, t follows that once
we control our emot onal responses to events, t me w ll move much
more slowly. Th s altered way of deal ng w th th ngs tends to
lengthen our percept on of future t me, opens up poss b l t es that
fear and anger close off, and allows us the pat ence that s the
pr nc pal requ rement n the art of t m ng.
The sultan [of Pers a] had sentenced two men to death. One of
them, know ng how much the sultan loved h s stall on, offered to
teach the horse to fly w th n a year n return for h s l fe. The sultan,
fancy ng h mself as the r der of the only fly ng horse n the world,
agreed. The other pr soner looked at h s fr end n d sbel ef “You know
horses don’t fly. What made you come up w th a crazv dea l ke that?
You’re only postpon ng the nev table.” “Not so, ” sa d the (f rst
pr soner]. “I have actuallv g ven myself four chances for freedom.
F rst, the sultan m ght d e dur ng the year. Second, I m ght d e. Th rd,
the horse m ght d e. And fourth ... I m ght teach the horse to fly!”
THE CRAFT OF POWER, R.G.H. SIU, 1979
There are three k nds of t me for us to deal w th; each presents
problems that can be solved w th sk ll and pract ce. F rst there s long
t me: the drawn-out, years-long k nd of t me that must be managed
w th pat ence and gentle gu dance. Our handl ng of long t me should
be mostly defens ve—th s s the art of not react ng mpuls vely, of
wa t ng for opportun ty.
Next there s forced t me: the short-term t me that we can man pulate
as an offens ve weapon, upsett ng the t m ng of our opponents.
F nally there s end t me, when a plan must be executed w th speed
and force. We have wa ted, found the moment, and must not
hes tate.

Long T me. The famous seventeenth-century M ng pa nter Chou

Yung relates a story that altered h s behav or forever. Late one w nter
afternoon he set out to v s t a town that lay across the r ver from h s
own town. He was br ng ng some mportant books and papers w th
h m and had comm ss oned a young boy to help h m carry them. As
the ferry neared the other s de of the r ver, Chou Yung asked the
boatman f they would have t me to get to the town before ts gates
closed, s nce t was a m le away and n ght was approach ng. The
boatman glanced at the boy, and at the bundle of loosely t ed papers
and books—“Yes,” he repl ed, “ f you do not walk too fast.”
As they started out, however, the sun was sett ng. Afra d of be ng
locked out of the town at n ght, prey to local band ts, Chou and the
boy walked faster and faster, f nally break ng nto a run. Suddenly the
str ng around the papers broke and the documents scattered on the
ground. It took them many m nutes to put the packet together aga n,
and by the t me they had reached the c ty gates, t was too late.
When you force the pace out of fear and mpat ence, you create a
nest of problems that requ re f x ng, and you end up tak ng much
longer than f you had taken your t me. Hurr ers may occas onally get
there qu cker, but papers fly everywhere, new dangers ar se, and
they f nd themselves n constant cr s s mode, f x ng the problems that
they themselves have created. Somet mes not act ng n the face of
danger s your best move—you wa t, you del berately slow down. As
t me passes t w ll eventually present opportun t es you had not
mag ned.
Wa t ng nvolves controll ng not only your own emot ons but those
of your colleagues, who, m stak ng act on for power, may try to push
you nto mak ng rash moves. In your r vals, on the other hand, you
can encourage th s same m stake: If you let them rush headlong nto
trouble wh le you stand back and wa t, you w ll soon f nd r pe
moments to ntervene and p ck up the p eces. Th s w se pol cy was
the pr nc pal strategy of the great early-seventeenth-century emperor
Tokugawa Ieyasu of Japan. When h s predecessor, the headstrong
H deyosh , whom he served as a general, staged a rash nvas on of
Korea, Ieyasu d d not nvolve h mself. He knew the nvas on would
be a d saster and would lead to H deyosh ’s downfall. Better to stand
pat ently on the s del nes, even for many years, and then be n
pos t on to se ze power when the t me s r ght—exactly what Ieyasu
d d, w th great art stry.

THE TROUT AND THE GUDGEON

A f sherman n the month of May stood angl ng on the bank of the
Thames w th an art f c al fly. He threw h s ba t w th so much art, that
a young trout was rush ng toward t, when she was prevented by her
mother. “Never,” sa d she, “my ch ld, be too prec p tate, where there
s a poss b l ty of danger. Take due t me to cons der, before you r sk
an act on that may be fatal. How know you whether yon appearance
be ndeed a fly, or the snare of an enemy? Let someone else make
the exper ment before you. If t be a fly, he w ll very probably elude
the f rst attack: and the second may be made, f not w th success, at
least w th safety.” She had no sooner spoken, than a gudgeon
se zed the pretended fly, and became an example to the g ddy
daughter of the mportance of her mother’s counsel.

FABLES, ROBERT DODSLEY, 1703-1764

You do not del berately slow t me down to l ve longer, or to take
more pleasure n the moment, but the better to play the game of
power. F rst, when your m nd s uncluttered by constant emergenc es
you w ll see further nto the future. Second, you w ll be able to res st
the ba ts that people dangle n front of you, and w ll keep yourself
from becom ng another mpat ent sucker. Th rd, you w ll have more
room to be flex ble. Opportun t es w ll nev tably ar se that you had
not expected and would have m ssed had you forced the pace.
Fourth, you w ll not move from one deal to the next w thout
complet ng the f rst one. To bu ld your power’s foundat on can take
years; make sure that foundat on s secure. Do not be a flash n the
pan—success that s bu lt up slowly and surely s the only k nd that
lasts.
F nally, slow ng t me down w ll g ve you a perspect ve on the t mes
you l ve n, lett ng you take a certa n d stance and putt ng you n a
less emot onally charged pos t on to see the shapes of th ngs to
come. Hurr ers w ll often m stake surface phenomena for a real
trend, see ng only what they want to see. How much better to see
what s really happen ng, even f t s unpleasant or makes your task
harder.

Forced T me. The tr ck n forc ng t me s to upset the t m ng of others

—to make them hurry, to make them wa t, to make them abandon
the r own pace, to d stort the r percept on of t me. By upsett ng the
t m ng of your opponent wh le you stay pat ent, you open up t me for
yourself, wh ch s half the game.
In 1473 the great Turk sh sultan Mehmed the Conqueror nv ted
negot at ons w th Hungary to end the off-and-on war the two
countr es had waged for years. When the Hungar an em ssary
arr ved n Turkey to start the talks, Turk sh off c als humbly
apolog zed—Mehmed had just left Istanbul, the cap tal, to battle h s
longt me foe, Uzun Hasan. But he urgently wanted peace w th
Hungary, and had asked that the em ssary jo n h m at the front.
When the em ssary arr ved at the s te of the f ght ng, Mehmed had
already left t, mov ng eastward n pursu t of h s sw ft foe. Th s
happened several t mes. Wherever the em ssary stopped, the Turks
lav shed g fts and banquets on h m, n pleasurable but t me-
consum ng ceremon es. F nally Mehmed defeated Uzun and met
w th the em ssary. Yet h s terms for peace w th Hungary were
excess vely harsh. After a few days, the negot at ons ended, and the
usual stalemate rema ned n place. But th s was f ne w th Mehmed.
In fact he had planned t that way all along: Plott ng h s campa gn
aga nst Uzun, he had seen that d vert ng h s arm es to the east
would leave h s western flank vulnerable. To prevent Hungary from
tak ng advantage of h s weakness and h s preoccupat on elsewhere,
he f rst dangled the lure of peace before h s enemy, then made them
wa t—all on h s own terms.
Mak ng people wa t s a powerful way of forc ng t me, as long as
they do not f gure out what you are up to. You control the clock, they
l nger n l mbo—and rap dly come unglued, open ng up opportun t es
for you to str ke. The oppos te effect s equally powerful: You make
your opponents hurry. Start off your deal ngs w th them slowly, then
suddenly apply pressure, mak ng them feel that everyth ng s
happen ng at once. People who lack the t me to th nk w ll make
m stakes—so set the r deadl nes for them. Th s was the techn que
Mach avell adm red n Cesare Borg a, who, dur ng negot at ons,
would suddenly press vehemently for a dec s on, upsett ng h s
opponent’s t m ng and pat ence. For who would dare make Cesare
wa t?
 Joseph Duveen, the famous art dealer, knew that f he gave an
ndec s ve buyer l ke John D. Rockefeller a deadl ne—the pa nt ng
had to leave the country, another tycoon was nterested n t—the
cl ent would buy just n t me. Freud not ced that pat ents who had
spent years n psychoanalys s w thout mprovement would
m raculously recover just n t me f he f xed a def n te date for the end
of the therapy. Jacques Lacan, the famous French psychoanalyst,
used a var at on on th s tact c—he would somet mes end the
customary hour sess on of therapy after only ten m nutes, w thout
warn ng. After th s happened several t mes, the pat ent would real ze
that he had better make max mum use of the t me, rather than
wast ng much of the hour w th a lot of talk that meant noth ng. The
deadl ne, then, s a powerful tool. Close off the v stas of ndec s on
and force people to make up the r damn m nds or get to the po nt
never let them make you play on the r excruc at ng terms. Never g ve
them t me.
Mag c ans and showmen are experts n forc ng t me. Houd n could
often wr ggle free of handcuffs n m nutes, but he would draw the
escape out to an hour, mak ng the aud ence sweat, as t me came to
an apparent standst ll. Mag c ans have always known that the best
way to alter our percept on of t me s often to slow down the pace.
Creat ng suspense br ngs t me to a terr fy ng pause: The slower the
mag c an’s hands move, the eas er t s to create the llus on of
speed, mak ng people th nk the rabb t has appeared nstantaneously.
The great n neteenth-century mag c an Jean-Eugène Robert-Houd n
took expl c t not ce of th s effect: “The more slowly a story s told,” he
sa d, “the shorter t seems.”
Go ng slower also makes what you are do ng more nterest ng—
the aud ence y elds to your pace, becomes entranced. It s a state n
wh ch t me wh zzes del ghtfully by. You must pract ce such llus ons,
wh ch share n the hypnot st’s power to alter percept ons of t me.

End T me. You can play the game w th the utmost art stry—wa t ng
pat ently for the r ght moment to act, putt ng your compet tors off the r
form by mess ng w th the r t m ng—but t won’t mean a th ng unless
you know how to f n sh. Do not be one of those people who look l ke
paragons of pat ence but are actually just afra d to br ng th ngs to a
close: Pat ence s worthless unless comb ned w th a w ll ngness to
fall ruthlessly on your opponent at the r ght moment. You can wa t as
long as necessary for the conclus on to come, but when t comes t
must come qu ckly. Use speed to paralyze your opponent, cover up
any m stakes you m ght make, and mpress people w th your aura of
author ty and f nal ty.
W th the pat ence of a snake charmer, you draw the snake out w th
calm and steady rhythms. Once the snake s out, though, would you
dangle your foot above ts deadly head? There s never a good
reason to allow the sl ghtest h tch n your endgame. Your mastery of
t m ng can really only be judged by how you work w th end t me—
how you qu ckly change the pace and br ng th ngs to a sw ft and
def n t ve conclus on.
Image: The Hawk. Pat ently and s lently t c rcles the sky, h gh
above, all-see ng w th ts powerful eyes. Those below have
no awareness that they are be ng tracked. Suddenly,
when the moment arr ves, the hawk swoops
down w th a speed that cannot be de
fended aga nst; before ts prey
knows what has happened,
the b rd’s v sel ke talons
have carr ed t
up nto the
sky.
Author ty: There s a t de n the affa rs of men, / Wh ch, taken at the
flood, leads on to fortune; / Om tted, all the voyage of the r l fe / Is
bound n shallows and n m ser es. (Jul us Caesar, W ll am
Shakespeare, 1564-1616)

REVERSAL

There s no power to be ga ned n lett ng go of the re ns and adapt ng

to whatever t me br ngs. To some degree you must gu de t me or you
w ll be ts merc less v ct m. There s accord ngly no reversal to th s
law.
 LAW 36

DISDAIN THINGS YOU CANNOT HAVE: IGNORING

THEM IS THE BEST REVENGE

JUDGMENT
By acknowledg ng a petty problem you g ve t ex stence and
cred b l ty. The more attent on you pay an enemy, the stronger you
make h m; and a small m stake s often made worse and more v s ble
when you try to f x t. It s somet mes best to leave th ngs alone. If
there s someth ng you want but cannot have, show contempt for t.
The less nterest you reveal, the more super or you seem.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

The Mex can rebel leader Pancho V lla started out as the ch ef of a
gang of band ts, but after revolut on broke out n Mex co n 1910, he
became a k nd of folk hero—robb ng tra ns and g v ng the money to
the poor, lead ng dar ng ra ds, and charm ng the lad es w th romant c
escapades. H s explo ts fasc nated Amer cans—he seemed a man
from another era, part Rob n Hood, part Don Juan. After a few years
of b tter f ght ng, however, General Carranza emerged as the v ctor
n the Revolut on; the defeated V lla and h s troops went back home,
to the northern state of Ch huahua. H s army dw ndled and he turned
to band try aga n, damag ng h s popular ty. F nally, perhaps out of
desperat on, he began to ra l aga nst the Un ted States, the gr ngos,
whom he blamed for h s troubles.
 In March of 1916, Pancho V lla ra ded Columbus, New Mex co.
Rampag ng through the town, he and h s gang k lled seventeen
Amer can sold ers and c v l ans. Pres dent Woodrow W lson, l ke
many Amer cans, had adm red V lla; now, however, the band t
needed to be pun shed. W lson’s adv sers urged h m to send troops
nto Mex co to capture V lla. For a power as large as the Un ted
States, they argued, not to str ke back at an army that had nvaded
ts terr tory would send the worst k nd of s gnal. Furthermore, they
cont nued, many Amer cans saw W lson as a pac f st, a pr nc ple the
publ c doubted as a response to v olence; he needed to prove h s
mettle and manl ness by order ng the use of force.
The pressure on W lson was strong, and before the month was
out, w th the approval of the Carranza government, he sent an army
of ten thousand sold ers to capture Pancho V lla. The venture was
called the Pun t ve Exped t on, and ts leader was the dash ng
General John J. Persh ng, who had defeated guerr llas n the
Ph l pp nes and Nat ve Amer cans n the Amer can Southwest.
Certa nly Persh ng could f nd and overpower Pancho V lla.
The Pun t ve Exped t on became a sensat onal story, and carloads
of U.S. reporters followed Persh ng nto act on. The campa gn, they
wrote, would be a test of Amer can power. The sold ers carr ed the
latest n weaponry, commun cated by rad o, and were supported by
reconna ssance from the a r.
In the f rst few months, the troops spl t up nto small un ts to comb
the w lds of northern Mex co. The Amer cans offered a $50,000
reward for nformat on lead ng to V lla’s capture. But the Mex can
people, who had been d s llus oned w th V lla when he had returned
to band try, now dol zed h m for fac ng th s m ghty Amer can army.
They began to g ve Persh ng false leads: V lla had been seen n th s
v llage, or n that mounta n h deaway, a rplanes would be d spatched,
troops would scurry after them, and no one would ever see h m. The
w ly band t seemed to be always one step ahead of the Amer can
m l tary.

THE ON AND THE CRAPES

A starv ng fox ... saw a cluster Of lusc ous-look ng grapes of purpl sh
luster Dangl ng above h m on a trell s-frame. He would have dearly
l ked them for h s lunch, But when he tr ed and fa led to reach the
bunch: “Ah well, t’s more than l kely they’re not sweet—Good only
for green fools to eat!”

Wasn’t he w se to say they were unr pe Rather than wh ne and

gr pe?
FABLES. JEAN DE LA FONTAINE. 1621-1695
Once when G. K. Chesterton’s econom c v ews were abused n pr nt
by George Bernard Shaw, h s fr ends wa ted n va n for h m to reply.
H stor an H la re Belloc reproached h m. “My dear Belloc,”
Chesterton sa d, “I have answered h m. To a man of Shaw’s w t,
s lence s the one unbearable repartee.
THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES, CLIFTON
FADIMAN, ED., 1985
By the summer of that year, the exped t on had swelled to 123,000
men. They suffered through the stult fy ng heat, the mosqu toes, the
w ld terra n. Trudg ng over a countrys de n wh ch they were already
resented, they nfur ated both the local people and the Mex can
government. At one po nt Pancho V lla h d n a mounta n cave to
recover from a gunshot wound he rece ved n a sk rm sh w th the
Mex can army; look ng down from h s aer e, he could watch Persh ng
lead the exhausted Amer can troops back and forth across the
mounta ns, never gett ng any closer to the r goal.
All the way nto w nter, V lla played h s cat-and-mouse game.
Amer cans came to see the affa r as a k nd of slapst ck farce— n fact
they began to adm re V lla aga n, respect ng h s resourcefulness n
elud ng a super or force. In January of 1917, W lson f nally ordered
Persh ng’s w thdrawal. As the troops made the r way back to
Amer can terr tory, rebel forces pursued them, forc ng the U.S. Army
to use a rplanes to protect ts rear flanks. The Pun t ve Exped t on
was be ng pun shed tself— t had turned nto a retreat of the most
hum l at ng sort.
 Interpretat on

Woodrow W lson organ zed the Pun t ve Exped t on as a show of

force: He would teach Pancho V lla a lesson and n the process
show the world that no one, large or small, could attack the m ghty
Un ted States and get away w th t. The exped t on would be over n
a few weeks, and V lla would be forgotten.
That was not how t played out. The longer the exped t on took, the
more t focused attent on on the Amer cans’ ncompetence and on
V lla’s cleverness. Soon what was forgotten was not V lla but the ra d
that had started t all. As a m nor annoyance became an nternat onal
embarrassment, and the enraged Amer cans d spatched more
troops, the mbalance between the s ze of the pursuer and the s ze
of the pursued—who st ll managed to stay free—made the affa r a
joke. And n the end th s wh te elephant of an army had to lumber out
of Mex co, hum l ated. The Pun t ve Exped t on d d the oppos te of
what t set out to do: It left V lla not only free but more popular than
ever.
What could W lson have done d fferently? He could have
pressured the Carranza government to catch V lla for h m.
Alternat vely, s nce many Mex cans had t red of V lla before the
Pun t ve Exped t on began, he could have worked qu etly w th them
and won the r support for a much smaller ra d to capture the band t.
He could have organ zed a trap on the Amer can s de of the border,
ant c pat ng the next ra d. Or he could have gnored the matter
altogether for the t me be ng, wa t ng for the Mex cans themselves to
do away w th V lla of the r own accord.

THE ASS AND THE GARDENER

An ass had once by some acc dent lost h s ta l, wh ch was a gr evous
affl ct on to h m; and he was everywhere seek ng after t, be ng fool
enough to th nk he could get t set on aga n. He passed through a
meadow, and afterwards got nto a garden. The gardener see ng
h m, and not able to endure the m sch ef he was do ng n trampl ng
down h s plants, fell nto a v olent rage, ran to the ass, and never
stand ng on the ceremony of a p llory, cut off both h s ears, and beat
h m out of the ground. Thus the ass, who bemoaned the loss of h s
ta l, was n far greater affl ct on when he saw h mself w thout ears.

FABLES, PILPAY, INDIA, FOURTH CENTURY

THE PRODIGY OX
Once, when the Tokuda j m n ster of the r ght was ch ef of the
mper al pol ce, he was hold ng a meet ng of h s staff at the m ddle
gate when an ox belong ng to an off c al named Ak kane got loose
and wandered nto the m n stry bu ld ng. It cl mbed up on the da s
where the ch ef was seated and lay there, chew ng ts cud. Everyone
was sure that th s was some grave portent, and urged that the ox be
sent to a y n-yang d v ner. However, the pr me m n ster, the father of
the m n ster of the r ght, sa d, “An ox has no d scr m nat on. It has
legs—there s nowhere t won’t go. It does not make sense to
depr ve an underpa d off c al of the wretched ox he needs n order to
attend court.” He returned the ox to ts owner and changed the
matt ng on wh ch t had la n. No untoward event of any k nd occurred
afterward. They say that f you see a prod gy and do not treat t as
such, ts character as a prod gy s destroyed.
ESSAYS IN IDLENESS, KENKO, JAPAN, FOURTEENTH
CENTURY
Remember: You choose to let th ngs bother you. You can just as
eas ly choose not to not ce the rr tat ng offender, to cons der the
matter tr v al and unworthy of your nterest. That s the powerful
move. What you do not react to cannot drag you down n a fut le
engagement. Your pr de s not nvolved. The best lesson you can
teach an rr tat ng gnat s to cons gn t to obl v on by gnor ng t. If t s
mposs ble to gnore (Pancho V lla had n fact k lled Amer can
c t zens), then consp re n secret to do away w th t, but never
nadvertently draw attent on to the bothersome nsect that w ll go
away or d e on ts own. If you waste t me and energy n such
entanglements, t s your own fault. Learn to play the card of d sda n
and turn your back on what cannot harm you n the long run.
 Just th nk— t cost your government $130 m ll on to try to get me. I
took them
over rough, h lly country. Somet mes for f fty m les at a stretch they
had no water.
They had noth ng but the sun and mosqu toes.... And noth ng was
ga ned.
Pancho V lla, 1878-1923

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In the year 1527, K ng Henry VIII of England dec ded he had to f nd a

way to get r d of h s w fe, Cather ne of Aragon. Cather ne had fa led
to produce a son, a male he r who would ensure the cont nuance of
h s dynasty, and Henry thought he knew why: He had read n the
B ble the passage, “And f a man shall take h s brother’s w fe, t s an
unclean th ng: he hath uncovered h s brother’s nakedness; they shall
be ch ldless.” Before marry ng Henry, Cather ne had marr ed h s
older brother Arthur, but Arthur had d ed f ve months later. Henry had
wa ted an appropr ate t me, then had marr ed h s brother’s w dow.
Cather ne was the daughter of K ng Ferd nand and Queen Isabella
of Spa n, and by marry ng her Henry had kept al ve a valuable
all ance. Now, however, Cather ne had to assure h m that her br ef
marr age w th Arthur had never been consummated. Otherw se
Henry would v ew the r relat onsh p as ncestuous and the r marr age
as null and vo d. Cather ne ns sted that she had rema ned a v rg n
through her marr age to Arthur, and Pope Clement VII supported her
by g v ng h s bless ng to the un on, wh ch he could not have done
had he cons dered t ncestuous. Yet after years of marr age to
Henry, Cather ne had fa led to produce a son, and n the early 1520s
she had entered menopause. To the k ng th s could only mean one
th ng: She had l ed about her v rg n ty, the r un on was ncestuous,
and God had pun shed them.
 There was another reason why Henry wanted to get r d of
Cather ne: He had fallen n love w th a younger woman, Anne
Boleyn. Not only was he n love w th her, but f he marr ed her he
could st ll hope to s re a leg t mate son. The marr age to Cather ne
had to be annulled. For th s, however, Henry had to apply to the
Vat can. But Pope Clement would never annul the marr age.
By the summer of 1527, rumors spread throughout Europe that
Henry was about to attempt the mposs ble—to annul h s marr age
aga nst Clement’s w shes. Cather ne would never abd cate, let alone
voluntar ly enter a nunnery, as Henry had urged her. But Henry had
h s own strategy: He stopped sleep ng n the same bed w th
Cather ne, s nce he cons dered her h s s ster- n-law, not h s lawful
w fe. He ns sted on call ng her Pr ncess Dowager of Wales, her t tle
as Arthur’s w dow. F nally, n 1531, he ban shed her from court and
sh pped her off to a d stant castle. The pope ordered h m to return
her to court, on pa n of excommun cat on, the most severe penalty a
Cathol c could suffer. Henry not only gnored th s threat, he ns sted
that h s marr age to Cather ne had been d ssolved, and n 1533 he
marr ed Anne Boleyn.
Clement refused to recogn ze the marr age, but Henry d d not
care. He no longer recogn zed the pope’s author ty, and proceeded
to break w th the Roman Cathol c Church, establ sh ng the Church of
England n ts stead, w th the k ng as the head of the new church.
And so, not surpr s ngly, the newly formed Church of England
procla med Anne Boleyn England’s r ghtful queen.
The pope tr ed every threat n the book, but noth ng worked. Henry
s mply gnored h m. Clement fumed—no one had ever treated h m so
contemptuously. Henry had hum l ated h m and he had no power of
recourse. Even excommun cat on (wh ch he constantly threatened
but never carr ed out) would no longer matter.
Cather ne too felt the devastat ng st ng of Henry’s d sda n. She
tr ed to f ght back, but n appeal ng to Henry her words fell on deaf
ears, and soon they fell on no one’s. Isolated from the court, gnored
by the k ng, mad w th anger and frustrat on, Cather ne slowly
deter orated, and f nally d ed n January of 1536, from a cancerous
tumor of the heart.
 Interpretat on

When you pay attent on to a person, the two of you become partners
of sorts, each mov ng n step to the act ons and react ons of the
other. In the process you lose your n t at ve. It s a dynam c of all
nteract ons: By acknowledg ng other people, even f only to f ght w th
them, you open yourself to the r nfluence. Had Henry locked horns
w th Cather ne, he would have found h mself m red n endless
arguments that would have weakened h s resolve and eventually
worn h m down. (Cather ne was a strong, stubborn woman.) Had he
set out to conv nce Clement to change h s verd ct on the marr age’s
val d ty, or tr ed to comprom se and negot ate w th h m, he would
have gotten bogged down n Clement’s favor te tact c: play ng for
t me, prom s ng flex b l ty, but actually gett ng what popes always got
—the r way.
Henry would have none of th s. He played a devastat ng power
game—total d sda n. By gnor ng people you cancel them out. Th s
unsettles and nfur ates them—but s nce they have no deal ngs w th
you, there s noth ng they can do.
And n th s v ew t s adv sable to let everyone of your acqua ntance
—whether man or woman—feel now and then that you could very
well d spense w th the r company. Th s w ll consol date fr endsh p.
Nay, w th most people there w ll be no harm n occas onally m x ng a
gra n of d sda n w th your treatment of them; that w ll make them
value your fr endsh p all the more. Ch non st ma v en st mato, as a
subtle Ital an proverb has t—to d sregard s to w n regard. But f we
really th nk very h ghly of a person, we should conceal t from h m
l ke a cr me. Th s s not a very grat fy ng th ng to do, but t s r ght.
Why, a dog w ll not bear be ng treated too k ndly, let alone a man!
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860
THE MONKEY AND THE PEAS
A monkey was carry ng two handfuls of peas. One l ttle pea dropped
out. He tr ed to p ck t up, and sp lt twenty. He tr ed to p ck up the
twenty, and sp lt them all. Then he lost h s temper, scattered the
peas n all d rect ons, and ran away.
FABLES, LEO TOLSTOY, 1828-1910
Th s s the offens ve aspect of the law. Play ng the card of
contempt s mmensely powerful, for t lets you determ ne the
cond t ons of the confl ct. The war s waged on your terms. Th s s
the ult mate power pose: You are the k ng, and you gnore what
offends you. Watch how th s tact c nfur ates people—half of what
they do s to get your attent on, and when you w thhold t from them,
they flounder n frustrat on.
MAN: K ck h m—he’ll forg ve you. Flatter h m—he may or may not
see through you. But gnore h m and he’ll hate you.
Idr es Shah, Caravan of Dreams, 1968
As some make goss p out of everyth ng, so others make much ado
about everyth ng. They are always talk ng b g, [and] take everyth ng
ser ously, mak ng a quarrel and a mystery of t. You should take very
few gr evances to heart, for to do so s to g ve yourself groundless
worry. It s a topsyturvy way of behav ng to take to heart cares wh ch
you ought to throw over your shoulder. Many th ngs wh ch seemed
mportant [at the t me] turn out to be of no account when they are
gnored; and others, wh ch seem tr fl ng, appear form dable when
you pay attent on to them. Th ngs can eas ly be settled at the outset,
but not so later on. In many cases, the remedy tself s the cause of
the d sease: to let th ngs be s not the least sat sfactory of l fe’s rules.
BALTASAR GRACIÁN, 1601-1658

KEYS TO POWER

Des re often creates paradox cal effects: The more you want
someth ng, the more you chase after t, the more t eludes you. The
more nterest you show, the more you repel the object of your des re.
Th s s because your nterest s too strong— t makes people
awkward, even fearful. Uncontrollable des re makes you seem weak,
unworthy, pathet c.
You need to turn your back on what you want, show your contempt
and d sda n. Th s s the k nd of powerful response that w ll dr ve your
targets crazy. They w ll respond w th a des re of the r own, wh ch s
s mply to have an effect on you—perhaps to possess you, perhaps
to hurt you. If they want to possess you, you have successfully
completed the f rst step of seduct on. If they want to hurt you, you
have unsettled them and made them play by your rules (see Laws 8
and 39 on ba t ng people nto act on).
Contempt s the prerogat ve of the k ng. Where h s eyes turn, what
he dec des to see, s what has real ty; what he gnores and turns h s
back on s as good as dead. That was the weapon of K ng Lou s XIV
— f he d d not l ke you, he acted as f you were not there,
ma nta n ng h s super or ty by cutt ng off the dynam c of nteract on.
Th s s the power you have when you play the card of contempt,
per od cally show ng people that you can do w thout them.
If choos ng to gnore enhances your power, t follows that the
oppos te approach—comm tment and engagement—often weakens
you. By pay ng undue attent on to a puny enemy, you look puny, and
the longer t takes you to crush such an enemy, the larger the enemy
seems. When Athens set out to conquer the sland of S c ly, n 415
B.C., a g ant power was attack ng a t ny one. Yet by entangl ng
Athens n a long-drawn-out confl ct, Syracuse, S c ly’s most
mportant c ty-state, was able to grow n stature and conf dence.
F nally defeat ng Athens, t made tself famous for centur es to come.
In recent t mes, Pres dent John F. Kennedy made a s m lar m stake
n h s att tude to F del Castro of Cuba: H s fa led nvas on at the Bay
of P gs, n 1961, made Castro an nternat onal hero.
A second danger: If you succeed n crush ng the rr tant, or even f
you merely wound t, you create sympathy for the weaker s de.
Cr t cs of Frankl n D. Roosevelt compla ned b tterly about the money
h s adm n strat on spent on government projects, but the r attacks
had no resonance w th the publ c, who saw the pres dent as work ng
to end the Great Depress on. H s opponents thought they had an
example that would show just how wasteful he had become: h s dog,
Fala, wh ch he lav shed w th favors and attent on. Cr t cs ra led at h s
nsens t v ty—spend ng taxpayers’ money on a dog wh le so many
Amer cans were st ll n poverty. But Roosevelt had a response: How
dare h s cr t cs attack a defenseless l ttle dog? H s speech n defense
of Fala was one of the most popular he ever gave. In th s case, the
weak party nvolved was the pres dent’s dog and the attack backf red
— n the long run, t only made the pres dent more sympathet c, s nce
many people w ll naturally s de w th the “underdog,” just as the
Amer can publ c came to sympath ze w th the w ly but outnumbered
Pancho V lla.
It s tempt ng to want to f x our m stakes, but the harder we try, the
worse we often make them. It s somet mes more pol t c to leave
them alone. In 1971, when the New York T mes publ shed the
Pentagon Papers, a group of government documents about the
h story of U.S. nvolvement n Indoch na, Henry K ss nger erupted
nto a volcan c rage. Fur ous about the N xon adm n strat on’s
vulnerab l ty to th s k nd of damag ng leak, he made
recommendat ons that eventually led to the format on of a group
called the Plumbers to plug the leaks. Th s was the un t that later
broke nto Democrat c Party off ces n the Watergate Hotel, sett ng
off the cha n of events that led to N xon’s downfall. In real ty the
publ cat on of the Pentagon Papers was not a ser ous threat to the
adm n strat on, but K ss nger’s react on made t a b g deal. In try ng to
f x one problem, he created another: a parano a for secur ty that n
the end was much more destruct ve to the government. Had he
gnored the Pentagon Papers, the scandal they had created would
eventually have blown over.
Instead of nadvertently focus ng attent on on a problem, mak ng t
seem worse by publ c z ng how much concern and anx ety t s
caus ng you, t s often far w ser to play the contemptuous ar stocrat,
not de gn ng to acknowledge the problem’s ex stence. There are
several ways to execute th s strategy.
F rst there s the sour-grapes approach. If there s someth ng you
want but that you real ze you cannot have, the worst th ng you can
do s draw attent on to your d sappo ntment by compla n ng about t.
An nf n tely more powerful tact c s to act as f t never really
nterested you n the f rst place. When the wr ter George Sand’s
supporters nom nated her to be the f rst female member of the
Académ e França se, n 1861, Sand qu ckly saw that the academy
would never adm t her. Instead of wh n ng, though, she cla med she
had no nterest n belong ng to th s group of worn-out, overrated, out-
of-touch w ndbags. Her d sda n was the perfect response: Had she
shown her anger at her exclus on, she would have revealed how
much t meant to her. Instead she branded the academy a club of old
men—and why should she be angry or d sappo nted at not hav ng to
spend her t me w th them? Cry ng “sour grapes” s somet mes seen
as a reflect on of the weak; t s actually the tact c of the powerful.
THE MAN AND HIS SHADOW
There was a certa n or g nal man who des red to catch h s own
shadow. He makes a step or two toward t, but t moves away from
h m. He qu ckens h s pace; t does the same. At last he takes to
runn ng; but the qu cker he goes, the qu cker runs the shadow also,
utterly refus ng to g ve tself up, just as f t had been a treasure. But
see! our eccentr c fr end suddenly turns round, and walks away from
t. And presently he looks beh nd h m; now the shadow runs after
h m. Lad es fa r, I have often observed... that Fortune treats us n a
s m lar way. One man tr es w th all h s m ght to se ze the goddess,
and only loses h s t me and h s trouble. Another seems, to all
appearance, to be runn ng out of her s ght; but, no: she herself takes
a pleasure n pursu ng h m.
FABLES, IVAN KRILOFF, 1768-1844
Second, when you are attacked by an nfer or, deflect people’s
attent on by mak ng t clear that the attack has not even reg stered.
Look away, or answer sweetly, show ng how l ttle the attack concerns
you. S m larly, when you yourself have comm tted a blunder, the best
response s often to make less of your m stake by treat ng t l ghtly.
The Japanese emperor Go-Sa n, a great d sc ple of the tea
ceremony, owned a pr celess ant que tea bowl that all the court ers
env ed. One day a guest, Da nagon Tsuneh ro, asked f he could
carry the tea bowl nto the l ght, to exam ne t more closely. The bowl
rarely left the table, but the emperor was n good sp r ts and he
consented. As Da nagon carr ed the bowl to the ra l ng of the
verandah, however, and held t up to the l ght, t sl pped from h s
hands and fell on a rock n the garden below, smash ng nto t ny
fragments.
The emperor of course was fur ous. “It was ndeed most clumsy of
me to let t drop n th s way,” sa d Da nagon, w th a deep bow, “but
really there s not much harm done. Th s Ido tea-bowl s a very old
one and t s mposs ble to say how much longer t would have
lasted, but anyhow t s not a th ng of any publ c use, so I th nk t
rather fortunate that t has broken thus.” Th s surpr s ng response
had an mmed ate effect: The emperor calmed down. Da nagon
ne ther sn veled nor overapolog zed, but s gnaled h s own worth and
power by treat ng h s m stake w th a touch of d sda n. The emperor
had to respond w th a s m lar ar stocrat c nd fference; h s anger had
made h m seem low and petty—an mage Da nagon was able to
man pulate.
Among equals th s tact c m ght backf re: Your nd fference could
make you seem callous. But w th a master, f you act qu ckly and
w thout great fuss, t can work to great effect: You bypass h s angry
response, save h m the t me and energy he would waste by brood ng
over t, and allow h m the opportun ty to d splay h s own lack of
pett ness publ cly.
If we make excuses and den als when we are caught n a m stake
or a decept on, we st r the waters and make the s tuat on worse. It s
often w ser to play th ngs the oppos te way. The Rena ssance wr ter
P etro Aret no often boasted of h s ar stocrat c l neage, wh ch was, of
course, a f ct on, s nce he was actually the son of a shoemaker.
When an enemy of h s f nally revealed the embarrass ng truth, word
qu ckly spread, and soon all of Ven ce (where he l ved at the t me)
was aghast at Aret no’s l es. Had he tr ed to defend h mself, he
would have only dragged h mself down. H s response was masterful:
He announced that he was ndeed the son of a shoemaker, but th s
only proved h s greatness, s nce he had r sen from the lowest
stratum of soc ety to ts very p nnacle. From then on he never
ment oned h s prev ous l e, trumpet ng nstead h s new pos t on on
the matter of h s ancestry.
Remember: The powerful responses to n ggl ng, petty annoyances
and rr tat ons are contempt and d sda n. Never show that someth ng
has affected you, or that you are offended—that only shows you
have acknowledged a problem. Contempt s a d sh that s best
served cold and w thout affectat on.
Image:
The T ny
Wound.

It s small but pa nful and rr tat ng. You

try all sorts of med caments, you com
pla n, you scratch and p ck at the scab.
Doctors only make t worse, transform ng
the t ny wound nto a grave matter. If only
you had left the wound alone, lett ng t me
heal t and free ng yourself of worry.
Author ty: Know how to play the card of contempt. It s the most
pol t c k nd of revenge. For there are many of whom we should have
known noth ng f the r d st ngu shed opponents had taken no not ce
of them. There s no revenge l ke obl v on, for t s the entombment of
the unworthy n the dust of the r own noth ngness. (Baltasar Grac án,
1601-1658)

REVERSAL

You must play the card of contempt w th care and del cacy. Most
small troubles w ll van sh on the r own f you leave them be; but
some w ll grow and fester unless you attend to them. Ignore a
person of nfer or stature and the next t me you look he has become
a ser ous r val, and your contempt has made h m vengeful as well.
The great pr nces of Rena ssance Italy chose to gnore Cesare
Borg a at the outset of h s career as a young general n the army of
h s father, Pope Alexander VI. By the t me they pa d attent on t was
too late—the cub was now a l on, gobbl ng up chunks of Italy. Often,
then, wh le you show contempt publ cly you w ll also need to keep an
eye on the problem pr vately, mon tor ng ts status and mak ng sure t
goes away. Do not let t become a cancerous cell.
Develop the sk ll of sens ng problems when they are st ll small and
tak ng care of them before they become ntractable. Learn to
d st ngu sh between the potent ally d sastrous and the m ldly
rr tat ng, the nu sance that w ll qu etly go away on ts own. In e ther
case, though, never completely take your eye off t. As long as t s
al ve t can smolder and spark nto l fe.
 LAW 37

CREATE COMPELLING SPECTACLES

JUDGMENT
Str k ng magery and grand symbol c gestures create the aura of
power—everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those
around you, then, full of arrest ng v suals and rad ant symbols that
he ghten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one w ll not ce
what you are really do ng.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATHA
She rel ed above all upon her phys cal presence and the spell and
enchantment wh ch t could create.... She came sa l ng up the r ver
Cydnus n a barge w th a poop of gold, ts purple sa ls b llow ng n the
w nd, wh le her rowers caressed the water w th oars of s lver wh ch
d pped n t me to the mus c of the flute, accompan ed by p pes and
lutes. Cleopatra herself recl ned beneath a canopy of cloth of gold,
dressed n the character of Aphrod te, as we see her n pa nt ngs,
wh le on e ther s de to complete the p cture stood boys costumed as
Cup ds who cooled her w th the r fans. Instead of a crew the barge
was l ned w th the most beaut ful of her wa t ng-women att red as
Nere ds and Graces, some at the rudders, others at the tackle of the
sa ls, and all the wh le an ndescr bably r ch perfume, exhaled from
nnumerable censers, was wafted from the vessel to the r verbanks.
Great mult tudes accompan ed th s royal progress, some of them
follow ng the queen on both s des of the r ver from ts very mouth,
wh le others hurr ed down from the c ty of Tarsus to gaze at the s ght.
Gradually the crowds dr fted away from the marketplace, where
Antony awa ted the queen enthroned on h s tr bunal, unt l at last he
was left s tt ng qu te alone. And the word spread on every s de that
Aphrod te had come to revel w th D onysus for the happ ness of As a.
Antony then sent a message nv t ng Cleopatra to d ne w th h m. But
she thought t more appropr ate that he should come to her, and so,
as he w shed to show h s courtesy and goodw ll, he accepted and
went. He found the preparat ons made to rece ve h m magn f cent
bevond words, but what aston shed h m most of all was the
extraord nary number of l ghts. So many of these, t s sa d, were let
down from the roof and d splayed on all s des at once, and they were
arranged and grouped n such ngen ous patterns n relat on to each
other, some n squares and some n c rcles, that they created as
br ll ant a spectacle as can ever have been dev sed to del ght the
eve.

LIFE OF ANTONY. PLI [ARCH. C. A.D. 46-120

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I

In the early 1780s, word spread through Berl n of the strange and
spectacular med cal pract ce of a Dr. We sleder. He performed h s
m racles n an enormous converted beer hall, outs de wh ch Berl ners
began to not ce ever longer l nes of people—the bl nd, the lame,
anyone w th an llness ncurable by normal med c ne. When t leaked
out that the doctor worked by expos ng the pat ent to the rays of the
moon, he soon became dubbed The Moon Doctor of Berl n.
Somet me n 1783, t was reported that Dr. We sleder had cured a
well-to-do woman of a terr ble a lment. He suddenly became a
celebr ty. Prev ously only the poorest Berl ners had been seen
wa t ng outs de the beer hall n the r rags; now magn f cent carr ages
were parked outs de, and gentlemen n frock coats, and lad es w th
enormous co ffures, l ned the street as sunset drew near. Even folk
w th the m ldest of a lments came, out of sheer cur os ty. As they
wa ted n l ne, the poorer cl ents would expla n to the gentlemen and
lad es that the doctor only pract ced when the moon was n ts
ncrescent phase. Many would add that they themselves had already
been exposed to the heal ng powers he called forth from the rays of
the moon. Even those who felt cured kept com ng back, drawn by
th s powerful exper ence.
Ins de the beer hall, a strange and st rr ng spectacle greeted the
v s tor: Packed nto the entrance hall was a crowd of all classes and
ethn c backgrounds, a ver table Tower of Babel. Through tall
w ndows on the northern s de of the hall, s lvery moonl ght poured n
at odd angles. The doctor and h s w fe, who, t seemed, was also
able to effect the cure, pract ced on the second floor, wh ch was
reached by a sta rway, at the end of the hall. As the l ne edged closer
to the sta rs, the s ck would hear shouts and cr es from above, and
word would spread of, perhaps, a bl nd gentleman suddenly able to
see.
Once upsta rs, the l ne would fork n two d rect ons, toward a
northern room for the doctor, a southern one for h s w fe, who
worked only on the lad es. F nally, after hours of ant c pat on and
wa t ng n l ne, the gentlemen pat ents would be led before the
amaz ng doctor h mself, an elderly man w th a few stalks of w ld gray
ha r and an a r of nervous energy. He would take the pat ent (let us
say a young boy, brought n by h s father), uncover the affl cted body
part, and l ft the boy up to the w ndow, wh ch faced the l ght of the
moon. He would rub the s te of the njury or llness, mumble
someth ng un ntell g ble, look know ngly at the moon, and then, after
collect ng h s fee, send the boy and h s father on the r way.
Meanwh le, n the south-fac ng room, h s w fe would be do ng the
same w th the lad es—wh ch was odd, really, s nce the moon cannot
appear n two places at once; t cannot have been v s ble, n other
words, from both w ndows. Apparently the mere thought, dea, and
symbol of the moon were enough, for the lad es d d not compla n,
and would later remark conf dently that the w fe of the Moon Doctor
had the same heal ng powers as he.

Interpretat on
Dr. We sleder may have known noth ng about med c ne, but he
understood human nature. He recogn zed that people do not always
want words, or rat onal explanat ons, or demonstrat ons of the
powers of sc ence; they want an mmed ate appeal to the r emot ons.
G ve them that and they w ll do the rest—such as mag ne they can
be healed by the l ght reflected from a rock a quarter m ll on m les
away. Dr. We sleder had no need of p lls, or of lengthy lectures on
the moon’s power, or of any s lly gadgetry to ampl fy ts rays. He
understood that the s mpler the spectacle the better—just the
moonl ght pour ng n from the s de, the sta rway lead ng to the
heavens, and the rays of the moon, whether d rectly v s ble or not.
Any added effects m ght have made t seem that the moon was not
strong enough on ts own. And the moon was strong enough— t was
a magnet for fantas es, as t has been throughout h story. S mply by
assoc at ng h mself w th the mage of the moon, the doctor ga ned
power.
Remember: Your search for power depends on shortcuts. You
must always c rcumvent people’s susp c ons, the r perverse des re to
res st your w ll. Images are an extremely effect ve shortcut:
Bypass ng the head, the seat of doubt and res stance, they a m
stra ght for the heart. Overwhelm ng the eyes, they create powerful
assoc at ons, br ng ng people together and st rr ng the r emot ons.
W th the wh te l ght of the moon n the r eyes, your targets are
bl nded to the decept ons you pract ce.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II

In 1536 the future k ng Henr II of France took h s f rst m stress,

D ane de Po t ers. D ane was th rty-seven at the t me, and was the
w dow of the grand seneschal of Normandy. Henr , meanwh le, was
a spr ghtly lad of seventeen, who was just beg nn ng to sow h s w ld
oats. At f rst the r un on seemed merely platon c, w th Henr show ng
an ntensely sp r tual devot on to D ane. But t soon became clear
that he loved her n every way, preferr ng her bed to that of h s young
w fe, Cather ne de’ Méd c s.
In 1547 K ng Franc s d ed and Henr ascended to the throne. Th s
new s tuat on posed per ls for D ane de Po t ers. She had just turned
forty-e ght, and desp te her notor ous cold baths and rumored youth
pot ons, she was beg nn ng to show her age; now that Henr was
k ng, perhaps he would return to the queen’s bed, and do as other
k ngs had done—choose m stresses from the bevy of beaut es who
made the French court the envy of Europe. He was, after all, only
twenty-e ght, and cut a dash ng f gure. But D ane d d not g ve up so
eas ly. She would cont nue to enthrall her lover, as she had
enthralled h m for the past eleven years.
In the M ddle Ages the symbol st att tude was much more n
ev dence. ... Symbol sm appears as a sort of short cut of thought.
Instead of look ng for the relat on between two th ngs by follow ng the
h dden detours of the r causal connex ons, thought makes a leap and
d scovers the r relat on not n the connex on of cause and effects, but
n a connex on of s gn f cat on.... Symbol st thought perm ts an nf n ty
of relat ons between th ngs. Each th ng may denote a number of
d st nct deas by ts d fferent spec al qual t es, and a qual ty may have
several symbol c mean ngs. The h ghest concept ons have symbols
by the thousand. Noth ng s too humble to represent and glory the
subl me. The walnut s gn f es Chr st: the sweet kernel s H s d v ne
nature, the green and pulpy outer peel s H s human ty, the wooden
shell between s the cross. Thus all th ngs ra se h s thoughts to the
eternal.... Every prec ous stone, bes des ts natural splendour
sparkles w th the br ll ance of ts symbol c values. The ass m lat on of
roses and v rg n ty s much more than a poet c compar son, for t
reveals the r common essence. As each not on ar ses n the m nd the
log c of symbol sm creates an harmony of deas.
THE WANING OF THE MIDDLE AGES, JOHAN HUIZINGA, 1928
D ane’s secret weapons were symbols and mages, to wh ch she
had always pa d great attent on. Early on n her relat onsh p w th
Henr , she had created a mot f by ntertw n ng her n t als w th h s, to
symbol ze the r un on. The dea worked l ke a charm: Henr put th s
 ns gn a everywhere—on h s royal robes, on monuments, on
churches, on the facade of the Louvre, then the royal palace n Par s.
D ane’s favor te colors were black and wh te, wh ch she wore
exclus vely, and wherever t was poss ble the ns gn a appeared n
these colors. Everyone recogn zed the symbol and ts mean ng.
Soon after Henr took the throne, however, D ane went st ll further:
She dec ded to dent fy herself w th the Roman goddess D ana, her
namesake. D ana was the goddess of the hunt, the trad t onal royal
past me and the part cular pass on of Henr . Equally mportant, n
Rena ssance art she symbol zed chast ty and pur ty. For a woman
l ke D ane to dent fy herself w th th s goddess would nstantly call up
those mages n the court, g v ng her an a r of respectab l ty.
Symbol z ng her “chaste” relat onsh p w th Henr , t would also set her
apart from the adulterous l a sons of royal m stresses past.
To effect th s assoc at on, D ane began by completely transform ng
her castle at Anet. She razed the bu ld ng’s structure and n ts place
erected a magn f cent Dor c-columned ed f ce modeled after a
Roman temple. It was made n wh te Normandy stone flecked w th
black s lex, reproduc ng D ane’s trademark colors of black and wh te.
The ns gn a of her and Henr ’s n t als appeared on the columns, the
doors, the w ndows, the carpet. Meanwh le, symbols of D ana—
crescent moons, stags, and hounds—adorned the gates and facade.
Ins de, enormous tapestr es dep ct ng ep sodes n the l fe of the
goddess lay on the floors and hung on the walls. In the garden stood
the famous Goujon sculpture D ane Chasseresse, wh ch s now n
the Louvre, and wh ch had an uncanny resemblance to D ane de
Po t ers. Pa nt ngs and other dep ct ons of D ana appeared n every
corner of the castle.
Anet overwhelmed Henr , who soon was trumpet ng the mage of
D ane de Po t ers as a Roman goddess. In 1548, when the couple
appeared together n Lyons for a royal celebrat on, the townspeople
welcomed them w th a tableau v vant dep ct ng a scene w th D ana
the huntress. France’s greatest poet of the per od, P erre de
Ronsard, began to wr te verses n honor of D ana— ndeed a k nd of
cult of D ana sprang up, all nsp red by the k ng’s m stress. It seemed
to Henr that D ane had g ven herself a k nd of d v ne aura, and as f
he were dest ned to worsh p her for the rest of h s l fe. And unt l h s
death, n 1559, he d d rema n fa thful to her—mak ng her a duchess,
g v ng her untold wealth, and d splay ng an almost rel g ous devot on
to h s f rst and only m stress.

Interpretat on

D ane de Po t ers, a woman from a modest bourgeo s background,

managed to capt vate Henr for over twenty years. By the t me he
d ed she was well nto her s xt es, yet h s pass on for her only
ncreased w th the years. She knew the k ng well. He was not an
ntellectual but a lover of the outdoors—he part cularly loved joust ng
tournaments, w th the r br ght pennants, br ll antly capar soned
horses, and beaut fully dressed women. Henr ’s love of v sual
splendor seemed ch ldl ke to D ane, and she played on th s
weakness of h s at every opportun ty.
Most astute of all was D ane’s appropr at on of the goddess D ana.
Here she took the game beyond phys cal magery nto the realm of
the psych c symbol. It was qu te a feat to transform a k ng’s m stress
nto an emblem of power and pur ty, but she managed t. W thout the
resonance of the goddess, D ane was merely an ag ng courtesan.
W th the magery and symbol sm of D ana on her shoulders, she
seemed a myth c force, dest ned for greatness.
You too can play w th mages l ke these, weav ng v sual clues nto
an encompass ng gestalt, as D ane d d w th her colors and her
ns gn a. Establ sh a trademark l ke these to set yourself apart. Then
take the game further: F nd an mage or symbol from the past that
w ll neatly f t your s tuat on, and put t on your shoulders l ke a cape.
It w ll make you seem larger than l fe.
There was a man named Sakamotoya Hech gwan who l ved n upper
Kyoto.... When [Emperor] H deyosh gave h s great Cha-no-yu [tea
ceremony] meet ng at K tano n the tenth month of 1588, Hech gwan
set up a great red umbrella n ne feet across mounted on a st ck
seven feet h gh. The c rcumference of the handle he surrounded for
about two feet by a reed fence n such a way that the rays of the sun
were reflected from t and d ffused the colour of the umbrella all
around. Th s dev ce pleased H deyosh so much that he rem tted
Hech gwan’s taxes as a reward.

CHA-NO-YU: THE JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY, A. L. SADLER,

1962
Because of the l ght t sh nes on the other stars wh ch make up a
k nd of
court around t, because of the just and equal d str but on of ts rays
to
all al ke, because of the good t br ngs to all places, produc ng l fe,
joy
and act on, because of ts constancy from wh ch t never var es, I
chose
the sun as the most magn f cent mage to represent a great leader.
Lou s XIV, the Sun K ng, 1638-1715

KEYS TO POWER

Us ng words to plead your case s r sky bus ness: Words are

dangerous nstruments, and often go astray. The words people use
to persuade us v rtually nv te us to reflect on them w th words of our
own; we mull them over, and often end up bel ev ng the oppos te of
what they say. (That s part of our perverse nature.) It also happens
that words offend us, st rr ng up assoc at ons un ntended by the
speaker.
The v sual, on the other hand, short-c rcu ts the labyr nth of words.
It str kes w th an emot onal power and mmed acy that leave no gaps
for reflect on and doubt. L ke mus c, t leaps r ght over rat onal,
reasonable thoughts. Imag ne the Moon Doctor try ng to make a
case for h s med cal pract ce, try ng to conv nce the unconverted by
tell ng them about the heal ng powers of the moon, and about h s
own spec al connect on to a d stant object n the sky. Fortunately for
h m, he was able to create a compell ng spectacle that made words
unnecessary. The moment h s pat ents entered the beer hall, the
mage of the moon spoke eloquently enough.
Understand: Words put you on the defens ve. If you have to
expla n yourself your power s already n quest on. The mage, on the
other hand, mposes tself as a g ven. It d scourages quest ons,
creates forceful assoc at ons, res sts un ntended nterpretat ons,
commun cates nstantly, and forges bonds that transcend soc al
d fferences. Words st r up arguments and d v s ons; mages br ng
people together. They are the qu ntessent al nstruments of power.
The symbol has the same force, whether t s v sual (the statue of
D ana) or a verbal descr pt on of someth ng v sual (the words “the
Sun K ng”). The symbol c object stands for someth ng else,
someth ng abstract (such as the mage “D ana” stand ng for chast ty).
The abstract concept—pur ty, patr ot sm, courage, love— s full of
emot onal and powerful assoc at ons. The symbol s a shortcut of
express on, conta n ng dozens of mean ngs n one s mple phrase or
object. The symbol of the Sun K ng, as expla ned by Lou s XIV, can
be read on many layers, but the beauty of t s that ts assoc at ons
requ red no explanat on, spoke mmed ately to h s subjects,
d st ngu shed h m from all other k ngs, and conjured up a k nd of
majesty that went far beyond the words themselves. The symbol
conta ns untold power.
The f rst step n us ng symbols and mages s to understand the
pr macy of s ght among the senses. Before the Rena ssance, t has
been argued, s ght and the other senses—taste, touch, and so on—
operated on a relat vely equal plane. S nce then, however, the v sual
has come to dom nate the others, and s the sense we most depend
on and trust. As Grac án sa d, “The truth s generally seen, rarely
heard.” When the Rena ssance pa nter Fra F l ppo L pp was a
captured slave among the Moors, he won h s freedom by sketch ng a
draw ng of h s master on a wh te wall w th a p ece of charcoal; when
the owner saw the draw ng, he nstantly understood the power of a
man who could make such mages, and let Fra L pp go. That one
mage was far more powerful than any argument the art st could
have made w th words.
 Never neglect the way you arrange th ngs v sually. Factors l ke
color, for example, have enormous symbol c resonance. When the
con art st Yellow K d We l created a newsletter tout ng the phony
stocks he was peddl ng, he called t the “Red Letter Newsletter” and
had t pr nted, at cons derable expense, n red nk. The color created
a sense of urgency, power, and good fortune. We l recogn zed
deta ls l ke these as keys to decept on—as do modern advert sers
and mass-marketers. If you use “gold” n the t tle of anyth ng you are
try ng to sell, for example, pr nt t n gold. S nce the eye
predom nates, people w ll respond more to the color than to the
word.
The v sual conta ns great emot onal power. The Roman emperor
Constant ne worsh pped the sun as a god for most of h s l fe; one
day, though, he looked up at the sun, and saw a cross super mposed
on t. The v s on of the cross over the sun proved to h m the
ascendancy of the new rel g on, and he converted not just h mself
but the whole Roman Emp re to Chr st an ty soon thereafter. All the
preach ng and proselyt z ng n the world could not have been as
powerful. F nd and assoc ate yourself w th the mages and symbols
that w ll commun cate n th s mmed ate way today, and you w ll have
untold power.
Most effect ve of all s a new comb nat on—a fus on of mages and
symbols that have not been seen together before, but that through
the r assoc at on clearly demonstrate your new dea, message,
rel g on. The creat on of new mages and symbols out of old ones n
th s way has a poet c effect—v ewers’ assoc at ons run rampant,
g v ng them a sense of part c pat on.
V sual mages often appear n a sequence, and the order n wh ch
they appear creates a symbol. The f rst to appear, for nstance,
symbol zes power; the mage at the center seems to have central
mportance.
Near the end of World War II, orders came down from General
E senhower that Amer can troops were to lead the way nto Par s
after ts l berat on from the Naz s. The French general Charles de
Gaulle, however, real zed that th s sequence would mply that the
Amer cans now commanded the fate of France. Through much
man pulat on, de Gaulle made certa n that he and the French
Second Armored D v s on would appear at the head of the l berat ng
force. The strategy worked: After he had successfully pulled off th s
stunt, the All es started treat ng h m as the new leader of an
ndependent France. De Gaulle knew that a leader has to locate
h mself l terally at the head of h s troops. Th s v sual assoc at on s
cruc al to the emot onal response that he needs to el c t.
Th ngs change n the game of symbols: It s probably no longer
poss ble to pose as a “sun k ng,” or to wrap the mantle of D ana
around you. Yet you can assoc ate yourself w th such symbols more
nd rectly. And, of course, you can make your own mythology out of
f gures from more recent h story, people who are comfortably dead
but st ll powerfully assoc at ve n the publ c eye. The dea s to g ve
yourself an aura, a stature that your normal banal appearance s mply
w ll not create. By herself D ane de Po t ers had no such rad ant
powers; she was as human and ord nary as most of us. But the
symbol elevated her above the human lot, and made her seem
d v ne.
Us ng symbols also has a court er-l ke effect, s nce they are often
gentler than brut sh words. The psychotherap st Dr. M lton H.
Er ckson always tr ed to f nd symbols and mages that would
commun cate to the pat ent n ways that words could not. When
deal ng w th a severely troubled pat ent, he would not quest on h m
d rectly but would talk about someth ng rrelevant, such as dr v ng
through the desert n Ar zona, where he pract ced n the 1950s. In
descr b ng th s he would eventually come to an appropr ate symbol
for what he suspected was the man’s problem. If he felt the pat ent
was solated, say, Dr. Er ckson would talk of a s ngle ron-wood tree,
and how ts solat on left t battered by the w nds. Mak ng an
emot onal connect on w th the tree as a symbol, the pat ent would
open up more read ly to the doctor’s prob ng.
Use the power of symbols as a way to rally, an mate, and un te
your troops or team. Dur ng the rebell on aga nst the French crown n
1648, those loyal to the k ng d sparaged the rebels by compar ng
them to the sl ngshots ( n French, frondes) that l ttle boys use to
fr ghten b g boys. Card nal de Retz dec ded to turn th s d sparag ng
term nto the rebels’ symbol: The upr s ng was now known as the
Fronde, and the rebels as frondeurs. They began to wear sashes n
the r hats that symbol zed the sl ngshot, and the word became the r
rally ng cry. W thout t the rebell on m ght well have petered out.
Always f nd a symbol to represent your cause—the more emot onal
assoc at ons, the better.
The best way to use mages and symbols s to organ ze them nto
a grand spectacle that awes people and d stracts them from
unpleasant real t es. Th s s easy to do: People love what s grand,
spectacular, and larger than l fe. Appeal to the r emot ons and they
w ll flock to your spectacle n hordes. The v sual s the eas est route
to the r hearts.
Image:
The Cross and the
Sun. Cruc f x on and
total rad ance. W th one
mposed over the other, a
new real ty takes shape—
a new power s n the
ascendant. The sym
bol—no explanat on
necessary.

Author ty: The people are always mpressed by the superf c al

appearance of th ngs.... The [pr nce] should, at f tt ng t mes of the
year, keep the people occup ed and d stracted w th fest v t es and
spectacles. (N ccolò Mach avell , 1469-1527)

REVERSAL
No power s made ava lable by gnor ng mages and symbols. There
s no poss ble reversal to th s law.
 LAW 38

THINK AS YOU LIKE BUT BEHAVE LIKE OTHERS

JUDGMENT
If you make a show of go ng aga nst the t mes, flaunt ng your
unconvent onal deas and unorthodox ways, people w ll th nk that
you only want attent on and that you look down upon them. They w ll
f nd a way to pun sh you for mak ng them feel nfer or. It s far safer to
blend n and nurture the common touch. Share your or g nal ty only
w th tolerant fr ends and those who are sure to apprec ate your
un queness.
THINK WITH THE FEW AND SPEAK WITH THE
MANY
It s easy to run nto danger by try ng to sw m aga nst the stream.
Only a Socrates could attempt to do that. D sagreement s regarded
as offens ve because t s a condemnat on of the v ews of others; the
numbers of the d sgruntled grow, on account e ther of some matter
that has been the object of censure or of some person who has
pra sed t: Truth s for the few, error s as usual as t s vulgar. Nor s
the w se man to be recogn zed by what he says n the marketplace,
for he speaks there not w th h s own vo ce, but w th that of un versal
folly, however much h s nmost thoughts may ga nsay t: The w se
man avo ds be ng contrad cted as sedulously as he avo ds
contrad ct ng; the publ c ty of censure s w thheld from that wh ch
read ly provokes t. Thought s free; t cannot and should not be
coerced; ret re nto the sanctuary of your s lence and f you
somet mes allow yourself to break t, do so under the aeg s of a
d screet few.
BALTASAR GRACIÁN, 1601-1658

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Around the year 478 B.C., the c ty of Sparta sent an exped t on to

Pers a led by the young Spartan nobleman Pausan as. The c ty-
states of Greece had recently fought off a m ghty nvas on from
Pers a, and now Pausan as, along w th all ed sh ps from Athens, had
orders to pun sh the nvaders and w n back the slands and coastal
towns that the Pers ans had occup ed. Both the Athen ans and the
Spartans had great respect for Pausan as-he had proven h mself as
a fearless warr or, w th a fla r for the dramat c.
W th amaz ng speed, Pausan as and h s troops took Cyprus, then
moved on to the ma nland of As a M nor known as the Hellespont
and captured Byzant um (modern-day Istanbul). Now master of part
of the Pers an emp re, Pausan as began to show s gns of behav or
that went beyond h s normal flamboyance. He appeared n publ c
wear ng pomades n h s ha r and flow ng Pers an robes, and
accompan ed by a bodyguard of Egypt ans. He held lav sh banquets
n wh ch he sat n the Pers an manner and demanded to be
enterta ned. He stopped see ng h s old fr ends, entered nto
commun cat on w th the Pers an K ng Xerxes, and all n all affected
the style and manner of a Pers an d ctator.
Clearly power and success had gone to Pausan as’s head. H s
army-Athen ans and Spartans al ke-at f rst thought th s a pass ng
fancy: He had always been a b t exaggerated n h s gestures. But
when he flaunted h s d sda n for the Greeks’ s mple way of l fe, and
nsulted the common Greek sold er, they began to feel he had gone
too far. Although there was no concrete ev dence for th s, rumors
spread that he had gone over to the other s de, and that he dreamed
of becom ng a k nd of Greek Xerxes. To quell the poss b l ty of
mut ny, the Spartans rel eved Pausan as of h s command and called
h m home.
Pausan as, however, cont nued to dress n the Pers an style, even
n Sparta. After a few months he ndependently h red a tr reme and
returned to the Hellespont, tell ng h s compatr ots he was go ng to
cont nue the f ght aga nst the Pers ans. Actually, however, he had
d fferent plans—to make h mself ruler of all Greece, w th the a d of
Xerxes h mself. The Spartans declared h m a publ c enemy and sent
a sh p to capture h m. Pausan as surrendered, certa n that he could
clear h mself of the charges of treason. It d d come out dur ng the
tr al that dur ng h s re gn as commander he had offended h s fellow
Greeks t me and aga n, erect ng monuments, for nstance, n h s own
name, rather than n those of the c t es whose troops had fought
alongs de h m, as was the custom. Yet Pausan as proved r ght:
Desp te the ev dence of h s numerous contacts w th the enemy, the
Spartans refused to mpr son a man of such noble b rth, and let h m
go.
Now th nk ng h mself untouchable, Pausan as h red a messenger
to take a letter to Xerxes, but the messenger nstead took the letter
to the Spartan author t es. These men wanted to f nd out more, so
they had the messenger arrange to meet Pausan as n a temple
where they could h de and l sten beh nd a part t on. What Pausan as
sa d shocked them-they had never heard such contempt for the r
ways spoken so brazenly by one of the r own—and they made
arrangements for h s mmed ate arrest.
On h s way home from the temple, Pausan as got word of what
had happened. He ran to another temple to h de, but the author t es
followed h m there and placed sentr es all around. Pausan as
refused to surrender. Unw ll ng to forc bly remove h m from the
sacred temple, the author t es kept h m trapped ns de, unt l he
eventually d ed of starvat on.
Bene v x t, qu bene latu t—“He l ves well who conceals h mself well.
”

OVID, c. 43 B.C.-A.D. 18
 Interpretat on

At f rst glance t m ght seem that Pausan as s mply fell n love w th

another culture, a phenomenon as old as t me. Never comfortable
w th the ascet c sm of the Spartans, he found h mself enthralled by
the Pers an love of luxury and sensual pleasure. He put on Pers an
robes and perfumes w th a sense of del verance from Greek
d sc pl ne and s mpl c ty.
Th s s how t appears when people adopt a culture n wh ch they
were not ra sed. Often, however, there s also someth ng else at
play: People who flaunt the r nfatuat on w th a d fferent culture are
express ng a d sda n and contempt for the r own. They are us ng the
outward appearance of the exot c to separate themselves from the
common folk who unques t on ngly follow the local customs and
laws, and to express the r sense of super or ty. Otherw se they would
act w th more d gn ty, show ng respect for those who do not share
the r des res. Indeed the r need to show the r d fference so
dramat cally often makes them d sl ked by the people whose bel efs
they challenge, nd rectly and subtly, perhaps, but offens vely
nonetheless.
As Thucyd des wrote of Pausan as, “By h s contempt for the laws
and h s m tat on of fore gn ways he had made h mself very w dely
suspected of be ng unw ll ng to ab de by normal standards.” Cultures
have norms that reflect centur es of shared bel efs and deals. Do not
expect to scoff at such th ngs w th mpun ty. You w ll be pun shed
somehow, even f just through solat on—a pos t on of real
powerlessness.
Many of us, l ke Pausan as, feel the s ren call of the exot c, the
fore gn. Measure and moderate th s des re. Flaunt ng your pleasure
n al en ways of th nk ng and act ng w ll reveal a d fferent mot ve—to
demonstrate your super or ty over your fellows.
W se men [should be] l ke coffers w th double bottoms: Wh ch when
others look nto, be ng opened, they see not all that they hold.
SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 1554-1618

WHEN THE WATERS WERE CHANGED

Once upon a t me Kh dr, the teacher of Moses, called upon mank nd
w th a warn ng. At a certa n date, he sa d, all the water n the world
wh ch had not been spec ally hoarded, would d sappear. It would
then be renewed, w th d fferent water, wh ch would dr ve men mad.
Only one man l stened to the mean ng of th s adv ce. He collected
water and went to a secure place where he stored t, and wa ted for
the water to change ts character. On the appo nted date the streams
stopped runn ng, the wells went dry, and the man who had l stened,
see ng th s happen ng, went to h s retreat and drank h s preserved
water. When he saw, from h s secur ty, the waterfalls aga n beg nn ng
to flow, th s man descended among the other sons of men. He found
that they were th nk ng and talk ng n an ent rely d fferent way from
before; yet they had no memory of what had happened, nor of
hav ng been warned. When he tr ed to talk to them, he real zed that
they thought that he was mad, and they showed host l ty or
compass on, not understand ng. At f rst he drank none of the new
water, but went back to h s concealment, to draw on h s suppl es,
every day. F nally, however, he took the dec s on to dr nk the new
water because he could not bear the lonel ness of l v ng, behav ng
and th nk ng n a d fferent way from everyone else. He drank the new
water, and became l ke the rest. Then he forgot all about h s own
store of spec al water, and h s fellows began to look upon h m as a
madman who had m raculously been restored to san ty.
TALES OF THE DERVISHES, IDRIES SHAH, 1967

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

Dur ng the late s xteenth century, a v olent react on aga nst the
Protestant Reformat on erupted n Italy. The Counter-Reformat on,
as t was called, ncluded ts own vers on of the Inqu s t on to root out
all dev at ons from the Cathol c Church. Among ts v ct ms was the
sc ent st Gal leo, but an mportant th nker who suffered even greater
persecut on was the Dom n can monk and ph losopher Tommaso
Campanella.
A follower of the mater al st doctr ne of the Roman ph losopher
Ep curus, Campanella d d not bel eve n m racles, or n heaven and
hell. The Church had promoted such superst t ons, he wrote, to
control the common folk by keep ng them n fear. Such deas verged
on athe sm, and Campanella expressed them ncaut ously. In 1593
the Inqu s t on threw h m nto pr son for h s heret cal bel efs. S x
years later, as a form of part al release, he was conf ned to a
monastery n Naples.
Southern Italy was controlled by Spa n at the t me, and n Naples
Campanella became nvolved n a plot to f ght and throw out these
nvaders. H s hope was to establ sh an ndependent republ c based
on h s own deas of utop a. The leaders of the Ital an Inqu s t on,
work ng w th the r Span sh counterparts, had h m mpr soned aga n.
Th s t me they also tortured h m, to d scover the true nature of h s
mp ous bel efs: He was subjected to the nfamous la vegl a, a torture
n wh ch he was suspended by h s arms n a squatt ng pos t on a few
nches above a seat studded w th sp kes. The posture was
mposs ble to susta n, and n t me the v ct m would end up s tt ng on
the sp kes, wh ch would tear h s flesh at the sl ghtest contact.
Dur ng these years, however, Campanella learned someth ng
about power. Fac ng the prospect of execut on for heresy, he
changed h s strategy: He would not renounce h s bel efs, yet he
knew he had to d sgu se the r outward appearance.
To save h s l fe, Campanella fe gned madness. He let h s
nqu s tors mag ne that h s bel efs stemmed from an ncontrollable
unsoundness of m nd. For a wh le the tortures cont nued, to see f h s
nsan ty was faked, but n 1603 h s sentence was commuted to l fe n
pr son. The f rst four years of th s he spent cha ned to a wall n an
underground dungeon. Desp te such cond t ons, he cont nued to
wr te—although no longer would he be so fool sh as to express h s
deas d rectly.
One book of Campanella’s, The H span c Monarchy, promoted the
dea that Spa n had a d v ne m ss on to expand ts powers around the
world, and offered the Span sh k ng pract cal, Mach avell -type
adv ce for ach ev ng th s. Desp te h s own nterest n Mach avell , the
book n general presented deas completely the oppos te to h s own.
The H span c Monarchy was n fact a ploy, an attempt to show h s
convers on to orthodoxy n the boldest manner poss ble. It worked: In
1626, s x years after ts publ cat on, the pope f nally let Campanella
out of pr son.
Shortly after ga n ng h s freedom, Campanella wrote Athe sm
Conquered, a book attack ng free-th nkers, Mach avell ans,
Calv n sts, and heret cs of all str pes. The book s wr tten n the form
of debates n wh ch heret cs express the r bel efs and are countered
by arguments for the super or ty of Cathol c sm. Campanella had
obv ously reformed—h s book made that clear. Or d d t?
The arguments n the mouths of the heret cs had never before
been expressed w th such verve and freshness. Pretend ng to
present the r s de only to knock t down, Campanella actually
summar zed the case aga nst Cathol c sm w th str k ng pass on.
When he argued the other s de, supposedly h s s de, on the other
hand, he resorted to stale cl chés and convoluted rat onales. Br ef
and eloquent, the heret cs’ arguments seemed bold and s ncere. The
lengthy arguments for Cathol c sm seemed t resome and
unconv nc ng.
Cathol cs who read the book found t d sturb ng and amb guous,
but they could not cla m t was heret cal, or that Campanella should
be returned to pr son. H s defense of Cathol c sm, after all, used
arguments they had used themselves. Yet n the years to come,
Athe sm Conquered became a b ble for athe sts, Mach avell ans and
l bert nes who used the arguments Campanella had put n the r
mouths to defend the r dangerous deas. Comb n ng an outward
d splay of conform ty w th an express on of h s true bel efs n a way
that h s sympath zers would understand, Campanella showed that he
had learned h s lesson.

Interpretat on
 In the face of awesome persecut on, Campanella dev sed three
strateg c moves that saved h s h de, freed h m from pr son, and
allowed h m to cont nue to express h s bel efs. F rst he fe gned
madness—the med eval equ valent of d savow ng respons b l ty for
one’s act ons, l ke blam ng one’s parents today. Next he wrote a
book that expressed the exact oppos te of h s own bel efs. F nally,
and most br ll antly of all, he d sgu sed h s deas wh le ns nuat ng
them at the same t me. It s an old but powerful tr ck: You pretend to
d sagree w th dangerous deas, but n the course of your
d sagreement you g ve those deas express on and exposure. You
seem to conform to the preva l ng orthodoxy, but those who know w ll
understand the rony nvolved. You are protected.
It s nev table n soc ety that certa n values and customs lose
contact w th the r or g nal mot ves and become oppress ve. And there
w ll always be those who rebel aga nst such oppress on, harbor ng
deas far ahead of the r t me. As Campanella was forced to real ze,
however, there s no po nt n mak ng a d splay of your dangerous
deas f they only br ng you suffer ng and persecut on. Martyrdom
serves no purpose—better to l ve on n an oppress ve world, even to
thr ve n t. Meanwh le f nd a way to express your deas subtly for
those who understand you. Lay ng your pearls before sw ne w ll only
br ng you trouble.
Never combat any man‘s op n on; for though you reached the age of
Methuselah, you would never have done sett ng h m r ght upon all
the absurd th ngs that he bel eves.
It s also well to avo d correct ng people’s m stakes n conversat on,
however good your ntent ons may be; for t s easy to offend people,
and d ff cult, f not mposs ble to mend them.
If you feel rr tated by the absurd remarks of two people whose
conversat on you happen to overhear, you should mag ne that you
are l sten ng to the d alogue of two fools n a comedy. Probatum est.
The man who comes nto the world w th the not on that he s really
go ng to nstruct t n matters of the h ghest mportance, may thank
h s stars f he escapes w th a whole sk n.
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860
For a long t me I have not sa d what I bel eved, nor do I ever bel eve
what I say, and f ndeed somet mes I do happen to tell the truth,
I h de t among so many l es that t s hard to f nd.
N ccolò Mach avell , n a letter to Francesco Gn cc ard n , May 17,
1521

KEYS TO POWER

We all tell l es and h de our true feel ngs, for complete free
express on s a soc al mposs b l ty. From an early age we learn to
conceal our thoughts, tell ng the pr ckly and nsecure what we know
they want to hear, watch ng carefully lest we offend them. For most
of us th s s natural—there are deas and values that most people
accept, and t s po ntless to argue. We bel eve what we want to,
then, but on the outs de we wear a mask.
There are people, however, who see such restra nts as an
ntolerable nfr ngement on the r freedom, and who have a need to
prove the super or ty of the r values and bel efs. In the end, though,
the r arguments conv nce only a few and offend a great deal more.
The reason arguments do not work s that most people hold the r
deas and values w thout th nk ng about them. There s a strong
emot onal content n the r bel efs: They really do not want to have to
rework the r hab ts of th nk ng, and when you challenge them,
whether d rectly through your arguments or nd rectly through your
behav or, they are host le.
W se and clever people learn early on that they can d splay
convent onal behav or and mouth convent onal deas w thout hav ng
to bel eve n them. The power these people ga n from blend ng n s
that of be ng left alone to have the thoughts they want to have, and
to express them to the people they want to express them to, w thout
suffer ng solat on or ostrac sm. Once they have establ shed
themselves n a pos t on of power, they can try to conv nce a w der
c rcle of the correctness of the r deas—perhaps work ng nd rectly,
us ng Campanella’s strateg es of rony and ns nuat on.
In the late fourteenth century, the Span sh began a mass ve
persecut on of the Jews, murder ng thousands and dr v ng others out
of the country. Those who rema ned n Spa n were forced to convert.
Yet over the next three hundred years, the Span sh not ced a
phenomenon that d sturbed them: Many of the converts l ved the r
outward l ves as Cathol cs, yet somehow managed to reta n the r
Jew sh bel efs, pract c ng the rel g on n pr vate. Many of these so-
called Marranos (or g nally a derogatory term, be ng the Span sh for
“p g”) atta ned h gh levels of government off ce, marr ed nto the
nob l ty, and gave every appearance of Chr st an p ety, only to be
d scovered late n l fe as pract c ng Jews. (The Span sh Inqu s t on
was spec f cally comm ss oned to ferret them out.) Over the years
they mastered the art of d ss mulat on, d splay ng cruc f xes l berally,
g v ng generous g fts to churches, even occas onally mak ng ant -
Sem t c remarks—and all the wh le ma nta n ng the r nner freedom
and bel efs.
In soc ety, the Marranos knew, outward appearances are what
matter. Th s rema ns true today. The strategy s s mple: As
Campanella d d n wr t ng Athe sm Conquered, make a show of
blend ng n, even go ng so far as to be the most zealous advocate of
the preva l ng orthodoxy. If you st ck to convent onal appearances n
publ c few w ll bel eve you th nk d fferently n pr vate.
THE CITIZEN AND THE TRAVELLER
“Look around you,” sa d the c t zen. “Th s s the largest market n the
world.” “Oh surely not,” sa d the traveller. “Well, perhaps not the
largest,” sa d the c t zen, “but much the best.” “You are certa nly
wrong there,” sa d the traveller. “I can tell you....” They bur ed the
stranger n the dusk.
FABLES, ROBERT Lou s STEVENSON, 1850-1894
If Mach avell had had a pr nce for d sc ple, the f rst th ng he would
have recommended h m to do would have been to wr te a book
aga nst Mach avell sm.
VOLTAIRE, 1694-1778
Do not be so fool sh as to mag ne that n our own t me the old
orthodox es are gone. Jonas Salk, for nstance, thought sc ence had
gotten past pol t cs and protocol. And so, n h s search for a pol o
vacc ne, he broke all the rules—go ng publ c w th a d scovery before
show ng t to the sc ent f c commun ty, tak ng cred t for the vacc ne
w thout acknowledg ng the sc ent sts who had paved the way,
mak ng h mself a star. The publ c may have loved h m but sc ent sts
shunned h m. H s d srespect for h s commun ty’s orthodox es left h m
solated, and he wasted years try ng to heal the breach, and
struggl ng for fund ng and cooperat on.
Bertolt Brecht underwent a modem form of Inqu s t on—the House
Un-Amer can Act v t es Comm ttee—and approached t w th
cons derable cann ness. Hav ng worked off and on n the Amer can
f lm ndustry dur ng World War II, n 1947 Brecht was summoned to
appear before the comm ttee to answer quest ons on h s suspected
Commun st sympath es. Other wr ters called before the comm ttee
made a po nt of attack ng ts members, and of act ng as bell gerently
as poss ble n order to ga n sympathy for themselves. Brecht, on the
other hand, who had actually worked steadfastly for the Commun st
cause, played the oppos te game: He answered quest ons w th
amb guous general t es that def ed easy nterpretat on. Call t the
Campanella strategy. Brecht even wore a su t—a rare event for h m-
and made a po nt of smok ng a c gar dur ng the proceed ngs,
know ng that a key comm ttee member had a pass on for c gars. In
the end he charmed the comm ttee members, who let h m go scot-
free.
Brecht then moved to East Germany, where he encountered a
d fferent k nd of Inqu s t on. Here the Commun sts were n power, and
they cr t c zed h s plays as decadent and pess m st c. He d d not
argue w th them, but made small changes n the performance scr pts
to shut them up. Meanwh le he managed to preserve the publ shed
texts as wr tten. H s outward conform ty n both cases gave h m the
freedom to work unh ndered, w thout hav ng to change h s th nk ng.
In the end, he made h s way safely through dangerous t mes n
d fferent countr es through the use of l ttle dances of orthodoxy, and
proved he was more powerful than the forces of repress on.
Not only do people of power avo d the offenses of Pausan as and
Salk, they also learn to play the clever fox and fe gn the common
touch. Th s has been the ploy of con art sts and pol t c ans
throughout the centur es. Leaders l ke Jul us Caesar and Frankl n D.
Roosevelt have overcome the r natural ar stocrat c stance to cult vate
a fam l ar ty w th the common man. They have expressed th s
fam l ar ty n l ttle gestures, often symbol c, to show the people that
the r leaders share popular values, desp te the r d fferent status.
The log cal extens on of th s pract ce s the nvaluable ab l ty to be
all th ngs to all people. When you go nto soc ety, leave beh nd your
own deas and values, and put on the mask that s most appropr ate
for the group n wh ch you f nd yourself. B smarck played th s game
successfully for years—there were people who vaguely understood
what he was up to, but not clearly enough that t mattered. People
w ll swallow the ba t because t flatters them to bel eve that you share
the r deas. They w ll not take you as a hypocr te f you are careful—
for how can they accuse you of hypocr sy f you do not let them know
exactly what you stand for? Nor w ll they see you as lack ng n
values. Of course you have values—the values you share w th them,
wh le n the r company.
Author ty: Do not g ve dogs what s holy; and do not throw your
pearls before sw ne, lest they trample them under foot and turn to
attack you. (Jesus Chr st, Matthew 7:6)
Image: The Black The herd shuns the Sheep. black sheep, uncerta n
whether or not t belongs w th them. So t straggles beh nd, or
wanders away from the herd, where t s cornered by wolves and
promptly devoured. Stay w th the herd—there s safety n numbers.
Keep your d fferences n your thoughts and not n your fleece.

REVERSAL
The only t me t s worth stand ng out s when you already stand out
—when you have ach eved an unshakable pos t on of power, and
can d splay your d fference from others as a s gn of the d stance
between you. As pres dent of the Un ted States, Lyndon Johnson
would somet mes hold meet ngs wh le he sat on the to let. S nce no
one else e ther could or would cla m such a “pr v lege,” Johnson was
show ng people that he d d not have to observe the protocols and
n cet es of others. The Roman emperor Cal gula played the same
game: He would wear a woman’s negl gee, or a bathrobe, to rece ve
mportant v s tors. He even went so far as to have h s horse elected
consul. But t backf red, for the people hated Cal gula, and h s
gestures eventually brought h s overthrow. The truth s that even
those who atta n the he ghts of power would be better off at least
affect ng the common touch, for at some po nt they may need
popular support.
F nally, there s always a place for the gadfly, the person who
successfully def es custom and mocks what has grown l feless n a
culture. Oscar W lde, for example, ach eved cons derable soc al
power on th s foundat on: He made t clear that he d sda ned the
usual ways of do ng th ngs, and when he gave publ c read ngs h s
aud ences not only expected h m to nsult them but welcomed t. We
not ce, however, that h s eccentr c role eventually destroyed h m.
Even had he come to a better end, remember that he possessed an
unusual gen us: W thout h s g ft to amuse and del ght, h s barbs
would s mply have offended people.
 LAW 39

STIR UP WATERS TO CATCH FISH

JUDGMENT
Anger and emot on are strateg cally counterproduct ve. You must
always stay calm and object ve. But f you can make your enem es
angry wh le stay ng calm yourself, you ga n a dec ded advantage.
Put your enem es off-balance: F nd the ch nk n the r van ty through
wh ch you can rattle them and you hold the str ngs.
ITAKURA SHICEMUNE GRINDS HIS OWN TEA
The Kyoto Shosh da ltakura Suwo-no-kam Sh gemune was very
fond of Cha-no-yu (the tea ceremony), and used to gr nd h s own tea
wh le s tt ng n the court as judge. And the reason was th s. He once
asked a fr end of h s who was h s compan on n Cha-no-yu, a tea
merchant named E k , to tell h m frankly what was the publ c op n on
about h m. “Well,” sa d E k , “they say that you get rr tated w th those
who don’t g ve the r ev dence very clearly and scold them, and so
people are afra d to br ng lawsu ts before you and f they do, the truth
does not come out.” “Ah, I am glad you have told me that,” repl ed
Sh gemune, “for now that I cons der t, I have fallen nto the hab t of
speak ng sharply to people n th s way, and no doubt humble folk and
those who are not ready n speech get flurr ed and are unable to put
the r case n the best l ght. I w ll see to t that th s does not occur n
the future.” So after th s he had a tea m ll placed before h m n court
and n front of t the paper-covered shoj were drawn to, and
Sh gemune sat beh nd them and ground the tea and thus kept h s
m nd calm wh le he heard the cases. And he could eas ly see
whether h s composure was ruff ed or not by look ng at the tea,
wh ch would not fall evenly ground to the proper cons stency f he got
exc ted. And so just ce was done mpart ally and people went away
from h s court sat sf ed.
CHA-NO-YU: THE JAPANESE TFA CEREMONY A. L. SADLER,
1962

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In January of 1809, an ag tated and anx ous Napoleon hurr ed back

to Par s from h s Span sh wars. H s sp es and conf dants had
conf rmed a rumor that h s fore gn m n ster Talleyrand had consp red
aga nst h m w th Fouché, the m n ster of pol ce. Immed ately on
arr v ng n the cap tal the shocked emperor summoned h s m n sters
to the palace. Follow ng them nto the meet ng r ght after the r arr val,
he began pac ng up and down, and started rambl ng vaguely about
plotters work ng aga nst h m, speculators br ng ng down the stock
market, leg slators delay ng h s pol c es—and h s own m n sters
underm n ng h m.
As Napoleon talked, Talleyrand leaned on the mantelp ece, look ng
completely nd fferent. Fac ng Talleyrand d rectly, Napoleon
announced, “For these m n sters, treason has begun when they
perm t themselves to doubt.” At the word “treason” the ruler expected
h s m n ster to be afra d. But Talleyrand only sm led, calm and bored.
The s ght of a subord nate apparently serene n the face of
charges that could get h m hanged pushed Napoleon to the edge.
There were m n sters, he sa d, who wanted h m dead, and he took a
step closer to Talleyrand—who stared back at h m unfazed. F nally
Napoleon exploded. “You are a coward,” he screamed n Talleyrand’s
face, “a man of no fa th. Noth ng s sacred to you. You would sell
your own father. I have showered you w th r ches and yet there s
noth ng you would not do to hurt me.” The other m n sters looked at
each other n d sbel ef—they had never seen th s fearless general,
the conqueror of most of Europe, so unh nged.
 “You deserve to be broken l ke glass,” Napoleon cont nued,
stamp ng. “I have the power to do t, but I have too much contempt
for you to bother. Why d dn’t I have you hanged from the gates of the
Tu ler es? But there s st ll t me for that.” Yell ng, almost out of breath,
h s face red, h s eyes bulg ng, he went on, “You, by the way, are
noth ng but sh t n a s lk stock ng.... What about your w fe? You never
told me that San Carlos was your w fe’s lover?” “Indeed, s re, t d d
not occur to me that th s nformat on had any bear ng on Your
Majesty’s glory or my own,” sa d Talleyrand calmly, completely
unflustered. After a few more nsults, Napoleon walked away.
Talleyrand slowly crossed the room, mov ng w th h s character st c
l mp. As an attendant helped h m w th h s cloak, he turned to h s
fellow m n sters (all afra d they would never see h m aga n), and sa d,
“What a p ty, gentlemen, that so great a man should have such bad
manners.”
Desp te h s anger, Napoleon d d not arrest h s fore gn m n ster. He
merely rel eved h m of h s dut es and ban shed h m from the court,
bel ev ng that for th s man hum l at on would be pun shment enough.
He d d not real ze that word had qu ckly spread of h s t rade—of how
the emperor had completely lost control of h mself, and how
Talleyrand had essent ally hum l ated h m by ma nta n ng h s
composure and d gn ty. A page had been turned: For the f rst t me
people had seen the great emperor lose h s cool under f re. A feel ng
spread that he was on the way down. As Talleyrand later sa d, “Th s
s the beg nn ng of the end.”

Interpretat on

Th s was ndeed the beg nn ng of the end. Waterloo was st ll s x

years ahead, but Napoleon was on a slow descent to defeat,
crystall z ng n 1812 w th h s d sastrous nvas on of Russ a.
Talleyrand was the f rst to see the s gns of h s decl ne, espec ally n
the rrat onal war w th Spa n. Somet me n 1808, the m n ster dec ded
that for the future peace of Europe, Napoleon had to go. And so he
consp red w th Fouché.
 It s poss ble that the consp racy was never anyth ng more than a
ploy—a dev ce to push Napoleon over the edge. For t s hard to
bel eve that two of the most pract cal men n h story would only go
halfway n the r plott ng. They may have been only st rr ng the
waters, try ng to goad Napoleon nto a m sstep. And ndeed, what
they got was the tantrum that la d out h s loss of control for all to see.
In fact, Napoleon’s soon-famous blowup that afternoon had a
profoundly negat ve effect on h s publ c mage.
Th s s the problem w th the angry response. At f rst t may str ke
fear and terror, but only n some, and as the days pass and the storm
clears, other responses emerge—embarrassment and uneas ness
about the shouter’s capac ty for go ng out of control, and resentment
of what has been sa d. Los ng your temper, you always make unfa r
and exaggerated accusat ons. A few such t rades and people are
count ng the days unt l you are gone.
In the face of a consp racy aga nst h m, a consp racy between h s
two most mportant m n sters, Napoleon certa nly had a r ght to feel
angry and anx ous. But by respond ng so angr ly, and so publ cly, he
only demonstrated h s frustrat on. To show your frustrat on s to show
that you have lost your power to shape events; t s the helpless
act on of the ch ld who resorts to a hyster cal f t to get h s way. The
powerful never reveal th s k nd of weakness.
There were a number of th ngs Napoleon could have done n th s
s tuat on. He could have thought about the fact that two em nently
sens ble men had had reason to turn aga nst h m, and could have
l stened and learned from them. He could have tr ed to w n them
back to h m. He could even have gotten r d of them, mak ng the r
mpr sonment or death an om nous d splay of h s power. No t rades,
no ch ld sh f ts, no embarrass ng after-effects—just a qu et and
def n t ve sever ng of t es.
Remember: Tantrums ne ther nt m date nor nsp re loyalty. They
only create doubts and uneas ness about your power. Expos ng your
weakness, these stormy erupt ons often herald a fall.
If poss ble, no an mos ty should be felt for anyone.... To speak
angr ly to a person, to show your hatred by what you say or by the
way you look, s an unnecessary proceed ng-dangerous, fool sh,
r d culous, and vulgar.
Anger or hatred should never be shown otherw se than n what you
do; and feel ngs w ll be all the more effect ve n act on. n so far as
you avo d the exh b t on of them n any other way. It s only the cold-
blooded an mals whose b te s po sonous.
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER. 1788-1860

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

By the late 1920s, Ha le Selass e had nearly ach eved h s goal of

assum ng total control over Eth op a, a country he felt needed strong
and un f ed leadersh p. As regent to the empress Zaud tu
(stepdaughter of the late queen) and he r to the throne, Selass e had
spent several years weaken ng the power of Eth op a’s var ous
warlords. Now only one real obstacle stood n h s way: the empress
and her husband, Ras Gugsa. Selass e knew the royal couple hated
h m and wanted to get r d of h m, so to cut short the r plott ng he
made Gugsa the governor of the northern prov nce of Begemeder,
forc ng h m to leave the cap tal, where the empress l ved.
For several years Gugsa played the loyal adm n strator. But
Selass e d d not trust h m: He knew that Gugsa and the empress
were plott ng revenge. As t me passed and Gugsa made no move,
the chances of a plot only ncreased. Selass e knew what he had to
do: draw Gugsa out, get under h s sk n, and push h m nto act on
before he was ready.
For several years, a northern tr be, the Azebu Gallas, had been n
v rtual rebell on aga nst the throne, robb ng and p llag ng local
v llages and refus ng to pay taxes. Selass e had done noth ng to stop
them, lett ng them grow stronger. F nally, n 1929, he ordered Ras
Gugsa to lead an army aga nst these d sobed ent tr besmen. Gugsa
agreed, but nwardly he seethed—he had no grudge aga nst the
Azebu Gallas, and the demand that he f ght them hurt h s pr de. He
could not d sobey the order, but as he worked to put together an
army, he began to spread an ugly rumor—that Selass e was n
cahoots w th the pope, and planned to convert the country to Roman
Cathol c sm and make t a colony of Italy. Gugsa’s army swelled, and
some of the tr bes from wh ch ts sold ers came secretly agreed to
f ght Selass e. In March of 1930 an enormous force of 35,000 men
began to march, not on the Azebu Gallas but south, toward the
cap tal of Add s Ababa. Made conf dent by h s grow ng strength,
Gugsa now openly led a holy war to depose Selass e and put the
country back n the hands of true Chr st ans.
He d d not see the trap that had been la d for h m. Before Selass e
had ordered Gugsa to f ght the Azebu Gallas, he had secured the
support of the Eth op an church. And before the revolt got underway,
he had br bed several of Gugsa’s key all es not to show up for battle.
As the rebel army marched south, a rplanes flew overhead dropp ng
leaflets announc ng that the h ghest church off c als had recogn zed
Selass e as the true Chr st an leader of Eth op a, and that they had
excommun cated Gugsa for foment ng a c v l war. These leaflets
severely blunted the emot ons beh nd the holy crusade. And as
battle loomed and the support that Gugsa’s all es had prom sed h m
fa led to show up, sold ers began to flee or defect.
When the battle came, the rebel army qu cky collapsed. Refus ng
to surrender, Ras Gugsa was k lled n the f ght ng. The empress,
d straught over her husband’s death, d ed a few days later. On Apr l
30, Selass e ssued a formal proclamat on announc ng h s new t tle:
Emperor of Eth op a.
THE MONKEY AND THE WASP
A monkey, wh lst munch ng a r pe pear, was pestered by the bare-
faced mportun t es of a wasp, who, nolens volens, would have a
part. After threaten ng the monkey w th h s anger f he further
hes tated to subm t to h s demand, he settled on the fru t; but was as
soon knocked off by the monkey. The rr table wasp now had
recourse to nvect ve —and, after us ng the most nsult ng language,
wh ch the other calmly l stened to, he so worked h mself up nto
v olent pass on that, los ng all cons derat on of the penalty, he flew to
the face of the monkey, and stung h m w th such rage that he was
unable to extr cate h s weapon, and was compelled to tear h mself
away, leav ng t n the wound—thus enta l ng on h mself a l nger ng
death, accompan ed by pa ns much greater than those he had
nfl cted.
FABLES, JONATHAN BIRCH, 1783-1847

Interpretat on

Ha le Selass e always saw several moves ahead. He knew that f he

let Ras Gugsa dec de the t me and place of the revolt, the danger
would be much greater than f he forced Gugsa to act on Selass e’s
terms. So he goaded h m nto rebell on by offend ng h s manly pr de,
ask ng h m to f ght people he had no quarrel w th on behalf of a man
he hated. Th nk ng everyth ng out ahead, Selass e made sure that
Gugsa’s rebell on would come to noth ng, and that he could use t to
do away w th h s last two enem es.
Th s s the essence of the Law: When the waters are st ll, your
opponents have the t me and space to plot act ons that they w ll
n t ate and control. So st r the waters, force the f sh to the surface,
get them to act before they are ready, steal the n t at ve. The best
way to do th s s to play on uncontrollable emot ons—pr de, van ty,
love, hate. Once the water s st rred up, the l ttle f sh cannot help but
r se to the ba t. The angr er they become, the less control they have,
and f nally they are caught n the wh rlpool you have made, and they
drown.

DITCH HIGH PRIEST

K n ’yo, an off cer of the second rank, had a brother called the H gh
Pr est Ryogaku, an extremely bad-tempered man. Next to h s
monastery grew a large nettle-tree wh ch occas oned the n ckname
people gave h m, the Nettle-tree H gh Pr est. “That name s
outrageous,”sa d the h gh pr est, and cut down the tree. The stump
st ll be ng left, people referred to h m now as the Stump H gh Pr est.
More fur ous than ever, Ryogaku had the stump dug up and thrown
away, but th s left a b g d tch. People now called h m the D tch H gh
Pr est.
ESSAYS IN IDLENESS. KENKO, JAPAN, FOURTEENTH
CENTURY
A sovere gn should never launch an army out of anger,
a leader should never start a war out of wrath.
Sun-tzu, fourth century B.C.

KEYS TO POWER

Angry people usually end up look ng r d culous, for the r response

seems out of proport on to what occas oned t. They have taken
th ngs too ser ously, exaggerat ng the hurt or nsult that has been
done to them. They are so sens t ve to sl ght that t becomes com cal
how much they take personally. More com cal st ll s the r bel ef that
the r outbursts s gn fy power. The truth s the oppos te: Petulance s
not power, t s a s gn of helplessness. People may temporar ly be
cowed by your tantrums, but n the end they lose respect for you.
They also real ze they can eas ly underm ne a person w th so l ttle
self-control.
The answer, however, s not to repress our angry or emot onal
responses. For repress on dra ns us of energy and pushes us nto
strange behav or. Instead we have to change our perspect ve: We
have to real ze that noth ng n the soc al realm, and n the game of
power, s personal.
Everyone s caught up n a cha n of events that long predates the
present moment. Our anger often stems from problems n our
ch ldhood, from the problems of our parents wh ch stem from the r
own ch ldhood, on and on. Our anger also has roots n the many
nteract ons w th others, the accumulated d sappo ntments and
heartaches that we have suffered. An nd v dual w ll often appear as
the nst gator of our anger but t s much more compl cated, goes far
beyond what that nd v dual d d to us. If a person explodes w th
anger at you (and t seems out of proport on to what you d d to
them), you must rem nd yourself that t s not exclus vely d rected at
you—do not be so va n. The cause s much larger, goes way back n
t me, nvolves dozens of pr or hurts, and s actually not worth the
bother to understand. Instead of see ng t as a personal grudge, look
at the emot onal outburst as a d sgu sed power move, an attempt to
control or pun sh you cloaked n the form of hurt feel ngs and anger.
Th s sh ft of perspect ve w ll let you play the game of power w th
more clar ty and energy. Instead of overreact ng, and becom ng
ensnared n people’s emot ons, you w ll turn the r loss of control to
your advantage: You keep your head wh le they are los ng the rs.
Dur ng an mportant battle n the War of the Three K ngdoms, n
the th rd century A.D., adv sers to the commander Ts‘ao Ts’ao
d scovered documents show ng that certa n of h s generals had
consp red w th the enemy, and urged h m to arrest and execute
them. Instead he ordered the documents burned and the matter
forgotten. At th s cr t cal moment n the battle, to get upset or
demand just ce would have reverberated aga nst h m: An angry
act on would have called attent on to the generals’ d sloyalty, wh ch
would have harmed the troops’ morale. Just ce could wa t—he would
deal w th the generals n t me. Ts‘ao Ts’ao kept h s head and made
the r ght dec s on.
Compare th s to Napoleon’s response to Talleyrand: Instead of
tak ng the consp racy personally, the emperor should have played
the game l ke Ts‘ao Ts’ao, carefully we gh ng the consequences of
any act on he took. The more powerful response n the end would
have been to gnore Talleyrand, or to br ng the m n ster gradually
back to h s s de and pun sh h m later.
Anger only cuts off our opt ons, and the powerful cannot thr ve
w thout opt ons. Once you tra n yourself not to take matters
personally, and to control your emot onal responses, you w ll have
placed yourself n a pos t on of tremendous power: Now you can play
w th the emot onal responses of other people. St r the nsecure nto
act on by mpugn ng the r manhood, and by dangl ng the prospect of
an easy v ctory before the r faces. Do as Houd n d d when
challenged by the less successful escape art st Klepp n : Reveal an
apparent weakness (Houd n let Klepp n steal the comb nat on for a
pa r of cuffs) to lure your opponent nto act on. Then you can beat
h m w th ease. W th the arrogant too you can appear weaker than
you are, taunt ng them nto a rash act on.
Sun P n, commander of the arm es of Ch‘ and loyal d sc ple of
Sun-tzu, once led h s troops aga nst the arm es of We , wh ch
outnumbered h m two to one. “Let us l ght a hundred thousand f res
when our army enters We ,” suggested Sun P n, “f fty thousand on
the next day, and only th rty thousand on the th rd.” On the th rd day
the We general excla med, “I knew the men of Ch’ were cowards,
and after only three days more than half of them have deserted!” So,
leav ng beh nd h s slow-mov ng heavy nfantry, the general dec ded
to se ze the moment and move sw ftly on the Ch’I camp w th a l ghtly
armed force. Sun P n’s troops retreated, lur ng We ’s army nto a
narrow pass, where they ambushed and destroyed them. W th the
We general dead and h s forces dec mated, Sun P n now eas ly
defeated the rest of h s army.
In the face of a hot-headed enemy, f nally, an excellent response s
no response. Follow the Talleyrand tact c: Noth ng s as nfur at ng as
a man who keeps h s cool wh le others are los ng the rs. If t w ll work
to your advantage to unsettle people, affect the ar stocrat c, bored
pose, ne ther mock ng nor tr umphant but s mply nd fferent. Th s w ll
l ght the r fuse. When they embarrass themselves w th a temper
tantrum, you w ll have ga ned several v ctor es, one of these be ng
that n the face of the r ch ld shness you have ma nta ned your d gn ty
and composure.
Image: The Pond of F sh. The waters
are clear and calm, and the f sh are well below the surface.
St r the waters and they emerge. St r t some more and they get
angry, r s ng to the surface, b t ng whatever comes near—
nclud ng a freshly ba ted hook.
Author ty: If your opponent s of a hot temper, try to rr tate h m. If he
s arrogant, try to encourage h s egot sm.... One who s sk lled at
mak ng the enemy move does so by creat ng a s tuat on accord ng to
wh ch the enemy w ll act; he ent ces the enemy w th someth ng he s
certa n to take. He keeps the enemy on the move by hold ng out ba t
and then attacks h m w th p cked troops. (Sun-tzu, fourth century
B.C.)

REVERSAL

When play ng w th people’s emot ons you have to be careful. Study

the enemy beforehand: Some f sh are best left at the bottom of the
pond.
The leaders of the c ty of Tyre, cap tal of anc ent Phoen c a, felt
conf dent they could w thstand Alexander the Great, who had
conquered the Or ent but had not attacked the r c ty, wh ch stood well
protected on the water. They sent ambassadors to Alexander say ng
that although they would recogn ze h m as emperor they would not
allow h m or h s forces to enter Tyre. Th s of course enraged h m,
and he mmed ately mounted a s ege. For four months the c ty
w thstood h m, and f nally he dec ded that the struggle was not worth
t, and that he would come to terms w th the Tyr ans. But they, feel ng
that they had already ba ted Alexander and gotten away w th t, and
conf dent that they could w thstand h m, refused to negot ate— n fact
they k lled h s messengers.
Th s pushed Alexander over the edge. Now t d d not matter to h m
how long the s ege lasted or how large an army t needed; he had
the resources, and would do whatever t took. He remounted h s
assault so strenuously that he captured Tyre w th n days, burned t to
the ground, and sold ts people nto slavery.
You can ba t the powerful and get them to comm t and d v de the r
forces as Sun P n d d, but test the waters f rst. F nd the gap n the r
strength. If there s no gap— f they are mposs bly strong—you have
noth ng to ga n and everyth ng to lose by provok ng them. Choose
carefully whom you ba t, and never st r up the sharks.
F nally there are t mes when a well-t med burst of anger can do
you good, but your anger must be manufactured and under your
control. Then you can determ ne exactly how and on whom t w ll fall.
Never st r up react ons that w ll work aga nst you n the long run. And
use your thunder-bolts rarely, to make them the more nt m dat ng
and mean ngful. Whether purposefully staged or not, f your
outbursts come too often, they w ll lose the r power.
 LAW 40

DESPISE THE FREE LUNCH

JUDGMENT
What s offered for free s dangerous- t usually nvolves e ther a tr ck
or a h dden obl gat on. What has worth s worth pay ng for. By pay ng
your own way you stay clear of grat tude, gu lt, and dece t. It s also
often w se to pay the full pr ce—there s no cutt ng corners w th
excellence. Be lav sh w th your money and keep t c rculat ng, for
generos ty s a s gn and a magnet for power.
BURIED TREASURE
Many weak-m nded persons n c t es hope to d scover property under
the surface of the earth and to make some prof t from t. In the
Maghr b there are many Berber “students” who are unable to make a
l v ng by natural ways and means. They approach well-to-do people
w th papers that have torn marg ns and conta n e ther non-Arab c
wr t ng or what they cla m to be the translat on of a document wr tten
by the owner of bur ed treasures, g v ng the clue to the h d ng place.
In th s way, they try to get the r sustenance by [persuad ng the well-
to-do] to send them out to d g and hunt for treasure. Occas onally,
one of these treasure hunters d splays strange nformat on or some
remarkable tr ck of mag c w th wh ch he fools people nto bel ev ng
h s other cla ms, although, n fact, he knows noth ng of mag c and ts
procedures.... The th ngs that have been sa d about [treasure
hunt ng] have no sc ent f c bas s, nor are they based upon [factual]
nformat on. It should be real zed that although treasures are found,
th s happens rarely and by chance, not by systemat c search....
Those who are deluded or affl cted by these th ngs must take refuge
 n God from the r nab l ty to make a l v ng and the r laz ness n th s
respect. They should not occupy themselves w th absurd t es and
untrue stor es.

THE MUQADDIMAH, IBN KHALDUN, 1332-1406

MONEY AND POWER

In the realm of power, everyth ng must be judged by ts cost, and

everyth ng has a pr ce. What s offered for free or at barga n rates
often comes w th a psycholog cal pr ce tag—compl cated feel ngs of
obl gat on, comprom ses w th qual ty, the nsecur ty those
comprom ses br ng, on and on. The powerful learn early to protect
the r most valuable resources: ndependence and room to maneuver.
By pay ng the full pr ce, they keep themselves free of dangerous
entanglements and worr es.
Be ng open and flex ble w th money also teaches the value of
strateg c generos ty, a var at on on the old tr ck of “g v ng when you
are about to take.” By g v ng the appropr ate g ft, you put the
rec p ent under obl gat on. Generos ty softens people up—to be
dece ved. By ga n ng a reputat on for l beral ty, you w n people’s
adm rat on wh le d stract ng them from your power plays. By
strateg cally spread ng your wealth, you charm the other court ers,
creat ng pleasure and mak ng valuable all es.
Look at the masters of power—the Caesars, the Queen
El zabeths, the M chelangelos, the Med c s: Not a m ser among
them. Even the great con art sts spend freely to sw ndle. T ght purse
str ngs are unattract ve—when engaged n seduct on, Casanova
would g ve completely not only of h mself but of h s wallet. The
powerful understand that money s psycholog cally charged, and that
t s also a vessel of pol teness and soc ab l ty. They make the human
s de of money a weapon n the r armory.
 For everyone able to play w th money, thousands more are locked
n a self-destruct ve refusal to use money creat vely and strateg cally.
These types represent the oppos te pole to the powerful, and you
must learn to recogn ze them—e ther to avo d the r po sonous
natures or to turn the r nflex b l ty to your advantage:

The Greedy F sh. The greedy f sh take the human s de out of money.
Cold and ruthless, they see only the l feless balance sheet; v ew ng
others solely as e ther pawns or obstruct ons n the r pursu t of
wealth, they trample on people’s sent ments and al enate valuable
all es. No one wants to work w th the greedy f sh, and over the years
they end up solated, wh ch often proves the r undo ng.
Greedy f sh are the con art st’s bread and butter: Lured by the ba t
of easy money, they swallow the ruse hook, l ne, and s nker. They
are easy to dece ve, for they spend so much t me deal ng w th
numbers (not w th people) that they become bl nd to psychology,
nclud ng the r own. E ther avo d them before they explo t you or play
on the r greed to your ga n.

The Barga n Demon. Powerful people judge everyth ng by what t

costs, not just n money but n t me, d gn ty, and peace of m nd. And
th s s exactly what Barga n Demons cannot do. Wast ng valuable
t me d gg ng for barga ns, they worry endlessly about what they
could have gotten elsewhere for a l ttle less. On top of that, the
barga n tem they do buy s often shabby; perhaps t needs costly
repa rs, or w ll have to be replaced tw ce as fast as a h gh-qual ty
tem. The costs of these pursu ts—not always n money (though the
pr ce of a barga n s often decept ve) but n t me and peace of m nd—
d scourage normal people from undertak ng them, but for the
Barga n Demon the barga n s an end n tself.
These types m ght seem to harm only themselves, but the r
att tudes are contag ous: Unless you res st them they w ll nfect you
w th the nsecure feel ng that you should have looked harder to f nd a
cheaper pr ce. Don’t argue w th them or try to change them. Just
mentally add up the cost, n t me and nner peace f not n h dden
f nanc al expense, of the rrat onal pursu t of a barga n.

The Sad st. F nanc al sad sts play v c ous power games w th money
as a way of assert ng the r power. They m ght, for example, make
you wa t for money that s owed you, prom s ng you that the check s
n the ma l. Or f they h re you to work for them, they meddle n every
aspect of the job, haggl ng and g v ng you ulcers. Sad sts seem to
th nk that pay ng for someth ng g ves them the r ght to torture and
abuse the seller. They have no sense of the court er element n
money. If you are unlucky enough to get nvolved w th th s type,
accept ng a f nanc al loss may be better n the long run than gett ng
entangled n the r destruct ve power games.

The Ind scr m nate G ver. Generos ty has a def n te funct on n power:
It attracts people, softens them up, makes all es out of them. But t
has to be used strateg cally, w th a def n te end n m nd.
Ind scr m nate G vers, on the other hand, are generous because they
want to be loved and adm red by all. And the r generos ty s so
nd scr m nate and needy that t may not have the des red effect: If
they g ve to one and all, why should the rec p ent feel spec al?
Attract ve as t may seem to make an Ind scr m nate G ver your mark,
n any nvolvement w th th s type you w ll often feel burdened by the r
nsat able emot onal needs.
THE
A m ser, to make sure of h s property, sold all that he had and
converted t nto a great lump of gold, wh ch he htd n a hole n the
ground, and went cont nually to v s t and nspect t. Th s roused the
cur os ty of one of h s workmen, who, suspect ng that there was a
treasure, when h s master’s back was turned, went to the spot, and
stole t away. When the m ser returned and found the place empty,
he wept and tore h s ha r. But a ne ghbor who saw h m n th s
extravagant gr ef, and learned the cause of t, sa d: “Fret thyself no
longer, but take a stone and put t n the same place, and th nk that t
s your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to use t. the one w ll do
you as much good as the other.”
The worth of money s not n ts possess on, but n ts use.

FABLES, AFSOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.

TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW

Transgress on I

After Franc sco P zarro conquered Peru, n 1532, gold from the Incan
Emp re began to pour nto Spa n, and Span ards of all classes
started dream ng of the nstant r ches to be had n the New World.
The story soon spread of an Ind an ch ef to the east of Peru who
once each year would r tually cover h mself n gold dust and d ve nto
a lake. Soon word of mouth transformed El Dorado, the “Golden
Man,” nto an emp re called El Dorado, wealth er than the Incan,
where the streets were paved and the bu ld ngs nla d w th gold. Th s
elaborat on of the story d d not seem mplaus ble, for surely a ch ef
who could afford to waste gold dust n a lake must rule a golden
emp re. Soon Span ards were search ng for El Dorado all over
northern South Amer ca.
In February of 1541, the largest exped t on yet n th s venture, led
by P zarro’s brother Gonzalo, left Qu to, n Ecuador. Resplendent n
the r ar mors and colorful s lks, 340 Span ards headed east, along
w th 4,000 Ind ans to carry suppl es and serve as scouts, 4,000
sw ne, dozens of llamas, and close to 1,000 dogs. But the exped t on
was soon h t by torrent al ra n, wh ch rotted ts gear and spo led ts
food. Meanwh le, as Gonzalo P zarro quest oned the Ind ans they
met along the way, those who seemed to be w thhold ng nformat on,
or who had not even heard of the fabulous k ngdom, he would torture
and feed to the dogs. Word of the Span ards’ mur derousness
spread qu ckly among the Ind ans, who real zed that the only way to
avo d Gonzalo’s wrath was to make up stor es about El Dorado and
send h m as far away as poss ble. As Gonzalo and h s men followed
the leads the Ind ans gave them, then, they were only led farther nto
deep jungle.
The explorers’ sp r ts sagged. The r un forms had long s nce
shredded; the r armor rusted and they threw t away; the r shoes
were torn to p eces, forc ng them to walk barefoot; the Ind an slaves
they had set out w th had e ther d ed or deserted them; they had
eaten not only the sw ne but the hunt ng dogs and llamas. They l ved
on roots and fru t. Real z ng that they could not cont nue th s way,
P zarro dec ded to r sk r ver travel, and a barge was bu lt out of
rott ng wood. But the journey down the treacherous Napo R ver
proved no eas er. Sett ng up camp on the r ver’s edge, Gonzalo sent
scouts ahead on the barge to f nd Ind an settlements w th food. He
wa ted and wa ted for the scouts to return, only to f nd out they had
dec ded to desert the exped t on and cont nue down the r ver on the r
own.
The ra n cont nued w thout end. Gonzalo’s men forgot about El
Dorado; they wanted only to return to Qu to. F nally, n August of
1542, a l ttle over a hundred men, from an exped t on or g nally
number ng n the thousands, managed to f nd the r way back. To the
res dents of Qu to they seemed to have emerged from hell tself,
wrapped n tatters and sk ns, the r bod es covered n sores, and so
emac ated as to be unrecogn zable. For over a year and a half they
had marched n an enormous c rcle, two thousand m les by foot. The
vast sums of money nvested n the exped t on had y elded noth ng—
no s gn of El Dorado and no s gn of gold. Interpretat on
Even after Gonzalo P zarro’s d saster, the Span ards launched
exped t on after exped t on n search of El Dorado. And l ke P zarro
the conqu stadors would burn and loot v llages, torture Ind ans,
endure un mag nable hardsh ps, and get no closer to gold. The
money they spent on such exped t ons cannot be calculated; yet
desp te the fut l ty of the search, the lure of the fantasy endured.
There s a popular say ng n Japan that goes “Tada yor taka mono
wa na ,” mean ng: “Noth ng s more costly than someth ng g ven free
of charge.”
THE UNSPOKEN WAY, MICHIHIRO MATSUMOTO, 1988

MONEY
Yusuf Ibn Jafar el-Amud used to take sums of money, somet mes
very large ones, from those who came to study w th h m. A
d st ngu shed legal st v s t ng h m once sa d: “I am enchanted and
mpressed by your teach ngs, and I am sure that you are d rect ng
your d sc ples n a proper manner. But t s not n accordance w th
trad t on to take money for knowledge. Bes des, the act on s open to
m s nterpretat on.” El-Amud sa d: “I have never sold any knowledge.
There s no Imoney on earth suff c ent to pay for t. As for
m s nterpretat on, the absta n ng from tak ng money w ll not prevent
t, for t w ll f nd some other object. Rather should you know that a
man who takes money may be greedy for money, or he may not. But
a man who takes noth ng at all s under the gravest susp c on of
robb ng the d sc ple of h s soul. People who say, ‘I take noth ng,’ may
be found to take away the vol t on of the r v ct m.”
THE DERMIS PROBE, IDRIES SHAH, 1970
Not only d d the search for El Dorado cost m ll ons of l ves—both
Ind an and Span sh— t helped br ng the ru n of the Span sh emp re.
Gold became Spa n’s obsess on. The gold that d d f nd ts way back
to Spa n-and a lot d d—was re nvested n more exped t ons, or n the
purchase of luxur es, rather than n agr culture or any other
product ve endeavor. Whole Span sh towns were depopulated as
the r menfolk left to hunt gold. Farms fell nto ru n, and the army had
no recru ts for ts European wars. By the end of the seventeenth
century, the ent re country had shrunk by more than half of ts
populat on; the c ty of Madr d had gone from a populat on of 400,000
to 150,000. W th d m n sh ng returns from ts efforts over so many
years, Spa n fell nto a decl ne from wh ch t never recovered.
Power requ res self-d sc pl ne. The prospect of wealth, part cularly
easy, sudden wealth, plays havoc w th the emot ons. The suddenly
r ch bel eve that more s always poss ble. The free lunch, the money
that w ll fall nto your lap, s just around the corner.
In th s delus on the greedy neglect everyth ng power really
depends on: self-control, the goodw ll of others, and so on.
Understand: W th one except on—death—no last ng change n
fortune comes qu ckly. Sudden wealth rarely lasts, for t s bu lt on
noth ng sol d. Never let lust for money lure you out of the protect ve
and endur ng fortress of real power. Make power your goal and
money w ll f nd ts way to you. Leave El Dorado for suckers and
fools.

Transgress on II

In the early e ghteenth century, no one stood h gher n Engl sh

soc ety than the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. The duke,
hav ng led successful campa gns aga nst the French, was
cons dered Europe’s prem er general and strateg st. And h s w fe,
the duchess, after much maneuver ng, had establ shed herself as
the favor te of Queen Anne, who became ruler of England n 1702. In
1704 the duke’s tr umph at the Battle of Blenhe m made h m the
toast of England, and to honor h m the queen awarded h m a large
plot of land n the town of Woodstock, and the funds to create a great
palace there. Call ng h s planned home the Palace of Blenhe m, the
duke chose as h s arch tect the young John Vanbrugh, a k nd of
Rena ssance man who wrote plays as well as des gned bu ld ngs.
And so construct on began, n the summer of 1705, w th much
fanfare and great hopes.
Vanbrugh had a dramat st’s sense of arch tecture. H s palace was
to be a monument to Marlborough’s br ll ance and power, and was to
nclude art f c al lakes, enormous br dges, elaborate gardens, and
other fantast cal touches. From day one, however, the duchess could
not be pleased: She thought Vanbrugh was wast ng money on yet
another stand of trees; she wanted the palace f n shed as soon as
poss ble. The duchess tortured Vanbrugh and h s workmen on every
deta l. She was consumed w th petty matters; although the
government was pay ng for Blenhe m, she counted every penny.
Eventually her grumbl ng, about Blenhe m and other th ngs too,
created an rreparable r ft between her and Queen Anne, who, n
1711, d sm ssed her from the court, order ng her to vacate her
apartments at the royal palace. When the duchess left (fum ng over
the loss of her pos t on, and also of her royal salary), she empt ed
the apartment of every f xture down to the brass doorknobs.
THE MAN WHO LOVED MONEY BETTER THAN
LIFE
In anc ent t mes there was an old woodcutter who went to the
mounta n almost every day to cut wood.
It was sa d that th s old n?an was a m ser who hoarded h s s lver
unt l t changed to gold, and that he cared more for gold than
anyth ng else n all the world.
One day a w lderness t ger sprang at h m and though he ran he
could not escape, and the t ger carr ed h m off n ts mouth.
The woodcutter’s son saw h s father’s danger, and ran to save h m f
poss ble. He carr ed a long kn fe, and as he could run faster than the
t ger, who had a man to carry, he soon overtook them.
H s father was not much hurt, for the t ger held h m by h s clothes.
When the old woodcutter saw h s son about to stab the t ger he
called out n great alarm: “Do not spo l the t ger’s sk n! Do not spo l
the t ger’s sk n! If you can k ll h m w thout cutt ng holes n h s sk n we
can get many p eces of s lver for t. K ll h m, but do not cut h s body.”
Wh le the son was l sten ng to h s father’s nstruct ons the t ger
suddenly dashed off nto the forest, carry ng the old man where the
son could not reach h m, and he was soon k lled.

“CHINESE FABLE,” VARIOUS FABLES FROM VARIOUS PLACES,

DIANE DI PRIMA, ED., 1960
Over the next ten years, work on Blenhe m would stop and start,
as the funds became harder to procure from the government. The
duchess thought Vanbrugh was out to ru n her. She qu bbled over
every carload of stone and bushel of l me, counted every extra yard
of ron ra l ng or foot of wa nscot, hurl ng abuse at the wasteful
workmen, contractors, and surveyors. Marlborough, old and weary,
wanted noth ng more than to settle nto the palace n h s last years,
but the project became bogged down n a swamp of l t gat on, the
workmen su ng the duchess for wages, the duchess su ng the
arch tect r ght back. In the m dst of th s nterm nable wrangl ng, the
duke d ed. He had never spent a n ght n h s beloved Blenhe m.
After Marlborough’s death, t became clear that he had a vast
estate, worth over £2 m ll on—more than enough to pay for f n sh ng
the palace. But the duchess would not relent: She held back
Vanbrugh’s wages as well as the workmen’s, and f nally had the
arch tect d sm ssed. The man who took h s place f n shed Blenhe m
n a few years, follow ng Vanbrugh’s des gns to the letter. Vanbrugh
d ed n 1726, locked out of the palace by the duchess, unable to set
foot n h s greatest creat on. Foreshadow ng the romant c movement,
Blenhe m had started a whole new trend n arch tecture, but had
g ven ts creator a twenty-year n ghtmare.

Interpretat on

For the Duchess of Marlborough, money was a way to play sad st c

power games. She saw the loss of money as a symbol c loss of
power. W th Vanbrugh her contort ons went deeper st ll: He was a
great art st, and she env ed h s power to create, to atta n a fame
outs de her reach. She may not have had h s g fts, but she d d have
the money to torture and abuse h m over the pett est deta ls—to ru n
h s l fe.
Th s k nd of sad sm, however, bears an awful pr ce. It made
construct on that should have lasted ten years take twenty. It
po soned many a relat onsh p, al enated the duchess from the court,
deeply pa ned the duke (who wanted only to l ve peacefully n
Blenhe m), created endless lawsu ts, and took years off Vanbrugh’s
l fe. F nally, too, poster ty had the last word: Vanbrugh s recogn zed
as a gen us wh le the duchess s forever remembered for her
consummate cheapness.
The powerful must have grandeur of sp r t—they can never reveal
any pett ness. And money s the most v s ble arena n wh ch to
d splay e ther grandeur or pett ness. Best spend freely, then, and
create a reputat on for generos ty, wh ch n the end w ll pay great
d v dends. Never let f nanc al deta ls bl nd you to the b gger p cture of
how people perce ve you. The r resentment w ll cost you n the long
run. And f you want to meddle n the work of creat ve people under
your h re, at least pay them well. Your money w ll buy the r
subm ss on better than your d splays of power.

THE STORY OF MOSES AND PHARAOH

It s wr tten n the h stor es of the prophets that Moses was sent to
Pharaoh w th many m racles, wonders and honors. Now the da ly
rat on for Pharaoh’s table was 4,000 sheep, 400 cows, 200 camels,
and a correspond ng amount of ch ckens, f sh, beverages, fr ed
meats, sweets, and other th ngs. All the people of Egypt and all h s
army used to eat at h s table every day. For 400 years he had
cla med d v n ty and never ceased prov d ng th s food. When Moses
prayed, say ng, “O Lord, destroy Pharaoh,” God answered h s prayer
and sa d, “I shall destroy h m n water, and I shall bestow all h s
wealth and that of h s sold ers on you and your peoples.” Several
vears passed bv after th s prom se, and Pharaoh, doomed to rum,
cont nued to l ve n all h s magn f cence. Moses was mpat ent for
God to destroy Pharaoh qu ckle, and he could not endure to wa l any
longer. So he fasted for forty days and went to Mount S na , and n
h s commun ng w th god he sa d, “O Lord. Thou d dst prom se that
Thou wouldst destroy Pharaoh, and st ll he has forsaken none of h s
blasphem es and pretens ons. So when w lt Thou destroy h m?”
A vo ce came from The Truth say ng, “O Muses, you want Me to
destroy Pharaoh as qu ckly as poss ble, but a thousand t mes a
thousand of My servants want Me never to do so, because they
partake of h s bounty and enjoy tranqu ll ty under h s rule. By My
power I swear that as long as he prov des abundant food and
comfort for My creatures, I shall not destroy h m.”
Moses sa d, “Then when w ll Thy prom se be fulf lled?” God sa d, “Mv
prom se w ll be fulf lled when he w thholds h s prov s on from My
creatures. If ever he beg ns to lessen h s bounty, know that h s hour
s draw ng near.”
It chanced that one day Pharaoh sa d to Haman, “Moses has
gathered the Sons of Israel about h m and s caus ng us d squ et. We
know not what w ll be the ssue of h s affa r w th us. We must keep
our stores full lest at any t me we be w thout resources. So we must
halve our da ly rat ons and keep the sav ng n reserve.” He deducted
2, 000 sheep, 200 cows, and a 100 camels, and s m larly every two
or three days reduced the rat on. Moses then knew that the prom se
of The Truth was near to fulf llment, for excess ve economy s a s gn
of decl ne and a bad omen. The masters of trad t on say that on the
day when Pharaoh was drowned only two ewes had been k lled n
h s k tchen. Noth ng s better than generos ty.... If a man s r ch and
des res, w thout a royal charter, to act l ke a lord; f he wants men to
humble themselves before h m, to revere h m and call h m Lord and
pr nce, then tell h m every day to spread a table w th v ctuals. All
those who have acqu red renown n the world, have ga ned t ma nly
through hosp tal ty, wh le the m serly and avar c ous are desp sed n
both worlds.

THE BOOK OF GOVERNMENT OR RULES FOR KINGS, NIZAM

AL-MULK, ELEVENTH CENTURY

OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW

Observance I

P etro Aret no, son of a lowly shoemaker, had catapulted h mself nto
fame as a wr ter of b t ng sat res. But l ke every Rena ssance art st,
he needed to f nd a patron who would g ve h m a comfortable
l festyle wh le not nterfer ng w th h s work. In 1528 Aret no dec ded to
attempt a new strategy n the patronage game. Leav ng Rome, he
establ shed h mself n Ven ce, where few had heard of h m. He had a
fa r amount of money he had managed to save, but l ttle else. Soon
after he moved nto h s new home, however, he threw open ts doors
to r ch and poor, regal ng them w th banquets and amusements. He
befr ended each and every gondol er, t pp ng them royally. In the
streets, he spread h s money l berally, g v ng t away to beggars,
orphans, washerwomen. Among the c ty’s commoners, word qu ckly
spread that Aret no was more than just a great wr ter, he was a man
of power—a k nd of lord.
Art sts and men of nfluence soon began to frequent Aret no’s
house. W th n a few years he made h mself a celebr ty; no v s t ng
d gn tary would th nk of leav ng Ven ce w thout pay ng h m a call. H s
generos ty had cost h m most of h s sav ngs, but had bought h m
nfluence and a good name—a cornerstone n the foundat on of
power. S nce n Rena ssance Italy as elsewhere the ab l ty to spend
freely was the pr v lege of the r ch, the ar stocracy thought Aret no
had to be a man of nfluence, s nce he spent money l ke one. And
s nce the nfluence of a man of nfluence s worth buy ng, Aret no
became the rec p ent of all sorts of g fts and moneys. Dukes and
duchesses, wealthy merchants, and popes and pr nces competed to
ga n h s favor, and showered h m w th all k nds of presents.
Aret no’s spend ng hab ts, of course, were strateg c, and the
strategy worked l ke a charm. But for real money and comfort he
needed a great patron’s bottomless pockets. Hav ng surveyed the
poss b l t es, he eventually set h s s ghts on the extremely wealthy
Marqu s of Mantua, and wrote an ep c poem that he ded cated to the
marqu s. Th s was a common pract ce of wr ters look ng for
patronage: In exchange for a ded cat on they would get a small
st pend, enough to wr te yet another poem, so that they spent the r
l ves n a k nd of constant serv l ty. Aret no, however, wanted power,
not a measly wage. He m ght ded cate a poem to the marqu s, but he
would offer t to h m as a g ft, mply ng by do ng so that he was not a
h red hack look ng for a st pend but that he and the marqu s were
equals.
Aret no’s g ft-g v ng d d not stop there: As a close fr end of two of
Ven ce’s greatest art sts, the sculptor Jacopo Sansov no and the
pa nter T t an, he conv nced these men to part c pate n h s g ft-g v ng
scheme. Aret no had stud ed the marqu s before go ng to work on
h m, and knew h s taste ns de and out; he was able to adv se
Sansov no and T t an what subject matter would please the marqu s
most. When he then sent a Sansov no sculpture and a T t an pa nt ng
to the marqu s as g fts from all three of them, the man was bes de
h mself w th joy.
Over the next few months, Aret no sent other g fts—swords,
saddles, the glass that was a Venet an spec alty, th ngs he knew the
marqu s pr zed. Soon he, T t an, and Sansov no began to rece ve
g fts from the marqu s n return. And the strategy went further: When
the son- n-law of a fr end of Aret no’s found h mself n ja l n Mantua,
Aret no was able to get the marqu s to arrange h s release. Aret no’s
fr end, a wealthy merchant, was a man of great nfluence n Ven ce;
by turn ng the goodw ll he had bu lt up w th the marqu s to use,
Aret no had now bought th s man’s ndebtedness, too, and he n turn
would help Aret no when he could. The c rcle of nfluence was
grow ng w der. T me and aga n, Aret no was able to cash n on the
mmense pol t cal power of the marqu s, who also helped h m n h s
many court romances.
Eventually, however, the relat onsh p became stra ned, as Aret no
came to feel that the marqu s should have requ ted h s generos ty
better. But he would not lower h mself to begg ng or wh n ng: S nce
the exchange of g fts between the two men had made them equals, t
would not seem r ght to br ng up money. He s mply w thdrew from
the marqu s’s c rcle and hunted for other wealthy prey, settl ng f rst
on the French k ng Franc s, then the Med c s, the Duke of Urb no,
Emperor Charles V, and more. In the end, hav ng many patrons
meant he d d not have to bow to any of them, and h s power seemed
comparable to that of a great lord. Interpretat on
Aret no understood two fundamental propert es of money: F rst, that
t has to c rculate to br ng power. What money should buy s not
l feless objects but power over people. By keep ng money n
constant c rculat on, Aret no bought an ever-expand ng c rcle of
nfluence that n the end more than compensated h m for h s
expenses.
Second, Aret no understood the key property of the g ft. To g ve a
g ft s to mply that you and the rec p ent are equals at the very least,
or that you are the rec p ent’s super or. A g ft also nvolves an
ndebtedness or obl gat on; when fr ends, for nstance, offer you
someth ng for free, you can be sure they expect someth ng n return,
and that to get t they are mak ng you feel ndebted. (The mechan sm
may or may not be ent rely consc ous on the r part, but th s s how t
works.)
Aret no avo ded such encumbrances on h s freedom. Instead of
act ng l ke a men al who expects the powerful to pay h s way n l fe,
he turned the whole dynam c around; nstead of be ng ndebted to
the powerful, he made the powerful ndebted to h m. Th s was the
po nt of h s g ft-g v ng, a ladder that carr ed h m to the h ghest soc al
levels. By the end of h s l fe he had become the most famous wr ter
n Europe.
Understand: Money may determ ne power relat onsh ps, but those
relat onsh ps need not depend on the amount of money you have;
they also depend on the way you use t. Powerful people g ve freely,
buy ng nfluence rather than th ngs. If you accept the nfer or pos t on
because you have no fortune yet, you may f nd yourself n t forever.
Play the tr ck that Aret no played on Italy’s ar stocracy: Imag ne
yourself an equal. Play the lord, g ve freely, open your doors,
c rculate your money, and create the facade of power through an
alchemy that transforms money nto nfluence.

Observance II

Soon after Baron James Rothsch ld made h s fortune n Par s n the

early 1820s, he faced h s most ntractable problem: How could a Jew
and a German, a total outs der to French soc ety, w n the respect of
the xenophob c French upper classes? Rothsch ld was a man who
understood power—he knew that h s fortune would br ng h m status,
but that f he rema ned soc ally al enated ne ther h s status nor h s
fortune would last. So he looked at the soc ety of the t me and asked
what would w n the r hearts.
Char ty? The French couldn’t care less. Pol t cal nfluence? He
already had that, and f anyth ng t only made people more
susp c ous of h m. The one weak spot, he dec ded, was boredom. In
the per od of the restorat on of the monarchy, the French upper
classes were bored. So Rothsch ld began to spend astound ng sums
of money on enterta n ng them. He h red the best arch tects n
France to des gn h s gardens and ballroom; he h red Mar e-Anto ne
Carême, the most celebrated French chef, to prepare the most lav sh
part es Par s had ever w tnessed; no Frenchman could res st, even f
the part es were g ven by a German Jew. Rothsch ld’s weekly
so rees began to attract b gger and b gger numbers. Over the next
few years he won the only th ng that would secure an outs der’s
power: soc al acceptance.

Interpretat on

Strateg c generos ty s always a great weapon n bu ld ng a support

base, part cularly for the outs der. But the Baron de Rothsch ld was
cleverer st ll: He knew t was h s money that had created the barr er
between h m and the French, mak ng h m look ugly and
untrustworthy. The best way to overcome th s was l terally to waste
huge sums, a gesture to show he valued French culture and soc ety
over money. What Rothsch ld d d resembled the famous potlatch
feasts of the Amer can Northwest: By per od cally destroy ng ts
wealth n a g ant orgy of fest vals and bonf res, an Ind an tr be would
symbol ze ts power over other tr bes. The base of ts power was not
money but ts ab l ty to spend, and ts conf dence n a super or ty that
would restore to t all that the potlatch had destroyed.
In the end, the baron’s so rees reflected h s des re to m ngle not
just n France’s bus ness world but n ts soc ety. By wast ng money
on h s pot-latches, he hoped to demonstrate that h s power went
beyond money nto the more prec ous realm of culture. Rothsch ld
may have won soc al acceptance by spend ng money, but the
support base he ga ned was one that money alone could not buy. To
secure h s fortune he had to “waste” t. That s strateg c generos ty n
a nutshell—the ab l ty to be flex ble w th your wealth, putt ng t to
work, not to buy objects, but to w n people’s hearts.

Observance III

The Med c s of Rena ssance Florence had bu lt the r mmense power

on the fortune they had made n bank ng. But n Florence, centur es-
old republ c that t was, the dea that money bought power went
aga nst all the c ty’s proud democrat c values. Cos mo de’ Med c , the
f rst of the fam ly to ga n great fame, worked around th s by keep ng
a low prof le. He never flaunted h s wealth. But by the t me h s
grandson Lorenzo came of age, n the 1470s, the fam ly’s wealth
was too large, and the r nfluence too not ceable, to be d sgu sed any
longer.
THE FLAME-COLORED CLOCK
Dur ng the campa gn of Carnbyses n Egypt, a great many Greeks
v s ted that country for one reason or another: some, as was to be
expected, for trade, some to serve n the army, others, no doubt, out
of mere cur os ty, to see what they could see. Amongst the
s ghtseers was Aeaces’s son Syloson, the ex led brother of
Polycrates of Samos. Wh le he was n Egypt, Syloson had an
extraord nary stroke of luck: he was hang ng about the streets of
Memph s dressed n a flame-colored cloak, when Dar us, who at that
t me was a member of Cambyses’s guard and not yet of any
part cular mportance, happened to catch s ght of h m and, se zed
w th a sudden long ng to possess the cloak, came up to Syloson and
made h m an offer for t.
H s extreme anx ety to get t was obv ous enough to Syloson, who
was nsp red to say: “I am not sell ng th s for any money, but f you
must have t, I w ll g ve t to you for free. ” Dar us thererepon thanked
h m warmly and took t. Syloson at the moment merely thought he
had lost t by h s fool sh good nature; then came the death of
Cambyses and the revolt of the seven aga nst the Magus, and
Dar us ascended the throne. Syloson now had the news that the
man whose request for the flame-colored cloak he had formerly
grat f ed n Egypt had become k ng of Pers a. He hurr ed to Susa, sat
down at the entrance of the royal palace, and cla med to be ncluded
n the off c al l st of the k ng’s benefactors. The sentry on guard
reported h s cla m to Dar us, who asked n surpr se who the man
m ght be. “For surely,” he sa d, “as I have so recently come to the
throne, there cannot be any Greek to whom I am ndebted for a
serv ce. Hardly any of them have been here yet, and I certa nly
cannot remember ow ng anyth ng to a Greek. But br ng h m n all the
same, that I may know what he means by th s cla m.”
The guard escorted Syloson nto the royal presence, and when the
nterpreters asked h m who he was and what he had done to just fy
the statement that he was the k ng’s benefactor, he rem nded Dar us
of the story of the cloak, and sa d that he was the man who had
g ven t h m. “S r,” excla med Dar us, “you are the most generous of
men; for wh le I was st ll a person of no power or consequence you
gave me a present—small ndeed, but deserv ng then as much
grat tude from me as would the most splend d of g fts today. I w ll
g ve you n return more s lver and gold than you can count, that you
may never regret that you once d d a favor to Dar us the son of
Hystaspes. ” “My lord, ” repl ed Syloson, ”do not g ve me gold or
s lver, but recover Samos for me, my nat ve sland, wh ch now s nce
Oroetes k lled my brother Polycrates s n the hands of one of our
servants. Let Samos be your g ft to me—but let no man n the sland
be k lled or enslaved.”
Dar us consented to Syloson’s request, and d spatched a force
under the command of Otanes, one of the seven, w th orders to do
everyth ng that Syloson had asked.

THE HISTORIES. HERODOTUS. FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

 Lorenzo solved the problem n h s own way by develop ng the
strategy of d stract on that has served people of wealth ever s nce:
He became the most llustr ous patron of the arts that h story has
ever known. Not only d d he spend lav shly on pa nt ngs, he created
Italy’s f nest apprent ce schools for young art sts. It was n one of
these schools that the young M chelangelo f rst caught the attent on
of Lorenzo, who nv ted the art st to come and l ve n h s house. He
d d the same w th Leonardo da V nc . Once under h s w ng,
M chelangelo and Leonardo requ ted h s generos ty by becom ng
loyal art sts n h s stable.
Whenever Lorenzo faced an enemy, he would w eld the weapon of
patronage. When P sa, Florence’s trad t onal enemy, threatened to
rebel aga nst t n 1472, Lorenzo placated ts people by pour ng
money nto ts un vers ty, wh ch had once been ts pr de and joy but
had long ago lost ts luster. The P sans had no defense aga nst th s
ns d ous maneuver, wh ch s multaneously fed the r love of culture
and blunted the r des re for battle. Interpretat on
Lorenzo undoubtedly loved the arts, but h s patronage of art sts had
a pract cal funct on as well, of wh ch he was keenly aware. In
Florence at the t me, bank ng was perhaps the least adm red way of
mak ng money, and was certa nly not a respected source of power.
The arts were at the other pole, the pole of quas -rel g ous
transcendence. By spend ng on the arts, Lorenzo d luted people’s
op n ons of the ugly source of h s wealth, d sgu s ng h mself n
nob l ty. There s no better use of strateg c generos ty than that of
d stract ng attent on from an unsavory real ty and wrapp ng oneself n
the mantle of art or rel g on.

Observance IV

Lou s XIV had an eagle eye for the strateg c power of money. When
he came to the throne, the powerful nob l ty had recently proven a
thorn n the monarchy’s s de, and seethed w th rebell ousness. So he
mpover shed these ar stocrats by mak ng them spend enormous
sums on ma nta n ng the r pos t on n the court. Mak ng them
dependent on royal largesse for the r l vel hood, he had them n h s
claws.
Next Lou s brought the nobles to the r knees w th strateg c
generos ty. It would work l ke th s: Whenever he not ced a stubborn
court er whose nfluence he needed to ga n, or whose troublemak ng
he needed to squelch, he would use h s vast wealth to soften the
so l. F rst he would gnore h s v ct m, mak ng the man anx ous. Then
the man would suddenly f nd that h s son had been g ven a well-pa d
post, or that funds had been spent l berally n h s home reg on, or
that he had been g ven a pa nt ng he had long coveted. Presents
would flow from Lou s’s hands. F nally, weeks or months later, Lou s
would ask for the favor he had needed all along. A man who had
once vowed to do anyth ng to stop the k ng would f nd he had lost
the des re to f ght. A stra ghtforward br be would have made h m
rebell ous; th s was far more ns d ous. Fac ng hardened earth n
wh ch noth ng could take root, Lou s loosened the so l before he
planted h s seeds. Interpretat on
Lou s understood that there s a deep-rooted emot onal element n
our att tude to money, an element go ng back to ch ldhood. When we
are ch ldren, all k nds of compl cated feel ngs about our parents
center around g fts; we see the g v ng of a g ft as a s gn of love and
approval. And that emot onal element never goes away. The
rec p ents of g fts, f nanc al or otherw se, are suddenly as vulnerable
as ch ldren, espec ally when the g ft comes from someone n
author ty. They cannot help open ng up; the r w ll s loosened, as
Lou s loosened the so l.
To succeed best, the g ft should come out of the blue. It should be
remarkable for the fact that a g ft l ke t has never been g ven before,
or for be ng preceded by a cold shoulder from the g ver. The more
often you g ve to part cular people, the blunter th s weapon becomes.
If they don’t take your g fts for granted, becom ng monsters of
ngrat tude, they w ll resent what appears to be char ty. The sudden,
unexpected, one-t me g ft w ll not spo l your ch ldren; t w ll keep
them under your thumb.
 Observance V

The ant que dealer Fush m ya, who l ved n the c ty of Edo (former
name for Tokyo) n the seventeenth century, once made a stop at a
v llage teahouse. After enjoy ng a cup of tea, he spent several
m nutes scrut n z ng the cup, wh ch he eventually pa d for and took
away w th h m. A local art san, watch ng th s, wa ted unt l Fush m ya
left the shop, then approached the old woman who owned the
teahouse and asked her who th s man was. She told h m t was
Japan’s most famous conno sseur, ant que dealer to the lord of
Izumo. The art san ran out of the shop, caught up w th Fush m ya,
and begged h m to sell h m the cup, wh ch must clearly be valuable f
Fush m ya judged t so. Fush m ya laughed heart ly: “It’s just an
ord nary cup of B zen ware,” he expla ned, “and t s not valuable at
all. The reason I was look ng at t was that the steam seemed to
hang about t strangely and I wondered f there wasn’t a leak
somewhere.” (Devotees of the Tea Ceremony were nterested n any
odd or acc dental beauty n nature.) S nce the art san st ll seemed so
exc ted about t, Fush m ya gave h m the cup for free.
The art san took the cup around, try ng to f nd an expert who
would appra se t at a h gh pr ce, but s nce all of them recogn zed t
as an ord nary teacup he got nowhere. Soon he was neglect ng h s
own bus ness, th nk ng only of the cup and the fortune t could br ng.
F nally he went to Edo to talk to Fush m ya at h s shop. There the
dealer, real z ng that he had nadvertently caused th s man pa n by
mak ng h m bel eve the cup had great worth, pa d h m 100 ryo (gold
p eces) for the cup as a k ndness. The cup was ndeed med ocre, but
he wanted to r d the art san of h s obsess on, wh le also allow ng h m
to feel that h s effort had not been wasted. The art san thanked h m
and went on h s way.
Money s never spent to so much advantage as when vou have been
cheated out of t; for at one stroke you have purchased prudence.
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860
Soon word spread of Fush m ya’s purchase of the teacup. Every
dealer n Japan clamored for h m to sell t, s nce a cup he had bought
for 100 ryo must be worth much more. He tr ed to expla n the
c rcumstances n wh ch he had bought the cup, but the dealers could
not be d ssuaded. Fush m ya f nally relented and put the cup up for
sale.
Dur ng the auct on, two buyers s multaneously b d 200 ryo for the
teacup, and then began to f ght over who had b d f rst. The r f ght ng
t pped over a table and the teacup fell to the ground and broke nto
several p eces. The auct on was clearly over. Fush m ya glued and
mended the cup, then stored t away, th nk ng the affa r f n shed.
Years later, however, the great tea master Matsuda ra Fuma v s ted
the store, and asked to see the cup, wh ch by then had become
legendary. Fuma exam ned t. “As a p ece,” he sa d, “ t s not up to
much, but a Tea Master pr zes sent ment and assoc at on more than
ntr ns c value.” He bought the cup for a h gh sum. A glued-together
work of less than ord nary craftsmansh p had become one of the
most famous objects n Japan.

Interpretat on

The story shows, f rst, an essent al aspect of money: That t s

humans who have created t and humans who nst ll t w th mean ng
and value. Second, w th objects as w th money, what the court er
most values are the sent ments and emot ons embedded n them—
these are what make them worth hav ng. The lesson s s mple: The
more your g fts and your acts of generos ty play w th sent ment, the
more powerful they are. The object or concept that plays w th a
charged emot on or h ts a chord of sent ment has more power than
the money you squander on an expens ve yet l feless present.

Observance VI

Ak moto Suzutomo, a wealthy adherent of the tea ceremony, once

gave h s page 100 ryo (gold p eces) and nstructed h m to purchase
a tea bowl offered by a part cular dealer. When the page saw the
bowl, he doubted t was worth that much, and after much barga n ng
got the pr ce reduced to 95 ryo. Days later, after Suzutomo had put
the bowl to use, the page proudly told h m what he had done.
“What an gnoramus you are!” repl ed Suzutomo. “A tea bowl that
anyone asks 100 p eces of gold for can only be a fam ly he rloom,
and a th ng l ke that s only sold when the fam ly s pressed for
money. And n that case they w ll be hop ng to f nd someone who w ll
g ve even 150 p eces for t. So what sort of fellow s t who does not
cons der the r feel ngs? Qu te apart from that, a cur o that you g ve
100 ryo for s someth ng worth hav ng, but one that has only cost 95
g ves a mean mpress on. So never let me see that tea bowl aga n!”
And he had the bowl locked away, and never took t out.

Interpretat on

When you ns st on pay ng less, you may save your f ve ryo, but the
nsult you cause and the cheap mpress on you create w ll cost you
n reputat on, wh ch s the th ng the powerful pr ze above all. Learn to
pay the full pr ce— t w ll save you a lot n the end.

A GIFT OF FISH
Kung-y Hs u, prem er of Lu, was fond of f sh. Therefore, people n
the whole country consc ent ously bought f sh, wh ch they presented
to h m. However, Kung-y would not accept the presents. Aga nst
such a step h s younger brother remonstrated w th h m and sa d:
“You l ke f sh, ndeed. Why don’t you accept the present of f sh?” In
reply, he sa d: “It s solely because I l ke f sh that I would not accept
the f sh they gave me. Indeed, f I accept the f sh, I w ll be placed
under an obl gat on to them. Once placed under an obl gat on to
them, I w ll some t me have to bend the law. If I bend the law, I w ll be
d sm ssed from the prem ersh p. After be ng d sm ssed from the
prem ersh p, I m ght not be able to supply myself w th f sh. On the
contrary, f I do not accept the f sh from them and am not d sm ssed
the prem ersh p, however fond of f sh, I can always supply myself
w th f sh.”
HAN-FEI-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.

Observance VII

Somet me near the beg nn ng of the seventeenth century n Japan, a

group of generals wh led away the t me before a b g battle by stag ng
an ncense-smell ng compet t on. Each part c pant anted up a pr ze
for the contest’s w nners—bows, arrows, saddles, and other tems a
warr or would covet.
The great Lord Date Masamune happened to pass by and was
nduced to part c pate. For a pr ze, he offered the gourd that hung
from h s belt. Everyone laughed, for no one wanted to w n th s cheap
tem. A reta ner of the host f nally accepted the gourd.
When the party broke up, however, and the generals were chatt ng
outs de the tent, Masamune brought over h s magn f cent horse and
gave t to the reta ner. “There,” he sa d, “a horse has come out of the
gourd.” The stunned generals suddenly regretted the r scorn at
Masamune’s g ft. Interpretat on
Masamune understood the follow ng: Money g ves ts possessor the
ab l ty to g ve pleasure to others. The more you can do th s, the more
you attract adm rat on. When you make a horse come out of a gourd,
you g ve the ult mate demonstrat on of your power.
Image: The R ver. To protect
yourself or to save the resource,
you dam t up. Soon, however,
the waters become dank and
pest lent. Only the foulest
forms of l fe can l ve n such
stagnant waters; noth ng trav
els on them, all commerce
stops. Destroy the dam. When
water flows and c rculates, t gen
erates abundance, wealth, and
power n ever larger c rcles. The
 R ver must flood per od cally
for good th ngs to flour sh.
I took money only from those who could afford t and were w ll ng to
go n w th me n schemes they fanc ed would fleece others. They
wanted money for ts own sake. I wanted t for the luxur es and
pleasures t would afford me. They were seldom concerned w th
human nature. They knew l ttle-and cared less-about the r fellow
men. If they had been keener students of human nature, f they had
g ven more t me to compan onsh p w th the r fellows and less to the
chase of the alm ghty dollar, they wouldn’t have been such easy
marks.
“YELLOW KID” WEIL. 1875-1976
Author ty: The great man who s a m ser s a great fool, and a man n
h gh places can have no v ce so harmful as avar ce. A m serly man
can conquer ne ther lands nor lordsh ps, for he does not have a
plent ful supply of fr ends w th whom he may work h s w ll. Whoever
wants to have fr ends must not love h s possess ons but must
acqu re fr ends by means of fa r g fts; for n the same way that the
lodestone subtly draws ron to tself, so the gold and s lver that a
man g ves attract the hearts of men. (The Romance of the Rose,
Gu llaume de Lorr s, c. 1200-1238)

REVERSAL

The powerful never forget that what s offered for free s nev tably a
tr ck. Fr ends who offer favors w thout ask ng for payment w ll later
want someth ng far dearer than the money you would have pa d
them. The barga n has h dden problems, both mater al and
psycholog cal. Learn to pay, then, and to pay well.
On the other hand, th s Law offers great opportun t es for sw ndl ng
and decept on f you apply t from the other s de. Dangl ng the lure of
a free lunch s the con art st’s stock n trade.
 No man was better at th s than the most successful con art st of
our age, Joseph We l, a.k.a. “The Yellow K d.” The Yellow K d
learned early that what made h s sw ndles poss ble was h s fellow
humans’ greed. “Th s des re to get someth ng for noth ng,” he once
wrote, “has been very costly to many people who have dealt w th me
and w th other con men.... When people learn—as I doubt they w ll—
that they can’t get someth ng for noth ng, cr me w ll d m n sh and we
shall all l ve n greater harmony.” Over the years We l dev sed many
ways to seduce people w th the prospect of easy money. He would
hand out “free” real estate—who could res st such an offer?—and
then the suckers would learn they had to pay $25 to reg ster the
sale. S nce the land was free, t seemed worth the h gh fee, and the
Yellow K d would make thousands of dollars on the phony
reg strat on. In exchange he would g ve h s suckers a phony deed.
Other t mes, he would tell suckers about a f xed horse race, or a
stock that would earn 200 percent n a few weeks. As he spun h s
stor es he would watch the sucker’s eyes open w de at the thought of
a free lunch.
The lesson s s mple: Ba t your decept ons w th the poss b l ty of
easy money. People are essent ally lazy, and want wealth to fall n
the r lap rather than to work for t. For a small sum, sell them adv ce
on how to make m ll ons (P. T. Barnum d d th s later n l fe), and that
small sum w ll become a fortune when mult pl ed by thousands of
suckers. Lure people n w th the prospect of easy money and you
have the room to work st ll more decept ons on them, s nce greed s
powerful enough to bl nd your v ct ms to anyth ng. And as the Yellow
K d sa d, half the fun s teach ng a moral lesson: Greed does not pay.
 LAW 41

AVOID STEPPING INTO A GREAT MAN’S SHOES

JUDGMENT
What happens f rst always appears better and more or g nal than
what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous
parent, you w ll have to accompl sh double the r ach evements to
outsh ne them. Do not get lost n the r shadow, or stuck n a past not
of your own mak ng: Establ sh your own name and dent ty by
chang ng course. Slay the overbear ng father, d sparage h s legacy,
and ga n power by sh n ng n your own way.
THE EXCELLENCE OF BEING FIRST
Many would have shone l ke the very phoen x n the r occupat ons f
others had not preceded them. Be ng f rst s a great advantage; w th
em nence, tw ce as good. Deal the f rst hand and you w ll w n the
upper ground.... Those who go f rst w n fame by r ght of b rth, and
those who follow are l ke second sons, content ng themselves w th
meager port ons.... Solomon opted w sely for pac f sm, y eld ng
warl ke th ngs to h s father. By chang ng course he found t eas er to
become a hero.... And our great Ph l p II governed the ent re world
from the throne of h s prudence, aston sh ng the ages. If h s
unconquered father was a model of energy, Ph l p was a parad gm of
prudence.... Th s sort of novelty has helped the well-adv sed w n a
place n the roll of the great. W thout leav ng the r own art, the
ngen ous leave the common path and take, even n profess ons gray
w th age, new steps toward em nence. Horace y elded ep c poetry to
V rg l, and Mart al the lyr c to Horace. Terence opted for comedy,
Pers us for sat re, each hop ng to be f rst n h s genre. Bold fancy
never succumbed to fac le m tat on.

A POCKET MIRROR FOR HEROES, BALTASAR GRACIÁN,

TRANSLATED BY CHRISTOPHER MAURER, 1996

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

When Lou s XIV d ed, n 1715, after a glor ous f fty-f ve-year re gn, all
eyes focused on h s great-grandson and chosen successor, the
future Lou s XV. Would the boy, only f ve at the t me, prove as great
a leader as the Sun K ng? Lou s XIV had transformed a country on
the verge of c v l war nto the preem nent power n Europe. The last
years of h s re gn had been d ff cult—he had been old and t red—but
t was hoped that the ch ld would develop nto the k nd of strong ruler
who would re nv gorate the land and add to the f rm foundat on that
Lou s XIV had la d.
To th s end the ch ld was g ven the best m nds of France as h s
tutors, men who would nstruct h m n the arts of statecraft, n the
methods that the Sun K ng had perfected. Noth ng was neglected n
h s educat on. But when Lou s XV came to the throne, n 1726, a
sudden change came over h m: He no longer had to study or please
others or prove h mself. He stood alone at the top of a great country,
w th wealth and power at h s command. He could do as he w shed.
In the f rst years of h s re gn, Lou s gave h mself over to pleasure,
leav ng the government n the hands of a trusted m n ster, André-
Hercule de Fleury. Th s caused l ttle concern, for he was a young
man who needed to sow h s w ld oats, and de Fleury was a good
m n ster. But t slowly became clear that th s was more than a
pass ng phase. Lou s had no nterest n govern ng. H s ma n worry
was not France’s f nances, or a poss ble war w th Spa n, but
boredom. He could not stand be ng bored, and when he was not
hunt ng deer, or chas ng young g rls, he wh led away h s t me at the
gambl ng tables, los ng huge sums n a s ngle n ght.
The court, as usual, reflected the tastes of the ruler. Gambl ng and
lav sh part es became the obsess on. The court ers had no concern
w th the future of France—they poured the r energ es nto charm ng
the k ng, angl ng for t tles that would br ng them l fe pens ons, and for
cab net pos t ons demand ng l ttle work but pay ng huge salar es.
Paras tes flocked to the court, and the state’s debts swelled.
In 1745 Lou s fell n love w th Madame de Pompadour, a woman of
m ddle-class or g n who had managed to r se through her charms,
her ntell gence, and a good marr age. Madame de Pompadour
became the off c al royal m stress; she also became France’s arb ter
of taste and fash on. But the Madame had pol t cal amb t ons as well,
and she eventually emerged as the country’s unoff c al pr me
m n ster— t was she, not Lou s, who w elded h r ng-and-f r ng power
over France’s most mportant m n sters.
As he grew older Lou s only needed more d vers on. On the
grounds of Versa lles he bu lt a brothel, Parc aux Cerfs, wh ch
housed some of the prett est young g rls of France. Underground
passages and h dden sta r-cases gave Lou s access at all hours.
After Madame de Pompadour d ed, n 1764, she was succeeded as
royal m stress by Madame du Barry, who soon came to dom nate the
court, and who, l ke de Pompadour before her, began to meddle n
affa rs of state. If a m n ster d d not please her he would f nd h mself
f red. All of Europe was aghast when du Barry, the daughter of a
baker, managed to arrange the f r ng of Ét enne de Cho seul, the
fore gn m n ster and France’s most able d plomat. He had shown her
too l ttle respect. As t me went by, sw ndlers and charlatans made
the r nests n Versa lles, and ent ced Lou s’s nterest n astrology, the
occult, and fraudulent bus ness deals. The young and pampered
teenager who had taken over France years before had only grown
worse w th age.
The motto that became attached to Lou s’s re gn was “Après mo ,
le déluge”—“After me the flood,” or, Let France rot after I am gone.
And ndeed when Lou s d d go, n 1774, worn out by debauchery, h s
country and h s own f nances were n horr ble d sarray. H s grandson
Lou s XVI nher ted a realm n desperate need of reform and a strong
leader. But Lou s XVI was even weaker than h s grandfather, and
could only watch as the country descended nto revolut on. In 1792
the republ c ntroduced by the French Revolut on declared the end of
the monarchy, and gave the k ng a new name, “Lou s the Last.” A
few months later he kneeled on the gu llot ne, h s about-to-be-
severed head str pped of all the rad ance and power that the Sun
K ng had nvested n the crown.

Interpretat on

From a country that had descended nto c v l war n the late 1640s,
Lou s XIV forged the m ght est realm n Europe. Great generals
would tremble n h s presence. A cook once made a m stake n
prepar ng a d sh and comm tted su c de rather than face the k ng’s
wrath. Lou s XIV had many m stresses, but the r power ended n the
bedroom. He f lled h s court w th the most br ll ant m nds of the age.
The symbol of h s power was Versa lles: Refus ng to accept the
palace of h s forefathers, the Louvre, he bu lt h s own palace n what
was then the m ddle of nowhere, symbol z ng that th s was a new
order he had founded, one w thout precedent. He made Versa lles
the centerp ece of h s re gn, a place that all the powerful of Europe
env ed and v s ted w th a sense of awe. In essence, Lou s took a
great vo d—the decay ng monarchy of France—and f lled t w th h s
own symbols and rad ant power.
Lou s XV, on the other hand, symbol zes the fate of all those who
nher t someth ng large or who follow n a great man’s footsteps. It
would seem easy for a son or successor to bu ld on the grand
foundat on left for them, but n the realm of power the oppos te s
true. The pampered, ndulged son almost always squanders the
nher tance, for he does not start w th the father’s need to f ll a vo d.
As Mach avell states, necess ty s what mpels men to take act on,
and once the necess ty s gone, only rot and decay are left. Hav ng
no need to ncrease h s store of power, Lou s XV nev tably
succumbed to nert a. Under h m, Versa lles, the symbol of the Sun
K ng’s author ty, became a pleasure palace of ncomparable banal ty,
a k nd of Las Vegas of the Bourbon monarchy. It came to represent
all that the oppressed peasantry of France hated about the r k ng,
and dur ng the Revolut on they looted t w th glee.

CUT OF PERICLES
As a young man Per cles was ncl ned to shr nk from fac ng the
people. One reason for th s was that he was cons dered to bear a
d st nct resemblance to the tyrant P s stratus, and when men who
were well on n years remarked on the charm of Per cles’ vo ce and
the smoothness and fluency of h s speech, they were aston shed at
the resemblance between the two. The fact that he was r ch and that
he came of a d st ngu shed fam ly and possessed exceed ngly
powerful fr ends made the fear of ostrac sm very real to h m, and at
the beg nn ng of h s career he took no part n pol t cs but devoted
h mself to sold er ng, n wh ch he showed great dar ng and
enterpr se. However, the t me came when Ar st des was dead.
Them stocles n ex le, and C mon frequently absent on d stant
campa gns. Then at last Per cles dec ded to attach h mself to the
people’s party and to take up the cause of the poor and the many
nstead of that of the r ch and the few, n sp te of the fact that th s
was qu te contrary to h s own temperament, wh ch was thoroughly
ar stocrat c. He was afra d, apparently, of be ng suspected of a m ng
at a d ctatorsh p: so that when he saw that C mon’s sympath es were
strongly w th the nobles and that C mon was the dol of the
ar stocrat c party, Per cles began to ngrat ate h mself w th the
people, partly for self-preservat on and partly by way of secur ng
power aga nst h s r val. He now entered upon a new mode of l fe. He
was never to be seen walk ng n any street except the one wh ch led
to the market-place and the counc l chamber.

THE LIFE OF PERICLES, PLUTARCH, c. A.D. 46-120

Lou s XV had only one way out of the trap awa t ng the son or
successor of a man l ke the Sun K ng: to psycholog cally beg n from
noth ng, to den grate the past and h s nher tance, and to move n a
totally new d rect on, creat ng h s own world. Assum ng you have the
cho ce, t would be better to avo d the s tuat on altogether, to place
yourself where there s a vacuum of power, where you can be the
one to br ng order out of chaos w thout hav ng to compete w th
another star n the sky. Power depends on appear ng larger than
other people, and when you are lost n the shadow of the father, the
k ng, the great predecessor, you cannot poss bly project such a
presence.
But when they began to make sovere gnty hered tary, the ch ldren
qu ckly
degenerated from the r fathers; and, so far from try ng to equal the r
father’s
v rtues, they cons dered that a pr nce had noth ng else to do than to
excel
all the rest n dleness, ndulgence, and every other var ety of
pleasure.
N ccolò Mach avell , 1469-1527
THE LIFE OF PIETRO PERUGINO, PAINTER,
c.1450-1523
How benef c al poverty may somet mes be to those w th talent, and
how t may serve as a powerful goad to make them perfect or
excellent n whatever occupat on they m ght choose, can be seen
very clearly n the act ons of P etro Perug no. W sh ng by means of
h s ab l ty to atta n some respectable rank, after leav ng d sastrous
calam t es beh nd n Perug a and com ng to Florence, he rema ned
there many months n poverty, sleep ng n a chest, s nce he had no
other bed; he turned n ght nto day, and w th the greatest zeal
cont nually appl ed h mself to the study of h s profess on. After
pa nt ng had become second nature to h m, P etro’s only pleasure
was always to be work ng n h s craft and constantly to be pa nt ng.
And because he always had the dread of poverty before h s eyes, he
d d th ngs to make money wh ch he probably would not have
bothered to do had he not been forced to support h mself. Perhaps
wealth would have closed to h m and h s talent the path to
excellence just as poverty had opened t up to h m, but need spurred
h m on s nce he des red to r se from such a m serable and lowly
pos t on- f not perhaps to the summ t and supreme he ght of
excellence, then at least to a po nt where he could have enough to
l ve on. For th s reason, he took no not ce of cold, hunger,
d scomfort, nconven ence, to l or shame f he could only l ve one day
n ease and repose; and he would always say—and as f t were a
proverb—that after bad weather, good weather must follow, and that
dur ng the good weather houses must be bu lt for shelter n t mes of
need.
LIVES OF THE ARTISTS, GIORGIO VASARI, 1511-1574

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

Alexander the Great had a dom nant pass on as a young man—an

ntense d sl ke for h s father, K ng Ph l p of Macedon a. He hated
Ph l p’s cunn ng, caut ous style of rul ng, h s bombast c speeches, h s
dr nk ng and whor ng, and h s love of wrestl ng and of other wastes
of t me. Alexander knew he had to make h mself the very oppos te of
h s dom neer ng father: He would force h mself to be bold and
reckless, he would control h s tongue and be a man of few words,
and he would not lose prec ous t me n pursu t of pleasures that
brought no glory. Alexander also resented the fact that Ph l p had
conquered most of Greece: “My father w ll go on conquer ng t ll there
s noth ng extraord nary left for me to do,” he once compla ned. Wh le
other sons of powerful men were content to nher t wealth and l ve a
l fe of le sure, Alexander wanted only to outdo h s father, to obl terate
Ph l p’s name from h story by surpass ng h s accompl shments.
Alexander tched to show others how super or he was to h s father.
A Thessal an horse-dealer once brought a pr ze horse named
Bucephalus to sell to Ph l p. None of the k ng’s grooms could get
near the horse— t was far too savage—and Ph l p berated the
merchant for br ng ng h m such a useless beast. Watch ng the whole
affa r, Alexander scowled and commented, “What a horse they are
los ng for want of sk ll and sp r t to manage h m!” When he had sa d
th s several t mes, Ph l p had f nally had enough, and challenged h m
to take on the horse. He called the merchant back, secretly hop ng
h s son would have a nasty fall and learn a b tter lesson. But
Alexander was the one to teach the lesson: Not only d d he mount
Bucephalus, he managed to r de h m at full gallop, tam ng the horse
that would later carry h m all the way to Ind a. The court ers
applauded w ldly, but Ph l p seethed ns de, see ng not a son but a
r val to h s power.
Alexander’s def ance of h s father grew bolder. One day the two
men had a heated argument before the ent re court, and Ph l p drew
h s sword as f to str ke h s son; hav ng drunk too much w ne,
however, the k ng stumbled. Alexander po nted at h s father and
jeered, “Men of Macedon a, see there the man who s prepar ng to
pass from Europe to As a. He cannot pass from one table to another
w thout fall ng.”
When Alexander was e ghteen, a d sgruntled court er murdered
Ph l p. As word of the reg c de spread through Greece, c ty after c ty
rose up n rebell on aga nst the r Macedon an rulers. Ph l p’s adv sers
counseled Alexander, now the k ng, to proceed caut ously, to do as
Ph l p had done and conquer through cunn ng. But Alexander would
do th ngs h s way: He marched to the furthest reaches of the
k ngdom, suppressed the rebell ous towns, and reun ted the emp re
w th brutal eff c ency.
As a young rebel grows older, h s struggle aga nst the father often
wanes, and he gradually comes to resemble the very man he had
wanted to defy. But Alexander’s loath ng of h s father d d not end
w th Ph l p’s death. Once he had consol dated Greece, he set h s
eyes on Pers a, the pr ze that had eluded h s father, who had
dreamed of conquer ng As a. If he defeated the Pers ans, Alexander
would f nally surpass Ph l p n glory and fame.
Alexander crossed nto As a w th an army of 35,000 to face a
Pers an force number ng over a m ll on. Before engag ng the
Pers ans n battle he passed through the town of Gord um. Here, n
the town’s ma n temple, there stood an anc ent char ot t ed w th
cords made of the r nd of the cor nel tree. Legend had t that any
man who could undo these cords—the Gord an knot—would rule the
world. Many had tr ed to unt e the enormous and ntr cate knot, but
none had succeeded. Alexander, see ng he could not poss bly unt e
the knot w th h s bare hands, took out h s sword and w th one slash
cut t n half. Th s symbol c gesture showed the world that he would
not do as others, but would blaze h s own path.
Aga nst astound ng odds, Alexander conquered the Pers ans.
Most expected h m to stop there— t was a great tr umph, enough to
secure h s fame for etern ty. But Alexander had the same
relat onsh p to h s own deeds as he had to h s father: H s conquest of
Pers a represented the past, and he wanted never to rest on past
tr umphs, or to allow the past to outsh ne the present. He moved on
to Ind a, extend ng h s emp re beyond all known l m ts. Only h s
d sgruntled and weary sold ers prevented h m from go ng farther.

Interpretat on

Alexander represents an extremely uncommon type n h story: the

son of a famous and successful man who manages to surpass the
father n glory and power. The reason th s type s uncommon s
s mple: The father most often manages to amass h s fortune, h s
k ngdom, because he beg ns w th l ttle or noth ng. A desperate urge
mpels h m to succeed—he has noth ng to lose by cunn ng and
mpetuousness, and has no famous father of h s own to compete
aga nst. Th s k nd of man has reason to bel eve n h mself—to
bel eve that h s way of do ng th ngs s the best, because, after all, t
worked for h m.
When a man l ke th s has a son, he becomes dom neer ng and
oppress ve, mpos ng h s lessons on the son, who s start ng off l fe n
c rcumstances totally d fferent from those n wh ch the father h mself
began. Instead of allow ng the son to go n a new d rect on, the father
w ll try to put h m n h s own shoes, perhaps secretly w sh ng the boy
w ll fa l, as Ph l p half wanted to see Alexander thrown from
Bucephalus. Fathers envy the r sons’ youth and v gor, after all, and
the r des re s to control and dom nate. The sons of such men tend to
become cowed and caut ous, terr f ed of los ng what the r fathers
have ga ned.
The son w ll never step out of h s father’s shadow unless he
adopts the ruthless strategy of Alexander: d sparage the past, create
your own k ngdom, put the father n the shadows nstead of lett ng
h m do the same to you. If you cannot mater ally start from ground
zero— t would be fool sh to renounce an nher tance—you can at
least beg n from ground zero psycholog cally, by throw ng off the
we ght of the past and chart ng a new d rect on. Alexander
nst nct vely recogn zed that pr v leges of b rth are mped ments to
power. Be merc less w th the past, then—not only w th your father
and h s father but w th your own earl er ach evements. Only the weak
rest on the r laurels and dote on past tr umphs; n the game of power
there s never t me to rest.
THE PROBLEM OF PAUL MORPHY
The sl ghtest acqua ntance w th chess shows one that t s a play-
subst tute for the art of war and ndeed t has been a favor te
recreat on of some of the greatest m l tary leaders, from W ll am the
Conqueror to Napoleon. In the contest between the oppos ng arm es
the same pr nc ples of both strategy and tact cs are d splayed as n
actual war, the same fores ght and powers of calculat on are
necessary, the same capac ty for d v n ng the plans of the opponent,
and the r gor w th wh ch dec s ons are followed by the r
consequences s, f anyth ng, even more ruthless. More than that, t
s pla n that the unconsc ous mot ve actuat ng the players s not the
mere love of pugnac ty character st c of all compet t ve games, but
the gr mmer one of father-murder. It s true that the or g nal goal of
captur ng the k ng has been g ven up, but from the po nt of v ew of
mot ve there s, except n respect of crud ty, not apprec able change
n the present goal of ster l z ng h m n mmob l ty.... “Checkmate”
means l terally “the k ng s dead.” ... Our knowledge of the
unconsc ous mot vat on of chess-play ng tells us that what t
represented could only have been the w sh to overcome the father n
an acceptable way.... It s no doubt s gn f cant that [n neteenth-
century chess champ on Paul] Morphy’s soar ng odyssey nto the
h gher realms of chess began just a year after the unexpectedly
sudden death of h s father, wh ch had been a great shock to h m,
and we may surm se that h s br ll ant effort of subl mat on was, l ke
Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Freud’s The Interpretat on of Dreams, a
react on to th s cr t cal event....
Someth ng should now be sa d about the recept on Morphy’s
successes met w th, for they were of such a k nd as to ra se the
quest on whether h s subsequent collapse may not have been
nfluenced through h s perhaps belong ng to the type that Freud has
descr bed under the name of D e am Erfolge sche tern (“Those
wrecked by success”).... Couched n more psycholog cal language,
was Morphy affr ghted at h s own presumptuousness when the l ght
of publ c ty was thrown on [h s great success?] Freud has po nted
out that the people who break under the stra n of too great success
do so because they can endure t only n mag nat on, not n real ty.
To castrate the father n a dream s a very d fferent matter from do ng
t n real ty. The real s tuat on provokes the unconsc ous gu lt n ts full
force, and the penalty may be mental collapse.
THE PROBLEM OF PAUL MORPHY, ERNEST JONES, 1951

KEYS TO POWER

In many anc ent k ngdoms, for example Bengal and Sumatra, after
the k ng had ruled for several years h s subjects would execute h m.
Th s was done partly as a r tual of renewal, but also to prevent h m
from grow ng too powerful-for the k ng would generally try to
establ sh a permanent order, at the expense of other fam l es and of
h s own sons. Instead of protect ng the tr be and lead ng t n t mes of
war, he would attempt to dom nate t. And so he would be beaten to
death, or executed n an elaborate r tual. Now that he was no longer
around for h s honors to go to h s head, he could be worsh pped as a
god. Meanwh le the f eld had been cleared for a new and youthful
order to establ sh tself.
The amb valent, host le att tude towards the k ng or father f gure
also f nds express on n legends of heroes who do not know the r
father. Moses, the archetypal man of power, was found abandoned
among the bulrushes and never knew h s parents; w thout a father to
compete w th h m or l m t h m, he could atta n the he ghts of power.
Hercules had no earthly father-he was the son of the god Zeus. Later
n h s l fe Alexander the Great spread the story that the god Jup ter
Ammon had s red h m, not Ph l p of Macedon. Legends and r tuals
l ke these el m nate the human father because he symbol zes the
destruct ve power of the past.
The past prevents the young hero from creat ng h s own world—he
must do as h s father d d, even after that father s dead or powerless.
The hero must bow and scrape before h s predecessor and y eld to
trad t on and precedent. What had success n the past must be
carr ed over to the present, even though c rcumstances have greatly
changed. The past also we ghs the hero down w th an nher tance
that he s terr f ed of los ng, mak ng h m t m d and caut ous.
Power depends on the ab l ty to f ll a vo d, to occupy a f eld that
has been cleared of the dead we ght of the past. Only after the father
f gure has been properly done away w th w ll you have the necessary
space to create and establ sh a new order. There are several
strateg es you can adopt to accompl sh th s—var at ons on the
execut on of the k ng that d sgu se the v olence of the mpulse by
channel ng t n soc ally acceptable forms.
Perhaps the s mplest way to escape the shadow of the past s
s mply to bel ttle t, play ng on the t meless antagon sm between the
generat ons, st rr ng up the young aga nst the old. For th s you need
a conven ent older f gure to p llory. Mao Tse-tung, confront ng a
culture that f ercely res sted change, played on the suppressed
resentment aga nst the overbear ng presence of the venerable
Confuc us n Ch nese culture. John F. Kennedy knew the dangers of
gett ng lost n the past; he rad cally d st ngu shed h s pres dency from
that of h s predecessor, Dw ght D. E senhower, and also from the
preced ng decade, the 1950s, wh ch E senhower person f ed.
Kennedy, for nstance, would not play the dull and fatherly game of
golf—a symbol of ret rement and pr v lege, and E senhower’s
pass on. Instead he played football on the Wh te House lawn. In
every aspect h s adm n strat on represented v gor and youth, as
opposed to the stodgy E senhower. Kennedy had d scovered an old
truth: The young are eas ly set aga nst the old, s nce they yearn to
make the r own place n the world and resent the shadow of the r
fathers.
The d stance you establ sh from your predecessor often demands
some symbol sm, a way of advert s ng tself publ cly. Lou s XIV, for
example, created such symbol sm when he rejected the trad t onal
palace of the French k ngs and bu lt h s own palace of Versa lles.
K ng Ph l p II of Spa n d d the same when he created h s center of
power, the palace of El Escor al, n what was then the m ddle of
nowhere. But Lou s carr ed the game further: He would not be a k ng
l ke h s father or earl er ancestors, he would not wear a crown or
carry a scepter or s t on a throne, he would establ sh a new k nd of
mpos ng author ty w th symbols and r tuals of ts own. Lou s made
h s ancestors’ r tuals nto laughable rel cs of the past. Follow h s
example: Never let yourself be seen as follow ng your predecessor’s
path. If you do you w ll never surpass h m. You must phys cally
demonstrate your d fference, by establ sh ng a style and symbol sm
that sets you apart.
The Roman emperor Augustus, successor to Jul us Caesar,
understood th s thoroughly. Caesar had been a great general, a
theatr cal f gure whose spectacles kept the Romans enterta ned, an
nternat onal em ssary seduced by the charms of Cleopatra—a
larger-than-l fe f gure. So Augustus, desp te h s own theatr cal
tendenc es, competed w th Caesar not by try ng to outdo h m but by
d fferent at ng h mself from h m: He based h s power on a return to
Roman s mpl c ty, an auster ty of both style and substance. Aga nst
the memory of Caesar’s sweep ng presence Augustus posed a qu et
and manly d gn ty.
The problem w th the overbear ng predecessor s that he f lls the
v stas before you w th symbols of the past. You have no room to
create your own name. To deal w th th s s tuat on you need to hunt
out the vacuums—those areas n culture that have been left vacant
and n wh ch you can become the f rst and pr nc pal f gure to sh ne.
When Per cles of Athens was about to launch a career as a
statesman, he looked for the one th ng that was m ss ng n Athen an
pol t cs. Most of the great pol t c ans of h s t me had all ed themselves
w th the ar stocracy; ndeed Per cles h mself had ar stocrat c
tendenc es. Yet he dec ded to throw n h s hat w th the c ty’s
democrat c elements. The cho ce had noth ng to do w th h s personal
bel efs, but t launched h m on a br ll ant career. Out of necess ty he
became a man of the people. Instead of compet ng n an arena f lled
w th great leaders both past and present, he would make a name for
h mself where no shadows could obscure h s presence.
When the pa nter D ego de Velázquez began h s career, he knew
he could not compete n ref nement and techn que w th the great
Rena ssance pa nters who had come before h m. Instead he chose
to work n a style that by the standards of the t me seemed coarse
and rough, n a way that had never been seen before. And n th s
style he excelled. There were members of the Span sh court who
wanted to demonstrate the r own break w th the past; the newness of
Velázquez’s style thr lled them. Most people are afra d to break so
boldly w th trad t on, but they secretly adm re those who can break
up the old forms and re nv gorate the culture. Th s s why there s so
much power to be ga ned from enter ng vacuums and vo ds.
There s a k nd of stubborn stup d ty that recurs throughout h story,
and s a strong mped ment to power: The superst t ous bel ef that f
the person before you succeeded by do ng A, B, and C, you can re-
create the r success by do ng the same th ng. Th s cook e-cutter
approach w ll seduce the uncreat ve, for t s easy, and appeals to
the r t m d ty and the r laz ness. But c rcumstances never repeat
themselves exactly.
When General Douglas MacArthur assumed command of
Amer can forces n the Ph l pp nes dur ng World War II, an ass stant
handed h m a book conta n ng the var ous precedents establ shed by
the commanders before h m, the methods that had been successful
for them. MacArthur asked the ass stant how many cop es there
were of th s book. S x, the ass stant answered. “Well,” the general
repl ed, “you get all those s x cop es together and burn them—every
one of them. I’ll not be bound by precedents. Any t me a problem
comes up, I’ll make the dec s on at once— mmed ately.” Adopt th s
ruthless strategy toward the past: Burn all the books, and tra n
yourself to react to c rcumstances as they happen.
You may bel eve that you have separated yourself from the
predecessor or father f gure, but as you grow older you must be
eternally v g lant lest you become the father you had rebelled
aga nst. As a young man, Mao Tse-tung d sl ked h s father and n the
struggle aga nst h m found h s own dent ty and a new set of values.
But as he aged, h s father’s ways crept back n. Mao’s father had
valued manual work over ntellect; Mao had scoffed at th s as a
young man, but as he grew older he unconsc ously returned to h s
father’s v ews and echoed such outdated deas by forc ng a whole
generat on of Ch nese ntellectuals nto manual labor, a n ghtmar sh
m stake that cost h s reg me dearly. Remember: You are your own
father. Do not let yourself spend years creat ng yourself only to let
your guard down and allow the ghost of the past—father, hab t,
h story—to sneak back n.
F nally, as noted n the story of Lou s XV, plen tude and prosper ty
tend to make us lazy and nact ve: When our power s secure we
have no need to act. Th s s a ser ous danger, espec ally for those
who ach eve success and power at an early age. The playwr ght
Tennessee W ll ams, for nstance, found h mself skyrocketed from
obscur ty to fame by the success of The Glass Menager e. “The sort
of l fe wh ch I had had prev ous to th s popular success,” he later
wrote, “was one that requ red endurance, a l fe of claw ng and
scratch ng, but t was a good l fe because t was the sort of l fe for
wh ch the human organ sm s created. I was not aware of how much
v tal energy had gone nto th s struggle unt l the struggle was
removed. Th s was secur ty at last. I sat down and looked about me
and was suddenly very depressed.” W ll ams had a nervous
breakdown, wh ch may n fact have been necessary for h m: Pushed
to the psycholog cal edge, he could start wr t ng w th the old v tal ty
aga n, and he produced A Streetcar Named Des re. Fyodor
Dostoyevsky, s m larly, whenever he wrote a successful novel, would
feel that the f nanc al secur ty he had ga ned made the act of creat on
unnecessary. He would take h s ent re sav ngs to the cas no and
would not leave unt l he had gambled away h s last penny. Once
reduced to poverty he could wr te aga n.
It s not necessary to go to such extremes, but you must be
prepared to return to square one psycholog cally rather than grow ng
fat and lazy w th prosper ty. Pablo P casso could deal w th success,
but only by constantly chang ng the style of h s pa nt ng, often
break ng completely w th what had made h m successful before.
How often our early tr umphs turn us nto a k nd of car cature of
ourselves. Powerful people recogn ze these traps; l ke Alexander the
Great, they struggle constantly to re-create themselves. The father
must not be allowed to return; he must be sla n at every step of the
way.
Image: The Father. He casts a g ant shadow over h s ch ldren,
keep ng them n thrall long after he s gone by ty ng them to the past,
squash ng the r youthful sp r t, and forc ng them down the same t red
path he followed h mself. H s tr cks are many. At every crossroads
you must slay the father and step out of h s shadow.
Author ty: Beware of stepp ng nto a great man’s shoes—you w ll
have to accompl sh tw ce as much to surpass h m. Those who follow
are taken for m tators. No matter how much they sweat, they w ll
never shed that burden. It s an uncommon sk ll to f nd a new path
for excellence, a modern route to celebr ty. There are many roads to
s ngular ty, not all of them well traveled. The newest ones can be
arduous, but they are often shortcuts to greatness. (Baltasar
Grac án, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

The shadow of a great predecessor could be used to advantage f t

s chosen as a tr ck, a tact c that can be d scarded once t has
brought you power. Napoleon III used the name and legend of h s
llustr ous grand-uncle Napoleon Bonaparte to help h m become f rst
pres dent and then emperor of France. Once on the throne, however,
he d d not stay t ed to the past; he qu ckly showed how d fferent h s
re gn would be, and was careful to keep the publ c from expect ng
h m to atta n the he ghts that Bonaparte had atta ned.
The past often has elements worth appropr at ng, qual t es that
would be fool sh to reject out of a need to d st ngu sh yourself. Even
Alexander the Great recogn zed and was nfluenced by h s father’s
sk ll n organ z ng an army. Mak ng a d splay of do ng th ngs
d fferently from your predecessor can make you seem ch ld sh and n
fact out of control, unless your act ons have a log c of the r own.
Joseph II, son of the Austr an empress Mar a Theresa, made a
show of do ng the exact oppos te of h s mother—dress ng l ke an
ord nary c t zen, stay ng n nns nstead of palaces, appear ng as the
“people’s emperor.” Mar a Theresa, on the other hand, had been
regal and ar stocrat c. The problem was that she had also been
beloved, an empress who ruled w sely after years of learn ng the
hard way. If you have the k nd of ntell gence and nst nct that w ll
po nt you n the r ght d rect on, play ng the rebel w ll not be
dangerous. But f you are med ocre, as Joseph II was n compar son
to h s mother, you are better off learn ng from your predecessor’s
knowledge and exper ence, wh ch are based on someth ng real.
F nally, t s often w se to keep an eye on the young, your future
r vals n power. Just as you try to r d yourself of your father, they w ll
soon play the same tr ck on you, den grat ng everyth ng you have
accompl shed. Just as you r se by rebell ng aga nst the past, keep an
eye on those r s ng from below, and never g ve them the chance to
do the same to you.
The great Baroque art st and arch tect P etro Bern n was a master
at sn ff ng out younger potent al r vals and keep ng them n h s
shadow. One day a young stonemason named Francesco Borrom n
showed Bern n h s arch tectural sketches. Recogn z ng h s talent
mmed ately, Bern n nstantly h red Borrom n as h s ass stant, wh ch
del ghted the young man but was actually only a tact c to keep h m
close at hand, so that he could play psycholog cal games on h m and
create n h m a k nd of nfer or ty complex. And ndeed, desp te
Borrom n ’s br ll ance, Bern n has the greater fame. H s strategy w th
Borrom n he made a l felong pract ce: Fear ng that the great sculptor
Alessandro Algard , for example, would ecl pse h m n fame, he
arranged t so that Algard could only f nd work as h s ass stant. And
any ass stant who rebelled aga nst Bern n and tr ed to str ke out on
h s own would f nd h s career ru ned.
 LAW 42

STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP WILL

SCATTER

JUDGMENT
Trouble can often be traced to a s ngle strong nd v dual —the st rrer,
the arrogant underl ng, the po soner of goodw ll. If you allow such
people room to operate, others w ll succumb to the r nfluence. Do
not wa t for the troubles they cause to mult ply, do not try to negot ate
w th them—they are rredeemable. Neutral ze the r nfluence by
solat ng or ban sh ng them. Str ke at the source of the trouble and
the sheep w ll scatter.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I

Near the end of the s xth century B.C., the c ty-state of Athens
overthrew the ser es of petty tyrants who had dom nated ts pol t cs
for decades. It establ shed nstead a democracy that was to last over
a century, a democracy that became the source of ts power and ts
proudest ach evement. But as the democracy evolved, so d d a
problem the Athen ans had never faced: How to deal w th those who
d d not concern themselves w th the cohes on of a small c ty
surrounded by enem es, who d d not work for ts greater glory, but
thought of only themselves and the r own amb t ons and petty
ntr gues? The Athen ans understood that these people, f left alone,
would sow d ssens on, d v de the c ty nto fact ons, and st r up
anx et es, all of wh ch could lead to the ru n of the r democracy.
V olent pun shment no longer su ted the new, c v l zed order that
Athens had created. Instead the c t zens found another, more
sat sfy ng, and less brutal way to deal w th the chron cally self sh:
Every year they would gather n the marketplace and wr te on a
p ece of earthenware, an ostrakon, the name of an nd v dual they
wanted to see ban shed from the c ty for ten years. If a part cular
name appeared on s x thousand ballots, that person would nstantly
be ex led. If no one rece ved s x thousand votes, the person w th the
most ostraka record ng h s name would suffer the ten-year
“ostrac sm.” Th s r tual expuls on became a k nd of fest val—what a
joy to be able to ban sh those rr tat ng, anx ety- nduc ng nd v duals
who wanted to r se above the group they should have served.
In 490 B.C., Ar st des, one of the great generals of Athen an
h story, helped defeat the Pers ans at the battle of Marathon.
Meanwh le, off the battlef eld, h s fa rness as a judge had earned h m
the n ckname “The Just.” But as the years went by the Athen ans
came to d sl ke h m. He made such a show of h s r ghteousness, and
th s, they bel eved, d sgu sed h s feel ngs of super or ty and scorn for
the common folk. H s omn presence n Athen an pol t cs became
obnox ous; the c t zens grew t red of hear ng h m called “The Just.”
They feared that th s was just the type of man—judgmental, haughty
—who would eventually st r up f erce d v s ons among them. In 482
B.C., desp te Ar st des’ nvaluable expert se n the cont nu ng war
w th the Pers ans, they collected the ostraka and had h m ban shed.
After Ar st des’ ostrac sm, the great general Them stocles emerged
as the c ty’s prem er leader. But h s many honors and v ctor es went
to h s head, and he too became arrogant and overbear ng,
constantly rem nd ng the Athen ans of h s tr umphs n battle, the
temples he had bu lt, the dangers he had fended off. He seemed to
be say ng that w thout h m the c ty would come to ru n. And so, n
472 B.C., Them stocles’ name was f lled n on the ostraka and the
c ty was r d of h s po sonous presence.

THE, CONQUEST OF PER

The struggle now became f ercer than ever around the royal l tter [of
A tahualpa, k ng of the Incan emp re]. It reeled more and more, and
at length, several of the nobles who supported t hav ng been sla n, t
was overturned, and the Ind an pr nce would have come w th
v olence to the ground, had not h s fall been broken bv the efforts of
P zarro and some other of the caval ers, who caught h m n the r
arms. The mper al borla was nstantly snatched from h s temples by
a sold er. and the unhappy monarch, strongly secured, was removed
to a ne ghbor ng bu ld ng where he was carefully guarded.
All attempt at res stance now ceased. The fate of the Inca
[Atahualpa] soon spread over town and country. The charm that
m ght have held the Peruv ans together was d ssolved. Every man
thought only of h s own safety. Even the [Incan] sold ery encamped
on the adjacent f elds took the alarm, and, learn ng the fatal t d ngs,
were seen fly ng n every d rect on before the r pursuers, who n the
heat of tr umph showed no touch of mercy. At length n ght, more
p t ful than man, threw her fr endly mantle over the fug t ves, and the
scattered troops of P zarro rall ed once more at the sound of the
trumpet n the bloody square of Cajamarca.... [Atahualpa] was
reverenced as more than a human. He was not merely the head of
the state, but the po nt to wh ch all ts nst tut ons converged as to a
common center—the keystone of the pol t cal fabr c wh ch must fall
to p eces by ts own we ght when that was w thdrawn. So t fared on
the [execut on] of Atahualpa. H s death not only left the throne
vacant, w thout any certa n successor, but the manner of t
announced to the Peruv an people that a hand stronger than that of
the r Incas had now se zed the scepter, and that the dynasty of the
Ch ldren of the Sun had passed away forever.
THE CONQUEST OF PERU, WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, 1847
The greatest pol t cal f gure n f fth-century Athens was
undoubtedly Per cles. Although several t mes threatened w th
ostrac sm, he avo ded that fate by ma nta n ng close t es w th the
people. Perhaps he had learned a lesson as a ch ld from h s favor te
tutor, the ncomparable Damon, who excelled above all other
Athen ans n h s ntell gence, h s mus cal sk lls, and h s rhetor cal
ab l t es. It was Damon who had tra ned Per cles n the arts of rul ng.
But he, too, suffered ostrac sm, for h s super or a rs and h s nsult ng
manner toward the commoners st rred up too much resentment.
Toward the end of the century there l ved a man named
Hyperbolus. Most wr ters of the t me descr be h m as the c ty’s most
worthless c t zen: He d d not care what anyone thought of h m, and
slandered whomever he d sl ked. He amused some, but rr tated
many more. In 417 B.C., Hyperbolus saw an opportun ty to st r up
anger aga nst the two lead ng pol t c ans of the t me, Alc b ades and
N c as. He hoped that one of the two would be ostrac zed and that he
would r se n that man’s place. H s campa gn seemed l kely to
succeed: The Athen ans d sl ked Alc b ades’ flamboyant and carefree
l festyle, and were wary of N c as’ wealth and aloofness. They
seemed certa n to ostrac ze one or the other. But Alc b ades and
N c as, although they were otherw se enem es, pooled the r
resources and managed to turn the ostrac sm on Hyperbolus
nstead. H s obnox ousness, they argued, could only be term nated
by ban shment.
Earl er sufferers of ostrac sm had been form dable, powerful men.
Hyperbolus, however, was a low buffoon, and w th h s ban shment
the Athen ans felt that ostrac sm had been degraded. And so they
ended the pract ce that for nearly a hundred years had been one of
the keys to keep ng the peace w th n Athens.

Interpretat on

The anc ent Athen ans had soc al nst ncts unknown today—the
passage of centur es has blunted them. C t zens n the true sense of
the word, the Athen ans sensed the dangers posed by asoc al
behav or, and saw how such behav or often d sgu ses tself n other
forms: the hol er-than-thou att tude that s lently seeks to mpose ts
standards on others; overween ng amb t on at the expense of the
common good; the flaunt ng of super or ty; qu et schem ng; term nal
obnox ousness. Some of these behav ors would eat away at the
c ty’s cohes on by creat ng fact ons and sow ng d ssens on, others
would ru n the democrat c sp r t by mak ng the common c t zen feel
nfer or and env ous. The Athen ans d d not try to reeducate people
who acted n these ways, or to absorb them somehow nto the group,
or to mpose a v olent pun shment that would only create other
problems. The solut on was qu ck and effect ve: Get r d of them.
W th n any group, trouble can most often be traced to a s ngle
source, the unhappy, chron cally d ssat sf ed one who w ll always st r
up d ssens on and nfect the group w th h s or her ll ease. Before you
know what h t you the d ssat sfact on spreads. Act before t becomes
mposs ble to d sentangle one strand of m sery from another, or to
see how the whole th ng started. F rst, recogn ze troublemakers by
the r overbear ng presence, or by the r compla n ng nature. Once you
spot them do not try to reform them or appease them—that w ll only
make th ngs worse. Do not attack them, whether d rectly or nd rectly,
for they are po sonous n nature and w ll work underground to
destroy you. Do as the Athen ans d d: Ban sh them before t s too
late. Separate them from the group before they become the eye of a
wh rlpool. Do not g ve them t me to st r up anx et es and sow
d scontent; do not g ve them room to move. Let one person suffer so
that the rest can l ve n peace.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.
Ch nese say ng

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II

In 1296 the card nals of the Cathol c Church met n Rome to select a
new pope. They chose Card nal Gaetan , for he was ncomparably
shrewd; such a man would make the Vat can a great power. Tak ng
the name Bon face VIII, Gaetan soon proved he deserved the
card nals’h gh op n on of h m: He plotted h s moves carefully n
advance, and stopped at noth ng to get h s way. Once n power,
Bon face qu ckly crushed h s r vals and un f ed the Papal States. The
European powers began to fear h m, and sent delegates to negot ate
w th h m. The German K ng Albrecht of Austr a even y elded some
terr tory to Bon face. All was proceed ng accord ng to the pope’s
plan.
One p ece d d not fall nto place, however, and that was Tuscany,
the r chest part of Italy. If Bon face could conquer Florence,
Tuscany’s most powerful c ty, the reg on would be h s. But Florence
was a proud republ c, and would be hard to defeat. The pope had to
play h s cards sk llfully.
Florence was d v ded by two r val fact ons, the Blacks and the
Wh tes. The Wh tes were the merchant fam l es that had recently and
qu ckly r sen to power and wealth; the Blacks were the older money.
Because of the r popular ty w th the people, the Wh tes reta ned
control of the c ty, to the Blacks’ ncreas ng resentment. The feud
between the two grew stead ly more b tter.
THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP
Once apon a t me, the wolves sent an embassy to the sheep,
des r ng that there m ght be peace between them for the t me to
come. “Why,” sa d they, “should we be for ever wag ng th s deadly
str fe? Those w cked dogs are the cause of all; they are ncessantly
bark ng at us, and provok ng us. Send them away, and there w ll be
no longer any obstacle to our eternal fr endsh p and peace.” The s lly
sheep l stened, the dogs were d sm ssed, and the flock, thus
depr ved of the r best protectors, became an easy prey to the r
treacherous enemy.

FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.

Here Bon face saw h s chance: He would plot to help the Blacks
take over the c ty, and Florence would be n h s pocket. And as he
stud ed the s tuat on he began to focus on one man, Dante Al gh er ,
the celebrated wr ter, poet, and ardent supporter of the Wh tes.
Dante had always been nterested n pol t cs. He bel eved
pass onately n the republ c, and often chast sed h s fellow c t zens
for the r lack of sp ne. He also happened to be the c ty’s most
eloquent publ c speaker. In 1300, the year Bon face began plott ng to
take over Tuscany, Dante’s fellow c t zens had voted h m n to
Florence’s h ghest elected pos t on, mak ng h m one of the c ty’s s x
pr ors. Dur ng h s s x-month term n the post, he had stood f rmly
aga nst the Blacks and aga nst all of the pope’s attempts to sow
d sorder.
By 1301, however, Bon face had a new plan: He called n Charles
de Valo s, powerful brother of the k ng of France, to help br ng order
to Tuscany. As Charles marched through northern Italy, and Florence
seethed w th anx ety and fear, Dante qu ckly emerged as the man
who could rally the people, argu ng vehemently aga nst
appeasement and work ng desperately to arm the c t zens and to
organ ze res stance aga nst the pope and h s puppet French pr nce.
By hook or by crook, Bon face had to neutral ze Dante. And so, even
as on the one hand he threatened Florence w th Charles de Valo s,
on the other he held out the ol ve branch, the poss b l ty of
negot at ons, hop ng Dante would take the ba t. And ndeed the
Florent nes dec ded to send a delegat on to Rome and try to
negot ate a peace. To head the m ss on, pred ctably, they chose
Dante.
Some warned the poet that the w ly pope was sett ng up a trap to
lure h m away, but Dante went to Rome anyway, arr v ng as the
French army stood before the gates of Florence. He felt sure that h s
eloquence and reason would w n the pope over and save the c ty.
Yet when the pope met the poet and the Florent ne delegates, he
nstantly nt m dated them, as he d d so many. “Fall on your knees
before me!” he bellowed at the r f rst meet ng. “Subm t to me! I tell
you that n all truth I have noth ng n my heart but to promote your
peace.” Succumb ng to h s powerful presence, the Florent nes
l stened as the pope prom sed to look after the r nterests. He then
adv sed them to return home, leav ng one of the r members beh nd
to cont nue the talks. Bon face s gnaled that the man to stay was to
be Dante. He spoke w th the utmost pol teness, but n essence t was
an order.
And so Dante rema ned n Rome. And wh le he and the pope
cont nued the r d alogue, Florence fell apart. W th no one to rally the
Wh tes, and w th Charles de Valo s us ng the pope’s money to br be
and sow d ssens on, the Wh tes d s ntegrated, some argu ng for
negot at ons, others sw tch ng s des. Fac ng an enemy now d v ded
and unsure of tself, the Blacks eas ly destroyed them w th n weeks,
exact ng v olent revenge on them. And once the Blacks stood f rmly
n power, the pope f nally d sm ssed Dante from Rome.
The Blacks ordered Dante to return home to face accusat ons and
stand tr al. When the poet refused, the Blacks condemned h m to be
burned to death f he ever set foot n Florence aga n. And so Dante
began a m serable l fe of ex le, wander ng through Italy, d sgraced n
the c ty that he loved, never to return to Florence, even after h s
death.
THE LIFE OF THEMISTOCLES
[Them stocles‘s] fellow c t zens reached the po nt at wh ch the r
jealousy made them l sten to any slander at h s expense, and so [he]
was forced to rem nd the assembly of h s ach evements unt l they
could bear th s no longer. He once sa d to those who were
compla n ng of h m: “Why are you t red of rece v ng benef ts so often
from the same men?” Bes des th s he gave offense to the people
when he bu lt the temple of Artem s, for not only d d he style the
goddess Artem s Ar stoboule, or Artem s w sest n counsel —w th the
h nt that t was he who had g ven the best counsel to the Athen ans
and the Greeks-but he chose a s te for t near h s own house at
Mel te... So at last the Athen ans ban shed h m. They made use of
the ostrac sm to humble h s great reputat on and h s author ty, as
ndeed was the r hab t w th any whose power they regarded as
oppress ve, or who had r sen to an em nence wh ch they cons dered
out of keep ng w th the equal ty of a democracy.
THE LIFE OF THEMISTOCLES, PLUTARCH, C. A.D. 46-120

Interpretat on

Bon face knew that f he only had a pretext to lure Dante away,
Florence would crumble. He played the oldest card n the book—
threaten ng w th one hand wh le hold ng out the ol ve branch w th the
other—and Dante fell for t. Once the poet was n Rome, the pope
kept h m there for as long as t took. For Bon face understood one of
the pr nc pal precepts n the game of power: One resolute person,
one d sobed ent sp r t, can turn a flock of sheep nto a den of l ons.
So he solated the troublemaker. W thout the backbone of the c ty to
keep them together, the sheep qu ckly scattered.
Learn the lesson: Do not waste your t me lash ng out n all
d rect ons at what seems to be a many-headed enemy. F nd the one
head that matters—the person w th w llpower, or smarts, or, most
mportant of all, char sma. Whatever t costs you, lure th s person
away, for once he s absent h s powers w ll lose the r effect. H s
solat on can be phys cal (ban shment or absence from the court),
pol t cal (narrow ng h s base of support), or psycholog cal (al enat ng
h m from the group through slander and ns nuat on). Cancer beg ns
w th a s ngle cell; exc se t before t spreads beyond cure.

KEYS TO POWER

In the past, an ent re nat on would be ruled by a k ng and h s handful

of m n sters. Only the el te had any power to play w th. Over the
centur es, power has gradually become more and more d ffused and
democrat zed. Th s has created, however, a common m spercept on
that groups no longer have centers of power—that power s spread
out and scattered among many people. Actually, however, power has
changed n ts numbers but not n ts essence. There may be fewer
m ghty tyrants command ng the power of l fe and death over m ll ons,
but there rema n thousands of petty tyrants rul ng smaller realms,
and enforc ng the r w ll through nd rect power games, char sma, and
so on. In every group, power s concentrated n the hands of one or
two people, for th s s one area n wh ch human nature w ll never
change: People w ll congregate around a s ngle strong personal ty
l ke planets orb t ng a sun.
 To labor under the llus on that th s k nd of power center no longer
ex sts s to make endless m stakes, waste energy and t me, and
never h t the target. Powerful people never waste t me. Outwardly
they may play along w th the game—pretend ng that power s shared
among many—but nwardly they keep the r eyes on the nev table
few n the group who hold the cards. These are the ones they work
on. When troubles ar se, they look for the underly ng cause, the
s ngle strong character who started the st rr ng and whose solat on
or ban shment w ll settle the waters aga n.
In h s fam ly-therapy pract ce, Dr. M lton H. Er ckson found that f
the fam ly dynam c was unsettled and dysfunct onal there was
nev tably one person who was the st rrer, the troublemaker. In h s
sess ons he would symbol cally solate th s rotten apple by seat ng
h m or her apart from the others, f only by a few feet. Slowly the
other fam ly members would see the phys cally separate person as
the source of the r d ff culty. Once you recogn ze who the st rrer s,
po nt ng t out to other people w ll accompl sh a great deal.
Understand ng who controls the group dynam c s a cr t cal
real zat on. Remember: St rrers thr ve by h d ng n the group,
d sgu s ng the r act ons among the react ons of others. Render the r
act ons v s ble and they lose the r power to upset.
A key element n games of strategy s solat ng the enemy’s power.
In chess you try to corner the k ng. In the Ch nese game of go you
try to solate the enemy’s forces n small pockets, render ng them
mmob le and neffectual. It s often better to solate your enem es
than to destroy them—you seem less brutal. The result, though, s
the same, for n the game of power, solat on spells death.
The most effect ve form of solat on s somehow to separate your
v ct ms from the r power base. When Mao Tse-tung wanted to
el m nate an enemy n the rul ng el te, he d d not confront the person
d rectly; he s lently and stealth ly worked to solate the man, d v de
h s all es and turn them away from h m, shr nk h s support. Soon the
man would van sh on h s own.
Presence and appearance have great mport n the game of
power. To seduce, part cularly n the beg nn ng stages, you need to
be constantly present, or create the feel ng that you are; f you are
often out of s ght, the charm w ll wear off. Queen El zabeth’s pr me
m n ster, Robert Cec l, had two ma n r vals: the queen’s favor te, the
Earl of Essex, and her former favor te, S r Walter Rale gh. He
contr ved to send them both on a m ss on aga nst Spa n; w th them
away from the court he managed to wrap h s tentacles around the
queen, secure h s pos t on as her top adv ser and weaken her
affect on for Rale gh and the earl. The lesson here s twofold: F rst,
your absence from the court spells danger for you, and you should
never leave the scene n a t me of turmo l, for your absence can both
symbol ze and nduce a loss of power; second, and on the other
hand, lur ng your enem es away from the court at cr t cal moments s
a great ploy.
Isolat on has other strateg c uses. When try ng to seduce people, t
s often w se to solate them from the r usual soc al context. Once
solated they are vulnerable to you, and your presence becomes
magn f ed. S m larly, con art sts often look for ways to solate the r
marks from the r normal soc al m l eux, steer ng them nto new
env ronments n wh ch they are no longer comfortable. Here they feel
weak, and succumb to decept on more eas ly. Isolat on, then, can
prove a powerful way of br ng ng people under your spell to seduce
or sw ndle them.
You w ll often f nd powerful people who have al enated themselves
from the group. Perhaps the r power has gone to the r heads, and
they cons der themselves super or; perhaps they have lost the knack
of commun cat ng w th ord nary folk. Remember: Th s makes them
vulnerable. Powerful though they be, people l ke th s can be turned
to use.
The monk Rasput n ga ned h s power over Czar N cholas and
Czar na Alexandra of Russ a through the r tremendous solat on from
the people. Alexandra n part cular was a fore gner, and espec ally
al enated from everyday Russ ans; Rasput n used h s peasant
or g ns to ns nuate h mself nto her good graces, for she desperately
wanted to commun cate w th her subjects. Once n the court’s nner
c rcle, Rasput n made h mself nd spensable and atta ned great
power. Head ng stra ght for the center, he a med for the one f gure n
Russ a who commanded power (the czar na dom nated her
husband), and found he had no need to solate her for the work was
already done. The Rasput n strategy can br ng you great power:
Always search out people who hold h gh pos t ons yet who f nd
themselves solated on the board. They are l ke apples fall ng nto
your lap, eas ly seduced, and able to catapult you nto power
yourself.
F nally, the reason you str ke at the shepherd s because such an
act on w ll d shearten the sheep beyond any rat onal measure. When
Hernando Cortés and Franc sco P zarro led the r t ny forces aga nst
the Aztec and Incan emp res, they d d not make the m stake of
f ght ng on several fronts, nor were they nt m dated by the numbers
arrayed aga nst them; they captured the k ngs, Moctezuma and
Atahualpa. Vast emp res fell nto the r hands. W th the leader gone
the center of grav ty s gone; there s noth ng to revolve around and
everyth ng falls apart. A m at the leaders, br ng them down, and look
for the endless opportun t es n the confus on that w ll ensue.
Image: A Flock of Fatted
Sheep. Do not waste prec ous
t me try ng to steal a sheep or two; do
not r sk l fe and l mb by sett ng upon
the dogs that guard the flock. A m at the
shepherd. Lure h m away and the dogs
w ll follow. Str ke h m down and the flock w ll
scatter—you can p ck them off one by one.

Author ty: If you draw a bow, draw the strongest. If you use an arrow,
use the longest. To shoot a r der, f rst shoot h s horse. To catch a
gang of band ts, f rst capture ts leader. Just as a country has ts
border, so the k ll ng of men has ts l m ts. If the enemy’s attack can
be stopped [w th a blow to the head], why have any more dead and
wounded than necessary? (Ch nese poet Tu Fu, Tang dynasty,
e ghth century)

REVERSAL

“Any harm you do to a man should be done n such a way that you
need not fear h s revenge,” wr tes Mach avell . If you act to solate
your enemy, make sure he lacks the means to repay the favor. If you
apply th s Law, n other words, apply t from a pos t on of super or ty,
so that you have noth ng to fear from h s resentment.
Andrew Johnson, Abraham L ncoln’s successor as U.S. pres dent,
saw Ulysses S. Grant as a troublesome member of h s government.
So he solated Grant, as a prelude to forc ng h m out. Th s only
enraged the great general, however, who responded by form ng a
support base n the Republ can party and go ng on to become the
next pres dent. It would have been far w ser to keep a man l ke Grant
n the fold, where he could do less harm, than to make h m
revengeful. And so you may often f nd t better to keep people on
your s de, where you can watch them, than to r sk creat ng an angry
enemy. Keep ng them close, you can secretly wh ttle away at the r
support base, so that when the t me comes to cut them loose they
w ll fall fast and hard w thout know ng what h t them.
 LAW 43

WORK ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF OTHERS

JUDGMENT
Coerc on creates a react on that w ll eventually work aga nst you.
You must seduce others nto want ng to move n your d rect on. A
person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to
seduce others s to operate on the r nd v dual psycholog es and
weaknesses. Soften up the res stant by work ng on the r emot ons,
play ng on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts
and m nds of others and they w ll grow to hate you.
CYRUS’S RUSE
Th nk ng of the means by wh ch he could most effect vely persuade
the Pers ans to revolt, [Cyrus’s] del berat ons led h m to adopt the
follow ng plan, wh ch he found best su ted to h s purpose. He wrote
on a roll of parchment that Astyages had appo nted h m to command
the Pers an army; then he summoned an assembly of the Pers ans,
opened the roll n the r presence and read out what he had wr tten.
“And now, he added, I have an order for you: every man s to appear
on parade w th a b llhook....” The order was obeyed. All the men
assembled w th the r b llhooks, and Cyrus’s next command was that
before the day was out they should clear a certa n p ece of rough
land full of thorn-bushes, about e ghteen or twenty furlongs square.
Th s too was done, whereupon Cyrus ssued the further order that
they should present themselves aga n on the follow ng day, after
hav ng taken a bath. Meanwh le, Cyrus collected and slaughtered all
h s father’s goats, sheep, and oxen n preparat on for enterta n ng
the whole Pers an army at a banquet, together w th the best w ne
and bread he could procure. The next day the guests assembled,
and were told to s t down on the grass and enjoy themselves. After
the meal Cyrus asked them wh ch they preferred—yesterday’s work
or today’s amusement; and they repl ed that t was ndeed a far cry
from the prev ous day’s m sery to the r present pleasures. Th s was
the answer wh ch Cyrus wanted; he se zed upon t at once and
proceeded to lay bare what he had n m nd. “Men of Pers a,” he sa d,
“l sten to me: obey my orders, and you w ll be able to enjoy a
thousand pleasures as good as th s w thout ever turn ng your hands
to men al labor; but, f you d sobey, yesterday’s task w ll be the
pattern of nnumerable others you w ll be forced to perform. Take my
adv ce and w n your freedom. I am the man dest ned to undertake
your l berat on, and t s my bel ef that you are a match for the Medes
n war as n everyth ng else. It s the truth I tell you. Do not delay, but
fl ng off the yoke of Astyages at once.”
The Pers ans had long resented the r subject on to the Medes. At
last they had found a leader, and welcomed w th enthus asm the
prospect of l berty.... On the present occas on the Pers ans under
Cyrus rose aga nst the Medes and from then onwards were masters
of As a.
THE HISTORIES, HERODOTUS, FIFTH CENTURY B.C..

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Near the end of the re gn of Lou s XV, all of France seemed

desperate for change. When the k ng’s grandson and chosen
successor, the future Lou s XVI, marr ed the f fteen-year-old
daughter of the empress of Austr a, the French caught a gl mpse of
the future that seemed hopeful. The young br de, Mar e-Anto nette,
was beaut ful and full of l fe. She nstantly changed the mood of the
court, wh ch was rank w th Lou s XV’s de baucher es; even the
common people, who had yet to see her, talked exc tedly of Mar e-
Anto nette. The French had grown d sgusted w th the ser es of
m stresses who had dom nated Lou s XV, and they looked forward to
serv ng the r new queen. In 1773, when Mar e-Anto nette publ cly
rode through the streets of Par s for the f rst t me, applaud ng crowds
swarmed around her carr age. “How fortunate,” she wrote her
mother, “to be n a pos t on n wh ch one can ga n w despread
affect on at so l ttle cost.”
In 1774 Lou s XV d ed and Lou s XVI took the throne. As soon as
Mar e-Anto nette became queen she abandoned herself to the
pleasures she loved the most—order ng and wear ng the most
expens ve gowns and jewelry n the realm; sport ng the most
elaborate ha r n h story, her sculpted co ffures r s ng as much as
three feet above her head; and throw ng a constant success on of
masked balls and fêtes. All of these wh ms she pa d for on cred t,
never concern ng herself w th the cost or who pa d the b lls.
Mar e-Anto nette’s greatest pleasure was the creat on and
des gn ng of a pr vate Garden of Eden at the Pet t Tr anon, a château
on the grounds of Versa lles w th ts own woods. The gardens at the
Pet t Tr anon were to be as “natural” as poss ble, nclud ng moss
appl ed by hand to the trees and rocks. To he ghten the pastoral
effect, the queen employed peasant m lkma ds to m lk the f nest-
look ng cows n the realm; launderers and cheese-makers n spec al
peasant outf ts she helped des gn; shepherds to tend sheep w th s lk
r bbons around the r necks. When she nspected the barns, she
would watch her m lkma ds squeez ng m lk nto porcela n vases
made at the royal ceram c works. To pass the t me, Mar e-Anto nette
would gather flowers n the woods around the Pet t Tr anon, or watch
her “good peasants” do ng the r “chores.” The place became a
separate world, ts commun ty l m ted to her chosen favor tes.
W th each new wh m, the cost of ma nta n ng the Pet t Tr anon
soared. Meanwh le, France tself was deter orat ng: There was
fam ne and w despread d scontent. Even soc ally nsulated court ers
seethed w th resentment—the queen treated them l ke ch ldren. Only
her favor tes mattered, and these were becom ng fewer and fewer.
But Mar e-Anto nette d d not concern herself w th th s. Not once
throughout her re gn d d she read a m n ster’s report. Not once d d
she tour the prov nces and rally the people to her s de. Not once d d
she m ngle among the Par s ans, or rece ve a delegat on from them.
She d d none of these th ngs because as queen she felt the people
owed her the r affect on, and she was not requ red to love them n
return.
In 1784 the queen became embro led n a scandal. As part of an
elaborate sw ndle, the most expens ve d amond necklace n Europe
had been purchased under her name, and dur ng the sw ndlers’ tr al
her lav sh l festyle became publ c: People heard about the money
she spent on jewels and dresses and masked dances. They gave
her the n ckname “Madame Def c t,” and from then on she became
the focus of the people’s grow ng resentment. When she appeared n
her box at the opera the aud ence greeted her w th h sses. Even the
court turned aga nst her. For wh le she had been runn ng up her
huge expend tures, the country was headed for ru n.
F ve years later, n 1789, an unprecedented event took place: the
beg nn ng of the French Revolut on. The queen d d not worry—let
the people have the r l ttle rebell on, she seemed to th nk; t would
soon qu et down and she would be able to resume her l fe of
pleasure. That year the people marched on Versa lles, forc ng the
royal fam ly to qu t the palace and take res dence n Par s. Th s was
a tr umph for the rebels, but t offered the queen an opportun ty to
heal the wounds she had opened and establ sh contact w th the
people. The queen, however, had not learned her lesson: Not once
would she leave the palace dur ng her stay n Par s. Her subjects
could rot n hell for all she cared.
In 1792 the royal couple was moved from the palace to a pr son,
as the revolut on off c ally declared the end of the monarchy. The
follow ng year Lou s XVI was tr ed, found gu lty, and gu llot ned. As
Mar e-Anto nette awa ted the same fate, hardly a soul came to her
defense—not one of her former fr ends n the court, not one of
Europe’s other monarchs (who, as members of the r own countr es’
royal fam l es, had all the reason n the world to show that revolut on
d d not pay), not even her own fam ly n Austr a, nclud ng her
brother, who now sat on the throne. She had become the world’s
par ah. In October of 1793, she f nally knelt at the gu llot ne,
unrepentant and def ant to the b tter end.
 Interpretat on

From early on, Mar e-Anto nette acqu red the most dangerous of
att tudes: As a young pr ncess n Austr a she was endlessly flattered
and cajoled. As the future queen of the French court she was the
center of everyone’s attent on. She never learned to charm or please
other people, to become attuned to the r nd v dual psycholog es.
She never had to work to get her way, to use calculat on or cunn ng
or the arts of persuas on. And l ke everyone who s ndulged from an
early age, she evolved nto a monster of nsens t v ty.
Mar e-Anto nette became the focus of an ent re country’s
d ssat sfact on because t s so nfur at ng to meet w th a person who
makes no effort to seduce you or attempt to persuade you, even f
only for the purpose of decept on. And do not mag ne that she
represents a bygone era, or that she s even rare. Her type s today
more common than ever. Such types l ve n the r own bubble—they
seem to feel they are born k ngs and queens, and that attent on s
owed them. They do not cons der anyone else’s nature, but bulldoze
over people w th the self-r ghteous arrogance of a Mar e-Anto nette.
Pampered and ndulged as ch ldren, as adults they st ll bel eve that
everyth ng must come to them; conv nced of the r own charm, they
make no effort to charm, seduce, or gently persuade.
In the realm of power, such att tudes are d sastrous. At all t mes
you must attend to those around you, gaug ng the r part cular
psychology, ta lor ng your words to what you know w ll ent ce and
seduce them. Th s requ res energy and art. The h gher your stat on,
the greater the need to rema n attuned to the hearts and m nds of
those below you, creat ng a base of support to ma nta n you at the
p nnacle. W thout that base, your power w ll teeter, and at the
sl ghtest change of fortune those below w ll gladly ass st n your fall
from grace.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In A.D. 225, Chuko L ang, master strateg st and ch ef m n ster to the
ruler of Shu n anc ent Ch na, confronted a dangerous s tuat on. The
k ngdom of We had mounted an all-out attack on Shu from the
north. More dangerous st ll, We had formed an all ance w th the
barbarous states to the south of Shu, led by K ng Menghuo. Chuko
L ang had to deal w th th s second menace from the south before he
could hope to fend off We n the north.
As Chuko L ang prepared to march south aga nst the barbar ans, a
w se man n h s camp offered h m adv ce. It would be mposs ble, th s
man sa d, to pac fy the reg on by force. L ang would probably beat
Menghuo, but as soon as he headed north aga n to deal w th We ,
Menghuo would re nvade. “It s better to w n hearts,” sa d the w se
man, “than c t es; better to battle w th hearts than w th weapons. I
hope you w ll succeed n w nn ng the hearts of these people.” “You
read my thoughts,” responded Chuko L ang.
THE GENTLE ART OF PERSUASION
The north w nd and the sun were d sput ng wh ch was the stronger,
and agreed to acknowledge as the v ctor wh chever of them could
str p a traveler of h s cloth ng. The w nd tr ed f rst. But ts v olent
gusts only made the man hold h s clothes t ghtly around h m, and
when t blew harder st ll the cold made h m so uncomfortable that he
put on an extra wrap. Eventually the w nd got t red of t and handed
h m over to the sun. The sun shone f rst w th a moderate warmth,
wh ch made the man take off h s topcoat. Then t blazed f ercely, t ll,
unable to stand the heat, he str pped and went off to bathe n a
nearby r ver. Persuas on s more effect ve than force.
FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.
As L ang expected, Menghuo launched a powerful attack. But
L ang la d a trap and managed to capture a large part of Menghuo’s
army, nclud ng the k ng h mself. Instead of pun sh ng or execut ng
h s pr soners, however, he separated the sold ers from the r k ng,
had the r shackles removed, regaled them w th food and w ne, and
then addressed them. “You are all upr ght men,” he sa d. “I bel eve
you all have parents, w ves, and ch ldren wa t ng for you at home.
They are doubtless shedd ng b tter tears at your fate. I am go ng to
release you, so that you can return home to your loved ones and
comfort them.” The men thanked L ang w th tears n the r eyes; then
he sent for Menghuo. “If I release you,” asked L ang, “what w ll you
do?” “I w ll pull my army together aga n,” answered the k ng, “and
lead t aga nst you to a dec s ve battle. But f you capture me a
second t me, I w ll bow to your super or ty.” Not only d d L ang order
Menghuo released, he gave h m a g ft of a horse and saddle. When
angry l eutenants wondered why he d d th s, L ang told them, “I can
capture that man as eas ly as I can take someth ng out of my pocket.
I am try ng to w n h s heart. When I do, peace w ll come of tself here
n the south.”
As Menghuo had sa d he would, he attacked aga n. But h s own
off cers, whom L ang had treated so well, rebelled aga nst h m,
captured h m, and turned h m over to L ang, who asked h m aga n
the same quest on as before. Menghuo repl ed that he had not been
beaten fa rly, but merely betrayed by h s own off cers; he would f ght
aga n, but f captured a th rd t me he would bow to L ang’s
super or ty.
Over the follow ng months L ang outw tted Menghuo aga n and
aga n, captur ng h m a th rd, a fourth, and a f fth t me. On each
occas on Menghuo’s troops grew more d ssat sf ed. L ang had
treated them w th respect; they had lost the r heart for f ght ng. But
every t me Chuko L ang asked Menghuo to y eld, the great k ng
would come up w th another excuse: You tr cked me, I lost through
bad luck, on and on. If you capture me aga n, he would prom se, I
swear I w ll not betray you. And so L ang would let h m go.
When he captured Menghuo for the s xth t me, he asked the k ng
the same quest on aga n. “If you capture me a seventh t me,” the
k ng repl ed, “I shall g ve you my loyalty and never rebel aga n.” “Very
well,” sa d L ang. “But f I capture you aga n, I w ll not release you.”
Now Menghuo and h s sold ers fled to a far corner of the r
k ngdom, the reg on of Wuge. Defeated so many t mes, Menghuo
had only one hope left: He would ask the help of K ng Wutugu of
Wuge, who had an mmense and feroc ous army. Wutugu’s warr ors
wore an armor of t ghtly woven v nes soaked n o l, then dr ed to an
 mpenetrable hardness. W th Menghuo at h s s de, Wutugu marched
th s m ghty army aga nst L ang, and th s t me the great strateg st
seemed fr ghtened, lead ng h s men n a hurr ed retreat. But he was
merely lead ng Wutugu nto a trap: He cornered the k ng’s men n a
narrow valley, then l t f res set all around them. When the f res
reached the sold ers Wutugu’s whole army burst nto flame—the o l
n the r armor, of course, be ng h ghly flammable. All of them
per shed.
L ang had managed to separate Menghuo and h s entourage from
the carnage n the valley, and the k ng found h mself a capt ve for the
seventh t me. After th s slaughter L ang could not bear to face h s
pr soner aga n. He sent a messenger to the captured k ng: “He has
comm ss oned me to release you. Mob l ze another army aga nst
h m, f you can, and try once more to defeat h m.” Sobb ng, the k ng
fell to the ground, crawled to L ang on h s hands and knees, and
prostrated h mself at h s feet. “Oh great m n ster,” cr ed Menghuo,
“yours s the majesty of Heaven. We men of the south w ll never
aga n offer res stance to your rule.” “Do you now y eld?” asked L ang.
“I, my sons, and my grandsons are deeply moved by Your Honor’s
boundless, l fe-g v ng mercy. How could we not y eld?”
L ang honored Menghuo w th a great banquet, reestabl shed h m
on the throne, restored h s conquered lands to h s rule, then returned
north w th h s army, leav ng no occupy ng force. L ang never came
back—he had no need to: Menghuo had become h s most devoted
and unshakable ally.
The men who have changed the un verse have never gotten there by
work ng on leaders, but rather by mov ng the masses. Work ng on
leaders s the method of ntr gue and only leads to secondary results.
Work ng on the masses, however, s the stroke of gen us that
changes the face of the world.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821
LIFE OF ABBENDER THE GREAT
Th s long and pa nful pursu t of Dar us—for n eleven days he
marched 33 hundred furlongs—harassed h s sold ers so that most of
them were ready to g ve t up, ch efly for want of water. Wh le they
were n th s d stress, t happened that some Macedon ans who had
fetched water n sk ns upon the r mules from a r ver they had found
out came about noon to the place where Alexander was, and see ng
h m almost choked w th th rst, presently f lled a helmet and offered t
h m.... Then he took the helmet nto h s hands, and look ng round
about, when he saw all those who were near h m stretch ng the r
heads out and look ng earnestly after the dr nk, he returned t aga n
w th thanks w thout tast ng a drop of t. “For,” sa d he, “ f I alone
should dr nk, the rest w ll be out of heart.” The sold ers no sooner
took not ce of h s temperance and magnan m ty upon th s occas on,
but they one and all cr ed out to h m to lead them forward boldly, and
began wh pp ng on the r horses. For wh lst they had such a k ng they
sa d they def ed both wear ness and th rst, and looked upon
themselves to be l ttle less than mmortal.

THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, PLUTARCH, C. A.D. 46-

120

Interpretat on

Chuko L ang had two opt ons: Try to defeat the barbar ans n the
south w th one crush ng blow, or pat ently and slowly w n them to h s
s de over t me. Most people more powerful than the r enemy grab the
f rst opt on and never cons der the second, but the truly powerful
th nk far ahead: The f rst opt on may be qu ck and easy, but over
t me t brews ugly emot ons n the hearts of the vanqu shed. The r
resentment turns to hatred; such an mos ty keeps you on edge—you
spend your energy protect ng what you have ga ned, grow ng
parano d and defens ve. The second opt on, though more d ff cult,
not only br ngs you peace of m nd, t converts a potent al enemy nto
a p llar of support.
In all your encounters, take a step back—take the t me to calculate
and attune yourself to your targets’ emot onal makeup and
psycholog cal weaknesses. Force w ll only strengthen the r
res stance. W th most people the heart s the key: They are l ke
ch ldren, ruled by the r emot ons. To soften them up, alternate
harshness w th mercy. Play on the r bas c fears, and also the r loves
—freedom, fam ly, etc. Once you break them down, you w ll have a
l felong fr end and f ercely loyal ally.
Governments saw men only n mass; but our men, be ng rregulars,
were not
format ons, but nd v duals.... Our k ngdoms lay n each man’s m nd.
Seven P llars of W sdom, T. E. Lawrence, 1888-1935

KEYS TO POWER

In the game of power, you are surrounded by people who have

absolutely no reason to help you unless t s n the r nterest to do so.
And f you have noth ng to offer the r self- nterest, you are l kely to
make them host le, for they w ll see n you just one more compet tor,
one more waster of the r t me. Those that overcome th s preva l ng
coldness are the ones who f nd the key that unlocks the stranger’s
heart and m nd, seduc ng h m nto the r comer, f necessary soften ng
h m up for a punch. But most people never learn th s s de of the
game. When they meet someone new, rather than stepp ng back
and prob ng to see what makes th s person un que, they talk about
themselves, eager to mpose the r own w llpower and prejud ces.
They argue, boast, and make a show of the r power. They may not
know t but they are secretly creat ng an enemy, a res ster, because
there s no more nfur at ng feel ng than hav ng your nd v dual ty
gnored, your own psychology unacknowledged. It makes you feel
l feless and resentful.
Remember: The key to persuas on s soften ng people up and
break ng them down, gently. Seduce them w th a two-pronged
approach: Work on the r emot ons and play on the r ntellectual
weaknesses. Be alert to both what separates them from everyone
else (the r nd v dual psychology) and what they share w th everyone
else (the r bas c emot onal responses). A m at the pr mary emot ons
—love, hate, jealousy. Once you move the r emot ons you have
reduced the r control, mak ng them more vulnerable to persuas on.
When Chuko L ang wanted to d ssuade an mportant general of a
r val k ngdom from enter ng nto an all ance w th Ts‘ao Ts’ao, L ang’s
dreaded enemy, he d d not deta l Ts‘ao Ts’ao’s cruelty, or attack h m
on moral grounds. Instead L ang suggested that Ts‘ao Ts’ao was
really after the general’s beaut ful young w fe. Th s h t the general n
the gut, and won h m over. Mao Tse-tung s m larly always appealed
to popular emot ons, and spoke n the s mplest terms. Educated and
well-read h mself, n h s speeches he used v sceral metaphors,
vo c ng the publ c’s deepest anx et es and encourag ng them to vent
the r frustrat ons n publ c meet ngs. Rather than argu ng the pract cal
aspects of a part cular program, he would descr be how t would
affect them on the most pr m t ve, down-to-earth level. Do not bel eve
that th s approach works only w th the ll terate and unschooled— t
works on one and all. All of us are mortal and face the same dreadful
fate, and all of us share the des re for attachment and belong ng. St r
up these emot ons and you capt vate our hearts.
The best way to do th s s w th a dramat c jolt, of the k nd that
Chuko L ang created when he fed and released pr soners who
expected only the worst from h m. Shak ng them to the core, he
softened the r hearts. Play on contrasts l ke th s: Push people to
despa r, then g ve them rel ef. If they expect pa n and you g ve them
pleasure, you w n the r hearts. Creat ng pleasure of any k nd, n fact,
w ll usually br ng you success, as w ll allay ng fears and prov d ng or
prom s ng secur ty.
Symbol c gestures are often enough to w n sympathy and
goodw ll. A gesture of self-sacr f ce, for example—a show that you
suffer as those around you do—w ll make people dent fy w th you,
even f your suffer ng s symbol c or m nor and the rs s real. When
you enter a group, make a gesture of goodw ll; soften the group up
for the harsher act ons that w ll follow later.
When T. E. Lawrence was f ght ng the Turks n the deserts of the
M ddle East dur ng World War I, he had an ep phany: It seemed to
h m that convent onal warfare had lost ts value. The old-fash oned
sold er was lost n the enormous arm es of the t me, n wh ch he was
ordered about l ke a l feless pawn. Lawrence wanted to turn th s
around. For h m, every sold er’s m nd was a k ngdom he had to
conquer. A comm tted, psycholog cally mot vated sold er would f ght
harder and more creat vely than a puppet.
Lawrence’s percept on s st ll more true n the world today, where
so many of us feel al enated, anonymous, and susp c ous of
author ty, all of wh ch makes overt power plays and force even more
counterproduct ve and dangerous. Instead of man pulat ng l feless
pawns, make those on your s de conv nced and exc ted by the cause
you have enl sted them n; th s w ll not only make your work eas er
but t w ll also g ve you more leeway to dece ve them later on. And to
accompl sh th s you need to deal w th the r nd v dual psycholog es.
Never clums ly assume that the tact c that worked on one person w ll
necessar ly work on another. To f nd the key that w ll mot vate them,
f rst get them to open up. The more they talk, the more they reveal
about the r l kes and d sl kes—the handles and levers to move them
w th.
The qu ckest way to secure people’s m nds s by demonstrat ng,
as s mply as poss ble, how an act on w ll benef t them. Self- nterest s
the strongest mot ve of all: A great cause may capture m nds, but
once the f rst flush of exc tement s over, nterest w ll flag—unless
there s someth ng to be ga ned. Self- nterest s the sol der
foundat on. The causes that work best use a noble veneer to cover a
blatant appeal to self- nterest; the cause seduces but the self- nterest
secures the deal.
The people who are best at appeal ng to people’s m nds are often
art sts, ntellectuals, and those of a more poet c nature. Th s s
because deas are most eas ly commun cated through metaphors
and magery. It s always good pol cy, then, to have n your pocket at
least one art st or ntellectual who can appeal concretely to people’s
m nds. K ngs have always kept a stable of wr ters n the r barn:
Freder ck the Great had h s Volta re (unt l they quarreled and
separated), Napoleon won over Goethe. Conversely, Napoleon III’s
al enat on of wr ters such as V ctor Hugo, whom he ex led from
France, contr buted to h s grow ng unpopular ty and eventual
downfall. It s dangerous, then, to al enate those who have powers of
express on, and useful to pac fy and explo t them.
F nally, learn to play the numbers game. The w der your support
base the stronger your power. Understand ng that one al enated,
d saffected soul can spark a blaze of d scontent, Lou s XIV made
sure to endear h mself to the lowest members of h s staff. You too
must constantly w n over more all es on all levels—a t me w ll
nev tably come when you w ll need them.
Image:
The Keyhole.
People bu ld
walls to keep you
out; never force
your way n—you
w ll f nd only more
walls w th n walls.
There are doors n
these walls, doors to
the heart and m nd, and
they have t ny key
holes. Peer through the
keyhole, f nd the key
that opens the door,
and you have access
to the r w ll w th
no ugly s gns
of forced
entry.
Author ty: The d ff cult es n the way of persuas on l e n my know ng
the heart of the persuaded n order thereby to f t my word ng nto t....
For th s reason, whoever attempts persuas on before the throne,
must carefully observe the sovere gn’s feel ngs of love and hate, h s
secret w shes and fears, before he can conquer h s heart. (Han-fe -
tzu, Ch nese ph losopher, th rd century B.C.)
 REVERSAL

There s no poss ble reversal to th s Law.

 LAW 44

DISARM AND INFURIATE WITH THE MIRROR

EFFECT

JUDGMENT
The m rror reflects real ty, but t s also the perfect tool for decept on:
When you m rror your enem es, do ng exactly as they do, they
cannot f gure out your strategy. The M rror Effect mocks and
hum l ates them, mak ng them overreact. By hold ng up a m rror to
the r psyches, you seduce them w th the llus on that you share the r
values; by hold ng up a m rror to the r act ons, you teach them a
lesson. Few can res st the power of the M rror Effect.

MIRROR EFFECTS: Prel m nary Typology

M rrors have the power to d sturb us. Gaz ng at our reflect on n the
m rror, we most often see what we want to see—the mage of
ourselves w th wh ch we are most comfortable. We tend not to look
too closely, gnor ng the wr nkles and blem shes. But f we do look
hard at the reflected mage, we somet mes feel that we are see ng
ourselves as others see us, as a person among other people, an
object rather than a subject. That feel ng makes us shudder—we see
ourselves, but from the outs de, m nus the thoughts, sp r t, and soul
that f ll our consc ousness. We are a th ng.
In us ng M rror Effects we symbol cally re-create th s d sturb ng
power by m rror ng the act ons of other people, m m ck ng the r
movements to unsettle and nfur ate them. Made to feel mocked,
cloned, objectl ke, an mage w thout a soul, they get angry. Or do the
same th ng sl ghtly d fferently and they m ght feel d sarmed—you
have perfectly reflected the r w shes and des res. Th s s the
narc ss st c power of m rrors. In e ther case, the M rror Effect
unsettles your targets, whether anger ng or entranc ng them, and n
that nstant you have the power to man pulate or seduce them. The
Effect conta ns great power because t operates on the most
pr m t ve emot ons.
There are four ma n M rror Effects n the realm of power:

The Neutral z ng Effect. In anc ent Greek mythology, the Gorgon

Medusa had serpents for ha r, protrud ng tongue, mass ve teeth, and
a face so ugly that anyone who gazed at her was turned nto stone,
out of fr ght. But the hero Perseus managed to slay Medusa by
pol sh ng h s bronze sh eld nto a m rror, then us ng the reflect on n
the m rror to gu de h m as he crept up and cut off her head w thout
look ng at her d rectly. If the sh eld n th s nstance was a m rror, the
m rror also was a k nd of sh eld: Medusa could not see Perseus, she
saw only her own reflected act ons, and beh nd th s screen the hero
stole up and destroyed her.
Th s s the essence of the Neutral z ng Effect: Do what your
enem es do, follow ng the r act ons as best you can, and they cannot
see what you are up to—they are bl nded by your m rror. The r
strategy for deal ng w th you depends on your react ng to them n a
way character st c of you; neutral ze t by play ng a game of m m cry
w th them. The tact c has a mock ng, even nfur at ng effect. Most of
us remember the ch ldhood exper ence of someone teas ng us by
repeat ng our words exactly—after a wh le, usually not long, we
wanted to punch them n the face. Work ng more subtly as an adult,
you can st ll unsettle your opponents th s way; sh eld ng your own
strategy w th the m rror, you lay nv s ble traps, or push your
opponents nto the trap they planned for you.
Th s powerful techn que has been used n m l tary strategy s nce
the days of Sun-tzu; n our own t me t often appears n pol t cal
campa gn ng. It s also useful for d sgu s ng those s tuat ons n wh ch
you have no part cular strategy yourself. Th s s the Warr or’s M rror.

THE MERCHANT AND HIS

A certa n merchant once had a great des re to make a long journey.
Now n regard that he was not very wealthy, “It s requ s te, ”sa d he
to h mself, “that before my departure I should leave some part of my
estate n the c ty, to the end that f I meet w th ll luck n my travels, I
may have wherew thal to keep me at my return.”To th s purpose he
del vered a great number of bars of ron, wh ch were a pr nc pal part
of h s wealth, n trust to one of h s fr ends, des r ng h m to keep them
dur ng h s absence; and then, tak ng h s leave, away he went. Some
t me after, hav ng had but ll luck n h s travels, he returned home;
and the f rst th ng he d d was to go to h s fr end, and demand h s
ron: but h s fr end, who owed several sums of money, hav ng sold
the ron to pay h s own debts, made h m th s answer: “Truly,
fr end,”sa d he, “I put your ron nto a room that was close locked,
mag n ng t would have been there as secure as my own gold; but
an acc dent has happened wh ch no one could have suspected, for
there was a rat n the room wh ch ate t all up.” The merchant,
pretend ng gnorance, repl ed, “It s a terr ble m sfortune to me
ndeed; but I know of old that rats love ron extremely; I have
suffered by them many t mes before n the same manner, and
therefore can the better bear my present affl ct on.” Th s answer
extremely pleased the fr end, who was glad to hear the merchant so
well ncl ned to bel eve that a rat had eaten h s ron; and to remove
all susp c ons, des red h m to d ne w th h m the next day. The
merchant prom sed he would, but n the meant me he met n the
m ddle of the c ty one of h s fr end’s ch ldren; the ch ld he carr ed
home, and locked up n a room. The next day he went to h s fr end,
who seemed to be n great affl ct on, wh ch he asked h m the cause
of, as f he had been perfectly gnorant of what had happened. ”O,
my dear fr end,” answered the other, ”I beg you to excuse me, f you
do not see me so cheerful as otherw se I would be; I have lost one of
my ch ldren; I have had h m cr ed by sound of trumpet, but I know
not what s become of h m.” “O!” repl ed the merchant, ”I am gr eved
to hear th s; for yesterday n the even ng, as I parted from hence, I
saw an owl n the a r w th a ch ld n h s claws; but whether t were
yours I cannot tell.” “Why, you most fool sh and absurd creature!”
repl ed the fr end, ”are you not ashamed to tell such an egreg ous
l e? An owl, that we ghs at most not above two or three pounds, can
he carry a boy that we ghs above f fty?” ”Why,” repl ed the merchant,
”do you make such a wonder at that? As f n a country where one rat
can eat a hundred tons’ we ght of ron, t were such a wonder for an
owl to carry a ch ld that we ghs not over f fty pounds n all!” The
fr end, upon th s, found that the merchant was no such fool as he
took h m to be, begged h s pardon for the cheat wh ch he des gned
to have put apon h m, restored h m the value of h s ron, and so had
h s son aga n.
FABLES, PILPAY. INDIA. FOURTH CENTURY
A reverse vers on of the Neutral z ng Effect s the Shadow: You
shadow your opponents’ every move w thout the r see ng you. Use
the Shadow to gather nformat on that w ll neutral ze the r strategy
later on, when you w ll be able to thwart the r every move. The
Shadow s effect ve because to follow the movements of others s to
ga n valuable ns ghts nto the r hab ts and rout nes. The Shadow s
the preem nent dev ce for detect ves and sp es.

The Narc ssus Effect. Gaz ng at an mage n the waters of a pond,

the Greek youth Narc ssus fell n love w th t. And when he found out
that the mage was h s own reflect on, and that he therefore could
not consummate h s love, he despa red and drowned h mself. All of
us have a s m lar problem: We are profoundly n love w th ourselves,
but s nce th s love excludes a love object outs de ourselves, t
rema ns cont nuously unsat sf ed and unfulf lled. The Narc ssus
Effect plays on th s un versal narc ss sm: You look deep nto the
souls of other people; fathom the r nmost des res, the r values, the r
tastes, the r sp r t; and you reflect t back to them, mak ng yourself
nto a k nd of m rror mage. Your ab l ty to reflect the r psyche g ves
you great power over them; they may even feel a t nge of love.
 Th s s s mply the ab l ty to m m c another person not phys cally,
but psycholog cally, and t s mmensely powerful because t plays
upon the unsat sf ed self-love of a ch ld. Normally, people bombard
us w th the r exper ences, the r tastes. They hardly ever make the
effort to see th ngs through our eyes. Th s s annoy ng, but t also
creates great opportun ty: If you can show you understand another
person by reflect ng the r nmost feel ngs, they w ll be entranced and
d sarmed, all the more so because t happens so rarely. No one can
res st th s feel ng of be ng harmon ously reflected n the outs de
world, even though you m ght well be manufactur ng t for the r
benef t, and for decept ve purposes of your own.
The Narc ssus Effect works wonders n both soc al l fe and
bus ness; t g ves us both the Seducer’s and the Court er’s M rror.
The Moral Effect The power of verbal argument s extremely l m ted,
and often accompl shes the oppos te of what s ntended. As Grac án
remarks, “The truth s generally seen, rarely heard.” The Moral Effect
s a perfect way to demonstrate your deas through act on. Qu te
s mply, you teach others a lesson by g v ng them a taste of the r own
med c ne.
In the Moral Effect, you m rror what other people have done to
you, and do so n a way that makes them real ze you are do ng to
them exactly what they d d to you. You make them feel that the r
behav or has been unpleasant, as opposed to hear ng you compla n
and wh ne about t, wh ch only gets the r defenses up. And as they
feel the result of the r act ons m rrored back at them, they real ze n
the profoundest sense how they hurt or pun sh others w th the r
unsoc al behav or. You object fy the qual t es you want them to feel
ashamed of and create a m rror n wh ch they can gaze at the r foll es
and learn a lesson about themselves. Th s techn que s often used
by educators, psycholog sts, and anyone who has to deal w th
unpleasant and unconsc ous behav or. Th s s the Teacher’s M rror.
Whether or not there s actually anyth ng wrong w th the way people
have treated you, however, t can often be to your advantage to
reflect t back to them n a way that makes them feel gu lty about t.
The Halluc natory Effect. M rrors are tremendously decept ve, for
they create a sense that you are look ng at the real world. Actually,
though, you are only star ng at a p ece of glass, wh ch, as everyone
knows, cannot show the world exactly as t s: Everyth ng n a m rror
s reversed. When Al ce goes through the look ng glass n Lew s
Carroll’s book, she enters a world that s back-to-front, and more
than just v sually.
The Halluc natory Effect comes from creat ng a perfect copy of an
object, a place, a person. Th s copy acts as a k nd of dummy—
people take t for the real th ng, because t has the phys cal
appearance of the real th ng. Th s s the preem nent techn que of con
art sts, who strateg cally m m c the real world to dece ve you. It also
has appl cat ons n any arena that requ res camouflage. Th s s the
Dece ver’s M rror.

OBSERVANCES OF MIRROR EFFECTS

Observance I

In February of 1815, the emperor Napoleon escaped from the sland

of Elba, where he had been mpr soned by the all ed forces of
Europe, and returned to Par s n a march that st rred the French
nat on, rally ng troops and c t zens of all classes to h s s de and
chas ng h s successor, K ng Lou s XVIII, off the throne. By March,
however, hav ng reestabl shed h mself n power, he had to face the
fact that France’s s tuat on had gravely changed. The country was
devastated, he had no all es among the other European nat ons, and
h s most loyal and mportant m n sters had deserted h m or left the
country. Only one man rema ned from the old reg me—Joseph
Fouche, h s former m n ster of pol ce.
Napoleon had rel ed on Fouché to do h s d rty work throughout h s
prev ous re gn, but he had never been able to f gure h s m n ster out.
He kept a corps of agents to spy on all of h s m n sters, so that he
would always have an edge on them, but no one had gotten anyth ng
on Fouché. If suspected of some m sdeed, the m n ster would not get
angry or take the accusat on personally—he would subm t, nod,
sm le, and change colors chameleonl ke, adapt ng to the
requ rements of the moment. At f rst th s had seemed somewhat
pleasant and charm ng, but after a wh le t frustrated Napoleon, who
felt outdone by th s sl ppery man. At one t me or another he had f red
all of h s most mportant m n sters, nclud ng Talleyrand, but he never
touched Fouché. And so, n 1815, back n power and n need of help,
he felt he had no cho ce but to reappo nt Fouché as h s m n ster of
pol ce.
When you have come to gr ps and are str v ng together w th the
enemy, and you real ze that you cannot advance, you “soak n” and
become one w th the enemy. You can w n by apply ng a su table
techn que wh le you are mutually entangled. ... You can w n often
dec s vely w th the advantage of know ng how to “soak” nto the
enemy, whereas, were you to draw apart, you would lose the chance
to w n.

A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS, MIYAMOTO MUSASHI, JAPAN,

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Several weeks nto h s new re gn, Napoleon’s sp es told h m they
bel eved Fouché was n secret contact w th m n sters of fore gn
countr es, nclud ng Mettern ch of Austr a. Afra d that h s most
valuable m n ster was betray ng h m to h s enem es, Napoleon had to
f nd out the truth before t was too late. He could not confront Fouché
d rectly— n person the man was as sl ppery as an eel. He needed
hard proof.
Th s seemed to come n Apr l, when the emperor’s pr vate pol ce
captured a V ennese gentleman who had come to Par s to pass
nformat on on to Fouché. Order ng the man brought before h m,
Napoleon threatened to shoot h m then and there unless he
confessed; the man broke down and adm tted he had g ven Fouché
a letter from Mettern ch, wr tten n nv s ble nk, arrang ng for a secret
meet ng of spec al agents n Basel. Napoleon accord ngly ordered
one of h s own agents to nf ltrate th s meet ng. If Fouché was ndeed
plann ng to betray h m, he would f nally be caught red-handed and
would hang.
Napoleon wa ted mpat ently for the agent’s return, but to h s
bew lderment the agent showed up days later report ng that he had
heard noth ng that would mpl cate Fouché n a consp racy. In fact t
seemed that the other agents present suspected Fouché of double-
cross ng them, as f he were work ng for Napoleon all along.
Napoleon d d not bel eve th s for an nstant—Fouché had somehow
outw tted h m aga n.
The follow ng morn ng Fouché v s ted Napoleon, and remarked,
“By the way, s re, I never told you that I had a letter from Mettern ch
a few days ago; my m nd was so full of th ngs of greater moment.
Bes des, h s em ssary om tted to g ve me the powder needed to
make the wr t ng leg ble.... Here at length s the letter.” Sure that
Fouché was toy ng w th h m, Napoleon exploded, “You are a tra tor,
Fouché! I ought to have you hanged.” He cont nued to harangue
Fouché, but could not f re h m w thout proof. Fouché only expressed
amazement at the emperor’s words, but nwardly he sm led, for all
along he had been play ng a m rror ng game. Interpretat on
Fouché had known for years that Napoleon kept on top of those
around h m by spy ng on them day and n ght. The m n ster had
surv ved th s game by hav ng h s own sp es spy on Napoleon’s
sp es, thus neutral z ng any act on Napoleon m ght take aga nst h m.
In the case of the meet ng n Basel, he even turned the tables:
Know ng about Napoleon’s double agent, he set t up so that t would
appear as f Fouché were a loyal double agent too.
Fouché ga ned power and flour shed n a per od of great tumult by
m rror ng those around h m. Dur ng the French Revolut on he was a
rad cal Jacob n; after the Terror he became a moderate republ can;
and under Napoleon he became a comm tted mper al st whom
Napoleon ennobled and made the duke of Otranto. If Napoleon took
up the weapon of d gg ng up d rt on people, Fouché made sure he
had the d rt on Napoleon, as well as on everyone else. Th s also
allowed h m to pred ct the emperor’s plans and des res, so that he
could echo h s boss’s sent ments before he had even uttered them.
Sh eld ng h s act ons w th a m rror strategy, Fouché could also plot
offens ve moves w thout be ng caught n the act.

THE FOX AND THE STORK

One day Mr. Fox dec ded to fork out And nv te old Mrs. Stork out.
The d nner wasn’t elaborate—Be ng hab tually mean, He d dn’t go n
for haute cu s ne-In fact t cons sted of a shallow plate Of th n gruel.
W th n a m nute Our joker had lapped h s plate clean; Meanwh le h s
guest, f sh ng away w th her beak, Got not a morsel n t. To pay h m
back for th s cruel Pract cal joke, the stork nv ted The fox to d nner
the follow ng week. “I should be del ghted,” He repl ed; “When t
comes to fr ends I never stand upon pr de.” Punctually on the day he
ran To h s hostess’s house and at once began Pra s ng everyth ng:
“What taste! What ch c! And the food—done just to a turn!” Then sat
down w th a hearty appet te (Foxes are always ready to eat) And
savored the del c ous smell of meat. It was m nced meat and served
—to serve h m r ght!—In a long-necked, narrow-mouthed urn. The
stork, eas ly stoop ng, Enjoyed her f ll W th her long b ll; H s snout,
though, be ng the wrong shape and s ze, He had to return to h s den
Empty-bell ed, ta l dragg ng, ears droop ng, As red n the face as a
fox who’s been caught by a hen.
SELECTED FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695
Th s s the power of m rror ng those around you. F rst, you g ve
people the feel ng that you share the r thoughts and goals. Second, f
they suspect you have ulter or mot ves, the m rror sh elds you from
them, prevent ng them from f gur ng out your strategy. Eventually th s
w ll nfur ate and unsettle them. By play ng the double, you steal the r
thunder, suck away the r n t at ve, make them feel helpless. You also
ga n the ab l ty to choose when and how to unsettle them—another
avenue to power. And the m rror saves you mental energy: s mply
echo ng the moves of others g ves you the space you need to
develop a strategy of your own.

Observance II
Early on n h s career, the amb t ous statesman and general
Alc b ades of Athens (450-404 B.C.) fash oned a form dable weapon
that became the source of h s power. In every encounter w th others,
he would sense the r moods and tastes, then carefully ta lor h s
words and act ons to m rror the r nmost des res. He would seduce
them w th the dea that the r values were super or to everyone else’s,
and that h s goal was to model h mself on them or help them real ze
the r dreams. Few could res st h s charm.
The f rst man to fall under h s spell was the ph losopher Socrates.
Alc b ades represented the oppos te of the Socrat c deal of s mpl c ty
and upr ghtness: He l ved lav shly and was completely unpr nc pled.
Whenever he met Socrates, however, he m rrored the older man’s
sobr ety, eat ng s mply, accompany ng Socrates on long walks, and
talk ng only of ph losophy and v rtue. Socrates was not completely
fooled—he was not unaware of Alc b ades’ other l fe. But that only
made h m vulnerable to a log c that flattered h m: Only n my
presence, he felt, does th s man subm t to a v rtuous nfluence; only I
have such power over h m. Th s feel ng ntox cated Socrates, who
became Alc b ades’ fervent adm rer and supporter, one day even
r sk ng h s own l fe to rescue the young man n battle.
The Athen ans cons dered Alc b ades the r greatest orator, for he
had an uncanny ab l ty to tune n to h s aud ence’s asp rat ons, and
m rror the r des res. He made h s greatest speeches n support of the
nvas on of S c ly, wh ch he thought would br ng great wealth to
Athens and l m tless glory to h mself. The speeches gave express on
to young Athen ans’ th rst to conquer lands for themselves, rather
than l v ng off the v ctor es of the r ancestors. But he also ta lored h s
words to reflect older men’s nostalg a for the glory years when
Athens led the Greeks aga nst Pers a, and then went on to create an
emp re. All Athens now dreamed of conquer ng S c ly; Alc b ades’
plan was approved, and he was made the exped t on’s commander.

THE PU RI.OINED LLTTER

When I w sh to f nd out how w se, or how stup d, or how good, or
how w cked s any one, or what are h s thoughts at the moment, I
fash on the express on of my face, as accurately as poss ble, n
accordance w th the express on of h s, and then wa t to see what
thoughts or sent ments ar se n my m nd or heart, as f to match or
correspond w th the express on.
EDGAR ALLAN POE, 1809-1849
Wh le Alc b ades was lead ng the nvas on of S c ly, however,
certa n Athen ans fabr cated charges aga nst h m of profan ng sacred
statues. He knew h s enem es would have h m executed f he
returned home, so at the last m nute he deserted the Athen an fleet
and defected to Athens’s b tter enemy, Sparta. The Spartans
welcomed th s great man to the r s de, but they knew h s reputat on
and were wary of h m. Alc b ades loved luxury; the Spartans were a
warr or people who worsh pped auster ty, and they were afra d he
would corrupt the r youth. But much to the r rel ef, the Alc b ades who
arr ved n Sparta was not at all what they expected: He wore h s ha r
untr mmed (as they d d), took cold baths, ate coarse bread and black
broth, and wore s mple clothes. To the Spartans th s s gn f ed that he
had come to see the r way of l fe as super or to the Athen an; greater
than they were, he had chosen to be a Spartan rather than be ng
born one, and should thus be honored above all others. They fell
under h s spell and gave h m great powers. Unfortunately Alc b ades
rarely knew how to re n n h s charm—he managed to seduce the
k ng of Sparta’s w fe and make her pregnant. When th s became
publ c he once more had to flee for h s l fe.
Th s t me Alc b ades defected to Pers a, where he suddenly went
from Spartan s mpl c ty to embrac ng the lav sh Pers an l festyle
down to the last deta l. It was of course mmensely flatter ng to the
Pers ans to see a Greek of Alc b ades’ stature prefer the r culture
over h s own, and they showered h m w th honors, land, and power.
Once seduced by the m rror, they fa led to not ce that beh nd th s
sh eld Alc b ades was play ng a double game, secretly help ng the
Athen ans n the r war w th Sparta and thus re ngrat at ng h mself
w th the c ty to wh ch he desperately wanted to return, and wh ch
welcomed h m back w th open arms n 408 B.C.
 Interpretat on

Early n h s pol t cal career, Alc b ades made a d scovery that

changed h s whole approach to power: He had a colorful and forceful
personal ty, but when he argued h s deas strongly w th other people
he would w n over a few wh le at the same t me al enat ng many
more. The secret to ga n ng ascendancy over large numbers, he
came to bel eve, was not to mpose h s colors but to absorb the
colors of those around h m, l ke a chameleon. Once people fell for
the tr ck, the decept ons he went on to pract ce would be nv s ble to
them.
Understand: Everyone s wrapped up n the r own narc ss st c
shell. When you try to mpose your own ego on them, a wall goes up,
res stance s ncreased. By m rror ng them, however, you seduce
them nto a k nd of narc ss st c rapture: They are gaz ng at a double
of the r own soul. Th s double s actually manufactured n ts ent rety
by you. Once you have used the m rror to seduce them, you have
great power over them.
It s worth not ng, however, the dangers n the prom scuous use of
the m rror. In Alc b ades’ presence people felt larger, as f the r egos
had been doubled. But once he left, they felt empty and d m n shed,
and when they saw h m m rror ng completely d fferent people as
totally as he had m rrored them, they felt not just d m n shed but
betrayed. Alc b ades’ overuse of the M rror Effect made whole
peoples feel used, so that he constantly had to flee from one place to
another. Indeed Alc b ades so angered the Spartans that they f nally
had h m murdered. He had gone too far. The Seducer’s M rror must
be used w th caut on and d scr m nat on.

LORENZO DE’ MEDICI SEDUCES THE POPE

Lorenzo [de’ Med c ] lost no opportun ty of ncreas ng the respect
wh ch Pope Innocent now felt for h m and of ga n ng h s fr endsh p, f
poss ble h s affect on. He took the trouble to d scover the Pope’s
tastes and ndulged them accord ngly. He sent h m... casks of h s
favour te w ne.... He sent h m courteous, flatter ng letters n wh ch he
assured h m, when the Pope was ll, that he felt h s suffer ngs as
though they were h s own, n wh ch he encouraged h m w th such
fort fy ng statements as “a Pope s what he w lls to be,” and n wh ch,
as though nc dentally, he ncluded h s v ews on the proper course of
papal pol c es. Innocent was grat f ed by Lorenzo’s attent ons and
conv nced by h s arguments.... So completely, ndeed, d d he come
to share h s op n ons that, as the d sgruntled Ferrarese ambassador
put t, “the Pope sleeps w th the eyes of the Magn f cent Lorenzo.”
THE HOUSE OF MEDICI: ITS RISE AND FALL, CHRISTOPHER
HIBBERT, 1980

Observance III

In 1652 the recently w dowed Baroness Manc n moved her fam ly

from Rome to Par s, where she could count on the nfluence and
protect on of her brother Card nal Mazar n, the French pr me
m n ster. Of the baroness’s f ve daughters, four dazzled the court
w th the r beauty and h gh sp r ts. These nfamously charm ng n eces
of Card nal Mazar n became known as the Mazar nettes, and soon
found themselves nv ted to all the most mportant court funct ons.
One daughter, Mar e Manc n , d d not share th s good fortune, for
she lacked the beauty and grace of her s sters—who, along w th her
mother and even Card nal Mazar n, eventually came to d sl ke her,
for they felt she spo led the fam ly mage. They tr ed to persuade her
to enter a convent, where she would be less of an embarrassment,
but she refused. Instead she appl ed herself to her stud es, learn ng
Lat n and Greek, perfect ng her French, and pract c ng her mus cal
sk lls. On the rare occas ons when the fam ly would let her attend
court affa rs, she tra ned herself to be an artful l stener, s z ng people
up for the r weaknesses and h dden des res. And when she f nally
met the future K ng Lou s XIV, n 1657 (Lou s was seventeen years
old, Mar e e ghteen), she dec ded that to sp te her fam ly and uncle,
she would f nd a way to make th s young man fall n love w th her.
Th s was a seem ngly mposs ble task for such a pla n-look ng g rl,
but Mar e stud ed the future k ng closely. She not ced that her s sters’
fr vol ty d d not please h m, and she sensed that he loathed the
schem ng and petty pol t ck ng that went on all around h m. She saw
that he had a romant c nature—he read adventure novels, ns sted
on march ng at the head of h s arm es, and had h gh deals and a
pass on for glory. The court d d not feed these fantas es of h s; t was
a banal, superf c al world that bored h m.
The key to Lou s’s heart, Mar e saw, would be to construct a m rror
reflect ng h s fantas es and h s youthful yearn ngs for glory and
romance. To beg n w th she mmersed herself n the romant c novels,
poems, and plays that she knew the young k ng read vorac ously.
When Lou s began to engage her n conversat on, to h s del ght she
would talk of the th ngs that st rred h s soul—not th s fash on or that
p ece of goss p, but rather courtly love, the deeds of great kn ghts,
the nob l ty of past k ngs and heroes. She fed h s th rst for glory by
creat ng an mage of an august, super or k ng whom he could asp re
to become. She st rred h s mag nat on.
As the future Sun K ng spent more and more t me n Mar e’s
presence, t eventually became clear that he had fallen n love w th
the least l kely young woman of the court. To the horror of her s sters
and mother, he showered Mar e Manc n w th attent on. He brought
her along on h s m l tary campa gns, and made a show of stat on ng
her where she could watch as he marched nto battle. He even
prom sed Mar e that he would marry her and make her queen.
W ttgenste n had an extraord nary g ft for d v n ng the thoughts of the
person w th whom he was engaged n d scuss on. Wh le the other
struggled to put h s thought nto words, W ttgenste n would perce ve
what t was and state t for h m. Th s power of h s, wh ch somet mes
seemed uncanny, was made poss ble, I am sure, by h s own
prolonged and cont nuous researches.

LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN: A MEMOIR. NORMAN MALCOLM, 1958

The doctor should be opaque to h s pat ents, and l ke a m rror,
should show them noth ng but what s shown to h m.

SIGMUND FREUD, 1856-1939

 Mazar n, however, would never allow the k ng to marry h s n ece, a
woman who could br ng France no d plomat c or royal all ances.
Lou s had to marry a pr ncess of Spa n or Austr a. In 1658 Lou s
succumbed to the pressure and agreed to break off the f rst romant c
nvolvement of h s l fe. He d d so w th much regret, and at the end of
h s l fe he acknowledged that he never loved anyone as much as
Mar e Manc n .

Interpretat on

Mar e Manc n played the seducer’s game to perfect on. F rst, she
took a step back, to study her prey. Seduct on often fa ls to get past
the f rst step because t s too aggress ve; the f rst move must always
be a retreat. By study ng the k ng from a d stance Mar e saw what
d st ngu shed h m from others—h s h gh deals, romant c nature, and
snobb sh d sda n for petty pol t cs. Mar e’s next step was to make a
m rror for these h dden yearn ngs on Lou s’s part, lett ng h m gl mpse
what he h mself could be—a godl ke k ng!
Th s m rror had several funct ons: Sat sfy ng Lou s’s ego by g v ng
h m a double to look at, t also focused on h m so exclus vely as to
g ve h m the feel ng that Mar e ex sted for h m alone. Surrounded by
a pack of schem ng court ers who only had the r own self- nterest at
heart, he could not fa l to be touched by th s devot onal focus. F nally
Mar e’s m rror set up an deal for h m to l ve up to: the noble kn ght of
the med eval court. To a soul both romant c and amb t ous, noth ng
could be more ntox cat ng than to have someone hold up an
deal zed reflect on of h m. In effect t was Mar e Manc n who created
the mage of the Sun K ng— ndeed Lou s later adm tted the
enormous part she had played n fash on ng h s rad ant self- mage.
Th s s the power of the Seducer’s M rror: By doubl ng the tastes
and deals of the target, t shows your attent on to h s or her
psychology, an attent on more charm ng than any aggress ve pursu t.
F nd out what sets the other person apart, then hold up the m rror
that w ll reflect t and br ng t out of them. Feed the r fantas es of
power and greatness by reflect ng the r deals, and they w ll
succumb.

Observance IV

In 1538, w th the death of h s mother, Helena, the e ght-year-old

future czar Ivan IV (or Ivan the Terr ble) of Russ a became an
orphan. For the next f ve years he watched as the pr ncely class, the
boyars, terror zed the country. Now and then, to mock the young
Ivan, they would make h m wear a crown and scepter and place h m
on the throne. When the l ttle boy’s feet dangled over the edge of the
cha r, they would laugh and l ft h m off t, hand ng h m from man to
man n the a r, mak ng h m feel h s helplessness compared to them.
When Ivan was th rteen, he boldly murdered the boyar leader and
ascended to the throne. For the next few decades he struggled to
subdue the boyars’ power, but they cont nued to defy h m. By 1575
h s efforts to transform Russ a and defeat ts enem es had exhausted
h m. Meanwh le, h s subjects were compla n ng b tterly about h s
endless wars, h s secret pol ce, the unvanqu shed and oppress ve
boyars. H s own m n sters began to quest on h s moves. F nally he
had had enough. In 1564 he had temporar ly abandoned the throne,
forc ng h s subjects to call h m back to power. Now he took the
strategy a step further, and abd cated.
To take h s place Ivan elevated a general of h s, S meon
Bekbulatov ch, to the throne. But although S meon had recently
converted to Chr st an ty, he was by b rth a Tartar, and h s
enthronement was an nsult to Ivan’s subjects, s nce Russ ans
looked down on the Tartars as nfer ors and nf dels. Yet Ivan ordered
that all Russ ans, nclud ng the boyars, pledge obed ence to the r
new ruler. And wh le S meon moved nto the Kreml n, Ivan l ved n a
humble house on Moscow’s outsk rts, from wh ch he would
somet mes v s t the palace, bow before the throne, s t among the
other boyars, and humbly pet t on S meon for favors.
Over t me t became clear that S meon was a k nd of k ng’s double.
He dressed l ke Ivan, and acted l ke Ivan, but he had no real power,
s nce no one would really obey h m. The boyars at the court who
were old enough to remember taunt ng Ivan when he was a boy, by
plac ng h m on the throne, saw the connect on: They had made Ivan
feel l ke a weak pretender, so now he m rrored them by plac ng a
weak pretender of h s own on the throne.
For two long years Ivan held the m rror of S meon up to the
Russ an people. The m rror sa d: Your wh n ng and d sobed ence
have made me a czar w th no real power, so I w ll reflect back to you
a czar w th no real power. You have treated me d srespectfully, so I
w ll do the same to you, mak ng Russ a the laugh ngstock of the
world. In 1577, n the name of the Russ an people, the chast sed
boyars once aga n begged Ivan to return to the throne, wh ch he d d.
He l ved as czar unt l h s death, n 1584, and the consp rac es,
compla n ng, and second-guess ng d sappeared along w th S meon.

Interpretat on

In 1564, after threaten ng to abd cate, Ivan had been granted

absolute powers. But these powers had slowly been ch pped away
as every sector of soc ety—the boyars, the church, the government
—v ed for more control. Fore gn wars had exhausted the country,
nternal b cker ng had ncreased, and Ivan’s attempts to respond had
been met w th scorn. Russ a had turned nto a k nd of bo sterous
classroom n wh ch the pup ls laughed openly at the teacher. If he
ra sed h s vo ce or compla ned, he only met more res stance. He had
to teach them a lesson, g ve them a taste of the r own med c ne.
S meon Bekbulatov ch was the m rror he used to do so.
After two years n wh ch the throne had been an object of r d cule
and d sgust, the Russ an people learned the r lesson. They wanted
the r czar back, conced ng to h m all the d gn ty and respect that the
pos t on should always have commanded. For the rest of h s re gn,
Russ a and Ivan got along f ne.
Understand: People are locked n the r own exper ences. When
you wh ne about some nsens t v ty on the r part, they may seem to
understand, but nwardly they are untouched and even more
res stant. The goal of power s always to lower people’s res stance to
you. For th s you need tr cks, and one tr ck s to teach them a lesson.
Instead of harangu ng people verbally, then, create a k nd of m rror
of the r behav or. In do ng so you leave them two cho ces: They can
gnore you, or they can start to th nk about themselves. And even f
they gnore you, you w ll have planted a seed n the r unconsc ous
that w ll eventually take root. When you m rror the r behav or,
nc dentally, do not be afra d to add a touch of car cature and
exaggerat on, as Ivan d d by enthron ng a Tartar— t s the l ttle sp ce
n the soup that w ll open the r eyes and make them see the
r d culousness n the r own act ons.

Observance V

Dr. M lton H. Er ckson, a p oneer n strateg c psychotherapy, would

often educate h s pat ents powerfully but nd rectly by creat ng a k nd
of m rror effect. Construct ng an analogy to make pat ents see the
truth on the r own, he would bypass the r res stance to change.
When Dr. Er ckson treated marr ed couples compla n ng of sexual
problems, for nstance, he often found that psychotherapy’s trad t on
of d rect confrontat on and problem-a r ng only he ghtened the
spouses’ res stance and sharpened the r d fferences. Instead, he
would draw a husband and w fe out on other top cs, often banal
ones, try ng to f nd an analogy for the sexual confl ct.
In one couple’s f rst sess on, the pa r were d scuss ng the r eat ng
hab ts, espec ally at d nner. The w fe preferred the le surely approach
—a dr nk before the meal, some appet zers, and then a small ma n
course, all at a slow, c v l zed pace. Th s frustrated the husband—he
wanted to get d nner over qu ckly and to d g r ght nto the ma n
course, the b gger the better. As the conversat on cont nued, the
couple began to catch gl mpses of an analogy to the r problems n
bed. The moment they made th s connect on, however, Dr. Er ckson
would change the subject, carefully avo d ng a d scuss on of the real
problem.
 The couple thought Er ckson was just gett ng to know them and
would deal w th the problem d rectly the next t me he saw them. But
at the end of th s f rst sess on, Dr. Er ckson d rected them to arrange
a d nner a few n ghts away that would comb ne each person’s des re:
The w fe would get the slow meal, nclud ng t me spent bond ng, and
the husband would get the b g d shes he wanted to eat. W thout
real z ng they were act ng under the doctor’s gentle gu dance, the
couple would walk nto a m rror of the r problem, and n the m rror
they would solve the r problems themselves, end ng the even ng just
as the doctor had hoped—by m rror ng the mproved d nner
dynam cs n bed.
In deal ng w th more severe problems, such as the sch zophren c’s
m rror fantasy world of h s or her own construct on, Dr. Er ckson
would always try to enter the m rror and work w th n t. He once
treated a hosp tal nmate who bel eved he was Jesus Chr st—
drap ng sheets around h s body, talk ng n vague parables, and
bombard ng staff and pat ents w th endless Chr st an proselyt z ng.
No therapy or drugs seemed to work, unt l one day Dr. Er ckson went
up to the young man and sa d, “I understand you have had
exper ence as a carpenter.” Be ng Chr st, the pat ent had to say that
he had had such exper ence, and Er ckson mmed ately put h m to
work bu ld ng bookcases and other useful tems, allow ng h m to
wear h s Jesus garb. Over the next weeks, as the pat ent worked on
these projects, h s m nd became less occup ed w th Jesus fantas es
and more focused on h s labor. As the carpentry work took
precedence, a psych c sh ft took effect: The rel g ous fantas es
rema ned, but faded comfortably nto the background, allow ng the
man to funct on n soc ety.

Interpretat on

Commun cat on depends on metaphors and symbols, wh ch are the

bas s of language tself. A metaphor s a k nd of m rror to the
concrete and real, wh ch t often expresses more clearly and deeply
than a l teral descr pt on does. When you are deal ng w th the
 ntractable w llpower of other people, d rect commun cat on often
only he ghtens the r res stance.
Th s happens most clearly when you compla n about people’s
behav or, part cularly n sens t ve areas such as the r lovemak ng.
You w ll effect a far more last ng change f, l ke Dr. Er ckson, you
construct an analogy, a symbol c m rror of the s tuat on, and gu de
the other through t. As Chr st h mself understood, talk ng n parables
s often the best way to teach a lesson, for t allows people to real ze
the truth on the r own.
When deal ng w th people who are lost n the reflect ons of fantasy
worlds ( nclud ng a host of people who do not l ve n mental
hosp tals), never try to push them nto real ty by shatter ng the r
m rrors. Instead, enter the r world and operate ns de t, under the r
rules, gently gu d ng them out of the hall of m rrors they have
entered.

Observance VI

The great s xteenth-century Japanese tea master Takeno Sho-o

once passed by a house and not ced a young man water ng flowers
near h s front gate. Two th ngs caught Sho-o’s attent on—f rst, the
graceful way the man performed h s task; and, second, the
stunn ngly beaut ful rose of Sharon blossoms that bloomed n the
garden. He stopped and ntroduced h mself to the man, whose name
was Sen no R kyu. Sho-o wanted to stay, but he had a pr or
engagement and had to hurry off. Before he left, however, R kyu
nv ted h m to take tea w th h m the follow ng morn ng. Sho-o happ ly
accepted.
When Sho-o opened the garden gate the next day, he was
horr f ed to see that not a s ngle flower rema ned. More than anyth ng
else, he had come to see the rose of Sharon blossoms that he had
not had the t me to apprec ate the day before; now, d sappo nted, he
started to leave, but at the gate he stopped h mself, and dec ded to
enter Sen no R kyu’s tea room. Immed ately ns de, he stopped n h s
tracks and gazed n aston shment: Before h m a vase hung from the
ce l ng, and n the vase stood a s ngle rose of Sharon blossom, the
most beaut ful n the garden. Somehow Sen no R kyu had read h s
guest’s thoughts, and, w th th s one eloquent gesture, had
demonstrated that th s day guest and host would be n perfect
harmony.
Sen no R kyu went on to become the most famous tea master of
all, and h s trademark was th s uncanny ab l ty to harmon ze h mself
w th h s guests’ thoughts and to th nk one step ahead, enchant ng
them by adapt ng to the r taste.
One day R kyu was nv ted to tea by Yamash na Hech gwan, an
adm rer of the tea ceremony but also a man w th a v v d sense of
humor. When R kyu arr ved at Hech gwan’s home, he found the
garden gate shut, so he opened t to look for the host. On the other
s de of the gate he saw that someone had f rst dug a d tch, then
carefully covered t over w th canvas and earth. Real z ng that
Hech gwan had planned a pract cal joke, he obl g ngly walked r ght
nto the d tch, muddy ng h s clothes n the process.
Apparently horr f ed, Hech gwan came runn ng out, and hurr ed
R kyu to a bath that for some nexpl cable reason stood already
prepared. After bath ng, R kyu jo ned Hech gwan n the tea
ceremony, wh ch both enjoyed mmensely, shar ng a laugh about the
acc dent. Later Sen no R kyu expla ned to a fr end that he had heard
about Hech gwan’s pract cal joke beforehand, “But s nce t should
always be one’s a m to conform to the w shes of one’s host, I fell nto
the hole know ngly and thus assured the success of the meet ng. Tea
s by no means mere obsequ ousness, but there s no tea where the
host and guest are not n harmony w th one another.” Hech gwan’s
v s on of the d gn f ed Sen no R kyu at the bottom of a d tch had
pleased h m endlessly, but R kyu had ga ned a pleasure of h s own n
comply ng w th h s host’s w sh and watch ng h m amuse h mself n
th s way.

Interpretat on
Sen no R kyu was no mag c an or seer—he watched those around
h m acutely, plumb ng the subtle gestures that revealed a h dden
des re, then produc ng that des re’s mage. Although Sho-o never
spoke of be ng enchanted by the rose of Sharon blossoms, R kyu
read t n h s eyes. If m rror ng a person’s des res meant fall ng nto a
d tch, so be t. R kyu’s power res ded n h s sk llful use of the
Court er’s M rror, wh ch gave h m the appearance of an unusual
ab l ty to see nto other people.
Learn to man pulate the Court er’s M rror, for t w ll br ng you great
power. Study people’s eyes, follow the r gestures—surer barometers
of pa n and pleasure than any spoken word. Not ce and remember
the deta ls—the cloth ng, the cho ce of fr ends, the da ly hab ts, the
tossed-out remarks—that reveal h dden and rarely ndulged des res.
Soak t all n, f nd out what l es under the surface, then make yourself
the m rror of the r unspoken selves. That s the key to th s power:
The other person has not asked for your cons derat on, has not
ment oned h s pleasure n the rose of Sharon, and when you reflect t
back to h m h s pleasure s he ghtened because t s unasked for.
Remember: The wordless commun cat on, the nd rect compl ment,
conta ns the most power. No one can res st the enchantment of the
Court er’s M rror.

Observance VII

Yellow K d We l, con art st extraord na re, used the Dece ver’s M rror
n h s most br ll ant cons. Most audac ous of all was h s re-creat on of
a bank n Munc e, Ind ana. When We l read one day that the
Merchants Bank n Munc e had moved, he saw an opportun ty he
could not pass up.
We l rented out the or g nal Merchants bu ld ng, wh ch st ll
conta ned bank furn ture, complete w th teller w ndows. He bought
money bags, stenc led a bank’s nvented name on them, f lled them
w th steel washers, and arrayed them mpress vely beh nd the teller
w ndows, along w th bundles of boodle—real b lls h d ng newspaper
cut to s ze. For h s bank’s staff and customers We l h red gamblers,
book es, g rls from local bawdy houses, and other assorted
confederates. He even had a local thug pose as a bank d ck.
Cla m ng to be the broker for a cert f cate nvestment the bank was
offer ng, We l would f sh the waters and hook the proper wealthy
sucker. He would br ng th s man to the bank and ask to see the
pres dent. An “off cer” of the bank would tell them that they had to
wa t, wh ch only he ghtened the real sm of the con—one always has
to wa t to see the bank pres dent. And as they wa ted the bank would
bustle w th bankl ke act v ty, as call g rls and book es n d sgu se
floated n and out, mak ng depos ts and w thdrawals and t pp ng the r
hats to the phony bank d ck. Lulled by th s perfect copy of real ty, the
sucker would depos t $50,000 nto the fake bank w thout a worry n
the world.
Over the years We l d d the same th ng w th a deserted yacht club,
an abandoned brokerage off ce, a relocated real estate off ce, and a
completely real st c gambl ng club.

Interpretat on

The m rror ng of real ty offers mmense decept ve powers. The r ght

un form, the perfect accent, the proper props—the decept on cannot
be dec phered because t s enmeshed n a s mulat on of real ty.
People have an ntense des re and need to bel eve, and the r f rst
nst nct s to trust a well-constructed facade, to m stake t for real ty.
After all, we cannot go around doubt ng the real ty of everyth ng we
see—that would be too exhaust ng. We hab tually accept
appearances, and th s s a credul ty you can use.
In th s part cular game t s the f rst moment that counts the most. If
your suckers’ susp c ons are not ra sed by the r f rst glance at the
m rror’s reflect on, they w ll stay suppressed. Once they enter your
hall of m rrors, they w ll be unable to d st ngu sh the real from the
fake, and t w ll become eas er and eas er to dece ve them.
Remember: Study the world’s surfaces and learn to m rror them n
your hab ts, your manner, your clothes. L ke a carn vorous plant, to
unsuspect ng nsects you w ll look l ke all the other plants n the f eld.
Author ty: The task of a m l tary operat on s to accord decept vely
w th the ntent ons of the enemy ... get to what they want f rst, subtly
ant c pate them. Ma nta n d sc pl ne and adapt to the enemy.... Thus,
at f rst you are l ke a ma den, so the enemy opens h s door; then you
are l ke a rabb t on the loose, so the enemy cannot keep you out.
(Sun-tzu, fourth century B.C.)
Image: The
Sh eld of Perseus. It s pol
shed nto a reflect ng m rror.
Medusa cannot see you, only her
own h deousness reflected back at her.
Beh nd such a m rror you can de
ce ve, mock, and nfur ate. W th
one blow you sever Medusa’s
unsuspect ng head.

A WARNING: BEWARE OF MIRRORED

SITUATIONS

M rrors conta n great power but also dangerous reefs, nclud ng the
m rrored s tuat on—a s tuat on that seems to reflect or closely
resemble a prev ous one, mostly n style and surface appearance.
You can often back nto such a s tuat on w thout fully understand ng
t, wh le those around you understand t qu te well, and compare t
and you to whatever happened before. Most often you suffer by the
compar son, seem ng e ther weaker than the prev ous occupant of
your pos t on or else ta nted by any unpleasant assoc at ons that
person has left beh nd.
In 1864 the composer R chard Wagner moved to Mun ch at the
behest of Ludw g II, known var ously as the Swan K ng or the Mad
K ng of Bavar a. Ludw g was Wagner’s b ggest fan and most
generous patron. The strength of h s support turned Wagner’s head
—once establ shed n Mun ch under the k ng’s protect on, he would
be able to say and do whatever he wanted.
Wagner moved nto a lav sh house, wh ch the k ng eventually
bought for h m. Th s house was but a stone’s throw from the former
home of Lola Montez, the notor ous courtesan who had plunged
Ludw g II’s grandfather nto a cr s s that had forced h m to abd cate.
Warned that he could be nfected by th s assoc at on, Wagner only
scoffed—“I am no Lola Montez,” he sa d. Soon enough, however, the
c t zens of Mun ch began to resent the favors and money showered
on Wagner, and dubbed h m “the second Lola,” or “Lolotte.” He
unconsc ously began to tread n Lola’s footsteps—spend ng money
extravagantly, meddl ng n matters beyond mus c, even dabbl ng n
pol t cs and adv s ng the k ng on cab net appo ntments. Meanwh le
Ludw g’s affect on for Wagner seemed ntense and und gn f ed for a
k ng—just l ke h s grandfather’s love for Lola Montez.
Eventually Ludw g’s m n sters wrote h m a letter: “Your Majesty
now stands at a fateful part ng of the ways: you have to choose
between the love and respect of your fa thful people and the
‘fr endsh p’ of R chard Wagner.” In December of 1865, Ludw g
pol tely asked h s fr end to leave and never return. Wagner had
nadvertently placed h mself n Lola Montez’s reflect on. Once there,
everyth ng he d d rem nded the stol d Bavar ans of that dread
woman, and there was noth ng he could do about t.
Avo d such assoc at on-effects l ke the plague. In a m rrored
s tuat on you have l ttle or no control over the reflect ons and
recollect ons that w ll be connected to you, and any s tuat on beyond
your control s dangerous. Even f the person or event has pos t ve
assoc at ons, you w ll suffer from not be ng able to l ve up to them,
s nce the past generally appears greater than the present. If you
ever not ce people assoc at ng you w th some past event or person,
do everyth ng you can to separate yourself from that memory and to
shatter the reflect on.
 LAW 45

PREACH THE NEED FOR CHANGE, BUT NEVER

REFORM TOO MUCH AT ONCE

JUDGMENT
Everyone understands the need for change n the abstract, but on
the day-to-day level people are creatures of hab t. Too much
nnovat on s traumat c, and w ll lead to revolt. If you are new to a
pos t on of power, or an outs der try ng to bu ld a power base, make a
show of respect ng the old way of do ng th ngs. If change s
necessary, make t feel l ke a gentle mprovement on the past.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Somet me n the early 1520s, K ng Henry VIII of England dec ded to

d vorce h s w fe, Cather ne of Aragon, because she had fa led to
bear h m a son, and because he had fallen n love w th the young
and comely Anne Boleyn. The pope, Clement VII, opposed the
d vorce, and threatened the k ng w th excommun cat on. The k ng’s
most powerful m n ster, Card nal Wolsey, also saw no need for
d vorce—and h s halfhearted support of the k ng cost h m h s pos t on
and soon h s l fe.
One man n Henry’s cab net, Thomas Cromwell, not only
supported h m n h s des re for a d vorce but had an dea for real z ng
t: a complete break w th the past. He conv nced the k ng that by
sever ng t es w th Rome and mak ng h mself the head of a newly
formed Engl sh church, he could d vorce Cather ne and marry Anne.
By 1531 Henry saw th s as the only solut on. To reward Cromwell for
h s s mple but br ll ant dea, he elevated th s son of a blacksm th to
the post of royal counc llor.
By 1534 Cromwell had been named the k ng’s secretary, and as
the power beh nd the throne he had become the most powerful man
n England. But for h m the break w th Rome went beyond the
sat sfact on of the k ng’s carnal des res: He env s oned a new
Protestant order n England, w th the power of the Cathol c Church
smashed and ts vast wealth n the hands of the k ng and the
government. In that same year he n t ated a complete survey of the
churches and monaster es of England. And as t turned out, the
treasures and moneys that the churches had accumulated over the
centur es were far more than he had mag ned; h s sp es and agents
came back w th aston sh ng f gures.
To just fy h s schemes, Cromwell c rculated stor es about the
corrupt on n the Engl sh monaster es, the r abuse of power, the r
explo tat on of the people they supposedly served. Hav ng won
Parl ament’s support for break ng up the monaster es, he began to
se ze the r hold ngs and to put them out of ex stence one by one. At
the same t me, he began to mpose Protestant sm, ntroduc ng
reforms n rel g ous r tual and pun sh ng those who stuck to
Cathol c sm, and who now were called heret cs. V rtually overn ght,
England was converted to a new off c al rel g on.
A terror fell on the country. Some people had suffered under the
Cathol c Church, wh ch before the reforms had been mmensely
powerful, but most Br tons had strong t es to Cathol c sm and to ts
comfort ng r tuals. They watched n horror as churches were
demol shed, mages of the Madonna and sa nts were broken n
p eces, sta ned-glass w ndows were smashed, and the churches’
treasures were conf scated. W th monaster es that had succored the
poor suddenly gone, the poor now flooded the streets. The grow ng
ranks of the beggar class were further swelled by former monks. On
top of all th s, Cromwell lev ed h gh taxes to pay for h s eccles ast cal
reforms.
Celebrat ng the turn of the year s an anc ent custom. The Romans
celebrated the Saturnal a, the fest val of Saturn, god of the harvest,
between December 17 and 23. It was the most cheerful fest val of
the year. All work and commerce stopped, and the streets were f lled
w th crowds and a carn val atmosphere. Slaves were temporar ly
freed, and the houses were decorated w th laurel branches. People
v s ted one another, br ng ng g fts of wax candles and l ttle clay
f gur nes.
Long before the b rth of Chr st, the Jews celebrated an e ght-day
Fest val of L ghts [at the same season], and t s bel eved that the
German c peoples held a great fest val not only at m dsummer but
also at the w nter solst ce, when they celebrated the reb rth of the
sun and honored the great fert l ty gods Wotan and Freyja, Donar
(Thor) and Freyr. Even after the Emperor Constant ne (A.D. 306-
337) declared Chr st an ty to be Rome’s off c al mper al rel g on, the
evocat on of l ght and fert l ty as an mportant component of pre-
Chr st an m dw nter celebrat ons could nor be ent rely suppressed. In
the year 274 the Roman Emperor Aurel an (A.D. 214-275) had
establ shed an off c al cult of the sun-god M thras, declar ng h s
b rthday, December 25, a nat onal hol day. The cult of M thras, the
Aryan god of l ght, had spread from Pers a through As a M nor to
Greece, Rome, and as far as the German c lands and Br ta n.
Numerous ru ns of h s shr nes st ll test fy to the h gh regard n wh ch
th s god was held, espec ally by the Roman leg ons, as a br nger of
fert l ty, peace, and v ctory. So t was a clever move when, n the year
A.D. 354, the Chr st an church under Pope L ber us (352-366) co-
opted the b rthday of M thras and declared December 25 to be the
b rthday of Jesus Chr st.
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG, ANNE-SUSANNE RISCHKE,
DECEMBER 25, 1983
In 1535 powerful revolts n the North of England threatened to
topple Henry from h s throne. By the follow ng year he had
suppressed the rebell ons, but he had also begun to see the costs of
Cromwell’s reforms. The k ng h mself had never wanted to go th s far
—he had only wanted a d vorce. It was now Cromwell’s turn to watch
uneas ly as the k ng began slowly to undo h s reforms, re nstat ng
Cathol c sacraments and other r tuals that Cromwell had outlawed.
Sens ng h s fall from grace, n 1540 Cromwell dec ded to rega n
Henry’s favor w th one throw of the d ce: He would f nd the k ng a
new w fe. Henry’s th rd w fe, Jane Seymour, had d ed a few years
before, and he had been p n ng for a new young queen. It was
Cromwell who found h m one: Anne of Cleves, a German pr ncess
and, most mportant to Cromwell, a Protestant. On Cromwell’s
comm ss on, the pa nter Holbe n produced a flatter ng portra t of
Anne; when Henry saw t, he fell n love, and agreed to marry her.
Cromwell seemed back n favor.
Unfortunately, however, Holbe n’s pa nt ng was h ghly deal zed,
and when the k ng f nally met the pr ncess she d d not please h m n
the least. H s anger aga nst Cromwell—f rst for the ll-conce ved
reforms, now for saddl ng h m w th an unattract ve and Protestant
w fe—could no longer be conta ned. In June of that year, Cromwell
was arrested, charged as a Protestant extrem st and a heret c, and
sent to the Tower. S x weeks later, before a large and enthus ast c
crowd, the publ c execut oner cut off h s head.

Interpretat on

Thomas Cromwell had a s mple dea: He would break up the power

and wealth of the Church and lay the foundat on for Protestant sm n
England. And he would do th s n a merc lessly short t me. He knew
h s speedy reforms would cause pa n and resentment, but he
thought these feel ngs would fade n a few years. More mportant, by
dent fy ng h mself w th change, he would become the leader of the
new order, mak ng the k ng dependent on h m. But there was a
problem n h s strategy: L ke a b ll ard ball h t too hard aga nst the
cush on, h s reforms had react ons and caroms he d d not env s on
and could not control.
The man who n t ates strong reforms often becomes the
scapegoat for any k nd of d ssat sfact on. And eventually the react on
to h s reforms may consume h m, for change s upsett ng to the
human an mal, even when t s for the good. Because the world s
and always has been full of nsecur ty and threat, we latch on to
fam l ar faces and create hab ts and r tuals to make the world more
comfortable. Change can be pleasant and even somet mes des rable
n the abstract, but too much of t creates an anx ety that w ll st r and
bo l beneath the surface and then eventually erupt.
Never underest mate the h dden conservat sm of those around
you. It s powerful and entrenched. Never let the seduct ve charm of
an dea cloud your reason: Just as you cannot make people see the
world your way, you cannot wrench them nto the future w th pa nful
changes. They w ll rebel. If reform s necessary, ant c pate the
react on aga nst t and f nd ways to d sgu se the change and sweeten
the po son.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

As a young Commun st n the 1920s, Mao Tse-tung understood

better than any of h s colleagues the ncred ble odds aga nst a
Commun st v ctory n Ch na. W th the r small numbers, l m ted funds,
lack of m l tary exper ence, and small arsenal of weapons, the Party
had no hope of success unless t won over Ch na’s mmense
peasant populat on. But who n the world was more conservat ve,
more rooted n trad t on, than the Ch nese peasantry? The oldest
c v l zat on on the planet had a h story that would never loosen ts
power, no matter how v olent the revolut on. The deas of Confuc us
rema ned as al ve n the 1920s as they had been n the s xth century
B.C., when the ph losopher was al ve. Desp te the oppress ons of the
current system, would the peasantry ever g ve up the deep-rooted
values of the past for the great unknown of Commun sm?
The solut on, as Mao saw t, nvolved a s mple decept on: Cloak
the revolut on n the cloth ng of the past, mak ng t comfort ng and
leg t mate n people’s eyes. One of Mao’s favor te books was the
very popular med eval Ch nese novel The Water Marg n, wh ch
recounts the explo ts of a Ch nese Rob n Hood and h s robber band
as they struggle aga nst a corrupt and ev l monarch. In Ch na n
Mao’s t me, fam ly t es dom nated over any other k nd, for the
Confuc an h erarchy of father and oldest son rema ned f rmly n
place; but The Water Marg n preached a super or value—the
fraternal t es of the band of robbers, the nob l ty of the cause that
un tes people beyond blood. The novel had great emot onal
resonance for Ch nese people, who love to root for the underdog.
T me and aga n, then, Mao would present h s revolut onary army as
an extens on of the robber band n The Water Marg n, l ken ng h s
struggle to the t meless confl ct between the oppressed peasantry
and an ev l emperor. He made the past seem to envelop and
leg t m ze the Commun st cause; the peasantry could feel
comfortable w th and even support a group w th such roots n the
past.
Even once the Party came to power, Mao cont nued to assoc ate t
w th the past. He presented h mself to the masses not as a Ch nese
Len n but as a modern Chuko L ang, the real-l fe th rd-century
strateg st who f gures prom nently n the popular h stor cal novel The
Romance of the Three K ngdoms. L ang was more than a great
general—he was a poet, a ph losopher, and a f gure of stern moral
rect tude. So Mao represented h mself as a poet-warr or l ke L ang, a
man who m xed strategy w th ph losophy and preached a new eth cs.
He made h mself appear l ke a hero from the great Ch nese trad t on
of warr or statesmen.
Soon, everyth ng n Mao’s speeches and wr t ngs had a reference
to an earl er per od n Ch nese h story. He recalled, for example, the
great Emperor Ch‘ n, who had un f ed the country n the th rd century
B.C. Ch’ n had burned the works of Confuc us, consol dated and
completed the bu ld ng of the Great Wall, and g ven h s name to
Ch na. L ke Ch‘ n, Mao also had brought the country together, and
had sought bold reforms aga nst an oppress ve past. Ch’ n had
trad t onally been seen as a v olent d ctator whose re gn was short;
the br ll ance of Mao’s strategy was to turn th s around,
s multaneously re nterpret ng Ch’ n, just fy ng h s rule n the eyes of
present-day Ch nese, and us ng h m to just fy the v olence of the new
order that Mao h mself was creat ng.
After the fa led Cultural Revolut on of the late 1960s, a power
struggle emerged n the Commun st Party n wh ch Mao’s ma n foe
was L n P ao, once a close fr end of h s. To make clear to the
masses the d fference between h s ph losophy and L n’s, Mao once
aga n explo ted the past: He cast h s opponent as represent ng
Confuc us, a ph losopher L n n fact would constantly quote. And
Confuc us s gn f ed the conservat sm of the past. Mao assoc ated
h mself, on the other hand, w th the anc ent ph losoph cal movement
known as Legal sm, exempl f ed by the wr t ngs of Han-fe -tzu. The
Legal sts d sda ned Confuc an eth cs; they bel eved n the need for
v olence to create a new order. They worsh ped power. To g ve
h mself we ght n the struggle, Mao unleashed a nat onw de
propaganda campa gn aga nst Confuc us, us ng the ssues of
Confuc an sm versus Legal sm to wh p the young nto a k nd of
frenz ed revolt aga nst the older generat on. Th s grand context
enveloped a rather banal power struggle, and Mao once aga n won
over the masses and tr umphed over h s enem es.

Interpretat on

No people had a more profound attachment to the past than the

Ch nese. In the face of th s enormous obstacle to reform, Mao’s
strategy was s mple: Instead of struggl ng aga nst the past, he turned
t to h s advantage, assoc at ng h s rad cal Commun sts w th the
romant c f gures of Ch nese h story. Weav ng the story of the War of
the Three K ngdoms nto the struggle between the Un ted States, the
Sov et Un on, and Ch na, he cast h mself as Chuko L ang. As the
emperors had, he welcomed the cultl ke adorat on of the masses,
understand ng that the Ch nese could not funct on w thout some k nd
of father f gure to adm re. And after he made a terr ble blunder w th
the Great Leap Forward, try ng to force modern zat on on the country
and fa l ng m serably, he never repeated h s m stake: From then on,
rad cal change had to be cloaked n the comfortable clothes of the
past.
The lesson s s mple: The past s powerful. What has happened
before seems greater; hab t and h story g ve any act we ght. Use th s
to your advantage. When you destroy the fam l ar you create a vo d
or vacuum; people fear the chaos that w ll flood n to f ll t. You must
avo d st rr ng up such fears at all cost. Borrow the we ght and
leg t macy from the past, however remote, to create a comfort ng and
fam l ar presence. Th s w ll g ve your act ons romant c assoc at ons,
add to your presence, and cloak the nature of the changes you are
attempt ng.
It must be cons dered that there s noth ng more d ff cult to carry out,
nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle,
than to n t ate a new order of th ngs.
N ccolò Mach avell , 1469-1527

KEYS TO POWER

Human psychology conta ns many dual t es, one of them be ng that

even wh le people understand the need for change, know ng how
mportant t s for nst tut ons and nd v duals to be occas onally
renewed, they are also rr tated and upset by changes that affect
them personally. They know that change s necessary, and that
novelty prov des rel ef from boredom, but deep ns de they cl ng to
the past. Change n the abstract, or superf c al change, they des re,
but a change that upsets core hab ts and rout nes s deeply
d sturb ng to them.
No revolut on has gone w thout a powerful later react on aga nst t,
for n the long run the vo d t creates proves too unsettl ng to the
human an mal, who unconsc ously assoc ates such vo ds w th death
and chaos. The opportun ty for change and renewal seduces people
to the s de of the revolut on, but once the r enthus asm fades, wh ch
 t w ll, they are left w th a certa n empt ness. Yearn ng for the past,
they create an open ng for t to creep back n.
For Mach avell , the prophet who preaches and br ngs change can
only surv ve by tak ng up arms: When the masses nev tably yearn
for the past, he must be ready to use force. But the armed prophet
cannot last long unless he qu ckly creates a new set of values and
r tuals to replace the old ones, and to soothe the anx et es of those
who dread change. It s far eas er, and less bloody, to play a k nd of
con game. Preach change as much as you l ke, and even enact your
reforms, but g ve them the comfort ng appearance of older events
and trad t ons.
Re gn ng from A.D. 8 to A.D. 23, the Ch nese emperor Wang Mang
emerged from a per od of great h stor cal turbulence n wh ch the
people yearned for order, an order represented for them by
Confuc us. Some two hundred years earl er, however, Emperor Ch’ n
had ordered the wr t ngs of Confuc us burned. A few years later,
word had spread that certa n texts had m raculously surv ved, h dden
under the scholar’s house. These texts may not have been genu ne,
but they gave Wang h s opportun ty: He f rst conf scated them, then
had h s scr bes nsert passages nto them that seemed to support the
changes he had been mpos ng on the country. When he released
the texts, t seemed that Confuc us sanct oned Wang’s reforms, and
the people felt comforted and accepted them more eas ly.
Understand: The fact that the past s dead and bur ed g ves you
the freedom to re nterpret t. To support your cause, t nker w th the
facts. The past s a text n wh ch you can safely nsert your own l nes.
A s mple gesture l ke us ng an old t tle, or keep ng the same
number for a group, w ll t e you to the past and support you w th the
author ty of h story. As Mach avell h mself observed, the Romans
used th s dev ce when they transformed the r monarchy nto a
republ c. They may have nstalled two consuls n place of the k ng,
but s nce the k ng had been served by twelve l ctors, they reta ned
the same number to serve under the consuls. The k ng had
personally performed an annual sacr f ce, n a great spectacle that
st rred the publ c; the republ c reta ned th s pract ce, only transferr ng
t to a spec al “ch ef of the ceremony, whom they called the K ng of
the sacr f ce.” These and s m lar gestures sat sf ed the people and
kept them from clamor ng for the monarchy’s return.
Another strategy to d sgu se change s to make a loud and publ c
d splay of support for the values of the past. Seem to be a zealot for
trad t on and few w ll not ce how unconvent onal you really are.
Rena ssance Florence had a centur es-old republ c, and was
susp c ous of anyone who flouted ts trad t ons. Cos mo de’ Med c
made a show of enthus ast c support for the republ c, wh le n real ty
he worked to br ng the c ty under the control of h s wealthy fam ly. In
form, the Med c s reta ned the appearance of a republ c; n
substance, they rendered t powerless. They qu etly enacted a
rad cal change, wh le appear ng to safeguard trad t on.
Sc ence cla ms a search for truth that would seem to protect t
from conservat sm and the rrat onal ty of hab t: It s a culture of
nnovat on. Yet when Charles Darw n publ shed h s deas of
evolut on, he faced f ercer oppos t on from h s fellow sc ent sts than
from rel g ous author t es. H s theor es challenged too many f xed
deas. Jonas Salk ran nto the same wall w th h s rad cal nnovat ons
n mmunology, as d d Max Planck w th h s revolut on z ng of phys cs.
Planck later wrote of the sc ent f c oppos t on he faced, “A new
sc ent f c truth does not tr umph by conv nc ng ts opponents and
mak ng them see the l ght, but rather because ts opponents
eventually d e, and a new generat on grows up that s fam l ar w th t.”
The answer to th s nnate conservat sm s to play the court er’s
game. Gal leo d d th s at the beg nn ng of h s sc ent f c career; he
later became more confrontat onal, and pa d for t. So pay l p serv ce
to trad t on. Ident fy the elements n your revolut on that can be made
to seem to bu ld on the past. Say the r ght th ngs, make a show of
conform ty, and meanwh le let your theor es do the r rad cal work.
Play w th appearances and respect past protocol. Th s s true n
every arena—sc ence be ng no except on.
F nally, powerful people pay attent on to the ze tge st. If the r
reform s too far ahead of ts t me, few w ll understand t, and t w ll
st r up anx ety and be hopelessly m s nterpreted. The changes you
make must seem less nnovat ve than they are. England d d
eventually become a Protestant nat on, as Cromwell w shed, but t
took over a century of gradual evolut on.
Watch the ze tge st. If you work n a tumultuous t me, there s
power to be ga ned by preach ng a return to the past, to comfort,
trad t on, and r tual. Dur ng a per od of stagnat on, on the other hand,
play the card of reform and revolut on—but beware of what you st r
up. Those who f n sh a revolut on are rarely those who start t. You
w ll not succeed at th s dangerous game unless you are w ll ng to
forestall the nev table react on aga nst t by play ng w th
appearances and bu ld ng on the past.

Author ty: He who des res or attempts to reform the government of a

state, and w shes to have t accepted, must at least reta n the
semblance of the old forms; so that t may seem to the people that
there has been no change n the nst tut ons, even though n fact they
are ent rely d fferent from the old ones. For the great major ty of
mank nd are sat sf ed w th appearances, as though they were
real t es. (N ccolò Mach avell , 1469-1527)
Image: The Cat.
Creature of hab t, t loves the
warmth of the fam l ar. Upset ts
rout nes, d srupt ts space, and t w ll
grow unmanageable and psychot c.
Placate t by support ng ts r tuals. If
change s necessary, dece ve the cat by
keep ng the smell of the past al ve;
place objects fam l ar to t n
strateg c locat ons.

REVERSAL
The past s a corpse to be used as you see f t. If what happened n
the recent past was pa nful and harsh, t s self-destruct ve to
assoc ate yourself w th t. When Napoleon came to power, the
French Revolut on was fresh n everyone’s m nds. If the court that he
establ shed had borne any resemblance to the lav sh court of Lou s
XVI and Mar e-Anto nette, h s court ers would have spent all the r
t me worry ng about the r own necks. Instead, Napoleon establ shed
a court remarkable for ts sobr ety and lack of ostentat on. It was the
court of a man who valued work and m l tary v rtues. Th s new form
seemed appropr ate and reassur ng.
In other words, pay attent on to the t mes. But understand: If you
make a bold change from the past, you must avo d at all costs the
appearance of a vo d or vacuum, or you w ll create terror. Even an
ugly recent h story w ll seem preferable to an empty space. F ll that
space mmed ately w th new r tuals and forms. Sooth ng and grow ng
fam l ar, these w ll secure your pos t on among the masses.
F nally, the arts, fash on, and technology would seem to be areas
n wh ch power would come from creat ng a rad cal rupture w th the
past and appear ng cutt ng edge. Indeed, such a strategy can br ng
great power, but t has many dangers. It s nev table that your
nnovat ons w ll be outdone by someone else. You have l ttle control
—someone younger and fresher moves n a sudden new d rect on,
mak ng your bold nnovat on of yesterday seem t resome and tame
today. You are forever play ng catch-up; your power s tenuous and
short-l ved. You want a power bu lt on someth ng more sol d. Us ng
the past, t nker ng w th trad t on, play ng w th convent on to subvert t
w ll g ve your creat ons someth ng more than a momentary appeal.
Per ods of d zzy ng change d sgu se the fact that a yearn ng for the
past w ll nev tably creep back n. In the end, us ng the past for your
own purposes w ll br ng you more power than try ng to cut t out
completely—a fut le and self-destruct ve endeavor.
 LAW 46

NEVER APPEAR TOO PERFECT

JUDGMENT
Appear ng better than others s always dangerous, but most
dangerous of all s to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy
creates s lent enem es. It s smart to occas onally d splay defects,
and adm t to harmless v ces, n order to deflect envy and appear
more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem
perfect w th mpun ty.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Joe Orton met Kenneth Hall well at the Royal Academy of Dramat c
Arts, London, n 1953, where both had enrolled as act ng students.
They soon became lovers and moved n together. Hall well, twenty-
f ve at the t me, was seven years older than Orton, and seemed the
more conf dent of the two; but ne ther had much talent as actors, and
after graduat ng, hav ng settled down together n a dank London
apartment, they dec ded to g ve up act ng and collaborate as wr ters
nstead. Hall well’s nher tance was enough to keep them from
hav ng to f nd work for a few years, and n the beg nn ng, he was
also the dr v ng force beh nd the stor es and novels they wrote; he
would d ctate to Orton, who would type the manuscr pts, occas onally
nterject ng h s own l nes and deas. The r f rst efforts attracted some
nterest from l terary agents, but t sputtered. The prom se they had
shown was lead ng nowhere.
 Eventually the nher tance money ran out, and the pa r had to look
for work. The r collaborat ons were less enthus ast c and less
frequent. The future looked bleak.
In 1957 Orton began to wr te on h s own, but t wasn’t unt l f ve
years later, when the lovers were ja led for s x months for defac ng
dozens of l brary books, that he began to f nd h s vo ce (perhaps not
by chance: Th s was the f rst t me he and Hall well had been
separated n n ne years). He came out of pr son determ ned to
express h s contempt for Engl sh soc ety n the form of theatr cal
farces. He and Hall well moved back n together, but now the roles
were reversed: Orton d d the wr t ng wh le Hall well put n comments
and deas.
In 1964 Joe Orton completed h s f rst full-length play, Enterta n ng
Mr. Sloane. The play made t to London’s West End, where t
rece ved br ll ant rev ews: A great new wr ter had emerged from
nowhere. Now success followed success, at a d zzy ng pace. In
1966 Orton had a h t w th h s play Loot, and h s popular ty soared.
Soon comm ss ons came n from all s des, nclud ng from the
Beatles, who pa d Orton handsomely to wr te them a f lm scr pt.
Everyth ng was po nt ng upwards, everyth ng except Orton’s
relat onsh p w th Kenneth Hall well. The pa r st ll l ved together, but
as Orton grew successful, Hall well began to deter orate. Watch ng
h s lover become the center of attent on, he suffered the hum l at on
of becom ng a k nd of personal ass stant to the playwr ght, h s role n
what had once been a collaborat on grow ng smaller and smaller. In
the 1950s he had supported Orton w th h s nher tance; now Orton
supported h m. At a party or among fr ends, people would naturally
grav tate towards Orton—he was charm ng, and h s mood was
almost always buoyant. Unl ke the handsome Orton, Hall well was
bald and awkward; h s defens veness made people want to avo d
h m.
A greedy man and an env ous man met a k ng. The k ng sa d to
them, “One of you may ask someth ng of me and I w ll g ve t to h m,
prov ded I g ve tw ce as much to the other. ” The env ous person d d
not want to ask f rst for he was env ous of h s compan on who would
rece ve tw ce as much, and the greedy man d d not want to ask f rst
s nce he wanted everyth ng that was to be had. F nally the greedy
one pressed the env ous one to be the f rst to make the request. So
the env ous person asked the k ng to pluck out one of h s eyes.
JEWISH PARABLE, THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, SOLOMON
SCHIMMEL, 1992
An adm rer who feels that he cannot be happy by surrender ng
h mself elects to become env ous of that wh ch he adm res. So he
speaks another language—the th ng wh ch he really adm res s
called a stup d, ns p d and queer sort of th ng. Adm rat on s happy
self-surrender; envy s unhappy self-assert on.
SφREN KIERKEGAARD, 1813-1855
W th Orton’s success the couple’s problems only worsened.
Hall well’s moods made the r l fe together mposs ble. Orton cla med
to want to leave h m, and had numerous affa rs, but would always
end up return ng to h s old fr end and lover. He tr ed to help Hall well
launch a career as an art st, even arrang ng for a gallery to show h s
work, but the show was a flop, and th s only he ghtened Hall well’s
sense of nfer or ty. In May of 1967, the pa r went on a br ef hol day
together n Tang er, Morocco. Dur ng the tr p, Orton wrote n h s d ary,
“We sat talk ng of how happy we felt. And how t couldn’t, surely, last.
We’d have to pay for t. Or we’d be struck down from afar by d saster
because we were, perhaps, too happy. To be young, good-look ng,
healthy, famous, comparat vely r ch and happy s surely go ng
aga nst nature.”
Hall well outwardly seemed as happy as Orton. Inwardly, though,
he was seeth ng. And two months later, n the early morn ng of
August 10, 1967, just days after help ng Orton put the f n sh ng
touches to the w cked farce What the Butler Saw (undoubtedly h s
masterp ece), Kenneth Hall well bludgeoned Joe Orton to death w th
repeated blows of a hammer to the head. He then took twenty-one
sleep ng p lls and d ed h mself, leav ng beh nd a note that read, “If
you read Orton’s d ary all w ll be expla ned.”
 Interpretat on

Kenneth Hall well had tr ed to cast h s deter orat on as mental llness,

but what Joe Orton’s d ar es revealed to h m was the truth: It was
envy, pure and s mple, that lay at the heart of h s s ckness. The
d ar es, wh ch Hall well read on the sly, recounted the couple’s days
as equals and the r struggle for recogn t on. After Orton found
success, the d ar es began to descr be Hall well’s brood ng, h s rude
comments at part es, h s grow ng sense of nfer or ty. All of th s Orton
narrated w th a d stance that bordered on contempt.
The d ar es made clear Hall well’s b tterness over Orton’s success.
Eventually the only th ng that would have sat sf ed h m would have
been for Orton to have a fa lure of h s own, an unsuccessful play
perhaps, so that they could have comm serated n the r fa lure, as
they had done years before. When the oppos te happened—as
Orton grew only more successful and popular—Hall well d d the only
th ng that would make them equals aga n: He made them equals n
death. W th Orton’s murder, he became almost as famous as h s
fr end—posthumously.
Joe Orton only partly understood h s lover’s deter orat on. H s
attempt to help Hall well launch a career n art reg stered for what t
was: char ty and gu lt. Orton bas cally had two poss ble solut ons to
the problem. He could have downplayed h s own success, d splay ng
some faults, deflect ng Hall well’s envy; or, once he real zed the
nature of the problem, he could have fled as f Hall well were a v per,
as n fact he was—a v per of envy. Once envy eats away at
someone, everyth ng you do only makes t grow, and day by day t
festers ns de h m. Eventually he w ll attack.
It takes great talent and sk ll to conceal one’s talent and sk ll

LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, 1613-1680

ENVY TORMENTS AGLAUROS

The goddess M nerva made her way to the house of Envy, a house
f lthy w th dark and no some sl me. It s h dden away n the depths of
the valleys, where the sun never penetrates, where no w nd blows
through; a gloomy dwell ng, permeated by numb ng ch ll, ever
f reless, ever shrouded n th ck darkness. When M nerva reached
th s spot she stopped n front of the house ... and struck the doors
w th the t p of her spear, and at the blow they flew open and revealed
Envy w th n, busy at a meal of snake’s flesh, the food on wh ch she
nour shed her w ckedness. At the s ght, M nerva turned her eyes
away. But the other rose heav ly from the ground, leav ng the half-
eaten corpses, and came out w th dragg ng steps. When she saw
the goddess n all the br ll ance of her beauty, n her flash ng armor,
she groaned.... Envy’s face was s ckly pale, her whole body lean and
wasted, and she squ nted horr bly; her teeth were d scoloretl and
decayed, her po sonous breast of a green sh hue, and her tongue
dr pped venom. Only the s ght of suffer ng could br ng a sm le to her
l ps. She never knew the comfort of sleep, but was kept constantly
awake by care and anx ety, looked w th d smay on men’s good
fortune, and grew th n at the s ght. Gnaw ng at others, and be ng
gnawed, she was herself her own torment. M nerva, n sp te of her
loath ng, yet addressed her br efly: “Inst ll your po son nto one of
Cecrop’s daughters—her name s Aglauros. Th s s what I requ re of
you. ” W thout another word she pushed aga nst the ground w th her
spear, left the earth, and soared upwards.
From the corner of her eye the other watched the goddess out of
s ght, mutter ng and angry that M nerva’s plan should be successful.
Then she took her staff, all enc rcled w th thorny br ars, wrapped
herself n dark clouds, and set forth. Wherever she went she
trampled down the flowery f elds, w thered up the grass, seared the
treetops, and w th her breath ta nted the peoples, the r c t es and
the r homes, unt l at length she came to Athens, the home of w t and
wealth, peaceful and prosperous. She could scarcely refra n from
weep ng when she saw no cause for tears. Then enter ng the
chamber of Cecrop’s daughter, she carr ed out M nerva’s orders. She
touched the g rl’s breast w th a hand d pped n mal ce, f lled her heart
w th sp ky thorns, and breath ng n a black and ev l po son d spersed
t through her very bones, nst ll ng the venom deep n her heart. That
the reason for her d stress m ght not be far to seek, she set before
Aglauros’ eyes a v s on of her s ster, of that s ster’s fortunate
marr age [w th the god Mercury], and of the god n all h s
handsomeness; and she exaggerated the glory of t all. So Aglauros
was tormented by such thoughts, and the jealous anger she
concealed ate nto her heart. Day and n ght she s ghed, unceas ngly
wretched, and n her utter m sery wasted away n a slow decl ne, as
when ce s melted by the f tful sun. The f re that was k ndled w th n
her at the thought of her s ster’s luck and good fortune was l ke the
burn ng of weeds wh ch do not burst nto flames, but are none the
less consumed by smolder ng f re.
METAMORPHOSES, OVID, 43 B.C.-C. A.D. 18
Only a m nor ty can succeed at the game of l fe, and that m nor ty
nev tably arouses the envy of those around them. Once success
happens your way, however, the people to fear the most are those n
your own c rcle, the fr ends and acqua ntances you have left beh nd.
Feel ngs of nfer or ty gnaw at them; the thought of your success only
he ghtens the r feel ngs of stagnat on. Envy, wh ch the ph losopher
K erkegaard calls “unhappy adm rat on,” takes hold. You may not see
t but you w ll feel t someday—unless, that s, you learn strateg es of
deflect on, l ttle sacr f ces to the gods of success. E ther dampen
your br ll ance occas onally, purposefully reveal ng a defect,
weakness, or anx ety, or attr but ng your success to luck; or s mply
f nd yourself new fr ends. Never underest mate the power of envy.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

The merchant class and the craft gu lds to wh ch med eval Florence
owed ts prosper ty had created a republ c that protected them from
oppress on by the nob l ty. S nce h gh off ce could only be held for a
few months, no one could ga n last ng dom nance, and although th s
meant that the pol t cal fact ons struggled constantly for control, the
system kept out tyrants and petty d ctators. The Med c fam ly l ved
for several centur es under th s system w thout mak ng much of a
mark. They had modest or g ns as apothecar es, and were typ cal
m ddle-class c t zens. Not unt l the late fourteenth century, when
G ovann de’ Med c made a modest fortune n bank ng, d d they
emerge as a force to be reckoned w th.
Upon G ovann ’s death, h s son Cos mo took over the fam ly
bus ness, and qu ckly demonstrated h s talent for t. The bus ness
prospered under h s control and the Med c s emerged as one of the
preem nent bank ng fam l es of Europe. But they had a r val n
Florence: Desp te the c ty’s republ can system, one fam ly, the
Alb zz s, had managed over the years to monopol ze control of the
government, forg ng all ances that allowed them to constantly f ll
mportant off ces w th the r own men. Cos mo d d not f ght th s, and n
fact gave the Alb zz s h s tac t support. At the same t me, wh le the
Alb zz s were beg nn ng to flaunt the r power, Cos mo made a po nt
of stay ng n the background.
Eventually, however, the Med c wealth could not be gnored, and
n 1433, feel ng threatened by the fam ly, the Alb zz s used the r
government muscle to have Cos mo arrested on charges of
consp r ng to overthrow the republ c. Some n the Alb zz fact on
wanted Cos mo executed, others feared th s would spark a c v l war.
In the end they ex led h m from Florence. Cos mo d d not f ght the
sentence; he left qu etly. Somet mes, he knew, t s w ser to b de
one’s t me and keep a low prof le.
Over the next year, the Alb zz s began to st r up fears that they
were sett ng up a d ctatorsh p. Meanwh le, Cos mo, us ng h s wealth
to advantage, cont nued to exert nfluence on Florent ne affa rs, even
from ex le. A c v l war broke out n the c ty, and n September of 1434
the Alb zz s were toppled from power and sent nto ex le. Cos mo
mmed ately returned to Florence, h s pos t on restored. But he saw
that he now faced a del cate s tuat on: If he seemed amb t ous, as
the Alb zz s had, he would st r up oppos t on and envy that would
ult mately threaten h s bus ness. If he stayed on the s del nes, on the
other hand, he would leave an open ng for another fact on to r se up
as the Alb zz s had, and to pun sh the Med c s for the r success.
Cos mo solved the problem n two ways: He secretly used h s
wealth to buy nfluence among key c t zens, and he placed h s own
all es, all cleverly enl sted from the m ddle classes to d sgu se the r
alleg ance to h m, n top government pos t ons. Those who
compla ned of h s grow ng pol t cal clout were taxed nto subm ss on,
or the r propert es were bought out from under them by Cos mo’s
banker all es. The republ c surv ved n name only. Cos mo held the
str ngs.
Wh le he worked beh nd the scenes to ga n control, however,
publ cly Cos mo presented another p cture. When he walked through
the streets of Florence, he dressed modestly, was attended by no
more than one servant, and bowed deferent ally to mag strates and
elder c t zens. He rode a mule nstead of a horse. He never spoke
out on matters of publ c mport, even though he controlled Florence’s
fore gn affa rs for over th rty years. He gave money to char t es and
ma nta ned h s t es to Florence’s merchant class. He f nanced all
k nds of publ c bu ld ngs that fed the Florent nes’ pr de n the r c ty.
When he bu lt a palace for h mself and h s fam ly n nearby F esole,
he turned down the ornate des gns that Brunellesch had drawn up
for h m and nstead chose a modest structure des gned by
M chelozzo, a man of humble Florent ne or g ns. The palace was a
symbol of Cos mo’s strategy—all s mpl c ty on the outs de, all
elegance and opulence w th n.
Cos mo f nally d ed n 1464, after rul ng for th rty years. The
c t zens of Florence wanted to bu ld h m a great tomb, and to
celebrate h s memory w th elaborate funeral ceremon es, but on h s
deathbed he had asked to be bur ed w thout “any pomp or
demonstrat on.” Some s xty years later, Mach avell ha led Cos mo as
the w sest of all pr nces, “for he knew how extraord nary th ngs that
are seen and appear every hour make men much more env ed than
those that are done n deed and are covered over w th decency.”

Interpretat on

A close fr end of Cos mo’s, the bookseller Vespas ano da B st cc ,

once wrote of h m, “And whenever he w shed to ach eve someth ng,
he saw to t, n order to escape envy as much as poss ble, that the
 n t at ve appeared to come from others, and not from h m.” One of
Cos mo’s favor te express ons was, “Envy s a weed that should not
be watered.” Understand ng the power envy has n a democrat c
env ronment, Cos mo avo ded the appearance of greatness. Th s
does not mean that greatness should be suffocated, or that only the
med ocre should surv ve; only that a game of appearances must be
played. The ns d ous envy of the masses can actually be deflected
qu te eas ly: Appear as one of them n style and values. Make
all ances w th those below you, and elevate them to pos t ons of
power to secure the r support n t mes of need. Never flaunt your
wealth, and carefully conceal the degree to wh ch t has bought
nfluence. Make a d splay of deferr ng to others, as f they were more
powerful than you. Cos mo de’ Med c perfected th s game; he was a
consummate con art st of appearances. No one could gauge the
extent of h s power—h s modest exter or h d the truth.
Never be so fool sh as to bel eve that you are st rr ng up
adm rat on by flaunt ng the qual t es that ra se you above others. By
mak ng others aware of the r nfer or pos t on, you are only st rr ng up
“unhappy adm rat on,” or envy, wh ch w ll gnaw away at them unt l
they underm ne you n ways you cannot foresee. The fool dares the
gods of envy by flaunt ng h s v ctor es. The master of power
understands that the appearance of super or ty over others s
nconsequent al next to the real ty of t.
Of all the d sorders of the soul, envy s the only one no one
confesses to.
Plutarch, c. A.D 46-120
The env ous h des as carefully as the secret, lustful s nner and
becomes the endless nventor of tr cks and stratagems to h de and
mask h mself Thus he s able to pretend to gnore the super or ty of
others wh ch eats up h s heart, as fhe d d not see them, nor hear
them, nor were aware of them, nor had ever heard of them. He s a
master s mulator. On the other hand he tr es w th all h s power to
conn ve and thus prevent any form of super or ty from appear ng n
any s tuat on. And f they do, he casts on them obscur ty,
hypercr t c sm, sarcasm and calumny l ke the toad that sp ts po son
from ts hole. On the other hand he w ll ra se endlessly ns gn f cant
men, med ocre people, and even the nfer or n the same type of
act v t es.
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860
For not many men, the proverb says, can love a fr end who fortune
prospers w thout feel ng envy; and about the env ous bra n, cold
po son cl ngs and doubles all the pa n l fe br ngs h m. H s own
wound ngs he must nurse, and feels another’s gladness l ke a curse.

AESCHYLUS, c. 525-456 B.C.

KEYS TO POWER

The human an mal has a hard t me deal ng w th feel ngs of nfer or ty.
In the face of super or sk ll, talent, or power, we are often d sturbed
and ll at ease; th s s because most of us have an nflated sense of
ourselves, and when we meet people who surpass us they make t
clear to us that we are n fact med ocre, or at least not as br ll ant as
we had thought. Th s d sturbance n our self- mage cannot last long
w thout st rr ng up ugly emot ons. At f rst we feel envy: If only we had
the qual ty or sk ll of the super or person, we would be happy. But
envy br ngs us ne ther comfort nor any closer to equal ty. Nor can we
adm t to feel ng t, for t s frowned upon soc ally—to show envy s to
adm t to feel ng nfer or. To close fr ends, we may confess our secret
unreal zed des res, but we w ll never confess to feel ng envy. So t
goes underground. We d sgu se t n many ways, l ke f nd ng grounds
to cr t c ze the person who makes us feel t: He may be smarter than
I am, we say, but he has no morals or consc ence. Or he may have
more power, but that’s because he cheats. If we do not slander h m,
perhaps we pra se h m excess vely—another of envy’s d sgu ses.
There are several strateg es for deal ng w th the ns d ous,
destruct ve emot on of envy. F rst, accept the fact that there w ll be
people who w ll surpass you n some way, and also the fact that you
may envy them. But make that feel ng a way of push ng yourself to
equal or surpass them someday. Let envy turn nward and t po sons
the soul; expel t outward and t can move you to greater he ghts.
Second, understand that as you ga n power, those below you w ll
feel env ous of you. They may not show t but t s nev table. Do not
na vely accept the facade they show you—read between the l nes of
the r cr t c sms, the r l ttle sarcast c remarks, the s gns of
backstabb ng, the excess ve pra se that s prepar ng you for a fall,
the resentful look n the eye. Half the problem w th envy comes when
we do not recogn ze t unt l t s too late.
F nally, expect that when people envy you they w ll work aga nst
you ns d ously. They w ll put obstacles n your path that you w ll not
foresee, or that you cannot trace to the r source. It s hard to defend
yourself aga nst th s k nd of attack. And by the t me you real ze that
envy s at the root of a person’s feel ngs about you, t s often too
late: Your excuses, your false hum l ty, your defens ve act ons, only
exacerbate the problem. S nce t s far eas er to avo d creat ng envy
n the f rst place than to get r d of t once t s there, you should
strateg ze to forestall t before t grows. It s often your own act ons
that st r up envy, your own unawareness. By becom ng consc ous of
those act ons and qual t es that create envy, you can take the teeth
out of t before t n bbles you to death.
K erkegaard bel eved that there are types of people who create
envy, and are as gu lty when t ar ses as those who feel t. The most
obv ous type we all know: The moment someth ng good happens to
them, whether by luck or des gn, they crow about t. In fact they get
pleasure out of mak ng people feel nfer or. Th s type s obv ous and
beyond hope. There are others, however, who st r up envy n more
subtle and unconsc ous ways, and are partly to blame for the r
troubles. Envy s often a problem, for example, for people w th great
natural talent.
S r Walter Rale gh was one of the most br ll ant men at the court of
Queen El zabeth of England. He had sk lls as a sc ent st, wrote
poetry st ll recogn zed as among the most beaut ful wr t ng of the
t me, was a proven leader of men, an enterpr s ng entrepreneur, a
great sea capta n, and on top of all th s was a handsome, dash ng
court er who charmed h s way nto becom ng one of the queen’s
favor tes. Wherever he went, however, people blocked h s path.
Eventually he suffered a terr f c fall from grace, lead ng even to
pr son and f nally the execut oner’s axe.
Rale gh could not understand the stubborn oppos t on he faced
from the other court ers. He d d not see that he had not only made
no attempt to d sgu se the degree of h s sk lls and qual t es, he had
mposed them on one and all, mak ng a show of h s versat l ty,
th nk ng t mpressed people and won h m fr ends. In fact t made h m
s lent enem es, people who felt nfer or to h m and d d all they could
to ru n h m the moment he tr pped up or made the sl ghtest m stake.
In the end, the reason he was executed was treason, but envy w ll
use any cover t f nds to mask ts destruct veness.
The envy el c ted by S r Walter Rale gh s the worst k nd: It was
nsp red by h s natural talent and grace, wh ch he felt was best
d splayed n ts full flower. Money others can atta n; power as well.
But super or ntell gence, good looks, charm—these are qual t es no
one can acqu re. The naturally perfect have to work the most to
d sgu se the r br ll ance, d splay ng a defect or two to deflect envy
before t takes root. It s a common and na ve m stake to th nk you
are charm ng people w th your natural talents when n fact they are
com ng to hate you.
JOSEPH AND HIS COAT
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all h s ch ldren, because he
was the son of h s old age; and he made h m a coat of many
colors.... And h s brothers env ed h m.... And when they saw h m afar
off, they consp red aga nst h m to slay h m. And now they sa d to one
another, “Behold, th s dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let
us slay h m, and cast h m nto some p t, and we shall say, some ev l
beast hath devoured h m; and we shall see what w ll become of h s
dreams”

OLD TESTAMENT, GENESIS 37:3—20

 THE TRAGEDY OF THE TOMB
[When Pope Jul us f rst saw M chelangelo’s des gn for h s tomb] t
pleased h m so much that he at once sent h m to Carrara to quarry
the necessary marbles, nstruct ng Alamanno Salv at , of Florence, to
pay h m a thousand ducats for th s purpose. M chelangelo stayed n
these mounta ns more than e ght months w th two workmen and h s
horse, and w thout any other prov s on except food.... Enough
marbles quarr ed and chosen, he took them to the sea-coast, and left
one of h s men to have them embarked. He h mself returned to
Rome.
... The quant ty of marbles was mmense, so that, spread over the
p azza, they were the adm rat on of all and a joy to the pope, who
heaped mmeasurable favors upon M chelangelo: and when he
began to work upon them aga n and aga n went to see h m at h s
house, and talked to h m about the tomb and other th ngs as w th h s
own brother. And n order that he m ght more eas ly go to h m, the
pope ordered that a drawbr dge should be thrown across from the
Corr dore to the rooms of M chelangelo, by wh ch he m ght v s t h m
n pr vate.
These many and frequent favors were the cause (as often s the
case at court) of much envy, and, after the envy, of endless
persecut on, s nce Bramante, the arch tect, who was loved by the
pope, made h m change h s m nd as to the monument by tell ng h m,
as s sa d by the vulgar, that t s unlucky to bu ld one’s tomb n one’s
l fet me, and other tales. Fear as well as envy st mulated Bramante,
for the judgment of M chelangelo had exposed many of h s errors....
Now because he had no doubt that M chelangelo knew these errors
of h s, he always sought to remove h m from Rome, or, at least, to
depr ve h m of the favor of the pope, and of the glory and usefulness
that he m ght have acqu red by h s ndustry. He succeeded n the
matter of the tomb. There s no doubt that f M chelangelo had been
allowed to f n sh t, accord ng to h s f rst des gn, hav ng so large a
f eld n wh ch to show h s worth, no other art st, however celebrated
(be t sa d w thout envy) could have wrested from h m the h gh place
he would have held.

VITA DI MICHELANGELO, ASCANIO CONDIVI, 1553

A great danger n the realm of power s the sudden mprovement
n fortune—an unexpected promot on, a v ctory or success that
seems to come out of nowhere. Th s s sure to st r up envy among
your former peers.
When Archb shop de Retz was promoted to the rank of card nal, n
1651, he knew full well that many of h s former colleagues env ed
h m. Understand ng the fool shness of al enat ng those below h m, de
Retz d d everyth ng he could to downplay h s mer t and emphas ze
the role of luck n h s success. To put people at ease, he acted
humbly and deferent ally, as f noth ng had changed. (In real ty, of
course, he now had much more power than before.) He wrote that
these w se pol c es “produced a good effect, by lessen ng the envy
wh ch was conce ved aga nst me, wh ch s the greatest of all
secrets.” Follow de Retz’s example. Subtly emphas ze how lucky you
have been, to make your happ ness seem more atta nable to other
people, and the need for envy less acute. But be careful not to affect
a false modesty that people can eas ly see through. Th s w ll only
make them more env ous. The act has to be good; your hum l ty, and
your openness to those you have left beh nd, have to seem genu ne.
Any h nt of ns ncer ty w ll only make your new status more
oppress ve. Remember: Desp te your elevated pos t on, t w ll do you
no good to al enate your former peers. Power requ res a w de and
sol d support base, wh ch envy can s lently destroy.
Pol t cal power of any k nd creates envy, and one of the best ways
to deflect t before t takes root s to seem unamb t ous. When Ivan
the Terr ble d ed, Bor s Godunov knew he was the only one on the
scene who could lead Russ a. But f he sought the pos t on eagerly,
he would st r up envy and susp c on among the boyars, so he
refused the crown, not once but several t mes. He made people
ns st that he take the throne. George Wash ngton used the same
strategy to great effect, f rst n refus ng to keep the pos t on of
Commander n Ch ef of the Amer can army, second n res st ng the
pres dency. In both cases he made h mself more popular than ever.
People cannot envy the power that they themselves have g ven a
person who does not seem to des re t.
Accord ng to the El zabethan statesman and wr ter S r Franc s
Bacon, the w sest pol cy of the powerful s to create a k nd of p ty for
themselves, as f the r respons b l t es were a burden and a sacr f ce.
How can one envy a man who has taken on a heavy load for the
publ c nterest? D sgu se your power as a k nd of self-sacr f ce rather
than a source of happ ness and you make t seem less env able.
Emphas ze your troubles and you turn a potent al danger (envy) nto
a source of moral support (p ty). A s m lar ploy s to h nt that your
good fortune w ll benef t those around you. To do th s you may need
to open your purse str ngs, l ke C mon, a wealthy general n anc ent
Athens who gave lav shly n all k nds of ways to prevent people from
resent ng the nfluence he had bought n Athen an pol t cs. He pa d a
h gh pr ce to deflect the r envy, but n the end t saved h m from
ostrac sm and ban shment from the c ty.
The pa nter J. M. W. Turner dev sed another way of g v ng to
deflect the envy of h s fellow art sts, wh ch he recogn zed as h s
greatest obstacle to h s success. Not c ng that h s ncomparable
color sk lls made them afra d to hang the r pa nt ngs next to h s n
exh b t ons, he real zed that the r fear would turn to envy, and would
eventually make t harder for h m to f nd galler es to show n. On
occas on, then, Turner s known to have temporar ly dampened the
colors n h s pa nt ngs w th soot to earn h m the goodw ll of h s
colleagues.
To deflect envy, Grac an recommends that the powerful d splay a
weakness, a m nor soc al nd scret on, a harmless v ce. G ve those
who envy you someth ng to feed on, d stract ng them from your more
mportant s ns. Remember: It s the real ty that matters. You may
have to play games w th appearances, but n the end you w ll have
what counts: true power. In some Arab countr es, a man w ll avo d
arous ng envy by do ng as Cos mo de Med c d d by show ng h s
wealth only on the ns de of h s house. Apply th s w sdom to your
own character.
 Beware of some of envy’s d sgu ses. Excess ve pra se s an
almost sure s gn that the person pra s ng you env es you; they are
e ther sett ng you up for a fall— t w ll be mposs ble for you to l ve up
to the r pra se—or they are sharpen ng the r blades beh nd your
back. At the same t me, those who are hypercr t cal of you, or who
slander you publ cly, probably envy you as well. Recogn ze the r
behav or as d sgu sed envy and you keep out of the trap of mutual
mud-sl ng ng, or of tak ng the r cr t c sms to heart. W n your revenge
by gnor ng the r measly presence.
Do not try to help or do favors for those who envy you; they w ll
th nk you are condescend ng to them. Joe Orton’s attempt to help
Hall well f nd a gallery for h s work only ntens f ed h s lover’s feel ngs
of nfer or ty and envy. Once envy reveals tself for what t s, the only
solut on s often to flee the presence of the env ers, leav ng them to
stew n a hell of the r own creat on.
F nally, be aware that some env ronments are more conduc ve to
envy than others. The effects of envy are more ser ous among
colleagues and peers, where there s a veneer of equal ty. Envy s
also destruct ve n democrat c env ronments where overt d splays of
power are looked down upon. Be extrasens t ve n such
env ronments. The f lmmaker Ingmar Bergman was hounded by
Swed sh tax author t es because he stood out n a country where
stand ng out from the crowd s frowned on. It s almost mposs ble to
avo d envy n such cases, and there s l ttle you can do but accept t
grac ously and take none of t personally. As Thoreau once sa d,
“Envy s the tax wh ch all d st nct on must pay.”
D d ever anybody ser ously confess to envy? Someth ng there s n t
un versally felt to be more shameful than even felon ous cr me. And
not only does everybody d sown t, but the better sort are ncl ned to
ncredul ty when t s n earnest mputed to an ntell gent man. But
s nce lodgment s n the heart not the bra n, no degree of ntellect
suppl es a guarantee aga nst t.
BILLY BUDD, HERMAN MELVILLE, 1819-1891
Image: A Garden of Weeds. You may not
feed them but they spread as you water
 the garden. You may not see how, but
they take over, tall and ugly, pre
vent ng anyth ng beaut ful from
flour sh ng. Before t s too late,
do not water nd scr m
nately. Destroy the weeds
of envy by g v ng them
noth ng to feed on.
Author ty: Upon occas on, reveal a harmless defect n your character.
For the env ous accuse the most perfect of s nn ng by hav ng no
s ns. They become an Argus, all eyes for f nd ng fault w th excellence
— t s the r only consolat on. Do not let envy burst w th ts own
venom—affect some lapse n valor or ntellect, so as to d sarm t
beforehand. You thus wave your red cape before the Horns of Envy,
n order to save your mmortal ty. (Baltasar Grac an, 1601-1658)
Know how to tr umph over envy and mal ce. Here contempt,
although prudent, counts, ndeed, for l ttle; magnan m ty s better. A
good word concern ng one who speaks ev l of you cannot be pra sed
too h ghly: there s no revenge more hero c than that brought about
by those mer ts and atta nments wh ch frustrate and torment the
env ous. Every stroke of good fortune s a further tw st of the rope
round the neck of the ll-d sposed and the heaven of the env ed s
hell for the env ous. To convert your good fortune nto po son for your
enem es s held to be the most severe pun shment you can nfl ct on
them. The env ous man d es not only once but as many t mes as the
person he env es l ves to hear the vo ce of pra se; the etern ty of the
latter’s fame s the measure of the former’s pun shment: the one s
mmortal n h s glory, the latter n h s m sery. The trumpet of fame
wh ch sounds mmortal ty for the one heralds death for the other,
who s sentenced to be choked to death on h s own envy.

BALTASAR GRACIÁN, 1601-1658

 REVERSAL

The reason for be ng careful w th the env ous s that they are so
nd rect, and w ll f nd nnumerable ways to underm ne you. But
tread ng carefully around them w ll often only make the r envy worse.
They sense that you are be ng caut ous, and t reg sters as yet
another s gn of your super or ty. That s why you must act before
envy takes root.
Once envy s there, however, whether through your fault or not, t
s somet mes best to affect the oppos te approach: D splay the
utmost d sda n for those who envy you. Instead of h d ng your
perfect on, make t obv ous. Make every new tr umph an opportun ty
to make the env ous squ rm. Your good fortune and power become
the r l v ng hell. If you atta n a pos t on of un mpeachable power, the r
envy w ll have no effect on you, and you w ll have the best revenge
of all: They are trapped n envy wh le you are free n your power.
Th s s how M chelangelo tr umphed over the venomous arch tect
Bramante, who turned Pope Jul us aga nst M chelangelo’s des gn for
h s tomb. Bramante env ed M chelangelo’s godl ke sk lls, and to th s
one tr umph—the aborted tomb project—he thought to add another,
by push ng the pope to comm ss on M chelangelo to pa nt the murals
n the S st ne Chapel. The project would take years, dur ng wh ch
M chelangelo would accompl sh no more of h s br ll ant sculptures.
Furthermore, Bramante cons dered M chelangelo not nearly as
sk lled n pa nt ng as n sculpture. The chapel would spo l h s mage
as the perfect art st.
M chelangelo saw the trap and wanted to turn down the
comm ss on, but he could not refuse the pope, so he accepted t
w thout compla nt. Then, however, he used Bramante’s envy to spur
h m to greater he ghts, mak ng the S st ne Chapel h s most perfect
work of all. Every t me Bramante heard of t or saw t, he felt more
oppressed by h s own envy—the sweetest and most last ng revenge
you can exact on the env ous.
 LAW 47

DO NOT GO PAST THE MARK YOU AIMED FOR;

IN VICTORY, LEARN WHEN TO STOP

JUDGMENT
The moment of v ctory s often the moment of greatest per l. In the
heat of v ctory, arrogance and overconf dence can push you past the
goal you had a med for, and by go ng too far, you make more
enem es than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head.
There s no subst tute for strategy and careful plann ng. Set a goal,
and when you reach t, stop.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In 559 B.C., a young man named Cyrus gathered an mmense army

from the scattered tr bes of Pers a and marched aga nst h s
grandfather Astyages, k ng of the Medes. He defeated Astyages w th
ease, had h mself crowned k ng of Medea and Pers a, and began to
forge the Pers an Emp re. V ctory followed v ctory n qu ck
success on. Cyrus defeated Croesus, ruler of Lyd a, then conquered
the Ion an slands and other smaller k ngdoms; he marched on
Babylon and crushed t. Now he was known as Cyrus the Great,
K ng of the World.
After captur ng the r ches of Babylon, Cyrus set h s s ghts on the
east, on the half-barbar c tr bes of the Massageta , a vast realm on
the Casp an Sea. A f erce warr or race led by Queen Tomyr s, the
Massageta lacked the r ches of Babylon, but Cyrus dec ded to
attack them anyway, bel ev ng h mself superhuman and ncapable of
defeat. The Massageta would fall eas ly to h s vast arm es, mak ng
h s emp re mmense.
In 529 B.C., then, Cyrus marched to the w de r ver Araxes,
gateway to the k ngdom of the Massageta . As he set up camp on
the western bank, he rece ved a message from Queen Tomyr s:
“K ng of the Medes,” she told h m, “I adv se you to abandon th s
enterpr se, for you cannot know f n the end t w ll do you any good.
Rule your own people, and try to bear the s ght of me rul ng m ne.
But of course you w ll refuse my adv ce, as the last th ng you w sh for
s to l ve n peace.” Tomyr s, conf dent of her army’s strength and not
w sh ng to delay the nev table battle, offered to w thdraw the troops
on her s de of the r ver, allow ng Cyrus to cross ts waters safely and
f ght her army on the eastern s de, f that was h s des re.
Cyrus agreed, but nstead of engag ng the enemy d rectly he
dec ded to play a tr ck. The Massageta knew few luxur es. Once
Cyrus had crossed the r ver and made h s camp on the eastern s de,
he set the table for an elaborate banquet, full of meat, del cac es,
and strong w ne. Then he left h s weakest troops n the camp and
w thdrew the rest of the army to the r ver. A large Massageta
detachment soon attacked the camp and k lled all of the Pers an
sold ers n a f erce battle. Then, overwhelmed by the fabulous feast
that had been left beh nd, they ate and drank to the r hearts’ content.
Later, nev tably, they fell asleep. The Pers an army returned to the
camp that n ght, k ll ng many of the sleep ng sold ers and captur ng
the rest. Among the pr soners was the r general, a youth named
Spargap ses, son of Queen Tomyr s.
When the queen learned what had happened, she sent a message
to Cyrus, ch d ng h m for us ng tr cks to defeat her army. “Now l sten
to me,” she wrote, “and I w ll adv se you for your own good: G ve me
back my son and leave my country w th your forces ntact, and be
content w th your tr umph over a th rd part of the Massageta . If you
refuse, I swear by the sun our master to g ve you more blood than
you can dr nk, for all your gluttony.” Cyrus scoffed at her: He would
not release her son. He would crush these barbar ans.
 HELL CO
Two cockerels fought on a dungheap. One cockerel was the
stronger: he vanqu shed the other and drove h m from the dungheap.
All the hens gathered around the cockerel, and began to laud h m.
The cockerel wanted h s strength and glory to be known n the next
yard. He flew on top of the barn, flapped h s w ngs, and crowed n a
load vo ce: “Look at me, all of you. I am a v ctor ous cockerel. No
other cockerel n the world has such strength as I. ” The cockerel
had not f n shed, when an eagle k lled h m, se zed h m n h s claws,
and carr ed h m to h s nest.

FABLES. LEO TOLSIOY. 1828-1910

The queen’s son, see ng he would not be released, could not
stand the hum l at on, and so he k lled h mself. The news of her son’s
death overwhelmed Tomyr s. She gathered all the forces that she
could muster n her k ngdom, and wh pp ng them nto a vengeful
frenzy, engaged Cyrus’s troops n a v olent and bloody battle. F nally,
the Massageta preva led. In the r anger they dec mated the Pers an
army, k ll ng Cyrus h mself.
After the battle, Tomyr s and her sold ers searched the battlef eld
for Cyrus’s corpse. When she found t she cut off h s head and
shoved t nto a w nesk n full of human blood, cry ng out, “Though I
have conquered you and l ve, yet you have ru ned me by
treacherously tak ng my son. See now—I fulf ll my threat: You have
your f ll of blood.” After Cyrus’s death, the Pers an Emp re qu ckly
unraveled. One act of arrogance und d all of Cyrus’s good work.

Interpretat on

There s noth ng more ntox cat ng than v ctory, and noth ng more
dangerous.
Cyrus had bu lt h s great emp re on the ru ns of a prev ous one. A
hundred years earl er, the powerful Assyr an Emp re had been totally
destroyed, ts once splend d cap tal of N neveh but ru ns n the sand.
The Assyr ans had suffered th s fate because they had pushed too
far, destroy ng one c ty-state after another unt l they lost s ght of the
purposes of the r v ctor es, and also of the costs. They overextended
themselves and made many enem es who were f nally able to band
together and destroy them.
Cyrus gnored the lesson of Assyr a. He pa d no heed to the
warn ngs of oracles and adv sers. He d d not worry about offend ng a
queen. H s many v ctor es had gone to h s head, cloud ng h s reason.
Instead of consol dat ng h s already vast emp re, he pushed forward.
Instead of recogn z ng each s tuat on as d fferent, he thought each
new war would br ng the same result as the one before as long as he
used the methods he knew: ruthless force and cunn ng.
Understand: In the realm of power, you must be gu ded by reason.
To let a momentary thr ll or an emot onal v ctory nfluence or gu de
your moves w ll prove fatal. When you atta n success, step back. Be
caut ous. When you ga n v ctory, understand the part played by the
part cular c rcumstances of a s tuat on, and never s mply repeat the
same act ons aga n and aga n. H story s l ttered w th the ru ns of
v ctor ous emp res and the corpses of leaders who could not learn to
stop and consol date the r ga ns.
THE SEQUENCE OF CROSS-EXAMINATION
In all your cross-exam nat ons ..., most mportant of all, let me repeat
the njunct on to be ever on the alert for a good place to stop.
Noth ng can be more mportant than to close your exam nat on w th a
tr umph. So many lawyers succeed n catch ng a w tness n a ser ous
contrad ct on; but, not sat sf ed w th th s, go on ask ng quest ons, and
taper off the r exam nat on unt l the effect upon the jury of the r
former advantage s lost altogether.
THE ART OF CROSS-EXAMINATION, FRANCIS L. WELLMAN,
1913
THE OVERREACHING GENERAL
We read of many nstances of th s k nd; for the general who by h s
valor has conquered a state for h s master, and won great glory for
h mself by h s v ctory over the enemy, and has loaded h s sold ers
w th r ch booty, acqu res necessar ly w th h s own sold ers, as well as
w th those of the enemy and w th the subjects of the pr nce, so h gh
a reputat on, that h s very v ctory may become d stasteful, and a
cause for apprehens on to h s pr nce. For as the nature of men s
amb t ous as well as susp c ous, and puts no l m ts to one’s good
fortune, t s not mposs ble that the susp c on that may suddenly be
aroused n the m nd of the pr nce by the v ctory of the general may
have been aggravated by some haughty express ons or nsolent acts
on h s part; so that the pr nce w ll naturally be made to th nk of
secur ng h mself aga nst the amb t on of h s general.
And to do th s, the means that suggest themselves to h m are e ther
to have the general k lled, or to depr ve h m of that reputat on wh ch
he has acqu red w th the pr nce’s army and the people, by us ng
every means to prove that the general’s v ctory was not due to h s
sk ll and courage, but to chance and the coward ce of the enemy, or
to the sagac ty of the other capta ns who were w th h m n that act on.

NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI, 1469-1527

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

No s ngle person n h story has occup ed a more del cate and

precar ous pos t on than the k ng’s m stress. She had no real or
leg t mate power base to fall back on n t mes of trouble; she was
surrounded by packs of env ous court ers eagerly ant c pat ng her fall
from grace; and f nally, s nce the source of her power was usually
her phys cal beauty, for most royal m stresses that fall was nev table
and unpleasant.
K ng Lou s XV of France began to keep off c al m stresses n the
early days of h s re gn, each woman’s good fortune rarely last ng
more than a few years. But then came Madame de Pompadour, who,
when she was a m ddle-class ch ld of n ne named Jeanne Po sson,
had been told by a fortune-teller that she would someday be the
k ng’s favor te. Th s seemed an absurd dream, s nce the royal
m stress almost always came from the ar stocracy. Jeanne
nevertheless bel eved herself dest ned to seduce the k ng, and do ng
so became her obsess on. She appl ed herself to the talents the
k ng’s favor te had to have—mus c, danc ng, act ng, horseback r d ng
—and she excelled n every one of them. As a young woman, she
marr ed a man of the lower nob l ty, wh ch gave her an entrée to the
best salons n Par s. Word qu ckly spread of her beauty, talent,
charm, and ntell gence.
Jeanne Po sson became close fr ends w th Volta re, Montesqu eu,
and other great m nds of the t me, but she never lost s ght of the goal
she had set herself as a g rl: to capture the heart of the k ng. Her
husband had a chateau n a forest where the k ng would often go
hunt ng, and she began to spend a lot of t me there. Study ng h s
movements l ke a hawk, she would make sure he would “happen” to
come upon her wh le she was out walk ng n her most allur ng dress,
or r d ng n her splend d coach. The k ng began to take note of her,
mak ng her g fts of the game he caught n the hunt.
In 1744 Lou s’s current m stress, the Duchesse de Chateauroux,
d ed. Jeanne went on the offens ve. She placed herself everywhere
he would be: at masked balls at Versa lles, at the opera, wherever
the r paths would cross, and wherever she could d splay her many
talents: danc ng, s ng ng, r d ng, coquetry. The k ng f nally
succumbed to her charms, and n a ceremony at Versa lles n
September of 1745, th s twenty-four-year-old daughter of a m ddle-
class bank ng agent was off c ally naugurated as the k ng’s m stress.
She was g ven her own room n the palace, a room the k ng could
enter at any t me v a a h dden sta rway and back door. And because
some of the court ers were angry that he had chosen a woman of
low or g ns, he made her a marqu se. From now on she would be
known as Madame de Pompadour.
The k ng was a man whom the sl ghtest feel ng of boredom would
oppress out of proport on. Madame de Pompadour knew that
keep ng h m under her spell meant keep ng h m amused. To that end
she put on constant theatr cal product ons at Versa lles, n wh ch she
starred. She organ zed elaborate hunt ng part es, masked balls, and
whatever else t would take to keep h m d verted outs de the
bedroom. She became a patroness of the arts, and the arb ter of
taste and fash on for all of France. Her enem es at the court only
grew n number w th each new success, but Madame de Pompadour
thwarted them n a totally novel way for a k ng’s m stress: w th
extreme pol teness. Snobs who resented her for her low b rth she
won over w th charm and grace. Most unusual of all, she befr ended
the queen, and ns sted that Lou s XV pay more attent on to h s w fe,
and treat her more k ndly. Even the royal fam ly begrudg ngly gave
her the r support. To crown her glory, the k ng made her a duchess.
Her sway was felt even n pol t cs: Indeed she became the unt tled
m n ster of fore gn affa rs.
In 1751, when Madame de Pompadour was at the he ght of her
power, she exper enced her worst cr s s. Phys cally weakened by the
respons b l t es of her pos t on, she found t ncreas ngly d ff cult to
meet the k ng’s demands n bed. Th s was usually the po nt at wh ch
the m stress would meet her end, struggl ng to ma nta n her pos t on
as her beauty faded. But Madame de Pompadour had a strategy:
She encouraged the k ng to set up a k nd of brothel, Pare aux Cerfs,
on the grounds of Versa lles. There the m ddle-aged k ng could have
l a sons w th the most beaut ful young g rls n the realm.

Madame de Pompadour knew that her charm and her pol t cal
acumen had made her nd spensable to the k ng. What d d she have
to fear from a s xteen-year-old who had none of her power and
presence? What d d t matter f she lost her pos t on n the bedroom,
as long as she rema ned the most powerful woman n France? To
secure that pos t on she became st ll closer fr ends w th the queen,
w th whom she started attend ng church. Although her enem es at
the court consp red to have her toppled from her off c al pos t on as
k ng’s m stress, the k ng kept her on, for he needed her calm ng
effect. It was only when her part n the d sastrous Seven Years’ War
drew much cr t c sm on her that she slowly w thdrew from publ c
affa rs.
Madame de Pompadour’s health had always been del cate, and
she d ed at the age of forty-three, n 1764. Her re gn as m stress had
lasted an unprecedented twenty years. “She was regretted by all,”
wrote the Duc de Croy, “for she was k ndly and helpful to everyone
who approached her.”

Interpretat on

Aware of the temporar ness of her power, the k ng’s m stress would
often go nto a k nd of frenzy after captur ng the k ng: She would try
to accumulate as much money as poss ble to protect her after her
nev table fall. And to extend her re gn as long as poss ble, she
would be ruthless w th her enem es n the court. Her s tuat on, n
other words, seemed to demand from her a greed and v nd ct veness
that would often be her undo ng. Madame de Pompadour succeeded
where all others had fa led because she never pressed her good
fortune. Instead of bully ng the court ers from her powerful pos t on
as the k ng’s m stress, she tr ed to w n the r support. She never
revealed the sl ghtest h nt of greed or arrogance. When she could no
longer perform her phys cal dut es as m stress, she d d not fret at the
thought of someone replac ng her n bed. She s mply appl ed some
strategy—she encouraged the k ng to take young lovers, know ng
that the younger and prett er they were, the less of a threat they
posed, s nce they could not compare to her n charm and
soph st cat on and would soon bore the monarch.
A man who was famous as a tree cl mber was gu d ng someone n
cl mb ng a tall tree. He ordered the man to cut the top branches, and,
dur ng th s t me, when the man seemed to be n great danger, the
expert sa d noth ng. Only when the man was com ng down and had
reached the he ght of the eaves d d the expert call out, “Be careful!
Watch your step com ng down!” I asked h m, “Why d d you say that?
At that he ght he could jump the rest of the way f he chose.” “That’s
the po nt, ”sa d the expert. “As long as the man was up at a d zzy
he ght and the branches were threaen ng to break, he h mself was
so afra d I sa d noth ng. M stakes are always made when people get
to the easy places.” Th s man belonged to the lowest class, but h s
words were n perfect accord w th the precepts of the sages. In
football too, they say that after you have k cked out of a d ff cult place
and you th nk the next one w ll be eas er you are sure to m ss the
ball.

ESSAYS IN IDLENESS, KENKO, JAPAN, FOURTEENTH

CENTURY
Success plays strange tr cks on the m nd. It makes you feel
nvulnerable, wh le also mak ng you more host le and emot onal
when people challenge your power. It makes you less able to adapt
to c rcumstance. You come to bel eve your character s more
respons ble for your success than your strateg z ng and plann ng.
L ke Madame de Pompadour, you need to real ze that your moment
of tr umph s also a moment when you have to rely on cunn ng and
strategy all the more, consol dat ng your power base, recogn z ng the
role of luck and c rcumstance n your success, and rema n ng v g lant
aga nst changes n your good fortune. It s the moment of v ctory
when you need to play the court er’s game and pay more attent on
than ever to the laws of power.
The greatest danger occurs at the moment of v ctory.
Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821

KEYS TO POWER

Power has ts own rhythms and patterns. Those who succeed at the
game are the ones who control the patterns and vary them at w ll,
keep ng people off balance wh le they set the tempo. The essence of
strategy s controll ng what comes next, and the elat on of v ctory can
upset your ab l ty to control what comes next n two ways. F rst, you
owe your success to a pattern that you are apt to try to repeat. You
w ll try to keep mov ng n the same d rect on w thout stopp ng to see
whether th s s st ll the d rect on that s best for you. Second, success
tends to go to your head and make you emot onal. Feel ng
nvulnerable, you make aggress ve moves that ult mately undo the
v ctory you have ga ned.
The lesson s s mple: The powerful vary the r rhythms and
patterns, change course, adapt to c rcumstance, and learn to
mprov se. Rather than lett ng the r danc ng feet mpel them forward,
they step back and look where they are go ng. It s as f the r
bloodstream bore a k nd of ant dote to the ntox cat on of v ctory,
lett ng them control the r emot ons and come to a k nd of mental halt
when they have atta ned success. They steady themselves, g ve
themselves the space to reflect on what has happened, exam ne the
role of c rcumstance and luck n the r success. As they say n r d ng
school, you have to be able to control yourself before you can control
the horse.
Luck and c rcumstance always play a role n power. Th s s
nev table, and actually makes the game more nterest ng. But
desp te what you may th nk, good luck s more dangerous than bad
luck. Bad luck teaches valuable lessons about pat ence, t m ng, and
the need to be prepared for the worst; good luck deludes you nto the
oppos te lesson, mak ng you th nk your br lll ance w ll carry you
through. Your fortune w ll nev tably turn, and when t does you w ll
be completely unprepared.
Accord ng to Mach avell , th s s what und d Cesare Borg a. He had
many tr umphs, was actually a clever strateg st, but had the bad luck
to have good luck: He had a pope for a father. Then, when he had
bad luck for real—h s father’s death—he was unprepared for t, and
the many enem es he had made devoured h m. The good luck that
elevates you or seals your success br ngs the moment for you to
open your eyes: The wheel of fortune w ll hurtle you down as eas ly
as up. If you prepare for the fall, t s less l kely to ru n you when t
happens.
 People who have a run of success can catch a k nd of fever, and
even when they themselves try to stay calm, the people below them
often pressure them to go past the r mark and nto dangerous
waters. You have to have a strategy for deal ng w th these people.
S mply preach ng moderat on w ll make you look weak and small-
m nded; seem ng to fa l to follow up on a v ctory can lessen your
power.
When the Athen an general and statesman Per cles led a ser es of
naval campa gns around the Black Sea n 436 B.C., h s easy
tr umphs en-flamed the Athen ans’ des re for more. They dreamed of
conquer ng Egypt, overrunn ng Pers a, sa l ng for S c ly. On the one
hand Per cles re ned n these dangerous emot ons by warn ng of the
per ls of hubr s. On the other hand he fed them by f ght ng small
battles that he knew he could w n, creat ng the appearance that he
was preserv ng the momentum of success. The sk ll w th wh ch
Per cles played th s game s revealed by what happened when he
d ed: The demagogues took over, pushed Athens nto nvad ng S c ly,
and n one rash move destroyed an emp re.
The rhythm of power often requ res an alternat on of force and
cunn ng. Too much force creates a counterreact on; too much
cunn ng, no matter how cunn ng t s, becomes pred ctable. Work ng
on behalf of h s master, the shogun Oda Nobunaga, the great
s xteenth-century Japanese general (and future emperor) H deyosh
once eng neered a stunn ng v ctory over the army of the form dable
General Yosh moto. The shogun wanted to go further, to take on and
crush yet another powerful enemy, but H deyosh rem nded h m of
the old Japanese say ng: “When you have won a v ctory, t ghten the
str ngs of your helmet.” For H deyosh th s was the moment for the
shogun to sw tch from force to cunn ng and nd rect on, sett ng h s
enem es aga nst one another through a ser es of decept ve all ances.
In th s way he would avo d st rr ng up needless oppos t on by
appear ng overly aggress ve. When you are v ctor ous, then, l e low,
and lull the enemy nto nact on. These changes of rhythm are
mmensely powerful.
People who go past the mark are often mot vated by a des re to
please a master by prov ng the r ded cat on. But an excess of effort
exposes you to the r sk of mak ng the master susp c ous of you. On
several occas ons, generals under Ph l p of Macedon were d sgraced
and demoted mmed ately after lead ng the r troops to a great v ctory;
one more such v ctory, Ph l p thought, and the man m ght become a
r val nstead of an underl ng. When you serve a master, t s often
w se to measure your v ctor es carefully, let t ng h m get the glory and
never mak ng h m uneasy. It s also w se to establ sh a pattern of
str ct obed ence to earn h s trust. In the fourth century B.C., a capta n
under the notor ously severe Ch nese general Wu Ch‘ charged
ahead before a battle had begun and came back w th several enemy
heads. He thought he had shown h s f ery enthus asm, but Wu Ch’
was un mpressed. “A talented off cer,” the general sa d w th a s gh as
he ordered the man beheaded, “but a d sobed ent one.”
Another moment when a small success can spo l the chances for
a larger one may come f a master or super or grants you a favor: It
s a dangerous m stake to ask for more. You w ll seem nsecure—
perhaps you feel you d d not deserve th s favor, and have to grab as
much as you can when you have the chance, wh ch may not come
aga n. The proper response s to accept the favor grac ously and
w thdraw. Any subsequent favors you should earn w thout hav ng to
ask for them.
F nally, the moment when you stop has great dramat c mport.
What comes last st cks n the m nd as a k nd of exclamat on po nt.
There s no better t me to stop and walk away than after a v ctory.
Keep go ng and you r sk lessen ng the effect, even end ng up
defeated. As lawyers say of cross-exam nat on, “Always stop w th a
v ctory.”
Image: Icarus Fall ng
from the Sky. H s father
Daedalus fash ons w ngs
of wax that allow the
two men to fly out of
the labyr nth and
escape the M notaur.
Elated by the tr
 umphant escape
and the feel ng of
fl ght, Icarus soars
h gher and h gh
er, unt l the sun
melts the w ngs
and he hurtles
to h s death.
Author ty: Pr nces and republ cs should content themselves w th
v ctory, for when they a m at more, they generally lose. The use of
nsult ng language toward an enemy ar ses from the nsolence of
v ctory, or from the false hope of v ctory, wh ch latter m sleads men
as often n the r act ons as n the r words; for when th s false hope
takes possess on of the m nd, t makes men go beyond the mark,
and causes them to sacr f ce a certa n good for an uncerta n better.
(N ccolò Mach avell , 1469-1527)

REVERSAL

As Mach avell says, e ther destroy a man or leave h m alone

ent rely. Infl ct ng half pun shment or m ld njury w ll only create an
enemy whose b tterness w ll grow w th t me, and who w ll take
revenge. When you beat an enemy, then, make your v ctory
complete. Crush h m nto nonex s tence. In the moment of v ctory,
you do not restra n yourself from crush ng the enemy you have
defeated, but rather from needlessly advanc ng aga nst others. Be
merc less w th your enemy, but do not create new enem es by
overreach ng.
There are some who become more caut ous than ever after a
v ctory, wh ch they see as just g v ng them more possess ons to
worry about and protect. Your caut on after v ctory should never
make you hes tate, or lose momentum, but rather act as a safeguard
aga nst rash act on. On the other hand, momentum as a
phenomenon s greatly overrated. You create your own successes,
and f they follow one upon the other, t s your own do ng. Bel ef n
momentum w ll only make you emot onal, less prone to act
strateg cally, and more apt to repeat the same methods. Leave
momentum for those who have noth ng better to rely upon.
 LAW 48

ASSUME FORMLESSNESS

JUDGMENT
By tak ng a shape, by hav ng a v s ble plan, you open yourself to
attack. Instead of tak ng a form for your enemy to grasp, keep
yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that noth ng s
certa n and no law s f xed. The best way to protect yourself s to be
as flu d and formless as water; never bet on stab l ty or last ng order.
Everyth ng changes.
In mart al arts, t s mportant that strategy be unfathomable, that
form be concealed, and that movements be unexpected, so that
preparedness aga nst them be mposs ble. What enables a good
general to w n w thout fa l s always hav ng unfathomable w sdom
and a modus operand that leaves no tracks. Only the formless
cannot be affected. Sages h de n unfathomab l ty, so the r feel ngs
cannot be observed; they operate n formlessness, so the r l nes
cannot be crossed.

THE BOOK OF THE HUAINAN MASTERS, CHINA, SECOND

CENTURY B.C.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

By the e ghth century B.C., the c ty-states of Greece had grown so

large and prosperous that they had run out of land to support the r
expand ng populat ons. So they turned to the sea, establ sh ng
colon es n As a M nor, S c ly, the Ital an pen nsula, even Afr ca. The
c ty-state of Sparta, however, was landlocked and surrounded by
mounta ns. Lack ng access to the Med terranean, the Spartans never
became a seafar ng people; nstead they turned on the c t es around
them, and, n a ser es of brutal, v olent confl cts last ng more than a
hundred years, managed to conquer an mmense area that would
prov de enough land for the r c t zens. Th s solut on to the r problem,
however, brought a new, more form dable one: How could they
ma nta n and pol ce the r conquered terr tor es? The subord nate
peoples they ruled now outnumbered them ten to one. Surely th s
horde would take a horr ble revenge on them.
Sparta’s solut on was to create a soc ety ded cated to the art of
war. Spartans would be tougher, stronger, and f ercer than the r
ne ghbors. Th s was the only way they could ensure the r stab l ty
and surv val.
When a Spartan boy reached the age of seven, he was taken from
h s mother and placed n a m l tary club where he was tra ned to f ght
and underwent the str ctest d sc pl ne. The boys slept on beds of
reeds; they were allotted only one outer garment to wear for an
ent re year. They stud ed none of the arts; ndeed, the Spartans
banned mus c, and perm tted only slaves to pract ce the crafts that
were necessary to susta n them. The only sk lls the Spartans taught
were those of warfare. Ch ldren seen as weakl ngs were left to d e n
a cavern n the mounta ns. No system of money or trad ng was
allowed n Sparta; acqu red wealth, they bel eved, would sow
self shness and d ssens on, weaken ng the r warr or d sc pl ne. The
only way a Spartan could earn a l v ng was through agr culture,
mostly on state-owned lands, wh ch slaves, called helots, would
work for h m.
The Spartans’ s ngle-m ndedness allowed them to forge the most
powerful nfantry n the world. They marched n perfect order and
fought w th ncomparable bravery. The r t ght-kn t phalanxes could
vanqu sh an army ten t mes the r s ze, as they proved n defeat ng
the Pers ans at Thermopylae. A Spartan column on the march would
str ke terror n the enemy; t seemed to have no weaknesses. Yet
although the Spartans proved themselves m ghty warr ors, they had
no nterest n creat ng an emp re. They only wanted to keep what
they had already conquered and to defend t aga nst nvaders.
Decades would pass w thout a s ngle change n the system that had
succeeded so well n preserv ng Sparta’s status quo.

THE DOC WITH THE CROPPED EARS

“What cr me have I comm tted that I should be thus mut lated by my
own master?” pens vely excla med Jowler, a young mast ff. “Here’s a
pretty cond t on for a dog of my pretent ons! How can I show my face
among my fr ends? Oh! k ng of beasts, or rather the r tyrant, who
would dare to treat you thus?” H s compla nts were not unfounded,
for that very morn ng h s master, desp te the p erc ng shr eks of our
young fr end, had barbarously cut off h s long pendent ears. Jowler
expected noth ng less than to g ve up the ghost. As he advanced n
years, he perce ved that he ga ned more than he had lost by h s
mut lat on; for, be ng naturally ncl ned to f ght w th others, he would
often have returned home w th th s part d sf gured n a hundred
places. A quarrelsome dog always has h s ears lacerated. The less
we leave others to lay hold of the better. When one has but one po nt
to defend, t should be protected for fear of acc dent. Take for
example Master Jowler, who, be ng armed w th a sp ked collar, and
hav ng about as much ear as a b rd, a wolf would be puzzled to know
where to tackle h m.

FABLES. JEAN DE LA FOMTAINE, 1621-1695

At the same t me that the Spartans were evolv ng the r warl ke
culture, another c ty-state was r s ng to equal prom nence: Athens.
Unl ke Sparta, Athens had taken to the sea, not so much to create
colon es as for purposes of trade. The Athen ans became great
merchants; the r currency, the famous “owl co ns,” spread throughout
the Med terranean. Unl ke the r g d Spartans, the Athen ans
responded to every problem w th consummate creat v ty, adapt ng to
the occas on and creat ng new soc al forms and new arts at an
ncred ble pace. The r soc ety was n constant flux. And as the r
power grew, they came to pose a threat to the defense-m nded
Spartans.
In 431 B.C., the war that had been brew ng between Athens and
Sparta for so long f nally erupted. It lasted twenty-seven years, but
after many tw sts of fortune, the Spartan war mach ne f nally
emerged v ctor ous. The Spartans now commanded an emp re, and
th s t me they could not stay n the r shell. If they gave up what they
had ga ned, the beaten Athen ans would regroup and r se aga nst
them, and the long war would have been fought for naught.
After the war, Athen an money poured nto Sparta. The Spartans
had been tra ned n warfare, not pol t cs or econom cs; because they
were so unaccustomed to t, wealth and ts accompany ng ways of
l fe seduced and overwhelmed them. Spartan governors were sent to
rule what had been Athen an lands; far from home, they succumbed
to the worst forms of corrupt on. Sparta had defeated Athens, but the
flu d Athen an way of l fe was slowly break ng down ts d sc pl ne and
loosen ng ts r g d order. And Athens, meanwh le, was adapt ng to
los ng ts emp re, manag ng to thr ve as a cultural and econom c
center.
Confused by a change n ts status quo, Sparta grew weaker and
weaker. Some th rty years after defeat ng Athens, t lost an mportant
battle w th the c ty-state of Thebes. Almost overn ght, th s once
m ghty nat on collapsed, never to recover.

Interpretat on

In the evolut on of spec es, protect ve armor has almost always

spelled d saster. Although there are a few except ons, the shell most
often becomes a dead end for the an mal encased n t; t slows the
creature down, mak ng t hard for t to forage for food and mak ng t a
target for fast-mov ng predators. An mals that take to the sea or sky,
and that move sw ftly and unpred ctably, are nf n tely more powerful
and secure.
In fac ng a ser ous problem—controll ng super or numbers—
Sparta reacted l ke an an mal that develops a shell to protect tself
from the env ronment. But l ke a turtle, the Spartans sacr f ced
mob l ty for safety. They managed to preserve stab l ty for three
hundred years, but at what cost? They had no culture beyond
warfare, no arts to rel eve the tens on, a constant anx ety about the
status quo. Wh le the r ne ghbors took to the sea, learn ng to adapt to
a world of constant mot on, the Spartans entombed themselves n
the r own system. V ctory would mean new lands to govern, wh ch
they d d not want; defeat would mean the end of the r m l tary
mach ne, wh ch they d d not want, e ther. Only stas s allowed them to
surv ve. But noth ng n the world can rema n stable forever, and the
shell or system you evolve for your protect on w ll someday prove
your undo ng.
In the case of Sparta, t was not the arm es of Athens that
defeated t, but the Athen an money. Money flows everywhere t has
the opportun ty to go; t cannot be controlled, or made to f t a
prescr bed pattern. It s nherently chaot c. And n the long run,
money made Athens the conqueror, by nf ltrat ng the Spartan
system and corrod ng ts protect ve armor. In the battle between the
two systems, Athens was flu d and creat ve enough to take new
forms, wh le Sparta could grow only more r g d unt l t cracked.
Th s s the way the world works, whether for an mals, cultures, or
nd v duals. In the face of the world’s harshness and danger,
organ sms of any k nd develop protect on—a coat of armor, a r g d
system, a comfort ng r tual. For the short term t may work, but for
the long term t spells d saster. People we ghed down by a system
and nflex ble ways of do ng th ngs cannot move fast, cannot sense
or adapt to change. They lumber around more and more slowly unt l
they go the way of the brontosaurus. Learn to move fast and adapt
or you w ll be eaten.
The best way to avo d th s fate s to assume formlessness. No
predator al ve can attack what t cannot see.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

When World War II ended and the Japanese, who had nvaded
Ch na n 1937, had f nally been thrown out, the Ch nese Nat onal sts,
lead by Ch ang Ka -shek, dec ded the t me had come to ann h late
the Ch nese Commun sts, the r hated r vals, once and for all. They
had almost succeeded n 1935, forc ng the Commun sts nto the
Long March, the gruel ng retreat that had greatly d m n shed the r
numbers. Although the Commun sts had recovered somewhat dur ng
the war aga nst Japan, t would not be d ff cult to defeat them now.
They controlled only solated areas n the countrys de, had
unsoph st cated weaponry, lacked any m l tary exper ence or tra n ng
beyond mounta n f ght ng, and controlled no mportant parts of
Ch na, except areas of Manchur a, wh ch they had managed to take
after the Japanese retreat. Ch ang dec ded to comm t h s best forces
n Manchur a. He would take over ts major c t es and from those
bases would spread through th s northern ndustr al reg on, sweep ng
the Commun sts away. Once Manchur a had fallen the Commun sts
would collapse.
In 1945 and ’46 the plan worked perfectly: The Nat onal sts eas ly
took the major Manchur an c t es. Puzzl ngly, though, n the face of
th s cr t cal campa gn, the Commun st strategy made no sense.
When the Nat onal sts began the r push, the Commun sts d spersed
to Manchur a’s most out-of-the-way comers. The r small un ts
harassed the Nat onal st arm es, ambush ng them here, retreat ng
unexpectedly there, but these d spersed un ts never l nked up,
mak ng them hard to attack. They would se ze a town only to g ve t
up a few weeks later. Form ng ne ther rear guards nor vanguards,
they moved l ke mercury, never stay ng n one place, elus ve and
formless.
One seduct ve and ult mately always fatal path has been the
development of protect ve armor. An organ sm can protect tself by
concealment, by sw ftness n fl ght, by effect ve counterattack, by
un t ng for attack and defense w th other nd v duals of ts spec es
and also by encas ng tself w th n bony plates and sp nes.... Almost
always the exper ment of armor fa led. Creatures adop ng t tended
to become unw eldy. They had to move relat vely slowly. Hence they
were forced to l ve ma nly on vegetable food; and thus n general
they were at a d sadvantage as compared w th foes l v ng on more
rap dly “prof table” an mal food: The repeated fa lure of protect ve
armor shows that, even at a somewhat low evolut onary level, m nd
tr umphed over mere matter. It s th s sort of tr umph wh ch has been
supremely exempl f ed n Man.
SCIENI IFIC THEORY AND RELIGION, E. W. BARNES, 1933
The Nat onal sts ascr bed th s to two th ngs: coward ce n the face
of super or forces and nexper ence n strategy. Mao Tse-tung, the
Commun st leader, was more a poet and ph losopher than a general,
whereas Ch ang had stud ed warfare n the West and was a follower
of the German m l tary wr ter Carl von Clausew tz, among others.
Yet a pattern d d eventually emerge n Mao’s attacks. After the
Nat onal sts had taken the c t es, leav ng the Commun sts to occupy
what was generally cons dered Manchur a’s useless space, the
Commun sts started us ng that large space to surround the c t es. If
Ch ang sent an army from one c ty to re nforce another, the
Commun sts would enc rcle the rescu ng army. Ch ang’s forces were
slowly broken nto smaller and smaller un ts, solated from one
another, the r l nes of supply and commun cat on cut. The
Nat onal sts st ll had super or f repower, but f they could not move,
what good was t?
A k nd of terror overcame the Nat onal st sold ers. Commanders
comfortably remote from the front l nes m ght laugh at Mao, but the
sold ers had fought the Commun sts n the mounta ns, and had come
to fear the r elus veness. Now these sold ers sat n the r c t es and
watched as the r fast-mov ng enem es, as flu d as water, poured n
on them from all s des. There seemed to be m ll ons of them. The
Commun sts also enc rcled the sold ers’ sp r ts, bombard ng them
w th propaganda to lower the r morale and pressure them to desert.
The Nat onal sts began to surrender n the r m nds. The r enc rcled
and solated c t es started collaps ng even before be ng d rectly
attacked; one after another fell n qu ck success on. In November of
1948, the Nat onal sts surrendered Manchur a to the Commun sts—a
hum l at ng blow to the techn cally super or Nat onal st army, and one
that proved dec s ve n the war. By the follow ng year the
Commun sts controlled all of Ch na.

Interpretat on

The two board games that best approx mate the strateg es of war
are chess and the As an game of go. In chess the board s small. In
compar son to go, the attack comes relat vely qu ckly, forc ng a
dec s ve battle. It rarely pays to w thdraw, or to sacr f ce your p eces,
wh ch must be concentrated at key areas. Go s much less formal. It
s played on a large gr d, w th 361 ntersect ons—nearly s x t mes as
many pos t ons as n chess. Black and wh te stones (one color for
each s de) are placed on the board’s ntersect ons, one at a t me,
wherever you l ke. Once all your stones (52 for each s de) are on the
board, the object s to solate the stones of your opponent by
enc rcl ng them.
The sage ne ther seeks to follow the ways of the anc ents nor
estahl shes any f xed standard for all t mes but exam nes the th ngs
of h s age and then prepares to deal w th them. There was n Sung a
man, who t lled a f eld n wh ch there stood the trunk of a tree. Once
a hare, wh le runn ng fast, rushed aga nst the trunk, broke ts neck,
and d ed. Thereupon the man cast h s plough as de and watched
that tree, hop ng that he would get another hare. Yet he never caught
another hare and was h mself r d culed by the people of Sung. Now
suppos ng somebody wanted to govern the people of the present
age w th the pol c es of the early k ngs, he would be do ng exactly
the same th ng as that man who watched the tree.

HAN-FEI-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHFR, THIRD CENTURY B.C.

A game of go—called we -ch n Ch na—can last up to three
hundred moves. The strategy s more subtle and flu d than chess,
develop ng slowly; the more complex the pattern your stones n t ally
create on the board, the harder t s for your opponent to understand
your strategy. F ght ng to control a part cular area s not worth the
trouble: You have to th nk n larger terms, to be prepared to sacr f ce
an area n order eventually to dom nate the board. What you are
after s not an entrenched pos t on but mob l ty. W th mob l ty you can
solate the opponent n small areas and then enc rcle them. The a m
s not to k ll off the opponent’s p eces d rectly, as n chess, but to
nduce a k nd of paralys s and collapse. Chess s l near, pos t on
or ented, and aggress ve; go s nonl near and flu d. Aggress on s
nd rect unt l the end of the game, when the w nner can surround the
opponent’s stones at an accelerated pace.
Ch nese m l tary strateg sts have been nfluenced by go for
centur es. Its proverbs have been appl ed to war t me and aga n;
Mao Tse-tung was an add ct of we -ch , and ts precepts were
ngra ned n h s strateg es. A key we -ch concept, for example, s to
use the s ze of the board to your advantage, spread ng out n every
d rect on so that your opponent cannot fathom your movements n a
s mple l near way.
“Every Ch nese,” Mao once wrote, “should consc ously throw
h mself nto th s war of a j gsaw pattern” aga nst the Nat onal sts.
Place your men n a j gsaw pattern n go, and your opponent loses
h mself try ng to f gure out what you are up to. E ther he wastes t me
pursu ng you or, l ke Ch ang Ka -shek, he assumes you are
ncompetent and fa ls to protect h mself. And f he concentrates on
s ngle areas, as Western strategy adv ses, he becomes a s tt ng
duck for enc rclement. In the we -ch way of war, you enc rcle the
enemy’s bra n, us ng m nd games, propaganda, and rr tat on tact cs
to confuse and d shearten. Th s was the strategy of the Commun sts
—an apparent formlessness that d sor ented and terr f ed the r
enemy.
Where chess s l near and d rect, the anc ent game of go s closer
to the k nd of strategy that w ll prove relevant n a world where
battles are fought nd rectly, n vast, loosely connected areas. Its
strateg es are abstract and mult d mens onal, nhab t ng a plane
beyond t me and space: the strateg st’s m nd. In th s flu d form of
warfare, you value movement over pos t on. Your speed and mob l ty
make t mposs ble to pred ct your moves; unable to understand you,
your enemy can form no strategy to defeat you. Instead of f x ng on
part cular spots, th s nd rect form of warfare spreads out, just as you
can use the large and d sconnected nature of the real world to your
advantage. Be l ke a vapor. Do not g ve your opponents anyth ng
sol d to attack; watch as they exhaust themselves pursu ng you,
try ng to cope w th your elus veness. Only formlessness allows you
to truly surpr se your enem es—by the t me they f gure out where you
are and what you are up to, t s too late.
When you want to f ght us, we don’t let you and you can’t f nd us. But
when
we want to f ght you, we make sure that you can’t get away and we
h t you
squarely ... and w pe you out.... The enemy advances, we retreat;
the enemy
camps, we harass; the enemy t res, we attack; the enemy retreats,
we pursue.
Mao Tse-tung, 1893-1976
General Rommel surpassed Patton as a creat ve ntellect.... Rommel
shunned m l tary formal sm. He made no f xed plans beyond those
ntended for the n t al clash; thereafter, he ta lored h s tact cs to meet
spec f c s tuat ons as they arose. He was a l ghtn ng-fast dec s on-
maker, phys cally ma nta n ng a pace that matched h s act ve
mental ty. In a forb dd ng sea of sand, he operated n a free
env ronment. Once Rommel ruptured the Br t sh l nes n Afr ca, he
had the whole northern part of the cont nent opened to h m.
Comparat vely free from the hamstr ng ng author ty of Berl n,
d sregard ng orders even from H tler h mself on occas on, Rommel
mplemented one successful operat on after another unt l he had
most of North Afr ca under h s control and Ca ro trembl ng at h s feet.
THE ART OF WINNING WARS, JAMES MRAZEK, 1968

KEYS TO POWER
The human an mal s d st ngu shed by ts constant creat on of forms.
Rarely express ng ts emot ons d rectly, t g ves them form through
language, or through soc ally acceptable r tuals. We cannot
commun cate our emot ons w thout a form.
The forms that we create, however, change constantly— n fash on,
n style, n all those human phenomena represent ng the mood of the
moment. We are constantly alter ng the forms we have nher ted
from prev ous generat ons, and these changes are s gns of l fe and
v tal ty. Indeed, the th ngs that don’t change, the forms that r g d fy,
come to look to us l ke death, and we destroy them. The young show
th s most clearly: Uncomfortable w th the forms that soc ety mposes
upon them, hav ng no set dent ty, they play w th the r own
characters, try ng on a var ety of masks and poses to express
themselves. Th s s the v tal ty that dr ves the motor of form, creat ng
constant changes n style.
The powerful are often people who n the r youth have shown
mmense creat v ty n express ng someth ng new through a new
form. Soc ety grants them power because t hungers for and rewards
th s sort of newness. The problem comes later, when they often grow
conservat ve and possess ve. They no longer dream of creat ng new
forms; the r dent t es are set, the r hab ts congeal, and the r r g d ty
makes them easy targets. Everyone knows the r next move. Instead
of demand ng respect they el c t boredom: Get off the stage! we say,
let someone else, someone younger, enterta n us. When locked n
the past, the powerful look com cal—they are overr pe fru t, wa t ng
to fall from the tree.
Power can only thr ve f t s flex ble n ts forms. To be formless s
not to be amorphous; everyth ng has a form— t s mposs ble to
avo d. The formlessness of power s more l ke that of water, or
mercury, tak ng the form of whatever s around t. Chang ng
constantly, t s never pred ctable. The powerful are constantly
creat ng form, and the r power comes from the rap d ty w th wh ch
they can change. The r formlessness s n the eye of the enemy who
cannot see what they are up to and so has noth ng sol d to attack.
Th s s the prem er pose of power: ungraspable, as elus ve and sw ft
as the god Mercury, who could take any form he pleased and used
th s ab l ty to wreak havoc on Mount Olympus.
Human creat ons evolve toward abstract on, toward be ng more
mental and less mater al. Th s evolut on s clear n art, wh ch, n th s
century, made the great d scovery of abstract on and conceptual sm;
t can also be seen n pol t cs, wh ch over t me have become less
overtly v olent, more compl cated, nd rect and cerebral. Warfare and
strategy too have followed th s pattern. Strategy began n the
man pulat on of arm es on land, pos t on ng them n ordered
format ons; on land, strategy s relat vely two d mens onal, and
controlled by topography. But all the great powers have eventually
taken to the sea, for commerce and colon zat on. And to protect the r
trad ng lanes they have had to learn how to f ght at sea. Mar t me
warfare requ res tremendous creat v ty and abstract th nk ng, s nce
the l nes are constantly sh ft ng. Naval capta ns d st ngu sh
themselves by the r ab l ty to adapt to the l teral flu d ty of the terra n
and to confuse the enemy w th an abstract, hard-to-ant c pate form.
They are operat ng n a th rd d mens on: the m nd.

CHARACTER ARMOR
To carry out the nst nctual nh b t on demanded by the modern world
and to be able to cope w th the energy stas s wh ch results from th s
nh b t on, the ego has to undergo a change. The ego, .e., that part
of the person that s exposed to danger, becomes r g d, as we say,
when t s cont nually subjected to the same or s m lar confl cts
between need and a fear- nduc ng outer world. It acqu res n th s
process a chron c, automat cally funct on ng mode of react on, .e., ts
“character.” It s as f the affect ve personal ty armored tself, as f the
hard shell t develops were ntended to deflect and weaken the blows
of the outer world as well as the clamor ng of the nner needs. Th s
armor ng makes the person less sens t ve to unpleasure, but also
restr cts h s l b d nal and aggress ve mot l ty and thus reduces h s
capac ty for ach evement and pleasure. We say the ego has become
less flex ble and more r g d, and that the ab l ry to regulate the
energy economy depends on the extent of the armor ng.
WILHELM REICH, 1897-1957
Back on land, guerr lla warfare too demonstrates th s evolut on
toward abstract on. T. E. Lawrence was perhaps the f rst modern
strateg st to develop the theory beh nd th s k nd of warfare, and to
put t nto pract ce. H s deas nfluenced Mao, who found n h s
wr t ngs an uncanny Western equ valent to we -ch . Lawrence was
work ng w th Arabs f ght ng for the r terr tory aga nst the Turks. H s
dea was to make the Arabs blend nto the vast desert, never
prov d ng a target, never collect ng together n one place. As the
Turks scrambled to f ght th s vaporous army, they spread themselves
th n, wast ng energy n mov ng from place to place. They had the
super or f repower but the Arabs kept the n t at ve by play ng cat and
mouse, g v ng the Turks noth ng to hold on to, destroy ng the r
morale. “Most wars were wars of contact.... Ours should be a war of
detachment,” Lawrence wrote. “We were to conta n the enemy by
the s lent threat of a vast unknown desert, not d sclos ng ourselves
t ll we attacked.”
Th s s the ult mate form of strategy. The war of engagement has
become far too dangerous and costly; nd rect on and elus veness
y eld far better results at a much lower cost. The ma n cost, n fact, s
mental—the th nk ng t takes to al gn your forces n scattered
patterns, and to underm ne the m nds and psychology of your
opponents. And noth ng w ll nfur ate and d sor ent them more than
formlessness. In a world where wars of detachment are the order of
the day, formlessness s cruc al.
The f rst psycholog cal requ rement of formlessness s to tra n
yourself to take noth ng personally. Never show any defens veness.
When you act defens ve, you show your emot ons, reveal ng a clear
form. Your opponents w ll real ze they have h t a nerve, an Ach lles’
heel. And they w ll h t t aga n and aga n. So tra n yourself to take
noth ng personally. Never let anyone get your back up. Be l ke a
sl ppery ball that cannot be held: Let no one know what gets to you,
or where your weaknesses l e. Make your face a formless mask and
you w ll nfur ate and d sor ent your schem ng colleagues and
opponents.
 One man who used th s techn que was Baron James Rothsch ld. A
German Jew n Par s, n a culture dec dedly unfr endly to fore gners,
Rothsch ld never took any attack on h m personally or showed he
had been hurt n any way. He furthermore adapted h mself to the
pol t cal cl mate, whatever t was—the st ffly formal Restorat on
monarchy of Lou s XVIII, the bourgeo s re gn of Lou s-Ph l ppe, the
democrat c revolut on of 1848, the upstart Lou s-Napoleon crowned
emperor n 1852. Rothsch ld accepted them one and all, and
blended n. He could afford to appear hypocr t cal or opportun st c
because he was valued for h s money, not h s pol t cs; h s money
was the currency of power. Wh le he adapted and thr ved, outwardly
never show ng a form, all the other great fam l es that had begun the
century mmensely wealthy were ru ned n the per od’s compl cated
sh fts and turns of fortune. Attach ng themselves to the past, they
revealed the r embrace of a form.
Throughout h story, the formless style of rul ng has been most
adeptly pract ced by the queen who re gns alone. A queen s n a
rad cally d fferent pos t on from a k ng; because she s a woman, her
subjects and court ers are l kely to doubt her ab l ty to rule, her
strength of character. If she favors one s de n some deolog cal
struggle, she s sa d to be act ng out of emot onal attachment. Yet f
she represses her emot ons and plays the author tar an, n the male
fash on, she arouses worse cr t c sm st ll. E ther by nature or by
exper ence, then, queens tend to adopt a flex ble style of govern ng
that n the end often proves more powerful than the more d rect,
male form.
Two female leaders exempl fy ng the formless style of rule are
Queen El zabeth of England and Empress Cather ne the Great of
Russ a. In the v olent wars between Cathol cs and Protestants,
El zabeth steered a m ddle course. She avo ded all ances that would
comm t her to one s de, and that over t me would harm the country.
She managed to keep her country at peace unt l t was strong
enough for war. Her re gn was one of the most glor ous n h story
because of her ncred ble capac ty to adapt and her flex ble deology.
Cather ne the Great too evolved an mprov satory style of
govern ng. After she deposed her husband, Emperor Peter II, tak ng
sole control of Russ a n 1762, no one thought she would surv ve.
But she had no preconce ved deas, no ph losophy or theory to
d ctate her pol c es. Although a fore gner (she came from Germany),
she understood Russ a’s moods, and how t was chang ng over the
years. “One must govern n such a way that one’s people th nk they
themselves want to do what one commands them to do,” she sa d,
and to do th s she had to be always a step ahead of the r des res and
to adapt to the r res stance. By never forc ng the ssue, she reformed
Russ a n a str k ngly short per od of t me.
Th s fem n ne, formless style of rul ng may have emerged as a way
of prosper ng under d ff cult c rcumstances, but t has proved
mmensely seduct ve to those who have served under t. Be ng flu d,
t s relat vely easy for ts subjects to obey, for they feel less coerced,
less bent to the r ruler’s deology. It also opens up opt ons where an
adherence to a doctr ne closes them off. W thout comm tt ng to one
s de, t allows the ruler to play one enemy off another. R g d rulers
may seem strong, but w th t me the r nflex b l ty wears on the nerves,
and the r subjects f nd ways to push them from the stage. Flex ble,
formless rulers w ll be much cr t c zed, but they w ll endure, and
people w ll eventually come to dent fy w th them, s nce they are as
the r subjects are—chang ng w th the w nd, open to c rcumstance.
Desp te upsets and delays, the permeable style of power generally
tr umphs n the end, just as Athens eventually won v ctory over
Sparta through ts money and ts culture. When you f nd yourself n
confl ct w th someone stronger and more r g d, allow them a
momentary v ctory. Seem to bow to the r super or ty. Then, by be ng
formless and adaptable, slowly ns nuate yourself nto the r soul. Th s
way you w ll catch them off guard, for r g d people are always ready
to ward off d rect blows but are helpless aga nst the subtle and
ns nuat ng. To succeed at such a strategy you must play the
chameleon—conform on the surface, wh le break ng down your
enemy from the ns de.
For centur es the Japanese would accept fore gners grac ously,
and appeared suscept ble to fore gn cultures and nfluences. Joao
Rodr guez, a Portuguese pr est who arr ved n Japan n 1577 and
l ved there for many years, wrote, “I am flabbergasted by the
Japanese w ll ngness to try and accept everyth ng Portuguese.” He
saw Japanese n the streets wear ng Portuguese cloth ng, w th
rosary beads at the r necks and crosses at the r h ps. Th s m ght
seem l ke a weak, mutable culture, but Japan’s adaptab l ty actually
protected the country from hav ng an al en culture mposed by
m l tary nvas on. It seduced the Portuguese and other Westerners
nto bel ev ng the Japanese were y eld ng to a super or culture when
actually the fore gn culture’s ways were merely a fash on to be
donned and doffed. Under the surface, Japanese culture thr ved.
Had the Japanese been r g d about fore gn nfluences and tr ed to
f ght them off, they m ght have suffered the njur es that the West
nfl cted on Ch na. That s the power of formlessness— t g ves the
aggressor noth ng to react aga nst, noth ng to h t.
In evolut on, largeness s often the f rst step toward ext nct on.
What s mmense and bloated has no mob l ty, but must constantly
feed tself. The un ntell gent are often seduced nto bel ev ng that
s ze connotes power, the b gger the better.
In 483 B.C., K ng Xerxes of Pers a nvaded Greece, bel ev ng he
could conquer the country n one easy campa gn. After all, he had
the largest army ever assembled for one nvas on—the h stor an
Herodotus est mated t at over more than f ve m ll on. The Pers ans
planned to bu ld a br dge across the Hellespont to overrun Greece
from the land, wh le the r equally mmense navy would p n the Greek
sh ps n harbor, prevent ng the r forces from escap ng to sea. The
plan seemed sure, yet as Xerxes prepared the nvas on, h s adv ser
Artabanus warned h s master of grave m sg v ngs: “The two
m ght est powers n the world are aga nst you,” he sa d. Xerxes
laughed—what powers could match h s g gant c army? “I w ll tell you
what they are,” answered Artabanus. “The land and the sea.” There
were no safe harbors large enough to rece ve Xerxes’ fleet. And the
more land the Pers ans conquered, and the longer the r supply l nes
stretched, the more ru nous the cost of feed ng th s mmense army
would prove.
Th nk ng h s adv ser a coward, Xerxes proceeded w th the
nvas on. Yet as Artabanus pred cted, bad weather at sea dec mated
the Pers an fleet, wh ch was too large to take shelter n any harbor.
On land, meanwh le, the Pers an army destroyed everyth ng n ts
path, wh ch only made t mposs ble to feed, s nce the destruct on
ncluded crops and stores of food. It was also an easy and slow-
mov ng target. The Greeks pract ced all k nds of decept ve
maneuvers to d sor ent the Pers ans. Xerxes’ eventual defeat at the
hands of the Greek all es was an mmense d saster. The story s
emblemat c of all those who sacr f ce mob l ty for s ze: The flex ble
and fleet of foot w ll almost always w n, for they have more strateg c
opt ons. The more g gant c the enemy, the eas er t s to nduce
collapse.
The need for formlessness becomes greater the older we get, as
we grow more l kely to become set n our ways and assume too r g d
a form. We become pred ctable, always the f rst s gn of decrep tude.
And pred ctab l ty makes us appear com cal. Although r d cule and
d sda n m ght seem m ld forms of attack, they are actually potent
weapons, and w ll eventually erode a foundat on of power. An enemy
who does not respect you w ll grow bold, and boldness makes even
the smallest an mal dangerous.
The late-e ghteenth-century court of France, as exempl f ed by
Mar e-Anto nette, had become so hopelessly t ed to a r g d formal ty
that the average Frenchman thought t a s lly rel c. Th s deprec at on
of a centur es-old nst tut on was the f rst s gn of a term nal d sease,
for t represented a symbol c loosen ng of the people’s t es to
monarchy. As the s tuat on worsened, Mar e-Anto nette and K ng
Lou s XVI grew only more r g d n the r adherence to the past—and
qu ckened the r path to the gu llot ne. K ng Charles I of England
reacted s m larly to the t de of democrat c change brew ng n England
n the 1630s: He d sbanded Parl ament, and h s court r tuals grew
ncreas ngly formal and d stant. He wanted to return to an older style
of rul ng, w th adherence to all k nds of petty protocol. H s r g d ty
only he ghtened the des re for change. Soon, of course, he was
swept up n a devastat ng c v l war, and eventually he lost h s head to
the execut oner’s axe.
As you get older, you must rely even less on the past. Be v g lant
lest the form your character has taken makes you seem a rel c. It s
not a matter of m m ck ng the fash ons of youth—that s equally
worthy of laughter. Rather your m nd must constantly adapt to each
c rcumstance, even the nev table change that the t me has come to
move over and let those of younger age prepare for the r
ascendancy. R g d ty w ll only make you look uncann ly l ke a
cadaver.
Never forget, though, that formlessness s a strateg c pose. It
g ves you room to create tact cal surpr ses; as your enem es struggle
to guess your next move, they reveal the r own strategy, putt ng them
at a dec ded d sadvantage. It keeps the n t at ve on your s de,
putt ng your enem es n the pos t on of never act ng, constantly
react ng. It fo ls the r spy ng and ntell gence. Remember:
Formlessness s a tool. Never confuse t w th a go-w th-the-flow
style, or w th a rel g ous res gnat on to the tw sts of fortune. You use
formlessness, not because t creates nner harmony and peace, but
because t w ll ncrease your power.
F nally, learn ng to adapt to each new c rcumstance means see ng
events through your own eyes, and often gnor ng the adv ce that
people constantly peddle your way. It means that ult mately you must
throw out the laws that others preach, and the books they wr te to tell
you what to do, and the sage adv ce of the elder. “The laws that
govern c rcumstances are abol shed by new c rcumstances,”
Napoleon wrote, wh ch means that t s up to you to gauge each new
s tuat on. Rely too much on other people’s deas and you end up
tak ng a form not of your own mak ng. Too much respect for other
people’s w sdom w ll make you deprec ate your own. Be brutal w th
the past, espec ally your own, and have no respect for the
ph losoph es that are fo sted on you from outs de.
Image: Mercury. The w nged messenger,
god of commerce, patron sa nt of th eves,
gamblers, and all those who dece ve through
sw ftness. The day Mercury was born he nvented
the lyre; by that even ng he had stolen the cattle of
Apollo. He would scour the world, assum ng
whatever form he des red. L ke the l qu d metal
 named after h m, he embod es the elus ve,
the ungraspable—the power of formlessness.

Author ty: Therefore the consummat on of form ng an army s to

arr ve at formlessness. V ctory n war s not repet t ous, but adapts ts
form endlessly.... A m l tary force has no constant format on, water
has no constant shape: The ab l ty to ga n v ctory by chang ng and
adapt ng accord ng to the opponent s called gen us. (Sun-tzu, fourth
century B.C.)

REVERSAL

Us ng space to d sperse and create an abstract pattern should not

mean forsak ng the concentrat on of your power when t s valuable
to you. Formlessness makes your enem es hunt all over for you,
scatter ng the r own forces, mental as well as phys cal. When you
f nally engage them, though, h t them w th a powerful, concentrated
blow. That s how Mao succeeded aga nst the Nat onal sts: He broke
the r forces nto small, solated un ts, wh ch he then could eas ly
overwhelm w th a strong attack. The law of concentrat on preva led.
When you play w th formlessness, keep on top of the process, and
keep your long-term strategy n m nd. When you assume a form and
go on the attack, use concentrat on, speed, and power. As Mao sa d,
“When we f ght you, we make sure you can’t get away.”
 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aesop. Fables of Aesop. Translated by S. A. Hanford. New York:

Pengu n Books, 1954.
Bloodworth, Denn s and Ch ng P ng. The Ch nese Mach avell . New
York: Farrar, Straus and G roux, 1976.
Bowyer, J. Barton. Cheat ng: Decept on n War and Mag c, Games
and Sports, Sex and Rel g on, Bus ness and Con Games, Pol t cs
and Esp onage, Art and Sc ence. New York: St. Mart n’s Press, 1982.
Cast gl one, Baldesar. The Book of the Court er. Translated by
George Bull. New York: Pengu n Books, 1976.
Clausew tz, Carl von. On War. Ed ted and translated by M chael
Howard and Peter Paret. Pr nceton: Pr nceton Un vers ty Press,
1976.
El as, Norbert. The Court Soc ety. Translated by Edmund Jephcott.
Oxford: Bas l Blackwell Publ shers, 1983.
de Francesco, Grete. The Power of the Charlatan. Translated by
M r am Beard. New Haven: Yale Un vers ty Press, 1939.
Haley, Jay. The Power Tact cs of jesus Chr st and Other Essays.
New York: W W. Norton, 1989.
Han-fe -tzu. The Complete Works of Han-fe -tzu. Translated by W. K.
L ao. 2 volumes. London: Arthur Probstha n, 1959.
Herodotus. The H stor es. Translated by Aubrey de Sél ncourt. New
York: Pengu n Books, 1987.
Isaacson, Walter. K ss nger: A B ography. New York: S mon &
Schuster, 1992.
La Fonta ne, Jean de. Selected Fables. Translated by James M ch e.
New York: Pengu n Books, 1982.
Lenclos, N non de. L fe, Letters and Ep curean Ph losophy of N non
de Lenclos, The Celebrated Beauty of the 17th Century. Ch cago:
L on Publ sh ng Co., 1903.
Ludw g, Em l. B smarck: The Story of a F ghter. Translated by Eden
and Cedar Paul. Boston: L ttle, Brown, 1928.
Mach avell , N ccolò. The Pr nce and The D scourses. Translated by
Lu g R cc and Chr st an E. Detmold. New York: Modem L brary,
1940.
Mao Tse-tung. Selected M l tary Wr t ngs of Mao Tse-tung. Be j ng:
Fore gn Languages Press, 1963.
M llan, Betty. Monstrous Reg ment: Women Rulers n Men’s Worlds.
W ndsor Forest, Berks, U.K.: Kensal Press, 1983.
Monta gne, M chel de. The Complete Essays. Translated by M. A.
Screech. New York: Pengu n Books, 1987.
Mrazek, Col. James. The Art of W nn ng Wars. New York: Walker
and Company, 1968.
Nash, Jay Robert. Hustlers and Con Men. New York: M. Evans and
Co., 1976.
N etzsche, Fr edr ch. The B rth of Tragedy and The Genealogy of
Morals. Translated by Franc s Golff ng. Garden C ty: Doubleday
Anchor Books, 1956.
Or eux, Jean. Talleyrand: The Art of Surv val. Translated by Patr c a
Wolf. New York: Knopf, 1974.
Plutarch. Makers of Rome. Translated by Ian Scott-K lvert. New
York: Pengu n Books, 1965.
—. The R se and Fall of Athens. Translated by Ian Scott-K lvert. New
York: Pengu n Books, 1960.
Rebhorn, Wayne A. Foxes and L ons: Mach avell ’s Conf dence Men.
Ithaca: Cornell Un vers ty Press, 1988.
de Retz, Card nal. Memo rs of Jean Franço s Paul de Gond ,
Card nal de Retz. 2 vols. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1917.
Sadler, A. L. Cha-no-yu: The Japanese Tea Ceremony. Rutland,
Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1962.
Scharfste n, Ben-Am . Amoral Pol t cs. Albany: State Un vers ty of
New York Press, 1995.
Sche be, Karl E. M rrors, Masks, L es and Secrets. New York:
Praeger Publ shers, 1979.
Schopenhauer, Arthur. The W sdom of L fe and Counsels and
Max ms. Translated by T. Ba ley Saunders. Amherst, New York:
Prometheus Books, 1995.
Senger, Harro von. The Book of Stratagems: Tact cs for Tr umph and
Surv val. Ed ted and translated by Myron B. Gub tz. New York:
Pengu n Books, 1991.
S u, R. G. H. The Craft of Power. New York: John W ley & Sons,
1979.
Sun-tzu. The Art of War. Translated by Thomas Cleary. Boston:
Shambhala, 1988.
Thucyd des. The H story of the Peloponnes an War. Translated by
Rex Warner. New York: Pengu n Books, 1972.
We l, “Yellow K d.” The Con Game and “Yellow K d” We l: The
Autob ography of the Famous Con Art st as told to W. T Brannon.
New York: Dover Publ cat ons, 1974.
Zagor n, Perez. Ways of Ly ng: D ss mulat on, Persecut on and
Conform ty n Early Modern Europe. Cambr dge: Harvard Un vers ty
Press, 1990.
 INDEX

Ital c page references nd cate s debars.

Abraham
absence
us ng to ncrease respect and honor
abstract on
Académ e França se
accompl shments:
as effortless
and follow ng a famous predecessor
ach evements of others, us ng
act ng
act on(s):
enter ng w th boldness
secur ty and
wa t ng and
w nn ng through argument vs.
Adam’s Curse (Yeats)
adaptab l ty
adm rat on
Aeschylus
Aesop
Afr can folktale
Aglauros
Agu rre, Lope de
A ken, John
Albert, Pr nce
Alb zz fam ly
Albrecht, K ng
alchemy
Alc b ades
Alençon, Duke of
Alexander I, Czar
Alexander III “the Great,” K ng
father and
Alexander VI, Pope
Alexandra, Czar na
Alfonso I, K ng
Algard , Alessandro
Al , Muhammad
Always say less than necessary (Law 4)
Amas s
Amer can Inst tute of Electr cal Eng neers
Amer can Museum
Amschel, Mayer
Anc ent Ch nese Parable,s (Yu Hs u Sen, ed.)
anger
repress on of
and st rr ng up waters to catch f sh
tantrums
an mal magnet sm
“An mals Str cken w th the Plague, The” (La Fonta ne)
Anjou, Duke of
Anne, Queen
Anne of Cleves
Antony, Marc
appearance(s)
cat’s-paw and
jokes about
of perfect on
spectacles and
Arabs
Aret no, P etro
patronage strategy of
argument:
 emot ons and
w nn ng through act ons vs.
Ar st des
ar stocrat c pose
Ar stotle
Arlen, M chael
Armen an Folk-tales and Fables, Retold by Charles Down ng
armor, protect ve
Arnold, Ph l p
arrogance
arrogant and proud man, deal ng w th
arrow, mage of
Ars noe
Artabanus
art dealers
Duveen, see Duveen, Joseph
P casso and
Vollard
art sts, Rena ssance
Art of Cross-Exam nat on, The (Wellman)
Art of War, The (Sun-tzu)
Art of War, The (Zhang Yu)
Art of W nn ng Wars, The (Mrazek)
ask ng for too l ttle
“Ass and the Gardener, The” (Ind an fable)
assoc at ons:
n m rrored s tuat ons
w th unhappy and unlucky people
Assume formlessness (Law 48)
Assyr ans
Astyages, K ng
Atahualpa, K ng
Athe sm Conquered (Campanella)
Athens
ban shment n
S c ly nvaded by
 war between Sparta and
attacks
deflect ng of
fast
tak ng personally
attent on:
court ng of
pa d to an enemy
unconvent onal deas and
audac ty (boldness)
development of
hes tat on compared w th
Augusta, Queen
Augustus, Emperor
Aurel an, Emperor
Austr a
Ausubel, Nathan
author ty, fear and
autonomy
Avery, Ephra m K.
Avo d stepp ng nto a great man’s shoes (Law 41)
Azebu Gallas
Aztecs

Bacon, Franc s
bad news, bear ng of
ba t
res st ng
Balaun, Gu llaume de
Balboa, Vasco Nunez de
Balcha, Dejazmach
Balzac, Honoré de
ban shment
n Athens
Bardas
barga n demons
Barjac, P erre de
Barlow, Samuel L.
Barnes, E. W
Barnum, P. T.
Barry, Madame du
Bas l us, Emperor
Batchelor, Charles
Bathsheba, and Dav d
Bavar a, Duke of
Bay of P gs
beau geste
Beauvallon, Jean-Bapt ste Rosemond de
behav ng l ke others,
wh le th nk ng as
you l ke
Beh nd the Scenes of Royal Palaces n Korea (Ha Tae-Hung)
Bekbulatov ch, S meon
Belg um
bel ef, people’s need for
Belloc, H la re
Bengal
Benjam n, Walter
Beren ce
Bergman, Ingmar
Bern n , P etro
Be royal n your own fash on: act l ke a k ng to be treated l ke one
(Law 34)
Bertrand, Lou s
Best Fables of La Fonta ne, The, see La Fonta ne, Jean de, fables of
B ble
Genes s
K ngs
Matthew
Second Book of Samuel
B lly Budd (Melv lle)
B rch, Jonathan
B smarck, Otto von
Austr an negot ator and
goal of
r se to power of
role-play ng of
speeches of
V rchow and
B st cc , Vespas ano da
Blacks, the, and the Wh tes
black sheep, mage of
blame:
scapegoat and
tak ng
blend ng n
Blenhe m
Blome, Count
Bloodworth, Denn s
Blue Boy, The (Ga nsborough)
Bogart, Humphrey
boldness
development of
hes tat on compared w th
Boleyn, Anne
Bonaparte, Lou s
Bon face VIII (Card nal Gaetan )
Book of F ve R ngs, A (Musash )
Book of Government or Rules for K ngs, The (al-Mulk)
Book of the Court er, The (Cast gl one)
Book of the Hua nan Masters, The
Borg a, Cesare
de Orco and
negot at ons of
at S n gagl a
Borg as, The (Cloulas)
Borr , Francesco G useppe
Borrom n , Francesco
Bourbon, Anto ne de
Bourbon, Henr de
“Boy and the Nettle, The” (Aesop)
boyars
Bragad no
Bramante, Donato
Brecht, Bertolt
Brummell, George “Beau,”
Brunellesch , F l ppo
Brutus
bur ed treasure
Burton, R chard
Butler, Benjam n
Byron, George Gordon, Lord

Caesar, Jul us
Cleopatra and
death of
at Pharsal a
publ c mage of
Rub con cross ng of
Cal gula
Call sthenes
“Camel and the Float ng St cks, The” (La Fonta ne)
Cam llus
Campanella, Tommaso
Capone, Al
Caravan of Dreams (Shah)
Careme, Mar e-Anto ne
Carmagnola, Count of
Carp , Ugo da
Carranza, Venust ano
Carroll, Lew s
Casanova, G ovann
Cass us
Cast gl one, Baldassare
on nonchalance
Castlereagh, V scount
Castracan , Castrucc o
Castro, F del
cat, mage of
Cather ne de’ Méd c s, Queen
Cather ne of Aragon
Cather ne the Great, Empress
Cathol c sm
cat’s-paw
mage of
m stakes n us ng
two uses of
“Cat That Walked By H mself, The” (K pl ng)
Cava gnac, Lou s Eugene
Cec l, Robert
center of power, str k ng at
change
fantasy of transformat on vs.
reform and
Cha-no-yu (Japanese tea ceremony)
Cha-no-yu: The japanese Tea Ceremony (Sadler)
Chao
Chapman, Walker
character
charlatan sm
Charles I, K ng
Charles V, Emperor
Charles IX, K ng
Charles X, K ng
Charleval
Chateauroux, Duchesse de
“Chelm Just ce” (Y dd sh folktale)
Cheng
Ch’en Po-ta
chess
World Champ onsh p of
Chesterf eld, Ph l p Dormer Stanhope, Lord
Chesterton, G. K.
Ch ang Ka -shek
Ch’ en Shu, K ng
Ch h, Earl
ch ldhood weaknesses
Ch n
Ch’ n, Emperor
Ch na
Ch ang Ka -shek n
Ch n/Hs ng struggle n
Ch’ n Sh h Huang T n
Chuko L ang n
Ch’ung-erh n
Commun sts vs. Nat onal sts n
Emperor Sung n
Empress Wu n
Han Dynasty n
Ch na (cont.)
Hs ang Yu/L u Pang struggle n
Japan’s nvas on of
K ng Gouj an n
K ss nger and
Mao Tse-tung n, see Mao Tse-tung
Mongol nvas on of
N xon’s v s t to
Ts‘ao Ts’ao n
21 H stor es n
Wang Mang n
War of the Three K ngdoms n
We k ngdom n
 Wu/M ddle K ngdom war n
Ch nese Look ng Glass, The (Bloodworth)
Ch nese parables
Ch nese say ngs
Ch’ n Sh h Huang T , Emperor
cho ce, controll ng opt ons n
Cho seul, Ét enne de
Chop n, Frédér c
Chosroes II, K ng
Chou Yung
Chr st an ty
Chr st na, Queen
Chr stmas
Chuko L ang
Mao Tse-tung and
Ch’ung-erh
Church ll, W nston
pa nt ng of
Church of England
Ch‘u-Ts’a , Yelu
C cero
C mon
“C t zen and the Traveller, The” (Stevenson)
C v l War
Sherman’s march n
Claud us I, Emperor
Clausew tz, Carl von
clean hands
Cleary, Thomas
Cle sthenes
Clement VII, Pope
Cleopatra
Antony and
Cloulas, Ivan
Cohn, Harry
Colbert, Jean-Bapt ste
Col gny, Gaspard de
Cologne (Turner)
color
Columb a P ctures
Columbus, Chr stopher
Columbus Strategy
common touch
comm tment, to others
Commun sts
Ch nese; see also Mao Tse-tung
House Un-Amer can Act v t es Comm ttee and
compell ng spectacles, creat on of
con art sts
ar stocrat c front used by
Arnold and Slack
boldness n
Bragad no
Crown ngsf eld
free lunch and
Furey’s r ng of
Hartzell
solat on used by
Lust g, see Lust g, V ctor
Stav sky
We l, see We l, Joseph “Yellow K d”
concealment:
of m stakes, by use of scapegoat
of tr cks and techn ques
Conceal your ntent ons (Law 3)
Concentrate your forces (Law 23)
Conc n , Conc no
Conde, Lou s, Pr nce of
Cond v , Ascan o
condott er (mercenary sold ers)
confl ct, fantasy of un on vs.
conform ty, outward d splay of
Confuc us
Congress of V enna
Conquest of Peru, The (Prescott)
conservat sm
Constant ne, Emperor
contempt
contrasts, between overt tra ts and weaknesses
Control the opt ons: get others to play w th the cards you deal (Law
31)
controversy
cord that b nds, mage of
Corella, M chelotto
Corfu (Corcyra)
Cor nth
Cor olanus, Gnaeus Marc us
Cortés, Hernando
Counter-Reformat on
court, court ers, court ng
cat’s-paw and
nonchalance n
symbols and
Court Art st, The (Warnke)
Court attent on at all cost (Law 6)
Court er’s M rror
Craft of Power, The (S u)
Create compell ng spectacles (Law 37)
creat v ty
cred t, for work done by others
cr t c sm, of those above you
Croesus
Cromwell, Ol ver
Cromwell, Thomas
cross and the sun, mage of
cross-exam nat on
“Crow and the Sheep, The” (Aesop)
“Crow-Hen, the Cobra, and the Jackal, The” (Panchatantra tale)
crown, mage of
Crown ngsf eld, John
Croy, Due de
Crush your enemy totally (Law 15)
Cuba
cultl ke follow ng, creat on of
culture(s):
d fferent
vacuums n
cyclone, mage of
cyn c sm
Cyprus
Cyrus the Great

Da zen, Kur yama

Damon
dance of the ve ls, mage of
danger, n solat on
Dante Al gh er
Dar en
Darnley, Lord
Darw n, Charles
Dav d, and Bathsheba
Dav d and Gol ath Strategy
Dáv ta, Pedro Ar as (Pedrar as)
deadl nes, sett ng for others
death:
absence and
fantasy of reversal of
Dece ver’s M rror
decept on
controll ng the opt ons and
court ersh p and
cultl ke follow ng and
 d stract on and
g fts and
magery and
ntell gence and
solat on n
k ndness and
m rror effect n
reputat on for
smoke screens n
verbal argument and
decoyed objects of des re
defects, shared
defens veness
de Fleury, Andre-HercuIe
de Gaulle, Charles
De oces
Denmark
de Orco, Rem rro
dependence:
mutual
of others
Derm s Probe, The (Shah)
des re
Desp se the free lunch (Law 40)
d amond m ne
D ana (roman goddess)
D ane de Po t ers
D derot, Den s
d gn ty
D nocrates
d Pr ma, D ane
D sarm and nfur ate w th the m rror effect (Law 44)
D scourses (Mach avell )
D scover each man’s thumbscrew (Law 33)
D sda n th ngs you cannot have: gnor ng them s the best revenge
(Law 36)
d shonesty:
reputat on for
and select ve honesty
d spers on of forces
d splay ng your talents, and outsh n ng master
D srael , Benjam n
d stance, n fantasy
d stract on, n decept on
“D tch H gh Pr est” (Kenko)
Dodsley, Robert
“Dog w th the Cropped Ears, The” (La Fonta ne)
Do not bu ld fortresses to protect yourself- solat on s dangerous
(Law 18)
Do not comm t to anyone (Law 20)
Do not go past the mark you a med for: n v ctory, learn when to stop
(Law 47)
Dor a, Andrea
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
Down ng, Charles
Drake sw ndle
drama
Drew, Dan el
du Barry, Madame
Duchamp, Marcel
Dudevant, Aurore Dup n (George Sand)
Dudley, Robert
Dujar er, Alexandre
Dutch Lowlands
Duveen, Joseph
D rer pa nt ng and
Ford and
Hunt ngton and
Mellon and
Nat onal Gallery of Art and
“Eagle and the Sow, The” (Tolstoy)
econom c scarc ty
Ed son, Thomas
Ed son Medal
effort:
excess of, n pleas ng master
sav ng of
effortlessness, appearance of
Egypt
E ffel Tower
E senhower, Dw ght D.
Elba
El Dorado
El zabeth I, Queen
“Elm-Tree and the V ne, The” (Dodsley)
emot ons
appeal ng to
arguments and
control of
defens veness and
forms and
h d ng of
nfect ousness of
money and
plann ng and
play ng on
repress on of
spectacle and
and st rr ng up waters to catch f sh
as thumbscrews
t me and
uncontrollable
Enc so, Franc sco Fernán dez de
end, the, plann ng all the way to
end t me
enem es:
 attent on pa d to
crush ng completely
cultl ke follow ng and
former fr ends
fortresses as protect on from
solat ng of
m rror effect and
overreact on to moves of
reconc l at on w th
reputat ons of
revenge of
self-destruct on of
s ze of
st rr ng up anger n
sympath z ng w th
us ng
w nn ng over
energy, sav ng of
England
Wash ngton and
Ennemoser, J.
Enter act on w th boldness (Law 28)
entrances and ex ts
envy
Ep curus
equal ty
Er ckson, M lton H.
m rror ng used by
Er e Ra lroad
Escor al, El
Essays n Idleness (Kenko)
Essex, Earl of
Este, Francesco d’
Este, Isabella d’
Eth op a
Eth op an proverb
exot ca

Fab us
Fables (Aesop)
Fables (B rch)
Fables (Dodsley)
Fables (La Fonta ne), see La Fonta ne, Jean de, fables of
Fables (Stevenson)
Fables (Tolstoy)
fables and folktales:
“The An mals Str cken w th the Plague,”
“The Ass and the Gardener,”
“The Boy and the Nettle,”
“The Cat That Walked By H mself,”
“Chelm Just ce,”
“The Chestnut and the F g Tree,”
“The C t zen and the Traveller,”
“The Crow and the Sheep,”
“The Crow-Hen, the Cobra, and the Jackal,”
“The Dog w th the Cropped Ears,”
“The Eagle and the Sow,”
“The Elm Tree and the V ne,”
“A Fool and a W se Man,”
“The Fox and the Grapes,”
“The Fox and the Stork,”
“The Funeral of the L oness,”
“The Gentle Art of Persuas on,”
“The Goose and the Horse,”
“The Greedy Man and the Env ous Man,”
“The Ind an B rd,”
“The K ng, the Suf , and the Surgeon,”
“The K tes, the Crows, and the Fox,”
“The L ar,”
“The L on, the Chamo s, and the Fox,”
 “The Man and H s Shadow,”
“The Man Who Loved Money Better Than L fe,”
“The Merchant and H s Fr end,”
“The M ser,”
“The Monkey and the Cat,”
“The Monkey and the Peas,”
“The Monkey and the Wasp,”
“The Owl Who Was God,”
“The Nut and the Campan le,”
“The Peasant and the Apple Tree,”
“The Power of a L e,”
“The Pr ce of Envy,”
“The Snake, the Farmer, and the Heron,”
“The Torto se, the Elephant, and the H ppopotamus,”
“The Trout and the Gudgeon,”
“The Two Adventurers,”
“The Two Dogs,”
“The Two Frogs,”
“The Two Horses,”
“The Va nglor ous Cockerel,”
“The V rtues of the Cock,”
“The Wasp and the Pr nce,”
“When the Waters Were Changed,”
“The Wolves and the Sheep,”
Fables from Boccacc o and Chaucer (A k n)
Fables (Kr loff)
fac al express on
Fad man, Cl fton
Faenza
Fal scans
fall of the favor te
false s ncer ty
fam l ar ty
fantas es, play ng to
Fan Tseng
fates, ntertw n ng of
father, mage of
father f gures:
host l ty toward
stepp ng nto shoes of
favors
ask ng for
grant ng of
fear
boldness and
other people’s, vs. the r love
Ferd nand, K ng
Ferrara
f ghts, be ng drawn nto
F scher, Bobby
“Flame-Colored Cloak, The” (Herodotus)
flattery
Flaubert, Gustave
Flem sh Lowlands
flex b l ty
flock of fatted sheep, mage of
Florence
Blacks and Wh tes n
flu d ty
follow ng, creat on of
“Fool and a W se Man, A” (La Fonta ne)
forced t me
forces:
concentrat ng of
d spers on of
Ford, Gerald
Ford, Henry
fore gn cultures, m tat on of
Foreman, George
forg veness
Forman, S mon
formlessness
Formosa
forms
fortress, mage of
fortresses
fortunate people, assoc at on w th
Fouche, Joseph
Napoleon’s spy ng on
Fouquet, N colas
“Fox and the Grapes, The” (La Fonta ne)
“Fox and the Stork, The” (La Fonta ne)
France
Fronde n
1848 elect ons n
July Revolut on n
Revolut on n
Rothsch ld and
Wash ngton and
Francesco, Grete de
Franc s I, K ng
Franc s II, K ng
Frankl n, Benjam n
Frazer, James George
Freder ck II “the Great,” K ng
Freder ck W ll am IV, K ng
freedom of express on
free lunch
Freud, S gmund
Fr ck, Henry
fr end(s):
former, now enem es
pos ng as, wh le work ng as spy
scapegoat ng of
trust ng of
fr endl ness, w th master
fr endsh p, dependence vs.
Fronde, the
“Funeral of the L oness, The” (La Fonta ne)
Furey.Joe
Fush m ya
future

gadfly
Gaetan , Card nal (Bon face VIII)
Ga nsborough, Thomas
Gal leo
gaps
Garbo, Greta
garden of weeds, mage of
Geez l, Sam
generos ty
n d sarm ng v ct m
nd scr m nate
of others, appeal ng to
strateg c
Gengh s Khan
“Gentle Art of Persuas on, The” (Aesop)
Germany
attacks on London
Treaty of Versa lles and
gestures, as nd cat on of weaknesses
Get others to do the work for you, but always take the cred t (Law 7)
Gh bert , Lorenzo
g fts
to patrons
G lbert, Mar e (Lola Montez)
G ovane, Palma
G ov o, Paolo
g v ng before you take
Glass Menager e, The (W ll ams)
go (we -ch )
goal:
concentrat on on
d sgu s ng of
stopp ng after reach ng
“God and Abraham” (The Subtle Ruse: The Book of Arab c W sdom
and Gu le)
gods, Greek
gods on Mount Olympus, mage of
Godunov, Bor s
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
Golden Bough, The (Frazer)
Golden Dream, The: Seekers of El Dorado (Chapman)
Goldwyn, Samuel
Gonzaga, G anfrancesco
goodw ll gestures
“Goose and the Horse, The” (fable)
Gord an knot
Gordon-Gordon, John, Lord (John Crown ngsf eld)
Go-Sa n, Emperor
Gossaert, Jan
Gouj an, K ng
Gould, Jay
govern ng, flex b l ty n
Grac an, Baltasar
on absence and presence
on be ng f rst
on be ng k ngl ke
on be ng seen
on comm tt ng to others
on conceal ng ab l t es
on conceal ng m stakes
on contempt
on d sagreement w th the many
on do ng th ngs yourself vs. us ng th rd part es
on envy
on fear of fa lure
 on f nd ng the thumbscrew
on ntens ty and extens ty
on lett ng th ngs be
on m sfortunes of others
on mystery
on others’ dependence
on outsh n ng the master
on role-play ng
on self-respect
on stepp ng nto a great man’s shoes
on us ng enem es
on us ng others’ knowledge
on us ng stup d ty
Graham, James
grandeur
Grant, Ulysses S.
grat tude of others, appeal ng to
great men, stepp ng nto shoes of
Greece
greed
“Greedy Man and the Env ous Man, The” (Jew sh parable)
Greek sea-god Proteus, mage of
Greeley, Horace
Gross, George
Gugsa, Ras
Gu cc ard n , Francesco
gu lt, exter or z ng of
Gu se fam ly

half a heart, go ng halfway w th

Hall well, Kenneth
halluc natory effect
Hamlet (Shakespeare)
Han Dynasty
Han-fe -tzu
Han Kao-tsu (L u Pang)
Hann bal
Hanno the elephant
happy people, assoc at on w th
“Hare and the Tree, The” (Han-fe -tzu)
Harpend ng, Asbury
Hartzell, Oscar
Ha Tae-hung
hawk, mage of
Heald, George Trafford
hearts and m nds of others, work ng on
Hech gwan, Sakamotoya
Hech gwan, Yamash na
He hach ro, Togo
Helen of Troy
help, ask ng for
Henr II, K ng
Henry VIII, K ng
Hercules
Herodotus
hes tat on, boldness compared w th
Heth, Jo ce
H bbert, Chr stopher
H deyosh , Emperor
H ero, K ng
“H ppocle des at S cyon” (Herodotus)
H span c Monarchy, The (Campanella)
H stor es, The (Herodotus)
H tler, Adolf
Holbe n, Hans
Holland
Hollywood (Kan n)
Hollywood, House Un-Amer can Act v t es Comm ttee and
honesty
select ve, n d sarm ng v ct m
honeyed bear trap, mage of
honor, us ng absence to ncrease
Hoover, Herbert
Hoover, J. Edgar
hopelessly nsecure man, deal ng w th
horns of the bull, mage of
Houd n , Harry
House of Med c , The: Its R se and Fall (H bbert)
House Un-Amer can Act v t es Comm ttee
Howe, Lou s
“How to Broadcast News” (Yhe Subtle Ruse: The Book of Arab c
W sdom and Gu le)
Hs ang Yu
Hs en, Duke
Hs ng
Huan
Hugo, V ctor
Huguenots
Huh Saeng
Hu z nga, Johan
Hull, Pat
Hume, Dav d
Humphrey, Hubert
Hundred Days, the
Hungary
hunter, mage of
Hunt ngton, Arabella
Hunt ngton, Coll s P.
hurry ng
Hyperbolus

Icarus fall ng from the sky, mage of

deas, unconvent onal
dent ty, new
Ieyasu, Tokugawa, Emperor
gnor ng th ngs you cannot have
llus ons
mages
n creat ng cult
symbols and
mpat ence
Inalch k
Incas
ncense-smell ng compet t on
ncome, d sgu s ng source of
ndependence
reputat on for
Ind ana (Sand)
“Ind an B rd, The” (Shah)
Ind an fables:
“The Ass and the Gardener,”
“The K tes, the Crows, and the Fox,”
“The Merchant and H s Fr end,”
“The Wasp and the Pr nce,”
Infect on: avo d the unhappy and unlucky (Law 10)
nfer or ty, feel ngs of
nformat on:
false, g v ng of
nformat on (cont.)
gather ng of
solat on and
nfur at ng enem es w th the m rror effect
nnocence
Innocent, Pope
nnocent goat, mage of
nnovat on
Inqu s t on
nsecur ty
arrogance and
as thumbscrew
 nst ncts
nsult ng others
ntell gence:
downplay ng of
show ng of
ntent ons, concealment of
cat’s-paw and
nt macy, w th master
Isaacson, Walter
Isabella, Queen
Isabey, Jean-Bapt ste
Iskandar, Ka Ka’us bn
solat on
danger of
of enem es
Israel s
Italy
condott er n
Inqu s t on n
Romagna
Ivan IV “the Terr ble,” Czar
w thdrawal of

Jackson, Stonewall
Jacob ns
Jam , Mulla
Jan n, Lou s
Janus
Japan:
Ch na nvaded by
fore gn cultures and
Holland and
ncense-smell ng compet t on n
Portugal and
 Russ a and
Japanese Art of War, The (Cleary)
Japanese tea ceremony
(Cha-no-yu),
Jav ac, Gu llelma de
jaws of ngrat tude, mage of
Jehu, K ng
Jesus Chr st
Jew sh parable
Jews
Joao II, K ng
Johnson, Andrew
Johnson, Lyndon B.
Johnson, Samuel
Joke, The (Kundera)
jokes, about appearances or tastes
Jones, Ernest
Joseph, and coat of many colors
Joseph II, K ng
Jul us II, Pope
Jul us Caesar (Shakespeare)
July Revolut on
Jup ter, moons of
just ce, appeals to
Just So Stor es (K pl ng)

Kan n, Garson
Kao Tsung
Kaut lya
Kean, Charles John
Keep others n suspended terror: cult vate an a r of unpred ctab l ty
(Law 17)
Keep your hands clean (Law 26)
Kenko
Kennedy, John F.
Ketel, Cornel s
keyhole, mage of
Khaldún, bn
Khan, Gengh s
Khrushchev, N k ta
K erkegaard, Søren
k ndness, select ve
k nds of people
k ng
act ng l ke
host l ty toward
“K ng, the Suf , and the Surgeon, The” (Shah)
K pl ng, Rudyard
K ss nger (Isaacson)
K ss nger, Henry:
boldness of
Ch na and
Humphrey and
nd spensab l ty of
n Israel negot at ons
k dnapp ng attempt and
Lord’s report and
N xon and
opt ons controlled by
Pentagon Papers and
reputat on of
smoke screen and
Sov et Un on and
“K tes, the Crows, and the Fox, The” (Ind an fable)
Klepp n
knowledge:
from the past, us ng
spec al zed, hav ng appearance of
Know who you’re deal ng w th-do not offend the wrong person (Law
19)
Koller, General
Kr loff, Ivan
Kundera, M lan
Kurbsk , Andrey

La Bruyere, Jean de
Lacan, Jacques
La Fonta ne, Jean de, fables of:
“The An mals Str cken w th the Plague,”
“The Camel and the Float ng St cks,”
“The Dog w th the Cropped Ears,”
“A Fool and a W se Man,”
“The Fox and the Grapes,”
“The Fox and the Stork,”
“The Funeral of the L oness,”
“The Monkey and the Cat,”
“The Two Adventurers,”
language, chang ng to f t d fferent people
La Rochefoucauld, Franco s de
on absence
spy ng t p from
Lauzun, Due de
Law 1: Never outsh ne the master
Law 2: Never put too much trust n fr ends, learn how to use enem es
Law 3: Conceal your ntent ons
Law 4: Always say less than necessary
Law 5: So much depends on reputat on-guard t w th your l fe
Law 6: Court attent on at all cost
Law 7: Get others to do the work for you, but always take the cred t
Law 8: Make other people come to you-use ba t f necessary
Law 9: W n through your act ons, never through argument
Law 10: Infect on: avo d the unhappy and unlucky
Law 11: Learn to keep people dependent on you
Law 12: Use select ve honesty and generos ty to d sarm your v ct m
Law 13: When ask ng for help, appeal to people’s self- nterest, never
to the r mercy or grat tude
Law 14: Pose as a fr end, work as a spy
Law 15: Crush your enemy totally
Law 16: Use absence to ncrease respect and honor
Law 17: Keep others n suspended terror: cult vate an a r of
unpred ctab l ty
Law 18: Do not bu ld fortresses to protect yourself- solat on s
dangerous
Law 19: Know who you’re deal ng w th-do not offend the wrong
person
Law 20: Do not comm t to anyone
Law 21: Play a sucker to catch a sucker-seem dumber than your
mark
Law 22: Use the surrender tact c: transform weakness nto power
Law 23: Concentrate your forces
Law 24: Play the perfect court er
Law 25: Re-create yourself
Law 26: Keep your hands clean
Law 27: Play on people’s need to bel eve to create a cultl ke
follow ng
Law 28: Enter act on w th boldness
Law 29: Plan all the way to the end
Law 30: Make your accompl shments seem effortless
Law 31: Control the opt ons: get others to play w th the cards you
deal
Law 32: Play to people’s fantas es
Law 33: D scover each man’s thumbscrew
Law 34: Be royal n your own fash on: act l ke a k ng to be treated
l ke one
Law 35: Master the art of t m ng
Law 36: D sda n th ngs you cannot have: gnor ng them s the best
revenge
Law 37: Create compell ng spectacles
Law 38: Th nk as you l ke but behave l ke others
Law 39: St r up waters to catch f sh
Law 40: Desp se the free lunch
Law 41: Avo d stepp ng nto a great man’s shoes
Law 42: Str ke the shepherd and the sheep w ll scatter
Law 43: Work on the hearts and m nds of others
Law 44: D sarm and nfur ate w th the m rror effect
Law 45: Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at
once
Law 46: Never appear too perfect
Law 47: Do not go past the mark you a med for: n v ctory, learn
when to stop
Law 48: Assume formlessness
Lawrence, T. E.
Lawrence, Thomas
Lawson, John
Lazar, Irv ng
Learn to keep people dependent on you (Law 11)
leav ng th ngs alone
Lenclos, Anne de (N non de Lenclos)
system of
Leo X, Pope
Leonardo da V nc
“The Chestnut and the F g Tree,”
“The Nut and the Campan le,”
“L ar, The” (Armen an folktale)
L ber us, Pope
L eh Tzu
l es
as bodyguard
boldness and
verbal argument and
L fe, Letters, and Ep curedn Ph losophy of N non de Lenclos
(Lenclos)
L fe of Alexander the Great, The (Plutarch)
L fe of Antony (Plutarch)
L fe of jul us Caesar, The (Plutarch)
L fe of Per cles, The (Plutarch)
L fe of Sertor us (Plutarch)
L fe of Them stocles, The (Plutarch)
l mel ght, mage of
L ncoln, Abraham
character of
L nd, Jenny
L n P ao
“L on, the Chamo s, and the Fox, The” (Kr loff)
l on and the hare, mage of
l ons c rcle the hes tant prey
L pp , Fra F l ppo
L szt, Franz
L thuan a
L ttle, Brown Book of Anecdotes, The (Fad man, ed.)
L u, K ng
L u Pang (Han Kao-tsu)
L ves of the Art sts (Vasar )
Loller, Herman
London, Naz attacks on
Long March
long t me
Lorca, Ram ro de
Lord, W nston
Lorr s, Gu llaume de
Lou s, Joe
Lou s XI, K ng
Lou s XII, K ng
Lou s XIII, K ng
Lou s XIV (Bertrand)
Lou s XIV, K ng
as center of act v ty
Duc de Lauzun and
Fouquet and
generos ty of
Manc n and
as Sun K ng
 tac turn ty of
Lou s XV, K ng
Lou s XVI, K ng
Lou s XVIII, K ng
Lou s-Ph l ppe, K ng
love
other people’s, vs. the r fear
Luce, Henry
Lucca
luck
Ludw g, K ng
Ludw g W ttgenste n: A Memo r (Malcolm)
Lust g, V ctor
a r of mystery surround ng
Capone and
E ffel Tower scheme of
Loller and
money-copy ng mach ne of

MacArthur, Douglas
Macbeth (Shakespeare)
McClellan, George
Mach avell , N ccolò
on ann h lat ng the enemy
on cho ce
on Cos mo de’ Med c
on decept on
on dependence
on fortresses
on go ng beyond the mark
on h d ng the truth
on mpetuousness vs. caut on
on necess ty
on the overreach ng general
 on reform
on spectacle
Volta re on
mag c ans
magnet, mage of
magnet sm, an mal
Mahabharata
Make other people come to you-use ba t f necessary (Law 8)
Make your accompl shments seem effortless (Law 30)
Malcolm, Norman
Mamugna (Il Bragad no)
“Man and H s Shadow, The” (Kr loff)
Manchur a
Manc n , Baroness
Manc n , Mar e
Manfred , Astorre, Pr nce
man pulat on
Mansart, Jules
Mantua
Mantua, Duke of
“Man Who Loved Money Better Than L fe, The” (Ch nese fable)
Mao Tse-tung
father of
solat on of enem es by
L n P ao and
Nat onal sts and
past and
publ c emot ons and
scapegoats and
we -ch and
Marcon , Gugl elmo
Mar a, F l ppo
Mar a Theresa, Empress
Mar e-Anto nette
Mar e de’ Méd c s
mar t me warfare
Marlborough, Duchess of
Marlborough, Duke of
Marranos
mart al arts
martyrdom
Mary Queen of Scots
Masamune, Date
Masayosh , Hotta
Masque of the Red Death, The (Poe)
masquerad ng as a sw ne to k ll the t ger
Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve
Massageta
master(s):
fr endl ness w th
mak ng a g ft of your talent to
outsh n ng of
prov ng ded cat on to, w th excess of effort
two, sat sfy ng of
Master the art of t m ng (Law 35)
Mata Har
Matsumoto, M ch h ro
Maurer, Chr stopher
Mayer, Lou s B.
Mazar n, Jules
Medea
Med c , Cos mo I de’
Med c , Cos mo II de’,
Med c , Cos mo de’ (the Elder)
Med c , G ovann de’
Med c , Lorenzo de’
Pope Innocent and
Med c fam ly
Méd c s, Cather ne de’
Méd c s, Mar e de’
Medusa
Meegeren, Han van
meet ngs, terr tory and
Mehmed the Conqueror
Mellon, Andrew
Melos
Melv lle, Herman
Memo rs (Casanova)
Menel k II, K ng
Menghuo, K ng
Men nas, Las (Velázquez)
mercenary sold ers (condott erí)
“Merchant and H s Fr end, The” (Ind an fable)
Mercury
mage of
mercy of others, appeal ng to
merma d
Mesmer, Franz
Metamorphoses (Ov d)
metaphors
Mettern ch, Klemens von
Mex co
M chael III, Emperor
M chelangelo -N
M chelozzo
M lan
m m cry
m nds and hearts of others, work ng on
m ne full of d amonds and rub es, mage of
M nerva
m rrored s tuat ons, danger of
m rror effect
M rror for Pr nces, A (Iskandar)
“M ser, The” (Aesop)
m sfortune
m stakes:
audac ty and
conceal ng of, by use of scapegoat
 f x ng of
nd fference to
tak ng blame for
M thras
M Tzu-hs a
Moctezuma, K ng
Mol ere
money
c rculat on of
emot ons and
Mongols
“Monkey and the Cat, The” (La Fonta ne)
“Monkey and the Peas, The” (Tolstoy)
“Monkey and the Wasp, The” (B rch)
monopol es
Monta gne
Montez, Lola
moon, mage of
Moon Doctor of Berl n (Dr. We sleder)
moral effect, of m rror
Morgan, J. P erpont
Morphy, Paul
Moses Pharaoh and
Mounta n Doctor, the (M chael Schüppach)
Mrazek, James
Mr. Susp c on, deal ng w th
Muc anus, Publ us Crassus D ves
Muhammad, Shah of Khwarezm
Mulk, N zam al-
Muqadd mah, The (Khaldún)
Musash , M yamoto
Musset, Alfred de
Mussol n , Ben to
mystery
na vete
Napoleon I, Emperor
boar hunt and
boldness of
character of
Fouché sp ed on by
mpr sonment and escape from Elba
and power of absence
Talleyrand and Fouché’s consp racy aga nst
at Waterloo
Napoleon III, Emperor
Narc ssus effect
Narvaez, Ramón Mar a
Nat onal Gallery of Art (Wash ngton.C.)
nature
Naz s
negot at on
boldness n
terr tory and
Neoptolemus
Neue Zürcher Ze tung (R schke)
neutral z ng effect, of m rror
Never appear too perfect (Law 46)
Never outsh ne the master (Law 1)
Never put too much trust n fr ends, learn how to use enem es (Law
2)
Newton, Isaac
New York T mes
Ney, Marshal
N cholas I, Czar
N cholas II, Czar
N c as
N etzsche, Fr edr ch
on bel ef n oneself
on found ng a rel g on
system of
N xon, R chard:
Ch na v s t of
K ss nger and
Pentagon Papers and
noble gesture
Nobunaga, Oda
nonchalance
Norfleet, J. Frank
not ce
notor ety
“Nut and the Campan le, The” (Leonardo)

oak tree, mage of

Obolensky, Ivan
Odysseus
Oed pus
offend ng the wrong person
old people vs. young
Old Testament
On War (Clausew tz)
opossum, mage of
opponents:
typology of
see also enem es
opt ons, controll ng of
forms of
Oracle at Delph , mage of
orchestrat on of events
or g nal ty
Orleans, Duke of
Orton, Joe
ostentat on, avo d ng
ostraka
other people:
 appeal ng to self- nterest of
becom ng focal po nt of the r need to bel eve
behav ng l ke, wh le th nk ng as you l ke
comm tment to
d scover ng thumbscrews of
nsult ng
keep ng them dependent on you
keep ng them n suspended terror
mak ng them come to you
play ng to the r fantas es
types of
unhappy and unlucky, avo dance of
us ng work of
work ng on hearts and m nds of
overact ng
overstepp ng your bounds
Ov d
“Owl Who Was God, The” (Thurber)

Pac f c Ocean, d scovery of

Panama
Panchatantra, tale from
parables, see fables and folktales
Pare aux Cerfs
parents, stepp ng nto shoes of
Par s, l berat on of
past:
re nterpretat on of
support for values of
us ng knowledge from
pat ence
patrons
Aret no and
g fts to
patterns
Pausan as
pawns
pay ng full pr ce
pay ng your own way
pearls before sw ne, lay ng of
“Peasant and the Apple Tree, The” (Aesop)
Pedrar as (Pedro Ar as Dáv la)
Peloponnes an War
Peloponnes an War, The (Thucyd des)
Pentagon Papers
people, see other people
perfect on, appearance of
Pergamus
Per cles
Perseus
Persh ng, John J.
Pers a
personal ty
perspect ve:
anger and
solat on and
persuas on
work ng on the hearts and m nds of others
Peru
Perug no, P etro
Peter II, Emperor
Pet t Tr anon
Petrucc , Pandolfo
pett ness
Ph l p, K ng of Macedon a
Ph l p II, K ng of Spa n
Ph l pp nes
ph losopher’s stone
Phoen c a
P casso, Pablo
p ckpockets
P sa
P sto a
P zarro, Franc sco
P zarro, Gonzalo
placat ng others
pla n, unassum ng, and often un ntell gent man, deal ng w th
Plan all the way to the end (Law 29)
Planck, Max
plann ng
to the end
flex b l ty n
and learn ng when to stop
Play a sucker to catch a sucker-seem dumber than your mark (Law
21)
Play on people’s need to bel eve to create a cultl ke follow ng (Law
27)
Play the perfect court er (Law 24)
Play to people’s fantas es (Law 32)
pleasure, be ng a source of
Plutarch
Pocket M rror for Heroes, A (Grac án)
Poe, Edgar Allan
Pogg o, Stefano d
Pogg o fam ly
Poland
pol o vacc ne
pol teness
pol t cs, abstract on n
Pompadour, Madame de (Jeanne Po sson)
Pompey
pond of f sh, mage of
Pontormo, Jacopo da
Portugal
Pose as a fr end, work as a spy (Law 14)
potlatch feasts
“Power of a L e, The” (Jew sh folktale)
Power of the Charlatan, The (Francesco)
pra se
Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once
(Law 45)
predecessors, stepp ng nto shoes of
pred ctab l ty
Prescott, W ll am H.
presence
boldness and
spectacles and
prey, hes tant
pr ce, sett ng your own
“Pr ce of Envy, The” (Jew sh folktale)
Pr nce, The (Mach avell )
Problem of Paul Morphy, The (Jones)
problems, petty
“Prod gy Ox, The” (Kenko)
proport on, loss of
protect on
fortresses for
Protestant sm
Protestant Reformat on
Proteus, mage of
proud and arrogant man, deal ng w th
Pruss a
Psalmanazar, George
Ptolemy XII
Ptolemy XIII
Ptolemy XIV
Pun t ve Exped t on
“Purlo ned Letter, The” (Poe)
purpose, s ngle-m ndedness of
Pynchon, Thomas
queen

racehorse, mage of
Rale gh, Walter
Ralston, W ll am
Raphael
Rasput n
real ty( es)
oppress ve, fantas es from
Rechberg, Otto von
Re-create yourself (Law 25)
red herr ngs
reform
Reformat on
Re ch, W lhelm
rel g on
borrow ng forms of
reputat on
for decept on and d shonesty
for ndependence
and keep ng your hands clean
and scapegoat for tak ng blame
respect, us ng absence to ncrease
Retz, Card nal de
the Fronde and
revenge, of enem es
revolut on
rhythms
R chel eu, Card nal
plot aga nst
r g d ty
R kyu, Sen no
R schke, Anne-Susanne
r vals, see enem es
r ver, mage of
robber barons
Robert-Houd n, Jean-Eugène
Robesp erre, Max m l en-Franço s-Mar e-Is dore de
Rockefeller, John D.
Rockefeller, Nelson
Rodr guez, Joao
roles
Romagna
romance
Romance of the Rose, The (Lorr s)
Roman emp re
Rome
Fal scans and
Hann bal’s march on
theater n
Rommel, Erw n
Ronsard, P erre de
Roosevelt, Frankl n D.
dog of
Howe and
mage of
Rosenberg, Paul
Rothsch ld, James
Rothsch ld, Nathan
Rothsch ld fam ly
Rouet, Lou se de
rout ne
royalty, act ng l ke
Rubens, Peter Paul
Rub con
rudeness
rul ng, formless style of
Russ a
n war w th Japan
Ryleyev, Kondraty
Ryogaku, H gh Pr est

Saad
sacr f ce, r tual
sad sts, f nanc al
Sadler, A. L.
Sa nt-Évremond, Se gneur de
Sa nt-S mon, Lou s de Rouvroy, Duc de
Sal nger, J. D.
Salk, Jonas
Samarkand
Sand, George (Aurore Dup n Dudevant)
Sanemon, Kawach ya
San Lorenzo
Sansov no, Jacopo
Santa Mar a del F ore
sarcasm
Saturnal a
Sauves, Charlotte de Beaune Semblançay de
say ng less than necessary
scandal
scapegoats
m stakes n us ng
scarc ty
Sch mmel, Solomon
Schlesw g-Holste n
Schopenhauer, Arthur:
on be ng cheated
on combatt ng and correct ng others
on envy
on gett ng others to reveal themselves
on ntellect
on a man’s handl ng of tr fles
on pol teness and rudeness
 on self- nterest
on show ng anger toward others
on show ng d sda n for others
Sch ppach, M chael (the Mounta n Doctor)
sc ence
Sc ent f c Theory and Rel g on (Barnes)
Scotland
seamless blend
Second Pun c War
secret ntell gence
Seducer’s M rror
seduct on
work ng on the hearts and m nds of others
seesaw, mage of
Selass e, Ha le
Selected Fables (La Fonta ne), see La Fonta ne, Jean de, fables of
self-consc ousness
self-control
hurry ng and
self-creat on
self-d sc pl ne
self- nterest of others, appeal ng to
self-observat on
self-sacr f ce
sensat on and scandal
senses
and creat ng cult
serpent w th a long memory, deal ng w th
Sertor us
Seven P llars of W sdom (Lawrence)
Sev gné, Marqu s de
sexual ty
Seymour, Jane
Sforza, Lodov co
Shadow
Shah, Idr es
Shakespeare, W ll am
Shaw, George Bernard
sheep’s sk n, mage of
shepherd, str k ng of
Sherman, W ll am T.
sh eld of Perseus, mage of
Sh gemune, Itakura
Sho-o, Takeno
Shu Chan
Shu sky, Andre
Shu sky fam ly
Shu K ngdom
S c ly
S cyon
S ena, patron sa nt of
s ght
s lence
S ma Y
s mpl c ty, n creat ng cult
s ncer ty
false
select ve
s ngle-m ndedness
S n gagl a
S st ne Chapel
S u, R.G.H.
sk lls
Slack, John
smoke screens
“Snake, the Farmer, and the Heron, The” (Afr can folktale)
sneak across the ocean n broad dayl ght
soc al c rcles, fantasy of adventure vs.
soc al movements
soc al sk lls
Soc et es of Harmony
Socrates
Soder n , P ero
Sodoma
Soemon, Hosh no
sol tude
solst ce
So much depends on reputat on-guard t w th your l fe (Law 5)
soph st cat on
source of power, str k ng at
sour-grapes approach
Sov et Un on
Spa n
Balboa and
Jews persecuted n
and search for El Dorado
Sparta
war between Athens and
Spassky, Bor s
spectacles, creat on of
Spencer, W. B.
Spenser, Edmund
sp r t of the t mes
go ng aga nst
pay ng attent on to
sprezzatura
spy ng
by others, on you
on others
squabbles, be ng drawn nto
Stal n, Joseph
stars n the sky, mage of
Stav sky, Serge
Stendhal
stepp ng nto a great man’s shoes
Stetten, Baron von
Stevenson, Robert Lou s
St r up waters to catch f sh (Law 39)
stopp ng, after v ctory
strategy, m l tary
Strategy of the Crown
Streetcar Named Des re, A (W ll ams)
Str ke the shepherd and the sheep w ll scatter (Law 42)
style, chang ng to f t d fferent people
Subtle Ruse, The: The Book of Arab c W sdom and Gu le.
“God and Abraham,”
“How to Broadcast News,”
“The Sultan and the V z er,”
success
suckers:
play ng dumber than
typology of
see also con art sts
Suf proverb
“Sultan and the V z er, The” (The Subtle Ruse: The Book of Arab c
W sdom and Gu le)
Sumatra
sun, mage of
Sung, Emperor
Sung Y
Sun P n
Sun-tzu
surrender
suspense
susp c ous man, deal ng w th
Suzutomo, Ak moto
symbols
mages and
Syracuse

Tac tus
Tadakatsu, Saka
T’a Tsung, Emperor
talent
mak ng a g ft of
and outsh n ng master
Tales of the Derv shes (Shah)
Talleyrand Pér gord, Charles-Maur ce de
boar hunt and
n consp racy aga nst Napoleon
conversat onal sk lls of
d shonest reputat on of
“effortless” accompl shments of
Fouche and
nformat on-gather ng of
Isabey and
July Revolut on and
and Napoleon’s escape from Elba
pos t ve qual t es of
soc al connect ons of
Tannyu, Kano
tantrums
taste, jokes about
tea bowl
tea ceremony (Cha-no-yu)
Teacher’s M rror
teacup
Temple of Health
tempo
terr tory, for meet ngs
Tesla, N kola
Test , Fulv o
theater, theatr cal ty
n creat ng cult
t m ng and
Them stocles
Theoct stus
Theodora, Empress
th cket of shrubs, mage of
Th ers, Lou s-Adolphe
Th nk as you l ke but behave l ke others (Law 38)
th rd eye of the spy, mage of
“Th rty-S x Strateg es, The” (The Japanese Art of War)
Thoreau, Henry Dav d
Thucyd des
Thumb, Tom
thumbscrew, mage of
thumbscrews
Thunder n the Sky (Cleary, trans.)
Thurber, James
Thurber Carn val, The (Thurber)
Thurne sser, Leonhard
T ffany, Charles
t me
end
forced
long
t m d ty
t m ng
master ng the art of
t ny wound, mage of
T t an
Tolstoy, Leo
Tomyr s, Queen
“Torto se, the Elephant, and the H ppopotamus, The” (Za rean fable)
trad t on
Treasury of Jew sh Folklore, A (Ausubel, ed.)
Treaty of Versa lles
tr cks and techn ques:
concealment of
part al d sclosure of
Trojan Horse, mage of
“Trout and the Gudgeon, The” (Dodsley)
truth, appeal to
Ts‘ao Ts’ao
Tsuneh ro, Da nagon
Tu Fu
tul poman a
Turkey
Turner, Aaron
Turner, J. M.W.
turn ng the other cheek
Tuscany
21 H stor es
“Two Adventurers, The” (La Fonta ne)
“Two Dogs, The” (Kr loff)
“Two Frogs, The” (Aesop)
“Two Horses, The” (Tolstoy)
types of people
Tyre

Uccello, Paolo
unassum ng, pla n, and often un ntell gent man, deal ng w th
unconvent onal deas, flaunt ng of
unhappy and unlucky people, avo d ng of
un queness
unpred ctab l ty
Unspoken Way, The (Matsumoto)
Urban VIII, Pope
Urb no, Duke of
Use absence to ncrease respect and honor (Law 16)
Use select ve honesty and generos ty to d sarm your v ct m (Law 12)
Use the surrender tact c: transform weakness nto power (Law 22)
us-versus-them dynam c
Uzun Hasan

vacuum, cultural reform and

vagueness, n creat ng cult
“Va nglor ous Cockerel, The” (Tolstoy)
Valo s, Charles de
Valo s, Marguer te de
value
Vanbrugh, John
Var ous Fables From Var ous Places (d Pr ma, ed.)
Vasar , G org o
Vas ly III, Grand Duke
Vega, Garc laso de la
Velázquez, D ego Rodríguez de S lva
Ven ce
Bragad no and
Vermeer, Jan
Versa lles
Pare aux Cerfs at
Pet t Tr anon at
Versa lles, Treaty of
Vettor , Francesco
v ct ms:
play ng dumber than
typology of
V ctor a, Queen
v ctory, learn ng when to stop n
V ernetta
V etnam War
V lla, Pancho
v nes w th many thorns, mage of
v per crushed beneath your foot but left al ve, mage of
V rchow, Rudolf
V rg n Queen, mage of
“V rtues of the Cock, The” (Ch nese parable)
v rus, mage of
V scont , Pr m
v sual mages
n creat ng cult
 symbols and
V ta d M chelangelo (Cond v )
V trolles, Baron de
Vollard, Ambro se
Volta re
on Mach avell
vulgar ty
vulture, mage of

Wagner, R chard
wa t ng
Wales, Pr nce of
Wang Mang
Wan ng of the M ddle Ages, The (Hu z nga)
warfare, strategy n
Warhol, Andy
Warner, Jack L.
Warnke, Mart n
War of the Span sh Success on
War of the Three K ngdoms
Warr or’s M rror
Wash ngton, George
“Wasp and the Pr nce, The” (Ind an fable)
Watergate
Waterloo, Battle of
Water Marg n, The
weak l nks
weakness
of others, d scover ng
recovery from
transform ng nto power
work ng hard and
We
we -ch (go)
We l, Joseph “Yellow K d,”
bank re-created by
Geez l and
newsletter of
We sleder, Dr. (the Moon Doctor of Berl n)
Well ngton, Duke of
Wellman, Franc s L.
Western Un on
West nghouse, George
When ask ng for help, appeal to people’s self- nterest, never to the r
mercy or grat tude (Law 13)
“When the Waters Were Changed” (Shah)
Wh tes, the, and the Blacks
W lde, Oscar
W ll am I, K ng of Pruss a
W ll ams, Tennessee
W lson, Woodrow
W n through your act ons, never through argument (Law 9)
w thdrawal
W ttgenste n, Ludw g
Wolsey, Card nal
“Wolves and the Sheep, The” (Aesop)
words, mages vs.
work ng as a spy, wh le pos ng as a fr end
work ng hard
mak ng accompl shments seem effortless
work of others, us ng
Work on the hearts and m nds of others (Law 43)
“Works of Amas s, The” (Herodotus)
World Champ onsh p of Chess
World War II
London bomb ngs n
MacArthur n
Par s l berat on n
Wren, Chr stopher
wrestl ng master
wr ters
Wu, Duke
Wu, Empress (Wu Chao)
Wu, k ngdom of
Wu Ch’
Wuge
Wutugu, K ng
Wu Tzu-hs u

Xerxes, K ng

Yeats, W ll am Butler
“Yellow K d” We l
Y dd sh folktale
Yor nobu
Yosh moto, General
young people
Yu Hs u Sen

Za rean fable
Zaud tu, Empress
ze tge st
Zelle, Margaretha (Mata Har )
Zeus
Zhang Yu
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