"text": "Robert Greene",
"text": "Joost ElffersPREFACE",
"text": "The feeling of having no power over people and events is generally",
"text": "unbearable to us—when we feel helpless we feel miserable. No one",
"text": "wants less power; everyone wants more. In the world today, however, it",
"text": "is dangerous to seem too power hungry, to be overt with your power",
"text": "moves. We have to seem fair and decent. So we need to be subtle—",
"text": "congenial yet cunning, democratic yet devious.",
"text": "This game of constant duplicity most resembles the power dynamic",
"text": "that existed in the scheming world of the old aristocratic court.",
"text": "Throughout history, a court has always formed itself around the person in",
"text": "power—king, queen, emperor, leader. The courtiers who filled this court",
"text": "were in an especially delicate position: They had to serve their masters,",
"text": "but if they seemed to fawn, if they curried favor too obviously, the other",
"text": "courtiers around them would notice and would act against them.",
"text": "Attempts to win the master’s favor, then, had to be subtle. And even",
"text": "skilled courtiers capable of such subtlety still had to protect themselves",
"text": "from their fellow courtiers, who at all moments were scheming to push",
"text": "them aside.",
"text": "Meanwhile the court was supposed to represent the height of",
"text": "civilization and refinement. Violent or overt power moves were frowned",
"text": "upon; courtiers would work silently and secretly against any among them",
"text": "who used force. This was the courtier’s dilemma: While appearing the",
"text": "very paragon of elegance, they had to outwit and thwart their own",
"text": "opponents in the subtlest of ways. The successful courtier learned over",
"text": "time to make all of his moves indirect; if he stabbed an opponent in the",
"text": "back, it was with a velvet glove on his hand and the sweetest of smiles",
"text": "on his face. Instead of using coercion or outright treachery, the perfect",
"text": "courtier got his way through seduction, charm, deception, and subtle",
"text": "strategy, always planning several moves ahead. Life in the court was a",
"text": "never-ending game that required constant vigilance and tactical thinking.",
"text": "It was civilized war.",
"text": "Today we face a peculiarly similar paradox to that of the courtier:",
"text": "Everything must appear civilized, decent, democratic, and fair. But if we",
"text": "play by those rules too strictly, if we take them too literally, we are",
"text": "crushed by those around us who are not so foolish. As the great",
"text": "Renaissance diplomat and courtier Niccolò Machiavelli wrote, “Anyman who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the",
"text": "great number who are not good.” The court imagined itself the pinnacle",
"text": "of refinement, but underneath its glittering surface a cauldron of dark",
"text": "emotions—greed, envy, lust, hatred—boiled and simmered. Our world",
"text": "today similarly imagines itself the pinnacle of fairness, yet the same ugly",
"text": "emotions still stir within us, as they have forever. The game is the same.",
"text": "Outwardly, you must seem to respect the niceties, but inwardly, unless",
"text": "you are a fool, you learn quickly to be prudent, and to do as Napoleon",
"text": "advised: Place your iron hand inside a velvet glove. If, like the courtier",
"text": "of times gone by, you can master the arts of indirection, learning to",
"text": "seduce, charm, deceive, and subtly outmaneuver your opponents, you",
"text": "will attain the heights of power. You will be able to make people bend to",
"text": "your will without their realizing what you have done. And if they do not",
"text": "realize what you have done, they will neither resent nor resist you.",
"text": "Courts are, unquestionably, the seats of politeness and good breeding;",
"text": "were they not so, they would be the seats of slaughter and desolation.",
"text": "Those who now smile upon and embrace, would affront and stab, each",
"text": "other, if manners did not interpose….",
"text": "LORD CHESTERFIELD, 1694-1773",
"text": "To some people the notion of consciously playing power games—no",
"text": "matter how indirect—seems evil, asocial, a relic of the past. They believe",
"text": "they can opt out of the game by behaving in ways that have nothing to do",
"text": "with power. You must beware of such people, for while they express",
"text": "such opinions outwardly, they are often among the most adept players at",
"text": "power. They utilize strategies that cleverly disguise the nature of the",
"text": "manipulation involved. These types, for example, will often display their",
"text": "weakness and lack of power as a kind of moral virtue. But true",
"text": "powerlessness, without any motive of self-interest, would not publicize",
"text": "its weakness to gain sympathy or respect. Making a show of one’s",
"text": "weakness is actually a very effective strategy, subtle and deceptive, in the",
"text": "game of power (see Law 22, the Surrender Tactic).",
"text": "There is nothing very odd about lambs disliking birds of prey, but this is",
"text": "no reason for holding it against large birds of prey that they carry off",
"text": "lambs. And when the lambs whisper among themselves, “These birds",
"text": "ofprey are evil, and does this not give us a right to say that whatever is",
"text": "the opposite of a bird of prey must be good?” there is nothing",
"text": "intrinsically wrong with such an argument—though the birds of prey will",
"text": "look somewhat quizzically and say, “We have nothing against these good",
"text": "lambs; in fact, we love them; nothing tastes better than a tender lamb.”FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, 1844-1900",
"text": "Another strategy of the supposed nonplayer is to demand equality in",
"text": "every area of life. Everyone must be treated alike, whatever their status",
"text": "and strength. But if, to avoid the taint of power, you attempt to treat",
"text": "everyone equally and fairly, you will confront the problem that some",
"text": "people do certain things better than others. Treating everyone equally",
"text": "means ignoring their differences, elevating the less skillful and",
"text": "suppressing those who excel. Again, many of those who behave this way",
"text": "are actually deploying another power strategy, redistributing people’s",
"text": "rewards in a way that they determine.",
"text": "Yet another way of avoiding the game would be perfect honesty and",
"text": "straightforwardness, since one of the main techniques of those who seek",
"text": "power is deceit and secrecy. But being perfectly honest will inevitably",
"text": "hurt and insult a great many people, some of whom will choose to injure",
"text": "you in return. No one will see your honest statement as completely",
"text": "objective and free of some personal motivation. And they will be right:",
"text": "In truth, the use of honesty is indeed a power strategy, intended to",
"text": "convince people of one’s noble, good-hearted, selfless character. It is a",
"text": "form of persuasion, even a subtle form of coercion.",
"text": "Finally, those who claim to be nonplayers may affect an air of naïveté,",
"text": "to protect them from the accusation that they are after power. Beware",
"text": "again, however, for the appearance of naivete can be an effective means",
"text": "of deceit (see Law 21, Seem Dumber Than Your Mark). And even",
"text": "genuine naivete is not free of the snares of power. Children may be naive",
"text": "in many ways, but they often act from an elemental need to gain control",
"text": "over those around them. Children suffer greatly from feeling powerless",
"text": "in the adult world, and they use any means available to get their way.",
"text": "Genuinely innocent people may still be playing for power, and are often",
"text": "horribly effective at the game, since they are not hindered by reflection.",
"text": "Once again, those who make a show or display of innocence are the least",
"text": "innocent of all.",
"text": "The only means to gain one’s ends with people are force and cunning.",
"text": "Love also. they say; but that is to wait for sunshine, and life needs every",
"text": "moment.",
"text": "JOHANN VON GOEIHE, 1749-1832",
"text": "You can recognize these supposed nonplayers by the way they flaunt",
"text": "their moral qualities, their piety, their exquisite sense of justice. But since",
"text": "all of us hunger for power, and almost all of our actions are aimed at",
"text": "gaining it, the nonplayers are merely throwing dust in our eyes,distracting us from their power plays with their air of moral superiority.",
"text": "If you observe them closely, you will see in fact that they are often the",
"text": "ones most skillful at indirect manipulation, even if some of them practice",
"text": "it unconsciously. And they greatly resent any publicizing of the tactics",
"text": "they use every day.",
"text": "The arrow shot by the archer may or may not kill a single person. But",
"text": "stratagems devised by a wise man can kill even babes in the womb.",
"text": "KAUTILYA, INDIAN PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "If the world is like a giant scheming court and we are trapped inside it,",
"text": "there is no use in trying to opt out of the game. That will only render you",
"text": "powerless, and powerlessness will make you miserable. Instead of",
"text": "struggling against the inevitable, instead of arguing and whining and",
"text": "feeling guilty, it is far better to excel at power. In fact, the better you are",
"text": "at dealing with power, the better friend, lover, husband, wife, and person",
"text": "you become. By following the route of the perfect courtier (see Law 24)",
"text": "you learn to make others feel better about themselves, becoming a source",
"text": "of pleasure to them. They will grow dependent on your abilities and",
"text": "desirous of your presence. By mastering the 48 laws in this book, you",
"text": "spare others the pain that comes from bungling with power—by playing",
"text": "with fire without knowing its properties. If the game of power is",
"text": "inescapable, better to be an artist than a denier or a bungler.",
"text": "Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at the",
"text": "world, a shifting of perspective. It takes effort and years of practice, for",
"text": "much of the game may not come naturally. Certain basic skills are",
"text": "required, and once you master these skills you will be able to apply the",
"text": "laws of power more easily.",
"text": "The most important of these skills, and power’s crucial foundation, is",
"text": "the ability to master your emotions. An emotional response to a situation",
"text": "is the single greatest barrier to power, a mistake that will cost you a lot",
"text": "more than any temporary satisfaction you might gain by expressing your",
"text": "feelings. Emotions cloud reason, and if you cannot see the situation",
"text": "clearly, you cannot prepare for and respond to it with any degree of",
"text": "control.",
"text": "Anger is the most destructive of emotional responses, for it clouds",
"text": "your vision the most. It also has a ripple effect that invariably makes",
"text": "situations less controllable and heightens your enemy’s resolve. If you",
"text": "are trying to destroy an enemy who has hurt you, far better to keep him",
"text": "off-guard by feigning friendliness than showing your anger.Love and affection are also potentially destructive, in that they blind",
"text": "you to the often self-serving interests of those whom you least suspect of",
"text": "playing a power game. You cannot repress anger or love, or avoid feeling",
"text": "them, and you should not try. But you should be careful about how you",
"text": "express them, and most important, they should never influence your",
"text": "plans and strategies in any way.",
"text": "Related to mastering your emotions is the ability to distance yourself",
"text": "from the present moment and think objectively about the past and future.",
"text": "Like Janus, the double-faced Roman deity and guardian of all gates and",
"text": "doorways, you must be able to look in both directions at once, the better",
"text": "to handle danger from wherever it comes. Such is the face you must",
"text": "create for yourself-one face looking continuously to the future and the",
"text": "other to the past.",
"text": "I thought to myself with what means, with what deceptions, with how",
"text": "many varied arts, with what industry a man sharpens his wits to deceive",
"text": "another, and through these variations the world is made more beautiful.",
"text": "FRANCESCO VETTORI, CONTEMPORARY AND FRIEND OF",
"text": "MACHIAVELLI, EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY",
"text": "For the future, the motto is, “No days unalert.” Nothing should catch",
"text": "you by surprise because you are constantly imagining problems before",
"text": "they arise. Instead of spending your time dreaming of your plan’s happy",
"text": "ending, you must work on calculating every possible permutation and",
"text": "pitfall that might emerge in it. The further you see, the more steps ahead",
"text": "you plan, the more powerful you become.",
"text": "The other face of Janus looks constantly to the past—though not to",
"text": "remember past hurts or bear grudges. That would only curb your power.",
"text": "Half of the game is learning how to forget those events in the past that",
"text": "eat away at you and cloud your reason. The real purpose of the",
"text": "backward-glancing eye is to educate yourself constantly—you look at",
"text": "the past to learn from those who came before you. (The many historical",
"text": "examples in this book will greatly help that process.) Then, having",
"text": "looked to the past, you look closer at hand, to your own actions and those",
"text": "of your friends. This is the most vital school you can learn from, because",
"text": "it comes from personal experience.",
"text": "There are no principles; there are only events. There is no good and bad,",
"text": "there are only circumstances. The superior man espouses events and",
"text": "circumstances in order to guide them. If there were principles and fixed",
"text": "laws, nations would not change them as we change our shirts and a man",
"text": "can not be expected to be wiser than an entire nation.HONORÉ DE BALZAC, 1799-1850",
"text": "You begin by examining the mistakes you have made in the past, the",
"text": "ones that have most grievously held you back. You analyze them in",
"text": "terms of the 48 laws of power, and you extract from them a lesson and an",
"text": "oath: “I shall never repeat such a mistake; I shall never fall into such a",
"text": "trap again.” If you can evaluate and observe yourself in this way, you can",
"text": "learn to break the patterns of the past—an immensely valuable skill.",
"text": "Power requires the ability to play with appearances. To this end you",
"text": "must learn to wear many masks and keep a bag full of deceptive tricks.",
"text": "Deception and masquerade should not be seen as ugly or immoral. All",
"text": "human interaction requires deception on many levels, and in some ways",
"text": "what separates humans from animals is our ability to lie and deceive. In",
"text": "Greek myths, in India’s Mahabharata cycle, in the Middle Eastern epic of",
"text": "Gilga mesh, it is the privilege of the gods to use deceptive arts; a great",
"text": "man, Odysseus for instance, was judged by his ability to rival the",
"text": "craftiness of the gods, stealing some of their divine power by matching",
"text": "them in wits and deception. Deception is a developed art of civilization",
"text": "and the most potent weapon in the game of power.",
"text": "You cannot succeed at deception unless you take a somewhat",
"text": "distanced approach to yourself—unless you can be many different",
"text": "people, wearing the mask that the day and the moment require. With",
"text": "such a flexible approach to all appearances, including your own, you lose",
"text": "a lot of the inward heaviness that holds people down. Make your face as",
"text": "malleable as the actor’s, work to conceal your intentions from others,",
"text": "practice luring people into traps. Playing with appearances and mastering",
"text": "arts of deception are among the aesthetic pleasures of life. They are also",
"text": "key components in the acquisition of power.",
"text": "If deception is the most potent weapon in your arsenal, then patience",
"text": "in all things is your crucial shield. Patience will protect you from making",
"text": "moronic blunders. Like mastering your emotions, patience is a skill—it",
"text": "does not come naturally. But nothing about power is natural; power is",
"text": "more godlike than anything in the natural world. And patience is the",
"text": "supreme virtue of the gods, who have nothing but time. Everything good",
"text": "will happen—the grass will grow again, if you give it time and see",
"text": "several steps into the future. Impatience, on the other hand, only makes",
"text": "you look weak. It is a principal impediment to power.",
"text": "Power is essentially amoral and one of the most important skills to",
"text": "acquire is the ability to see circumstances rather than good or evil. Power",
"text": "is a game—this cannot be repeated too often—and in games you do not",
"text": "judge your opponents by their intentions but by the effect of theiractions. You measure their strategy and their power by what you can see",
"text": "and feel. How often are someone’s intentions made the issue only to",
"text": "cloud and deceive! What does it matter if another player, your friend or",
"text": "rival, intended good things and had only your interests at heart, if the",
"text": "effects of his action lead to so much ruin and confusion? It is only",
"text": "natural for people to cover up their actions with all kinds of",
"text": "justifications, always assuming that they have acted out of goodness.",
"text": "You must learn to inwardly laugh each time you hear this and never get",
"text": "caught up in gauging someone’s intentions and actions through a set of",
"text": "moral judgments that are really an excuse for the accumulation of power.",
"text": "It is a game. Your opponent sits opposite you. Both of you behave as",
"text": "gentlemen or ladies, observing the rules of the game and taking nothing",
"text": "personally. You play with a strategy and you observe your opponent’s",
"text": "moves with as much calmness as you can muster. In the end, you will",
"text": "appreciate the politeness of those you are playing with more than their",
"text": "good and sweet intentions. Train your eye to follow the results of their",
"text": "moves, the outward circumstances, and do not be distracted by anything",
"text": "else.",
"text": "Half of your mastery of power comes from what you do not do, what",
"text": "you do not allow yourself to get dragged into. For this skill you must",
"text": "learn to judge all things by what they cost you. As Nietzsche wrote, “The",
"text": "value of a thing sometimes lies not in what one attains with it, but in",
"text": "what one pays for it—what it costs us.” Perhaps you will attain your",
"text": "goal, and a worthy goal at that, but at what price? Apply this standard to",
"text": "everything, including whether to collaborate with other people or come",
"text": "to their aid. In the end, life is short, opportunities are few, and you have",
"text": "only so much energy to draw on. And in this sense time is as important a",
"text": "consideration as any other. Never waste valuable time, or mental peace",
"text": "of mind, on the affairs of others—that is too high a price to pay.",
"text": "Power is a social game. To learn and master it, you must develop the",
"text": "ability to study and understand people. As the great seventeenth-century",
"text": "thinker and courtier Baltasar Gracián wrote: “Many people spend time",
"text": "studying the properties of animals or herbs; how much more important it",
"text": "would be to study those of people, with whom we must live or die!” To",
"text": "be a master player you must also be a master psychologist. You must",
"text": "recognize motivations and see through the cloud of dust with which",
"text": "people surround their actions. An understanding of people’s hidden",
"text": "motives is the single greatest piece of knowledge you can have in",
"text": "acquiring power. It opens up endless possibilities of deception,",
"text": "seduction, and manipulation.People are of infinite complexity and you can spend a lifetime",
"text": "watching them without ever fully understanding them. So it is all the",
"text": "more important, then, to begin your education now. In doing so you must",
"text": "also keep one principle in mind: Never discriminate as to whom you",
"text": "study and whom you trust. Never trust anyone completely and study",
"text": "everyone, including friends and loved ones.",
"text": "Finally, you must learn always to take the indirect route to power.",
"text": "Disguise your cunning. Like a billiard ball that caroms several times",
"text": "before it hits its target, your moves must be planned and developed in the",
"text": "least obvious way. By training yourself to be indirect, you can thrive in",
"text": "the modern court, appearing the paragon of decency while being the",
"text": "consummate manipulator.",
"text": "Consider The 48 Laws of Power a kind of handbook on the arts of",
"text": "indirection. The laws are based on the writings of men and women who",
"text": "have studied and mastered the game of power. These writings span a",
"text": "period of more than three thousand years and were created in",
"text": "civilizations as disparate as ancient China and Renaissance Italy; yet they",
"text": "share common threads and themes, together hinting at an essence of",
"text": "power that has yet to be fully articulated. The 48 laws of power are the",
"text": "distillation of this accumulated wisdom, gathered from the writings of",
"text": "the most illustrious strategists (Sun-tzu, Clausewitz), statesmen",
"text": "(Bismarck, Talleyrand), courtiers (Castiglione, Gracián), seducers",
"text": "(Ninon de Lenclos, Casanova), and con artists (“Yellow Kid” Weil) in",
"text": "history.",
"text": "The laws have a simple premise: Certain actions almost always",
"text": "increase one’s power (the observance of the law), while others decrease",
"text": "it and even ruin us (the transgression of the law). These transgressions",
"text": "and observances are illustrated by historical examples. The laws are",
"text": "timeless and definitive.",
"text": "The 48 Laws of Power can be used in several ways. By reading the",
"text": "book straight through you can learn about power in general. Although",
"text": "several of the laws may seem not to pertain directly to your life, in time",
"text": "you will probably find that all of them have some application, and that in",
"text": "fact they are interrelated. By getting an overview of the entire subject",
"text": "you will best be able to evaluate your own past actions and gain a greater",
"text": "degree of control over your immediate affairs. A thorough reading of the",
"text": "book will inspire thinking and reevaluation long after you finish it.",
"text": "The book has also been designed for browsing and for examining the",
"text": "law that seems at that particular moment most pertinent to you. Say youare experiencing problems with a superior and cannot understand why",
"text": "your efforts have not lead to more gratitude or a promotion. Several laws",
"text": "specifically address the master-underling relationship, and you are",
"text": "almost certainly transgressing one of them. By browsing the initial",
"text": "paragraphs for the 48 laws in the table of contents, you can identify the",
"text": "pertinent law.",
"text": "Finally, the book can be browsed through and picked apart for",
"text": "entertainment, for an enjoyable ride through the foibles and great deeds",
"text": "of our predecessors in power. A warning, however, to those who use the",
"text": "book for this purpose: It might be better to turn back. Power is endlessly",
"text": "seductive and deceptive in its own way. It is a labyrinth—your mind",
"text": "becomes consumed with solving its infinite problems, and you soon",
"text": "realize how pleasantly lost you have become. In other words, it becomes",
"text": "most amusing by taking it seriously. Do not be frivolous with such a",
"text": "critical matter. The gods of power frown on the frivolous; they give",
"text": "ultimate satisfaction only to those who study and reflect, and punish",
"text": "those who skim the surfaces looking for a good time.",
"text": "Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin",
"text": "among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to",
"text": "keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that",
"text": "knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.",
"text": "THE PRINCE, Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527LAW 1",
"text": "NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire",
"text": "to please and impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents",
"text": "or you might accomplish the opposite—inspire fear and insecurity. Make",
"text": "your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the",
"text": "heights of power.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV’s finance minister in the first years of his",
"text": "reign, was a generous man who loved lavish parties, pretty women, and",
"text": "poetry. He also loved money, for he led an extravagant lifestyle. Fouquet",
"text": "was clever and very much indispensable to the king, so when the prime",
"text": "minister, Jules Mazarin, died, in 1661, the finance minister expected to",
"text": "be named the successor. Instead, the king decided to abolish the position.",
"text": "This and other signs made Fouquet suspect that he was falling out of",
"text": "favor, and so he decided to ingratiate himself with the king by staging",
"text": "the most spectacular party the world had ever seen. The party’s",
"text": "ostensible purpose would be to commemorate the completion of",
"text": "Fouquet’s château, Vaux-le-Vicomte, but its real function was to pay",
"text": "tribute to the king, the guest of honor.",
"text": "The most brilliant nobility of Europe and some of the greatest minds",
"text": "of the time—La Fontaine, La Rochefoucauld, Madame de Sévigné",
"text": "attended the party. Molière wrote a play for the occasion, in which he",
"text": "himself was to perform at the evening’s conclusion. The party began",
"text": "with a lavish seven-course dinner, featuring foods from the Orient never",
"text": "before tasted in France, as well as new dishes created especially for thenight. The meal was accompanied with music commissioned by Fouquet",
"text": "to honor the king.",
"text": "After dinner there was a promenade through the château’s gardens.",
"text": "The grounds and fountains of Vaux-le-Vicomte were to be the inspiration",
"text": "for Versailles.",
"text": "Fouquet personally accompanied the young king through the",
"text": "geometrically aligned arrangements of shrubbery and flower beds.",
"text": "Arriving at the gardens’ canals, they witnessed a fireworks display,",
"text": "which was followed by the performance of Molière’s play. The party ran",
"text": "well into the night and everyone agreed it was the most amazing affair",
"text": "they had ever attended.",
"text": "The next day, Fouquet was arrested by the king’s head musketeer,",
"text": "D’Artagnan. Three months later he went on trial for stealing from the",
"text": "country’s treasury. (Actually, most of the stealing he was accused of he",
"text": "had done on the king’s behalf and with the king’s permission.) Fouquet",
"text": "was found guilty and sent to the most isolated prison in France, high in",
"text": "the Pyrenees Mountains, where he spent the last twenty years of his life",
"text": "in solitary confinement.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Louis XIV, the Sun King, was a proud and arrogant man who wanted to",
"text": "be the center of attention at all times; he could not countenance being",
"text": "outdone in lavishness by anyone, and certainly not his finance minister.",
"text": "To succeed Fouquet, Louis chose Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a man famous",
"text": "for his parsimony and for giving the dullest parties in Paris. Colbert",
"text": "made sure that any money liberated from the treasury went straight into",
"text": "Louis’s hands. With the money, Louis built a palace even more",
"text": "magnificent than Fouquet’s—the glorious palace of Versailles. He used",
"text": "the same architects, decorators, and garden designer. And at Versailles,",
"text": "Louis hosted parties even more extravagant than the one that cost",
"text": "Fouquet his freedom.",
"text": "Let us examine the situation. The evening of the party, as Fouquet",
"text": "presented spectacle on spectacle to Louis, each more magnificent than",
"text": "the one before, he imagined the affair as demonstrating his loyalty and",
"text": "devotion to the king. Not only did he think the party would put him back",
"text": "in the king’s favor, he thought it would show his good taste, his",
"text": "connections, and his popularity, making him indispensable to the king",
"text": "and demonstrating that he would make an excellent prime minister.Instead, however, each new spectacle, each appreciative smile bestowed",
"text": "by the guests on Fouquet, made it seem to Louis that his own friends and",
"text": "subjects were more charmed by the finance minister than by the king",
"text": "himself, and that Fouquet was actually flaunting his wealth and power.",
"text": "Rather than flattering Louis XIV, Fouquet’s elaborate party offended the",
"text": "king’s vanity. Louis would not admit this to anyone, of course—instead,",
"text": "he found a convenient excuse to rid himself of a man who had",
"text": "inadvertently made him feel insecure.",
"text": "Such is the fate, in some form or other, of all those who unbalance the",
"text": "master’s sense of self, poke holes in his vanity, or make him doubt his",
"text": "pre-eminence.",
"text": "When the evening began, Fouquet was at the top of the world.",
"text": "By the time it had ended, he was at the bottom.",
"text": "Voltaire, 1694-1778",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "In the early 1600s, the Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo",
"text": "found himself in a precarious position. He depended on the generosity of",
"text": "great rulers to support his research, and so, like all Renaissance",
"text": "scientists, he would sometimes make gifts of his inventions and",
"text": "discoveries to the leading patrons of the time. Once, for instance, he",
"text": "presented a military compass he had invented to the Duke of Gonzaga.",
"text": "Then he dedicated a book explaining the use of the compass to the",
"text": "Medicis. Both rulers were grateful, and through them Galileo was able to",
"text": "find more students to teach. No matter how great the discovery, however,",
"text": "his patrons usually paid him with gifts, not cash. This made for a life of",
"text": "constant insecurity and dependence. There must be an easier way, he",
"text": "thought.",
"text": "Galileo hit on a new strategy in 1610, when he discovered the moons",
"text": "of Jupiter. Instead of dividing the discovery among his patrons—giving",
"text": "one the telescope he had used, dedicating a book to another, and so on—",
"text": "as he had done in the past, he decided to focus exclusively on the",
"text": "Medicis. He chose the Medicis for one reason: Shortly after Cosimo I",
"text": "had established the Medici dynasty, in 1540, he had made Jupiter, the",
"text": "mightiest of the gods, the Medici symbol—a symbol of a power thatwent beyond politics and banking, one linked to ancient Rome and its",
"text": "divinities.",
"text": "Galileo turned his discovery of Jupiter’s moons into a cosmic event",
"text": "honoring the Medicis’ greatness. Shortly after the discovery, he",
"text": "announced that “the bright stars [the moons of Jupiter] offered",
"text": "themselves in the heavens” to his telescope at the same time as Cosimo",
"text": "II’s enthronement. He said that the number of the moons—four—",
"text": "harmonized with the number of the Medicis (Cosimo II had three",
"text": "brothers) and that the moons orbited Jupiter as these four sons revolved",
"text": "around Cosimo I, the dynasty’s founder. More than coincidence, this",
"text": "showed that the heavens themselves reflected the ascendancy of the",
"text": "Medici family. After he dedicated the discovery to the Medicis, Galileo",
"text": "commissioned an emblem representing Jupiter sitting on a cloud with the",
"text": "four stars circling about him, and presented this to Cosimo II as a symbol",
"text": "of his link to the stars.",
"text": "In 1610 Cosimo II made Galileo his official court philosopher and",
"text": "mathematician, with a full salary. For a scientist this was the coup of a",
"text": "lifetime. The days of begging for patronage were over.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "In one stroke, Galileo gained more with his new strategy than he had in",
"text": "years of begging. The reason is simple: All masters want to appear more",
"text": "brilliant than other people.",
"text": "They do not care about science or empirical truth or the latest",
"text": "invention ; they care about their name and their glory. Galileo gave the",
"text": "Medicis infinitely more glory by linking their name with cosmic forces",
"text": "than he had by making them the patrons of some new scientific gadget or",
"text": "discovery.",
"text": "Scientists are not spared the vagaries of court life and patronage. They",
"text": "too must serve masters who hold the purse strings. And their great",
"text": "intellectual powers can make the master feel insecure, as if he were only",
"text": "there to supply the funds—an ugly, ignoble job. The producer of a great",
"text": "work wants to feel he is more than just the provider of the financing. He",
"text": "wants to appear creative and powerful, and also more important than the",
"text": "work produced in his name. Instead of insecurity you must give him",
"text": "glory. Galileo did not challenge the intellectual authority of the Medicis",
"text": "with his discovery, or make them feel inferior in any way; by literally",
"text": "aligning them with the stars, he made them shine brilliantly among thecourts of Italy. He did not outshine the master, he made the master",
"text": "outshine all others.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Everyone has insecurities. When you show yourself in the world and",
"text": "display your talents, you naturally stir up all kinds of resentment, envy,",
"text": "and other manifestations of insecurity. This is to be expected. You cannot",
"text": "spend your life worrying about the petty feelings of others. With those",
"text": "above you, however, you must take a different approach: When it comes",
"text": "to power, outshining the master is perhaps the worst mistake of all.",
"text": "Do not fool yourself into thinking that life has changed much since the",
"text": "days of Louis XIV and the Medicis. Those who attain high standing in",
"text": "life are like kings and queens: They want to feel secure in their positions,",
"text": "and superior to those around them in intelligence, wit, and charm. It is a",
"text": "deadly but common misperception to believe that by displaying and",
"text": "vaunting your gifts and talents, you are winning the master’s affection.",
"text": "He may feign appreciation, but at his first opportunity he will replace",
"text": "you with someone less intelligent, less attractive, less threatening, just as",
"text": "Louis XIV replaced the sparkling Fouquet with the bland Colbert. And",
"text": "as with Louis, he will not admit the truth, but will find an excuse to rid",
"text": "himself of your presence.",
"text": "This Law involves two rules that you must realize. First, you can",
"text": "inadvertently outshine a master simply by being yourself. There are",
"text": "masters who are more insecure than others, monstrously insecure; you",
"text": "may naturally outshine them by your charm and grace.",
"text": "No one had more natural talents than Astorre Manfredi, prince of",
"text": "Faenza. The most handsome of all the young princes of Italy, he",
"text": "captivated his subjects with his generosity and open spirit.",
"text": "In the year 1500, Cesare Borgia laid siege to Faenza. When the city",
"text": "surrendered, the citizens expected the worst from the cruel Borgia, who,",
"text": "however, decided to spare the town: He simply occupied its fortress,",
"text": "executed none of its citizens, and allowed Prince Manfredi, eighteen at",
"text": "the time, to remain with his court, in complete freedom.",
"text": "A few weeks later, though, soldiers hauled Astorre Manfredi away to a",
"text": "Roman prison. A year after that, his body was fished out of the River",
"text": "Tiber, a stone tied around his neck. Borgia justified the horrible deedwith some sort of trumped-up charge of treason and conspiracy, but the",
"text": "real problem was that he was notoriously vain and insecure. The young",
"text": "man was outshining him without even trying. Given Manfredi’s natural",
"text": "talents, the prince’s mere presence made Borgia seem less attractive and",
"text": "charismatic. The lesson is simple: If you cannot help being charming and",
"text": "superior, you must learn to avoid such monsters of vanity. Either that, or",
"text": "find a way to mute your good qualities when in the company of a Cesare",
"text": "Borgia.",
"text": "Second, never imagine that because the master loves you, you can do",
"text": "anything you want. Entire books could be written about favorites who",
"text": "fell out of favor by taking their status for granted, for daring to outshine.",
"text": "In late-sixteenth-century Japan, the favorite of Emperor Hideyoshi was a",
"text": "man called Sen no Rikyu. The premier artist of the tea ceremony, which",
"text": "had become an obsession with the nobility, he was one of Hideyoshi’s",
"text": "most trusted advisers, had his own apartment in the palace, and was",
"text": "honored throughout Japan. Yet in 1591, Hideyoshi had him arrested and",
"text": "sentenced to death. Rikyu took his own life, instead. The cause for his",
"text": "sudden change of fortune was discovered later: It seems that Rikyu,",
"text": "former peasant and later court favorite, had had a wooden statue made of",
"text": "himself wearing sandals (a sign of nobility) and posing loftily. He had",
"text": "had this statue placed in the most important temple inside the palace",
"text": "gates, in clear sight of the royalty who often would pass by. To",
"text": "Hideyoshi this signified that Rikyu had no sense of limits. Presuming",
"text": "that he had the same rights as those of the highest nobility, he had",
"text": "forgotten that his position depended on the emperor, and had come to",
"text": "believe that he had earned it on his own. This was an unforgivable",
"text": "miscalculation of his own importance and he paid for it with his life.",
"text": "Remember the following: Never take your position for granted and never",
"text": "let any favors you receive go to your head.",
"text": "Knowing the dangers of outshining your master, you can turn this Law",
"text": "to your advantage. First you must flatter and puff up your master. Overt",
"text": "flattery can be effective but has its limits; it is too direct and obvious,",
"text": "and looks bad to other courtiers. Discreet flattery is much more",
"text": "powerful. If you are more intelligent than your master, for example,",
"text": "seem the opposite: Make him appear more intelligent than you. Act",
"text": "naive. Make it seem that you need his expertise. Commit harmless",
"text": "mistakes that will not hurt you in the long run but will give you the",
"text": "chance to ask for his help. Masters adore such requests. A master who",
"text": "cannot bestow on you the gifts of his experience may direct rancor and",
"text": "ill will at you instead.If your ideas are more creative than your master’s, ascribe them to",
"text": "him, in as public a manner as possible. Make it clear that your advice is",
"text": "merely an echo of his advice.",
"text": "If you surpass your master in wit, it is okay to play the role of the",
"text": "court jester, but do not make him appear cold and surly by comparison.",
"text": "Tone down your humor if necessary, and find ways to make him seem",
"text": "the dispenser of amusement and good cheer. If you are naturally more",
"text": "sociable and generous than your master, be careful not to be the cloud",
"text": "that blocks his radiance from others. He must appear as the sun around",
"text": "which everyone revolves, radiating power and brilliance, the center of",
"text": "attention. If you are thrust into the position of entertaining him, a display",
"text": "of your limited means may win you his sympathy. Any attempt to",
"text": "impress him with your grace and generosity can prove fatal: Learn from",
"text": "Fouquet or pay the price.",
"text": "In all of these cases it is not a weakness to disguise your strengths if in",
"text": "the end they lead to power. By letting others outshine you, you remain in",
"text": "control, instead of being a victim of their insecurity. This will all come in",
"text": "handy the day you decide to rise above your inferior status. If, like",
"text": "Galileo, you can make your master shine even more in the eyes of others,",
"text": "then you are a godsend and you will be instantly promoted.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Stars in the",
"text": "Sky. There can be only",
"text": "one sun at a time. Never",
"text": "obscure the sunlight, or",
"text": "rival the sun’s brilliance;",
"text": "rather, fade into the sky and",
"text": "find ways to heighten",
"text": "the master star’s",
"text": "intensity.",
"text": "Authority: Avoid outshining the master. All superiority is odious, but the",
"text": "superiority of a subject over his prince is not only stupid, it is fatal. This",
"text": "is a lesson that the stars in the sky teach us—they may be related to the",
"text": "sun, and just as brilliant, but they never appear in her company. (Baltasar",
"text": "Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSALYou cannot worry about upsetting every person you come across, but",
"text": "you must be selectively cruel. If your superior is a falling star, there is",
"text": "nothing to fear from outshining him. Do not be merciful—your master",
"text": "had no such scruples in his own cold-blooded climb to the top. Gauge his",
"text": "strength. If he is weak, discreetly hasten his downfall: Outdo, outcharm,",
"text": "outsmart him at key moments. If he is very weak and ready to fall, let",
"text": "nature take its course. Do not risk outshining a feeble superior—it might",
"text": "appear cruel or spiteful. But if your master is firm in his position, yet you",
"text": "know yourself to be the more capable, bide your time and be patient. It is",
"text": "the natural course of things that power eventually fades and weakens.",
"text": "Your master will fall someday, and if you play it right, you will outlive",
"text": "and someday outshine him.LAW 2",
"text": "NEVER PUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS,",
"text": "LEARN HOW TO USE ENEMIES",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Be wary of friends—they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily",
"text": "aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a",
"text": "former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has",
"text": "more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from",
"text": "enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "In the mid-ninth century A.D., a young man named Michael III assumed",
"text": "the throne of the Byzantine Empire. His mother, the Empress Theodora,",
"text": "had been banished to a nunnery, and her lover, Theoctistus, had been",
"text": "murdered ; at the head of the conspiracy to depose Theodora and",
"text": "enthrone Michael had been Michael’s uncle, Bardas, a man of",
"text": "intelligence and ambition. Michael was now a young, inexperienced",
"text": "ruler, surrounded by in triguers, murderers, and profligates. In this time",
"text": "of peril he needed someone he could trust as his councillor, and his",
"text": "thoughts turned to Basilius, his best friend. Basilius had no experience",
"text": "whatsoever in government and politics—in fact, he was the head of the",
"text": "royal stables—but he had proven his love and gratitude time and again.",
"text": "To have a good enemy, choose a friend: He knows where to strike.",
"text": "DIANF DE POITIERS. 1499-1566. MISTRESS OF HENRI II OF",
"text": "FRANCE",
"text": "They had met a few years before, when Michael had been visiting the",
"text": "stables just as a wild horse got loose. Basilius, a young groom frompeasant Macedonian stock, had saved Michael’s life. The groom’s",
"text": "strength and courage had impressed Michael, who immediately raised",
"text": "Basilius from the obscurity of being a horse trainer to the position of",
"text": "head of the stables. He loaded his friend with gifts and favors and they",
"text": "became inseparable. Basilius was sent to the finest school in Byzantium,",
"text": "and the crude peasant became a cultured and sophisticated courtier.",
"text": "Every time I bestow a vacant office I make a hundred discontented",
"text": "persons and one ingrate.",
"text": "Louis XIV, 1638-1715",
"text": "Now Michael was emperor, and in need of someone loyal. Who could",
"text": "he better trust with the post of chamberlain and chief councillor than a",
"text": "young man who owed him everything?",
"text": "Basilius could be trained for the job and Michael loved him like a",
"text": "brother. Ignoring the advice of those who recommended the much more",
"text": "qualified Bardas, Michael chose his friend.",
"text": "Thus for my own part l have more than once been deceived by the person",
"text": "I loved most and of whose love, above everyone else’s, I have been most",
"text": "confident. So that I believe that u may be right to love and serve one",
"text": "person above all others. according to merit and worth, but never to trust",
"text": "so much in this tempting trap of friendship as to have cause to repent of",
"text": "it later on.",
"text": "BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE, 1478-1529",
"text": "Basilius learned well and was soon advising the emperor on all",
"text": "matters of state. The only problem seemed to be money—Basiiius never",
"text": "had enough. Exposure to the splendor of Byzantine court life made him",
"text": "avaricious for the perks of power. Michael doubled, then tripled his",
"text": "salary, ennobled him, and married him off to his own mistress, Eudoxia",
"text": "Ingerina. Keeping such a trusted friend and adviser satisfied was worth",
"text": "any price. But more trouble was to come. Bardas was now head of the",
"text": "army, and Basilius convinced Michael that the man was hopelessly",
"text": "ambitious. Under the illusion that he could control his nephew, Bardas",
"text": "had conspired to put him on the throne, and he could conspire again, this",
"text": "time to get rid of Michael and assume the crown himself. Basilius poured",
"text": "poison into Michael’s ear until the emperor agreed to have his uncle",
"text": "murdered. During a great horse race, Basilius closed in on Bardas in the",
"text": "crowd and stabbed him to death. Soon after, Basilius asked that he",
"text": "replace Bardas as head of the army, where he could keep control of the",
"text": "realm and quell rebellion. This was granted.Now Basilius’s power and wealth only grew, and a few years later",
"text": "Michael, in financial straits from his own extravagance, asked him to pay",
"text": "back some of the money he had borrowed over the years. To Michael’s",
"text": "shock and astonishment, Basilius refused, with a look of such impudence",
"text": "that the emperor suddenly realized his predicament: The former stable",
"text": "boy had more money, more allies in the army and senate, and in the end",
"text": "more power than the emperor himself. A few weeks later, after a night of",
"text": "heavy drinking, Michael awoke to find himself surrounded by soldiers.",
"text": "Basilius watched as they stabbed the emperor to death. Then, after",
"text": "proclaiming himself emperor, he rode his horse through the streets of",
"text": "Byzantium, brandishing the head of his former benefactor and best friend",
"text": "at the end of a long pike.",
"text": "THE SNAKE. THE FARMER. AND THE",
"text": "HERON",
"text": "A snake chased by hunters asked a farmer to save its life. To hide it from",
"text": "its pursuers, the farmer squatted and let the snake crawl into his belly.",
"text": "But when the danger had passed and the farmer asked the snake to come",
"text": "out, the snake refused. It was warm and safe inside. On his way home,",
"text": "the man saw a heron and went up to him and whispered what had",
"text": "happened. The heron told him to squat and strain to eject the snake.",
"text": "When the snake snuck its head out, the heron caught it, pulled it out, and",
"text": "killed it. The farmer was worried that the snake’s poison might still be",
"text": "inside him, and the heron told him that the cure for snake poison was to",
"text": "cook and eat six white fowl. “You’re a white fowl,” said the farmer.",
"text": "“You’ll do for a start.” He grabbed the heron, put it in a bag, and",
"text": "carried it home, where he hung it up while he told his wife what had",
"text": "happened. “I’m surprised at you, ” said the wife. “The bird does you a",
"text": "kindness, rids you of the evil in your belly, saves your life in fact, yet you",
"text": "catch it and talk of killing it. She immediately released the heron, and it",
"text": "flew away. But on its way, it gouged out her eyes.",
"text": "Moral: When you see water flowing uphill, it means that someone is",
"text": "repaying a kindness.",
"text": "AFRICAN FOLK TALE",
"text": "InterpretationMichael III staked his future on the sense of gratitude he thought Basilius",
"text": "must feel for him. Surely Basilius would serve him best; he owed the",
"text": "emperor his wealth, his education, and his position. Then, once Basilius",
"text": "was in power, anything he needed it was best to give to him,",
"text": "strengthening the bonds between the two men. It was only on the fateful",
"text": "day when the emperor saw that impudent smile on Basilius’s face that he",
"text": "realized his deadly mistake.",
"text": "He had created a monster. He had allowed a man to see power up",
"text": "close—a man who then wanted more, who asked for anything and got it,",
"text": "who felt encumbered by the charity he had received and simply did what",
"text": "many people do in such a situation: They forget the favors they have",
"text": "received and imagine they have earned their success by their own merits.",
"text": "At Michael’s moment of realization, he could still have saved his own",
"text": "life, but friendship and love blind every man to their interests. Nobody",
"text": "believes a friend can betray. And Michael went on disbelieving until the",
"text": "day his head ended up on a pike.",
"text": "Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.",
"text": "Voltaire, 1694-1778",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "For several centuries after the fall of the Han Dynasty (A.D. 222),",
"text": "Chinese history followed the same pattern of violent and bloody coups,",
"text": "one after the other. Army men would plot to kill a weak emperor, then",
"text": "would replace him on the Dragon Throne with a strong general. The",
"text": "general would start a new dynasty and crown himself emperor; to ensure",
"text": "his own survival he would kill off his fellow generals. A few years later,",
"text": "however, the pattern would resume: New generals would rise up and",
"text": "assassinate him or his sons in their turn. To be emperor of China was to",
"text": "be alone, surrounded by a pack of enemies—it was the least powerful,",
"text": "least secure position in the realm.",
"text": "In A.D. 959, General Chao K’uang-yin became Emperor Sung. He",
"text": "knew the odds, the probability that within a year or two he would be",
"text": "murdered ; how could he break the pattern? Soon after becoming",
"text": "emperor, Sung ordered a banquet to celebrate the new dynasty, and",
"text": "invited the most powerful commanders in the army. After they had drunk",
"text": "much wine, he dismissed the guards and everybody else except thegenerals, who now feared he would murder them in one fell swoop.",
"text": "Instead, he addressed them: “The whole day is spent in fear, and I am",
"text": "unhappy both at the table and in my bed. For which one of you does not",
"text": "dream of ascending the throne? I do not doubt your allegiance, but if by",
"text": "some chance your subordinates, seeking wealth and position, were to",
"text": "force the emperor’s yellow robe upon you in turn, how could you refuse",
"text": "it?” Drunk and fearing for their lives, the generals proclaimed their",
"text": "innocence and their loyalty. But Sung had other ideas: “The best way to",
"text": "pass one’s days is in peaceful enjoyment of riches and honor. If you are",
"text": "willing to give up your commands, I am ready to provide you with fine",
"text": "estates and beautiful dwellings where you may take your pleasure with",
"text": "singers and girls as your companions.”",
"text": "The astonished generals realized that instead of a life of anxiety and",
"text": "struggle Sung was offering them riches and security. The next day, all of",
"text": "the generals tendered their resignations, and they retired as nobles to the",
"text": "estates that Sung bestowed on them.",
"text": "There are manv who think therefore that a wise prince ought, when he",
"text": "has the chance, to foment astutely some enmity, so that by suppressing It",
"text": "he will augment his greatness. Princes, and especially new ones, have",
"text": "found more faith and more usefulness in those men, whom at the",
"text": "beginning of their power they regarded with suspicion, than in those they",
"text": "at first confided in. Pandolfo Petrucci, prince of Siena, governed his",
"text": "state more bv those whom he suspected than by others.",
"text": "Niccoi o MACHIAVELLI, 1469-1527",
"text": "In one stroke, Sung turned a pack of “friendly” wolves, who would",
"text": "likely have betrayed him, into a group of docile lambs, far from all",
"text": "power.",
"text": "Over the next few years Sung continued his campaign to secure his",
"text": "rule. In A.D. 971, King Liu of the Southern Han finally surrendered to",
"text": "him after years of rebellion. To Liu’s astonishment, Sung gave him a",
"text": "rank in the imperial court and invited him to the palace to seal their",
"text": "newfound friendship with wine. As King Liu took the glass that Sung",
"text": "offered him, he hesitated, fearing it contained poison. “Your subject’s",
"text": "crimes certainly merit death,” he cried out, “but I beg Your Majesty to",
"text": "spare your subject’s life. Indeed I dare not drink this wine.” Emperor",
"text": "Sung laughed, took the glass from Liu, and swallowed it himself. There",
"text": "was no poison. From then on Liu became his most trusted and loyal",
"text": "friend.At the time, China had splintered into many smaller kingdoms. When",
"text": "Ch‘ien Shu, the king of one of these, was defeated, Sung’s ministers",
"text": "advised the emperor to lock this rebel up. They presented documents",
"text": "proving that he was still conspiring to kill Sung. When Ch’ien Shu came",
"text": "to visit the emperor, however, instead of locking him up, Sung honored",
"text": "him. He also gave him a package, which he told the former king to open",
"text": "when he was halfway home. Ch’ien Shu opened the bundle on his return",
"text": "journey and saw that it contained all the papers documenting his",
"text": "conspiracy. He realized that Sung knew of his murderous plans, yet had",
"text": "spared him nonetheless. This generosity won him over, and he too",
"text": "became one of Sung’s most loyal vassals.",
"text": "A brahman, a great expert in Veda who has become a great archer as",
"text": "well, offers his services to his good friend, who is now the king. The",
"text": "brahman cries out when he sees the king, “Recognize me, your friend!”",
"text": "The king answers him with contempt and then explains: “Yes, we were",
"text": "friends before, but our friendship was based on what power we had…. I",
"text": "was friends with you, good brahman, because it served my purpose. No",
"text": "pauper is friend to the rich, no fool to the wise, no coward to the brave.",
"text": "An old friend—who needs him? It is two men of equal wealth and equal",
"text": "birth who contract friendship and marriage, not a rich man and a",
"text": "pauper…. An old friend—who needs him?",
"text": "THE MAHABHARATA, C. THIRD CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "A Chinese proverb compares friends to the jaws and teeth of a dangerous",
"text": "animal: If you are not careful, you will find them chewing you up.",
"text": "Emperor Sung knew the jaws he was passing between when he assumed",
"text": "the throne: His “friends” in the army would chew him up like meat, and",
"text": "if he somehow survived, his “friends” in the government would have him",
"text": "for supper. Emperor Sung would have no truck with “friends”—he",
"text": "bribed his fellow generals with splendid estates and kept them far away.",
"text": "This was a much better way to emasculate them than killing them, which",
"text": "would only have led other generals to seek vengeance. And Sung would",
"text": "have nothing to do with “friendly” ministers. More often than not, they",
"text": "would end up drinking his famous cup of poisoned wine.",
"text": "Instead of relying on friends, Sung used his enemies, one after the",
"text": "other, transforming them into far more reliable subjects. While a friend",
"text": "expects more and more favors, and seethes with jealousy, these formerenemies expected nothing and got everything. A man suddenly spared",
"text": "the guillotine is a grateful man indeed, and will go to the ends of the",
"text": "earth for the man who has pardoned him. In time, these former enemies",
"text": "became Sung’s most trusted friends.",
"text": "Pick up a bee from kindness, and learn the limitations of kindness.",
"text": "SUFI PROVERB",
"text": "And Sung was finally able to break the pattern of coups, violence, and",
"text": "civil war—the Sung Dynasty ruled China for more than three hundred",
"text": "years.",
"text": "In a speech Abraham Lincoln delivered at the height of the Civil War,",
"text": "he referred to the Southerners as fellow human beings who were in",
"text": "error. An elderly lady chastised him for not calling them irreconcilable",
"text": "enemies who must be destroyed. “Why, madam,” Lincoln replied,",
"text": "“do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "It is natural to want to employ your friends when you find yourself in",
"text": "times of need. The world is a harsh place, and your friends soften the",
"text": "harshness. Besides, you know them. Why depend on a stranger when you",
"text": "have a friend at hand?",
"text": "Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude",
"text": "is a burden and revenge a pleasure.",
"text": "TACITUS, c. A.D. 55-120",
"text": "The problem is that you often do not know your friends as well as you",
"text": "imagine. Friends often agree on things in order to avoid an argument.",
"text": "They cover up their unpleasant qualities so as to not offend each other.",
"text": "They laugh extra hard at each other’s jokes. Since honesty rarely",
"text": "strengthens friendship, you may never know how a friend truly feels.",
"text": "Friends will say that they love your poetry, adore your music, envy your",
"text": "taste in clothes—maybe they mean it, often they do not.",
"text": "When you decide to hire a friend, you gradually discover the qualities",
"text": "he or she has kept hidden. Strangely enough, it is your act of kindness",
"text": "that unbalances everything. People want to feel they deserve their good",
"text": "fortune. The receipt of a favor can become oppressive: It means youhave been chosen because you are a friend, not necessarily because you",
"text": "are deserving. There is almost a touch of condescension in the act of",
"text": "hiring friends that secretly afflicts them. The injury will come out",
"text": "slowly: A little more honesty, flashes of resentment and envy here and",
"text": "there, and before you know it your friendship fades. The more favors and",
"text": "gifts you supply to revive the friendship, the less gratitude you receive.",
"text": "Ingratitude has a long and deep history. It has demonstrated its powers",
"text": "for so many centuries, that it is truly amazing that people continue to",
"text": "underestimate them. Better to be wary. If you never expect gratitude",
"text": "from a friend, you will be pleasantly surprised when they do prove",
"text": "grateful.",
"text": "The problem with using or hiring friends is that it will inevitably limit",
"text": "your power. The friend is rarely the one who is most able to help you;",
"text": "and in the end, skill and competence are far more important than friendly",
"text": "feelings. (Michael III had a man right under his nose who would have",
"text": "steered him right and kept him alive: That man was Bardas.)",
"text": "PROI LING BY OUR \\111",
"text": "King Hiero chanced upon a time, speaking with one of his enemies, to be",
"text": "told in a reproachful manner that he had stinking breath. Whereupon the",
"text": "good king, being somewhat dismayed in himself, as soon as he returned",
"text": "home chided his wife, “How does it happen that you never told me of this",
"text": "problem?” The woman, being a simple, chaste. and harmless dame, said,",
"text": "“Sir, l had thought all men breath had smelled so.” Thus it is plain that",
"text": "faults that are evident to the senses, gross and corporal, or otherwise",
"text": "notorious to the world, we know by our enemies sooner than by our",
"text": "friends and familiars.",
"text": "PLUTARCH, C. A.D. 46-120",
"text": "All working situations require a kind of distance between people. You",
"text": "are trying to work, not make friends; friendliness (real or false) only",
"text": "obscures that fact. The key to power, then, is the ability to judge who is",
"text": "best able to further your interests in all situations. Keep friends for",
"text": "friendship, but work with the skilled and competent.",
"text": "Your enemies, on the other hand, are an untapped gold mine that you",
"text": "must learn to exploit. When Talleyrand, Napoleon’s foreign minister,",
"text": "decided in 1807 that his boss was leading France to ruin, and the time",
"text": "had come to turn against him, he understood the dangers of conspiring",
"text": "against the emperor; he needed a partner, a confederate—what friend",
"text": "could he trust in such a project? He chose Joseph Fouché, head of thesecret police, his most hated enemy, a man who had even tried to have",
"text": "him assassinated. He knew that their former hatred would create an",
"text": "opportunity for an emotional reconciliation. He knew that Fouché would",
"text": "expect nothing from him, and in fact would work to prove that he was",
"text": "worthy of Talleyrand’s choice; a person who has something to prove will",
"text": "move mountains for you. Finally, he knew that his relationship with",
"text": "Fouché would be based on mutual self-interest, and would not be",
"text": "contaminated by personal feeling. The selection proved perfect; although",
"text": "the conspirators did not succeed in toppling Napoleon, the union of such",
"text": "powerful but unlikely partners generated much interest in the cause;",
"text": "opposition to the emperor slowly began to spread. And from then on,",
"text": "Talleyrand and Fouché had a fruitful working relationship. Whenever",
"text": "you can, bury the hatchet with an enemy, and make a point of putting",
"text": "him in your service.",
"text": "As Lincoln said, you destroy an enemy when you make a friend of",
"text": "him. In 1971, during the Vietnam War, Henry Kissinger was the target of",
"text": "an unsuccessful kidnapping attempt, a conspiracy involving, among",
"text": "others, the renowned antiwar activist priests the Berrigan brothers, four",
"text": "more Catholic priests, and four nuns. In private, without informing the",
"text": "Secret Service or the Justice Department, Kissinger arranged a Saturday-",
"text": "morning meeting with three of the alleged kidnappers. Explaining to his",
"text": "guests that he would have most American soldiers out of Vietnam by",
"text": "mid-1972, he completely charmed them. They gave him some “Kidnap",
"text": "Kissinger” buttons and one of them remained a friend of his for years,",
"text": "visiting him on several occasions. This was not just a onetime ploy:",
"text": "Kissinger made a policy of working with those who disagreed with him.",
"text": "Colleagues commented that he seemed to get along better with his",
"text": "enemies than with his friends.",
"text": "Without enemies around us, we grow lazy. An enemy at our heels",
"text": "sharpens our wits, keeping us focused and alert. It is sometimes better,",
"text": "then, to use enemies as enemies rather than transforming them into",
"text": "friends or allies.",
"text": "Mao Tse-tung saw conflict as key in his approach to power. In 1937",
"text": "the Japanese invaded China, interrupting the civil war between Mao’s",
"text": "Communists and their enemy, the Nationalists.",
"text": "Fearing that the Japanese would wipe them out, some Communist",
"text": "leaders advocated leaving the Nationalists to fight the Japanese, and",
"text": "using the time to recuperate. Mao disagreed: The Japanese could not",
"text": "possibly defeat and occupy a vast country like China for long. Once they",
"text": "left, the Communists would have grown rusty if they had been out ofcombat for several years, and would be ill prepared to reopen their",
"text": "struggle with the Nationalists. To fight a formidable foe like the",
"text": "Japanese, in fact, would be the perfect training for the Communists’",
"text": "ragtag army. Mao’s plan was adopted, and it worked: By the time the",
"text": "Japanese finally retreated, the Communists had gained the fighting",
"text": "experience that helped them defeat the Nationalists.",
"text": "Years later, a Japanese visitor tried to apologize to Mao for his",
"text": "country’s invasion of China. Mao interrupted, “Should I not thank you",
"text": "instead?” Without a worthy opponent, he explained, a man or group",
"text": "cannot grow stronger.",
"text": "Mao’s strategy of constant conflict has several key components. First,",
"text": "be certain that in the long run you will emerge victorious. Never pick a",
"text": "fight with someone you are not sure you can defeat, as Mao knew the",
"text": "Japanese would be defeated in time. Second, if you have no apparent",
"text": "enemies, you must sometimes set up a convenient target, even turning a",
"text": "friend into an enemy. Mao used this tactic time and again in politics.",
"text": "Third, use such enemies to define your cause more clearly to the public,",
"text": "even framing it as a struggle of good against evil. Mao actually",
"text": "encouraged China’s disagreements with the Soviet Union and the United",
"text": "States; without clear-cut enemies, he believed, his people would lose any",
"text": "sense of what Chinese Communism meant. A sharply defined enemy is a",
"text": "far stronger argument for your side than all the words you could possibly",
"text": "put together.",
"text": "Never let the presence of enemies upset or distress you—you are far",
"text": "better off with a declared opponent or two than not knowing where your",
"text": "real enemies lie. The man of power welcomes conflict, using enemies to",
"text": "enhance his reputation as a surefooted fighter who can be relied upon in",
"text": "times of uncertainty.",
"text": "Image: The Jaws of Ingratitude. Knowing what would happen if you put",
"text": "a finger in the mouth of a lion, you would stay clear of it. With friends",
"text": "you will have no such caution, and if you hire them, they will eat you",
"text": "alive with ingratitude.",
"text": "Authority: Know how to use enemies for your own profit. You must",
"text": "learn to grab a sword not by its blade, which would cut you, but by the",
"text": "handle, which allows you to defend yourself. The wise man profits more",
"text": "from his enemies, than a fool from his friends. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-",
"text": "1658)REVERSAL",
"text": "Although it is generally best not to mix work with friendship, there are",
"text": "times when a friend can be used to greater effect than an enemy. A man",
"text": "of power, for example, often has dirty work that has to be done, but for",
"text": "the sake of appearances it is generally preferable to have other people do",
"text": "it for him; friends often do this the best, since their affection for him",
"text": "makes them willing to take chances. Also, if your plans go awry for",
"text": "some reason, you can use a friend as a convenient scapegoat. This “fall",
"text": "of the favorite” was a trick often used by kings and sovereigns: They",
"text": "would let their closest friend at court take the fall for a mistake, since the",
"text": "public would not believe that they would deliberately sacrifice a friend",
"text": "for such a purpose. Of course, after you play that card, you have lost",
"text": "your friend forever. It is best, then, to reserve the scapegoat role for",
"text": "someone who is close to you but not too close.",
"text": "Finally, the problem about working with friends is that it confuses the",
"text": "boundaries and distances that working requires. But if both partners in",
"text": "the arrangement understand the dangers involved, a friend often can be",
"text": "employed to great effect. You must never let your guard down in such a",
"text": "venture, however; always be on the lookout for any signs of emotional",
"text": "disturbance such as envy and ingratitude. Nothing is stable in the realm",
"text": "of power, and even the closest of friends can be transformed into the",
"text": "worst of enemies.LAW 3",
"text": "CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose",
"text": "behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot",
"text": "prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop",
"text": "them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it",
"text": "will be too late.PART I: USE DECOYED OBJECTS OF",
"text": "DESIRE AND RED HERRINGS TO THROW",
"text": "PEOPLE OFF THE SCENT",
"text": "If at any point in the deception you practice people have the slightest",
"text": "suspicionas to your intentions, all is lost. Do not give them the chance to",
"text": "sense what you are up to: Throw them off the scent by dragging red",
"text": "herrings across the path. Use false sincerity, send ambiguous signals, set",
"text": "up misleading objects of desire. Unable to distinguish the genuine from",
"text": "the false, they cannot pick out your real goal.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Over several weeks, Ninon de Lenclos, the most infamous courtesan of",
"text": "seventeenth-century France, listened patiently as the Marquis de Sevigné",
"text": "explained his struggles in pursuing a beautiful but difficult young",
"text": "countess. Ninon was sixty-two at the time, and more than experienced in",
"text": "matters of love; the marquis was a lad of twenty-two, handsome,",
"text": "dashing, but hopelessly inexperienced in romance. At first Ninon was",
"text": "amused to hear the marquis talk about his mistakes, but finally she had",
"text": "had enough. Unable to bear ineptitude in any realm, least of all in",
"text": "seducing a woman, she decided to take the young man under her wing.",
"text": "First, he had to understand that this was war, and that the beautiful",
"text": "countess was a citadel to which he had to lay siege as carefully as any",
"text": "general. Every step had to be planned and executed with the utmost",
"text": "attention to detail and nuance.",
"text": "Instructing the marquis to start over, Ninon told him to approach the",
"text": "countess with a bit of distance, an air of nonchalance. The next time the",
"text": "two were alone together, she said, he would confide in the countess as",
"text": "would a friend but not a potential lover. This was to throw her off the",
"text": "scent. The countess was no longer to take his interest in her for granted",
"text": "—perhaps he was only interested in friendship.Ninon planned ahead. Once the countess was confused, it would be",
"text": "time to make her jealous. At the next encounter, at a major fête in Paris,",
"text": "the marquis would show up with a beautiful young woman at his side.",
"text": "This beautiful young woman had equally beautiful friends, so that",
"text": "wherever the countess would now see the marquis, he would be",
"text": "surrounded by the most stunning young women in Paris. Not only would",
"text": "the countess be seething with jealousy, she would come to see the",
"text": "marquis as someone who was desired by others. It was hard for Ninon to",
"text": "make the marquis understand, but she patiently explained that a woman",
"text": "who is interested in a man wants to see that other women are interested",
"text": "in him, too. Not only does that give him instant value, it makes it all the",
"text": "more satisfying to snatch him from their clutches.",
"text": "Once the countess was jealous but intrigued, it would be time to",
"text": "beguile her. On Ninon’s instructions, the marquis would fail to show up",
"text": "at affairs where the countess expected to see him. Then, suddenly, he",
"text": "would appear at salons he had never frequented before, but that the",
"text": "countess attended often. She would be unable to predict his moves. All",
"text": "of this would push her into the state of emotional confusion that is a",
"text": "prerequisite for successful seduction.",
"text": "These moves were executed, and took several weeks. Ninon",
"text": "monitored the marquis’s progress: Through her network of spies, she",
"text": "heard how the countess would laugh a little harder at his witticisms,",
"text": "listen more closely to his stories. She heard that the countess was",
"text": "suddenly asking questions about him. Her friends told her that at social",
"text": "affairs the countess would often look up at the marquis, following his",
"text": "steps. Ninon felt certain that the young woman was falling under his",
"text": "spell. It was a matter of weeks now, maybe a month or two, but if all",
"text": "went smoothly, the citadel would fall.",
"text": "A few days later the marquis was at the countess’s home. They were",
"text": "alone. Suddenly he was a different man: This time acting on his own",
"text": "impulse, rather than following Ninon’s instructions, he took the",
"text": "countess’s hands and told her he was in love with her. The young woman",
"text": "seemed confused, a reaction he did not expect. She became polite, then",
"text": "excused herself. For the rest of the evening she avoided his eyes, was not",
"text": "there to say good-night to him. The next few times he visited he was told",
"text": "she was not at home. When she finally admitted him again, the two felt",
"text": "awkward and uncomfortable with each other. The spell was broken.",
"text": "InterpretationNinon de Lenclos knew everything about the art of love. The greatest",
"text": "writ ers, thinkers, and politicians of the time had been her lovers—men",
"text": "like La Rochefoucauld, Molière, and Richelieu. Seduction was a game to",
"text": "her, to be practiced with skill. As she got older, and her reputation grew,",
"text": "the most important families in France would send their sons to her to be",
"text": "instructed in matters of love.",
"text": "Ninon knew that men and women are very different, but when it",
"text": "comes to seduction they feel the same: Deep down inside, they often",
"text": "sense when they are being seduced, but they give in because they enjoy",
"text": "the feeling of being led along. It is a pleasure to let go, and to allow the",
"text": "other person to detour you into a strange country. Everything in",
"text": "seduction, however, depends on suggestion. You cannot announce your",
"text": "intentions or reveal them directly in words. Instead you must throw your",
"text": "targets off the scent. To surrender to your guidance they must be",
"text": "appropriately confused. You have to scramble your signals—appear",
"text": "interested in another man or woman (the decoy), then hint at being",
"text": "interested in the target, then feign indifference, on and on. Such patterns",
"text": "not only confuse, they excite.",
"text": "Imagine this story from the countess’s perspective: After a few of the",
"text": "marquis’s moves, she sensed the marquis was playing some sort of game,",
"text": "but the game delighted her. She did not know where he was leading her,",
"text": "but so much the better. His moves intrigued her, each of them keeping",
"text": "her waiting for the next one—she even enjoyed her jealousy and",
"text": "confusion, for sometimes any emotion is better than the boredom of",
"text": "security. Perhaps the marquis had ulterior motives; most men do. But she",
"text": "was willing to wait and see, and probably if she had been made to wait",
"text": "long enough, what he was up to would not have mattered.",
"text": "The moment the marquis uttered that fatal word “love,” however, all",
"text": "was changed. This was no longer a game with moves, it was an artless",
"text": "show of passion. His intention was revealed: He was seducing her. This",
"text": "put everything he had done in a new light. All that before had been",
"text": "charming now seemed ugly and conniving; the countess felt embarrassed",
"text": "and used. A door closed that would never open again.",
"text": "Do not be held a cheat, even though it is impossible to live today without",
"text": "being one.",
"text": "Let your greatest cunning lie in covering up what looks like cunning.",
"text": "Ballasar Gracián, 1601-1658OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "In 1850 the young Otto von Bismarck, then a thirty-five-year-old deputy",
"text": "in the Prussian parliament, was at a turning point in his career. The issues",
"text": "of the day were the unification of the many states (including Prussia) into",
"text": "which Germany was then divided, and a war against Austria, the",
"text": "powerful neighbor to the south that hoped to keep the Germans weak and",
"text": "at odds, even threatening to intervene if they tried to unite. Prince",
"text": "William, next in line to be Prussia’s king, was in favor of going to war,",
"text": "and the parliament rallied to the cause, prepared to back any mobilization",
"text": "of troops. The only ones to oppose war were the present king, Frederick",
"text": "William IV, and his ministers, who preferred to appease the powerful",
"text": "Austrians.",
"text": "Throughout his career, Bismarck had been a loyal, even passionate",
"text": "supporter of Prussian might and power. He dreamed of German",
"text": "unification, of going to war against Austria and humiliating the country",
"text": "that for so long had kept Germany divided. A former soldier, he saw",
"text": "warfare as a glorious business.",
"text": "This, after all, was the man who years later would say, “The great",
"text": "questions of the time will be decided, not by speeches and resolutions,",
"text": "but by iron and blood.”",
"text": "Passionate patriot and lover of military glory, Bismarck nevertheless",
"text": "gave a speech in parliament at the height of the war fever that astonished",
"text": "all who heard it. “Woe unto the statesman,” he said, “who makes war",
"text": "without a reason that will still be valid when the war is over! After the",
"text": "war, you will all look differently at these questions. Will you then have",
"text": "the courage to turn to the peasant contemplating the ashes of his farm, to",
"text": "the man who has been crippled, to the father who has lost his children?”",
"text": "Not only did Bismarck go on to talk of the madness of this war, but,",
"text": "strangest of all, he praised Austria and defended her actions. This went",
"text": "against everything he had stood for. The consequences were immediate.",
"text": "Bismarck was against the war—what could this possibly mean? Other",
"text": "deputies were confused, and several of them changed their votes.",
"text": "Eventually the king and his ministers won out, and war was averted.",
"text": "A few weeks after Bismarck’s infamous speech, the king, grateful that",
"text": "he had spoken for peace, made him a cabinet minister. A few years later",
"text": "he became the Prussian premier. In this role he eventually led his country",
"text": "and a peace-loving king into a war against Austria, crushing the former",
"text": "empire and establishing a mighty German state, with Prussia at its head.Interpretation",
"text": "At the time of his speech in 1850, Bismarck made several calculations.",
"text": "First, he sensed that the Prussian military, which had not kept pace with",
"text": "other European armies, was unready for war—that Austria, in fact, might",
"text": "very well win, a disastrous result for the future. Second, if the war were",
"text": "lost and Bismarck had supported it, his career would be gravely",
"text": "jeopardized. The king and his conservative ministers wanted peace;",
"text": "Bismarck wanted power. The answer was to throw people off the scent",
"text": "by supporting a cause he detested, saying things he would laugh at if said",
"text": "by another. A whole country was fooled. It was because of Bismarck’s",
"text": "speech that the king made him a minister, a position from which he",
"text": "quickly rose to be prime minister, attaining the power to strengthen the",
"text": "Prussian military and accomplish what he had wanted all along: the",
"text": "humiliation of Austria and the unification of Germany under Prussia’s",
"text": "leadership.",
"text": "Bismarck was certainly one of the cleverest statesman who ever lived,",
"text": "a master of strategy and deception. No one suspected what he was up to",
"text": "in this case. Had he announced his real intentions, arguing that it was",
"text": "better to wait now and fight later, he would not have won the argument,",
"text": "since most Prussians wanted war at that moment and mistakenly believed",
"text": "that their army was superior to the Austrians. Had he played up to the",
"text": "king, asking to be made a minister in exchange for supporting peace, he",
"text": "would not have succeeded either: The king would have distrusted his",
"text": "ambition and doubted his sincerity.",
"text": "By being completely insincere and sending misleading signals,",
"text": "however, he deceived everyone, concealed his purpose, and attained",
"text": "everything he wanted. Such is the power of hiding your intentions.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Most people are open books. They say what they feel, blurt out their",
"text": "opinions at every opportunity, and constantly reveal their plans and",
"text": "intentions. They do this for several reasons. First, it is easy and natural to",
"text": "always want to talk about one’s feelings and plans for the future. It takes",
"text": "effort to control your tongue and monitor what you reveal. Second, many",
"text": "believe that by being honest and open they are winning people’s heartsand showing their good nature.They are greatly deluded. Honesty is",
"text": "actually a blunt instrument, which bloodies more than it cuts. Your",
"text": "honesty is likely to offend people; it is much more prudent to tailor your",
"text": "words, telling people what they want to hear rather than the coarse and",
"text": "ugly truth of what you feel or think. More important, by being",
"text": "unabashedly open you make yourself so predictable and familiar that it is",
"text": "almost impossible to respect or fear you, and power will not accrue to a",
"text": "person who cannot inspire such emotions.",
"text": "If you yearn for power, quickly lay honesty aside, and train yourself in",
"text": "the art of concealing your intentions. Master the art and you will always",
"text": "have the upper hand. Basic to an ability to conceal one’s intentions is a",
"text": "simple truth about human nature: Our first instinct is to always trust",
"text": "appearances. We cannot go around doubting the reality of what we see",
"text": "and hear—constantly imagining that appearances concealed something",
"text": "else would exhaust and terrify us. This fact makes it relatively easy to",
"text": "conceal one’s intentions. Simply dangle an object you seem to desire, a",
"text": "goal you seem to aim for, in front of people’s eyes and they will take the",
"text": "appearance for reality. Once their eyes focus on the decoy, they will fail",
"text": "to notice what you are really up to. In seduction, set up conflicting",
"text": "signals, such as desire and indifference, and you not only throw them off",
"text": "the scent, you inflame their desire to possess you.",
"text": "A tactic that is often effective in setting up a red herring is to appear to",
"text": "support an idea or cause that is actually contrary to your own sentiments.",
"text": "(Bismarck used this to great effect in his speech in 1850.) Most people",
"text": "will believe you have experienced a change of heart, since it is so",
"text": "unusual to play so lightly with something as emotional as one’s opinions",
"text": "and values. The same applies for any decoyed object of desire: Seem to",
"text": "want something in which you are actually not at all interested and your",
"text": "enemies will be thrown off the scent, making all kinds of errors in their",
"text": "calculations.",
"text": "During the War of the Spanish Succession in 1711, the Duke of",
"text": "Marlborough, head of the English army, wanted to destroy a key French",
"text": "fort, because it protected a vital thoroughfare into France. Yet he knew",
"text": "that if he destroyed it, the French would realize what he wanted—to",
"text": "advance down that road. Instead, then, he merely captured the fort, and",
"text": "garrisoned it with some of his troops, making it appear as if he wanted it",
"text": "for some purpose of his own. The French attacked the fort and the duke",
"text": "let them recapture it. Once they had it back, though, they destroyed it,",
"text": "figuring that the duke had wanted it for some important reason. Now thatthe fort was gone, the road was unprotected, and Marlborough could",
"text": "easily march into France.",
"text": "Use this tactic in the following manner: Hide your intentions not by",
"text": "closing up (with the risk of appearing secretive, and making people",
"text": "suspicious) but by talking endlessly about your desires and goals—just",
"text": "not your real ones. You will kill three birds with one stone: You appear",
"text": "friendly, open, and trusting; you conceal your intentions; and you send",
"text": "your rivals on time-consuming wild-goose chases.",
"text": "Another powerful tool in throwing people off the scent is false",
"text": "sincerity. People easily mistake sincerity for honesty. Remember—their",
"text": "first instinct is to trust appearances, and since they value honesty and",
"text": "want to believe in the honesty of those around them, they will rarely",
"text": "doubt you or see through your act. Seeming to believe what you say",
"text": "gives your words great weight. This is how Iago deceived and destroyed",
"text": "Othello: Given the depth of his emotions, the apparent sincerity of his",
"text": "concerns about Desde mona’s supposed infidelity, how could Othello",
"text": "distrust him? This is also how the great con artist Yellow Kid Weil pulled",
"text": "the wool over suckers’ eyes: Seeming to believe so deeply in the",
"text": "decoyed object he was dangling in front of them (a phony stock, a touted",
"text": "racehorse), he made its reality hard to doubt. It is important, of course,",
"text": "not to go too far in this area. Sincerity is a tricky tool: Appear",
"text": "overpassionate and you raise suspicions. Be measured and believable or",
"text": "your ruse will seem the put-on that it is.",
"text": "To make your false sincerity an effective weapon in concealing your",
"text": "intentions, espouse a belief in honesty and forthrightness as important",
"text": "social values. Do this as publicly as possible. Emphasize your position",
"text": "on this subject by occasionally divulging some heartfelt thought—though",
"text": "only one that is actually meaningless or irrelevant, of course. Napoleon’s",
"text": "minister Talleyrand was a master at taking people into his confidence by",
"text": "revealing some apparent secret. This feigned confidence—a decoy—",
"text": "would then elicit a real confidence on the other person’s part.",
"text": "Remember: The best deceivers do everything they can to cloak their",
"text": "roguish qualities. They cultivate an air of honesty in one area to disguise",
"text": "their dishonesty in others. Honesty is merely another decoy in their",
"text": "arsenal of weapons.PART II: USE SMOKE SCREENS TO",
"text": "DISGUISE YOUR ACTIONS",
"text": "Deception is always the best strategy, but the best deceptions require a",
"text": "screen of smoke to distract people attention from your real purpose. The",
"text": "bland exterior—like the unreadable poker face—is often the perfect",
"text": "smoke screen, hiding your intentions behind the comfortable and",
"text": "familiar. If you lead the sucker down a familiar path, he won’t catch on",
"text": "when you lead him into a trap.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I",
"text": "In 1910, a Mr. Sam Geezil of Chicago sold his warehouse business for",
"text": "close to $1 million. He settled down to semiretirement and the managing",
"text": "of his many properties, but deep inside he itched for the old days of deal-",
"text": "making. One day a young man named Joseph Weil visited his office,",
"text": "wanting to buy an apartment he had up for sale. Geezil explained the",
"text": "terms: The price was $8,000, but he only required a down payment of",
"text": "$2,000. Weil said he would sleep on it, but he came back the following",
"text": "day and offered to pay the full $8,000 in cash, if Geezil could wait a",
"text": "couple of days, until a deal Weil was working on came through. Even in",
"text": "semiretirement, a clever businessman like Geezil was curious as to how",
"text": "Weil would be able to come up with so much cash (roughly $150,000",
"text": "today) so quickly. Weil seemed reluctant to say, and quickly changed the",
"text": "subject, but Geezil was persistent. Finally, after assurances of",
"text": "confidentiality, Weil told Geezil the following story.",
"text": "THE KING OF ISRAEL IGNS WORSHIP OF",
"text": "THE",
"text": "Then Jehu assembled all the people, and said to them, “Ahab served",
"text": "Ba‘al a little; but Jehu will serve him much more. Now therefore call to",
"text": "me all the prophets of Ba’al, all his worshippers and all his priests; letnone be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Ba‘al; whoever is",
"text": "missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy",
"text": "the worshippers of Ba’al. And Jehu ordered, “Sanctify a solemn",
"text": "assembly for Ba‘al. ”So they proclaimed it. And Jehu sent throughout all",
"text": "Israel; and all the worshippers of Ba’al came, so that there was not a",
"text": "man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Ba‘al, and the",
"text": "house of Ba’al was filled from one end to the other…. Then Jehu went",
"text": "into the house of Ba‘al … and he said to the worshippers of Ba’al,",
"text": "“Search, and see that there is no servant of the LORD here among you,",
"text": "but only the worshippers of Ba‘al.“Then he went in to offer sacrifices",
"text": "and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside, and",
"text": "said, ”The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to",
"text": "escape shall forfeit his life.“ So as soon as he had made an end of",
"text": "offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers,",
"text": "”Go in and slay them; let not a man escape. ” So when they put them to",
"text": "the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the",
"text": "inner room of the house of Ba’al and they brought out the pillar that was",
"text": "in the house of Ba‘al and burned it. And they demolished the pillar of",
"text": "Ba’al and demolished the house of Ba‘al, and made it a latrine to this",
"text": "day. Thus Jehu wiped out Ba’al from Israel.",
"text": "OLD TESTAMENT, 2 KINGS 10:18-28",
"text": "Weil’s uncle was the secretary to a coterie of multimillionaire",
"text": "financiers. These wealthy gentlemen had purchased a hunting lodge in",
"text": "Michigan ten years ago, at a cheap price. They had not used the lodge for",
"text": "a few years, so they had decided to sell it and had asked Weil’s uncle to",
"text": "get whatever he could for it. For reasons—good reasons—of his own, the",
"text": "uncle had been nursing a grudge against the millionaires for years; this",
"text": "was his chance to get back at them. He would sell the property for",
"text": "$35,000 to a set up man (whom it was Weil’s job to find). The financiers",
"text": "were too wealthy to worry about this low price. The set-up man would",
"text": "then turn around and sell the property again for its real price, around",
"text": "$155,000. The uncle, Weil, and the third man would split the profits from",
"text": "this second sale. It was all legal and for a good cause—the uncle’s just",
"text": "retribution.",
"text": "Geezil had heard enough: He wanted to be the set-up buyer. Weil was",
"text": "reluctant to involve him, but Geezil would not back down: The idea of a",
"text": "large profit, plus a little adventure, had him champing at the bit. Weil",
"text": "explained that Geezil would have to put up the $35,000 in cash to bring",
"text": "the deal off. Geezil, a millionaire, said he could get the money with a",
"text": "snap of his fingers. Weil finally relented and agreed to arrange a meetingbetween the uncle, Geezil, and the financiers, in the town of Galesburg,",
"text": "Illinois.",
"text": "On the train ride to Galesburg, Geezil met the uncle—an impressive",
"text": "man, with whom he avidly discussed business. Weil also brought along a",
"text": "companion, a somewhat paunchy man named George Gross. Weil",
"text": "explained to Geezil that he himself was a boxing trainer, that Gross was",
"text": "one of the promising prizefighters he trained, and that he had asked",
"text": "Gross to come along to make sure the fighter stayed in shape. For a",
"text": "promising fighter, Gross was unimpressive looking—he had gray hair",
"text": "and a beer belly—but Geezil was so excited about the deal that he didn’t",
"text": "really think about the man’s flabby appearance.",
"text": "Once in Galesburg, Weil and his uncle went to fetch the financiers",
"text": "while Geezil waited in a hotel room with Gross, who promptly put on his",
"text": "boxing trunks. As Geezil half watched, Gross began to shadowbox.",
"text": "Distracted as he was, Geezil ignored how badly the boxer wheezed after",
"text": "a few minutes of exercise, although his style seemed real enough. An",
"text": "hour later, Weil and his uncle reappeared with the financiers, an",
"text": "impressive, intimidating group of men, all wearing fancy suits. The",
"text": "meeting went well and the financiers agreed to sell the lodge to Geezil,",
"text": "who had already had the $35,000 wired to a local bank.",
"text": "This minor business now settled, the financiers sat back in their chairs",
"text": "and began to banter about high finance, throwing out the name “J. P.",
"text": "Morgan” as if they knew the man. Finally one of them noticed the boxer",
"text": "in the corner of the room. Weil explained what he was doing there. The",
"text": "financier countered that he too had a boxer in his entourage, whom he",
"text": "named. Weil laughed brazenly and exclaimed that his man could easily",
"text": "knock out their man. Conversation escalated into argument. In the heat",
"text": "of passion, Weil challenged the men to a bet. The financiers eagerly",
"text": "agreed and left to get their man ready for a fight the next day.",
"text": "As soon as they had left, the uncle yelled at Weil, right in front of",
"text": "Geezil; They did not have enough money to bet with, and once the",
"text": "financiers discovered this, the uncle would be fired. Weil apologized for",
"text": "getting him in this mess, but he had a plan: He knew the other boxer",
"text": "well, and with a little bribe, they could fix the fight. But where would the",
"text": "money come from for the bet? the uncle replied. Without it they were as",
"text": "good as dead. Finally Geezil had heard enough. Unwilling to jeopardize",
"text": "his deal with any ill will, he offered his own $35,000 cash for part of the",
"text": "bet. Even if he lost that, he would wire for more money and still make a",
"text": "profit on the sale of the lodge. The uncle and nephew thanked him. With",
"text": "their own $15,000 and Geezil’s $35,000 they would manage to haveenough for the bet. That evening, as Geezil watched the two boxers",
"text": "rehearse the fix in the hotel room, his mind reeled at the killing he was",
"text": "going to make from both the boxing match and the sale of the lodge.",
"text": "The fight took place in a gym the next day. Weil handled the cash,",
"text": "which was placed for security in a locked box. Everything was",
"text": "proceeding as planned in the hotel room. The financiers were looking",
"text": "glum at how badly their fighter was doing, and Geezil was dreaming",
"text": "about the easy money he was about to make. Then, suddenly, a wild",
"text": "swing by the financier’s fighter hit Gross hard in the face, knocking him",
"text": "down. When he hit the canvas, blood spurted from his mouth. He",
"text": "coughed, then lay still. One of the financiers, a former doctor, checked",
"text": "his pulse; he was dead. The millionaires panicked: Everyone had to get",
"text": "out before the police arrived-they could all be charged with murder.",
"text": "Terrified, Geezil hightailed it out of the gym and back to Chicago,",
"text": "leaving behind his $35,000 which he was only too glad to forget, for it",
"text": "seemed a small price to pay to avoid being implicated in a crime. He",
"text": "never wanted to see Weil or any of the others again.",
"text": "After Geezil scurried out, Gross stood up, under his own steam. The",
"text": "blood that had spurted from his mouth came from a ball filled with",
"text": "chicken blood and hot water that he had hidden in his cheek. The whole",
"text": "affair had been masterminded by Weil, better known as “the Yellow",
"text": "Kid,” one of the most creative con artists in history. Weil split the",
"text": "$35,000 with the financiers and the boxers (all fellow con artists)—a",
"text": "nice little profit for a few days’ work.",
"text": "SN BROAD",
"text": "This means to create a front that eventually becomes imbued with an",
"text": "atmosphere or impression of familiarity, within which the strategist may",
"text": "maneuver unseen while all eyes are trained to see obvious familiarities.",
"text": "“THE THIRTY-SIX STRATEGIES.” QUOTED IN THF JAPANESE",
"text": "ART OF WAR.",
"text": "THOMAS CLEARY, 1991",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The Yellow Kid had staked out Geezil as the perfect sucker long before",
"text": "he set up the con. He knew the boxing-match scam would be the perfect",
"text": "ruse to separate Geezil from his money quickly and definitively. But he",
"text": "also knew that if he had begun by trying to interest Geezil in the boxingmatch, he would have failed miserably. He had to conceal his intentions",
"text": "and switch attention, create a smoke screen—in this case the sale of the",
"text": "lodge.",
"text": "On the train ride and in the hotel room Geezil’s mind had been",
"text": "completely occupied with the pending deal, the easy money, the chance",
"text": "to hobnob with wealthy men. He had failed to notice that Gross was out",
"text": "of shape and middle-aged at best. Such is the distracting power of a",
"text": "smoke screen. Engrossed in the business deal, Geezil’s attention was",
"text": "easily diverted to the boxing match, but only at a point when it was",
"text": "already too late for him to notice the details that would have given Gross",
"text": "away. The match, after all, now depended on a bribe rather than on the",
"text": "boxer’s physical condition. And Geezil was so distracted at the end by",
"text": "the illusion of the boxer’s death that he completely forgot about his",
"text": "money.",
"text": "Learn from the Yellow Kid: The familiar, inconspicuous front is the",
"text": "perfect smoke screen. Approach your mark with an idea that seems",
"text": "ordinary enough—a business deal, financial intrigue. The sucker’s mind",
"text": "is distracted, his suspicions allayed. That is when you gently guide him",
"text": "onto the second path, the slippery slope down which he slides helplessly",
"text": "into your trap.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II",
"text": "In the mid-1920s, the powerful warlords of Ethiopia were coming to the",
"text": "realization that a young man of the nobility named Haile Selassie, also",
"text": "known as Ras Tafari, was outcompeting them all and nearing the point",
"text": "where he could proclaim himself their leader, unifying the country for",
"text": "the first time in decades. Most of his rivals could not understand how this",
"text": "wispy, quiet, mild-mannered man had been able to take control. Yet in",
"text": "1927, Selassie was able to summon the warlords, one at a time, to come",
"text": "to Addis Ababa to declare their loyalty and recognize him as leader.",
"text": "Some hurried, some hesitated, but only one, Dejazmach Balcha of",
"text": "Sidamo, dared defy Selassie totally. A blustery man, Balcha was a great",
"text": "warrior, and he considered the new leader weak and unworthy. He",
"text": "pointedly stayed away from the capital. Finally Selassie, in his gentle but",
"text": "stem way, commanded Balcha to come. The warlord decided to obey, but",
"text": "in doing so he would turn the tables on this pretender to the Ethiopianthrone: He would come to Addis Ababa at his own speed, and with an",
"text": "army of 10,000 men, a force large enough to defend himself, perhaps",
"text": "even start a civil war. Stationing this formidable force in a valley three",
"text": "miles from the capital, he waited, as a king would. Selassie would have",
"text": "to come to him.",
"text": "Selassie did indeed send emissaries, asking Balcha to attend an",
"text": "afternoon banquet in his honor. But Balcha, no fool, knew history—he",
"text": "knew that previous kings and lords of Ethiopia had used banquets as a",
"text": "trap. Once he was there and full of drink, Selassie would have him",
"text": "arrested or murdered. To signal his understanding of the situation, he",
"text": "agreed to come to the banquet, but only if he could bring his personal",
"text": "bodyguard—600 of his best soldiers, all armed and ready to defend him",
"text": "and themselves. To Balcha’s surprise, Selassie answered with the utmost",
"text": "politeness that he would be honored to play host to such warriors.",
"text": "On the way to the banquet, Balcha warned his soldiers not to get drunk",
"text": "and to be on their guard. When they arrived at the palace, Selassie was",
"text": "his charming best. He deferred to Balcha, treated him as if he desperately",
"text": "needed his approval and cooperation. But Balcha refused to be charmed,",
"text": "and he warned Selassie that if he did not return to his camp by nightfall,",
"text": "his army had orders to attack the capital. Selassie reacted as if hurt by his",
"text": "mistrust. Over the meal, when it came time for the traditional singing of",
"text": "songs in honor of Ethiopia’s leaders, he made a point of allowing only",
"text": "songs honoring the warlord of Sidamo. It seemed to Balcha that Selassie",
"text": "was scared, intimidated by this great warrior who could not be outwitted.",
"text": "Sensing the change, Balcha believed that he would be the one to call the",
"text": "shots in the days to come.",
"text": "At the end of the afternoon, Balcha and his soldiers began their march",
"text": "back to camp amidst cheers and gun salutes. Looking back to the capital",
"text": "over his shoulder, he planned his strategy—how his own soldiers would",
"text": "march through the capital in triumph within weeks, and Selassie would",
"text": "be put in his place, his place being either prison or death. When Balcha",
"text": "came in sight of his camp, however, he saw that something was terribly",
"text": "wrong. Where before there had been colorful tents stretching as far as the",
"text": "eye could see, now there was nothing, only smoke from doused fires.",
"text": "What devil’s magic was this?",
"text": "A witness told Balcha what had happened. During the banquet, a large",
"text": "army, commanded by an ally of Selassie’s, had stolen up on Balcha’s",
"text": "encampment by a side route he had not seen. This army had not come to",
"text": "fight, however: Knowing that Balcha would have heard a noisy battle",
"text": "and hurried back with his 600-man bodyguard, Selassie had armed hisown troops with baskets of gold and cash. They had surrounded Balcha’s",
"text": "army and proceeded to purchase every last one of their weapons. Those",
"text": "who refused were easily intimidated. Within a few hours, Balcha’s entire",
"text": "force had been disarmed and scattered in all directions.",
"text": "Realizing his danger, Balcha decided to march south with his 600",
"text": "soldiers to regroup, but the same army that had disarmed his soldiers",
"text": "blocked his way. The other way out was to march on the capital, but",
"text": "Selassie had set a large army to defend it. Like a chess player, he had",
"text": "predicted Balcha’s moves, and had checkmated him. For the first time in",
"text": "his life, Balcha surrendered. To repent his sins of pride and ambition, he",
"text": "agreed to enter a monastery.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Throughout Selassie’s long reign, no one could quite figure him out.",
"text": "Ethiopians like their leaders fierce, but Selassie, who wore the front of a",
"text": "gentle, peace-loving man, lasted longer than any of them. Never angry or",
"text": "impatient, he lured his victims with sweet smiles, lulling them with",
"text": "charm and obsequiousness before he attacked. In the case of Balcha,",
"text": "Selassie played on the man’s wariness, his suspicion that the banquet was",
"text": "a trap—which in fact it was, but not the one he expected. Selassie’s way",
"text": "of allaying Balcha’s fears—letting him bring his bodyguard to the",
"text": "banquet, giving him top billing there, making him feel in control—",
"text": "created a thick smoke screen, concealing the real action three miles",
"text": "away.",
"text": "Remember: The paranoid and wary are often the easiest to deceive.",
"text": "Win their trust in one area and you have a smoke screen that blinds their",
"text": "view in another, letting you creep up and level them with a devastating",
"text": "blow. A helpful or apparently honest gesture, or one that implies the",
"text": "other person’s superiority—these are perfect diversionary devices.",
"text": "Properly set up, the smoke screen is a weapon of great power. It",
"text": "enabled the gentle Selassie to totally destroy his enemy, without firing a",
"text": "single bullet.",
"text": "Do not underestimate the power of Tafari. He creeps",
"text": "like a mouse but he has jaws like a lion.",
"text": "Bacha of Sidamo’s last worlds before entering the monasteryKEYS TO POWER",
"text": "If you believe that deceivers are colorful folk who mislead with elaborate",
"text": "lies and tall tales, you are greatly mistaken. The best deceivers utilize a",
"text": "bland and inconspicuous front that calls no attention to themselves. They",
"text": "know that extravagant words and gestures immediately raise suspicion.",
"text": "Instead, they envelop their mark in the familiar, the banal, the harmless.",
"text": "In Yellow Kid Weil’s dealings with Sam Geezil, the familiar was a",
"text": "business deal. In the Ethiopian case, it was Selassie’s misleading",
"text": "obsequiousness—exactly what Balcha would have expected from a",
"text": "weaker warlord.",
"text": "Once you have lulled your suckers’ attention with the familiar, they",
"text": "will not notice the deception being perpetrated behind their backs. This",
"text": "derives from a simple truth: people can only focus on one thing at a time.",
"text": "It is really too difficult for them to imagine that the bland and harmless",
"text": "person they are dealing with is simultaneously setting up something else.",
"text": "The grayer and more uniform the smoke in your smoke screen, the better",
"text": "it conceals your intentions. In the decoy and red herring devices",
"text": "discussed in Part I, you actively distract people; in the smoke screen, you",
"text": "lull your victims, drawing them into your web. Because it is so hypnotic,",
"text": "this is often the best way of concealing your intentions.",
"text": "The simplest form of smoke screen is facial expression. Behind a",
"text": "bland, unreadable exterior, all sorts of mayhem can be planned, without",
"text": "detection. This is a weapon that the most powerful men in history have",
"text": "learned to perfect. It was said that no one could read Franklin D.",
"text": "Roosevelt’s face. Baron James Rothschild made a lifelong practice of",
"text": "disguising his real thoughts behind bland smiles and nondescript looks.",
"text": "Stendhal wrote of Talleyrand, “Never was a face less of a barometer.”",
"text": "Henry Kissinger would bore his opponents around the negotiating table",
"text": "to tears with his monotonous voice, his blank look, his endless",
"text": "recitations of details; then, as their eyes glazed over, he would suddenly",
"text": "hit them with a list of bold terms. Caught off-guard, they would be easily",
"text": "intimidated. As one poker manual explains it, “While playing his hand,",
"text": "the good player is seldom an actor. Instead he practices a bland behavior",
"text": "that minimizes readable patterns, frustrates and confuses opponents,",
"text": "permits greater concentration.”",
"text": "An adaptable concept, the smoke screen can be practiced on a number",
"text": "of levels, all playing on the psychological principles of distraction and",
"text": "misdirection. One of the most effective smoke screens is the noblegesture. People want to believe apparently noble gestures are genuine,",
"text": "for the belief is pleasant. They rarely notice how deceptive these gestures",
"text": "can be.",
"text": "The art dealer Joseph Duveen was once confronted with a terrible",
"text": "problem. The millionaires who had paid so dearly for Duveen’s paintings",
"text": "were running out of wall space, and with inheritance taxes getting ever",
"text": "higher, it seemed unlikely that they would keep buying. The solution was",
"text": "the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which Duveen helped",
"text": "create in 1937 by getting Andrew Mellon to donate his collection to it.",
"text": "The National Gallery was the perfect front for Duveen. In one gesture,",
"text": "his clients avoided taxes, cleared wall space for new purchases, and",
"text": "reduced the number of paintings on the market, maintaining the upward",
"text": "pressure on their prices. All this while the donors created the appearance",
"text": "of being public benefactors.",
"text": "Another effective smoke screen is the pattern, the establishment of a",
"text": "series of actions that seduce the victim into believing you will continue",
"text": "in the same way. The pattern plays on the psychology of anticipation:",
"text": "Our behavior conforms to patterns, or so we like to think.",
"text": "In 1878 the American robber baron Jay Gould created a company that",
"text": "began to threaten the monopoly of the telegraph company Western",
"text": "Union. The directors of Western Union decided to buy Gould’s company",
"text": "up— they had to spend a hefty sum, but they figured they had managed",
"text": "to rid themselves of an irritating competitor. A few months later, though,",
"text": "Gould was it at again, complaining he had been treated unfairly. He",
"text": "started up a second company to compete with Western Union and its new",
"text": "acquisition. The same thing happened again: Western Union bought him",
"text": "out to shut him up. Soon the pattern began for the third time, but now",
"text": "Gould went for the jugular: He suddenly staged a bloody takeover",
"text": "struggle and managed to gain complete control of Western Union. He",
"text": "had established a pattern that had tricked the company’s directors into",
"text": "thinking his goal was to be bought out at a handsome rate. Once they",
"text": "paid him off, they relaxed and failed to notice that he was actually",
"text": "playing for higher stakes. The pattern is powerful in that it deceives the",
"text": "other person into expecting the opposite of what you are really doing.",
"text": "Another psychological weakness on which to construct a smoke",
"text": "screen is the tendency to mistake appearances for reality—the feeling",
"text": "that if someone seems to belong to your group, their belonging must be",
"text": "real. This habit makes the seamless blend a very effective front. The trick",
"text": "is simple: You simply blend in with those around you. The better you",
"text": "blend, the less suspicious you become. During the Cold War of the 1950sand ’60s, as is now notorious, a slew of British civil servants passed",
"text": "secrets to the Soviets. They went undetected for years because they were",
"text": "apparently decent chaps, had gone to all the right schools, and fit the old-",
"text": "boy network perfectly. Blending in is the perfect smoke screen for",
"text": "spying. The better you do it, the better you can conceal your intentions.",
"text": "Remember: It takes patience and humility to dull your brilliant colors,",
"text": "to put on the mask of the inconspicuous. Do not despair at having to",
"text": "wear such a bland mask—it is often your unreadability that draws people",
"text": "to you and makes you appear a person of power.",
"text": "Image: A Sheep’s Skin.",
"text": "A sheep never marauds,",
"text": "a sheep never deceives,",
"text": "a sheep is magnificently",
"text": "dumb and docile. With a",
"text": "sheepskin on his back,",
"text": "a fox can pass right",
"text": "into the chicken coop.",
"text": "Authority: Have you ever heard of a skillful general, who intends to",
"text": "surprise a citadel, announcing his plan to his enemy? Conceal your",
"text": "purpose and hide your progress; do not disclose the extent of your",
"text": "designs until they cannot be opposed, until the combat is over. Win the",
"text": "victory before you declare the war. In a word, imitate those warlike",
"text": "people whose designs are not known except by the ravaged country",
"text": "through which they have passed. (Ninon de Lenclos, 1623-1706)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "No smoke screen, red herring, false sincerity, or any other diversionary",
"text": "device will succeed in concealing your intentions if you already have an",
"text": "established reputation for deception. And as you get older and achieve",
"text": "success, it often becomes increasingly difficult to disguise your cunning.",
"text": "Everyone knows you practice deception; persist in playing naive and you",
"text": "run the risk of seeming the rankest hypocrite, which will severely limit",
"text": "your room to maneuver. In such cases it is better to own up, to appear the",
"text": "honest rogue, or, better, the repentant rogue. Not only will you beadmired for your frankness, but, most wonderful and strange of all, you",
"text": "will be able to continue your stratagems.",
"text": "As P. T. Barnum, the nineteenth-century king of humbuggery, grew",
"text": "older, he learned to embrace his reputation as a grand deceiver. At one",
"text": "point he organized a buffalo hunt in New Jersey, complete with Indians",
"text": "and a few imported buffalo. He publicized the hunt as genuine, but it",
"text": "came off as so completely fake that the crowd, instead of getting angry",
"text": "and asking for their money back, was greatly amused. They knew",
"text": "Barnum pulled tricks all the time; that was the secret of his success, and",
"text": "they loved him for it. Learning a lesson from this affair, Barnum stopped",
"text": "concealing all of his devices, even revealing his deceptions in a tell-all",
"text": "autobiography. As Kierkegaard wrote, “The world wants to be",
"text": "deceived.”",
"text": "Finally, although it is wiser to divert attention from your purposes by",
"text": "presenting a bland, familiar exterior, there are times when the colorful,",
"text": "conspicuous gesture is the right diversionary tactic. The great charlatan",
"text": "mountebanks of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe used humor",
"text": "and entertainment to deceive their audiences. Dazzled by a great show,",
"text": "the public would not notice the charlatans’ real intentions. Thus the star",
"text": "charlatan himself would appear in town in a night-black coach drawn by",
"text": "black horses. Clowns, tightrope walkers, and star entertainers would",
"text": "accompany him, pulling people in to his demonstrations of elixirs and",
"text": "quack potions. The charlatan made entertainment seem like the business",
"text": "of the day; the business of the day was actually the sale of the elixirs and",
"text": "quack potions.",
"text": "Spectacle and entertainment, clearly, are excellent devices to conceal",
"text": "your intentions, but they cannot be used indefinitely. The public grows",
"text": "tired and suspicious, and eventually catches on to the trick. And indeed",
"text": "the charlatans had to move quickly from town to town, before word",
"text": "spread that the potions were useless and the entertainment a trick.",
"text": "Powerful people with bland exteriors, on the other hand—the",
"text": "Talleyrands, the Rothschilds, the Selassies—can practice their deceptions",
"text": "in the same place throughout their lifetimes. Their act never wears thin,",
"text": "and rarely causes suspicion. The colorful smoke screen should be used",
"text": "cautiously, then, and only when the occasion is right.LAW 4",
"text": "ALWAYS SAY LESS THAN NECESSARY",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the",
"text": "more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying",
"text": "something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended,",
"text": "and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less.",
"text": "The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Gnaeus Marcius, also known as Coriolanus, was a great military hero of",
"text": "ancient Rome. In the first half of the fifth century B.C. he won many",
"text": "important battles, saving the city from calamity time and time again.",
"text": "Because he spent most of his time on the battlefield, few Romans knew",
"text": "him personally, making him something of a legendary figure.",
"text": "In 454 B.C., Coriolanus decided it was time to exploit his reputation",
"text": "and enter politics. He stood for election to the high rank of consul.",
"text": "Candidates for this position traditionally made a public address early in",
"text": "the race, and when Coriolanus came before the people, he began by",
"text": "displaying the dozens of scars he had accumulated over seventeen years",
"text": "of fighting for Rome. Few in the crowd really heard the lengthy speech",
"text": "that followed; those scars, proof of his valor and patriotism, moved the",
"text": "people to tears. Coriolanus’s election seemed certain.",
"text": "When the polling day arrived, however, Coriolanus made an entry into",
"text": "the forum escorted by the entire senate and by the city’s patricians, the",
"text": "aristocracy. The common people who saw this were disturbed by such a",
"text": "blustering show of confidence on election day.And then Coriolanus spoke again, mostly addressing the wealthy",
"text": "citizens who had accompanied him. His words were arrogant and",
"text": "insolent. Claiming certain victory in the vote, he boasted of his",
"text": "battlefield exploits, made sour jokes that appealed only to the patricians,",
"text": "voiced angry accusations against his opponents, and speculated on the",
"text": "riches he would bring to Rome. This time the people listened: They had",
"text": "not realized that this legendary soldier was also a common braggart.",
"text": "Down on his luck, [the screenwriter] Michael Arlen went to New York in",
"text": "1944. To drown his sorrows he paid a visit to the famous restaurant",
"text": "“21.” In the lobby, he ran into Sam Goldwyn, who offered the somewhat",
"text": "impractical advice that he should buy racehorses. At the bar Arlen met",
"text": "Louis B. Mayer, an old acquaintance, who asked him what were his plans",
"text": "for the future. “I was just talking to Sam Goldwyn …” began Arlen.",
"text": "“How much did he offer you? ”interrupted Mayer. “Not enough,” he",
"text": "replied evasively. “Would you take fifteen thousand for thirty weeks?”",
"text": "asked Mayer. No hesitation this time. “Yes,” said Arlen.",
"text": "THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES, CLIFTON",
"text": "FADIMAN, ED., 1985",
"text": "News of Coriolanus’s second speech spread quickly through Rome,",
"text": "and the people turned out in great numbers to make sure he was not",
"text": "elected. Defeated, Coriolanus returned to the battlefield, bitter and",
"text": "vowing revenge on the common folk who had voted against him. Some",
"text": "weeks later a large shipment of grain arrived in Rome. The senate was",
"text": "ready to distribute this food to the people, for free, but just as they were",
"text": "preparing to vote on the question Coriolanus appeared on the scene and",
"text": "took the senate floor. The distribution, he argued, would have a harmful",
"text": "effect on the city as a whole. Several senators appeared won over, and",
"text": "the vote on the distribution fell into doubt. Coriolanus did not stop there:",
"text": "He went on to condemn the concept of democracy itself. He advocated",
"text": "getting rid of the people’s representatives—the tribunes—and turning",
"text": "over the governing of the city to the patricians.",
"text": "One oft-told tale about Kissinger… involved a report that Winston Lord",
"text": "had worked on for days. After giving it to Kissinger, he got it back with",
"text": "the notation, “Is this the best you can do?” Lord rewrote and polished",
"text": "and finally resubmitted it; back it came with the same curt question.",
"text": "After redrafting it one more time—and once again getting the same",
"text": "question from Kissinger-Lord snapped, “Damn it, yes, it’s the best I can",
"text": "do. ” To which Kissinger replied: “Fine, then I guess I’ll read it this",
"text": "time. ”KISSINGER. WALTER ISAACSON, 1992",
"text": "When word of Coriolanus’s latest speech reached the people, their",
"text": "anger knew no bounds. The tribunes were sent to the senate to demand",
"text": "that Coriolanus appear before them. He refused. Riots broke out all over",
"text": "the city. The senate, fearing the people’s wrath, finally voted in favor of",
"text": "the grain distribution. The tribunes were appeased, but the people still",
"text": "demanded that Coriolanus speak to them and apologize. If he repented,",
"text": "and agreed to keep his opinions to himself, he would be allowed to return",
"text": "to the battlefield.",
"text": "Coriolanus did appear one last time before the people, who listened to",
"text": "him in rapt silence. He started slowly and softly, but as the speech went",
"text": "on, he became more and more blunt. Yet again he hurled insults! His",
"text": "tone was arrogant, his expression disdainful. The more he spoke, the",
"text": "angrier the people became. Finally they shouted him down and silenced",
"text": "him.",
"text": "The tribunes conferred, condemned Coriolanus to death, and ordered",
"text": "the magistrates to take him at once to the top of the Tarpeian rock and",
"text": "throw him over. The delighted crowd seconded the decision. The",
"text": "patricians, however, managed to intervene, and the sentence was",
"text": "commuted to a lifelong banishment. When the people found out that",
"text": "Rome’s great military hero would never return to the city, they celebrated",
"text": "in the streets. In fact no one had ever seen such a celebration, not even",
"text": "after the defeat of a foreign enemy.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Before his entrance into politics, the name of Coriolanus evoked awe.",
"text": "His battlefield accomplishments showed him as a man of great",
"text": "bravery. Since the citizens knew little about him, all kinds of legends",
"text": "became attached to his name. The moment he appeared before the",
"text": "Roman citizens, however, and spoke his mind, all that grandeur and",
"text": "mystery vanished. He bragged and blustered like a common soldier. He",
"text": "insulted and slandered people, as if he felt threatened and insecure.",
"text": "Suddenly he was not at all what the people had imagined. The",
"text": "discrepancy between the legend and the reality proved immensely",
"text": "disappointing to those who wanted to believe in their hero. The more",
"text": "Coriolanus said, the less powerful he appeared—a person who cannot",
"text": "control his words shows that he cannot control himself, and is unworthy",
"text": "of respect.The King [Louis XIV] maintains the most impenetrable secrecy about",
"text": "affairs of State. The ministers attend council meetings, but he confides",
"text": "his plans to them only when he has reflected at length upon them and has",
"text": "come to a definite decision. I wish you might see the King. His",
"text": "expression is inscrutable; his eyes like those of a fox. He never discusses",
"text": "State affairs except with his ministers in Council. When he speaks to",
"text": "courtiers he refers only to their respective prerogatives or duties. Even",
"text": "the most frivolous of his utterances has the air of being the",
"text": "pronouncement of an oracle.",
"text": "PRIMI VISCONTI, QUOTED IN LOUIS XIV, LOUIS BERTRAND,",
"text": "1928",
"text": "Had Coriolanus said less, the people would never have had cause to be",
"text": "offended by him, would never have known his true feelings. He would",
"text": "have maintained his powerful aura, would certainly have been elected",
"text": "consul, and would have been able to accomplish his antidemocratic",
"text": "goals. But the human tongue is a beast that few can master. It strains",
"text": "constantly to break out of its cage, and if it is not tamed, it will run wild",
"text": "and cause you grief. Power cannot accrue to those who squander their",
"text": "treasure of words.",
"text": "Oysters open completely when the moon is full; and when the crab sees",
"text": "one",
"text": "it throws a piece of stone or seaweed into it and the oyster cannot close",
"text": "again so that it serves the crab for meat. Such is the fate of him who",
"text": "opens",
"text": "his mouth too much and thereby puts himself at the mercy of the listener.",
"text": "Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "In the court of Louis XIV, nobles and ministers would spend days and",
"text": "nights debating issues of state. They would confer, argue, make and",
"text": "break alliances, and argue again, until finally the critical moment arrived:",
"text": "Two of them would be chosen to represent the different sides to Louis",
"text": "himself, who would decide what should be done. After these persons",
"text": "were chosen, everyone would argue some more: How should the issuesbe phrased? What would appeal to Louis, what would annoy him? At",
"text": "what time of day should the representatives approach him, and in what",
"text": "part of the Versailles palace? What expression should they have on their",
"text": "faces?",
"text": "Finally, after all this was settled, the fateful moment would finally",
"text": "arrive. The two men would approach Louis—always a delicate matter—",
"text": "and when they finally had his ear, they would talk about the issue at",
"text": "hand, spelling out the options in detail.",
"text": "Louis would listen in silence, a most enigmatic look on his face.",
"text": "Finally, when each had finished his presentation and had asked for the",
"text": "king’s opinion, he would look at them both and say, “I shall see.” Then",
"text": "he would walk away.",
"text": "The ministers and courtiers would never hear another word on this",
"text": "subject from the king—they would simply see the result, weeks later,",
"text": "when he would come to a decision and act. He would never bother to",
"text": "consult them on the matter again.",
"text": "Undutiful words of a subject do often take deeper root than the memory",
"text": "of ill deeds…. The late Earl of Essex told Queen Elizabeth that her",
"text": "conditions were as crooked as her carcass; but it cost him his head,",
"text": "which his insurrection had not cost him but for that speech.",
"text": "SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 1554-1618",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Louis XIV was a man of very few words. His most famous remark is",
"text": "“L‘état, c’est moi” (“I am the state”); nothing could be more pithy yet",
"text": "more eloquent. His infamous “I shall see” was one of several extremely",
"text": "short phrases that he would apply to all manner of requests.",
"text": "Louis was not always this way; as a young man he was known for",
"text": "talking at length, delighting in his own eloquence. His later taciturnity",
"text": "was self-imposed, an act, a mask he used to keep everybody below him",
"text": "off-balance. No one knew exactly where he stood, or could predict his",
"text": "reactions. No one could try to deceive him by saying what they thought",
"text": "he wanted to hear, because no one knew what he wanted to hear. As they",
"text": "talked on and on to the silent Louis, they revealed more and more about",
"text": "themselves, information he would later use against them to great effect.",
"text": "In the end, Louis’s silence kept those around him terrified and under",
"text": "his thumb. It was one of the foundations of his power. As Saint-Simon",
"text": "wrote, “No one knew as well as he how to sell his words, his smile, evenhis glances. Everything in him was valuable because he created",
"text": "differences, and his majesty was enhanced by the sparseness of his",
"text": "words.”",
"text": "It is even more damaging for a minister to say foolish things than to do",
"text": "them.",
"text": "Cardinal de Retz, 1613-1679",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Power is in many ways a game of appearances, and when you say less",
"text": "than necessary, you inevitably appear greater and more powerful than",
"text": "you are. Your silence will make other people uncomfortable. Humans are",
"text": "machines of interpretation and explanation; they have to know what you",
"text": "are thinking. When you carefully control what you reveal, they cannot",
"text": "pierce your intentions or your meaning.",
"text": "Your short answers and silences will put them on the defensive, and",
"text": "they will jump in, nervously filling the silence with all kinds of",
"text": "comments that will reveal valuable information about them and their",
"text": "weaknesses. They will leave a meeting with you feeling as if they had",
"text": "been robbed, and they will go home and ponder your every word. This",
"text": "extra attention to your brief comments will only add to your power.",
"text": "Saying less than necessary is not for kings and statesmen only. In most",
"text": "areas of life, the less you say, the more profound and mysterious you",
"text": "appear. As a young man, the artist Andy Warhol had the revelation that it",
"text": "was generally impossible to get people to do what you wanted them to",
"text": "do by talking to them. They would turn against you, subvert your wishes,",
"text": "disobey you out of sheer perversity. He once told a friend, “I learned that",
"text": "you actually have more power when you shut up.”",
"text": "In his later life Warhol employed this strategy with great success. His",
"text": "interviews were exercises in oracular speech: He would say something",
"text": "vague and ambiguous, and the interviewer would twist in circles trying",
"text": "to figure it out, imagining there was something profound behind his often",
"text": "meaningless phrases. Warhol rarely talked about his work; he let others",
"text": "do the interpreting. He claimed to have learned this technique from that",
"text": "master of enigma Marcel Duchamp, another twentieth-century artist who",
"text": "realized early on that the less he said about his work, the more peopletalked about it. And the more they talked, the more valuable his work",
"text": "became.",
"text": "By saying less than necessary you create the appearance of meaning",
"text": "and power. Also, the less you say, the less risk you run of saying",
"text": "something foolish, even dangerous. In 1825 a new czar, Nicholas I,",
"text": "ascended the throne of Russia. A rebellion immediately broke out, led by",
"text": "liberals demanding that the country modernize—that its industries and",
"text": "civil structures catch up with the rest of Europe. Brutally crushing this",
"text": "rebellion (the Decembrist Uprising), Nicholas I sentenced one of its",
"text": "leaders, Kondraty Ryleyev, to death. On the day of the execution",
"text": "Ryleyev stood on the gallows, the noose around his neck. The trapdoor",
"text": "opened—but as Ryleyev dangled, the rope broke, dashing him to the",
"text": "ground. At the time, events like this were considered signs of providence",
"text": "or heavenly will, and a man saved from execution this way was usually",
"text": "pardoned. As Ryleyev got to his feet, bruised and dirtied but believing",
"text": "his neck had been saved, he called out to the crowd, “You see, in Russia",
"text": "they don’t know how to do anything properly, not even how to make",
"text": "rope!”",
"text": "A messenger immediately went to the Winter Palace with news of the",
"text": "failed hanging. Vexed by this disappointing turnabout, Nicholas I",
"text": "nevertheless began to sign the pardon. But then: “Did Ryleyev say",
"text": "anything after this miracle?” the czar asked the messenger. “Sire,” the",
"text": "messenger replied, “he said that in Russia they don’t even know how to",
"text": "make rope.”",
"text": "“In that case,” said the Czar, “let us prove the contrary,” and he tore up",
"text": "the pardon. The next day Ryleyev was hanged again. This time the rope",
"text": "did not break.",
"text": "Learn the lesson: Once the words are out, you cannot take them back.",
"text": "Keep them under control. Be particularly careful with sarcasm: The",
"text": "momentary satisfaction you gain with your biting words will be",
"text": "outweighed by the price you pay.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Oracle at Delphi.",
"text": "When visitors consulted the",
"text": "Oracle, the priestess would utter",
"text": "a few enigmatic words that seemed",
"text": "full of meaning and import. No one",
"text": "disobeyed the words of the Oracle—",
"text": "they held power over life and death.Authority: Never start moving your own lips and teeth before the",
"text": "subordinates do. The longer I keep quiet, the sooner others move their",
"text": "lips and teeth. As they move their lips and teeth, I can thereby",
"text": "understand their real intentions…. If the sovereign is not mysterious, the",
"text": "ministers will find opportunity to take and take. (Han-fei-tzu, Chinese",
"text": "philosopher, third century B.C.)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "There are times when it is unwise to be silent. Silence can arouse",
"text": "suspicion and even insecurity, especially in your superiors; a vague or",
"text": "ambiguous comment can open you up to interpretations you had not",
"text": "bargained for. Silence and saying less than necessary must be practiced",
"text": "with caution, then, and in the right situations. It is occasionally wiser to",
"text": "imitate the court jester, who plays the fool but knows he is smarter than",
"text": "the king. He talks and talks and entertains, and no one suspects that he is",
"text": "more than just a fool.",
"text": "Also, words can sometimes act as a kind of smoke screen for any",
"text": "deception you might practice. By bending your listener’s ear with talk,",
"text": "you can distract and mesmerize them; the more you talk, in fact, the less",
"text": "suspicious of you they become. The verbose are not perceived as sly and",
"text": "manipulative but as helpless and unsophisticated. This is the reverse of",
"text": "the silent policy employed by the powerful: By talking more, and making",
"text": "yourself appear weaker and less intelligent than your mark, you can",
"text": "practice deception with greater ease.LAW 5",
"text": "SO MUCH DEPENDS ON REPUTATION—",
"text": "GUARD IT WITH YOUR LIFE",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you",
"text": "can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and",
"text": "will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always",
"text": "be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen.",
"text": "Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own",
"text": "reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I",
"text": "During China’s War of the Three Kingdoms (A.D. 207-265), the great",
"text": "general Chuko Liang, leading the forces of the Shu Kingdom, dispatched",
"text": "his vast army to a distant camp while he rested in a small town with a",
"text": "handful of soldiers. Suddenly sentinels hurried in with the alarming news",
"text": "that an enemy force of over 150,000 troops under Sima Yi was",
"text": "approaching. With only a hundred men to defend him, Chuko Liang’s",
"text": "situation was hopeless. The enemy would finally capture this renowned",
"text": "leader.",
"text": "Without lamenting his fate, or wasting time trying to figure out how he",
"text": "had been caught, Liang ordered his troops to take down their flags, throw",
"text": "open the city gates, and hide. He himself then took a seat on the most",
"text": "visible part of the city’s wall, wearing a Taoist robe. He lit some incense,",
"text": "strummed his lute, and began to chant. Minutes later he could see the",
"text": "vast enemy army approaching, an endless phalanx of soldiers. Pretending",
"text": "not to notice them, he continued to sing and play the lute.Soon the army stood at the town gates. At its head was Sima Yi, who",
"text": "instantly recognized the man on the wall.",
"text": "Even so, as his soldiers itched to enter the unguarded town through its",
"text": "open gates, Sima Yi hesitated, held them back, and studied Liang on the",
"text": "wall. Then, he ordered an immediate and speedy retreat.",
"text": "THE ANIMALS STRICKEN WITH THE",
"text": "PLAGUE",
"text": "A frightful epidemic sent To earth by Heaven intent to vent Its fury on a",
"text": "sinful world, to call It by its rightful name, the pestilence, That Acheron-",
"text": "filling vial of virulence Had fallen on every animal. Not all were dead,",
"text": "but all lay near to dying, And none was any longer trying To find new",
"text": "fuel to feed life’s flickering fires. No foods excited their desires; No more",
"text": "did wolves and foxes rove In search of harmless, helpless prey; And dove",
"text": "would not consort with dove, For love and joy had flown away. The Lion",
"text": "assumed the chair to say: “Dear friends, I doubt not it’s for heaven’s",
"text": "high ends That on us sinners woe must fall. Let him of us who’s sinned",
"text": "the most Fall victim to the avenging heavenly host, And may he win",
"text": "salvation for us all; For history teaches us that in these crises We must",
"text": "make sacrifices. Undeceived and stern-eyed, let’s inspect Our",
"text": "conscience. As I recollect, To put my greedy appetite to sleep, I’ve",
"text": "banqueted on many a sheep Who’d injured me in no respect, And even in",
"text": "my time been known to try Shepherd pie. If need be, then. I’ll die. Yet I",
"text": "suspect That others also ought to own their sins. It’s only fair thnt all",
"text": "should do their best To single out the guiltiest.” “Sire, you’re too good a",
"text": "king,“the Fox begins; ”Such scruples are too delicate. My word, To eat",
"text": "sheep, that profane and vulgar herd. That’s sin? Nay. Sire, enough for",
"text": "such a crew To be devoured by such as you; While of the shepherds we",
"text": "may say That they deserved the worst they got. Theirs being the lot that",
"text": "over us beasts plot A flimsy dream-begotten sway.” Thus spake the Fox,",
"text": "and toady cheers rose high, While none dared cast too cold an eye On",
"text": "Tiger‘s, Bear’s, and other eminences Most unpardonable offences Each,",
"text": "of never mind what currish breed, Was really a saint, they all agreed.",
"text": "Then came the Ass, to say: ”I do recall How once I crossed an abbey-",
"text": "mead Where hunger, grass in plenty, and withal, I have no doubt, some",
"text": "imp of greed. Assailed me, and I shaved a tongue’s-breadth wide Where",
"text": "frankly I’d no right to any grass.”All forthwith fell full cry upon the Ass:",
"text": "A Wolf of some book-learning testified That that curst beast must suffer",
"text": "their despite, That gallskinned author of their piteous plight. Theyjudged him fit for nought but gallows-bait: How vile, another’s grass to",
"text": "sequestrate! His death alone could expiate A crime so heinous, as full",
"text": "well he learns. The court, as you’re of great or poor estate, Will paint",
"text": "you either white or black by turns.",
"text": "THE BEST FABLES OF LA FONTAINE, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE,",
"text": "1621-1695",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Chuko Liang was commonly known as the “Sleeping Dragon.” His",
"text": "exploits in the War of the Three Kingdoms were legendary. Once a man",
"text": "claiming to be a disaffected enemy lieutenant came to his camp, offering",
"text": "help and information. Liang instantly recognized the situation as a setup;",
"text": "this man was a false deserter, and should be beheaded. At the last",
"text": "minute, though, as the ax was about to fall, Liang stopped the execution",
"text": "and offered to spare the man’s life if he agreed to become a double agent.",
"text": "Grateful and terrified, the man agreed, and began supplying false",
"text": "information to the enemy. Liang won battle after battle.",
"text": "On another occasion Liang stole a military seal and created false",
"text": "documents dispatching his enemy’s troops to distant locations. Once the",
"text": "troops had dispersed, he was able to capture three cities, so that he",
"text": "controlled an entire corridor of the enemy’s kingdom. He also once",
"text": "tricked the enemy into believing one of its best generals was a traitor,",
"text": "forcing the man to escape and join forces with Liang. The Sleeping",
"text": "Dragon carefully cultivated his reputation of being the cleverest man in",
"text": "China, one who always had a trick up his sleeve. As powerful as any",
"text": "weapon, this reputation struck fear into his enemy.",
"text": "Sima Yi had fought against Chuko Liang dozens of times and knew",
"text": "him well. When he came on the empty city, with Liang praying on the",
"text": "wall, he was stunned. The Taoist robes, the chanting, the incense—this",
"text": "had to be a game of intimidation. The man was obviously taunting him,",
"text": "daring him to walk into a trap. The game was so obvious that for one",
"text": "moment it crossed Yi’s mind that Liang actually was alone, and",
"text": "desperate. But so great was his fear of Liang that he dared not risk",
"text": "finding out. Such is the power of reputation. It can put a vast army on the",
"text": "defensive, even force them into retreat, without a single arrow being",
"text": "fired.",
"text": "For, as Cicero says, even those who argue against fame still want the",
"text": "books theywrite against it to bear their name in the title and hope to become",
"text": "famous for",
"text": "despising it. Everything else is subject to barter: we will let our friends",
"text": "have",
"text": "our goods and our lives if need be; but a case of sharing our fame and",
"text": "making someone else the gift of our reputation is hardly to be found.",
"text": "Montaigne, 1533-1592",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II",
"text": "In 1841 the young P. T. Barnum, trying to establish his reputation as",
"text": "America’s premier showman, decided to purchase the American",
"text": "Museum in Manhattan and turn it into a collection of curiosities that",
"text": "would secure his fame. The problem was that he had no money. The",
"text": "museum’s asking price was $15,000, but Barnum was able to put",
"text": "together a proposal that appealed to the institution’s owners even though",
"text": "it replaced cash up front with dozens of guarantees and references. The",
"text": "owners came to a verbal agreement with Barnum, but at the last minute,",
"text": "the principal partner changed his mind, and the museum and its",
"text": "collection were sold to the directors of Peale’s Museum. Barnum was",
"text": "infuriated, but the partner explained that business was business—the",
"text": "museum had been sold to Peale’s because Peale’s had a reputation and",
"text": "Barnum had none.",
"text": "Barnum immediately decided that if he had no reputation to bank on,",
"text": "his only recourse was to ruin the reputation of Peale’s. Accordingly he",
"text": "launched a letter-writing campaign in the newspapers, calling the owners",
"text": "a bunch of “broken-down bank directors” who had no idea how to run a",
"text": "museum or entertain people. He warned the public against buying",
"text": "Peale’s stock, since the business’s purchase of another museum would",
"text": "invariably spread its resources thin. The campaign was effective, the",
"text": "stock plummeted, and with no more confidence in Peale’s track record",
"text": "and reputation, the owners of the American Museum reneged on their",
"text": "deal and sold the whole thing to Barnum.",
"text": "It took years for Peale’s to recover, and they never forgot what",
"text": "Barnum had done. Mr. Peale himself decided to attack Barnum by",
"text": "building a reputation for “high-brow entertainment,” promoting his",
"text": "museum’s programs as more scientific than those of his vulgarcompetitor. Mesmerism (hypnotism) was one of Peale’s “scientific”",
"text": "attractions, and for a while it drew big crowds and was quite successful.",
"text": "To fight back, Barnum decided to attack Peale’s reputation yet again.",
"text": "Barnum organized a rival mesmeric performance in which he himself",
"text": "apparently put a little girl into a trance. Once she seemed to have fallen",
"text": "deeply under, he tried to hypnotize members of the audience—but no",
"text": "matter how hard he tried, none of the spectators fell under his spell, and",
"text": "many of them began to laugh. A frustrated Barnum finally announced",
"text": "that to prove the little girl’s trance was real, he would cut off one of her",
"text": "fingers without her noticing. But as he sharpened the knife, the little",
"text": "girl’s eyes popped open and she ran away, to the audience’s delight. He",
"text": "repeated this and other parodies for several weeks. Soon no one could",
"text": "take Peale’s show seriously, and attendance went way down. Within a",
"text": "few weeks, the show closed. Over the next few years Barnum established",
"text": "a reputation for audacity and consummate showmanship that lasted his",
"text": "whole life. Peale’s reputation, on the other hand, never recovered.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Barnum used two different tactics to ruin Peale’s reputation. The first",
"text": "was simple: He sowed doubts about the museum’s stability and solvency.",
"text": "Doubt is a powerful weapon: Once you let it out of the bag with",
"text": "insidious rumors, your opponents are in a horrible dilemma. On the one",
"text": "hand they can deny the rumors, even prove that you have slandered",
"text": "them. But a layer of suspicion will remain: Why are they defending",
"text": "themselves so desperately? Maybe the rumor has some truth to it? If, on",
"text": "the other hand, they take the high road and ignore you, the doubts,",
"text": "unrefuted, will be even stronger. If done correctly, the sowing of rumors",
"text": "can so infuriate and unsettle your rivals that in defending themselves",
"text": "they will make numerous mistakes. This is the perfect weapon for those",
"text": "who have no reputation of their own to work from.",
"text": "Once Barnum did have a reputation of his own, he used the second,",
"text": "gentler tactic, the fake hypnotism demonstration: He ridiculed his rivals’",
"text": "reputation. This too was extremely successful. Once you have a solid",
"text": "base of respect, ridiculing your opponent both puts him on the defensive",
"text": "and draws more attention to you, enhancing your own reputation.",
"text": "Outright slander and insult are too strong at this point; they are ugly, and",
"text": "may hurt you more than help you. But gentle barbs and mockery suggest",
"text": "that you have a strong enough sense of your own worth to enjoy a goodlaugh at your rival’s expense. A humorous front can make you out as a",
"text": "harmless entertainer while poking holes in the reputation of your rival.",
"text": "It is easier to cope with a bad conscience than with a bad reputation.",
"text": "Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "The people around us, even our closest friends, will always to some",
"text": "extent remain mysterious and unfathomable. Their characters have secret",
"text": "recesses that they never reveal. The unknowableness of other people",
"text": "could prove disturbing if we thought about it long enough, since it would",
"text": "make it impossible for us really to judge other people. So we prefer to",
"text": "ignore this fact, and to judge people on their appearances, on what is",
"text": "most visible to our eyes—clothes, gestures, words, actions. In the social",
"text": "realm, appearances are the barometer of almost all of our judgments, and",
"text": "you must never be mis led into believing otherwise. One false slip, one",
"text": "awkward or sudden change in your appearance, can prove disastrous.",
"text": "This is the reason for the supreme importance of making and",
"text": "maintaining a reputation that is of your own creation.",
"text": "That reputation will protect you in the dangerous game of",
"text": "appearances, distracting the probing eyes of others from knowing what",
"text": "you are really like, and giving you a degree of control over how the",
"text": "world judges you—a powerful position to be in. Reputation has a power",
"text": "like magic: With one stroke of its wand, it can double your strength. It",
"text": "can also send people scurrying away from you. Whether the exact same",
"text": "deeds appear brilliant or dreadful can depend entirely on the reputation",
"text": "of the doer.",
"text": "In the ancient Chinese court of the Wei kingdom there was a man",
"text": "named Mi Tzu-hsia who had a reputation for supreme civility and",
"text": "graciousness. He became the ruler’s favorite. It was a law in Wei that",
"text": "“whoever rides secretly in the ruler’s coach shall have his feet cut off,”",
"text": "but when Mi Tzu-hsia’s mother fell ill, he used the royal coach to visit",
"text": "her, pretending that the ruler had given him permission. When the ruler",
"text": "found out, he said, “How dutiful is Mi Tzu-hsia! For his mother’s sake",
"text": "he even forgot that he was committing a crime making him liable to lose",
"text": "his feet!”Another time the two of them took a stroll in an orchard. Mi Tzu-hsia",
"text": "began eating a peach that he could not finish, and he gave the ruler the",
"text": "other half to eat. The ruler remarked, “You love me so much that you",
"text": "would even forget your own saliva taste and let me eat the rest of the",
"text": "peach!”",
"text": "Later, however, envious fellow courtiers, spreading word that Mi Tzu-",
"text": "hsia was actually devious and arrogant, succeeded in damaging his",
"text": "reputation; the ruler came to see his actions in a new light. “This fellow",
"text": "once rode in my coach under pretense of my order,” he told the courtiers",
"text": "angrily, “and another time he gave me a half-eaten peach.” For the same",
"text": "actions that had charmed the ruler when he was the favorite, Mi Tzu-hsia",
"text": "now had to suffer the penalties. The fate of his feet depended solely on",
"text": "the strength of his reputation.",
"text": "In the beginning, you must work to establish a reputation for one",
"text": "outstanding quality, whether generosity or honesty or cunning. This",
"text": "quality sets you apart and gets other people to talk about you. You then",
"text": "make your reputation known to as many people as possible (subtly,",
"text": "though; take care to build slowly, and with a firm foundation), and watch",
"text": "as it spreads like wildfire.",
"text": "A solid reputation increases your presence and exaggerates your",
"text": "strengths without your having to spend much energy. It can also create an",
"text": "aura around you that will instill respect, even fear. In the fighting in the",
"text": "North African desert during World War II, the German general Erwin",
"text": "Rommel had a reputation for cunning and for deceptive maneuvering",
"text": "that struck terror into everyone who faced him. Even when his forces",
"text": "were depleted, and when British tanks outnumbered his by five to one,",
"text": "entire cities would be evacuated at the news of his approach.",
"text": "As they say, your reputation inevitably precedes you, and if it inspires",
"text": "respect, a lot of your work is done for you before you arrive on the",
"text": "scene, or utter a single word.",
"text": "Your success seems destined by your past triumphs. Much of the",
"text": "success of Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy rested on his reputation",
"text": "for ironing out differences; no one wanted to be seen as so unreasonable",
"text": "that Kissinger could not sway him. A peace treaty seemed a fait",
"text": "accompli as soon as Kissinger’s name became involved in the",
"text": "negotiations.",
"text": "Make your reputation simple and base it on one sterling quality. This",
"text": "single quality—efficiency, say, or seductiveness—becomes a kind of",
"text": "calling card that announces your presence and places others under a",
"text": "spell. A reputation for honesty will allow you to practice all manner ofdeception. Casanova used his reputation as a great seducer to pave the",
"text": "way for his future conquests; women who had heard of his powers",
"text": "became immensely curious, and wanted to discover for themselves what",
"text": "had made him so romantically successful.",
"text": "Perhaps you have already stained your reputation, so that you are",
"text": "prevented from establishing a new one. In such cases it is wise to",
"text": "associate with someone whose image counteracts your own, using their",
"text": "good name to whitewash and elevate yours. It is hard, for example, to",
"text": "erase a reputation for dishonesty by yourself; but a paragon of honesty",
"text": "can help. When P. T. Barnum wanted to clean up a reputation for",
"text": "promoting vulgar entertainment, he brought the singer Jenny Lind over",
"text": "from Europe. She had a stellar, high-class reputation, and the American",
"text": "tour Barnum sponsored for her greatly enhanced his own image.",
"text": "Similarly the great robber barons of nineteenth-century America were",
"text": "long unable to rid themselves of a reputation for cruelty and mean-",
"text": "spiritedness. Only when they began collecting art, so that the names of",
"text": "Morgan and Frick became permanently associated with those of da Vinci",
"text": "and Rembrandt, were they able to soften their unpleasant image.",
"text": "Reputation is a treasure to be carefully collected and hoarded.",
"text": "Especially when you are first establishing it, you must protect it strictly,",
"text": "anticipating all attacks on it. Once it is solid, do not let yourself get angry",
"text": "or defensive at the slanderous comments of your enemies—that reveals",
"text": "insecurity, not confidence in your reputation. Take the high road instead,",
"text": "and never appear desperate in your self-defense. On the other hand, an",
"text": "attack on another man’s reputation is a potent weapon, particularly when",
"text": "you have less power than he does. He has much more to lose in such a",
"text": "battle, and your own thus-far-small reputation gives him a small target",
"text": "when he tries to return your fire. Barnum used such campaigns to great",
"text": "effect in his early career. But this tactic must be practiced with skill; you",
"text": "must not seem to engage in petty vengeance. If you do not break your",
"text": "enemy’s reputation cleverly, you will inadvertently ruin your own.",
"text": "Thomas Edison, considered the inventor who harnessed electricity,",
"text": "believed that a workable system would have to be based on direct current",
"text": "(DC). When the Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla appeared to have",
"text": "succeeded in creating a system based on alternating current (AC), Edison",
"text": "was furious. He determined to ruin Tesla’s reputation, by making the",
"text": "public believe that the AC system was inherently unsafe, and Tesla",
"text": "irresponsible in promoting it.",
"text": "To this end he captured all kinds of household pets and electrocuted",
"text": "them to death with an AC current. When this wasn’t enough, in 1890 hegot New York State prison authorities to organize the world’s first",
"text": "execution by electrocution, using an AC current. But Edison’s",
"text": "electrocution experiments had all been with small creatures; the charge",
"text": "was too weak, and the man was only half killed. In perhaps the country’s",
"text": "cruelest state-authorized execution, the procedure had to be repeated. It",
"text": "was an awful spectacle.",
"text": "Although, in the long run, it is Edison’s name that has survived, at the",
"text": "time his campaign damaged his own reputation more than Tesla’s. He",
"text": "backed off. The lesson is simple—never go too far in attacks like these,",
"text": "for that will draw more attention to your own vengefulness than to the",
"text": "person you are slandering. When your own reputation is solid, use",
"text": "subtler tactics, such as satire and ridicule, to weaken your opponent",
"text": "while making you out as a charming rogue. The mighty lion toys with",
"text": "the mouse that crosses his path—any other reaction would mar his",
"text": "fearsome reputation.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "A Mine Full of",
"text": "Diamonds and Rubies.",
"text": "You dug for it, you found it,",
"text": "and your wealth is now assured.",
"text": "Guard it with your life. Robbers and thieves",
"text": "will appear from all sides. Never take your wealth",
"text": "for granted, and constantly renew it—time",
"text": "will diminish the jewels’ luster,",
"text": "and bury them from sight.",
"text": "Authority: Therefore I should wish our courtier to bolster up his inherent",
"text": "worth with skill and cunning, and ensure that whenever he has to go",
"text": "where he is a stranger, he is preceded by a good reputation…. For the",
"text": "fame which appears to rest on the opinions of many fosters a certain",
"text": "unshakable belief in a man’s worth which is then easily strengthened in",
"text": "minds already thus disposed and prepared. (Baldassare Castiglione,",
"text": "1478-1529)",
"text": "REVERSALThere is no possible Reversal. Reputation is critical; there are no",
"text": "exceptions to this law. Perhaps, not caring what others think of you, you",
"text": "gain a reputation for insolence and arrogance, but that can be a valuable",
"text": "image in itself—Oscar Wilde used it to great advantage. Since we must",
"text": "live in society and must depend on the opinions of others, there is",
"text": "nothing to be gained by neglecting your reputation. By not caring how",
"text": "you are perceived, you let others decide this for you. Be the master of",
"text": "your fate, and also of your reputation.LAW 6",
"text": "COURT ATTENTION AT ALL COST",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for",
"text": "nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in",
"text": "oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet",
"text": "of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the",
"text": "bland and timid masses.PART I: SURROUND YOUR NAME WITH",
"text": "THE SENSATIONAL AND SCANDALOUS",
"text": "Draw attention to yourself by creating an unforgettable, even",
"text": "controversial image. Court scandal. Do anything to make yourself seem",
"text": "larger than life and shine more brightly than those around you. Make no",
"text": "distinction between kinds of attention—notoriety of any sort will bring",
"text": "you power. Better to be slandered and attacked than ignored.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "P. T. Barnum, America’s premier nineteenth-century showman, started",
"text": "his career as an assistant to the owner of a circus, Aaron Turner. In 1836",
"text": "the circus stopped in Annapolis, Maryland, for a series of performances.",
"text": "On the morning of opening day, Barnum took a stroll through town,",
"text": "wearing a new black suit. People started to follow him. Someone in the",
"text": "gathering crowd shouted out that he was the Reverend Ephraim K.",
"text": "Avery, infamous as a man acquitted of the charge of murder but still",
"text": "believed guilty by most Americans. The angry mob tore off Barnum’s",
"text": "suit and was ready to lynch him. After desperate appeals, Barnum finally",
"text": "convinced them to follow him to the circus, where he could verify his",
"text": "identity.",
"text": "THE WASP AND THE PRINCE",
"text": "A wasp named Pin Tail was long in quest of some deed that would make",
"text": "him forever famous. So one day he entered the kirrg’s palace and stung",
"text": "the little prince, who was in bed. The prince awoke with loud cries. The",
"text": "king and his courtiers rushed in to see what had happened. The prince",
"text": "was yelling as the wasp stung him again and again. The courtiers tried",
"text": "to catch the wasp, and each in turn was stung. The whole royal",
"text": "household rushed in, the news soon spread, and people flocked to the",
"text": "palace. The city was in an uproar, all business suspended. Said the waspto itself, before it expired from its efforts, “A name without fame is like",
"text": "fire without flame. There is nothing like attracting notice at any cost.”",
"text": "INDIAN FABLE",
"text": "Once there, old Turner confirmed that this was all a practical joke—he",
"text": "himself had spread the rumor that Barnum was Avery. The crowd",
"text": "dispersed, but Barnum, who had nearly been killed, was not amused. He",
"text": "wanted to know what could have induced his boss to play such a trick.",
"text": "“My dear Mr. Barnum,” Turner replied, “it was all for our good.",
"text": "Remember, all we need to ensure success is notoriety.” And indeed",
"text": "everyone in town was talking about the joke, and the circus was packed",
"text": "that night and every night it stayed in Annapolis. Barnum had learned a",
"text": "lesson he would never forget.",
"text": "Barnum’s first big venture of his own was the American Museum—a",
"text": "collection of curiosities, located in New York. One day a beggar",
"text": "approached Barnum in the street. Instead of giving him money, Barnum",
"text": "decided to employ him. Taking him back to the museum, he gave the",
"text": "man five bricks and told him to make a slow circuit of several blocks. At",
"text": "certain points he was to lay down a brick on the sidewalk, always",
"text": "keeping one brick in hand. On the return journey he was to replace each",
"text": "brick on the street with the one he held. Meanwhile he was to remain",
"text": "serious of countenance and to answer no questions. Once back at the",
"text": "museum, he was to enter, walk around inside, then leave through the",
"text": "back door and make the same bricklaying circuit again.",
"text": "On the man’s first walk through the streets, several hundred people",
"text": "watched his mysterious movements. By his fourth circuit, onlookers",
"text": "swarmed around him, debating what he was doing. Every time he",
"text": "entered the museum he was followed by people who bought tickets to",
"text": "keep watching him. Many of them were distracted by the museum’s",
"text": "collections, and stayed inside. By the end of the first day, the brick man",
"text": "had drawn over a thousand people into the museum. A few days later the",
"text": "police ordered him to cease and desist from his walks—the crowds were",
"text": "blocking traffic. The bricklaying stopped but thousands of New Yorkers",
"text": "had entered the museum, and many of those had become P. T. Barnum",
"text": "converts.",
"text": "Even when I’m railed at, I get my quota of renown.",
"text": "PIETRO ARETINO, 1492-1556",
"text": "Barnum would put a band of musicians on a balcony overlooking the",
"text": "street, beneath a huge banner proclaiming FREE MUSIC FOR THEMILLIONS. What generosity, New Yorkers thought, and they flocked to",
"text": "hear the free concerts. But Barnum took pains to hire the worst",
"text": "musicians he could find, and soon after the band struck up, people would",
"text": "hurry to buy tickets to the museum, where they would be out of earshot",
"text": "of the band’s noise, and of the booing of the crowd.",
"text": "THE COURT ARTIST",
"text": "A work that was voluntarily presented to a prince was bound to seem in",
"text": "some way special. The artist himself might also try to attract the",
"text": "attention of the court through his behaviour. In Vasari’s judgment",
"text": "Sodoma was “well known both for his personal eccentricities and for his",
"text": "reputation as a good painter.” Because Pope Leo X “found pleasure in",
"text": "such strange, hare-brained individuals,” he made Sodoma a knight,",
"text": "causing the artist to go completely out of his mind. Van Mander found it",
"text": "odd that the products of Cornelis Ketel’s experiments in mouth and foot",
"text": "painting were bought by notable persons “because of their oddity,” yet",
"text": "Ketel was only adding a variation to similar experiments by Titian, Ugo",
"text": "da Carpi and Palma Giovane, who, according to Boschini painted with",
"text": "their fingers “because they wished to imitate the method used by the",
"text": "Supreme Creator. ” Van Mander reports that Gossaert attracted the",
"text": "attention of Emperor Charles V by wearing a fantastic paper costume. In",
"text": "doing so he was adopting the tactics used by Dinocrates, who, in order",
"text": "to gain access to Alexander the Great, is said to have appeared disguised",
"text": "as the naked Hercules when the monarch was sitting in judgment.",
"text": "THE COURT ARTIST, MARTIN WARNKE, 1993",
"text": "One of the first oddities Barnum toured around the country was Joice",
"text": "Heth, a woman he claimed was 161 years old, and whom he advertised",
"text": "as a slave who had once been George Washington’s nurse. After several",
"text": "months the crowds began to dwindle, so Barnum sent an anonymous",
"text": "letter to the papers, claiming that Heth was a clever fraud. “Joice Heth,”",
"text": "he wrote, “is not a human being but an automaton, made up of",
"text": "whalebone, india-rubber, and numberless springs.” Those who had not",
"text": "bothered to see her before were immediately curious, and those who had",
"text": "already seen her paid to see her again, to find out whether the rumor that",
"text": "she was a robot was true.",
"text": "In 1842, Barnum purchased the carcass of what was purported to be a",
"text": "mermaid. This creature resembled a monkey with the body of a fish, but",
"text": "the head and body were perfectly joined—it was truly a wonder. Aftersome research Barnum discovered that the creature had been expertly put",
"text": "together in Japan, where the hoax had caused quite a stir.",
"text": "He nevertheless planted articles in newspapers around the country",
"text": "claiming the capture of a mermaid in the Fiji Islands. He also sent the",
"text": "papers woodcut prints of paintings showing mermaids. By the time he",
"text": "showed the specimen in his museum, a national debate had been sparked",
"text": "over the existence of these mythical creatures. A few months before",
"text": "Barnum’s campaign, no one had cared or even known about mermaids;",
"text": "now everyone was talking about them as if they were real. Crowds",
"text": "flocked in record numbers to see the Fiji Mermaid, and to hear debates",
"text": "on the subject.",
"text": "A few years later, Barnum toured Europe with General Tom Thumb, a",
"text": "five-year-old dwarf from Connecticut whom Barnum claimed was an",
"text": "eleven-year-old English boy, and whom he had trained to do many",
"text": "remarkable acts. During this tour Barnum’s name attracted such attention",
"text": "that Queen Victoria, that paragon of sobriety, requested a private",
"text": "audience with him and his talented dwarf at Buckingham Palace. The",
"text": "English press may have ridiculed Barnum, but Victoria was royally",
"text": "entertained by him, and respected him ever after.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Barnum understood the fundamental truth about attracting attention:",
"text": "Once people’s eyes are on you, you have a special legitimacy. For",
"text": "Barnum, creating interest meant creating a crowd; as he later wrote,",
"text": "“Every crowd has a silver lining.” And crowds tend to act in conjunction.",
"text": "If one person stops to see your beggarman laying bricks in the street,",
"text": "more will do the same. They will gather like dust bunnies. Then, given a",
"text": "gentle push, they will enter your museum or watch your show. To create",
"text": "a crowd you have to do something different and odd. Any kind of",
"text": "curiosity will serve the purpose, for crowds are magnetically attracted by",
"text": "the unusual and inexplicable. And once you have their attention, never",
"text": "let it go. If it veers toward other people, it does so at your expense.",
"text": "Barnum would ruthlessly suck attention from his competitors, knowing",
"text": "what a valuable commodity it is.",
"text": "At the beginning of your rise to the top, then, spend all your energy on",
"text": "attracting attention. Most important: The quality of the attention is",
"text": "irrelevant. No matter how badly his shows were reviewed, or how",
"text": "slanderously personal were the attacks on his hoaxes, Barnum wouldnever complain. If a newspaper critic reviled him particularly badly, in",
"text": "fact, he made sure to invite the man to an opening and to give him the",
"text": "best seat in the house. He would even write anonymous attacks on his",
"text": "own work, just to keep his name in the papers. From Barnum’s vantage,",
"text": "attention—whether negative or positive—was the main ingredient of his",
"text": "success. The worst fate in the world for a man who yearns fame, glory,",
"text": "and, of course, power is to be ignored.",
"text": "If the courtier happens to engage in arms in some public spectacle",
"text": "such as jousting … he will ensure that the horse he has is beautifully",
"text": "caparisoned, that he himself is suitably attired, with appropriate",
"text": "mottoes and ingenious devices to attract the eyes of the onlookers",
"text": "in his direction as surely as the lodestone attracts iron.",
"text": "Baldassare Castighone, 1478-1529",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Burning more brightly than those around you is a skill that no one is born",
"text": "with. You have to learn to attract attention, “as surely as the lodestone",
"text": "attracts iron.” At the start of your career, you must attach your name and",
"text": "reputation to a quality, an image, that sets you apart from other people.",
"text": "This image can be something like a characteristic style of dress, or a",
"text": "personality quirk that amuses people and gets talked about. Once the",
"text": "image is established, you have an appearance, a place in the sky for your",
"text": "star.",
"text": "It is a common mistake to imagine that this peculiar appearance of",
"text": "yours should not be controversial, that to be attacked is somehow bad.",
"text": "Nothing could be further from the truth. To avoid being a flash in the",
"text": "pan, and having your notoriety eclipsed by another, you must not",
"text": "discriminate between different types of attention; in the end, every kind",
"text": "will work in your favor. Barnum, we have seen, welcomed personal",
"text": "attacks and felt no need to defend himself. He deliberately courted the",
"text": "image of being a humbug.",
"text": "The court of Louis XIV contained many talented writers, artists, great",
"text": "beauties, and men and women of impeccable virtue, but no one was more",
"text": "talked about than the singular Duc de Lauzun. The duke was short,",
"text": "almost dwarfish, and he was prone to the most insolent kinds of behavior",
"text": "—he slept with the king’s mistress, and openly insulted not only othercourtiers but the king himself. Louis, however, was so beguiled by the",
"text": "duke’s eccentricities that he could not bear his absences from the court. It",
"text": "was simple: The strangeness of the duke’s character attracted attention.",
"text": "Once people were enthralled by him, they wanted him around at any",
"text": "cost.",
"text": "Society craves larger-than-life figures, people who stand above the",
"text": "general mediocrity. Never be afraid, then, of the qualities that set you",
"text": "apart and draw attention to you. Court controversy, even scandal. It is",
"text": "better to be attacked, even slandered, than ignored. All professions are",
"text": "ruled by this law, and all professionals must have a bit of the showman",
"text": "about them.",
"text": "The great scientist Thomas Edison knew that to raise money he had to",
"text": "remain in the public eye at any cost. Almost as important as the",
"text": "inventions themselves was how he presented them to the public and",
"text": "courted attention.",
"text": "Edison would design visually dazzling experiments to display his",
"text": "discoveries with electricity. He would talk of future inventions that",
"text": "seemed fantastic at the time—robots, and machines that could",
"text": "photograph thought—and that he had no intention of wasting his energy",
"text": "on, but that made the public talk about him. He did everything he could",
"text": "to make sure that he received more attention than his great rival Nikola",
"text": "Tesla, who may actually have been more brilliant than he was but whose",
"text": "name was far less known. In 1915, it was rumored that Edison and Tesla",
"text": "would be joint recipients of that year’s Nobel Prize in physics. The prize",
"text": "was eventually given to a pair of English physicists; only later was it",
"text": "discovered that the prize committee had actually approached Edison, but",
"text": "he had turned them down, refusing to share the prize with Tesla. By that",
"text": "time his fame was more secure than Tesla’s, and he thought it better to",
"text": "refuse the honor than to allow his rival the attention that would have",
"text": "come even from sharing the prize.",
"text": "If you find yourself in a lowly position that offers little opportunity for",
"text": "you to draw attention, an effective trick is to attack the most visible,",
"text": "most famous, most powerful person you can find. When Pietro Aretino, a",
"text": "young Roman servant boy of the early sixteenth century, wanted to get",
"text": "attention as a writer of verses, he decided to publish a series of satirical",
"text": "poems ridiculing the pope and his affection for a pet elephant. The attack",
"text": "put Aretino in the public eye immediately. A slanderous attack on a",
"text": "person in a position of power would have a similar effect. Remember,",
"text": "however, to use such tactics sparingly after you have the public’s",
"text": "attention, when the act can wear thin.Once in the limelight you must constantly renew it by adapting and",
"text": "varying your method of courting attention. If you don’t, the public will",
"text": "grow tired, will take you for granted, and will move on to a newer star.",
"text": "The game requires constant vigilance and creativity. Pablo Picasso never",
"text": "allowed himself to fade into the background; if his name became too",
"text": "attached to a particular style, he would deliberately upset the public with",
"text": "a new series of paintings that went against all expectations. Better to",
"text": "create something ugly and disturbing, he believed, than to let viewers",
"text": "grow too familiar with his work. Understand: People feel superior to the",
"text": "person whose actions they can predict. If you show them who is in",
"text": "control by playing against their expectations, you both gain their respect",
"text": "and tighten your hold on their fleeting attention.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Limelight. The",
"text": "actor who steps into this bril",
"text": "liant light attains a heightened",
"text": "presence. All eyes are on him. There",
"text": "is room for only one actor at a time in",
"text": "the limelight’s narrow beam; do what",
"text": "ever it takes to make yourself its focus.",
"text": "Make your gestures so large, amus",
"text": "ing, and scandalous that the",
"text": "light stays on you while the",
"text": "other actors are left in",
"text": "the shadows.",
"text": "Authority: Be ostentatious and be seen…. What is not seen is as though",
"text": "it did not exist…. It was light that first caused all creation to shine forth.",
"text": "Display fills up many blanks, covers up deficiencies, and gives",
"text": "everything a second life, especially when it is backed by genuine merit.",
"text": "(Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)PART II: CREATE AN AIR OF MYSTERY",
"text": "In a world growing increasingly banal and familiar, what seems",
"text": "enigmatic instantly draws attention. Never make it too clear what you are",
"text": "doing or about to do. Do not show all your cards. An air of mystery",
"text": "heightens your presence; it also creates anticipation—everyone will be",
"text": "watching you to see what happens next. Use mystery to beguile, seduce,",
"text": "even frighten.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "Beginning in 1905, rumors started to spread throughout Paris of a young",
"text": "Oriental girl who danced in a private home, wrapped in veils that she",
"text": "gradually discarded. A local journalist who had seen her dancing",
"text": "reported that “a woman from the Far East had come to Europe laden with",
"text": "perfume and jewels, to introduce some of the richness of the Oriental",
"text": "colour and life into the satiated society of European cities.” Soon",
"text": "everyone knew the dancer’s name: Mata Hari.",
"text": "Early that year, in the winter, small and select audiences would gather",
"text": "in a salon filled with Indian statues and other relics while an orchestra",
"text": "played music inspired by Hindu and Javanese melodies. After keeping",
"text": "the audience waiting and wondering, Mata Hari would suddenly appear,",
"text": "in a startling costume: a white cotton brassiere covered with Indian-type",
"text": "jewels; jeweled bands at the waist supporting a sarong that revealed as",
"text": "much as it concealed; bracelets up the arms. Then Mata Hari would",
"text": "dance, in a style no one in France had seen before, her whole body",
"text": "swaying as if she were in a trance. She told her excited and curious",
"text": "audience that her dances told stories from Indian mythology and",
"text": "Javanese folktales. Soon the cream of Paris, and ambassadors from far-",
"text": "off lands, were competing for invitations to the salon, where it was",
"text": "rumored that Mata Hari was actually performing sacred dances in the",
"text": "nude.The public wanted to know more about her. She told journalists that",
"text": "she was actually Dutch in origin, but had grown up on the island of Java.",
"text": "She would also talk about time spent in India, how she had learned",
"text": "sacred Hindu dances there, and how Indian women “can shoot straight,",
"text": "ride horseback, and are capable of doing logarithms and talk",
"text": "philosophy.” By the summer of 1905, although few Parisians had",
"text": "actually seen Mata Hari dance, her name was on everyone’s lips.",
"text": "As Mata Hari gave more interviews, the story of her origins kept",
"text": "changing: She had grown up in India, her grandmother was the daughter",
"text": "of a Javanese princess, she had lived on the island of Sumatra where she",
"text": "had spent her time “horseback riding, gun in hand, and risking her life.”",
"text": "No one knew anything certain about her, but journalists did not mind",
"text": "these changes in her biography. They compared her to an Indian goddess,",
"text": "a creature from the pages of Baudelaire—whatever their imagination",
"text": "wanted to see in this mysterious woman from the East.",
"text": "In August of 1905, Mata Hari performed for the first time in public.",
"text": "Crowds thronging to see her on opening night caused a riot. She had now",
"text": "become a cult figure, spawning many imitations. One reviewer wrote,",
"text": "“Mata Hari personifies all the poetry of India, its mysticism, its",
"text": "voluptuousness, its hypnotizing charm.” Another noted, “If India",
"text": "possesses such unexpected treasures, then all Frenchmen will emigrate to",
"text": "the shores of the Ganges.”",
"text": "Soon the fame of Mata Hari and her sacred Indian dances spread",
"text": "beyond Paris. She was invited to Berlin, Vienna, Milan. Over the next",
"text": "few years she performed throughout Europe, mixed with the highest",
"text": "social circles, and earned an income that gave her an independence rarely",
"text": "enjoyed by a woman of the period. Then, near the end of World War I,",
"text": "she was arrested in France, tried, convicted, and finally executed as a",
"text": "German spy. Only during the trial did the truth come out: Mata Hari was",
"text": "not from Java or India, had not grown up in the Orient, did not have a",
"text": "drop of Eastern blood in her body. Her real name was Margaretha Zelle,",
"text": "and she came from the stolid northern province of Friesland, Holland.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "When Margaretha Zelle arrived in Paris, in 1904, she had half a franc in",
"text": "her pocket. She was one of the thousands of beautiful young girls who",
"text": "flocked to Paris every year, taking work as artists’ models, nightclub",
"text": "dancers, or vaudeville performers at the Folies Bergère. After a few yearsthey would inevitably be replaced by younger girls, and would often end",
"text": "up on the streets, turning to prostitution, or else returning to the town",
"text": "they came from, older and chastened.",
"text": "Zelle had higher ambitions. She had no dance experience and had",
"text": "never performed in the theater, but as a young girl she had traveled with",
"text": "her family and had witnessed local dances in Java and Sumatra. Zelle",
"text": "clearly understood that what was important in her act was not the dance",
"text": "itself, or even her face or figure, but her ability to create an air of",
"text": "mystery about herself. The mystery she created lay not just in her",
"text": "dancing, or her costumes, or the stories she would tell, or her endless lies",
"text": "about her origins; it lay in an atmosphere enveloping everything she did.",
"text": "There was nothing you could say for sure about her—she was always",
"text": "changing, always surprising her audience with new costumes, new",
"text": "dances, new stories. This air of mystery left the public always wanting to",
"text": "know more, always wondering about her next move. Mata Hari was no",
"text": "more beautiful than many of the other young girls who came to Paris,",
"text": "and she was not a particularly good dancer. What separated her from the",
"text": "mass, what attracted and held the public’s attention and made her famous",
"text": "and wealthy, was her mystery. People are enthralled by mystery; because",
"text": "it invites constant interpretation, they never tire of it. The mysterious",
"text": "cannot be grasped. And what cannot be seized and consumed creates",
"text": "power.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "In the past, the world was filled with the terrifying and unknowable—",
"text": "diseases, disasters, capricious despots, the mystery of death itself. What",
"text": "we could not understand we reimagined as myths and spirits. Over the",
"text": "centuries, though, we have managed, through science and reason, to",
"text": "illuminate the darkness; what was mysterious and forbidding has grown",
"text": "familiar and comfortable. Yet this light has a price: in a world that is ever",
"text": "more banal, that has had its mystery and myth squeezed out of it, we",
"text": "secretly crave enigmas, people or things that cannot be instantly",
"text": "interpreted, seized, and consumed.",
"text": "That is the power of the mysterious: It invites layers of interpretation,",
"text": "excites our imagination, seduces us into believing that it conceals",
"text": "something marvelous. The world has become so familiar and itsinhabitants so predictable that what wraps itself in mystery will almost",
"text": "always draw the limelight to it and make us watch it.",
"text": "Do not imagine that to create an air of mystery you have to be grand",
"text": "and awe-inspiring. Mystery that is woven into your day-to-day",
"text": "demeanor, and is subtle, has that much more power to fascinate and",
"text": "attract attention. Remember: Most people are upfront, can be read like an",
"text": "open book, take little care to control their words or image, and are",
"text": "hopelessly predictable. By simply holding back, keeping silent,",
"text": "occasionally uttering ambiguous phrases, deliberately appearing",
"text": "inconsistent, and acting odd in the subtlest of ways, you will emanate an",
"text": "aura of mystery. The people around you will then magnify that aura by",
"text": "constantly trying to interpret you.",
"text": "Both artists and con artists understand the vital link between being",
"text": "mysterious and attracting interest. Count Victor Lustig, the aristocrat of",
"text": "swindlers, played the game to perfection. He was always doing things",
"text": "that were different, or seemed to make no sense. He would show up at",
"text": "the best hotels in a limo driven by a Japanese chauffeur; no one had ever",
"text": "seen a Japanese chauffeur before, so this seemed exotic and strange.",
"text": "Lustig would dress in the most expensive clothing, but always with",
"text": "something—a medal, a flower, an armband—out of place, at least in",
"text": "conventional terms. This was seen not as tasteless but as odd and",
"text": "intriguing. In hotels he would be seen receiving telegrams at all hours,",
"text": "one after the other, brought to him by his Japanese chauffeur—telegrams",
"text": "he would tear up with utter nonchalance. (In fact they were fakes,",
"text": "completely blank.) He would sit alone in the dining room, reading a large",
"text": "and impressive-looking book, smiling at people yet remaining aloof.",
"text": "Within a few days, of course, the entire hotel would be abuzz with",
"text": "interest in this strange man.",
"text": "All this attention allowed Lustig to lure suckers in with ease. They",
"text": "would beg for his confidence and his company. Everyone wanted to be",
"text": "seen with this mysterious aristocrat. And in the presence of this",
"text": "distracting enigma, they wouldn’t even notice that they were being",
"text": "robbed blind.",
"text": "An air of mystery can make the mediocre appear intelligent and",
"text": "profound. It made Mata Hari, a woman of average appearance and",
"text": "intelligence, seem like a goddess, and her dancing divinely inspired. An",
"text": "air of mystery about an artist makes his or her artwork immediately more",
"text": "intriguing, a trick Marcel Duchamp played to great effect. It is all very",
"text": "easy to do—say little about your work, tease and titillate with alluring,even contradictory comments, then stand back and let others try to make",
"text": "sense of it all.",
"text": "Mysterious people put others in a kind of inferior position—that of",
"text": "trying to figure them out. To degrees that they can control, they also",
"text": "elicit the fear surrounding anything uncertain or unknown. All great",
"text": "leaders know that an aura of mystery draws attention to them and creates",
"text": "an intimidating presence. Mao Tse-tung, for example, cleverly cultivated",
"text": "an enigmatic image; he had no worries about seeming inconsistent or",
"text": "contradicting himself—the very contradictoriness of his actions and",
"text": "words meant that he always had the upper hand. No one, not even his",
"text": "own wife, ever felt they understood him, and he therefore seemed larger",
"text": "than life. This also meant that the public paid constant attention to him,",
"text": "ever anxious to witness his next move.",
"text": "If your social position prevents you from completely wrapping your",
"text": "actions in mystery, you must at least learn to make yourself less obvious.",
"text": "Every now and then, act in a way that does not mesh with other people’s",
"text": "perception of you. This way you keep those around you on the defensive,",
"text": "eliciting the kind of attention that makes you powerful. Done right, the",
"text": "creation of enigma can also draw the kind of attention that strikes terror",
"text": "into your enemy.",
"text": "During the Second Punic War (219-202 B.C.), the great Carthaginian",
"text": "general Hannibal was wreaking havoc in his march on Rome. Hannibal",
"text": "was known for his cleverness and duplicity.",
"text": "Under his leadership Carthage’s army, though smaller than those of",
"text": "the Romans, had constantly outmaneuvered them. On one occasion,",
"text": "though, Hannibal’s scouts made a horrible blunder, leading his troops",
"text": "into a marshy terrain with the sea at their back. The Roman army",
"text": "blocked the mountain passes that led inland, and its general, Fabius, was",
"text": "ecstatic—at last he had Hannibal trapped. Posting his best sentries on the",
"text": "passes, he worked on a plan to destroy Hannibal’s forces. But in the",
"text": "middle of the night, the sentries looked down to see a mysterious sight:",
"text": "A huge procession of lights was heading up the mountain. Thousands",
"text": "and thousands of lights. If this was Hannibal’s army, it had suddenly",
"text": "grown a hundredfold.",
"text": "The sentries argued heatedly about what this could mean:",
"text": "Reinforcements from the sea? Troops that had been hidden in the area?",
"text": "Ghosts? No explanation made sense.",
"text": "As they watched, fires broke out all over the mountain, and a horrible",
"text": "noise drifted up to them from below, like the blowing of a million horns.Demons, they thought. The sentries, the bravest and most sensible in the",
"text": "Roman army, fled their posts in a panic.",
"text": "By the next day, Hannibal had escaped from the marshland. What was",
"text": "his trick? Had he really conjured up demons? Actually what he had done",
"text": "was order bundles of twigs to be fastened to the horns of the thousands",
"text": "of oxen that traveled with his troops as beasts of burden. The twigs were",
"text": "then lit, giving the impression of the torches of a vast army heading up",
"text": "the mountain. When the flames burned down to the oxen’s skin, they",
"text": "stampeded in all directions, bellowing like mad and setting fires all over",
"text": "the mountainside. The key to this device’s success was not the torches,",
"text": "the fires, or the noises in themselves, however, but the fact that Hannibal",
"text": "had created a puzzle that captivated the sentries’ attention and gradually",
"text": "terrified them. From the mountaintop there was no way to explain this",
"text": "bizarre sight. If the sentries could have explained it they would have",
"text": "stayed at their posts.",
"text": "If you find yourself trapped, cornered, and on the defensive in some",
"text": "situation, try a simple experiment: Do something that cannot be easily",
"text": "explained or interpreted. Choose a simple action, but carry it out in a",
"text": "way that unsettles your opponent, a way with many possible",
"text": "interpretations, making your intentions obscure. Don’t just be",
"text": "unpredictable (although this tactic too can be successful—see Law 17);",
"text": "like Hannibal, create a scene that cannot be read. There will seem to be",
"text": "no method to your madness, no rhyme or reason, no single explanation.",
"text": "If you do this right, you will inspire fear and trembling and the sentries",
"text": "will abandon their posts. Call it the “feigned madness of Hamlet” tactic,",
"text": "for Hamlet uses it to great effect in Shakespeare’s play, frightening his",
"text": "stepfather Claudius through the mystery of his behavior. The mysterious",
"text": "makes your forces seem larger, your power more terrifying.",
"text": "Image: The Dance of",
"text": "the Veils—the veils",
"text": "envelop the dancer.",
"text": "What they reveal",
"text": "causes excitement.",
"text": "What they conceal",
"text": "heightens interest. The",
"text": "essence of mystery.Authority: If you do not declare yourself immediately, you arouse",
"text": "expectation…. Mix a little mystery with everything, and the very",
"text": "mystery stirs up veneration. And when you explain, be not too",
"text": "explicit…. In this manner you imitate the Divine way when you cause",
"text": "men to wonder and watch. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "In the beginning of your rise to the top, you must attract attention at all",
"text": "cost, but as you rise higher you must constantly adapt. Never wear the",
"text": "public out with the same tactic. An air of mystery works wonders for",
"text": "those who need to develop an aura of power and get themselves noticed,",
"text": "but it must seem measured and under control. Mata Hari went too far",
"text": "with her fabrications; although the accusation that she was a spy was",
"text": "false, at the time it was a reasonable presumption because all her lies",
"text": "made her seem suspicious and nefarious. Do not let your air of mystery",
"text": "be slowly transformed into a reputation for deceit. The mystery you",
"text": "create must seem a game, playful and unthreatening. Recognize when it",
"text": "goes too far, and pull back.",
"text": "There are times when the need for attention must be deferred, and",
"text": "when scandal and notoriety are the last things you want to create. The",
"text": "attention you attract must never offend or challenge the reputation of",
"text": "those above you—not, at any rate, if they are secure. You will seem not",
"text": "only paltry but desperate by comparison. There is an art to knowing",
"text": "when to draw notice and when to withdraw.",
"text": "Lola Montez was one of the great practitioners of the art of attracting",
"text": "attention. She managed to rise from a middle-class Irish background to",
"text": "being the lover of Franz Liszt and then the mistress and political adviser",
"text": "of King Ludwig of Bavaria. In her later years, though, she lost her sense",
"text": "of proportion.",
"text": "In London in 1850 there was to be a performance of Shakespeare’s",
"text": "Macbeth featuring the greatest actor of the time, Charles John Kean.",
"text": "Everyone of consequence in English society was to be there; it was",
"text": "rumored that even Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were to make apublic appearance. The custom of the period demanded that everyone be",
"text": "seated before the queen arrived. So the audience got there a little early,",
"text": "and when the queen entered her royal box, they observed the convention",
"text": "of standing up and applauding her. The royal couple waited, then bowed.",
"text": "Everyone sat down and the lights were dimmed. Then, suddenly, all eyes",
"text": "turned to a box opposite Queen Victoria’s: A woman appeared from the",
"text": "shadows, taking her seat later than the queen. It was Lola Montez. She",
"text": "wore a diamond tiara on her dark hair and a long fur coat over her",
"text": "shoulders. People whispered in amazement as the ermine cloak was",
"text": "dropped to reveal a low-necked gown of crimson velvet. By turning their",
"text": "heads, the audience could see that the royal couple deliberately avoided",
"text": "looking at Lola’s box. They followed Victoria’s example, and for the rest",
"text": "of the evening Lola Montez was ignored. After that evening no one in",
"text": "fashionable society dared to be seen with her. All her magnetic powers",
"text": "were reversed. People would flee her sight. Her future in England was",
"text": "finished.",
"text": "Never appear overly greedy for attention, then, for it signals",
"text": "insecurity, and insecurity drives power away. Understand that there are",
"text": "times when it is not in your interest to be the center of attention. When in",
"text": "the presence of a king or queen, for instance, or the equivalent thereof,",
"text": "bow and retreat to the shadows; never compete.LAW 7",
"text": "GET OTHERS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU,",
"text": "BUT ALWAYS TAKE THE CREDIT",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your",
"text": "own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and",
"text": "energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end",
"text": "your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do",
"text": "yourself what others can do for you.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION AND OBSERVANCE OF",
"text": "THE LAW",
"text": "In 1883 a young Serbian scientist named Nikola Tesla was working for",
"text": "the European division of the Continental Edison Company. He was a",
"text": "brilliant inventor, and Charles Batchelor, a plant manager and a personal",
"text": "friend of Thomas Edison, persuaded him he should seek his fortune in",
"text": "America, giving him a letter of introduction to Edison himself. So began",
"text": "a life of woe and tribulation that lasted until Tesla’s death.",
"text": "IIII TORTOISE THE LELP AND THE HIPPOPOI",
"text": "\\1]",
"text": "One day the tortoise met the elephant, who trumpeted, “Out of my way,",
"text": "you weakling—I might step on you!” The tortoise was not afraid and",
"text": "stayed where he was, so the elephant stepped on him, but could not crush",
"text": "him. “Do not boast, Mr. Elephant, I am as strong as you are!” said the",
"text": "tortoise, but the elephant just laughed. So the tortoise asked him to cometo his hill the next morning. The next day, before sunrise, the tortoise ran",
"text": "down the hill to the river, where he met the hippopotamus, who was just",
"text": "on his way back into the water after his nocturnal feeding. “Mr Hippo!",
"text": "Shall we have a tug-of-war? I bet I’m as strong as you are!” said the",
"text": "tortoise. The hippopotamus laughed at this ridiculous idea, but agreed.",
"text": "The tortoise produced a long rope and told the hippo to hold it in his",
"text": "mouth until the tortoise shouted “Hey!” Then the tortoise ran back up",
"text": "the hill where he found the elephant, who was getting impatient. He gave",
"text": "the elephant the other end of the rope and said, “When I say ‘Hey!’ pull,",
"text": "and you’ll.see which of us is the strongest. ”Then he ran halfway back",
"text": "down the hill, to a place where he couldn’t be seen, and shouted, “Hey!”",
"text": "The elephant and the hippopotamus pulled and pulled, but neither could",
"text": "budge the other-they were of equal strength. They both agreed that the",
"text": "tortoise was as strong as they were. Never do what others can do for you.",
"text": "The tortoise let others do the work for him while he got the credit.",
"text": "ZAIREAN FABLE",
"text": "When Tesla met Edison in New York, the famous inventor hired him",
"text": "on the spot. Tesla worked eighteen-hour days, finding ways to improve",
"text": "the primitive Edison dynamos. Finally he offered to redesign them",
"text": "completely. To Edison this seemed a monumental task that could last",
"text": "years without paying off, but he told Tesla, “There’s fifty thousand",
"text": "dollars in it for you—if you can do it.” Tesla labored day and night on",
"text": "the project and after only a year he produced a greatly improved version",
"text": "of the dynamo, complete with automatic controls. He went to Edison to",
"text": "break the good news and receive his $50,000. Edison was pleased with",
"text": "the improvement, for which he and his company would take credit, but",
"text": "when it came to the issue of the money he told the young Serb, “Tesla,",
"text": "you don’t understand our American humor!,” and offered a small raise",
"text": "instead.",
"text": "Tesla’s obsession was to create an alternating-current system (AC) of",
"text": "electricity. Edison believed in the direct-current system (DC), and not",
"text": "only refused to support Tesla’s research but later did all he could to",
"text": "sabotage him. Tesla turned to the great Pittsburgh magnate George",
"text": "Westinghouse, who had started his own electricity company.",
"text": "Westinghouse completely funded Tesla’s research and offered him a",
"text": "generous royalty agreement on future profits. The AC system Tesla",
"text": "developed is still the standard today—but after patents were filed in his",
"text": "name, other scientists came forward to take credit for the invention,",
"text": "claiming that they had laid the groundwork for him. His name was lost inthe shuffle, and the public came to associate the invention with",
"text": "Westinghouse himself.",
"text": "A year later, Westinghouse was caught in a takeover bid from J.",
"text": "Pierpont Morgan, who made him rescind the generous royalty contract",
"text": "he had signed with Tesla. Westinghouse explained to the scientist that his",
"text": "company would not survive if it had to pay him his full royalties; he",
"text": "persuaded Tesla to accept a buyout of his patents for $216,000—a large",
"text": "sum, no doubt, but far less than the $12 million they were worth at the",
"text": "time. The financiers had divested Tesla of the riches, the patents, and",
"text": "essentially the credit for the greatest invention of his career.",
"text": "The name of Guglielmo Marconi is forever linked with the invention",
"text": "of radio. But few know that in producing his invention—he broadcast a",
"text": "signal across the English Channel in 1899—Marconi made use of a",
"text": "patent Tesla had filed in 1897, and that his work depended on Tesla’s",
"text": "research. Once again Tesla received no money and no credit. Tesla",
"text": "invented an induction motor as well as the AC power system, and he is",
"text": "the real “father of radio.” Yet none of these discoveries bear his name.",
"text": "As an old man, he lived in poverty.",
"text": "In 1917, during his later impoverished years, Tesla was told he was to",
"text": "receive the Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical",
"text": "Engineers. He turned the medal down. “You propose,” he said, “to honor",
"text": "me with a medal which I could pin upon my coat and strut for a vain",
"text": "hour before the members of your Institute. You would decorate my body",
"text": "and continue to let starve, for failure to supply recognition, my mind and",
"text": "its creative products, which have supplied the foundation upon which the",
"text": "major portion of your Institute exists.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Many harbor the illusion that science, dealing with facts as it does, is",
"text": "beyond the petty rivalries that trouble the rest of the world. Nikola Tesla",
"text": "was one of those. He believed science had nothing to do with politics,",
"text": "and claimed not to care for fame and riches. As he grew older, though,",
"text": "this ruined his scientific work. Not associated with any particular",
"text": "discovery, he could attract no investors to his many ideas. While he",
"text": "pondered great inventions for the future, others stole the patents he had",
"text": "already developed and got the glory for themselves.",
"text": "He wanted to do everything on his own, but merely exhausted and",
"text": "impoverished himself in the process.Edison was Tesla’s polar opposite. He wasn’t actually much of a",
"text": "scientific thinker or inventor; he once said that he had no need to be a",
"text": "mathematician because he could always hire one. That was Edison’s",
"text": "main method. He was really a businessman and publicist, spotting the",
"text": "trends and the opportunities that were out there, then hiring the best in",
"text": "the field to do the work for him. If he had to he would steal from his",
"text": "competitors. Yet his name is much better known than Tesla’s, and is",
"text": "associated with more inventions.",
"text": "To be sure, if the hunter relies on the security of the carriage, utilizes the",
"text": "legs of the six horses, and makes Wang Liang hold their reins, then he",
"text": "will not tire himself and will find it easy to overtake swift animals. Now",
"text": "supposing he discarded the advantage of the carriage, gave up the useful",
"text": "legs of the horses and the skill of Wang Liang, and alighted to run after",
"text": "the animals, then even though his legs were as quick as Lou Chi’s, he",
"text": "would not be in time to overtake the animals. In fact, if good horses and",
"text": "strong carriages are taken into use, then mere bond-men and",
"text": "bondwomen will be good enough to catch the animals.",
"text": "HAN-FEI-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "The lesson is twofold: First, the credit for an invention or creation is as",
"text": "important, if not more important, than the invention itself. You must",
"text": "secure the credit for yourself and keep others from stealing it away, or",
"text": "from piggy-backing on your hard work. To accomplish this you must",
"text": "always be vigilant and ruthless, keeping your creation quiet until you can",
"text": "be sure there are no vultures circling overhead. Second, learn to take",
"text": "advantage of other people’s work to further your own cause. Time is",
"text": "precious and life is short. If you try to do it all on your own, you run",
"text": "yourself ragged, waste energy, and burn yourself out. It is far better to",
"text": "conserve your forces, pounce on the work others have done, and find a",
"text": "way to make it your own.",
"text": "Everybody steals in commerce and industry.",
"text": "I’ve stolen a lot myself.",
"text": "But I know how to steal.",
"text": "Thomas Edison, 1847-1931",
"text": "KEYS TO POWERThe world of power has the dynamics of the jungle: There are those who",
"text": "live by hunting and killing, and there are also vast numbers of creatures",
"text": "(hyenas, vultures) who live off the hunting of others. These latter, less",
"text": "imaginative types are often incapable of doing the work that is essential",
"text": "for the creation of power. They understand early on, though, that if they",
"text": "wait long enough, they can always find another animal to do the work for",
"text": "them. Do not be naive: At this very moment, while you are slaving away",
"text": "on some project, there are vultures circling above trying to figure out a",
"text": "way to survive and even thrive off your creativity. It is useless to",
"text": "complain about this, or to wear yourself ragged with bitterness, as Tesla",
"text": "did. Better to protect yourself and join the game. Once you have",
"text": "established a power base, become a vulture yourself, and save yourself a",
"text": "lot of time and energy.",
"text": "A hen who had lost her sight, and was accustomed to scratching up the",
"text": "earth in search of food, although blind, still continued to scratch away",
"text": "most diligently. Of what use was it to the industriuus fool? Another",
"text": "sharp-sighted hen who spared her tender feet never moved from her side,",
"text": "and enjoyed, without scratching, the fruit of the other’s labor. For as",
"text": "often as the blind hen scratched up a barley-corn, her watchful",
"text": "companion devoured it.",
"text": "FABLES, GOITCHOLD LESSING, 1729-1781",
"text": "Of the two poles of this game, one can be illustrated by the example of",
"text": "the explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Balboa had an obsession—the",
"text": "discovery of El Dorado, a legendary city of vast riches.",
"text": "Early in the sixteenth century, after countless hardships and brushes",
"text": "with death, he found evidence of a great and wealthy empire to the south",
"text": "of Mexico, in present-day Peru. By conquering this empire, the Incan,",
"text": "and seizing its gold, he would make himself the next Cortés. The",
"text": "problem was that even as he made this discovery, word of it spread",
"text": "among hundreds of other conquistadors. He did not understand that half",
"text": "the game was keeping it quiet, and carefully watching those around him.",
"text": "A few years after he discovered the location of the Incan empire, a",
"text": "soldier in his own army, Francisco Pizarro, helped to get him beheaded",
"text": "for treason. Pizarro went on to take what Balboa had spent so many years",
"text": "trying to find.",
"text": "The other pole is that of the artist Peter Paul Rubens, who, late in his",
"text": "career, found himself deluged with requests for paintings. He created a",
"text": "system: In his large studio he employed dozens of outstanding painters,one specializing in robes, another in backgrounds, and so on. He created",
"text": "a vast production line in which a large number of canvases would be",
"text": "worked on at the same time. When an important client visited the studio,",
"text": "Rubens would shoo his hired painters out for the day. While the client",
"text": "watched from a balcony, Rubens would work at an incredible pace, with",
"text": "unbelievable energy. The client would leave in awe of this prodigious",
"text": "man, who could paint so many masterpieces in so short a time.",
"text": "This is the essence of the Law: Learn to get others to do the work for",
"text": "you while you take the credit, and you appear to be of godlike strength",
"text": "and power. If you think it important to do all the work yourself, you will",
"text": "never get far, and you will suffer the fate of the Balboas and Teslas of the",
"text": "world. Find people with the skills and creativity you lack. Either hire",
"text": "them, while putting your own name on top of theirs, or find a way to take",
"text": "their work and make it your own. Their creativity thus becomes yours,",
"text": "and you seem a genius to the world.",
"text": "There is another application of this law that does not require the",
"text": "parasitic use of your contemporaries’ labor: Use the past, a vast",
"text": "storehouse of knowledge and wisdom. Isaac Newton called this",
"text": "“standing on the shoulders of giants.” He meant that in making his",
"text": "discoveries he had built on the achievements of others. A great part of",
"text": "his aura of genius, he knew, was attributable to his shrewd ability to",
"text": "make the most of the insights of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance",
"text": "scientists. Shakespeare borrowed plots, characterizations, and even",
"text": "dialogue from Plutarch, among other writers, for he knew that nobody",
"text": "surpassed Plutarch in the writing of subtle psychology and witty quotes.",
"text": "How many later writers have in their turn borrowed from—plagiarized—",
"text": "Shakespeare ?",
"text": "We all know how few of today’s politicians write their own speeches.",
"text": "Their own words would not win them a single vote; their eloquence and",
"text": "wit, whatever there is of it, they owe to a speech writer. Other people do",
"text": "the work, they take the credit. The upside of this is that it is a kind of",
"text": "power that is available to everyone. Learn to use the knowledge of the",
"text": "past and you will look like a genius, even when you are really just a",
"text": "clever borrower.",
"text": "Writers who have delved into human nature, ancient masters of",
"text": "strategy, historians of human stupidity and folly, kings and queens who",
"text": "have learned the hard way how to handle the burdens of power—their",
"text": "knowledge is gathering dust, waiting for you to come and stand on their",
"text": "shoulders. Their wit can be your wit, their skill can be your skill, and",
"text": "they will never come around to tell people how unoriginal you really are.You can slog through life, making endless mistakes, wasting time and",
"text": "energy trying to do things from your own experience. Or you can use the",
"text": "armies of the past. As Bismarck once said, “Fools say that they learn by",
"text": "experience. I prefer to profit by others’ experience.”",
"text": "Image: The Vulture. Of all the creatures in",
"text": "the jungle, he has it the easiest. The",
"text": "hard work of others becomes his work;",
"text": "their failure to survive becomes his",
"text": "nourishment. Keep an eye on",
"text": "the Vulture—while you are",
"text": "hard at work, he is cir",
"text": "cling above. Do not",
"text": "fight him, join",
"text": "him.",
"text": "Authority: There is much to be known, life is short, and life is not life",
"text": "without knowledge. It is therefore an excellent device to acquire",
"text": "knowledge from everybody. Thus, by the sweat of another’s brow, you",
"text": "win the reputation of being an oracle. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "There are times when taking the credit for work that others have done is",
"text": "not the wise course: If your power is not firmly enough established, you",
"text": "will seem to be pushing people out of the limelight. To be a brilliant ex",
"text": "ploiter of talent your position must be unshakable, or you will be accused",
"text": "of deception.",
"text": "Be sure you know when letting other people share the credit serves",
"text": "your purpose. It is especially important to not be greedy when you have a",
"text": "master above you. President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to the",
"text": "People’s Republic of China was originally his idea, but it might never",
"text": "have come off but for the deft diplomacy of Henry Kissinger. Nor would",
"text": "it have been as successful without Kissinger’s skills. Still, when the time",
"text": "came to take credit, Kissinger adroitly let Nixon take the lion’s share.",
"text": "Knowing that the truth would come out later, he was careful not tojeopardize his standing in the short term by hogging the limelight.",
"text": "Kissinger played the game expertly: He took credit for the work of those",
"text": "below him while graciously giving credit for his own labors to those",
"text": "above. That is the way to play the game.LAW 8",
"text": "MAKE OTHER PEOPLE COME TO YOU—USE",
"text": "BAIT IF NECESSARY",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is",
"text": "always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own",
"text": "plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains—then attack. You",
"text": "hold the cards.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "At the Congress of Vienna in 1814, the major powers of Europe gathered",
"text": "to carve up the remains of Napoleon’s fallen Empire. The city was full of",
"text": "gaiety and the balls were the most splendid in memory. Hovering over",
"text": "the proceedings, however, was the shadow of Napoleon himself. Instead",
"text": "of being executed or exiled far away, he had been sent to the island of",
"text": "Elba, not far from the coast of Italy.",
"text": "Even imprisoned on an island, a man as bold and creative as Napoleon",
"text": "Bonaparte made everyone nervous. The Austrians plotted to kill him on",
"text": "Elba, but decided it was too risky. Alexander I, Russia’s temperamental",
"text": "czar, heightened the anxiety by throwing a fit during the congress when a",
"text": "part of Poland was denied him: “Beware, I shall loose the monster!” he",
"text": "threatened. Everyone knew he meant Napoleon. Of all the statesmen",
"text": "gathered in Vienna, only Talleyrand, Napoleon’s former foreign minister,",
"text": "seemed calm and unconcerned. It was as if he knew something the others",
"text": "did not.",
"text": "Meanwhile, on the island of Elba, Napoleon’s life was a mockery of",
"text": "his previous glory. As Elba’s “king,” he had been allowed to form a court—there was a cook, a wardrobe mistress, an official pianist, and a",
"text": "handful of courtiers. All this was designed to humiliate Napoleon, and it",
"text": "seemed to work.",
"text": "That winter, however, there occurred a series of events so strange and",
"text": "dramatic they might have been scripted in a play. Elba was surrounded",
"text": "by British ships, their cannons covering all possible exit points. Yet",
"text": "somehow, in broad daylight on 26 February 1815, a ship with nine",
"text": "hundred men on board picked up Napoleon and put to sea. The English",
"text": "gave chase but the ship got away. This almost impossible escape",
"text": "astonished the public throughout Europe, and terrified the statesmen at",
"text": "the Congress of Vienna.",
"text": "Although it would have been safer to leave Europe, Napoleon not only",
"text": "chose to return to France, he raised the odds by marching on Paris with a",
"text": "tiny army, in hopes of recapturing the throne. His strategy worked—",
"text": "people of all classes threw themselves at his feet. An army under",
"text": "Marshal Ney sped from Paris to arrest him, but when the soldiers saw",
"text": "their beloved former leader, they changed sides. Napoleon was declared",
"text": "emperor again. Volunteers swelled the ranks of his new army. Delirium",
"text": "swept the country. In Paris, crowds went wild. The king who had",
"text": "replaced Napoleon fled the country.",
"text": "For the next hundred days, Napoleon ruled France. Soon, however, the",
"text": "giddiness subsided. France was bankrupt, its resources nearly exhausted,",
"text": "and there was little Napoleon could do about this. At the Battle of",
"text": "Waterloo, in June of that year, he was finally defeated for good. This",
"text": "time his enemies had learned their lesson: They exiled him to the barren",
"text": "island of Saint Helena, off the west coast of Africa. There he had no",
"text": "more hope of escape.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Only years later did the facts of Napoleon’s dramatic escape from Elba",
"text": "come to light. Before he decided to attempt this bold move, visitors to",
"text": "his court had told him that he was more popular in France than ever, and",
"text": "that the country would embrace him again. One of these visitors was",
"text": "Austria’s General Roller, who convinced Napoleon that if he escaped,",
"text": "the European powers, England included, would welcome him back into",
"text": "power. Napoleon was tipped off that the English would let him go, and",
"text": "indeed his escape occurred in the middle of the afternoon, in full view of",
"text": "English spyglasses.What Napoleon did not know was that there was a man behind it all,",
"text": "pulling the strings, and that this man was his former minister, Talleyrand.",
"text": "And Talleyrand was doing all this not to bring back the glory days but to",
"text": "crush Napoleon once and for all. Considering the emperor’s ambition",
"text": "unsettling to Europe’s stability, he had turned against him long ago.",
"text": "When Napoleon was exiled to Elba, Talleyrand had protested. Napoleon",
"text": "should be sent farther away, he argued, or Europe would never have",
"text": "peace. But no one listened.",
"text": "Instead of pushing his opinion, Talleyrand bided his time. Working",
"text": "quietly, he eventually won over Castlereagh and Metternich, the foreign",
"text": "ministers of England and Austria.",
"text": "Together these men baited Napoleon into escaping. Even Koller’s",
"text": "visit, to whisper the promise of glory in the exile’s ear, was part of the",
"text": "plan. Like a master cardplayer, Talleyrand figured everything out in",
"text": "advance. He knew Napoleon would fall into the trap he had set. He also",
"text": "foresaw that Napoleon would lead the country into a war, which, given",
"text": "France’s weakened condition, could only last a few months. One",
"text": "diplomat in Vienna, who understood that Talleyrand was behind it all,",
"text": "said, “He has set the house ablaze in order to save it from the plague.”",
"text": "When I have laid bait for deer,",
"text": "I don’t shoot at the first doe that comes to sniff,",
"text": "but wait until the whole herd has gathered round.",
"text": "Otto von Bismarck, 1815-1898",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "How many times has this scenario played itself out in history: An",
"text": "aggressive leader initiates a series of bold moves that begin by bringing",
"text": "him much power. Slowly, however, his power reaches a peak, and soon",
"text": "everything turns against him. His numerous enemies band together;",
"text": "trying to maintain his power, he exhausts himself going in this direction",
"text": "and that, and inevitably he collapses. The reason for this pattern is that",
"text": "the aggressive person is rarely in full control. He cannot see more than a",
"text": "couple of moves ahead, cannot see the consequences of this bold move",
"text": "or that one. Because he is constantly being forced to react to the moves",
"text": "of his ever-growing host of enemies, and to the unforeseen consequences",
"text": "of his own rash actions, his aggressive energy is turned against him.In the realm of power, you must ask yourself, what is the point of",
"text": "chasing here and there, trying to solve problems and defeat my enemies,",
"text": "if I never feel in control? Why am I always having to react to events",
"text": "instead of directing them? The answer is simple: Your idea of power is",
"text": "wrong. You have mistaken aggressive action for effective action. And",
"text": "most often the most effective action is to stay back, keep calm, and let",
"text": "others be frustrated by the traps you lay for them, playing for long-term",
"text": "power rather than quick victory.",
"text": "Remember: The essence of power is the ability to keep the initiative,",
"text": "to get others to react to your moves, to keep your opponent and those",
"text": "around you on the defensive. When you make other people come to you,",
"text": "you suddenly become the one controlling the situation. And the one who",
"text": "has control has power. Two things must happen to place you in this",
"text": "position: You yourself must learn to master your emotions, and never to",
"text": "be influenced by anger; meanwhile, however, you must play on people’s",
"text": "natural tendency to react angrily when pushed and baited. In the long",
"text": "run, the ability to make others come to you is a weapon far more",
"text": "powerful than any tool of aggression.",
"text": "Study how Talleyrand, the master of the art, performed this delicate",
"text": "trick. First, he overcame the urge to try to convince his fellow statesmen",
"text": "that they needed to banish Napoleon far away. It is only natural to want",
"text": "to persuade people by pleading your case, imposing your will with",
"text": "words. But this often turns against you. Few of Talleyrand’s",
"text": "contemporaries believed Napoleon was still a threat, so that if he had",
"text": "spent a lot of energy trying to convince them, he would only have made",
"text": "himself look foolish. Instead, he held his tongue and his emotions in",
"text": "check. Most important of all, he laid Napoleon a sweet and irresistible",
"text": "trap. He knew the man’s weakness, his impetuosity, his need for glory",
"text": "and the love of the masses, and he played all this to perfection. When",
"text": "Napoleon went for the bait, there was no danger that he might succeed",
"text": "and turn the tables on Talleyrand, who better than anyone knew France’s",
"text": "depleted state. And even had Napoleon been able to overcome these",
"text": "difficulties, the likelihood of his success would have been greater were",
"text": "he able to choose his time and place of action. By setting the proper trap,",
"text": "Talleyrand took the time and place into his own hands.",
"text": "All of us have only so much energy, and there is a moment when our",
"text": "energies are at their peak. When you make the other person come to you,",
"text": "he wears himself out, wasting his energy on the trip. In the year 1905,",
"text": "Russia and Japan were at war. The Japanese had only recently begun to",
"text": "modernize their warships, so that the Russians had a stronger navy, butby spreading false information the Japanese marshal Togo Heihachiro",
"text": "baited the Russians into leaving their docks in the Baltic Sea, making",
"text": "them believe they could wipe out the Japanese fleet in one swift attack.",
"text": "The Russian fleet could not reach Japan by the quickest route—through",
"text": "the Strait of Gibraltar and then the Suez Canal into the Indian Ocean—",
"text": "because these were controlled by the British, and Japan was an ally of",
"text": "Great Britain. They had to go around the Cape of Good Hope, at the",
"text": "southern tip of Africa, adding over more than six thousand miles to the",
"text": "voyage. Once the fleet passed the Cape, the Japanese spread another",
"text": "false story: They were sailing to launch a counterattack. So the Russians",
"text": "made the entire journey to Japan on combat alert. By the time they",
"text": "arrived, their seamen were tense, exhausted, and overworked, while the",
"text": "Japanese had been waiting at their ease. Despite the odds and their lack",
"text": "of experience in modern naval warfare, the Japanese crushed the",
"text": "Russians.",
"text": "One added benefit of making the opponent come to you, as the",
"text": "Japanese discovered with the Russians, is that it forces him to operate in",
"text": "your territory. Being on hostile ground will make him nervous and often",
"text": "he will rush his actions and make mistakes. For negotiations or meetings,",
"text": "it is always wise to lure others into your territory, or the territory of your",
"text": "choice. You have your bearings, while they see nothing familiar and are",
"text": "subtly placed on the defensive.",
"text": "Manipulation is a dangerous game. Once someone suspects he is being",
"text": "manipulated, it becomes harder and harder to control him. But when you",
"text": "make your opponent come to you, you create the illusion that he is",
"text": "controlling the situation. He does not feel the strings that pull him, just as",
"text": "Napoleon imagined that he himself was the master of his daring escape",
"text": "and return to power.",
"text": "Everything depends on the sweetness of your bait. If your trap is",
"text": "attractive enough, the turbulence of your enemies’ emotions and desires",
"text": "will blind them to reality. The greedier they become, the more they can",
"text": "be led around.",
"text": "The great nineteenth-century robber baron Daniel Drew was a master",
"text": "at playing the stock market. When he wanted a particular stock to be",
"text": "bought or sold, driving prices up or down, he rarely resorted to the direct",
"text": "approach. One of his tricks was to hurry through an exclusive club near",
"text": "Wall Street, obviously on his way to the stock exchange, and to pull out",
"text": "his customary red bandanna to wipe his perspiring brow. A slip of paper",
"text": "would fall from this bandanna that he would pretend not to notice. The",
"text": "club’s members were always trying to foresee Drew’s moves, and theywould pounce on the paper, which invariably seemed to contain an inside",
"text": "tip on a stock. Word would spread, and members would buy or sell the",
"text": "stock in droves, playing perfectly into Drew’s hands.",
"text": "If you can get other people to dig their own graves, why sweat",
"text": "yourself? Pickpockets work this to perfection. The key to picking a",
"text": "pocket is knowing which pocket contains the wallet. Experienced",
"text": "pickpockets often ply their trade in train stations and other places where",
"text": "there is a clearly marked sign reading BEWARE OF PICKPOCKETS.",
"text": "Passersby seeing the sign invariably feel for their wallet to make sure it",
"text": "is still there. For the watching pickpockets, this is like shooting fish in a",
"text": "barrel. Pickpockets have even been known to place their own BEWARE",
"text": "OF PICKPOCKETS signs to ensure their success.",
"text": "When you are making people come to you, it is sometimes better to let",
"text": "them know you are forcing their hand. You give up deception for overt",
"text": "manipulation. The psychological ramifications are profound: The person",
"text": "who makes others come to him appears powerful, and demands respect.",
"text": "Filippo Brunelleschi, the great Renaissance artist and architect, was a",
"text": "great practitioner of the art of making others come to him as a sign of his",
"text": "power. On one occasion he had been engaged to repair the dome of the",
"text": "Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence. The commission was",
"text": "important and prestigious. But when the city officials hired a second",
"text": "man, Lorenzo Ghiberti, to work with Brunelleschi, the great artist",
"text": "brooded in secret. He knew that Ghiberti had gotten the job through his",
"text": "connections, and that he would do none of the work and get half the",
"text": "credit. At a critical moment of the construction, then, Brunelleschi",
"text": "suddenly developed a mysterious illness. He had to stop work, but",
"text": "pointed out to city officials that they had hired Ghiberti, who should",
"text": "have been able to continue the work on his own. Soon it became clear",
"text": "that Ghiberti was useless and the officials came begging to Brunelleschi.",
"text": "He ignored them, insisting that Ghiberti should finish the project, until",
"text": "finally they realized the problem: They fired Ghiberti.",
"text": "By some miracle, Brunelleschi recovered within days. He did not have",
"text": "to throw a tantrum or make a fool of himself; he simply practiced the art",
"text": "of “making others come to you.”",
"text": "If on one occasion you make it a point of dignity that others must",
"text": "come to you and you succeed, they will continue to do so even after you",
"text": "stop trying.",
"text": "Image: The Honeyed",
"text": "Bear Trap. The bear hunter",
"text": "does not chase his prey; a bearthat knows it is hunted is nearly",
"text": "impossible to catch and is fero",
"text": "cious if cornered. Instead, the",
"text": "hunter lays traps baited with",
"text": "honey. He does not exhaust",
"text": "himself and risk his life in",
"text": "pursuit. He baits, then waits.",
"text": "Authority: Good warriors make others come to them, and do not go to",
"text": "others. This is the principle of emptiness and fullness of others and self.",
"text": "When you induce opponents to come to you, then their force is always",
"text": "empty; as long as you do not go to them, your force is always full.",
"text": "Attacking emptiness with fullness is like throwing stones on eggs.",
"text": "(Zhang Yu, eleventh-century commentator on The Art of War)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "Although it is generally the wiser policy to make others exhaust",
"text": "themselves chasing you, there are opposite cases where striking suddenly",
"text": "and aggressively at the enemy so demoralizes him that his energies sink.",
"text": "Instead of making others come to you, you go to them, force the issue,",
"text": "take the lead. Fast attack can be an awesome weapon, for it forces the",
"text": "other person to react without the time to think or plan. With no time to",
"text": "think, people make errors of judgment, and are thrown on the defensive.",
"text": "This tactic is the obverse of waiting and baiting, but it serves the same",
"text": "function: You make your enemy respond on your terms.",
"text": "Men like Cesare Borgia and Napoleon used the element of speed to",
"text": "intimidate and control. A rapid and unforeseen move is terrifying and",
"text": "demoralizing. You must choose your tactics depending on the situation.",
"text": "If you have time on your side, and know that you and your enemies are",
"text": "at least at equal strength, then deplete their strength by making them",
"text": "come to you. If time is against you—your enemies are weaker, and",
"text": "waiting will only give them the chance to recover—give them no suchchance. Strike quickly and they have nowhere to go. As the boxer Joe",
"text": "Louis put it, “He can run, but he can’t hide.”LAW 9",
"text": "WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER",
"text": "THROUGH ARGUMENT",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Any momentary triumph you think you have gained through argument is",
"text": "really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is",
"text": "stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is",
"text": "much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your",
"text": "actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "In 131 B.C., the Roman consul Publius Crassus Dives Mucianus, laying",
"text": "siege to the Greek town of Pergamus, found himself in need of a",
"text": "battering ram to force through the town’s walls. He had seen a couple of",
"text": "hefty ship’s masts in a shipyard in Athens a few days before, and he",
"text": "ordered that the larger of these be sent to him immediately. The military",
"text": "engineer in Athens who received the order felt certain that the consul",
"text": "really wanted the smaller of the masts. He argued endlessly with the",
"text": "soldiers who delivered the request: The smaller mast, he told them, was",
"text": "much better suited to the task. And indeed it would be easier to transport.",
"text": "The soldiers warned the engineer that their master was not a man to",
"text": "argue with, but he insisted that the smaller mast would be the only one",
"text": "that would work with a machine that he was constructing to go with it.",
"text": "He drew diagram after diagram, and went so far as to say that he was the",
"text": "expert and they had no clue what they were talking about. The soldiers",
"text": "knew their leader and at last convinced the engineer that it would be",
"text": "better to swallow his expertise and obey.After they left, though, the engineer thought about it some more. What",
"text": "was the point, he asked himself, in obeying an order that would lead to",
"text": "failure? And so he sent the smaller mast, confident that the consul would",
"text": "see how much more effective it was and reward him justly.",
"text": "When the smaller mast arrived, Mucianus asked his soldiers for an",
"text": "explanation. They described to him how the engineer had argued",
"text": "endlessly for the smaller mast, but had finally promised to send the",
"text": "larger one. Mucianus went into a rage. He could not concentrate on the",
"text": "siege, or consider the importance of breaching the walls before the town",
"text": "received reinforcements. All he could think about was the impudent",
"text": "engineer, whom he ordered to be brought to him immediately.",
"text": "Arriving a few days later, the engineer gladly explained to the consul,",
"text": "one more time, the reasons for the smaller mast. He went on and on,",
"text": "using the same arguments he had made with the soldiers. He said it was",
"text": "wise to listen to experts in these matters, and if the attack was only tried",
"text": "with the battering ram he had sent, the consul would not regret it.",
"text": "Mucianus let him finish, then had him stripped naked before the soldiers",
"text": "and flogged and scourged with rods until he died.",
"text": "THE SULTAN AND THE VIZIER",
"text": "A vizier had served his master for some thirty years and was known and",
"text": "admired for his loyalty, truthfulness, and devotion to God. His honesty,",
"text": "however, had made him many enemies in the court, who spread stories of",
"text": "his duplicity and perfidy. They worked on the sultan day in and day out",
"text": "until he too came to distrust the innocent vizier and finally ordered the",
"text": "man who had served him so well to be put to death. In this realm, those",
"text": "condemned to death were tied up and thrown into the pen where the",
"text": "sultan kept his fiercest hunting dogs. The dogs would promptly tear the",
"text": "victim to pieces. Before being thrown to the dogs, however, the vizier",
"text": "asked for one last request. “I would like ten days’ respite,” he said, “so",
"text": "that I can pay my debts, collect any money due to me, return items that",
"text": "people have put in my care, and share out my goods among the members",
"text": "of my family and my children and appoint a guardian for them.” After",
"text": "receiving a guarantee that the vizier would not try to escape, the sultan",
"text": "granted this request. The vizier hurried home, collected one hundred",
"text": "gold pieces, then paid a visit to the huntsman who looked after the",
"text": "sultan’s dogs. He offered this man the one hundred gold pieces and said,",
"text": "“Let me look after the dogs for ten days.” The huntsman agreed, and for",
"text": "the next ten days the vizier cared for the beasts with great attention,grooming them well and feeding them handsomely. By the end of the ten",
"text": "days they were eating out of his hand.",
"text": "On the eleventh day the vizier was called before the sultan, the charges",
"text": "were repeated, and the sultan watched as the vizier was tied up and",
"text": "thrown to the dogs. Yet when the beasts saw him, they ran up to him with",
"text": "wagging tails. They nibbled affectionately at his shoulders and began",
"text": "playing with him. The sultan and the other witnesses were amazed, and",
"text": "the sultan asked the vizier why the dogs had spared his life. The vizier",
"text": "replied, “I have looked after these dogs for ten days. The sultan has seen",
"text": "the result for himself. I have looked after you for thirty years, and what is",
"text": "the result? I am condemned to death on the strength of accusations",
"text": "brought by my enemies. ”The sultan blushed with shame. He not only",
"text": "pardoned the vizier but gave him a fine set of clothes and handed over to",
"text": "him the men who had slandered his reputation. The noble vizier set them",
"text": "free and continued to treat them with kindness.",
"text": "THE SUBTLE RUSE: THE BOOK OF ARABIC WISDOM AND",
"text": "GUILE, THIRTEENTH CENTURY",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The engineer, whose name has not been recorded by history, had spent",
"text": "his life designing masts and pillars, and was respected as the finest",
"text": "engineer in a city that had excelled in the science. He knew that he was",
"text": "right. A smaller ram would allow more speed and carry more force.",
"text": "Larger is not necessarily better. Of course the consul would see his logic,",
"text": "and would eventually understand that science is neutral and reason",
"text": "superior. How could the consul possibly persist in his ignorance if the",
"text": "engineer showed him detailed diagrams and explained the theories",
"text": "behind his advice?",
"text": "The military engineer was the quintessence of the Arguer, a type found",
"text": "everywhere among us. The Arguer does not understand that words are",
"text": "never neutral, and that by arguing with a superior he impugns the",
"text": "intelligence of one more powerful than he. He also has no awareness of",
"text": "the person he is dealing with. Since each man believes that he is right,",
"text": "and words will rarely convince him otherwise, the arguer’s reasoning",
"text": "falls on deaf ears. When cornered, he only argues more, digging his own",
"text": "grave. Once he has made the other person feel insecure and inferior in",
"text": "his beliefs, the eloquence of Socrates could not save the situation.It is not simply a question of avoiding an argument with those who",
"text": "stand above you. We all believe we are masters in the realm of opinions",
"text": "and reasoning. You must be careful, then: Learn to demonstrate the",
"text": "correctness of your ideas indirectly.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "In 1502, in Florence, Italy, an enormous block of marble stood in the",
"text": "works department of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore. It had once",
"text": "been a magnificent piece of raw stone, but an unskillful sculptor had",
"text": "mistakenly bored a hole through it where there should have been a",
"text": "figure’s legs, generally mutilating it. Piero Soderini, Florence’s mayor,",
"text": "had contemplated trying to save the block by commissioning Leonardo",
"text": "da Vinci to work on it, or some other master, but had given up, since",
"text": "everyone agreed that the stone had been ruined. So, despite the money",
"text": "that had been wasted on it, it gathered dust in the dark halls of the",
"text": "church.",
"text": "This was where things stood until some Florentine friends of the great",
"text": "Michelangelo decided to write to the artist, then living in Rome. He",
"text": "alone, they said, could do something with the marble, which was still",
"text": "magnificent raw material. Michelangelo traveled to Florence, examined",
"text": "the stone, and came to the conclusion that he could in fact carve a fine",
"text": "figure from it, by adapting the pose to the way the rock had been",
"text": "mutilated. Soderini argued that this was a waste of time—nobody could",
"text": "salvage such a disaster—but he finally agreed to let the artist work on it.",
"text": "Michelangelo decided he would depict a young David, sling in hand.",
"text": "Weeks later, as Michelangelo was putting the final touches on the",
"text": "statue, Soderini entered the studio. Fancying himself a bit of a",
"text": "connoisseur, he studied the huge work, and told Michelangelo that while",
"text": "he thought it was magnificent, the nose, he judged, was too big.",
"text": "Michelangelo realized that Soderini was standing in a place right under",
"text": "the giant figure and did not have the proper perspective. Without a word,",
"text": "he gestured for Soderini to follow him up the scaffolding. Reaching the",
"text": "nose, he picked up his chisel, as well as a bit of marble dust that lay on",
"text": "the planks. With Soderini just a few feet below him on the scaffolding,",
"text": "Michelangelo started to tap lightly with the chisel, letting the bits of dust",
"text": "he had gathered in his hand to fall little by little. He actually did nothingto change the nose, but gave every appearance of working on it. After a",
"text": "few minutes of this charade he stood aside: “Look at it now.” “I like it",
"text": "better,” replied Soderini, “you’ve made it come alive.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Michelangelo knew that by changing the shape of the nose he might ruin",
"text": "the entire sculpture. Yet Soderini was a patron who prided himself on his",
"text": "aesthetic judgment. To offend such a man by arguing would not only",
"text": "gain Michelangelo nothing, it would put future commissions in jeopardy.",
"text": "Michelangelo was too clever to argue. His solution was to change",
"text": "Soderini’s perspective (literally bringing him closer to the nose) without",
"text": "making him realize that this was the cause of his misperception.",
"text": "Fortunately for posterity, Michelangelo found a way to keep the",
"text": "perfection of the statue intact while at the same time making Soderini",
"text": "believe he had improved it. Such is the double power of winning through",
"text": "actions rather than argument: No one is offended, and your point is",
"text": "proven.",
"text": "THE WORKS OF AMASIS",
"text": "When Apries had been deposed in the way I have described, Amasis",
"text": "came to the throne. He belonged to the district of Sais and was a native",
"text": "of the town called Siuph. At first the Egyptians were inclined to be",
"text": "contemptuous, and did not think much of him because of his humble and",
"text": "undistinguished origin; but later on he cleverly brought them to heel,",
"text": "without having recourse to harsh measures. Amongst his innumerable",
"text": "treasures, he had a gold footbath, which he and his guests used on",
"text": "occasion to wash their feet in. This he broke up, and with the material",
"text": "had a statue made to one of the gods, which he then set up in what he",
"text": "thought the most suitable spot in the city. The Egyptians constantly",
"text": "coming upon the statue, treated it with profound reverence, and as soon",
"text": "as Amasis heard of the effect it had upon them, he called a meeting and",
"text": "revealed the fact that the deeply revered statue was once a footbath,",
"text": "which they washed their feet and pissed and vomited in. He went on to",
"text": "say that his own case was much the same, in that once he had been only",
"text": "an ordinary person and was now their king; so that just as they had",
"text": "come to revere the transformed footbath, so they had better pay honor",
"text": "and respect to him, too. In this way the Egyptians were persuaded to",
"text": "accept him as their master.THE HISTORIES. HERODOTUS. FIFTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "In the realm of power you must learn to judge your moves by their long-",
"text": "term effects on other people. The problem in trying to prove a point or",
"text": "gain a victory through argument is that in the end you can never be",
"text": "certain how it affects the people you’re arguing with: They may appear",
"text": "to agree with you politely, but inside they may resent you. Or perhaps",
"text": "something you said inadvertently even offended them—words have that",
"text": "insidious ability to be interpreted according to the other person’s mood",
"text": "and insecurities. Even the best argument has no solid foundation, for we",
"text": "have all come to distrust the slippery nature of words. And days after",
"text": "agreeing with someone, we often revert to our old opinion out of sheer",
"text": "habit.",
"text": "Understand this: Words are a dime a dozen. Everyone knows that in",
"text": "the heat of an argument, we will all say anything to support our cause.",
"text": "We will quote the Bible, refer to unverifiable statistics. Who can be",
"text": "persuaded by bags of air like that? Action and demonstration are much",
"text": "more powerful and meaningful. They are there, before our eyes, for us to",
"text": "see—“Yes, now the statue’s nose does look just right.” There are no",
"text": "offensive words, no possibility of misinterpretation. No one can argue",
"text": "with a demonstrated proof. As Baltasar Gracián remarks, “The truth is",
"text": "generally seen, rarely heard.”",
"text": "Sir Christopher Wren was England’s version of the Renaissance man.",
"text": "He had mastered the sciences of mathematics, astronomy, physics, and",
"text": "physiology. Yet during his extremely long career as England’s most",
"text": "celebrated architect he was often told by his patrons to make impractical",
"text": "changes in his designs. Never once did he argue or offend. He had other",
"text": "ways of proving his point.",
"text": "In 1688 Wren designed a magnificent town hall for the city of",
"text": "Westminster. The mayor, however, was not satisfied; in fact he was",
"text": "nervous. He told Wren he was afraid the second floor was not secure,",
"text": "and that it could all come crashing down on his office on the first floor.",
"text": "He demanded that Wren add two stone columns for extra support. Wren,",
"text": "the consummate engineer, knew that these columns would serve nopurpose, and that the mayor’s fears were baseless. But build them he did,",
"text": "and the mayor was grateful. It was only years later that workmen on a",
"text": "high scaffold saw that the columns stopped just short of the ceiling.",
"text": "They were dummies. But both men got what they wanted: The mayor",
"text": "could relax, and Wren knew posterity would understand that his original",
"text": "design worked and the columns were unnecessary.",
"text": "The power of demonstrating your idea is that your opponents do not",
"text": "get defensive, and are therefore more open to persuasion. Making them",
"text": "literally and physically feel your meaning is infinitely more powerful",
"text": "than argument.",
"text": "A heckler once interrupted Nikita Khrushchev in the middle of a",
"text": "speech in which he was denouncing the crimes of Stalin. “You were a",
"text": "colleague of Stalin’s,” the heckler yelled, “why didn’t you stop him",
"text": "then?” Khrushschev apparently could not see the heckler and barked out,",
"text": "“Who said that?” No hand went up. No one moved a muscle. After a few",
"text": "seconds of tense silence, Khrushchev finally said in a quiet voice, “Now",
"text": "you know why I didn’t stop him.” Instead of just arguing that anyone",
"text": "facing Stalin was afraid, knowing that the slightest sign of rebellion",
"text": "would mean certain death, he had made them feel what it was like to face",
"text": "Stalin—had made them feel the paranoia, the fear of speaking up, the",
"text": "terror of confronting the leader, in this case Khrushchev. The",
"text": "demonstration was visceral and no more argument was necessary.",
"text": "The most powerful persuasion goes beyond action into symbol. The",
"text": "power of a symbol—a flag, a mythic story, a monument to some",
"text": "emotional event—is that everyone understands you without anything",
"text": "being said. In 1975, when Henry Kissinger was engaged in some",
"text": "frustrating negotiations with the Israelis over the return of part of the",
"text": "Sinai desert that they had seized in the 1967 war, he suddenly broke off a",
"text": "tense meeting and decided to do some sight-seeing. He paid a visit to the",
"text": "ruins of the ancient fortress of Masada, known to all Israelis as the place",
"text": "where seven hundred Jewish warriors committed mass suicide in A.D. 73",
"text": "rather than give in to the Roman troops besieging them. The Israelis",
"text": "instantly understood the message of Kissinger’s visit: He was indirectly",
"text": "accusing them of courting mass suicide. Although the visit did not by",
"text": "itself change their minds, it made them think far more seriously than any",
"text": "direct warning would have. Symbols like this one carry great emotional",
"text": "significance.",
"text": "When aiming for power, or trying to conserve it, always look for the",
"text": "indirect route. And also choose your battles carefully. If it does not",
"text": "matter in the long run whether the other person agrees with you—or iftime and their own experience will make them understand what you",
"text": "mean—then it is best not even to bother with a demonstration. Save your",
"text": "energy and walk away.",
"text": "GOD AND ABRAUIM",
"text": "The Most High God had promised that He would not take Abraham’s",
"text": "soul unless the man wanted to die and asked Him to do so. When",
"text": "Abraham’s life was drawing to a close, and God determined to seize him,",
"text": "He sent an angel in the guise of a decrepit old man who was almost",
"text": "entirely incapacitated. The old man stopped outside Abraham door and",
"text": "said to him, “Oh Abraham, I would like something to eat.” Abraham was",
"text": "amazed to hear him say this. “Die, exclaimed Abraham.”It would be",
"text": "better for you than to go on living in that condition.”",
"text": "Abraham always kept food ready at his home for passing guests. So he",
"text": "gave the old man a bowl containing broth and meat with bread crumbs.",
"text": "The old man sat down to eat. He swallowed laboriously, with great",
"text": "effort, and once when he took some food it dropped from his hand,",
"text": "scattering on the ground. “Oh Abraham, ” he said, “help me to eat.”",
"text": "Abraham took the food in his hand and lifted it to the old man’s lips. But",
"text": "it slid down his beard and over his chest. “What is your age, old man?”",
"text": "asked Abraham. The old man mentioned a number of years slightly",
"text": "greater than Abraham’s old age. Then Abraham exclaimed: “Oh Lord",
"text": "Our God, take me unto You before I reach this man’s age and sink into",
"text": "the same condition as he is in now. ” No sooner had Abraham spoken",
"text": "those words than God took possession of his soul.",
"text": "THE SUBTLE RUSE: THE BOOK OF ARABIC WISDOM AND",
"text": "GUILE, THIRTEENTH CENTURY",
"text": "Image: The Seesaw. Up and down and up and down go the arguers,",
"text": "getting nowhere fast. Get off the seesaw and show them your meaning",
"text": "without kick ing or pushing. Leave them at the top and let gravity bring",
"text": "them gently to the ground.",
"text": "Authority: Never argue. In society nothing must be discussed; give only",
"text": "results. (Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881)REVERSAL",
"text": "Verbal argument has one vital use in the realm of power: To distract and",
"text": "cover your tracks when you are practicing deception or are caught in a",
"text": "lie. In such cases it is to your advantage to argue with all the conviction",
"text": "you can muster. Draw the other person into an argument to distract them",
"text": "from your deceptive move. When caught in a lie, the more emotional and",
"text": "certain you appear, the less likely it seems that you are lying.",
"text": "This technique has saved the hide of many a con artist. Once Count",
"text": "Victor Lustig, swindler par excellence, had sold dozens of suckers",
"text": "around the country a phony box with which he claimed to be able to",
"text": "copy money. Discovering their mistake, the suckers generally chose not",
"text": "to go the police, rather than risk the embarrassment of publicity. But one",
"text": "Sheriff Richards, of Remsen County, Oklahoma, was not the kind of man",
"text": "to accept being conned out of $10,000, and one morning he tracked",
"text": "Lustig down to a hotel in Chicago.",
"text": "Lustig heard a knock on the door. When he opened it he was looking",
"text": "down the barrel of a gun. “What seems to be the problem?” he calmly",
"text": "asked. “You son of a bitch,” yelled the sheriff, “I’m going to kill you.",
"text": "You conned me with that damn box of yours!” Lustig feigned confusion.",
"text": "“You mean it’s not working?” he asked. “You know it’s not working,”",
"text": "replied the sheriff. “But that’s impossible,” said Lustig. “There’s no way",
"text": "it couldn’t be working. Did you operate it properly?” “I did exactly what",
"text": "you told me to do,” said the sheriff. “No, you must have done something",
"text": "wrong,” said Lustig. The argument went in circles. The barrel of the gun",
"text": "was gently lowered.",
"text": "Lustig next went to phase two in the argument tactic: He poured out a",
"text": "whole bunch of technical gobbledygook about the box’s operation,",
"text": "completely beguiling the sheriff, who now appeared less sure of himself",
"text": "and argued less forcefully. “Look,” said Lustig, “I’ll give you your",
"text": "money back right now. I’ll also give you written instructions on how to",
"text": "work the machine and I’ll come out to Oklahoma to make sure it’s",
"text": "working properly. There’s no way you can lose on that.” The sheriff",
"text": "reluctantly agreed. To satisfy him totally, Lustig took out a hundred one-",
"text": "hundred-dollar bills and gave them to him, telling him to relax and have",
"text": "a fun weekend in Chicago. Calmer and a little confused, the sheriff",
"text": "finally left. Over the next few days Lustig checked the paper every",
"text": "morning. He finally found what he was looking for: A short article",
"text": "reporting Sheriff Richards’s arrest, trial, and conviction for passingcounterfeit notes. Lustig had won the argument; the sheriff never",
"text": "bothered him again.LAW 10",
"text": "INFECTION: AVOID THE UNHAPPY AND",
"text": "UNLUCKY",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "You can die from someone else’s misery—emotional states are as",
"text": "infectious as diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man",
"text": "but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate",
"text": "sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you.",
"text": "Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Born in Limerick, Ireland, in 1818, Marie Gilbert came to Paris in the",
"text": "1840s to make her fortune as a dancer and performer. Taking the name",
"text": "Lola Montez (her mother was of distant Spanish descent), she claimed to",
"text": "be a flamenco dancer from Spain. By 1845 her career was languishing,",
"text": "and to survive she became a courtesan—quickly one of the more",
"text": "successful in Paris.",
"text": "Only one man could salvage Lola’s dancing career: Alexandre",
"text": "Dujarier, owner of the newspaper with the largest circulation in France,",
"text": "and also the newspaper’s drama critic. She decided to woo and conquer",
"text": "him. Investigating his habits, she discovered that he went riding every",
"text": "morning. An excellent horsewoman herself, she rode out one morning",
"text": "and “accidentally” ran into him. Soon they were riding together every",
"text": "day. A few weeks later Lola moved into his apartment.",
"text": "For a while the two were happy together. With Dujarier’s help, Lola",
"text": "began to revive her dancing career. Despite the risk to his social",
"text": "standing, Dujarier told friends he would marry her in the spring. (Lolahad never told him that she had eloped at age nineteen with an",
"text": "Englishman, and was still legally married.) Although Dujarier was",
"text": "deeply in love, his life started to slide downhill.",
"text": "His fortunes in business changed and influential friends began to avoid",
"text": "him. One night Dujarier was invited to a party, attended by some of the",
"text": "wealthiest young men in Paris. Lola wanted to go too but he would not",
"text": "allow it. They had their first quarrel, and Dujarier attended the party by",
"text": "himself. There, hopelessly drunk, he insulted an influential drama critic,",
"text": "Jean-Baptiste Rosemond de Beauvallon, perhaps because of something",
"text": "the critic had said about Lola. The following morning Beauvallon",
"text": "challenged him to a duel. Beauvallon was one of the best pistol shots in",
"text": "France. Dujarier tried to apologize, but the duel took place, and he was",
"text": "shot and killed. Thus ended the life of one of the most promising young",
"text": "men of Paris society. Devastated, Lola left Paris.",
"text": "In 1846 Lola Montez found herself in Munich, where she decided to",
"text": "woo and conquer King Ludwig of Bavaria. The best way to Ludwig, she",
"text": "discovered, was through his aide-de-camp, Count Otto von Rechberg, a",
"text": "man with a fondness for pretty girls. One day when the count was",
"text": "breakfasting at an outdoor café, Lola rode by on her horse, was",
"text": "“accidentally” thrown from the saddle, and landed at Rechberg’s feet.",
"text": "The count rushed to help her and was enchanted. He promised to",
"text": "introduce her to Ludwig.",
"text": "Rechberg arranged an audience with the king for Lola, but when she",
"text": "arrived in the anteroom, she could hear the king saying he was too busy",
"text": "to meet a favor-seeking stranger. Lola pushed aside the sentries and",
"text": "entered his room anyway. In the process, the front of her dress somehow",
"text": "got torn (perhaps by her, perhaps by one of the sentries), and to the",
"text": "astonishment of all, most especially the king, her bare breasts were",
"text": "brazenly exposed. Lola was granted her audience with Ludwig. Fifty-",
"text": "five hours later she made her debut on the Bavarian stage; the reviews",
"text": "were terrible, but that did not stop Ludwig from arranging more",
"text": "performances.",
"text": "AND THE",
"text": "A nut found itself carried by a crow to the top of a tall campanile, and by",
"text": "falling into a crevice succeeded in escaping its dread fate. It then",
"text": "besought the wall to shelter it, by appealing to it by the grace of God,",
"text": "and praising its height, and the beauty and noble tone of us bells.",
"text": "“Alas,” it went on, “as I have not been able to drop beneath the greenbranches of my old Father and to lie in the fallow earth covered by his",
"text": "fallen leaves, do you, at least, not abandon me. When I found myself in",
"text": "the beak of the cruel crow I made a vow, that if I escaped I would end my",
"text": "life in a little hole. ”",
"text": "At these words, the wall, moved with compassion, was content to shelter",
"text": "the nut in the spot where it had fallen. Within a short time, the nut burst",
"text": "open: Its roots reached in between the crevices of the stones and began",
"text": "to push them apart; its shoots pressed up toward the sky. They soon rose",
"text": "above the building, and as the twisted roots grew thicker they began to",
"text": "thrust the walls apart and force the ancient stones from their old places.",
"text": "Then the wall, too late and in vain, bewailed the cause of its destruction,",
"text": "and in short time it fell in ruin.",
"text": "LEONARDO DA VINCI. 1452-1519",
"text": "Ludwig was, in his own words, “bewitched” by Lola. He started to",
"text": "appear in public with her on his arm, and then he bought and furnished",
"text": "an apartment for her on one of Munich’s most fashionable boulevards.",
"text": "Although he had been known as a miser, and was not given to flights of",
"text": "fancy, he started to shower Lola with gifts and to write poetry for her.",
"text": "Now his favored mistress, she catapulted to fame and fortune overnight.",
"text": "Lola began to lose her sense of proportion. One day when she was out",
"text": "riding, an elderly man rode ahead of her, a bit too slowly for her liking.",
"text": "Unable to pass him, she began to slash him with her riding crop. On",
"text": "another occasion she took her dog, unleashed, out for a stroll. The dog",
"text": "attacked a passerby, but instead of helping the man get the dog away, she",
"text": "whipped him with the leash. Incidents like this infuriated the stolid",
"text": "citizens of Bavaria, but Ludwig stood by Lola and even had her",
"text": "naturalized as a Bavarian citizen. The king’s entourage tried to wake him",
"text": "to the dangers of the affair, but those who criticized Lola were",
"text": "summarily fired.",
"text": "In his own time Simon Thomas was a great doctor. I remember that I",
"text": "happened to meet him one day at the home of a rich old consumptive: He",
"text": "told his patient when discussing ways to cure him that one means was to",
"text": "provide occasions for me to enjoy his company: He could then fix his",
"text": "eyes on the freshness of my countenance and his thoughts on the",
"text": "overflowing cheerfulness and vigor of my young manhood; by filling all",
"text": "his senses with the flower of my youth his condition might improve. He",
"text": "forgot to add that mine might get worse.",
"text": "MONTAIGNE, 1533-1592While Bavarians who had loved their king now outwardly disre",
"text": "spected him, Lola was made a countess, had a new palace built for",
"text": "herself, and began to dabble in politics, advising Ludwig on policy. She",
"text": "was the most powerful force in the kingdom. Her influence in the king’s",
"text": "cabinet continued to grow, and she treated the other ministers with",
"text": "disdain. As a result, riots broke out throughout the realm. A once",
"text": "peaceful land was virtually in the grip of civil war, and students",
"text": "everywhere were chanting, “Raus mit Lola!”",
"text": "Many things are said to be infectious. Sleepiness can be infectious, and",
"text": "yawning as well. In large-scale strategy when the enemy is agitated and",
"text": "shows an inclination to rush, do not mind in the least. Make a show of",
"text": "complete calmness, and the enemy will be taken by this and will become",
"text": "relaxed. You infect their spirit. You can infect them with a carefree,",
"text": "drunklike spirit, with boredom, or even weakness.",
"text": "A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS, MIYAMOTO MUSASHI,",
"text": "SEVENTEENTH CENTURY",
"text": "By February of 1848, Ludwig was finally unable to withstand the",
"text": "pressure. With great sadness he ordered Lola to leave Bavaria",
"text": "immediately. She left, but not until she was paid off. For the next five",
"text": "weeks the Bavarians’ wrath was turned against their formerly beloved",
"text": "king. In March of that year he was forced to abdicate.",
"text": "Lola Montez moved to England. More than anything she needed",
"text": "respectability, and despite being married (she still had not arranged a",
"text": "divorce from the Englishman she had wed years before), she set her",
"text": "sights on George Trafford Heald, a promising young army officer who",
"text": "was the son of an influential barrister. Although he was ten years",
"text": "younger than Lola, and could have chosen a wife among the prettiest and",
"text": "wealthiest young girls of English society, Heald fell under her spell.",
"text": "They were married in 1849. Soon arrested on the charge of bigamy, she",
"text": "skipped bail, and she and Heald made their way to Spain. They quarreled",
"text": "horribly and on one occasion Lola slashed him with a knife. Finally, she",
"text": "drove him away. Returning to England, he found he had lost his position",
"text": "in the army. Ostracized from English society, he moved to Portugal,",
"text": "where he lived in poverty. After a few months his short life ended in a",
"text": "boating accident.",
"text": "A few years later the man who published Lola Montez’s",
"text": "autobiography went bankrupt.In 1853 Lola moved to California, where she met and married a man",
"text": "named Pat Hull. Their relationship was as stormy as all the others, and",
"text": "she left Hull for another man. He took to drink and fell into a deep",
"text": "depression that lasted until he died, four years later, still a relatively",
"text": "young man.",
"text": "At the age of forty-one, Lola gave away her clothes and finery and",
"text": "turned to God. She toured America, lecturing on religious topics, dressed",
"text": "in white and wearing a halolike white headgear. She died two years later,",
"text": "in 1861.",
"text": "Regard no foolish man as cultured, though you may reckom a gifted man",
"text": "as wise; and esteem no ignorant abstainer a true ascetic. Do not consort",
"text": "with fools, especially those who consider themselves wise. And be not",
"text": "self-satisfied with your own ignorance. Let your intercourse be only with",
"text": "men of good repute: for it is by such assot iation that men themselves",
"text": "attain to good repute. Do you not observe how sesame-oil is mingled",
"text": "with roses or violets and how, when it has been for some time in",
"text": "association with roses or violets, it ceases to he sesame-oil and is called",
"text": "oil of roses or oil of violets?",
"text": "A MIRROR FOR PRINCES. KAI KAUS IBN ISKANDAR.",
"text": "ELEVENTH CENTURY",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Lola Montez attracted men with her wiles, but her power over them went",
"text": "beyond the sexual. It was through the force of her character that she kept",
"text": "her lovers enthralled. Men were sucked into the maelstrom she churned",
"text": "up around her. They felt confused, upset, but the strength of the emotions",
"text": "she stirred also made them feel more alive.",
"text": "As is often the case with infection, the problems would only arise over",
"text": "time. Lola’s inherent instability would begin to get under her lovers’",
"text": "skin. They would find themselves drawn into her problems, but their",
"text": "emotional attachment to her would make them want to help her. This was",
"text": "the crucial point of the disease—for Lola Montez could not be helped.",
"text": "Her problems were too deep. Once the lover identified with them, he was",
"text": "lost. He would find himself embroiled in quarrels. The infection would",
"text": "spread to his family and friends, or, in the case of Ludwig, to an entire",
"text": "nation. The only solution would be to cut her off, or suffer an eventual",
"text": "collapse.The infecting-character type is not restricted to women; it has nothing",
"text": "to do with gender. It stems from an inward instability that radiates",
"text": "outward, drawing disaster upon itself. There is almost a desire to destroy",
"text": "and unsettle. You could spend a lifetime studying the pathology of",
"text": "infecting characters, but don’t waste your time—just learn the lesson.",
"text": "When you suspect you are in the presence of an infector, don’t argue,",
"text": "don’t try to help, don’t pass the person on to your friends, or you will",
"text": "become enmeshed. Flee the infector’s presence or suffer the",
"text": "consequences.",
"text": "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much….",
"text": "I do not know the man I should avoid so soon as that spare Cassius….",
"text": "Such men as he be never at heart’s ease whiles they behold a greater",
"text": "than themselves, and therefore are they very dangerous.",
"text": "Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare. 1564-1616",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Those misfortunates among us who have been brought down by",
"text": "circumstances beyond their control deserve all the help and sympathy we",
"text": "can give them. But there are others who are not born to misfortune or",
"text": "unhappiness, but who draw it upon themselves by their destructive",
"text": "actions and unsettling effect on others. It would be a great thing if we",
"text": "could raise them up, change their patterns, but more often than not it is",
"text": "their patterns that end up getting inside and changing us. The reason is",
"text": "simple—humans are extremely susceptible to the moods, emotions, and",
"text": "even the ways of thinking of those with whom they spend their time.",
"text": "The incurably unhappy and unstable have a particularly strong",
"text": "infecting power because their characters and emotions are so intense.",
"text": "They often present themselves as victims, making it difficult, at first, to",
"text": "see their miseries as self-inflicted. Before you realize the real nature of",
"text": "their problems you have been infected by them.",
"text": "Understand this: In the game of power, the people you associate with",
"text": "are critical. The risk of associating with infectors is that you will waste",
"text": "valuable time and energy trying to free yourself. Through a kind of guilt",
"text": "by association, you will also suffer in the eyes of others. Never",
"text": "underestimate the dangers of infection.There are many kinds of infector to be aware of, but one of the most",
"text": "insidious is the sufferer from chronic dissatisfaction. Cassius, the Roman",
"text": "conspirator against Julius Caesar, had the discontent that comes from",
"text": "deep envy. He simply could not endure the presence of anyone of greater",
"text": "talent. Probably because Caesar sensed the man’s interminable sourness,",
"text": "he passed him up for the position of first praetorship, and gave the",
"text": "position to Brutus instead. Cassius brooded and brooded, his hatred for",
"text": "Caesar becoming patliological. Brutus himself, a devoted republican,",
"text": "disliked Caesar’s dictatorship; had he had the patience to wait, he would",
"text": "have become the first man in Rome after Caesar’s death, and could have",
"text": "undone the evil that the leader had wrought. But Cassius infected him",
"text": "with his own rancor, bending his ear daily with tales of Caesar’s evil. He",
"text": "finally won Brutus over to the conspiracy. It was the beginning of a great",
"text": "tragedy. How many misfortunes could have been avoided had Brutus",
"text": "learned to fear the power of infection.",
"text": "There is only one solution to infection: quarantine. But by the time",
"text": "you recognize the problem it is often too late. A Lola Montez",
"text": "overwhelms you with her forceful personality. Cassius intrigues you with",
"text": "his confiding nature and the depth of his feelings. How can you protect",
"text": "yourself against such insidious viruses? The answer lies in judging",
"text": "people on the effects they have on the world and not on the reasons they",
"text": "give for their prob-Image: A Virus. Unseen, it lems. Infectors can be",
"text": "recognized by the misfortune they draw on them-enters your pores",
"text": "without selves, their turbulent past, their long line of broken",
"text": "relationships, their un-warning, spreading silently and stable careers, and",
"text": "the very force of their character, which sweeps you up slowly. Before",
"text": "you are aware of and makes you lose your reason. Be forewarned by",
"text": "these signs of an infec the infection, it is deep inside you. tor; learn to see",
"text": "the discontent in their eye. Most important of all, do not take pity. Do not",
"text": "enmesh yourself in trying to help. The infector will remain unchanged,",
"text": "but you will be unhinged.",
"text": "The other side of infection is equally valid, and perhaps more readily",
"text": "understood: There are people who attract happiness to themselves by",
"text": "their good cheer, natural buoyancy, and intelligence. They are a source of",
"text": "pleasure, and you must associate with them to share in the prosperity",
"text": "they draw upon themselves.",
"text": "This applies to more than good cheer and success: All positive",
"text": "qualities can infect us. Talleyrand had many strange and intimidating",
"text": "traits, but most agreed that he surpassed all Frenchmen in graciousness,",
"text": "aristocratic charm, and wit. Indeed he came from one of the oldest noblefamilies in the country, and despite his belief in democracy and the",
"text": "French Republic, he retained his courtly manners. His contemporary",
"text": "Napoleon was in many ways the opposite—a peasant from Corsica,",
"text": "taciturn and ungracious, even violent.",
"text": "There was no one Napoleon admired more than Talleyrand. He envied",
"text": "his minister’s way with people, his wit and his ability to charm women,",
"text": "and as best he could, he kept Talleyrand around him, hoping to soak up",
"text": "the culture he lacked. There is no doubt that Napoleon changed as his",
"text": "rule continued. Many of the rough edges were smoothed by his constant",
"text": "association with Talleyrand.",
"text": "Use the positive side of this emotional osmosis to advantage. If, for",
"text": "example, you are miserly by nature, you will never go beyond a certain",
"text": "limit; only generous souls attain greatness. Associate with the generous,",
"text": "then, and they will infect you, opening up everything that is tight and",
"text": "restricted in you. If you are gloomy, gravitate to the cheerful. If you are",
"text": "prone to isolation, force yourself to befriend the gregarious. Never",
"text": "associate with those who share your defects—they will reinforce",
"text": "everything that holds you back. Only create associations with positive",
"text": "affinities. Make this a rule of life and you will benefit more than from all",
"text": "the therapy in the world.",
"text": "Authority: Recognize the fortunate so that you may choose their",
"text": "company, and the unfortunate so that you may avoid them. Misfortune is",
"text": "usually the crime of folly, and among those who suffer from it there is no",
"text": "malady more contagious: Never open your door to the least of",
"text": "misfortunes, for, if you do, many others will follow in its train…. Do not",
"text": "die of another’s misery. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "This law admits of no reversal. Its application is universal. There is",
"text": "nothing to be gained by associating with those who infect you with their",
"text": "misery; there is only power and good fortune to be obtained by",
"text": "associating with the fortunate. Ignore this law at your peril.LAW 11",
"text": "LEARN TO KEEP PEOPLE DEPENDENT ON",
"text": "YOU",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted.",
"text": "The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people",
"text": "depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing",
"text": "to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Sometime in the Middle Ages, a mercenary soldier (a condottiere),",
"text": "whose name has not been recorded, saved the town of Siena from a",
"text": "foreign aggressor. How could the good citizens of Siena reward him? No",
"text": "amount of money or honor could possibly compare in value to the",
"text": "preservation of a city’s liberty. The citizens thought of making the",
"text": "mercenary the lord of the city, but even that, they decided, wasn’t",
"text": "recompense enough. At last one of them stood before the assembly",
"text": "called to debate this matter and said, “Let us kill him and then worship",
"text": "him as our patron saint.” And so they did.",
"text": "The Count of Carmagnola was one of the bravest and most successful",
"text": "of all the condottieri. In 1442, late in his life, he was in the employ of the",
"text": "city of Venice, which was in the midst of a long war with Florence. The",
"text": "count was suddenly recalled to Venice. A favorite of the people, he was",
"text": "received there with all kinds of honor and splendor. That evening he was",
"text": "to dine with the doge himself, in the doge’s palace. On the way into the",
"text": "palace, however, he noticed that the guard was leading him in a different",
"text": "direction from usual. Crossing the famous Bridge of Sighs, he suddenlyrealized where they were taking him—to the dungeon. He was convicted",
"text": "on a trumped-up charge and the next day in the Piazza San Marco, before",
"text": "a horrified crowd who could not understand how his fate had changed so",
"text": "drastically, he was beheaded.",
"text": "THE TWO HORSES",
"text": "Two horses were carrying two loads. The front Horse went well, but the",
"text": "rear Horse was lazy. The men began to pile the rear Horse’s load on the",
"text": "front Horse; when they had transferred it all, the rear Horse found it",
"text": "easy going, and he said to the front Horse: “Toil and sraeat! The more",
"text": "you try, the more you have to suffer.” When they reached the tavern, the",
"text": "owner said; “Why should I fodder two horses when I carry all on one? I",
"text": "had better give the one all the food it wants, and cut the throat of the",
"text": "other; at least I shall have the hide.” And so he did.",
"text": "FABLES. LEO TOLSIOY, 1828-1910",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Many of the great condottieri of Renaissance Italy suffered the same fate",
"text": "as the patron saint of Siena and the Count of Carmagnola: They won",
"text": "battle after battle for their employers only to find themselves banished,",
"text": "imprisoned, or executed. The problem was not ingratitude; it was that",
"text": "there were so many other condottieri as able and valiant as they were.",
"text": "They were replaceable. Nothing was lost by killing them. Meanwhile,",
"text": "the older among them had grown powerful themselves, and wanted more",
"text": "and more money for their services. How much better, then, to do away",
"text": "with them and hire a younger, cheaper mercenary. That was the fate of",
"text": "the Count of Carmagnola, who had started to act impudently and",
"text": "independently. He had taken his power for granted without making sure",
"text": "that he was truly indispensable.",
"text": "Such is the fate (to a less violent degree, one hopes) of those who do",
"text": "not make others dependent on them. Sooner or later someone comes",
"text": "along who can do the job as well as they can—someone younger, fresher,",
"text": "less expensive, less threatening.",
"text": "Be the only one who can do what you do, and make the fate of those",
"text": "who hire you so entwined with yours that they cannot possibly get rid of",
"text": "you. Otherwise you will someday be forced to cross your own Bridge of",
"text": "Sighs.OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "When Otto von Bismarck became a deputy in the Prussian parliament in",
"text": "1847, he was thirty-two years old and without an ally or friend. Looking",
"text": "around him, he decided that the side to ally himself with was not the",
"text": "parliament’s liberals or conservatives, not any particular minister, and",
"text": "certainly not the people. It was with the king, Frederick William IV. This",
"text": "was an odd choice to say the least, for Frederick was at a low point of his",
"text": "power. A weak, indecisive man, he consistently gave in to the liberals in",
"text": "parliament; in fact he was spineless, and stood for much that Bismarck",
"text": "disliked, personally and politically. Yet Bismarck courted Frederick night",
"text": "and day. When other deputies attacked the king for his many inept",
"text": "moves, only Bismarck stood by him.",
"text": "THE CAT THAT WALKED BY HIMSELF",
"text": "Then the Woman laughed and set the Cat a bowl of the warm white milk",
"text": "and said, “0 Cat, you are as clever as a man, but remember that your",
"text": "bargain was not made with the Man or the Dog, and I do not know what",
"text": "they will do when they come home.” “What is that to me?” said the Cat.",
"text": "“If I have my place in the Cave by the fire and my warm white milk three",
"text": "times a day, I do not care what the Man or the Dog can do.” … And",
"text": "from that day to this, Best Beloved, three proper Men out of five will",
"text": "always throw things at a Cat whenever they meet him, and all proper",
"text": "Dogs will chase him up a tree. But the Cat keeps his side of the bargain",
"text": "too. He will kill mice, and he will be kind to Babies when he is in the",
"text": "house, just as long as they do not pull his tail too hard. But when he has",
"text": "done that, and between times, and when the moon gets up and the night",
"text": "comes, he is the Cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to",
"text": "him. Then he goes out to the Wet Wild Woods or up the Wet Wild Trees or",
"text": "on the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone.",
"text": "JUST SO STORIES, RUDYARD KIPLING, 1865-1936",
"text": "Finally, it all paid off: In 1851 Bismarck was made a minister in the",
"text": "king’s cabinet. Now he went to work. Time and again he forced the",
"text": "king’s hand, getting him to build up the military, to stand up to the",
"text": "liberals, to do exactly as Bismarck wished. He worked on Frederick’s",
"text": "insecurity about his manliness, challenging him to be firm and to rulewith pride. And he slowly restored the king’s powers until the monarchy",
"text": "was once again the most powerful force in Prussia.",
"text": "When Frederick died, in 1861, his brother William assumed the",
"text": "throne. William disliked Bismarck intensely and had no intention of",
"text": "keeping him around. But he also inherited the same situation his brother",
"text": "had: enemies galore, who wanted to nibble his power away. He actually",
"text": "considered abdicating, feeling he lacked the strength to deal with this",
"text": "dangerous and precarious position. But Bismarck insinuated himself",
"text": "once again. He stood by the new king, gave him strength, and urged him",
"text": "into firm and decisive action. The king grew dependent on Bismarck’s",
"text": "strong-arm tactics to keep his enemies at bay, and despite his antipathy",
"text": "toward the man, he soon made him his prime minister. The two quarreled",
"text": "often over policy—Bismarck was much more conservative—but the king",
"text": "understood his own dependency. Whenever the prime minister",
"text": "threatened to resign, the king gave in to him, time after time. It was in",
"text": "fact Bismarck who set state policy.",
"text": "Years later, Bismarck’s actions as Prussia’s prime minister led the",
"text": "various German states to be united into one country. Now Bismarck",
"text": "finagled the king into letting himself be crowned emperor of Germany.",
"text": "Yet it was really Bismarck who had reached the heights of power. As",
"text": "right-hand man to the emperor, and as imperial chancellor and knighted",
"text": "prince, he pulled all the levers.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Most young and ambitious politicians looking out on the political",
"text": "landscape of 1840s Germany would have tried to build a power base",
"text": "among those with the most power. Bismarck saw different. Joining",
"text": "forces with the powerful can be foolish: They will swallow you up, just",
"text": "as the doge of Venice swallowed up the Count of Carmagnola. No one",
"text": "will come to depend on you if they are already strong. If you are",
"text": "ambitious, it is much wiser to seek out weak rulers or masters with",
"text": "whom you can create a relationship of dependency. You become their",
"text": "strength, their intelligence, their spine. What power you hold! If they got",
"text": "rid of you the whole edifice would collapse.",
"text": "Necessity rules the world. People rarely act unless compelled to. If",
"text": "you create no need for yourself, then you will be done away with at first",
"text": "opportunity. If, on the other hand, you understand the Laws of Power and",
"text": "make others depend on you for their welfare, if you can counteract theirweakness with your own “iron and blood,” in Bismarck’s phrase, then",
"text": "you will survive your masters as Bismarck did. You will have all the",
"text": "benefits of power without the thorns that come from being a master.",
"text": "Thus a wise prince will think of ways to keep his citizens of every sort",
"text": "and under every circumstance dependent on the state and on him;",
"text": "and then they will always be trustworthy.",
"text": "Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527",
"text": "THE I I.M-IRI I AND THE AND",
"text": "An extravagant young Vine, vainly ambitious of independence, and fond",
"text": "of rambling at large, despised the alliance of a slately elm that grew",
"text": "near, and courted her embraces. Having risen to some small height",
"text": "without any kind of support, she shot forth her flimsy branches to a very",
"text": "uncommon and superfluous length; calling on her neighbour to take",
"text": "notice how little she wanted his assistance. “Poor infatuated shrub,”",
"text": "replied the elm, “how inconsistent is thy conduct! Wouldst thou be truly",
"text": "independent, thou shouldst carefully apply those juices to the",
"text": "enlargement of thy stem. which thou lavishest in vain upon unnecessary",
"text": "foliage. I shortly shall behold thee grovelling on the ground; yet",
"text": "countenanced, indeed, by many of the human race, who, intoxicated with",
"text": "vanity, have despised economy; and who, to support for a moment their",
"text": "empty boast of independence, have exhausted the very source of it in",
"text": "frivolous expenses.”",
"text": "FABLES, ROBERT DODSLFY, 1703-1764",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "The ultimate power is the power to get people to do as you wish. When",
"text": "you can do this without having to force people or hurt them, when they",
"text": "willingly grant you what you desire, then your power is untouchable.",
"text": "The best way to achieve this position is to create a relationship of",
"text": "dependence. The master requires your services; he is weak, or unable to",
"text": "function without you; you have enmeshed yourself in his work so deeply",
"text": "that doing away with you would bring him great difficulty, or at least",
"text": "would mean valuable time lost in training another to replace you. Once",
"text": "such a relationship is established you have the upper hand, the leverageto make the master do as you wish. It is the classic case of the man",
"text": "behind the throne, the servant of the king who actually controls the king.",
"text": "Bismarck did not have to bully either Frederick or William into doing his",
"text": "bidding. He simply made it clear that unless he got what he wanted he",
"text": "would walk away, leaving the king to twist in the wind. Both kings soon",
"text": "danced to Bismarck’s tune.",
"text": "Do not be one of the many who mistakenly believe that the ultimate",
"text": "form of power is independence. Power involves a relationship between",
"text": "people; you will always need others as allies, pawns, or even as weak",
"text": "masters who serve as your front. The completely independent man would",
"text": "live in a cabin in the woods—he would have the freedom to come and go",
"text": "as he pleased, but he would have no power. The best you can hope for is",
"text": "that others will grow so dependent on you that you enjoy a kind of",
"text": "reverse independence: Their need for you frees you.",
"text": "Louis XI (1423-1483), the great Spider King of France, had a",
"text": "weakness for astrology. He kept a court astrologer whom he admired,",
"text": "until one day the man predicted that a lady of the court would die within",
"text": "eight days. When the prophecy came true, Louis was terrified, thinking",
"text": "that either the man had murdered the woman to prove his accuracy or",
"text": "that he was so versed in his science that his powers threatened Louis",
"text": "himself. In either case he had to be killed.",
"text": "One evening Louis summoned the astrologer to his room, high in the",
"text": "castle. Before the man arrived, the king told his servants that when he",
"text": "gave the signal they were to pick the astrologer up, carry him to the",
"text": "window, and hurl him to the ground, hundreds of feet below.",
"text": "The astrologer soon arrived, but before giving the signal, Louis",
"text": "decided to ask him one last question: “You claim to understand astrology",
"text": "and to know the fate of others, so tell me what your fate will be and how",
"text": "long you have to live.”",
"text": "“I shall die just three days before Your Majesty,” the astrologer",
"text": "replied. The king’s signal was never given. The man’s life was spared.",
"text": "The Spider King not only protected his astrologer for as long as he was",
"text": "alive, he lavished him with gifts and had him tended by the finest court",
"text": "doctors.",
"text": "The astrologer survived Louis by several years, disproving his power",
"text": "of prophecy but proving his mastery of power.",
"text": "This is the model: Make others dependent on you. To get rid of you",
"text": "might spell disaster, even death, and your master dares not tempt fate by",
"text": "finding out. There are many ways to obtain such a position. Foremostamong them is to possess a talent and creative skill that simply cannot be",
"text": "replaced.",
"text": "During the Renaissance, the major obstacle to a painter’s success was",
"text": "finding the right patron. Michelangelo did this better than anyone else:",
"text": "His patron was Pope Julius II. But he and the pope quarreled over the",
"text": "building of the pope’s marble tomb, and Michelangelo left Rome in",
"text": "disgust. To the amazement of those in the pope’s circle, not only did the",
"text": "pope not fire him, he sought him out and in his own haughty way begged",
"text": "the artist to stay. Michelangelo, he knew, could find another patron, but",
"text": "he could never find another Michelangelo.",
"text": "You do not have to have the talent of a Michelangelo; you do have to",
"text": "have a skill that sets you apart from the crowd. You should create a",
"text": "situation in which you can always latch on to another master or patron",
"text": "but your master cannot easily ,find another servant with your particular",
"text": "talent. And if, in reality, you are not actually indispensable, you must",
"text": "find a way to make it look as if you are. Having the appearance of",
"text": "specialized knowledge and skill gives you leeway in your ability to",
"text": "deceive those above you into thinking they cannot do without you. Real",
"text": "dependence on your master’s part, however, leaves him more vulnerable",
"text": "to you than the faked variety, and it is always within your power to make",
"text": "your skill indispensable.",
"text": "This is what is meant by the intertwining of fates: Like creeping ivy,",
"text": "you have wrapped yourself around the source of power, so that it would",
"text": "cause great trauma to cut you away. And you do not necessarily have to",
"text": "entwine yourself around the master; another person will do, as long as he",
"text": "or she too is indispensable in the chain.",
"text": "One day Harry Cohn, president of Columbia Pictures, was visited in",
"text": "his office by a gloomy group of his executives. It was 1951, when the",
"text": "witch-hunt against Communists in Hollywood, carried on by the U.S.",
"text": "Congress’s House Un-American Activities Committee, was at its height.",
"text": "The executives had bad news: One of their employees, the screenwriter",
"text": "John Howard Lawson, had been singled out as a Communist. They had",
"text": "to get rid of him right away or suffer the wrath of the committee.",
"text": "Harry Cohn was no bleeding-heart liberal; in fact, he had always been",
"text": "a die-hard Republican.",
"text": "His favorite politician was Benito Mussolini, whom he had once",
"text": "visited, and whose framed photo hung on his wall. If there was someone",
"text": "he hated Cohn would call him a “Communist bastard.” But to the",
"text": "executives’ amazement Cohn told them he would not fire Lawson. He",
"text": "did not keep the screenwriter on because he was a good writer—therewere many good writers in Hollywood. He kept him because of a chain",
"text": "of dependence: Lawson was Humphrey Bogart’s writer and Bogart was",
"text": "Columbia’s star. If Cohn messed with Lawson he would ruin an",
"text": "immensely profitable relationship. That was worth more than the terrible",
"text": "publicity brought to him by his defiance of the committee.",
"text": "Henry Kissinger managed to survive the many bloodlettings that went",
"text": "on in the Nixon White House not because he was the best diplomat",
"text": "Nixon could find—there were other fine negotiators—and not because",
"text": "the two men got along so well: They did not. Nor did they share their",
"text": "beliefs and politics. Kissinger survived because he entrenched himself in",
"text": "so many areas of the political structure that to do away with him would",
"text": "lead to chaos. Michelangelo’s power was intensive, depending on one",
"text": "skill, his ability as an artist; Kissinger’s was extensive. He got himself",
"text": "involved in so many aspects and departments of the administration that",
"text": "his involvement became a card in his hand. It also made him many allies.",
"text": "If you can arrange such a position for yourself, getting rid of you",
"text": "becomes dangerous—all sorts of interdependencies will unravel. Still,",
"text": "the intensive form of power provides more freedom than the extensive,",
"text": "because those who have it depend on no particular master, or particular",
"text": "position of power, for their security.",
"text": "To make others dependent on you, one route to take is the secret-",
"text": "intelligence tactic. By knowing other people’s secrets, by holding",
"text": "information that they wouldn’t want broadcast, you seal your fate with",
"text": "theirs. You are untouchable. Ministers of secret police have held this",
"text": "position throughout the ages: They can make or break a king, or, as in",
"text": "the case of J. Edgar Hoover, a president. But the role is so full of",
"text": "insecurities and paranoia that the power it provides almost cancels itself",
"text": "out. You cannot rest at ease, and what good is power if it brings you no",
"text": "peace?",
"text": "One last warning: Do not imagine that your master’s dependence on",
"text": "you will make him love you. In fact, he may resent and fear you. But, as",
"text": "Machiavelli said, it is better to be feared than loved. Fear you can",
"text": "control; love, never. Depending on an emotion as subtle and changeable",
"text": "as love or friendship will only make you insecure. Better to have others",
"text": "depend on you out of fear of the consequences of losing you than out of",
"text": "love of your company.",
"text": "Image: Vines with Many Thorns. Below, the roots grow deep",
"text": "and wide. Above, the vines push through bushes, entwine themselves",
"text": "around trees and poles and window ledges. To get rid of them",
"text": "would cost such toil and blood, it is easier to let them climb.Authority: Make people depend on you. More is to be gained from such",
"text": "dependence than courtesy. He who has slaked his thirst, immediately",
"text": "turns his back on the well, no longer needing it. When dependence",
"text": "disappears, so does civility and decency, and then respect. The first",
"text": "lesson which experience should teach you is to keep hope alive but never",
"text": "satisfied, keeping even a royal patron ever in need of you. (Baltasar",
"text": "Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "The weakness of making others depend on you is that you are in some",
"text": "measure dependent on them. But trying to move beyond that point means",
"text": "getting rid of those above you—it means standing alone, depending on",
"text": "no one. Such is the monopolistic drive of a J. P. Morgan or a John D.",
"text": "Rockefeller—to drive out all competition, to be in complete control. If",
"text": "you can corner the market, so much the better.",
"text": "No such independence comes without a price. You are forced to",
"text": "isolate yourself. Monopolies often turn inward and destroy themselves",
"text": "from the internal pressure. They also stir up powerful resentment,",
"text": "making their enemies bond together to fight them. The drive for",
"text": "complete control is often ruinous and fruitless. Interdependence remains",
"text": "the law, independence a rare and often fatal exception. Better to place",
"text": "yourself in a position of mutual dependence, then, and to follow this",
"text": "critical law rather than look for its reversal. You will not have the",
"text": "unbearable pressure of being on top, and the master above you will in",
"text": "essence be your slave, for he will depend on you.LAW 12",
"text": "USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND",
"text": "GENEROSITY TO DISARM YOUR VICTIM",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones.",
"text": "Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard",
"text": "of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a",
"text": "hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A",
"text": "timely gift—a Trojan horse—will serve the same purpose.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "Sometime in 1926, a tall, dapperly dressed man paid a visit to Al",
"text": "Capone, the most feared gangster of his time. Speaking with an elegant",
"text": "Continental accent, the man introduced himself as Count Victor Lustig.",
"text": "He promised that if Capone gave him $50,000 he could double it.",
"text": "Capone had more than enough funds to cover the “investment,” but he",
"text": "wasn’t in the habit of entrusting large sums to total strangers. He looked",
"text": "the count over: Something about the man was different—his classy style,",
"text": "his manner—and so Capone decided to play along. He counted out the",
"text": "bills personally and handed them to Lustig. “Okay, Count,” said Capone.",
"text": "“Double it in sixty days like you said.” Lustig left with the money, put it",
"text": "in a safe-deposit box in Chicago, then headed to New York, where he",
"text": "had several other money-making schemes in progress.",
"text": "The $50,000 remained in the bank box untouched. Lustig made no",
"text": "effort to double it. Two months later he returned to Chicago, took the",
"text": "money from the box, and paid Capone another visit. He looked at the",
"text": "gangster’s stony-faced bodyguards, smiled apologetically, and said,“Please accept my profound regrets, Mr. Capone. I’m sorry to report that",
"text": "the plan failed… I failed.”",
"text": "Capone slowly stood up. He glowered at Lustig, debating which part",
"text": "of the river to throw him in. But the count reached into his coat pocket,",
"text": "withdrew the $50,000, and placed it on the desk. “Here, sir, is your",
"text": "money, to the penny. Again, my sincere apologies. This is most",
"text": "embarrassing. Things didn’t work out the way I thought they would. I",
"text": "would have loved to have doubled your money for you and for myself—",
"text": "Lord knows I need it—but the plan just didn’t materialize.”",
"text": "Capone sagged back into his chair, confused. “I know you’re a con",
"text": "man, Count,” said Capone. “I knew it the moment you walked in here. I",
"text": "expected either one hundred thousand dollars or nothing. But this…",
"text": "getting my money back … well.” “Again my apologies, Mr. Capone,”",
"text": "said Lustig, as he picked up his hat and began to leave. “My God! You’re",
"text": "honest!” yelled Capone. “If you’re on the spot, here’s five to help you",
"text": "along.” He counted out five one-thousand-dollar bills out of the $50,000.",
"text": "The count seemed stunned, bowed deeply, mumbled his thanks, and left,",
"text": "taking the money.",
"text": "The $5,000 was what Lustig had been after all along.",
"text": "FRANCESCO BORRI. COURTIER",
"text": "CHARLATAN",
"text": "Francesco Giuseppe Borri of Milan, whose death in 1695 fell just within",
"text": "the seventeenth century … was a forerunner of that special type of",
"text": "charlatanical adventurer, the courtier or “cavalier” impostor…. His real",
"text": "period of glory began after he moved to Amsterdam. There he assumed",
"text": "the title of Medico Universale, maintained a great retinue, and drove",
"text": "about in a coach with six horses…. Patients streamed to him, and some",
"text": "invalids had themselves carried in sedan chairs all the way from Paris to",
"text": "his place in Amsterdam. Borri took no payment for his consultations: He",
"text": "distributed great sums among the poor and was never known to receive",
"text": "any money through the post or bills of exchange. As he continued to live",
"text": "with such splendor, nevertheless, it was presumed that he possessed the",
"text": "philosophers’ stone. Suddenly this benefactor disappeared from",
"text": "Amsterdam. Then it was discovered that he had taken with him money",
"text": "and diamonds that had been placed in his charge.",
"text": "THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO, 1939Interpretation",
"text": "Count Victor Lustig, a man who spoke several languages and prided",
"text": "himself on his refinement and culture, was one of the great con artists of",
"text": "modem times. He was known for his audacity, his fearlessness, and, most",
"text": "important, his knowledge of human psychology. He could size up a man",
"text": "in minutes, discovering his weaknesses, and he had radar for suckers.",
"text": "Lustig knew that most men build up defenses against crooks and other",
"text": "troublemakers. The con artist’s job is to bring those defenses down.",
"text": "One sure way to do this is through an act of apparent sincerity and",
"text": "honesty. Who will distrust a person literally caught in the act of being",
"text": "honest? Lustig used selective honesty many times, but with Capone he",
"text": "went a step further. No normal con man would have dared such a con; he",
"text": "would have chosen his suckers for their meekness, for that look about",
"text": "them that says they will take their medicine without complaint. Con",
"text": "Capone and you would spend the rest of your life (whatever remained of",
"text": "it) afraid. But Lustig understood that a man like Capone spends his life",
"text": "mistrusting others. No one around him is honest or generous, and being",
"text": "so much in the company of wolves is exhausting, even depressing. A",
"text": "man like Capone yearns to be the recipient of an honest or generous",
"text": "gesture, to feel that not everyone has an angle or is out to rob him.",
"text": "Lustig’s act of selective honesty disarmed Capone because it was so",
"text": "unexpected. A con artist loves conflicting emotions like these, since the",
"text": "person caught up in them is so easily distracted and deceived.",
"text": "Do not shy away from practicing this law on the Capones of the world.",
"text": "With a well-timed gesture of honesty or generosity, you will have the",
"text": "most brutal and cynical beast in the kingdom eating out of your hand.",
"text": "Everything turns gray when I don’t have at least one mark on the",
"text": "horizon.",
"text": "Life then seems empty and depressing. I cannot understand honest men.",
"text": "They lead desperate lives, full of boredom.",
"text": "Count Victor Lustig, 1890-1947",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "The essence of deception is distraction. Distracting the people you want",
"text": "to deceive gives you the time and space to do something they won’tnotice. An act of kindness, generosity, or honesty is often the most",
"text": "powerful form of distraction because it disarms other people’s",
"text": "suspicions. It turns them into children, eagerly lapping up any kind of",
"text": "affectionate gesture.",
"text": "In ancient China this was called “giving before you take”—the giving",
"text": "makes it hard for the other person to notice the taking. It is a device with",
"text": "infinite practical uses. Brazenly taking something from someone is",
"text": "dangerous, even for the powerful. The victim will plot revenge. It is also",
"text": "dangerous simply to ask for what you need, no matter how politely:",
"text": "Unless the other person sees some gain for themselves, they may come",
"text": "to resent your neediness. Learn to give before you take. It softens the",
"text": "ground, takes the bite out of a future request, or simply creates a",
"text": "distraction. And the giving can take many forms: an actual gift, a",
"text": "generous act, a kind favor, an “honest” admission—whatever it takes.",
"text": "Selective honesty is best employed on your first encounter with",
"text": "someone. We are all creatures of habit, and our first impressions last a",
"text": "long time. If someone believes you are honest at the start of your",
"text": "relationship it takes a lot to convince them otherwise. This gives you",
"text": "room to maneuver.",
"text": "Jay Gould, like Al Capone, was a man who distrusted everyone. By",
"text": "the time he was thirty-three he was already a multimillionaire, mostly",
"text": "through deception and strong-arming. In the late 1860s, Gould invested",
"text": "heavily in the Erie Railroad, then discovered that the market had been",
"text": "flooded with a vast amount of phony stock certificates for the company.",
"text": "He stood to lose a fortune and to suffer a lot of embarrassment.",
"text": "In the midst of this crisis, a man named Lord John Gordon-Gordon",
"text": "offered to help. Gordon-Gordon, a Scottish lord, had apparently made a",
"text": "small fortune investing in railroads.",
"text": "By hiring some handwriting experts Gordon-Gordon was able to prove",
"text": "to Gould that the culprits for the phony stock certificates were actually",
"text": "several top executives with the Erie Railroad itself. Gould was grateful.",
"text": "Gordon-Gordon then proposed that he and Gould join forces to buy up a",
"text": "controlling interest in Erie. Gould agreed. For a while the venture",
"text": "appeared to prosper. The two men were now good friends, and every",
"text": "time Gordon-Gordon came to Gould asking for money to buy more",
"text": "stock, Gould gave it to him. In 1873, however, Gordon-Gordon suddenly",
"text": "dumped all of his stock, making a fortune but drastically lowering the",
"text": "value of Gould’s own holdings. Then he disappeared from sight.",
"text": "Upon investigation, Gould found out that Gordon-Gordon’s real name",
"text": "was John Crowningsfield, and that he was the bastard son of a merchantseaman and a London barmaid. There had been many clues before then",
"text": "that Gordon-Gordon was a con man, but his initial act of honesty and",
"text": "support had so blinded Gould that it took the loss of millions for him to",
"text": "see through the scheme.",
"text": "A single act of honesty is often not enough. What is required is a",
"text": "reputation for honesty, built on a series of acts—but these can be quite",
"text": "inconsequential. Once this reputation is established, as with first",
"text": "impressions, it is hard to shake.",
"text": "In ancient China, Duke Wu of Chêng decided it was time to take over",
"text": "the increasingly powerful kingdom of Hu. Telling no one of his plan, he",
"text": "married his daughter to Hu’s ruler. He then called a council and asked his",
"text": "ministers, “I am considering a military campaign. Which country should",
"text": "we invade?” As he had expected, one of his ministers replied, “Hu",
"text": "should be invaded.” The duke seemed angry, and said, “Hu is a sister",
"text": "state now. Why do you suggest invading her?” He had the minister",
"text": "executed for his impolitic remark. The ruler of Hu heard about this, and",
"text": "considering other tokens ofWu’s honesty and the marriage with his",
"text": "daughter, he took no precautions to defend himself from Cheng. A few",
"text": "weeks later, Chêng forces swept through Hu and took the country, never",
"text": "to relinquish it.",
"text": "Honesty is one of the best ways to disarm the wary, but it is not the",
"text": "only one. Any kind of noble, apparently selfless act will serve. Perhaps",
"text": "the best such act, though, is one of generosity. Few people can resist a",
"text": "gift, even from the most hardened enemy, which is why it is often the",
"text": "perfect way to disarm people. A gift brings out the child in us, instantly",
"text": "lowering our defenses. Although we often view other people’s actions in",
"text": "the most cynical light, we rarely see the Machiavellian element of a gift,",
"text": "which quite often hides ulterior motives. A gift is the perfect object in",
"text": "which to hide a deceptive move.",
"text": "Over three thousand years ago the ancient Greeks traveled across the",
"text": "sea to recapture the beautiful Helen, stolen away from them by Paris, and",
"text": "to destroy Paris’s city, Troy. The siege lasted ten years, many heroes",
"text": "died, yet neither side had come close to victory. One day, the prophet",
"text": "Calchas assembled the Greeks.",
"text": "Image: The Trojan Horse. Your guile is hidden inside a magnificent gift",
"text": "that proves irresistible to your opponent. The walls open. Once inside,",
"text": "wreak havoc.",
"text": "“Stop battering away at these walls!” he told them. “You must find",
"text": "some other way, some ruse. We cannot take Troy by force alone. Wemust find some cunning stratagem.” The cunning Greek leader Odysseus",
"text": "then came up with the idea of building a giant wooden horse, hiding",
"text": "soldiers inside it, then offering it to the Trojans as a gift. Neoptolemus,",
"text": "son of Achilles, was disgusted with this idea; it was unmanly. Better for",
"text": "thousands to die on the battlefield than to gain victory so deceitfully. But",
"text": "the soldiers, faced with a choice between another ten years of manliness,",
"text": "honor, and death, on the one hand and a quick victory on the other, chose",
"text": "the horse, which was promptly built. The trick was successful and Troy",
"text": "fell. One gift did more for the Greek cause than ten years of fighting.",
"text": "Selective kindness should also be part of your arsenal of deception.",
"text": "For years the ancient Romans had besieged the city of the Faliscans,",
"text": "always unsuccessfully. One day, however, when the Roman general",
"text": "Camillus was encamped outside the city, he suddenly saw a man leading",
"text": "some children toward him. The man was a Faliscan teacher, and the",
"text": "children, it turned out, were the sons and daughters of the noblest and",
"text": "wealthiest citizens of the town. On the pretense of taking these children",
"text": "out for a walk, he had led them straight to the Romans, offering them as",
"text": "hostages in hopes of ingratiating himself with Camillus, the city’s enemy.",
"text": "Camillus did not take the children hostage. He stripped the teacher,",
"text": "tied his hands behind his back, gave each child a rod, and let them whip",
"text": "him all the way back to the city. The gesture had an immediate effect on",
"text": "the Faliscans. Had Camillus used the children as hostages, some in the",
"text": "city would have voted to surrender. And even if the Faliscans had gone",
"text": "on fighting, their resistance would have been halfhearted. Camillus’s",
"text": "refusal to take advantage of the situation broke down the Faliscans’",
"text": "resistance, and they surrendered. The general had calculated correctly.",
"text": "And in any case he had had nothing to lose: He knew that the hostage",
"text": "ploy would not have ended the war, at least not right away. By turning",
"text": "the situation around, he earned his enemy’s trust and respect, disarming",
"text": "them. Selective kindness will often break down even the most stubborn",
"text": "foe: Aiming right for the heart, it corrodes the will to fight back.",
"text": "Remember: By playing on people’s emotions, calculated acts of",
"text": "kindness can turn a Capone into a gullible child. As with any emotional",
"text": "approach, the tactic must be practiced with caution: If people see through",
"text": "it, their disappointed feelings of gratitude and warmth will become the",
"text": "most violent hatred and distrust. Unless you can make the gesture seem",
"text": "sincere and heartfelt, do not play with fire.",
"text": "Authority: When Duke Hsien of Chin was about to raid Yü, he presented",
"text": "to them a jade and a team of horses. When Earl Chih was about to raid",
"text": "Ch’ou-yu, he presented to them grand chariots. Hence the saying: “Whenyou are about to take, you should give.” (Han-fei-tzu, Chinese",
"text": "philosopher, third century B.C.)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "When you have a history of deceit behind you, no amount of honesty,",
"text": "generosity, or kindness will fool people. In fact it will only call attention",
"text": "to itself. Once people have come to see you as deceitful, to act honest all",
"text": "of a sudden is simply suspicious. In these cases it is better to play the",
"text": "rogue.",
"text": "Count Lustig, pulling the biggest con of his career, was about to sell",
"text": "the Eiffel Tower to an unsuspecting industrialist who believed the",
"text": "government was auctioning it off for scrap metal. The industrialist was",
"text": "prepared to hand over a huge sum of money to Lustig, who had",
"text": "successfully impersonated a government official. At the last minute,",
"text": "however, the mark was suspicious. Something about Lustig bothered",
"text": "him. At the meeting in which he was to hand over the money, Lustig",
"text": "sensed his sudden distrust.",
"text": "Leaning over to the industrialist, Lustig explained, in a low whisper,",
"text": "how low his salary was, how difficult his finances were, on and on. After",
"text": "a few minutes of this, the industrialist realized that Lustig was asking for",
"text": "a bribe. For the first time he relaxed. Now he knew he could trust Lustig:",
"text": "Since all government officials were dishonest, Lustig had to be real. The",
"text": "man forked over the money. By acting dishonest, Lustig seemed the real",
"text": "McCoy. In this case selective honesty would have had the opposite",
"text": "effect.",
"text": "As the French diplomat Talleyrand grew older, his reputation as a",
"text": "master liar and deceiver spread. At the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815),",
"text": "he would spin fabulous stories and make impossible remarks to people",
"text": "who knew he had to be lying. His dishonesty had no purpose except to",
"text": "cloak the moments when he really was deceiving them. One day, for",
"text": "example, among friends, Talleyrand said with apparent sincerity, “In",
"text": "business one ought to show one’s hand.” No one who heard him could",
"text": "believe their ears: A man who never once in his life had shown his cards",
"text": "was telling other people to show theirs. Tactics like this made it",
"text": "impossible to distinguish Talleyrand’s real deceptions from his fake ones.By embracing his reputation for dishonesty, he preserved his ability to",
"text": "deceive.",
"text": "Nothing in the realm of power is set in stone. Overt deceptiveness will",
"text": "sometimes cover your tracks, even making you admired for the honesty",
"text": "of your dishonesty.LAW 13",
"text": "WHEN ASKING FOR HELP, APPEAL TO",
"text": "PEOPLE’S SELF-INTEREST, NEVER TO THEIR",
"text": "MERCY OR GRATITUDE",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of",
"text": "your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you.",
"text": "Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him,",
"text": "that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will",
"text": "respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for",
"text": "himself.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "In the early fourteenth century, a young man named Castruccio",
"text": "Castracani rose from the rank of common soldier to become lord of the",
"text": "great city of Lucca, Italy. One of the most powerful families in the city,",
"text": "the Poggios, had been instrumental in his climb (which succeeded",
"text": "through treachery and bloodshed), but after he came to power, they came",
"text": "to feel he had forgotten them. His ambition outweighed any gratitude he",
"text": "felt. In 1325, while Castruccio was away fighting Lucca’s main rival,",
"text": "Florence, the Poggios conspired with other noble families in the city to",
"text": "rid themselves of this troublesome and ambitious prince.",
"text": "THE PEASANT AND THE APPLE-TREE",
"text": "A peasant had in his garden an apple-tree, which bore no fruit, but only",
"text": "served as a perch for the sparrows and grasshoppers. He resolved to cutit down, and, taking his ax in hand, made a bold stroke at its roots. The",
"text": "grasshoppers and sparrows entreated him not to cut down the tree that",
"text": "sheltered them, but to spare it, and they would sing to him and lighten his",
"text": "labors. He paid no attention to their request, but gave the tree a second",
"text": "and a third blow with his ax. When he reached the hollow of the tree, he",
"text": "found a hive full of honey. Having tasted the honeycomb, he threw down",
"text": "his ax, and, looking on the tree as isacred, took great care of it. Self-",
"text": "interest alone moves some men.",
"text": "FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "Mounting an insurrection, the plotters attacked and murdered the",
"text": "governor whom Castruccio had left behind to rule the city. Riots broke",
"text": "out, and the Castruccio supporters and the Poggio supporters were poised",
"text": "to do battle. At the height of the tension, however, Stefano di Poggio, the",
"text": "oldest member of the family, intervened, and made both sides lay down",
"text": "their arms.",
"text": "A peaceful man, Stefano had not taken part in the conspiracy. He had",
"text": "told his family it would end in a useless bloodbath. Now he insisted he",
"text": "should intercede on the family’s behalf and persuade Castruccio to listen",
"text": "to their complaints and satisfy their demands. Stefano was the oldest and",
"text": "wisest member of the clan, and his family agreed to put their trust in his",
"text": "diplomacy rather than in their weapons.",
"text": "When news of the rebellion reached Castruccio, he hurried back to",
"text": "Lucca. By the time he arrived, however, the fighting had ceased, through",
"text": "Stefano’s agency, and he was surprised by the city’s calm and peace.",
"text": "Stefano di Poggio had imagined that Castruccio would be grateful to him",
"text": "for his part in quelling the rebellion, so he paid the prince a visit. He",
"text": "explained how he had brought peace, then begged for Castruccio’s",
"text": "mercy. He said that the rebels in his family were young and impetuous,",
"text": "hungry for power yet inexperienced; he recalled his family’s past",
"text": "generosity to Castruccio. For all these reasons, he said, the great prince",
"text": "should pardon the Poggios and listen to their complaints. This, he said,",
"text": "was the only just thing to do, since the family had willingly laid down",
"text": "their arms and had always supported him.",
"text": "Castruccio listened patiently. He seemed not the slightest bit angry or",
"text": "resentful. Instead, he told Stefano to rest assured that justice would",
"text": "prevail, and he asked him to bring his entire family to the palace to talk",
"text": "over their grievances and come to an agreement. As they took leave of",
"text": "one another, Castruccio said he thanked God for the chance he had been",
"text": "given to show his clemency and kindness. That evening the entire Poggiofamily came to the palace. Castruccio immediately had them imprisoned",
"text": "and a few days later all were executed, including Stefano.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Stefano di Poggio is the embodiment of all those who believe that the",
"text": "justice and nobility of their cause will prevail. Certainly appeals to",
"text": "justice and gratitude have occasionally succeeded in the past, but more",
"text": "often than not they have had dire consequences, especially in dealings",
"text": "with the Castruc cios of the world. Stefano knew that the prince had risen",
"text": "to power through treachery and ruthlessness. This was a man, after all,",
"text": "who had put a close and devoted friend to death. When Castruccio was",
"text": "told that it had been a terrible wrong to kill such an old friend, he replied",
"text": "that he had executed not an old friend but a new enemy.",
"text": "A man like Castruccio knows only force and self-interest. When the",
"text": "rebellion began, to end it and place oneself at his mercy was the most",
"text": "dangerous possible move. Even once Stefano di Poggio had made that",
"text": "fatal mistake, however, he still had options: He could have offered",
"text": "money to Castruccio, could have made promises for the future, could",
"text": "have pointed out what the Poggios could still contribute to Castruccio’s",
"text": "power—their influence with the most influential families of Rome, for",
"text": "example, and the great marriage they could have brokered.",
"text": "Instead Stefano brought up the past, and debts that carried no",
"text": "obligation. Not only is a man not obliged to be grateful, gratitude is often",
"text": "a terrible burden that he gladly discards. And in this case Castruccio rid",
"text": "himself of his obligations to the Poggios by eliminating the Poggios.",
"text": "Most men are so thoroughly subjective that nothing really interests them",
"text": "but themselves. They always think of their own case as soon as ever any",
"text": "remark is made, and their whole attention is engrossed and absorbed by",
"text": "the merest chance reference to anything which affects them personally,",
"text": "be it never so remote.",
"text": "ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAWIn 433 B.C., just before the Peloponnesian War, the island of Corcyra",
"text": "(later called Corfu) and the Greek city-state of Corinth stood on the brink",
"text": "of conflict. Both parties sent ambassadors to Athens to try to win over",
"text": "the Athenians to their side. The stakes were high, since whoever had",
"text": "Athens on his side was sure to win. And whoever won the war would",
"text": "certainly give the defeated side no mercy.",
"text": "Corcyra spoke first. Its ambassador began by admitting that the island",
"text": "had never helped Athens before, and in fact had allied itself with",
"text": "Athens’s enemies. There were no ties of friendship or gratitude between",
"text": "Corcyra and Athens. Yes, the ambassador admitted, he had come to",
"text": "Athens now out of fear and concern for Corcyra’s safety. The only thing",
"text": "he could offer was an alliance of mutual interests. Corcyra had a navy",
"text": "only surpassed in size and strength by Athens’s own; an alliance between",
"text": "the two states would create a formidable force, one that could intimidate",
"text": "the rival state of Sparta. That, unfortunately, was all Corcyra had to offer.",
"text": "The representative from Corinth then gave a brilliant, passionate",
"text": "speech, in sharp contrast to the dry, colorless approach of the Corcyran.",
"text": "He talked of everything Corinth had done for Athens in the past. He",
"text": "asked how it would look to Athens’s other allies if the city put an",
"text": "agreement with a former enemy over one with a present friend, one that",
"text": "had served Athens’s interest loyally: Perhaps those allies would break",
"text": "their agreements with Athens if they saw that their loyalty was not",
"text": "valued. He referred to Hellenic law, and the need to repay Corinth for all",
"text": "its good deeds. He finally went on to list the many services Corinth had",
"text": "performed for Athens, and the importance of showing gratitude to one’s",
"text": "friends.",
"text": "After the speech, the Athenians debated the issue in an assembly. On",
"text": "the second round, they voted overwhelmingly to ally with Corcyra and",
"text": "drop Corinth.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "History has remembered the Athenians nobly, but they were the",
"text": "preeminent realists of classical Greece. With them, all the rhetoric, all",
"text": "the emotional appeals in the world, could not match a good pragmatic",
"text": "argument, especially one that added to their power.",
"text": "What the Corinthian ambassador did not realize was that his",
"text": "references to Corinth’s past generosity to Athens only irritated the",
"text": "Athenians, subtly asking them to feel guilty and putting them underobligation. The Athenians couldn’t care less about past favors and",
"text": "friendly feelings. At the same time, they knew that if their other allies",
"text": "thought them ungrateful for abandoning Corinth, these city-states would",
"text": "still be unlikely to break their ties to Athens, the preeminent power in",
"text": "Greece. Athens ruled its empire by force, and would simply compel any",
"text": "rebellious ally to return to the fold.",
"text": "When people choose between talk about the past and talk about the",
"text": "future, a pragmatic person will always opt for the future and forget the",
"text": "past. As the Corcyrans realized, it is always best to speak pragmatically",
"text": "to a pragmatic person. And in the end, most people are in fact pragmatic",
"text": "—they will rarely act against their own self-interest.",
"text": "It has always been a rule that the weak should be subject to the strong;",
"text": "and besides, we consider that we are worthy of our power. Up till the",
"text": "present moment you, too, used to think that we were; but now, after",
"text": "calculating your own interest, you are beginning to talk in terms of right",
"text": "and wrong. Considerations of this kind have never yet turned people",
"text": "aside",
"text": "from the opportunities of aggrandizement offered by superior strength.",
"text": "Athenian representative to Sparta,",
"text": "quoted in The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, c. 465-395 B.C.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "In your quest for power, you will constantly find yourself in the position",
"text": "of asking for help from those more powerful than you. There is an art to",
"text": "asking for help, an art that depends on your ability to understand the",
"text": "person you are dealing with, and to not confuse your needs with theirs.",
"text": "Most people never succeed at this, because they are completely",
"text": "trapped in their own wants and desires. They start from the assumption",
"text": "that the people they are appealing to have a selfless interest in helping",
"text": "them. They talk as if their needs mattered to these people—who probably",
"text": "couldn’t care less. Sometimes they refer to larger issues: a great cause, or",
"text": "grand emotions such as love and gratitude. They go for the big picture",
"text": "when simple, everyday realities would have much more appeal. What",
"text": "they do not realize is that even the most powerful person is locked inside",
"text": "needs of his own, and that if you make no appeal to his self-interest, he",
"text": "merely sees you as desperate or, at best, a waste of time.In the sixteenth century, Portuguese missionaries tried for years to",
"text": "convert the people of Japan to Catholicism, while at the same time",
"text": "Portugal had a monopoly on trade between Japan and Europe. Although",
"text": "the missionaries did have some success, they never got far among the",
"text": "ruling elite; by the beginning of the seventeenth century, in fact, their",
"text": "proselytizing had completely antagonized the Japanese emperor Ieyasu.",
"text": "When the Dutch began to arrive in Japan in great numbers, Ieyasu was",
"text": "much relieved. He needed Europeans for their know-how in guns and",
"text": "navigation, and here at last were Europeans who cared nothing for",
"text": "spreading religion—the Dutch wanted only to trade. Ieyasu swiftly",
"text": "moved to evict the Portuguese. From then on, he would only deal with",
"text": "the practical-minded Dutch.",
"text": "Japan and Holland were vastly different cultures, but each shared a",
"text": "timeless and universal concern: self-interest. Every person you deal with",
"text": "is like another culture, an alien land with a past that has nothing to do",
"text": "with yours. Yet you can bypass the differences between you and him by",
"text": "appealing to his self-interest. Do not be subtle: You have valuable",
"text": "knowledge to share, you will fill his coffers with gold, you will make",
"text": "him live longer and happier. This is a language that all of us speak and",
"text": "understand.",
"text": "A key step in the process is to understand the other person’s",
"text": "psychology. Is he vain? Is he concerned about his reputation or his social",
"text": "standing? Does he have enemies you could help him vanquish? Is he",
"text": "simply motivated by money and power?",
"text": "When the Mongols invaded China in the twelfth century, they",
"text": "threatened to obliterate a culture that had thrived for over two thousand",
"text": "years. Their leader, Genghis Khan, saw nothing in China but a country",
"text": "that lacked pasturing for his horses, and he decided to destroy the place,",
"text": "leveling all its cities, for “it would be better to exterminate the Chinese",
"text": "and let the grass grow.” It was not a soldier, a general, or a king who",
"text": "saved the Chinese from devastation, but a man named Yelu Ch‘u-Ts’ai.",
"text": "A foreigner himself, Ch‘u-Ts’ai had come to appreciate the superiority of",
"text": "Chinese culture. He managed to make himself a trusted adviser to",
"text": "Genghis Khan, and persuaded him that he would reap riches out of the",
"text": "place if, instead of destroying it, he simply taxed everyone who lived",
"text": "there. Khan saw the wisdom in this and did as Ch‘u-Ts’ai advised.",
"text": "When Khan took the city of Kaifeng, after a long siege, and decided to",
"text": "massacre its inhabitants (as he had in other cities that had resisted him),",
"text": "Ch‘u-Ts’ai told him that the finest craftsmen and engineers in China had",
"text": "fled to Kaifeng, and it would be better to put them to use. Kaifeng wasspared. Never before had Genghis Khan shown such mercy, but then it",
"text": "really wasn’t mercy that saved Kaifeng. Ch‘u-Ts’ai knew Khan well. He",
"text": "was a barbaric peasant who cared nothing for culture, or indeed for",
"text": "anything other than warfare and practical results. Ch‘u-Ts’ai chose to",
"text": "appeal to the only emotion that would work on such a man: greed.",
"text": "Self-interest is the lever that will move people. Once you make them",
"text": "see how you can in some way meet their needs or advance their cause,",
"text": "their resistance to your requests for help will magically fall away. At",
"text": "each step on the way to acquiring power, you must train yourself to think",
"text": "your way inside the other person’s mind, to see their needs and interests,",
"text": "to get rid of the screen of your own feelings that obscure the truth.",
"text": "Master this art and there will be no limits to what you can accomplish.",
"text": "Image: A Cord that",
"text": "Binds. The cord of",
"text": "mercy and grati",
"text": "tude is threadbare,",
"text": "and will break at",
"text": "the first shock.",
"text": "Do not throw",
"text": "such a lifeline.",
"text": "The cord of",
"text": "mutual self-inter",
"text": "est is woven of",
"text": "many fibers and",
"text": "cannot easily be",
"text": "severed. It will serve",
"text": "you well for years.",
"text": "Authority: The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let",
"text": "people see clearly that it is in their interests to promote yours. (Jean de",
"text": "La Bruyère, 1645-1696)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "Some people will see an appeal to their self-interest as ugly and ignoble.",
"text": "They actually prefer to be able to exercise charity, mercy, and justice,which are their ways of feeling superior to you: When you beg them for",
"text": "help, you emphasize their power and position. They are strong enough to",
"text": "need nothing from you except the chance to feel superior. This is the",
"text": "wine that intoxicates them. They are dying to fund your project, to",
"text": "introduce you to powerful people—provided, of course, that all this is",
"text": "done in public, and for a good cause (usually the more public, the better).",
"text": "Not everyone, then, can be approached through cynical self-interest.",
"text": "Some people will be put off by it, because they don’t want to seem to be",
"text": "motivated by such things. They need opportunities to display their good",
"text": "heart.",
"text": "Do not be shy. Give them that opportunity. It’s not as if you are",
"text": "conning them by asking for help—it is really their pleasure to give, and",
"text": "to be seen giving. You must distinguish the differences among powerful",
"text": "people and figure out what makes them tick. When they ooze greed, do",
"text": "not appeal to their charity. When they want to look charitable and noble,",
"text": "do not appeal to their greed.LAW 14",
"text": "POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable",
"text": "information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy",
"text": "yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect",
"text": "questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There",
"text": "is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "Joseph Duveen was undoubtedly the greatest art dealer of his time—",
"text": "from 1904 to 1940 he almost single-handedly monopolized America’s",
"text": "millionaire art-collecting market. But one prize plum eluded him: the",
"text": "industrialist Andrew Mellon. Before he died, Duveen was determined to",
"text": "make Mellon a client.",
"text": "Duveen’s friends said this was an impossible dream. Mellon was a",
"text": "stiff, taciturn man. The stories he had heard about the congenial,",
"text": "talkative Duveen rubbed him the wrong way—he had made it clear he",
"text": "had no desire to meet the man. Yet Duveen told his doubting friends,",
"text": "“Not only will Mellon buy from me but he will buy only from me.” For",
"text": "several years he tracked his prey, learning the man’s habits, tastes,",
"text": "phobias. To do this, he secretly put several of Mellon’s staff on his own",
"text": "payroll, worming valuable information out of them. By the time he",
"text": "moved into action, he knew Mellon about as well as Mellon’s wife did.",
"text": "In 1921 Mellon was visiting London, and staying in a palatial suite on",
"text": "the third floor of Claridge’s Hotel. Duveen booked himself into the suite",
"text": "just below Mellon’s, on the second floor. He had arranged for his valet to",
"text": "befriend Mellon’s valet, and on the fateful day he had chosen to make hismove, Mellon’s valet told Duveen’s valet, who told Duveen, that he had",
"text": "just helped Mellon on with his overcoat, and that the industrialist was",
"text": "making his way down the corridor to ring for the lift.",
"text": "Duveen’s valet hurriedly helped Duveen with his own overcoat.",
"text": "Seconds later, Duveen entered the lift, and lo and behold, there was",
"text": "Mellon. “How do you do, Mr. Mellon?” said Duveen, introducing",
"text": "himself. “I am on my way to the National Gallery to look at some",
"text": "pictures.” How uncanny—that was precisely where Mellon was headed.",
"text": "And so Duveen was able to accompany his prey to the one location that",
"text": "would ensure his success. He knew Mellon’s taste inside and out, and",
"text": "while the two men wandered through the museum, he dazzled the",
"text": "magnate with his knowledge. Once again quite uncannily, they seemed to",
"text": "have remarkably similar tastes.",
"text": "Mellon was pleasantly surprised: This was not the Duveen he had",
"text": "expected. The man was charming and agreeable, and clearly had",
"text": "exquisite taste. When they returned to New York, Mellon visited",
"text": "Duveen’s exclusive gallery and fell in love with the collection.",
"text": "Everything, surprisingly enough, seemed to be precisely the kind of work",
"text": "he wanted to collect. For the rest of his life he was Duveen’s best and",
"text": "most generous client.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "A man as ambitious and competitive as Joseph Duveen left nothing to",
"text": "chance. What’s the point of winging it, of just hoping you may be able to",
"text": "charm this or that client? It’s like shooting ducks blindfolded. Arm",
"text": "yourself with a little knowledge and your aim improves.",
"text": "Mellon was the most spectacular of Duveen’s catches, but he spied on",
"text": "many a millionaire. By secretly putting members of his clients’",
"text": "household staffs on his own payroll, he would gain constant access to",
"text": "valuable information about their masters’ comings and goings, changes",
"text": "in taste, and other such tidbits of information that would put him a step",
"text": "ahead. A rival of Duveen’s who wanted to make Henry Frick a client",
"text": "noticed that whenever he visited this wealthy New Yorker, Duveen was",
"text": "there before him, as if he had a sixth sense. To other dealers Duveen",
"text": "seemed to be everywhere, and to know everything before they did. His",
"text": "powers discouraged and disheartened them, until many simply gave up",
"text": "going after the wealthy clients who could make a dealer rich.Such is the power of artful spying: It makes you seem all-powerful,",
"text": "clairvoyant. Your knowledge of your mark can also make you seem",
"text": "charming, so well can you anticipate his desires. No one sees the source",
"text": "of your power, and what they cannot see they cannot fight.",
"text": "Rulers see through spies, as cows through smell, Brahmins through",
"text": "scriptures and the rest of the people through their normal eyes.",
"text": "Kautilya, Indian philosopher third century B. C.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "In the realm of power, your goal is a degree of control over future events.",
"text": "Part of the problem you face, then, is that people won’t tell you all their",
"text": "thoughts, emotions, and plans. Controlling what they say, they often keep",
"text": "the most critical parts of their character hidden—their weaknesses,",
"text": "ulterior motives, obsessions. The result is that you cannot predict their",
"text": "moves, and are constantly in the dark. The trick is to find a way to probe",
"text": "them, to find out their secrets and hidden intentions, without letting them",
"text": "know what you are up to.",
"text": "This is not as difficult as you might think. A friendly front will let you",
"text": "secretly gather information on friends and enemies alike. Let others",
"text": "consult the horoscope, or read tarot cards: You have more concrete",
"text": "means of seeing into the future.",
"text": "The most common way of spying is to use other people, as Duveen",
"text": "did. The method is simple, powerful, but risky: You will certainly gather",
"text": "information, but you have little control over the people who are doing",
"text": "the work. Perhaps they will ineptly reveal your spying, or even secretly",
"text": "turn against you. It is far better to be the spy yourself, to pose as a friend",
"text": "while secretly gathering information.",
"text": "The French politician Talleyrand was one of the greatest practitioners",
"text": "of this art. He had an uncanny ability to worm secrets out of people in",
"text": "polite conversation. A contemporary of his, Baron de Vitrolles, wrote,",
"text": "“Wit and grace marked his conversation. He possessed the art of",
"text": "concealing his thoughts or his malice beneath a transparent veil of",
"text": "insinuations, words that imply something more than they express. Only",
"text": "when necessary did he inject his own personality.” The key here is",
"text": "Talleyrand’s ability to suppress himself in the conversation, to makeothers talk endlessly about themselves and inadvertently reveal their",
"text": "intentions and plans.",
"text": "Throughout Talleyrand’s life, people said he was a superb conversa",
"text": "tionalist—yet he actually said very little. He never talked about his own",
"text": "ideas; he got others to reveal theirs. He would organize friendly games of",
"text": "charades for foreign diplomats, social gatherings where, however, he",
"text": "would carefully weigh their words, cajole confidences out of them, and",
"text": "gather information invaluable to his work as France’s foreign minister.",
"text": "At the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) he did his spying in other ways:",
"text": "He would blurt out what seemed to be a secret (actually something he",
"text": "had made up), then watch his listeners’ reactions. He might tell a",
"text": "gathering of diplomats, for instance, that a reliable source had revealed",
"text": "to him that the czar of Russia was planning to arrest his top general for",
"text": "treason. By watching the diplomats’ reactions to this made-up story, he",
"text": "would know which ones were most excited by the weakening of the",
"text": "Russian army—perhaps their goverments had designs on Russia? As",
"text": "Baron von Stetten said, “Monsieur Talleyrand fires a pistol into the air to",
"text": "see who will jump out the window.”",
"text": "If you have reason to suspect that a person is telling you a lie, look as",
"text": "though you believed every word he said. This will give him courage to go",
"text": "on; he will become more vehement in his assertions, and in the end",
"text": "betray himself. Again, if you perceive that a person is trying to conceal",
"text": "something from you, but with only partial success, look as though you",
"text": "did not believe him. The opposition on your part will provoke him into",
"text": "leading out his reserve of truth and bringing the whole force of it to bear",
"text": "upon your incredulity.",
"text": "ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860",
"text": "During social gatherings and innocuous encounters, pay attention.",
"text": "This is when people’s guards are down. By suppressing your own",
"text": "personality, you can make them reveal things. The brilliance of the",
"text": "maneuver is that they will mistake your interest in them for friendship,",
"text": "so that you not only learn, you make allies.",
"text": "Nevertheless, you should practice this tactic with caution and care. If",
"text": "people begin to suspect you are worming secrets out of them under the",
"text": "cover of conversation, they will strictly avoid you. Emphasize friendly",
"text": "chatter, not valuable information. Your search for gems of information",
"text": "cannot be too obvious, or your probing questions will reveal more about",
"text": "yourself and your intentions than about the information you hope to find.A trick to try in spying comes from La Rochefoucauld, who wrote,",
"text": "“Sincerity is found in very few men, and is often the cleverest of ruses—",
"text": "one is sincere in order to draw out the confidence and secrets of the",
"text": "other.” By pretending to bare your heart to another person, in other",
"text": "words, you make them more likely to reveal their own secrets. Give them",
"text": "a false confession and they will give you a real one. Another trick was",
"text": "identified by the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who suggested",
"text": "vehemently contradicting people you’re in conversation with as a way of",
"text": "irritating them, stirring them up so that they lose some of the control over",
"text": "their words. In their emotional reaction they will reveal all kinds of",
"text": "truths about themselves, truths you can later use against them.",
"text": "Another method of indirect spying is to test people, to lay little traps",
"text": "that make them reveal things about themselves. Chosroes II, a",
"text": "notoriously clever seventh-century king of the Persians, had many ways",
"text": "of seeing through his subjects without raising suspicion. If he noticed,",
"text": "for instance, that two of his courtiers had become particularly friendly,",
"text": "he would call one of them aside and say he had information that the other",
"text": "was a traitor, and would soon be killed. The king would tell the courtier",
"text": "he trusted him more than anyone, and that he must keep this information",
"text": "secret. Then he would watch the two men carefully. If he saw that the",
"text": "second courtier had not changed in his behavior toward the king, he",
"text": "would conclude that the first courtier had kept the secret, and he would",
"text": "quickly promote the man, later taking him aside to confess, “I meant to",
"text": "kill your friend because of certain information that had reached me, but,",
"text": "when I investigated the matter, I found it was untrue.” If, on the other",
"text": "hand, the second courtier started to avoid the king, acting aloof and",
"text": "tense, Chosroes would know that the secret had been revealed. He would",
"text": "ban the second courtier from his court, letting him know that the whole",
"text": "business had only been a test, but that even though the man had done",
"text": "nothing wrong, he could no longer trust him. The first courtier, however,",
"text": "had revealed a secret, and him Chosroes would ban from his entire",
"text": "kingdom.",
"text": "It may seem an odd form of spying that reveals not empirical",
"text": "information but a person’s character. Often, however, it is the best way of",
"text": "solving problems before they arise.",
"text": "By tempting people into certain acts, you learn about their loyalty,",
"text": "their honesty, and so on. And this kind of knowledge is often the most",
"text": "valuable of all: Armed with it, you can predict their actions in the future.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Third Eye ofthe Spy. In the land of",
"text": "the two-eyed, the third eye",
"text": "gives you the omniscience",
"text": "of a god. You see further than",
"text": "others, and you see deeper",
"text": "into them. Nobody is",
"text": "safe from the eye",
"text": "but you.",
"text": "Authority: Now, the reason a brilliant sovereign and a wise general",
"text": "conquer the enemy whenever they move, and their achievements surpass",
"text": "those of ordinary men, is their foreknowledge of the enemy situation.",
"text": "This “foreknowledge” cannot be elicited from spirits, nor from gods, nor",
"text": "by analogy with past events, nor by astrologic calculations. It must be",
"text": "obtained from men who know the enemy situation—from spies. (Sun-",
"text": "tzu, The Art of War, fourth century B.C.)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "Information is critical to power, but just as you spy on other people, you",
"text": "must be prepared for them to spy on you. One of the most potent",
"text": "weapons in the battle for information, then, is giving out false",
"text": "information. As Winston Churchill said, “Truth is so precious that she",
"text": "should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” You must surround",
"text": "yourself with such a bodyguard, so that your truth cannot be penetrated.",
"text": "By planting the information of your choice, you control the game.",
"text": "In 1944 the Nazis’ rocket-bomb attacks on London suddenly",
"text": "escalated. Over two thousand V-1 flying bombs fell on the city, killing",
"text": "more than five thousand people and wounding many more. Somehow,",
"text": "however, the Germans consistently missed their targets. Bombs that were",
"text": "intended for Tower Bridge, or Piccadilly, would fall well short of the",
"text": "city, landing in the less populated suburbs. This was because, in fixing",
"text": "their targets, the Germans relied on secret agents they had planted in",
"text": "England. They did not know that these agents had been discovered, andthat in their place, English-controlled agents were feeding them subtly",
"text": "deceptive information.",
"text": "The bombs would hit farther and farther from their targets every time",
"text": "they fell. By the end of the campaign they were landing on cows in the",
"text": "country. By feeding people wrong information, then, you gain a potent",
"text": "advantage. While spying gives you a third eye, disinformation puts out",
"text": "one of your enemy’s eyes. A cyclops, he always misses his target.LAW 15",
"text": "CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be",
"text": "crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If",
"text": "one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will",
"text": "eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through",
"text": "total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush",
"text": "him, not only in body but in spirit.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "No rivalry between leaders is more celebrated in Chinese history than the",
"text": "struggle between Hsiang Yu and Liu Pang. These two generals began",
"text": "their careers as friends, fighting on the same side. Hsiang Yu came from",
"text": "the nobility; large and powerful, given to bouts of violence and temper, a",
"text": "bit dull witted, he was yet a mighty warrior who always fought at the",
"text": "head of his troops. Liu Pang came from peasant stock. He had never",
"text": "been much of a soldier, and preferred women and wine to fighting; in",
"text": "fact, he was something of a scoundrel. But he was wily, and he had the",
"text": "ability to recognize the best strategists, keep them as his advisers, and",
"text": "listen to their advice. He had risen in the army through these strengths.",
"text": "The remnants of an enemy can become active like those of a disease or",
"text": "fire. Hence, these should be exterminated completely…. One should",
"text": "never ignore an enemy, knowing him to be weak. He becomes dangerous",
"text": "in due course, like the spark of fire in a haystack.",
"text": "KAUTILYA, INDIAN PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.In 208 B.C., the king of Ch‘u sent two massive armies to conquer the",
"text": "powerful kingdom of Ch’in. One army went north, under the generalship",
"text": "of Sung Yi, with Hsiang Yu second in command; the other, led by Liu",
"text": "Pang, headed straight toward Ch’in. The target was the kingdom’s",
"text": "splendid capital, Hsien-yang. And Hsiang Yu, ever violent and impatient,",
"text": "could not stand the idea that Liu Pang would get to Hsien-yang first, and",
"text": "perhaps would assume command of the entire army.",
"text": "THE TRAP AT SINIGAGLIA",
"text": "On the day Ramiro was executed, Cesare [Borgia] quit Cesena, leaving",
"text": "the mutilated body on the town square, and marched south. Three days",
"text": "later he arrived at Fano, where he received the envoys of the city of",
"text": "Ancona, who assured him of their loyalty. A messenger from Vitellozzo",
"text": "Vitelli announced that the little Adriatic port of Sinigaglia had",
"text": "surrendered to the condottieri [mercenary soldiers]. Only the citadel, in",
"text": "charge of the Genoese Andrea Doria, still held out, and Doria refused to",
"text": "hand it over to anyone except Cesare himself. [Borgia] sent word that he",
"text": "would arrive the next day, which was just what the condottieri wanted to",
"text": "hear. Once he reached Sinigaglia. Cesare would be an easy prey, caught",
"text": "between the citadel and their forces ringing the town…. The condottieri",
"text": "were sure they had military superiority, believing that the departure of",
"text": "the French troops had lef? Cesare with only a small force.",
"text": "In fact, according to Machiavelli. [Borgia] had left Cesena with ten",
"text": "thousand infantry-men and three thousand horse, taking pains to split up",
"text": "his men so that they would march along parallel routes before",
"text": "converging on Sinigaglia. The reason for such a large force was that he",
"text": "knew, from a confession extracted from Ramiro de Lorca, what the",
"text": "condottieri had up their sleeve. He therefore decided to turn their own",
"text": "trap against them. This was the masterpiece of trickery that the historian",
"text": "Paolo Giovio later called “the magnificent deceit. ” At dawn on",
"text": "December 31 [1502], Cesare reached the outskirts of Sinigaglia…. Led",
"text": "by Michelotto Corella, Cesare’s advance guard of two hundred lances",
"text": "took up its position on the canal bridge…. This control of the bridge",
"text": "effectively prevented the conspirators’ troops from withdrawing….",
"text": "Cesare greeted the condottieri effusively and invited them to join him….",
"text": "Michelotto had prepared the Palazzo Bernardino for Cesare’s use, and",
"text": "the duke invited the condottieri inside…. Once indoors the men were",
"text": "quietly arrested by guards who crept up from the rear…. [Cesare] gave",
"text": "orders for an attack on Vitelli’s and Orsini’s soldiers in the outlyingareas…. That night, while their troops were being crushed, Michelotto",
"text": "throttled Oliveretto and Vitelli in the Bernardino palace…. At one fell",
"text": "swoop, [Borgia] had got rid of his former generals and worst enemies.",
"text": "THE BORGIAS, IVAN CLOULAS, 1989",
"text": "At one point on the northern front, Hsiang’s commander, Sung Yi,",
"text": "hesitated in sending his troops into battle. Furious, Hsiang entered Sung",
"text": "Yi’s tent, proclaimed him a traitor, cut off his head, and assumed sole",
"text": "command of the army. Without waiting for orders, he left the northern",
"text": "front and marched directly on Hsien-yang. He felt certain he was the",
"text": "better soldier and general than Liu, but, to his utter astonishment, his",
"text": "rival, leading a smaller, swifter army, managed to reach Hsien-yang first.",
"text": "Hsiang had an adviser, Fan Tseng, who warned him, “This village",
"text": "headman [Liu Pang] used to be greedy only for riches and women, but",
"text": "since entering the capital he has not been led astray by wealth, wine, or",
"text": "sex. That shows he is aiming high.”",
"text": "Fan Tseng urged Hsiang to kill his rival before it was too late. He told",
"text": "the general to invite the wily peasant to a banquet at their camp outside",
"text": "Hsien-yang, and, in the midst of a celebratory sword dance, to have his",
"text": "head cut off. The invitation was sent; Liu fell for the trap, and came to",
"text": "the banquet. But Hsiang hesitated in ordering the sword dance, and by",
"text": "the time he gave the signal, Liu had sensed a trap, and managed to",
"text": "escape. “Bah!” cried Fan Tseng in disgust, seeing that Hsiang had",
"text": "botched the plot. “One cannot plan with a simpleton. Liu Pang will steal",
"text": "your empire yet and make us all his prisoners.”",
"text": "Realizing his mistake, Hsiang hurriedly marched on Hsien-yang, this",
"text": "time determined to hack off his rival’s head. Liu was never one to fight",
"text": "when the odds were against him, and he abandoned the city. Hsiang",
"text": "captured Hsien-yang, murdered the young prince of Ch’in, and burned",
"text": "the city to the ground. Liu was now Hsiang’s bitter enemy, and he",
"text": "pursued him for many months, finally cornering him in a walled city.",
"text": "Lacking food, his army in disarray, Liu sued for peace.",
"text": "Again Fan Tseng warned Hsiang, “Crush him now! If you let him go",
"text": "again, you will be sorry later.” But Hsiang decided to be merciful. He",
"text": "wanted to bring Liu back to Ch’u alive, and to force his former friend to",
"text": "acknowledge him as master. But Fan proved right: Liu managed to use",
"text": "the negotiations for his surrender as a distraction, and he escaped with a",
"text": "small army. Hsiang, amazed that he had yet again let his rival slip away,",
"text": "once more set out after Liu, this time with such ferocity that he seemed",
"text": "to have lost his mind. At one point, having captured Liu’s father in battle,Hsiang stood the old man up during the fighting and yelled to Liu across",
"text": "the line of troops, “Surrender now, or I shall boil your father alive!” Liu",
"text": "calmly answered, “But we are sworn brothers. So my father is your",
"text": "father also. If you insist on boiling your own father, send me a bowl of",
"text": "the soup!” Hsiang backed down, and the struggle continued.",
"text": "A few weeks later, in the thick of the hunt, Hsiang scattered his forces",
"text": "unwisely, and in a surprise attack Liu was able to surround his main",
"text": "garrison. For the first time the tables were turned. Now it was Hsiang",
"text": "who sued for peace. Liu’s top adviser urged him to destroy Hsiang, crush",
"text": "his army, show no mercy. “To let him go would be like rearing a tiger—it",
"text": "will devour you later,” the adviser said. Liu agreed.",
"text": "Making a false treaty, he lured Hsiang into relaxing his defense, then",
"text": "slaughtered almost all of his army. Hsiang managed to escape. Alone and",
"text": "on foot, knowing that Liu had put a bounty on his head, he came upon a",
"text": "small group of his own retreating soldiers, and cried out, “I hear Liu",
"text": "Pang has offered one thousand pieces of gold and a fief of ten thousand",
"text": "families for my head. Let me do you a favor.” Then he slit his own throat",
"text": "and died.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Hsiang Yu had proven his ruthlessness on many an occasion. He rarely",
"text": "hesitated in doing away with a rival if it served his purposes. But with",
"text": "Liu Pang he acted differently. He respected his rival, and did not want to",
"text": "defeat him through deception; he wanted to prove his superiority on the",
"text": "battlefield, even to force the clever Liu to surrender and to serve him.",
"text": "Every time he had his rival in his hands, something made him hesitate—",
"text": "a fatal sympathy with or respect for the man who, after all, had once",
"text": "been a friend and comrade in arms. But the moment Hsiang made it clear",
"text": "that he intended to do away with Liu, yet failed to accomplish it, he",
"text": "sealed his own doom. Liu would not suffer the same hesitation once the",
"text": "tables were turned.",
"text": "This is the fate that faces all of us when we sympathize with our",
"text": "enemies, when pity, or the hope of reconciliation, makes us pull back",
"text": "from doing away with them. We only strengthen their fear and hatred of",
"text": "us. We have beaten them, and they are humiliated; yet we nurture these",
"text": "resentful vipers who will one day kill us. Power cannot be dealt with this",
"text": "way. It must be exterminated, crushed, and denied the chance to return to",
"text": "haunt us. This is all the truer with a former friend who has become anenemy. The law governing fatal antagonisms reads: Reconciliation is out",
"text": "of the question. Only one side can win, and it must win totally.",
"text": "Liu Pang learned this lesson well. After defeating Hsiang Yu, this son",
"text": "of a farmer went on to become supreme commander of the armies of",
"text": "Ch‘u. Crushing his next rival—the king of Ch’u, his own former leader",
"text": "—he crowned himself emperor, defeated everyone in his path, and went",
"text": "down in history as one of the greatest rulers of China, the immortal Han",
"text": "Kao-tsu, founder of the Han Dynasty.",
"text": "To have ultimate victory, you must be ruthless.",
"text": "NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821",
"text": "Those who seek to achieve things should show no mercy.",
"text": "Kautilya, Indian philosopher third century B.C.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "Wu Chao, born in A.D. 625, was the daughter of a duke, and as a",
"text": "beautiful young woman of many charms, she was accordingly attached",
"text": "to the harem of Emperor T’ai Tsung.",
"text": "The imperial harem was a dangerous place, full of young concubines",
"text": "vying to become the emperor’s favorite. Wu’s beauty and forceful",
"text": "character quickly won her this battle, but, knowing that an emperor, like",
"text": "other powerful men, is a creature of whim, and that she could easily be",
"text": "replaced, she kept her eye on the future.",
"text": "Wu managed to seduce the emperor’s dissolute son, Kao Tsung, on the",
"text": "only possible occasion when she could find him alone: while he was",
"text": "relieving himself at the royal urinal. Even so, when the emperor died and",
"text": "Kao Tsung took over the throne, she still suffered the fate to which all",
"text": "wives and concubines of a deceased emperor were bound by tradition",
"text": "and law: Her head shaven, she entered a convent, for what was supposed",
"text": "to be the rest of her life. For seven years Wu schemed to escape. By",
"text": "communicating in secret with the new emperor, and by befriending his",
"text": "wife, the empress, she managed to get a highly unusual royal edict",
"text": "allowing her to return to the palace and to the royal harem. Once there,",
"text": "she fawned on the empress, while still sleeping with the emperor. Theempress did not discourage this—she had yet to provide the emperor",
"text": "with an heir, her position was vulnerable, and Wu was a valuable ally.",
"text": "In 654 Wu Chao gave birth to a child. One day the empress came to",
"text": "visit, and as soon as she had left, Wu smothered the newborn—her own",
"text": "baby. When the murder was discovered, suspicion immediately fell on",
"text": "the empress, who had been on the scene moments earlier, and whose",
"text": "jealous nature was known by all. This was precisely Wu’s plan. Shortly",
"text": "thereafter, the empress was charged with murder and executed. Wu Chao",
"text": "was crowned empress in her place. Her new husband, addicted to his life",
"text": "of pleasure, gladly gave up the reins of government to Wu Chao, who",
"text": "was from then on known as Empress Wu.",
"text": "Although now in a position of great power, Wu hardly felt secure.",
"text": "There were enemies everywhere; she could not let down her guard for",
"text": "one moment. Indeed, when she was forty-one, she began to fear that her",
"text": "beautiful young niece was becoming the emperor’s favorite. She",
"text": "poisoned the woman with a clay mixed into her food. In 675 her own",
"text": "son, touted as the heir apparent, was poisoned as well. The next-eldest",
"text": "son—illegitimate, but now the crown prince—was exiled a little later on",
"text": "trumped-up charges. And when the emperor died, in 683, Wu managed",
"text": "to have the son after that declared unfit for the throne. All this meant that",
"text": "it was her youngest, most ineffectual son who finally became emperor. In",
"text": "this way she continued to rule.",
"text": "Over the next five years there were innumerable palace coups. All of",
"text": "them failed, and all of the conspirators were executed. By 688 there was",
"text": "no one left to challenge Wu. She proclaimed herself a divine descendant",
"text": "of Buddha, and in 690 her wishes were finally granted: She was named",
"text": "Holy and Divine “Emperor” of China.",
"text": "Wu became emperor because there was literally nobody left from the",
"text": "previous T’ang dynasty. And so she ruled unchallenged, for over a",
"text": "decade of relative peace. In 705, at the age of eighty, she was forced to",
"text": "abdicate.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "All who knew Empress Wu remarked on her energy and intelligence. At",
"text": "the time, there was no glory available for an ambitious woman beyond a",
"text": "few years in the imperial harem, then a lifetime walled up in a convent.",
"text": "In Wu’s gradual but remarkable rise to the top, she was never naive. She",
"text": "knew that any hesitation, any momentary weakness, would spell her end.If, every time she got rid of a rival a new one appeared, the solution was",
"text": "simple: She had to crush them all or be killed herself. Other emperors",
"text": "before her had followed the same path to the top, but Wu—who, as a",
"text": "woman, had next to no chance to gain power—had to be more ruthless",
"text": "still.",
"text": "Empress Wu’s forty-year reign was one of the longest in Chinese",
"text": "history. Although the story of her bloody rise to power is well known, in",
"text": "China she is considered one of the period’s most able and effective",
"text": "rulers.",
"text": "A priest asked the dying Spanish statesman and general Ramón Maria",
"text": "Narváez.",
"text": "(1800-1868), “Does your Excellency forgive all your enemies ? ”I do not",
"text": "have to forgive my enemies,” answered Narváez, ”I have had them all",
"text": "shot. ”",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "It is no accident that the two stories illustrating this law come from",
"text": "China: Chinese history abounds with examples of enemies who were left",
"text": "alive and returned to haunt the lenient. “Crush the enemy” is a key",
"text": "strategic tenet of Sun-tzu, the fourth-century-B.C. author of The Art of",
"text": "War. The idea is simple: Your enemies wish you ill. There is nothing they",
"text": "want more than to eliminate you. If, in your struggles with them, you",
"text": "stop halfway or even three quarters of the way, out of mercy or hope of",
"text": "reconciliation, you only make them more determined, more embittered,",
"text": "and they will someday take revenge. They may act friendly for the time",
"text": "being, but this is only because you have defeated them. They have no",
"text": "choice but to bide their time.",
"text": "The solution: Have no mercy. Crush your enemies as totally as they",
"text": "would crush you. Ultimately the only peace and security you can hope",
"text": "for from your enemies is their disappearance.",
"text": "Mao Tse-tung, a devoted reader of Sun-tzu and of Chinese history",
"text": "generally, knew the importance of this law. In 1934 the Communist",
"text": "leader and some 75,000 poorly equipped soldiers fled into the desolate",
"text": "mountains of western China to escape Chiang Kai-shek’s much larger",
"text": "army, in what has since been called the Long March.Chiang was determined to eliminate every last Communist, and by a",
"text": "few years later Mao had less than 10,000 soldiers left. By 1937, in fact,",
"text": "when China was invaded by Japan, Chiang calculated that the",
"text": "Communists were no longer a threat. He chose to give up the chase and",
"text": "concentrate on the Japanese. Ten years later the Communists had",
"text": "recovered enough to rout Chiang’s army. Chiang had forgotten the",
"text": "ancient wisdom of crushing the enemy; Mao had not. Chiang was",
"text": "pursued until he and his entire army fled to the island of Taiwan. Nothing",
"text": "remains of his regime in mainland China to this day.",
"text": "The wisdom behind “crushing the enemy” is as ancient as the Bible:",
"text": "Its first practitioner may have been Moses, who learned it from God",
"text": "Himself, when He parted the Red Sea for the Jews, then let the water",
"text": "flow back over the pursuing Egyptians so that “not so much as one of",
"text": "them remained.” When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the Ten",
"text": "Commandments and found his people worshipping the Golden Calf, he",
"text": "had every last offender slaughtered. And just before he died, he told his",
"text": "followers, finally about to enter the Promised Land, that when they had",
"text": "defeated the tribes of Canaan they should “utterly destroy them… make",
"text": "no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them.”",
"text": "The goal of total victory is an axiom of modern warfare, and was",
"text": "codified as such by Carl von Clausewitz, the premier philosopher of war.",
"text": "Analyzing the campaigns of Napoleon, von Clausewitz wrote, “We do",
"text": "claim that direct annihilation of the enemy’s forces must always be the",
"text": "dominant consideration…. Once a major victory is achieved there must",
"text": "be no talk of rest, of breathing space… but only of the pursuit, going for",
"text": "the enemy again, seizing his capital, attacking his reserves and anything",
"text": "else that might give his country aid and comfort.” The reason for this is",
"text": "that after war come negotiation and the division of territory. If you have",
"text": "only won a partial victory, you will inevitably lose in negotiation what",
"text": "you have gained by war.",
"text": "The solution is simple: Allow your enemies no options. Annihilate",
"text": "them and their territory is yours to carve. The goal of power is to control",
"text": "your enemies completely, to make them obey your will. You cannot",
"text": "afford to go halfway. If they have no options, they will be forced to do",
"text": "your bidding. This law has applications far beyond the battlefield.",
"text": "Negotiation is the insidious viper that will eat away at your victory, so",
"text": "give your enemies nothing to negotiate, no hope, no room to maneuver.",
"text": "They are crushed and that is that.",
"text": "Realize this: In your struggle for power you will stir up rivalries and",
"text": "create enemies. There will be people you cannot win over, who willremain your enemies no matter what. But whatever wound you inflicted",
"text": "on them, deliberately or not, do not take their hatred personally. Just",
"text": "recognize that there is no possibility of peace between you, especially as",
"text": "long as you stay in power. If you let them stick around, they will seek",
"text": "revenge, as certainly as night follows day. To wait for them to show their",
"text": "cards is just silly; as Empress Wu understood, by then it will be too late.",
"text": "Be realistic: With an enemy like this around, you will never be secure.",
"text": "Remember the lessons of history, and the wisdom of Moses and Mao:",
"text": "Never go halfway.",
"text": "It is not, of course, a question of murder, it is a question of",
"text": "banishment. Sufficiently weakened and then exiled from your court",
"text": "forever, your enemies are rendered harmless. They have no hope of",
"text": "recovering, insinuating themselves and hurting you. And if they cannot",
"text": "be banished, at least understand that they are plotting against you, and",
"text": "pay no heed to whatever friendliness they feign. Your only weapon in",
"text": "such a situation is your own wariness. If you cannot banish them",
"text": "immediately, then plot for the best time to act.",
"text": "Image: A Viper crushed beneath your foot but left alive, will rear up and",
"text": "bite you with a double dose of venom. An enemy that is left around is",
"text": "like a half-dead viper that you nurse back to health. Time makes the",
"text": "venom grow stronger.",
"text": "Authority: For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else",
"text": "annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot",
"text": "do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be",
"text": "such that we need not fear his vengeance. (Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-",
"text": "1527)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "This law should very rarely be ignored, but it does sometimes happen",
"text": "that it is better to let your enemies destroy themselves, if such a thing is",
"text": "possible, than to make them suffer by your hand. In warfare, for",
"text": "example, a good general knows that if he attacks an army when it is",
"text": "cornered, its soldiers will fight much more fiercely. It is sometimesbetter, then, to leave them an escape route, a way out. As they retreat,",
"text": "they wear themselves out, and are ultimately more demoralized by the",
"text": "retreat than by any defeat he might inflict on the battlefield. When you",
"text": "have someone on the ropes, then—but only when you are sure they have",
"text": "no chance of recovery—you might let them hang themselves. Let them",
"text": "be the agents of their own destruction. The result will be the same, and",
"text": "you won’t feel half as bad.",
"text": "Finally, sometimes by crushing an enemy, you embitter them so much",
"text": "that they spend years and years plotting revenge. The Treaty of Versailles",
"text": "had such an effect on the Germans. Some would argue that in the long",
"text": "run it would be better to show some leniency. The problem is, your",
"text": "leniency involves another risk—it may embolden the enemy, which still",
"text": "harbors a grudge, but now has some room to operate. It is almost always",
"text": "wiser to crush your enemy. If they plot revenge years later, do not let",
"text": "your guard down, but simply crush them again.LAW 16",
"text": "USE ABSENCE TO INCREASE RESPECT AND",
"text": "HONOR",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen",
"text": "and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already",
"text": "established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more",
"text": "talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create",
"text": "value through scarcity.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION AND OBSERVANCE OF",
"text": "THE LAW",
"text": "Sir Guillaume de Balaun was a troubadour who roamed the South of",
"text": "France in the Middle Ages, going from castle to castle, reciting poetry,",
"text": "and playing the perfect knight. At the castle of Javiac he met and fell in",
"text": "love with the beautiful lady of the house, Madame Guillelma de Javiac.",
"text": "He sang her his songs, recited his poetry, played chess with her, and little",
"text": "by little she in turn fell in love with him. Guillaume had a friend, Sir",
"text": "Pierre de Barjac, who traveled with him and who was also received at the",
"text": "castle. And Pierre too fell in love with a lady in Javiac, the gracious but",
"text": "temperamental Viernetta.",
"text": "THE CAMEL AND THE FLOATING STICKS",
"text": "The first man who saw a camel fled; The second ventured within",
"text": "distance; The third dared slip a halter round its head. Familiarity in this",
"text": "existence Makes all things tame, for what may seem Terrible or bizarre,when once our eyes Have had time to acclimatize, Becomes quite",
"text": "commonplace. Since I’m on this theme, I’ve heard of sentinels posted by",
"text": "the shore Who, spotting something far-away afloat, Couldn’t resist the",
"text": "shout: “A sail! A sail! A mighty man-of-war!” Five minutes later it’s a",
"text": "packet boat, And then a skiff, and then a bale, And finally some sticks",
"text": "bobbing about. I know of plenty such To whom this story applies—",
"text": "People whom distance magnifies, Who, close to, don’t amount to much.",
"text": "SELECTED FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695",
"text": "Then one day Pierre and Viernetta had a violent quarrel. The lady",
"text": "dismissed him, and he sought out his friend Guillaume to help heal the",
"text": "breach and get him back in her good graces. Guillaume was about to",
"text": "leave the castle for a while, but on his return, several weeks later, he",
"text": "worked his magic, and Pierre and the lady were reconciled. Pierre felt",
"text": "that his love had increased tenfold—that there was no stronger love, in",
"text": "fact, than the love that follows reconciliation. The stronger and longer",
"text": "the disagreement, he told Guillaume, the sweeter the feeling that comes",
"text": "with peace and rapprochement.",
"text": "As a troubadour, Sir Guillaume prided himself on experiencing all the",
"text": "joys and sorrows of love. On hearing his friend’s talk, he too wanted",
"text": "know the bliss of reconciliation after a quarrel. He therefore feigned",
"text": "great anger with Lady Guillelma, stopped sending her love letters, and",
"text": "abruptly left the castle and stayed away, even during the festivals and",
"text": "hunts. This drove the young lady wild.",
"text": "Guillelma sent messengers to Guillaume to find out what had",
"text": "happened, but he turned the messengers away. He thought all this would",
"text": "make her angry, forcing him to plead for reconciliation as Pierre had.",
"text": "Instead, however, his absence had the opposite effect: It made Guillelma",
"text": "love him all the more. Now the lady pursued her knight, sending",
"text": "messengers and love notes of her own. This was almost unheard of—a",
"text": "lady never pursued her troubadour. And Guillaume did not like it.",
"text": "Guillelma’s forwardness made him feel she had lost some of her dignity.",
"text": "Not only was he no longer sure of his plan, he was no longer sure of his",
"text": "lady.",
"text": "Finally, after several months of not hearing from Guillaume,",
"text": "Guillelma gave up. She sent him no more messengers, and he began to",
"text": "wonder—perhaps she was angry? Perhaps the plan had worked after all?",
"text": "So much the better if she was. He would wait no more—it was time to",
"text": "reconcile. So he put on his best robe, decked the horse in its fanciest",
"text": "caparison, chose a magnificent helmet, and rode off to Javiac.On hearing that her beloved had returned, Guillelma rushed to see",
"text": "him, knelt before him, dropped her veil to kiss him, and begged",
"text": "forgiveness for whatever slight had caused his anger. Imagine his",
"text": "confusion and despair—his plan had failed abysmally. She was not",
"text": "angry, she had never been angry, she was only deeper in love, and he",
"text": "would never experience the joy of reconciliation after a quarrel. Seeing",
"text": "her now, and still desperate to taste that joy, he decided to try one more",
"text": "time: He drove her away with harsh words and threatening gestures. She",
"text": "left, this time vowing never to see him again.",
"text": "The next morning the troubadour regretted what he had done. He rode",
"text": "back to Javiac, but the lady would not receive him, and ordered her",
"text": "servants to chase him away, across the drawbridge and over the hill.",
"text": "Guillaume fled. Back in his chamber he collapsed and started to cry: He",
"text": "had made a terrible mistake. Over the next year, unable to see his lady,",
"text": "he experienced the absence, the terrible absence, that can only inflame",
"text": "love. He wrote one of his most beautiful poems, “My song ascends for",
"text": "mercy praying.” And he sent many letters to Guillelma, explaining what",
"text": "he had done, and begging forgiveness.",
"text": "After a great deal of this, Lady Guillelma, remembering his beautiful",
"text": "songs, his handsome figure, and his skills in dancing and falconry, found",
"text": "herself yearning to have him back. As penance for his cruelty, she",
"text": "ordered him to remove the nail from the little finger of his right hand,",
"text": "and to send it to her along with a poem describing his miseries.",
"text": "He did as she asked. Finally Guillaume de Balaun was able to taste the",
"text": "ultimate sensation—a reconciliation even surpassing that of his friend",
"text": "Pierre.",
"text": "IIII MROSON IIII. COCK",
"text": "While serving under the Duke Ai of Lu, T‘ien Jao, resenting his obscure",
"text": "position, said to his master, “I am going to wander far away like a snow",
"text": "goose. ” “What do you mean by that?” inquired the Duke. “Do you see",
"text": "the cock?” said T’ien Jao in reply. “Its crest is a symbol of civility; its",
"text": "powerful talons suggest strength; its daring to fight any enemy denotes",
"text": "courage; its instinct to invite others whenever food is obtained shows",
"text": "benevolence; and, last but not least, its punctuality in keeping the time",
"text": "through the night gives us an example of veracity. In spite. however, of",
"text": "these five virtues, the cock is daily killed to fill a dish on your table.",
"text": "Why? I’he reason is that it is found within our reach. On the other hand,",
"text": "the snow goose traverses in one flight a thousand li. Resting in yourgarden, it preys on your fishes and turtles and pecks your millet. Though",
"text": "devoid of any of the cock’s five virtues, yet you prize this bird for the",
"text": "sake of its scarcity. This being so, I shall fly far like a snow goose.”",
"text": "ANCIENT CHINESE PARABLES, YU HSIU SEN, ED., 1974",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Trying to discover the joys of reconciliation, Guillaume de Balaun",
"text": "inadvertently experienced the truth of the law of absence and presence.",
"text": "At the start of an affair, you need to heighten your presence in the eyes of",
"text": "the other. If you absent yourself too early, you may be forgotten. But",
"text": "once your lover’s emotions are engaged, and the feeling of love has",
"text": "crystallized, absence inflames and excites. Giving no reason for your",
"text": "absence excites even more: The other person assumes he or she is at",
"text": "fault. While you are away, the lover’s imagination takes flight, and a",
"text": "stimulated imagination cannot help but make love grow stronger.",
"text": "Conversely, the more Guillelma pursued Guillaume, the less he loved her",
"text": "—she had become too present, too accessible, leaving no room for his",
"text": "imagination and fancy, so that his feelings were suffocating. When she",
"text": "finally stopped sending messengers, he was able to breathe again, and to",
"text": "return to his plan.",
"text": "What withdraws, what becomes scarce, suddenly seems to deserve our",
"text": "respect and honor. What stays too long, inundating us with its presence,",
"text": "makes us disdain it. In the Middle Ages, ladies were constantly putting",
"text": "their knights through trials of love, sending them on some long and",
"text": "arduous quest—all to create a pattern of absence and presence. Indeed,",
"text": "had Guillaume not left his lady in the first place, she might have been",
"text": "forced to send him away, creating an absence of her own.",
"text": "Absence diminishes minor passions and inflames great ones,",
"text": "as the wind douses a candle and fans a fire.",
"text": "La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "For many centuries the Assyrians ruled upper Asia with an iron fist. In",
"text": "the eighth century B.C., however, the people of Medea (nownorthwestern Iran) revolted against them, and finally broke free. Now the",
"text": "Medes had to establish a new government. Determined to avoid any form",
"text": "of despotism, they refused to give ultimate power to any one man, or to",
"text": "establish a monarchy. Without a leader, however, the country soon fell",
"text": "into chaos, and fractured into small kingdoms, with village fighting",
"text": "against village.",
"text": "In one such village lived a man named Deioces, who began to make a",
"text": "name for himself for fair dealing and the ability to settle disputes.",
"text": "He did this so successfully, in fact, that soon any legal conflict in the",
"text": "area was brought to him, and his power increased. Throughout the land,",
"text": "the law had fallen into disrepute—the judges were corrupt, and no one",
"text": "entrusted their cases to the courts any more, resorting to violence instead.",
"text": "When news spread of Deioces’ wisdom, incorruptibility, and unshakable",
"text": "impartiality, Medean villages far and wide turned to him to settle all",
"text": "manner of cases. Soon he became the sole arbiter of justice in the land.",
"text": "At the height of his power, Deioces suddenly decided he had had",
"text": "enough. He would no longer sit in the chair of judgment, would hear no",
"text": "more suits, settle no more disputes between brother and brother, village",
"text": "and village. Complaining that he was spending so much time dealing",
"text": "with other people’s problems that he had neglected his own affairs, he",
"text": "retired. The country once again descended into chaos. With the sudden",
"text": "withdrawal of a powerful arbiter like Deioces, crime increased, and",
"text": "contempt for the law was never greater. The Medes held a meeting of all",
"text": "the villages to decide how to get out of their predicament. “We cannot",
"text": "continue to live in this country under these conditions,” said one tribal",
"text": "leader. “Let us appoint one of our number to rule so that we can live",
"text": "under orderly government, rather than losing our homes altogether in the",
"text": "present chaos.”",
"text": "And so, despite all that the Medes had suffered under the Assyrian",
"text": "despotism, they decided to set up a monarchy and name a king. And the",
"text": "man they most wanted to rule, of course, was the fair-minded Deioces.",
"text": "He was hard to convince, for he wanted nothing more to do with the",
"text": "villages’ in-fighting and bickering, but the Medes begged and pleaded—",
"text": "without him the country had descended into a state of lawlessness.",
"text": "Deioces finally agreed.",
"text": "Yet he also imposed conditions. An enormous palace was to be",
"text": "constructed for him, he was to be provided with bodyguards, and a",
"text": "capital city was to be built from which he could rule. All of this was",
"text": "done, and Deioces settled into his palace. In the center of the capital, the",
"text": "palace was surrounded by walls, and completely inaccessible to ordinarypeople. Deioces then established the terms of his rule: Admission to his",
"text": "presence was forbidden. Communication with the king was only possible",
"text": "through messengers. No one in the royal court could see him more than",
"text": "once a week, and then only by permission.",
"text": "Deioces ruled for fifty-three years, extended the Medean empire, and",
"text": "established the foundation for what would later be the Persian empire,",
"text": "under his great-great-grandson Cyrus. During Deioces’ reign, the",
"text": "people’s respect for him gradually turned into a form of worship: He was",
"text": "not a mere mortal, they believed, but the son of a god.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Deioces was a man of great ambition. He determined early on that the",
"text": "country needed a strong ruler, and that he was the man for the job.",
"text": "In a land plagued with anarchy, the most powerful man is the judge",
"text": "and arbiter. So Deioces began his career by making his reputation as a",
"text": "man of impeccable fairness.",
"text": "At the height of his power as a judge, however, Deioces realized the",
"text": "truth of the law of absence and presence: By serving so many clients, he",
"text": "had become too noticeable, too available, and had lost the respect he had",
"text": "earlier enjoyed. People were taking his services for granted. The only",
"text": "way to regain the veneration and power he wanted was to withdraw",
"text": "completely, and let the Medes taste what life was like without him. As he",
"text": "expected, they came begging for him to rule.",
"text": "Once Deioces had discovered the truth of this law, he carried it to its",
"text": "ultimate realization. In the palace his people had built for him, none",
"text": "could see him except a few courtiers, and those only rarely. As",
"text": "Herodotus wrote, “There was a risk that if they saw him habitually, it",
"text": "might lead to jealousy and resentment, and plots would follow; but if",
"text": "nobody saw him, the legend would grow that he was a being of a",
"text": "different order from mere men.”",
"text": "A man said to a Dervish: “Why do I not see you more often?” The",
"text": "Dervish",
"text": "replied, “Because the words ‘Why have you not been to see me?’ are",
"text": "sweeter to my ear than the words ‘Why have you come again?”’",
"text": "Mulla jami, quoted in ldries Shah’s Caravan of Dreams, 1968KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Everything in the world depends on absence and presence. A strong",
"text": "presence will draw power and attention to you—you shine more brightly",
"text": "than those around you. But a point is inevitably reached where too much",
"text": "presence creates the opposite effect: The more you are seen and heard",
"text": "from, the more your value degrades. You become a habit. No matter how",
"text": "hard you try to be different, subtly, without your knowing why, people",
"text": "respect you less and less. At the right moment you must learn to",
"text": "withdraw yourself before they unconsciously push you away. It is a game",
"text": "of hide-and-seek.",
"text": "The truth of this law can most easily be appreciated in matters of love",
"text": "and seduction. In the beginning stages of an affair, the lover’s absence",
"text": "stimulates your imagination, forming a sort of aura around him or her.",
"text": "But this aura fades when you know too much—when your imagination",
"text": "no longer has room to roam. The loved one becomes a person like",
"text": "anyone else, a person whose presence is taken for granted. This is why",
"text": "the seventeenth-century French courtesan Ninon de Lenclos advised",
"text": "constant feints at withdrawal from one’s lover. “Love never dies of",
"text": "starvation,” she wrote, “but often of indigestion.”",
"text": "The moment you allow yourself to be treated like anyone else, it is too",
"text": "late—you are swallowed and digested. To prevent this you need to starve",
"text": "the other person of your presence. Force their respect by threatening",
"text": "them with the possibility that they will lose you for good; create a pattern",
"text": "of presence and absence.",
"text": "Once you die, everything about you will seem different. You will be",
"text": "surrounded by an instant aura of respect. People will remember their",
"text": "criticisms of you, their arguments with you, and will be filled with regret",
"text": "and guilt. They are missing a presence that will never return. But you do",
"text": "not have to wait until you die: By completely withdrawing for a while,",
"text": "you create a kind of death before death. And when you come back, it will",
"text": "be as if you had come back from the dead—an air of resurrection will",
"text": "cling to you, and people will be relieved at your return. This is how",
"text": "Deioces made himself king.",
"text": "Napoleon was recognizing the law of absence and presence when he",
"text": "said, “If I am often seen at the theater, people will cease to notice me.”",
"text": "Today, in a world inundated with presence through the flood of images,",
"text": "the game of withdrawal is all the more powerful. We rarely know when",
"text": "to withdraw anymore, and nothing seems private, so we are awed byanyone who is able to disappear by choice. Novelists J. D. Salinger and",
"text": "Thomas Pynchon have created cultlike followings by knowing when to",
"text": "disappear.",
"text": "Another, more everyday side of this law, but one that demonstrates its",
"text": "truth even further, is the law of scarcity in the science of economics. By",
"text": "withdrawing something from the market, you create instant value. In",
"text": "seventeenth-century Holland, the upper classes wanted to make the tulip",
"text": "more than just a beautiful flower—they wanted it to be a kind of status",
"text": "symbol. Making the flower scarce, indeed almost impossible to obtain,",
"text": "they sparked what was later called tulipomania. A single flower was now",
"text": "worth more than its weight in gold. In our own century, similarly, the art",
"text": "dealer Joseph Duveen insisted on making the paintings he sold as scarce",
"text": "and rare as possible. To keep their prices elevated and their status high,",
"text": "he bought up whole collections and stored them in his basement. The",
"text": "paintings that he sold became more than just paintings—they were fetish",
"text": "objects, their value increased by their rarity. “You can get all the pictures",
"text": "you want at fifty thousand dollars apiece—that’s easy,” he once said.",
"text": "“But to get pictures at a quarter of a million apiece—that wants doing!”",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Sun. It can only be",
"text": "appreciated by its absence.",
"text": "The longer the days of rain, the",
"text": "more the sun is craved. But too many",
"text": "hot days and the sun overwhelms.",
"text": "Learn to keep yourself obscure and",
"text": "make people demand your return.",
"text": "Extend the law of scarcity to your own skills. Make what you are",
"text": "offering the world rare and hard to find, and you instantly increase its",
"text": "value.",
"text": "There always comes a moment when those in power overstay their",
"text": "welcome. We have grown tired of them, lost respect for them; we see",
"text": "them as no different from the rest of mankind, which is to say that we see",
"text": "them as rather worse, since we inevitably compare their current status in",
"text": "our eyes to their former one. There is an art to knowing when to retire. If",
"text": "it is done right, you regain the respect you had lost, and retain a part of",
"text": "your power.",
"text": "The greatest ruler of the sixteenth century was Charles V. King of",
"text": "Spain, Hapsburg emperor, he governed an empire that at one point",
"text": "included much of Europe and the New World. Yet at the height of hispower, in 1557, he retired to the monastery of Yuste. All of Europe was",
"text": "captivated by his sudden withdrawal; people who had hated and feared",
"text": "him suddenly called him great, and he came to be seen as a saint. In",
"text": "more recent times, the film actress Greta Garbo was never more admired",
"text": "than when she retired, in 1941. For some her absence came too soon—",
"text": "she was in her mid-thirties—but she wisely preferred to leave on her own",
"text": "terms, rather than waiting for her audience to grow tired of her.",
"text": "Make yourself too available and the aura of power you have created",
"text": "around yourself will wear away. Turn the game around: Make yourself",
"text": "less accessible and you increase the value of your presence.",
"text": "Authority:",
"text": "Use absence to create",
"text": "respect and esteem. If presence",
"text": "diminishes fame, absence augments it.",
"text": "A man who when absent is regarded as a",
"text": "lion becomes when present something com",
"text": "mon and ridiculous. Talents lose their luster",
"text": "if we become too familiar with them, for the",
"text": "outer shell of the mind is more readily seen",
"text": "than its rich inner kernel. Even the outstand",
"text": "ing genius makes use of retirement so that",
"text": "men may honor him and so that the",
"text": "yearning aroused by his absence",
"text": "may cause him to be esteemed.",
"text": "(Baltasar Gracián,",
"text": "1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "This law only applies once a certain level of power has been attained.",
"text": "The need to withdraw only comes after you have established your",
"text": "presence; leave too early and you do not increase your respect, you are",
"text": "simply forgotten. When you are first entering onto the world’s stage,",
"text": "create an image that is recognizable, reproducible, and is seen",
"text": "everywhere. Until that status is attained, absence is dangerous—instead",
"text": "of fanning the flames, it will extinguish them.In love and seduction, similarly, absence is only effective once you",
"text": "have surrounded the other with your image, been seen by him or her",
"text": "everywhere. Everything must remind your lover of your presence, so that",
"text": "when you do choose to be away, the lover will always be thinking of",
"text": "you, will always be seeing you in his or her mind’s eye.",
"text": "Remember: In the beginning, make yourself not scarce but",
"text": "omnipresent. Only what is seen, appreciated, and loved will be missed in",
"text": "its absence.LAW 17",
"text": "KEEP OTHERS IN SUSPENDED TERROR:",
"text": "CULTIVATE AN AIR OF UNPREDICTABILITY",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity",
"text": "in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of",
"text": "control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that",
"text": "seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and",
"text": "they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an",
"text": "extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "In May of 1972, chess champion Boris Spassky anxiously awaited his",
"text": "rival Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik, Iceland. The two men had been",
"text": "scheduled to meet for the World Championship of Chess, but Fischer had",
"text": "not arrived on time and the match was on hold. Fischer had problems",
"text": "with the size of the prize money, problems with the way the money was",
"text": "to be distributed, problems with the logistics of holding the match in",
"text": "Iceland. He might back out at any moment.",
"text": "Spassky tried to be patient. His Russian bosses felt that Fischer was",
"text": "humiliating him and told him to walk away, but Spassky wanted this",
"text": "match. He knew he could destroy Fischer, and nothing was going to spoil",
"text": "the greatest victory of his career. “So it seems that all our work may",
"text": "come to nothing,” Spassky told a comrade. “But what can we do? It is",
"text": "Bobby’s move. If he comes, we play. If he does not come, we do not",
"text": "play. A man who is willing to commit suicide has the initiative.”Fischer finally arrived in Reykjavik, but the problems, and the threat",
"text": "of cancellation, continued. He disliked the hall where the match was to",
"text": "be fought, he criticized the lighting, he complained about the noise of the",
"text": "cameras, he even hated the chairs in which he and Spassky were to sit.",
"text": "Now the Soviet Union took the initiative and threatened to withdraw",
"text": "their man.",
"text": "The bluff apparently worked: After all the weeks of waiting, the",
"text": "endless and infuriating negotiations, Fischer agreed to play. Everyone",
"text": "was relieved, no one more than Spassky. But on the day of the official",
"text": "introductions, Fischer arrived very late, and on the day when the “Match",
"text": "of the Century” was to begin, he was late again. This time, however, the",
"text": "consequences would be dire: If he showed up too late he would forfeit",
"text": "the first game. What was going on? Was he playing some sort of mind",
"text": "game? Or was Bobby Fischer perhaps afraid of Boris Spassky? It seemed",
"text": "to the assembled grand masters, and to Spassky, that this young kid from",
"text": "Brooklyn had a terrible case of the jitters. At 5:09 Fischer showed up,",
"text": "exactly one minute before the match was to be canceled.",
"text": "The first game of a chess tournament is critical, since it sets the tone",
"text": "for the months to come. It is often a slow and quiet struggle, with the two",
"text": "players preparing themselves for the war and trying to read each other’s",
"text": "strategies. This game was different. Fischer made a terrible move early",
"text": "on, perhaps the worst of his career, and when Spassky had him on the",
"text": "ropes, he seemed to give up. Yet Spassky knew that Fischer never gave",
"text": "up. Even when facing checkmate, he fought to the bitter end, wearing the",
"text": "opponent down. This time, though, he seemed resigned. Then suddenly",
"text": "he broke out a bold move that put the room in a buzz. The move shocked",
"text": "Spassky, but he recovered and managed to win the game. But no one",
"text": "could figure out what Fischer was up to. Had he lost deliberately? Or",
"text": "was he rattled? Unsettled? Even, as some thought, insane?",
"text": "After his defeat in the first game, Fischer complained all the more",
"text": "loudly about the room, the cameras, and everything else. He also failed",
"text": "to show up on time for the second game. This time the organizers had",
"text": "had enough: He was given a forfeit. Now he was down two games to",
"text": "none, a position from which no one had ever come back to win a chess",
"text": "championship. Fischer was clearly unhinged. Yet in the third game, as all",
"text": "those who witnessed it remember, he had a ferocious look in his eye, a",
"text": "look that clearly bothered Spassky. And despite the hole he had dug for",
"text": "himself, he seemed supremely confident. He did make what appeared to",
"text": "be another blunder, as he had in the first game—but his cocky air made",
"text": "Spassky smell a trap. Yet despite the Russian’s suspicions, he could notfigure out the trap, and before he knew it Fischer had checkmated him.",
"text": "In fact Fischer’s unorthodox tactics had completely unnerved his",
"text": "opponent. At the end of the game, Fischer leaped up and rushed out,",
"text": "yelling to his confederates as he smashed a fist into his palm, “I’m",
"text": "crushing him with brute force!”",
"text": "In the next games Fischer pulled moves that no one had seen from him",
"text": "before, moves that were not his style. Now Spassky started to make",
"text": "blunders. After losing the sixth game, he started to cry. One grand master",
"text": "said, “After this, Spassky’s got to ask himself if it’s safe to go back to",
"text": "Russia.” After the eighth game Spassky decided he knew what was",
"text": "happening: Bobby Fischer was hypnotizing him. He decided not to look",
"text": "Fischer in the eye; he lost anyway.",
"text": "After the fourteenth game he called a staff conference and announced,",
"text": "“An attempt is being made to control my mind.” He wondered whether",
"text": "the orange juice they drank at the chess table could have been drugged.",
"text": "Maybe chemicals were being blown into the air. Finally Spassky went",
"text": "public, accusing the Fischer team of putting something in the chairs that",
"text": "was altering Spassky’s mind. The KGB went on alert: Boris Spassky was",
"text": "embarrassing the Soviet Union!",
"text": "The chairs were taken apart and X-rayed. A chemist found nothing",
"text": "unusual in them. The only things anyone found anywhere, in fact, were",
"text": "two dead flies in a lighting fixture. Spassky began to complain of",
"text": "hallucinations. He tried to keep playing, but his mind was unraveling. He",
"text": "could not go on. On September 2, he resigned. Although still relatively",
"text": "young, he never recovered from this defeat.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "In previous games between Fischer and Spassky, Fischer had not fared",
"text": "well. Spassky had an uncanny ability to read his opponent’s strategy and",
"text": "use it against him. Adaptable and patient, he would build attacks that",
"text": "would defeat not in seven moves but in seventy. He defeated Fischer",
"text": "every time they played because he saw much further ahead, and because",
"text": "he was a brilliant psychologist who never lost control. One master said,",
"text": "“He doesn’t just look for the best move. He looks for the move that will",
"text": "disturb the man he is playing.”",
"text": "Fischer, however, finally understood that this was one of the keys to",
"text": "Spassky’s success: He played on your predictability, defeated you at your",
"text": "own game. Everything Fischer did for the championship match was anattempt to put the initiative on his side and to keep Spassky off-balance.",
"text": "Clearly the endless waiting had an effect on Spassky’s psyche. Most",
"text": "powerful of all, though, were Fischer’s deliberate blunders and his",
"text": "appearance of having no clear strategy. In fact, he was doing everything",
"text": "he could to scramble his old patterns, even if it meant losing the first",
"text": "match and forfeiting the second.",
"text": "Spassky was known for his sangfroid and levelheadedness, but for the",
"text": "first time in his life he could not figure out his opponent. He slowly",
"text": "melted down, until at the end he was the one who seemed insane.",
"text": "Chess contains the concentrated essence of life: First, because to win",
"text": "you have to be supremely patient and farseeing; and second, because the",
"text": "game is built on patterns, whole sequences of moves that have been",
"text": "played before and will be played again, with slight alterations, in any one",
"text": "match. Your opponent analyzes the patterns you are playing and uses",
"text": "them to try to foresee your moves. Allowing him nothing predictable to",
"text": "base his strategy on gives you a big advantage. In chess as in life, when",
"text": "people cannot figure out what you are doing, they are kept in a state of",
"text": "terror—waiting, uncertain, confused.",
"text": "Life at court is a serious, melancholy game of chess, which requires us to",
"text": "draw",
"text": "up our pieces and batteries, form a plan, pursue it, parry that of our",
"text": "adversary. Sometimes, however, it is better to take risks",
"text": "and play the most capricious, unpredictable move.",
"text": "Jean de La Bruyère, 1645-1696",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Nothing is more terrifying than the sudden and unpredictable. That is",
"text": "why we are so frightened by earthquakes and tornadoes: We do not know",
"text": "when they will strike. After one has occurred, we wait in terror for the",
"text": "next one. To a lesser degree, this is the effect that unpredictable human",
"text": "behavior has on us.",
"text": "Animals behave in set patterns, which is why we are able to hunt and",
"text": "kill them. Only man has the capacity to consciously alter his behavior, to",
"text": "improvise and overcome the weight of routine and habit. Yet most men",
"text": "do not realize this power. They prefer the comforts of routine, of giving",
"text": "in to the animal nature that has them repeating the same compulsiveactions time and time again. They do this because it requires no effort,",
"text": "and because they mistakenly believé that if they do not unsettle others,",
"text": "they will be left alone. Understand: A person of power instills a kind of",
"text": "fear by deliberately unsettling those around him to keep the initiative on",
"text": "his side. You sometimes need to strike without warning, to make others",
"text": "tremble when they least expect it. It is a device that the powerful have",
"text": "used for centuries.",
"text": "Filippo Maria, the last of the Visconti dukes of Milan in fifteenth-",
"text": "century Italy, consciously did the opposite of what everyone expected of",
"text": "him. For instance, he might suddenly shower a courtier with attention,",
"text": "and then, once the man had come to expect a promotion to higher office,",
"text": "would suddenly start treating him with the utmost disdain. Confused, the",
"text": "man might leave the court, when the duke would suddenly recall him and",
"text": "start treating him well again. Doubly confused, the courtier would",
"text": "wonder whether his assumption that he would be promoted had become",
"text": "obvious, and offensive, to the duke, and would start to behave as if he no",
"text": "longer expected such honor. The duke would rebuke him for his lack of",
"text": "ambition and would send him away.",
"text": "The secret of dealing with Filippo was simple: Do not presume to",
"text": "know what he wants. Do not try to guess what will please him. Never",
"text": "inject your will; just surrender to his will. Then wait to see what happens.",
"text": "Amidst the confusion and uncertainty he created, the duke ruled",
"text": "supreme, unchallenged and at peace.",
"text": "Unpredictability is most often the tactic of the master, but the",
"text": "underdog too can use it to great effect. If you find yourself outnumbered",
"text": "or cornered, throw in a series of unpredictable moves. Your enemies will",
"text": "be so confused that they will pull back or make a tactical blunder.",
"text": "In the spring of 1862, during the American Civil War, General",
"text": "Stonewall Jackson and a force of 4,600 Confederate soldiers were",
"text": "tormenting the larger Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley.",
"text": "Meanwhile, not far away, General George Brinton McClellan, heading a",
"text": "force of 90,000 Union soldiers, was marching south from Washington,",
"text": "D.C., to lay siege to Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. As the",
"text": "weeks of the campaign went by, Jackson repeatedly led his soldiers out",
"text": "of the Shenandoah Valley, then back to it.",
"text": "His movements made no sense. Was he preparing to help defend",
"text": "Richmond? Was he marching on Washington, now that McClellan’s",
"text": "absence had left it unprotected? Was he heading north to wreak havoc up",
"text": "there? Why was his small force moving in circles?Jackson’s inexplicable moves made the Union generals delay the",
"text": "march on Richmond as they waited to figure out what he was up to.",
"text": "Meanwhile, the South was able to pour reinforcements into the town. A",
"text": "battle that could have crushed the Confederacy turned into a stalemate.",
"text": "Jackson used this tactic time and again when facing numerically superior",
"text": "forces. “Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy, if possible,”",
"text": "he said, “… such tactics will win every time and a small army may thus",
"text": "destroy a large one.”",
"text": "This law applies not only to war but to everyday situations. People are",
"text": "always trying to read the motives behind your actions and to use your",
"text": "predictability against you. Throw in a completely inexplicable move and",
"text": "you put them on the defensive. Because they do not understand you, they",
"text": "are unnerved, and in such a state you can easily intimidate them.",
"text": "Pablo Picasso once remarked, “The best calculation is the absence of",
"text": "calculation. Once you have attained a certain level of recognition, others",
"text": "generally figure that when you do something, it’s for an intelligent",
"text": "reason. So it’s really foolish to plot out your movements too carefully in",
"text": "advance. You’re better off acting capriciously.”",
"text": "For a while, Picasso worked with the art dealer Paul Rosenberg. At",
"text": "first he allowed him a fair amount of latitude in handling his paintings,",
"text": "then one day, for no apparent reason, he told the man he would no longer",
"text": "give him any work to sell. As Picasso explained, “Rosenberg would",
"text": "spend the next forty-eight hours trying to figure out why. Was I reserving",
"text": "things for some other dealer? I’d go on working and sleeping and",
"text": "Rosenberg would spend his time figuring. In two days he’d come back,",
"text": "nerves jangled, anxious, saying, ‘After all, dear friend, you wouldn’t turn",
"text": "me down if I offered you this much [naming a substantially higher",
"text": "figure] for those paintings rather than the price I’ve been accustomed to",
"text": "paying you, would you?”’",
"text": "Unpredictability is not only a weapon of terror: Scrambling your",
"text": "patterns on a day-to-day basis will cause a stir around you and stimulate",
"text": "interest. People will talk about you, ascribe motives and explanations",
"text": "that have nothing to do with the truth, but that keep you constantly in",
"text": "their minds. In the end, the more capricious you appear, the more respect",
"text": "you will garner. Only the terminally subordinate act in a predictable",
"text": "manner.",
"text": "Image: The Cyclone. A",
"text": "wind that cannot be fore",
"text": "seen. Sudden shifts in",
"text": "the barometer, inexplicable changes",
"text": "in direction and",
"text": "velocity. There is",
"text": "no defense: A",
"text": "cyclone sows",
"text": "terror and",
"text": "confusion.",
"text": "Authority: The enlightened ruler is so mysterious that he seems to dwell",
"text": "nowhere, so inexplicable that no one can seek him. He reposes in",
"text": "nonaction above, and his ministers tremble below. (Han-fei-tzu, Chinese",
"text": "philosopher, third century B.C.)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "Sometimes predictability can work in your favor: By creating a pattern",
"text": "for people to be familiar and comfortable with, you can lull them to",
"text": "sleep. They have prepared everything according to their preconceived",
"text": "notions about you. You can use this in several ways: First, it sets up a",
"text": "smoke screen, a comfortable front behind which you can carry on",
"text": "deceptive actions. Second, it allows you on rare occasions to do",
"text": "something completely against the pattern, unsettling your opponent so",
"text": "deeply he will fall to the ground without being pushed.",
"text": "In 1974 Muhammad Ali and George Foreman were scheduled to fight",
"text": "for the world heavyweight boxing championship. Everyone knew what",
"text": "would happen: Big George Foreman would try to land a knockout punch",
"text": "while Ali would dance around him, wearing him out. That was Ali’s way",
"text": "of fighting, his pattern, and he had not changed it in more than ten years.",
"text": "But in this case it seemed to give Foreman the advantage: He had a",
"text": "devastating punch, and if he waited, sooner or later Ali would have to",
"text": "come to him. Ali, the master strategist, had other plans: In press",
"text": "conferences before the big fight, he said he was going to change his style",
"text": "and punch it out with Foreman. No one, least of all Foreman, believedthis for a second. That plan would be suicide on Ali’s part; he was",
"text": "playing the comedian, as usual. Then, before the fight, Ali’s trainer",
"text": "loosened the ropes around the ring, something a trainer would do if his",
"text": "boxer were intending to slug it out. But no one believed this ploy; it had",
"text": "to be a setup.",
"text": "To everyone’s amazement, Ali did exactly what he had said he would",
"text": "do. As Foreman waited for him to dance around, Ali went right up to him",
"text": "and slugged it out. He completely upset his opponent’s strategy. At a",
"text": "loss, Foreman ended up wearing himself out, not by chasing Ali but by",
"text": "throwing punches wildly, and taking more and more counterpunches.",
"text": "Finally, Ali landed a dramatic right cross that knocked out Foreman. The",
"text": "habit of assuming that a person’s behavior will fit its previous patterns is",
"text": "so strong that not even Ali’s announcement of a strategy change was",
"text": "enough to upset it. Foreman walked into a trap—the trap he had been",
"text": "told to expect.",
"text": "A warning: Unpredictability can work against you sometimes,",
"text": "especially if you are in a subordinate position. There are times when it is",
"text": "better to let people feel comfortable and settled around you than to",
"text": "disturb them. Too much unpredictability will be seen as a sign of",
"text": "indecisiveness, or even of some more serious psychic problem. Patterns",
"text": "are powerful, and you can terrify people by disrupting them. Such power",
"text": "should only be used judiciously.LAW 18",
"text": "DO NOT BUILD FORTRESSES TO PROTECT",
"text": "YOURSELF—ISOLATION IS DANGEROUS",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere—everyone has to",
"text": "protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you",
"text": "to more dangers than it Protects you from—it cuts you off from valuable",
"text": "information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to",
"text": "circulate among people, find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your",
"text": "enemies by the crowd.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Ch‘in Shih Huang Ti, the first emperor of China (221-210 B.C.), was the",
"text": "mightiest man of his day. His empire was vaster and more powerful than",
"text": "that of Alexander the Great. He had conquered all of the kingdoms",
"text": "surrounding his own kingdom of Ch’in and unified them into one",
"text": "massive realm called China. But in the last years of his life, few, if",
"text": "anyone, saw him.",
"text": "The emperor lived in the most magnificent palace built to that date, in",
"text": "the capital of Hsien-yang. The palace had 270 pavilions; all of these",
"text": "were connected by secret underground passageways, allowing the",
"text": "emperor to move through the palace without anyone seeing him. He slept",
"text": "in a different room every night, and anyone who inadvertently laid eyes",
"text": "on him was instantly beheaded. Only a handful of men knew his",
"text": "whereabouts, and if they revealed it to anyone, they, too, were put to",
"text": "death.The first emperor had grown so terrified of human contact that when",
"text": "he had to leave the palace he traveled incognito, disguising himself",
"text": "carefully. On one such trip through the provinces, he suddenly died. His",
"text": "body was borne back to the capital in the emperor’s carriage, with a cart",
"text": "packed with salted fish trailing behind it to cover up the smell of the",
"text": "rotting corpse—no one was to know of his death. He died alone, far from",
"text": "his wives, his family, his friends, and his courtiers, accompanied only by",
"text": "a minister and a handful of eunuchs.",
"text": "IIII MASQU I OI IIII. RI.DDI ATH",
"text": "The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had",
"text": "ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatur and its seal—the",
"text": "redness and horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden",
"text": "dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution…. And",
"text": "the whole seizure, progress, and termination of the disease, were the",
"text": "incidents of half an hour. But the Prince Prospero was happy and",
"text": "dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half-depopulated, he",
"text": "summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends",
"text": "from among the knight, and dames of his court, and with these retired to",
"text": "the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive",
"text": "and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet",
"text": "august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of",
"text": "iron. The courtier.s, having entered, brought furnaces and massy",
"text": "hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of",
"text": "ingress nor egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from",
"text": "within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the",
"text": "courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take",
"text": "care of itself In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The",
"text": "prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons,",
"text": "there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were",
"text": "musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were",
"text": "within. Without was the “Red Death.” It was toward the close of the fifth",
"text": "or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most",
"text": "furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand",
"text": "friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence. It was a",
"text": "voluptuous scene, that masquerade…. … And the revel went whirlingly",
"text": "on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the",
"text": "clock…. And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes",
"text": "of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were manyindividuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of the",
"text": "presence of a masked fzgecre which had arrested the attention of no",
"text": "single individual before…. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded",
"text": "from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which",
"text": "concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of",
"text": "a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in",
"text": "detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have been endured, if not",
"text": "approved, by the mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far",
"text": "as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood",
"text": "—and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was sprinkled",
"text": "with the scarlet horror … … A throng of the revellers at once threw",
"text": "themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall",
"text": "figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock,",
"text": "gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and corpse-",
"text": "like mask, which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by",
"text": "any tangible form. And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red",
"text": "Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the",
"text": "revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the",
"text": "despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out",
"text": "with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And",
"text": "Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over",
"text": "all.",
"text": "THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEAIH, EDGAR ALLAN POE, 1809-",
"text": "1849",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Shih Huang Ti started off as the king of Ch’in, a fearless warrior of",
"text": "unbridled ambition. Writers of the time described him as a man with “a",
"text": "waspish nose, eyes like slits, the voice of a jackal, and the heart of a tiger",
"text": "or wolf.” He could be merciful sometimes, but more often he",
"text": "“swallowed men up without a scruple.” It was through trickery and",
"text": "violence that he conquered the provinces surrounding his own and",
"text": "created China, forging a single nation and culture out of many. He broke",
"text": "up the feudal system, and to keep an eye on the many members of the",
"text": "royal families that were scattered across the realm’s various kingdoms,",
"text": "he moved 120,000 of them to the capital, where he housed the most",
"text": "important courtiers in the vast palace of Hsien-yang. He consolidated themany walls on the borders and built them into the Great Wall of China.",
"text": "He standardized the country’s laws, its written language, even the size of",
"text": "its cartwheels.",
"text": "As part of this process of unification, however, the first emperor",
"text": "outlawed the writings and teachings of Confucius, the philosopher whose",
"text": "ideas on the moral life had already become virtually a religion in Chinese",
"text": "culture. On Shih Huang Ti’s order, thousands of books relating to",
"text": "Confucius were burned, and anyone who quoted Confucius was to be",
"text": "beheaded. This made many enemies for the emperor, and he grew",
"text": "constantly afraid, even paranoid. The executions mounted. A",
"text": "contemporary, the writer Han-fei-tzu, noted that “Ch’in has been",
"text": "victorious for four generations, yet has lived in constant terror and",
"text": "apprehension of destruction.”",
"text": "As the emperor withdrew deeper and deeper into the palace to protect",
"text": "himself, he slowly lost control of the realm. Eunuchs and ministers",
"text": "enacted political policies without his approval or even his knowledge;",
"text": "they also plotted against him. By the end, he was emperor in name only,",
"text": "and was so isolated that barely anyone knew he had died. He had",
"text": "probably been poisoned by the same scheming ministers who",
"text": "encouraged his isolation.",
"text": "That is what isolation brings: Retreat into a fortress and you lose",
"text": "contact with the sources of your power. You lose your ear for what is",
"text": "happening around you, as well as a sense of proportion. Instead of being",
"text": "safer, you cut yourself off from the kind of knowledge on which your life",
"text": "depends. Never enclose yourself so far from the streets that you cannot",
"text": "hear what is happening around you, including the plots against you.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "Louis XIV had the palace of Versailles built for him and his court in the",
"text": "1660s, and it was like no other royal palace in the world. As in a beehive,",
"text": "everything revolved around the royal person. He lived surrounded by the",
"text": "nobility, who were allotted apartments nestled around his, their closeness",
"text": "to him dependent on their rank. The king’s bedroom occupied the literal",
"text": "center of the palace and was the focus of everyone’s attention. Every",
"text": "morning the king was greeted in this room by a ritual known as the lever.At eight A.M., the king’s first valet, who slept at the foot of the royal",
"text": "bed, would awaken His Majesty. Then pages would open the door and",
"text": "admit those who had a function in the lever. The order of their entry was",
"text": "precise: First came the king’s illegitimate sons and his grandchildren,",
"text": "then the princes and princesses of the blood, and then his physician and",
"text": "surgeon. There followed the grand officers of the wardrobe, the king’s",
"text": "official reader, and those in charge of entertaining the king. Next would",
"text": "arrive various government officials, in ascending order of rank. Last but",
"text": "not least came those attending the lever by special invitation. By the end",
"text": "of the ceremony, the room would be packed with well over a hundred",
"text": "royal attendants and visitors.",
"text": "The day was organized so that all the palace’s energy was directed at",
"text": "and passed through the king. Louis was constantly attended by courtiers",
"text": "and officials, all asking for his advice and judgment. To all their",
"text": "questions he usually replied, “I shall see.”",
"text": "As Saint-Simon noted, “If he turned to someone, asked him a",
"text": "question, made an insignificant remark, the eyes of all present were",
"text": "turned on this person. It was a distinction that was talked of and",
"text": "increased prestige.” There was no possibility of privacy in the palace, not",
"text": "even for the king—every room communicated with another, and every",
"text": "hallway led to larger rooms where groups of nobles gathered constantly.",
"text": "Everyone’s actions were interdependent, and nothing and no one passed",
"text": "unnoticed: “The king not only saw to it that all the high nobility was",
"text": "present at his court,” wrote Saint-Simon, “he demanded the same of the",
"text": "minor nobility. At his lever and coucher, at his meals, in his gardens of",
"text": "Versailles, he always looked about him, noticing everything. He was",
"text": "offended if the most distinguished nobles did not live permanently at",
"text": "court, and those who showed themselves never or hardly ever, incurred",
"text": "his full displeasure. If one of these desired something, the king would",
"text": "say proudly: ‘I do not know him,’ and the judgment was irrevocable.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Louis XIV came to power at the end of a terrible civil war, the Fronde. A",
"text": "principal instigator of the war had been the nobility, which deeply",
"text": "resented the growing power of the throne and yearned for the days of",
"text": "feudalism, when the lords ruled their own fiefdoms and the king had",
"text": "little authority over them. The nobles had lost the civil war, but they",
"text": "remained a fractious, resentful lot.The construction of Versailles, then, was far more than the decadent",
"text": "whim of a luxury-loving king. It served a crucial function: The king",
"text": "could keep an eye and an ear on everyone and everything around him.",
"text": "The once proud nobility was reduced to squabbling over the right to help",
"text": "the king put on his robes in the morning. There was no possibility here of",
"text": "privacy—no possibility of isolation. Louis XIV very early grasped the",
"text": "truth that for a king to isolate himself is gravely dangerous. In his",
"text": "absence, conspiracies will spring up like mushrooms after rain,",
"text": "animosities will crystallize into factions, and rebellion will break out",
"text": "before he has the time to react. To combat this, sociability and openness",
"text": "must not only be encouraged, they must be formally organized and",
"text": "channeled.",
"text": "These conditions at Versailles lasted for Louis’s entire reign, some",
"text": "fifty years of relative peace and tranquillity. Through it all, not a pin",
"text": "dropped without Louis hearing it.",
"text": "Solitude is dangerous to reason, without being favorable to virtue….",
"text": "Remember that the solitary mortal is certainly luxurious,",
"text": "probably superstitious, and possibly mad.",
"text": "Dr. Samuel John son, 1709-1784",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Machiavelli makes the argument that in a strictly military sense a fortress",
"text": "is invariably a mistake. It becomes a symbol of power’s isolation, and is",
"text": "an easy target for its builders’ enemies. Designed to defend you,",
"text": "fortresses actually cut you off from help and cut into your flexibility.",
"text": "They may appear impregnable, but once you retire to one, everyone",
"text": "knows where you are; and a siege does not have to succeed to turn your",
"text": "fortress into a prison. With their small and confined spaces, fortresses are",
"text": "also extremely vulnerable to the plague and contagious diseases. In a",
"text": "strategic sense, the isolation of a fortress provides no protection, and",
"text": "actually creates more problems than it solves.",
"text": "Because humans are social creatures by nature, power depends on",
"text": "social interaction and circulation. To make yourself powerful you must",
"text": "place yourself at the center of things, as Louis XIV did at Versailles. All",
"text": "activity should revolve around you, and you should be aware of",
"text": "everything happening on the street, and of anyone who might behatching plots against you. The danger for most people comes when they",
"text": "feel threatened. In such times they tend to retreat and close ranks, to find",
"text": "security in a kind of fortress. In doing so, however, they come to rely for",
"text": "information on a smaller and smaller circle, and lose perspective on",
"text": "events around them. They lose maneuverability and become easy targets,",
"text": "and their isolation makes them paranoid. As in warfare and most games",
"text": "of strategy, isolation often precedes defeat and death.",
"text": "In moments of uncertainty and danger, you need to fight this desire to",
"text": "turn inward. Instead, make yourself more accessible, seek out old allies",
"text": "and make new ones, force yourself into more and more different circles.",
"text": "This has been the trick of powerful people for centuries.",
"text": "The Roman statesman Cicero was born into the lower nobility, and",
"text": "had little chance of power unless he managed to make a place for himself",
"text": "among the aristocrats who controlled the city. He succeeded brilliantly,",
"text": "identifying everyone with influence and figuring out how they were",
"text": "connected to one another. He mingled everywhere, knew everyone, and",
"text": "had such a vast network of connections that an enemy here could easily",
"text": "be counterbalanced by an ally there.",
"text": "The French statesman Talleyrand played the game the same way.",
"text": "Although he came from one of the oldest aristocratic families in France,",
"text": "he made a point of always staying in touch with what was happening in",
"text": "the streets of Paris, allowing him to foresee trends and troubles. He even",
"text": "got a certain pleasure out of mingling with shady criminal types, who",
"text": "supplied him with valuable information. Every time there was a crisis, a",
"text": "transition of power—the end of the Directory, the fall of Napoleon, the",
"text": "abdication of Louis XVIII—he was able to survive and even thrive,",
"text": "because he never closed himself up in a small circle but always forged",
"text": "connections with the new order.",
"text": "This law pertains to kings and queens, and to those of the highest",
"text": "power: The moment you lose contact with your people, seeking security",
"text": "in isolation, rebellion is brewing. Never imagine yourself so elevated that",
"text": "you can afford to cut yourself off from even the lowest echelons. By",
"text": "retreating to a fortress, you make yourself an easy target for your plotting",
"text": "subjects, who view your isolation as an insult and a reason for rebellion.",
"text": "Since humans are such social creatures, it follows that the social arts",
"text": "that make us pleasant to be around can be practiced only by constant",
"text": "exposure and circulation. The more you are in contact with others, the",
"text": "more graceful and at ease you become. Isolation, on the other hand,",
"text": "engenders an awkwardness in your gestures, and leads to further",
"text": "isolation, as people start avoiding you.In 1545 Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici decided that to ensure the",
"text": "immortality of his name he would commission frescoes for the main",
"text": "chapel of the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. He had many great",
"text": "painters to choose from, and in the end he picked Jacopo da Pontormo.",
"text": "Getting on in years, Pontormo wanted to make these frescoes his chef",
"text": "d’oeuvre and legacy. His first decision was to close the chapel off with",
"text": "walls, partitions, and blinds. He wanted no one to witness the creation of",
"text": "his masterpiece, or to steal his ideas. He would outdo Michelangelo",
"text": "himself. When some young men broke into the chapel out of curiosity,",
"text": "Jacopo sealed it off even further.",
"text": "Pontormo filled the chapel’s ceiling with biblical scenes—the",
"text": "Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, on and on. At the top of the middle",
"text": "wall he painted Christ in his majesty, raising the dead on Judgment Day.",
"text": "The artist worked on the chapel for eleven years, rarely leaving it, since",
"text": "he had developed a phobia for human contact and was afraid his ideas",
"text": "would be stolen.",
"text": "Pontormo died before completing the frescoes, and none of them has",
"text": "survived. But the great Renaissance writer Vasari, a friend of Pontormo’s",
"text": "who saw the frescoes shortly after the artist’s death, left a description of",
"text": "what they looked like. There was a total lack of proportion. Scenes",
"text": "bumped against scenes, figures in one story being juxtaposed with those",
"text": "in another, in maddening numbers. Pontormo had become obsessed with",
"text": "detail but had lost any sense of the overall composition. Vasari left off",
"text": "his description of the frescoes by writing that if he continued, “I think I",
"text": "would go mad and become entangled in this painting, just as I believe",
"text": "that in the eleven years of time Jacopo spent on it, he entangled himself",
"text": "and anyone else who saw it.” Instead of crowning Pontormo’s career, the",
"text": "work became his undoing.",
"text": "These frescoes were visual equivalents of the effects of isolation on",
"text": "the human mind: a loss of proportion, an obsession with detail combined",
"text": "with an inability to see the larger picture, a kind of extravagant ugliness",
"text": "that no longer communicates. Clearly, isolation is as deadly for the",
"text": "creative arts as for the social arts. Shakespeare is the most famous writer",
"text": "in history because, as a dramatist for the popular stage, he opened",
"text": "himself up to the masses, making his work accessible to people no matter",
"text": "what their education and taste. Artists who hole themselves up in their",
"text": "fortress lose a sense of proportion, their work communicating only to",
"text": "their small circle. Such art remains cornered and powerless.",
"text": "Finally, since power is a human creation, it is inevitably increased by",
"text": "contact with other people. Instead of falling into the fortress mentality,view the world in the following manner: It is like a vast Versailles, with",
"text": "every room communicating with another. You need to be permeable, able",
"text": "to float in and out of different circles and mix with different types. That",
"text": "kind of mobility and social contact will protect you from plotters, who",
"text": "will be unable to keep secrets from you, and from your enemies, who",
"text": "will be unable to isolate you from your allies. Always on the move, you",
"text": "mix and mingle in the rooms of the palace, never sitting or settling in one",
"text": "place. No hunter can fix his aim on such a swift-moving creature.",
"text": "Image: The Fortress. High",
"text": "up on the hill, the citadel be",
"text": "comes a symbol of all that is",
"text": "hateful in power and authority.",
"text": "The citizens of the town betray",
"text": "you to the first enemy that comes.",
"text": "Cut off from communication and in",
"text": "telligence, the citadel falls with ease.",
"text": "Authority: A good and wise prince, desirous of maintaining that",
"text": "character, and to avoid giving the opportunity to his sons to become",
"text": "oppressive, will never build fortresses, so that they may place their",
"text": "reliance upon the good will of their subjects, and not upon the strength of",
"text": "citadels. (Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "It is hardly ever right and propitious to choose isolation. Without keeping",
"text": "an ear on what is happening in the streets, you will be unable to protect",
"text": "yourself. About the only thing that constant human contact cannot",
"text": "facilitate is thought. The weight of society’s pressure to conform, and the",
"text": "lack of distance from other people, can make it impossible to think",
"text": "clearly about what is going on around you. As a temporary recourse,",
"text": "then, isolation can help you to gain perspective. Many a serious thinker",
"text": "has been produced in prisons, where we have nothing to do but think.Machiavelli could write The Prince only once he found himself in exile",
"text": "and isolated on a farm far from the political intrigues of Florence.",
"text": "The danger is, however, that this kind of isolation will sire all kinds of",
"text": "strange and perverted ideas. You may gain perspective on the larger",
"text": "picture, but you lose a sense of your own smallness and limitations.",
"text": "Also, the more isolated you are, the harder it is to break out of your",
"text": "isolation when you choose to—it sinks you deep into its quicksand",
"text": "without your noticing. If you need time to think, then, choose isolation",
"text": "only as a last resort, and only in small doses. Be careful to keep your",
"text": "way back into society open.LAW 19",
"text": "KNOW WHO YOU’RE DEALING WITH—DO",
"text": "NOT OFFEND THE WRONG PERSON",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never",
"text": "assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way.",
"text": "Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of",
"text": "their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose",
"text": "your victims and opponents carefully, then—never of fend or deceive the",
"text": "wrong person.",
"text": "OPPONENTS, SUCKERS, AND VICTIMS: Preliminary Typology In",
"text": "your rise to power you will come across many breeds of opponent,",
"text": "sucker, and victim. The highest form of the art of power is the ability to",
"text": "distinguish the wolves from the lambs, the foxes from the hares, the",
"text": "hawks from the vultures. If you make this distinction well, you will",
"text": "succeed without needing to coerce anyone too much. But if you deal",
"text": "blindly with whomever crosses your path, you will have a life of",
"text": "constant sorrow, if you even live that long. Being able to recognize types",
"text": "of people, and to act accordingly, is critical. The following are the five",
"text": "most dangerous and difficult types of mark in the jungle, as identified by",
"text": "artists—con and otherwise—of the past.",
"text": "When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to",
"text": "one who is not a poet.",
"text": "FROM A CH’AN BUDDHIST CLASSIC, QUOTED IN THUNDER IN",
"text": "THE SKY, TRANSLATED BY THOMAS CLEARY, 1993",
"text": "The Arrogant and Proud Man. Although he may initially disguise it, this",
"text": "man’s touchy pride makes him very dangerous. Any perceived slight will",
"text": "lead to a vengeance of overwhelming violence. You may say to yourself,",
"text": "“But I only said such-and-such at a party, where everyone was drunk….”",
"text": "It does not matter. There is no sanity behind his overreaction, so do notwaste time trying to figure him out. If at any point in your dealings with",
"text": "a person you sense an oversensitive and overactive pride, flee. Whatever",
"text": "you are hoping for from him isn’t worth it.",
"text": "THE REVENCE OF LOPE. DE AGI IRRE",
"text": "[Lope de] Aguirre’s character is amply illustrated in an anecdote from",
"text": "the chronicle of Garcilaso de la Vega, who related that in 1548 Aguirre",
"text": "was a member of a platoon of soldiers escorting Indian slaves from the",
"text": "mines at Potosi [Bolivia] to a royal treasury depot. The Indians were",
"text": "illegally burdened with great quantities of silver, and a local official",
"text": "arrested Aguirre, sentencing him to receive two hundred lashes in lieu of",
"text": "a fine for oppressing the Indians. “The soldier Aguirre, having received",
"text": "a notification of the sentence, besought the alcalde that, instead of",
"text": "flogging him, he would put him to death, for that he was a gentleman by",
"text": "birth…. All this had no effect on the alcalde, who ordered the",
"text": "executioner to bring a beast, and execute the sentence. The executioner",
"text": "came to the prison, and put Aguirre on the heast…. The beast was driven",
"text": "on, and he received the lashes.…”",
"text": "When freed, Aguirre announced his intention of killing the official who",
"text": "had sentenced him, the alcalde Esquivel. Esquivel’s term of office expired",
"text": "and he fled to Lima. three hundred twenty leagues away, bitt within",
"text": "fifteen days Aguirre had tracked him there. The frightened judge",
"text": "journeyed to Quito, a trip of four hundred leagues, and in twenty days",
"text": "Aguirre arrived. “When Esquivel heard of his presence, ” according to",
"text": "Garcilaso, “he made another journey of five hundred leagues to Cuzco;",
"text": "but in a few days Aguirre also arrived, having travelled on foot and",
"text": "without shoes, saying that a whipped man has no business to ride a",
"text": "horse, or to go where he would be seen by others. In this way, Aguirre",
"text": "followed his judge for three years, and four months.” Wearying of the",
"text": "pursuit, Esquivel remained at Cuzco, a city so sternly governed that he",
"text": "felt he would be safe from Aguirre. He took a house near the cathedral",
"text": "and never ventured outdoors without a sword and a dagger. “However,",
"text": "on a certain Monday, at noon, Aguirre entered his house, and having",
"text": "walked all over it, and having traversed a corridor, a saloon, a chamber,",
"text": "and an inner chamber where the judge kept his books, he at last found",
"text": "him asleep over one of his books, and stabbed him to death. The",
"text": "murderer then went out, but when he came to the door of the house, he",
"text": "found that he had forgotten his hat, and had the temerity to return and",
"text": "fetch it, and then walked down the street.”THE GOLDEN DREAM: SEEKERS OF EL DORADO, WALKER",
"text": "CHAPMAN, 1967",
"text": "The Hopelessly Insecure Man. This man is related to the proud and",
"text": "arrogant type, but is less violent and harder to spot. His ego is fragile, his",
"text": "sense of self insecure, and if he feels himself deceived or attacked, the",
"text": "hurt will simmer. He will attack you in bites that will take forever to get",
"text": "big enough for you to notice. If you find you have deceived or harmed",
"text": "such a man, disappear for a long time. Do not stay around him or he will",
"text": "nibble you to death.",
"text": "Mr. Suspicion. Another variant on the breeds above, this is a future Joe",
"text": "Stalin. He sees what he wants to see—usually the worst—in other",
"text": "people, and imagines that everyone is after him. Mr. Suspicion is in fact",
"text": "the least dangerous of the three: Genuinely unbalanced, he is easy to",
"text": "deceive, just as Stalin himself was constantly deceived. Play on his",
"text": "suspicious nature to get him to turn against other people. But if you do",
"text": "become the target of his suspicions, watch out.",
"text": "The Serpent with a Long Memory. If hurt or deceived, this man will",
"text": "show no anger on the surface; he will calculate and wait. Then, when he",
"text": "is in a position to turn the tables, he will exact a revenge marked by a",
"text": "cold-blooded shrewdness. Recognize this man by his calculation and",
"text": "cunning in the different areas of his life. He is usually cold and",
"text": "unaffectionate. Be doubly careful of this snake, and if you have",
"text": "somehow injured him, either crush him completely or get him out of",
"text": "your sight.",
"text": "The Plain, Unassuming, and Often Unintelligent Man. Ah, your ears",
"text": "prick up when you find such a tempting victim. But this man is a lot",
"text": "harder to deceive than you imagine. Falling for a ruse often takes",
"text": "intelligence and imagination—a sense of the possible rewards. The blunt",
"text": "man will not take the bait because he does not recognize it. He is that",
"text": "unaware. The danger with this man is not that he will harm you or seek",
"text": "revenge, but merely that he will waste your time, energy, resources, and",
"text": "even your sanity in trying to deceive him. Have a test ready for a mark—",
"text": "a joke, a story. If his reaction is utterly literal, this is the type you are",
"text": "dealing with. Continue at your own risk.TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW",
"text": "Transgression I",
"text": "In the early part of the thirteenth century, Muhammad, the shah of",
"text": "Khwarezm, managed after many wars to forge a huge empire, extending",
"text": "west to present-day Turkey and south to Afghanistan. The empire’s",
"text": "center was the great Asian capital of Samarkand. The shah had a",
"text": "powerful, well-trained army, and could mobilize 200,000 warriors within",
"text": "days.",
"text": "In 1219 Muhammad received an embassy from a new tribal leader to",
"text": "the east, Genghis Khan. The embassy included all sorts of gifts to the",
"text": "great Muhammad, representing the finest goods from Khan’s small but",
"text": "growing Mongol empire. Genghis Khan wanted to reopen the Silk Route",
"text": "to Europe, and offered to share it with Muhammad, while promising",
"text": "peace between the two empires.",
"text": "Muhammad did not know this upstart from the east, who, it seemed to",
"text": "him, was extremely arrogant to try to talk as an equal to one so clearly",
"text": "his superior. He ignored Khan’s offer. Khan tried again: This time he sent",
"text": "a caravan of a hundred camels filled with the rarest articles he had",
"text": "plundered from China. Before the caravan reached Muhammad,",
"text": "however, Inalchik, the governor of a region bordering on Samarkand,",
"text": "seized it for himself, and executed its leaders.",
"text": "Genghis Khan was sure that this was a mistake—that Inalchik had",
"text": "acted without Muhammad’s approval. He sent yet another mission to",
"text": "Muhammad, reiterating his offer and asking that the governor be",
"text": "punished. This time Muhammad himself had one of the ambassadors",
"text": "beheaded, and sent the other two back with shaved heads—a horrifying",
"text": "insult in the Mongol code of honor. Khan sent a message to the shah:",
"text": "“You have chosen war. What will happen will happen, and what it is to",
"text": "be we know not; only God knows.” Mobilizing his forces, in 1220 he",
"text": "attacked Inalchik’s province, where he seized the capital, captured the",
"text": "governor, and ordered him executed by having molten silver poured into",
"text": "his eyes and ears.",
"text": "Over the next year, Khan led a series of guerrilla-like campaigns",
"text": "against the shah’s much larger army. His method was totally novel for",
"text": "the time—his soldiers could move very fast on horseback, and had",
"text": "mastered the art of firing with bow and arrow while mounted. The speed",
"text": "and flexibility of his forces allowed him to deceive Muhammad as to hisintentions and the directions of his movements. Eventually he managed",
"text": "first to surround Samarkand, then to seize it. Muhammad fled, and a year",
"text": "later died, his vast empire broken and destroyed. Genghis Khan was sole",
"text": "master of Samarkand, the Silk Route, and most of northern Asia.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Never assume that the person you are dealing with is weaker or less",
"text": "important than you are. Some men are slow to take offense, which may",
"text": "make you misjudge the thickness of their skin, and fail to worry about",
"text": "insulting them. But should you offend their honor and their pride, they",
"text": "will overwhelm you with a violence that seems sudden and extreme",
"text": "given their slowness to anger. If you want to turn people down, it is best",
"text": "to do so politely and respectfully, even if you feel their request is",
"text": "impudent or their offer ridiculous. Never reject them with an insult until",
"text": "you know them better; you may be dealing with a Genghis Khan.",
"text": "THE CROW AND THE SHEEP",
"text": "A troublesome Crow seated herself on the back of a Sheep. The Sheep,",
"text": "much against his will, carried her backward and forward for a long time,",
"text": "and at last said, “If you had treated a dog in this way, you would have",
"text": "had your deserts from his sharp teeth.”To this the Crow replied, “I",
"text": "despise the weak, and yield to the strong. I know whom I may bully, and",
"text": "whom I must flatter; and thus I hope to prolong my life to a good old",
"text": "age.",
"text": "FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "Transgression II",
"text": "In the late 1910s some of the best swindlers in America formed a con-",
"text": "artist ring based in Denver, Colorado. In the winter months they would",
"text": "spread across the southern states, plying their trade. In 1920 Joe Furey, a",
"text": "leader of the ring, was working his way through Texas, making hundreds",
"text": "of thousands of dollars with classic con games. In Fort Worth, he met a",
"text": "sucker named J. Frank Norfleet, a cattleman who owned a large ranch.",
"text": "Norfleet fell for the con. Convinced of the riches to come, he emptied his",
"text": "bank account of $45,000 and handed it over to Furey and his",
"text": "confederates. A few days later they gave him his “millions,” whichturned out to be a few good dollars wrapped around a packet of",
"text": "newspaper clippings.",
"text": "Furey and his men had worked such cons a hundred times before, and",
"text": "the sucker was usually so embarrassed by his gullibility that he quietly",
"text": "learned his lesson and accepted the loss. But Norfleet was not like other",
"text": "suckers. He went to the police, who told him there was little they could",
"text": "do. “Then I’ll go after those people myself,” Norfleet told the detectives.",
"text": "“I’ll get them, too, if it takes the rest of my life.” His wife took over the",
"text": "ranch as Norfleet scoured the country, looking for others who had been",
"text": "fleeced in the same game. One such sucker came forward, and the two",
"text": "men identified one of the con artists in San Francisco, and managed to",
"text": "get him locked up. The man committed suicide rather than face a long",
"text": "term in prison.",
"text": "Norfleet kept going. He tracked down another of the con artists in",
"text": "Montana, roped him like a calf, and dragged him through the muddy",
"text": "streets to the town jail. He traveled not only across the country but to",
"text": "England, Canada, and Mexico in search of Joe Furey, and also of Furey’s",
"text": "right-hand man, W. B. Spencer. Finding Spencer in Montreal, Norfleet",
"text": "chased him through the streets. Spencer escaped but the rancher stayed",
"text": "on his trail and caught up with him in Salt Lake City. Preferring the",
"text": "mercy of the law to Norfleet’s wrath, Spencer turned himself in.",
"text": "Norfleet found Furey in Jacksonville, Florida, and personally hauled",
"text": "him off to face justice in Texas. But he wouldn’t stop there: He",
"text": "continued on to Denver, determined to break up the entire ring. Spending",
"text": "not only large sums of money but another year of his life in the pursuit,",
"text": "he managed to put all of the con ring’s leaders behind bars. Even some",
"text": "he didn’t catch had grown so terrified of him that they too turned",
"text": "themselves in.",
"text": "After five years of hunting, Norfleet had single-handedly destroyed",
"text": "the country’s largest confederation of con artists. The effort bankrupted",
"text": "him and ruined his marriage, but he died a satisfied man.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Most men accept the humiliation of being conned with a sense of",
"text": "resignation. They learn their lesson, recognizing that there is no such",
"text": "thing as a free lunch, and that they have usually been brought down by",
"text": "their own greed for easy money. Some, however, refuse to take theirmedicine. Instead of reflecting on their own gullibility and avarice, they",
"text": "see themselves as totally innocent victims.",
"text": "Men like this may seem to be crusaders for justice and honesty, but",
"text": "they are actually immoderately insecure. Being fooled, being conned, has",
"text": "activated their self-doubt, and they are desperate to repair the damage.",
"text": "Were the mortgage on Norfleet’s ranch, the collapse of his marriage, and",
"text": "the years of borrowing money and living in cheap hotels worth his",
"text": "revenge over his embarrassment at being fleeced? To the Norfleets of the",
"text": "world, overcoming their embarrassment is worth any price.",
"text": "All people have insecurities, and often the best way to deceive a",
"text": "sucker is to play upon his insecurities. But in the realm of power,",
"text": "everything is a question of degree, and the person who is decidedly more",
"text": "insecure than the average mortal presents great dangers. Be warned: If",
"text": "you practice deception or trickery of any sort, study your mark well.",
"text": "Some people’s insecurity and ego fragility cannot tolerate the slightest",
"text": "offense. To see if you are dealing with such a type, test them first—",
"text": "make, say, a mild joke at their expense. A confident person will laugh; an",
"text": "overly insecure one will react as if personally insulted. If you suspect",
"text": "you are dealing with this type, find another victim.",
"text": "Transgression III",
"text": "In the fifth century B.C., Ch‘ung-erh, the prince of Ch’in (in present-day",
"text": "China), had been forced into exile. He lived modestly—even, sometimes,",
"text": "in poverty—waiting for the time when he could return home and resume",
"text": "his princely life. Once he was passing through the state of Cheng, where",
"text": "the ruler, not knowing who he was, treated him rudely. The ruler’s",
"text": "minister, Shu Chan, saw this and said, “This man is a worthy prince.",
"text": "May Your Highness treat him with great courtesy and thereby place him",
"text": "under an obligation!” But the ruler, able to see only the prince’s lowly",
"text": "station, ignored this advice and insulted the prince again. Shu Chan again",
"text": "warned his master, saying, “If Your Highness cannot treat Ch’ung-erh",
"text": "with courtesy, you should put him to death, to avoid calamity in the",
"text": "future.” The ruler only scoffed.",
"text": "Years later, the prince was finally able to return home, his",
"text": "circumstances greatly changed. He did not forget who had been kind to",
"text": "him, and who had been insolent, during his years of poverty. Least of all",
"text": "did he forget his treatment at the hands of the ruler of Cheng. At his first",
"text": "opportunity he assembled a vast army and marched on Cheng, takingeight cities, destroying the kingdom, and sending the ruler into an exile",
"text": "of his own. Interpretation",
"text": "You can never be sure who you are dealing with. A man who is of little",
"text": "importance and means today can be a person of power tomorrow. We",
"text": "forget a lot in our lives, but we rarely forget an insult.",
"text": "How was the ruler of Cheng to know that Prince Ch’ung-erh was an",
"text": "ambitious, calculating, cunning type, a serpent with a long memory?",
"text": "There was really no way for him to know, you may say—but since there",
"text": "was no way, it would have been better not to tempt the fates by finding",
"text": "out. There is nothing to be gained by insulting a person unnecessarily.",
"text": "Swallow the impulse to offend, even if the other person seems weak. The",
"text": "satisfaction is meager compared to the danger that someday he or she",
"text": "will be in a position to hurt you.",
"text": "Transgression IV",
"text": "The year of 1920 had been a particularly bad one for American art",
"text": "dealers. Big buyers—the robber-baron generation of the previous century",
"text": "—were getting to an age where they were dying off like flies, and no",
"text": "new millionaires had emerged to take their place. Things were so bad",
"text": "that a number of the major dealers decided to pool their resources, an",
"text": "unheard-of event, since art dealers usually get along like cats and dogs.",
"text": "Joseph Duveen, art dealer to the richest tycoons of America, was",
"text": "suffering more than the others that year, so he decided to go along with",
"text": "this alliance. The group now consisted of the five biggest dealers in the",
"text": "country. Looking around for a new client, they decided that their last best",
"text": "hope was Henry Ford, then the wealthiest man in America. Ford had yet",
"text": "to venture into the art market, and he was such a big target that it made",
"text": "sense for them to work together.",
"text": "The dealers decided to assemble a list, “The 100 Greatest Paintings in",
"text": "the World” (all of which they happened to have in stock), and to offer the",
"text": "lot of them to Ford. With one purchase he could make himself the",
"text": "world’s greatest collector. The consortium worked for weeks to produce",
"text": "a magnificent object: a three-volume set of books containing beautiful",
"text": "reproductions of the paintings, as well as scholarly texts accompanying",
"text": "each picture. Next they made a personal visit to Ford at his home in",
"text": "Dearborn, Michigan. There they were surprised by the simplicity of his",
"text": "house: Mr. Ford was obviously an extremely unaffected man.Ford received them in his study. Looking through the book, he",
"text": "expressed astonishment and delight. The excited dealers began",
"text": "imagining the millions of dollars that would shortly flow into their",
"text": "coffers. Finally, however, Ford looked up from the book and said,",
"text": "“Gentlemen, beautiful books like these, with beautiful colored pictures",
"text": "like these, must cost an awful lot!” “But Mr. Ford!” exclaimed Duveen,",
"text": "“we don’t expect you to buy these books. We got them up especially for",
"text": "you, to show you the pictures. These books are a present to you.” Ford",
"text": "seemed puzzled. “Gentlemen,” he said, “it is extremely nice of you, but I",
"text": "really don’t see how I can accept a beautiful, expensive present like this",
"text": "from strangers.” Duveen explained to Ford that the reproductions in the",
"text": "books showed paintings they had hoped to sell to him. Ford finally",
"text": "understood. “But gentlemen,” he exclaimed, “what would I want with",
"text": "the original pictures when the ones right here in these books are so",
"text": "beautiful?”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Joseph Duveen prided himself on studying his victims and clients in",
"text": "advance, figuring out their weaknesses and the peculiarities of their",
"text": "tastes before he ever met them. He was driven by desperation to drop this",
"text": "tactic just once, in his assault on Henry Ford. It took him months to",
"text": "recover from his misjudgment, both mentally and monetarily. Ford was",
"text": "the unassuming plain-man type who just isn’t worth the bother. He was",
"text": "the incarnation of those literal-minded folk who do not possess enough",
"text": "imagination to be deceived. From then on, Duveen saved his energies for",
"text": "the Mellons and Mor gans of the world—men crafty enough for him to",
"text": "entrap in his snares.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "The ability to measure people and to know who you’re dealing with is",
"text": "the most important skill of all in gathering and conserving power.",
"text": "Without it you are blind: Not only will you offend the wrong people, you",
"text": "will choose the wrong types to work on, and will think you are flattering",
"text": "people when you are actually insulting them. Before embarking on any",
"text": "move, take the measure of your mark or potential opponent. Otherwiseyou will waste time and make mistakes. Study people’s weaknesses, the",
"text": "chinks in their armor, their areas of both pride and insecurity. Know their",
"text": "ins and outs before you even decide whether or not to deal with them.",
"text": "Two final words of caution: First, in judging and measuring your",
"text": "opponent, never rely on your instincts. You will make the greatest",
"text": "mistakes of all if you rely on such inexact indicators. Nothing can",
"text": "substitute for gathering concrete knowledge. Study and spy on your",
"text": "opponent for however long it takes; this will pay off in the long run.",
"text": "Second, never trust appearances. Anyone with a serpent’s heart can",
"text": "use a show of kindness to cloak it; a person who is blustery on the",
"text": "outside is often really a coward. Learn to see through appearances and",
"text": "their contradictions. Never trust the version that people give of",
"text": "themselves—it is utterly unreliable.",
"text": "Image: The Hunter. He does not lay the same trap for a wolf as for a fox.",
"text": "He does not set bait where no one will take it. He knows his prey",
"text": "thoroughly, its habits and hideaways, and hunts accordingly.",
"text": "Authority: Be convinced, that there are no persons so insignificant and",
"text": "inconsiderable, but may, some time or other, have it in their power to be",
"text": "of use to you; which they certainly will not, if you have once shown",
"text": "them contempt. Wrongs are often forgiven, but contempt never is. Our",
"text": "pride remembers it for ever. (Lord Chesterfield, 1694-1773)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "What possible good can come from ignorance about other people? Learn",
"text": "to tell the lions from the lambs or pay the price. Obey this law to its",
"text": "fullest extent; it has no reversal—do not bother looking for one.LAW 20",
"text": "DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side",
"text": "or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become",
"text": "the master of others—playing people against one another, making them",
"text": "pursue you.",
"text": "PART I: DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE, BUT BE COURTED",
"text": "BY ALL",
"text": "If you allow people to feel they possess you to any degree, you lose all",
"text": "power over them. By not committing your affections, they will only try",
"text": "harder to win you over. Stay aloof and you gain the power that comes",
"text": "from their attention and frustrated desire. Play the Virgin Queen: Give",
"text": "them hope but never satisfaction.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "When Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England, in 1558, there",
"text": "was much to-do about her finding a husband. The issue was debated in",
"text": "Parliament, and was a main topic of conversation among Englishmen of",
"text": "all classes; they often disagreed as to whom she should marry, but",
"text": "everyone thought she should marry as soon as possible, for a queen must",
"text": "have a king, and must bear heirs for the kingdom. The debates raged on",
"text": "for years. Meanwhile the most handsome and eligible bachelors in the",
"text": "realm—Sir Robert Dudley, the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter Raleigh—vied",
"text": "for Elizabeth’s hand. She did not discourage them, but she seemed to be",
"text": "in no hurry, and her hints as to which man might be her favorite often",
"text": "contradicted each other. In 1566, Parliament sent a delegation to",
"text": "Elizabeth urging her to marry before she was too old to bear children.She did not argue, nor did she discourage the delegation, but she",
"text": "remained a virgin nonetheless.",
"text": "The delicate game that Elizabeth played with her suitors slowly made",
"text": "her the subject of innumerable sexual fantasies and the object of cultish",
"text": "worship. The court physician, Simon Forman, used his diary to describe",
"text": "his dreams of deflowering her. Painters represented her as Diana and",
"text": "other goddesses. The poet Edmund Spenser and others wrote eulogies to",
"text": "the Virgin Queen. She was referred to as “the world’s Empresse,” “that",
"text": "virtuous Virgo” who rules the world and sets the stars in motion. In",
"text": "conversation with her, her many male suitors would employ bold sexual",
"text": "innuendo, a dare that Elizabeth did not discourage. She did all she could",
"text": "to stir their interest and simultaneously keep them at bay.",
"text": "Throughout Europe, kings and princes knew that a marriage with",
"text": "Elizabeth would seal an alliance between England and any nation. The",
"text": "king of Spain wooed her, as did the prince of Sweden and the archduke",
"text": "of Austria. She politely refused them all.",
"text": "The great diplomatic issue of Elizabeth’s day was posed by the revolt",
"text": "of the Flemish and Dutch Lowlands, which were then possessions of",
"text": "Spain. Should England break its alliance with Spain and choose France",
"text": "as its main ally on the Continent, thereby encouraging Flemish and",
"text": "Dutch independence ? By 1570 it had come to seem that an alliance with",
"text": "France would be England’s wisest course. France had two eligible men",
"text": "of noble blood, the dukes of Anjou and Alençon, brothers of the French",
"text": "king. Would either of them marry Elizabeth? Both had advantages, and",
"text": "Elizabeth kept the hopes of both alive. The issue simmered for years.",
"text": "The duke of Anjou made several visits to England, kissed Elizabeth in",
"text": "public, even called her by pet names; she appeared to requite his",
"text": "affections. Meanwhile, as she flirted with the two brothers, a treaty was",
"text": "signed that sealed peace between France and England. By 1582",
"text": "Elizabeth felt she could break off the courtship. In the case of the duke of",
"text": "Anjou in particular, she did so with great relief: For the sake of",
"text": "diplomacy she had allowed herself to be courted by a man whose",
"text": "presence she could not stand and whom she found physically repulsive.",
"text": "Once peace between France and England was secure, she dropped the",
"text": "unctuous duke as politely as she could.",
"text": "By this time Elizabeth was too old to bear children. She was",
"text": "accordingly able to live the rest of her life as she desired, and she died",
"text": "the Virgin Queen. She left no direct heir, but ruled through a period of",
"text": "incomparable peace and cultural fertility.Interpretation",
"text": "Elizabeth had good reason not to marry: She had witnessed the mistakes",
"text": "of Mary Queen of Scots, her cousin. Resisting the idea of being ruled by",
"text": "a woman, the Scots expected Mary to marry and marry wisely. To wed a",
"text": "foreigner would be unpopular; to favor any particular noble house would",
"text": "open up terrible rivalries. In the end Mary chose Lord Darnley, a",
"text": "Catholic. In doing so she incurred the wrath of Scotland’s Protestants,",
"text": "and endless turmoil ensued.",
"text": "Elizabeth knew that marriage can often lead to a female ruler’s",
"text": "undoing: By marrying and committing to an alliance with one party or",
"text": "nation, the queen becomes embroiled in conflicts that are not of her",
"text": "choosing, conflicts which may eventually overwhelm her or lead her into",
"text": "a futile war. Also, the husband becomes the de facto ruler, and often tries",
"text": "to do away with his wife the queen, as Darnley tried to get rid of Mary.",
"text": "Elizabeth learned the lesson well. She had two goals as a ruler: to avoid",
"text": "marriage and to avoid war. She managed to combine these goals by",
"text": "dangling the possibility of marriage in order to forge alliances. The",
"text": "moment she committed to any single suitor would have been the moment",
"text": "she lost her power. She had to emanate mystery and desirability, never",
"text": "discouraging anyone’s hopes but never yielding.",
"text": "Through this lifelong game of flirting and withdrawing, Elizabeth",
"text": "dominated the country and every man who sought to conquer her. As the",
"text": "center of attention, she was in control. Keeping her independence above",
"text": "all, Elizabeth protected her power and made herself an object of worship.",
"text": "I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.",
"text": "Queen Elizabeth I, 1533-1603",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Since power depends greatly on appearances, you must learn the tricks",
"text": "that will enhance your image. Refusing to commit to a person or group is",
"text": "one of these. When you hold yourself back, you incur not anger but a",
"text": "kind of respect. You instantly seem powerful because you make yourself",
"text": "ungraspable, rather than succumbing to the group, or to the relationship,",
"text": "as most people do. This aura of power only grows with time: As your",
"text": "reputation for independence grows, more and more people will come todesire you, wanting to be the one who gets you to commit. Desire is like",
"text": "a virus: If we see that someone is desired by other people, we tend to",
"text": "find this person desirable too.",
"text": "The moment you commit, the magic is gone. You become like",
"text": "everyone else. People will try all kinds of underhanded methods to get",
"text": "you to commit. They will give you gifts, shower you with favors, all to",
"text": "put you under obligation. Encourage the attention, stimulate their",
"text": "interest, but do not commit at any cost. Accept the gifts and favors if you",
"text": "so desire, but be careful to maintain your inner aloofness. You cannot",
"text": "inadvertently allow yourself to feel obligated to anyone.",
"text": "Remember, though: The goal is not to put people off, or to make it",
"text": "seem that you are incapable of commitment. Like the Virgin Queen, you",
"text": "need to stir the pot, excite interest, lure people with the possibility of",
"text": "having you. You have to bend to their attention occasionally, then—but",
"text": "never too far.",
"text": "The Greek soldier and statesman Alcibiades played this game to",
"text": "perfection. It was Alcibiades who inspired and led the massive Athenian",
"text": "armada that invaded Sicily in 414 B.C. When envious Athenians back",
"text": "home tried to bring him down by accusing him of trumped-up charges,",
"text": "he defected to the enemy, the Spartans, instead of facing a trial back",
"text": "home. Then, after the Athenians were defeated at Syracuse, he left Sparta",
"text": "for Persia, even though the power of Sparta was now on the rise. Now,",
"text": "however, both the Athenians and the Spartans courted Alcibiades",
"text": "because of his influence with the Persians; and the Persians showered",
"text": "him with honors because of his power over the Athenians and the",
"text": "Spartans. He made promises to every side but committed to none, and in",
"text": "the end he held all the cards.",
"text": "If you aspire to power and influence, try the Alcibiades tactic: Put",
"text": "yourself in the middle between competing powers. Lure one side with",
"text": "the promise of your help; the other side, always wanting to outdo its",
"text": "enemy, will pursue you as well. As each side vies for your attention, you",
"text": "will immediately seem a person of great influence and desirability. More",
"text": "power will accrue to you than if you had rashly committed to one side.",
"text": "To perfect this tactic you need to keep yourself inwardly free from",
"text": "emotional entanglements, and to view all those around you as pawns in",
"text": "your rise to the top. You cannot let yourself become the lackey for any",
"text": "cause.",
"text": "In the midst of the 1968 U.S. presidential election, Henry Kissinger",
"text": "made a phone call to Richard Nixon’s team. Kissinger had been allied",
"text": "with Nelson Rockefeller, who had unsuccessfully sought the Republicannomina tion. Now Kissinger offered to supply the Nixon camp with",
"text": "valuable inside information on the negotiations for peace in Vietnam that",
"text": "were then going on in Paris. He had a man on the negotiating team",
"text": "keeping him informed of the latest developments. The Nixon team gladly",
"text": "accepted his offer.",
"text": "At the same time, however, Kissinger also approached the Democratic",
"text": "nominee, Hubert Humphrey, and offered his aid. The Humphrey people",
"text": "asked him for inside information on Nixon and he supplied it. “Look,”",
"text": "Kissinger told Humphrey’s people, “I’ve hated Nixon for years.” In fact",
"text": "he had no interest in either side. What he really wanted was what he got:",
"text": "the promise of a high-level cabinet post from both Nixon and Humphrey.",
"text": "Whichever man won the election, Kissinger’s career was secure.",
"text": "The winner, of course, was Nixon, and Kissinger duly went on to his",
"text": "cabinet post. Even so, he was careful never to appear too much of a",
"text": "Nixon man. When Nixon was reelected in 1972, men much more loyal to",
"text": "him than Kissinger were fired. Kissinger was also the only Nixon high",
"text": "official to survive Watergate and serve under the next president, Gerald",
"text": "Ford. By maintaining a little distance he thrived in turbulent times.",
"text": "Those who use this strategy often notice a strange phenomenon:",
"text": "People who rush to the support of others tend to gain little respect in the",
"text": "process, for their help is so easily obtained, while those who stand back",
"text": "find themselves besieged with supplicants. Their aloofness is powerful,",
"text": "and everyone wants them on their side.",
"text": "When Picasso, after early years of poverty, had become the most",
"text": "successful artist in the world, he did not commit himself to this dealer or",
"text": "that dealer, although they now besieged him from all sides with attractive",
"text": "offers and grand promises. Instead, he appeared to have no interest in",
"text": "their services; this technique drove them wild, and as they fought over",
"text": "him his prices only rose. When Henry Kissinger, as U.S. secretary of",
"text": "state, wanted to reach detente with the Soviet Union, he made no",
"text": "concessions or conciliatory gestures, but courted China instead. This",
"text": "infuriated and also scared the Soviets—they were already politically",
"text": "isolated and feared further isolation if the United States and China came",
"text": "together. Kissinger’s move pushed them to the negotiating table. The",
"text": "tactic has a parallel in seduction: When you want to seduce a woman,",
"text": "Stendhal advises, court her sister first.",
"text": "Stay aloof and people will come to you. It will become a challenge for",
"text": "them to win your affections. As long as you imitate the wise Virgin",
"text": "Queen and stimulate their hopes, you will remain a magnet of attention",
"text": "and desire.Image:",
"text": "The Virgin Queen.",
"text": "The center of attention,",
"text": "desire, and worship. Never",
"text": "succumbing to one suitor or the",
"text": "other, the Virgin Queen keeps",
"text": "them all revolving around",
"text": "her like planets, unable to",
"text": "leave her orbit but never",
"text": "getting any closer",
"text": "to her.",
"text": "Authority: Do not commit yourself to anybody or anything, for that is to",
"text": "be a slave, a slave to every man…. Above all, keep yourself free of",
"text": "commitments and obligations—they are the device of another to get you",
"text": "into his power…. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)PART II: DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE-",
"text": "STAY ABOVE THE FRAY",
"text": "Do not let people drag you into their petty fights and squabbles. Seem",
"text": "interested and supportive, but find a way to remain neutral; let others do",
"text": "the fighting while you stand back, watch and wait. When the fighting",
"text": "parties are good and tired they will be ripe for the picking. You can make",
"text": "it a practice, in fact, to stir up quarrels between other people, and then",
"text": "offer to mediate, gaining power as the go-between.",
"text": "THE KITES, THE CROWS, AND THE FOX",
"text": "The kites and the crows made an agreement among themselves that they",
"text": "should go halves in everything obtained in the forest. One day they saw a",
"text": "fox that had been wounded by hunters lying helpless under a tree, and",
"text": "gathered round it. The crows said, “We will take the upper half of the",
"text": "fox.” “Then we will take the lower half,” said the kites. The fox laughed",
"text": "at this, and said, “I always thought the kites were superior in creation to",
"text": "the crows; as such they must get the upper half of my body, of which my",
"text": "head, with the brain and other delicate things in it, forms a portion. ”",
"text": "“Oh, yes, that is right,” said the kites, “we will have that part of the",
"text": "fox.” “Not at all,” said the crows, “we must have it, as already agreed.”",
"text": "Then a war arose between the rival parties, and a great many fell on both",
"text": "sides, and the remaining few escaped with difficulty. The fox continued",
"text": "there for some days, leisurely feeding on the dead kites and crows, and",
"text": "then left the place hale and hearty, observing, The weak benefit by the",
"text": "quarrels of the mighty. ”",
"text": "INDIAN FABLES",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "In the late fifteenth century, the strongest city-states in Italy—Venice,",
"text": "Florence, Rome, and Milan—found themselves constantly squabbling.Hovering above their struggles were the nations of France and Spain,",
"text": "ready to grab whatever they could from the weakened Italian powers.",
"text": "And trapped in the middle was the small state of Mantua, ruled by the",
"text": "young Duke Gianfrancesco Gonzaga. Mantua was strategically located",
"text": "in northern Italy, and it seemed only a matter of time before one of the",
"text": "powers swallowed it up and it ceased to exist as an independent",
"text": "kingdom.",
"text": "Gonzaga was a fierce warrior and a skilled commander of troops, and",
"text": "he became a kind of mercenary general for whatever side paid him best.",
"text": "In the year 1490, he married Isabella d’Este, daughter of the ruler of",
"text": "another small Italian duchy, Ferrara. Since he now spent most of his time",
"text": "away from Mantua, it fell to Isabella to rule in his stead.",
"text": "Isabella’s first true test as ruler came in 1498, when King Louis XII of",
"text": "France was preparing armies to attack Milan. In their usual perfidious",
"text": "fashion, the Italian states immediately looked for ways to profit from",
"text": "Milan’s difficulties. Pope Alexander VI promised not to intervene,",
"text": "thereby giving the French carte blanche. The Venetians signaled that they",
"text": "would not help Milan, either—and in exchange for this, they hoped the",
"text": "French would give them Mantua. The ruler of Milan, Lodovico Sforza,",
"text": "suddenly found himself alone and abandoned. He turned to Isabella",
"text": "d’Este, one of his closest friends (also rumored to be his lover), and",
"text": "begged her to persuade Duke Gonzaga to come to his aid. Isabella tried,",
"text": "but her husband balked, for he saw Sforza’s cause as hopeless. And so, in",
"text": "1499, Louis swooped down on Milan and took it with ease.",
"text": "Isabella now faced a dilemma: If she stayed loyal to Lodovico, the",
"text": "French would now move against her. But if, instead, she allied herself",
"text": "with France, she would make enemies elsewhere in Italy, compromising",
"text": "Mantua once Louis eventually withdrew. And if she looked to Venice or",
"text": "Rome for help, they would simply swallow up Mantua under the cloak of",
"text": "coming to her aid. Yet she had to do something. The mighty king of",
"text": "France was breathing down her neck: She decided to befriend him, as",
"text": "she had befriended Lodovico Sforza before him—with alluring gifts,",
"text": "witty, intelligent letters, and the possibility of her company, for Isabella",
"text": "was famous as a woman of incomparable beauty and charm.",
"text": "In 1500 Louis invited Isabella to a great party in Milan to celebrate his",
"text": "victory. Leonardo da Vinci built an enormous mechanical lion for the",
"text": "affair: When the lion opened its mouth, it spewed fresh lilies, the",
"text": "symbols of French royalty. At the party Isabella wore one of her",
"text": "celebrated dresses (she had by far the largest wardrobe of any of the",
"text": "Italian princesses), and just as she had hoped, she charmed andcaptivated Louis, who ignored all the other ladies vying for his attention.",
"text": "She soon became his constant companion, and in exchange for her",
"text": "friendship he pledged to protect Mantua’s independence from Venice.",
"text": "Men of great abilities are slow to act. for it is easier to avoid occasions",
"text": "for committing yourself than to come well out of a commitment. Such",
"text": "occasions test your judgment; it is safer to avoid them than to emerge",
"text": "victorious from them. One obligation leads to a greater one, and you",
"text": "come very near to the brink of disaster.",
"text": "BALTASAR GRACIAN, 1601-1658",
"text": "As one danger receded, however, another, more worrying one arose,",
"text": "this time from the south, in the form of Cesare Borgia. Starting in 1500,",
"text": "Borgia had marched steadily northward, gobbling up all the small",
"text": "kingdoms in his path in the name of his father, Pope Alexander. Isabella",
"text": "understood Cesare perfectly: He could be neither trusted nor in any way",
"text": "offended. He had to be cajoled and kept at arm’s length. Isabella began",
"text": "by sending him gifts—falcons, prize dogs, perfumes, and dozens of",
"text": "masks, which she knew he always wore when he walked the streets of",
"text": "Rome. She sent messengers with flattering greetings (although these",
"text": "messengers also acted as her spies). At one point Cesare asked if he",
"text": "could house some troops in Mantua; Isabella managed to dissuade him",
"text": "politely, knowing full well that once the troops were quartered in the city,",
"text": "they would never leave.",
"text": "Even while Isabella was charming Cesare, she convinced everyone",
"text": "around her to take care never to utter a harsh word about him, since he",
"text": "had spies everywhere and would use the slightest pretext for invasion.",
"text": "When Isabella had a child, she asked Cesare to be the godfather. She",
"text": "even dangled in front of him the possibility of a marriage between her",
"text": "family and his. Somehow it all worked, for although elsewhere he seized",
"text": "everything in his path, he spared Mantua.",
"text": "In 1503 Cesare’s father, Alexander, died, and a few years later the new",
"text": "pope, Julius II, went to war to drive the French troops from Italy. When",
"text": "the ruler of Ferrara—Alfonso, Isabella’s brother—sided with the French,",
"text": "Julius decided to attack and humble him. Once again Isabella found",
"text": "herself in the middle: the pope on one side, the French and her brother on",
"text": "the other. She dared not ally herself with either, but to offend either",
"text": "would be equally disastrous. Again she played the double game at which",
"text": "she had become so expert. On the one hand she got her husband Gonzaga",
"text": "to fight for the pope, knowing he would not fight very hard. On the other",
"text": "she let French troops pass through Mantua to come to Ferrara’s aid.While she publicly complained that the French had “invaded” her",
"text": "territory, she privately supplied them with valuable information. To make",
"text": "the invasion plausible to Julius, she even had the French pretend to",
"text": "plunder Mantua. It worked once again: The pope left Mantua alone.",
"text": "In 1513, after a lengthy siege, Julius defeated Ferrara, and the French",
"text": "troops withdrew. Worn out by the effort, the pope died a few months",
"text": "later. With his death, the nightmarish cycle of battles and petty squabbles",
"text": "began to repeat itself.",
"text": "A great deal changed in Italy during Isabella’s reign: Popes came and",
"text": "went, Cesare Borgia rose and then fell, Venice lost its empire, Milan was",
"text": "invaded, Florence fell into decline, and Rome was sacked by the",
"text": "Hapsburg Emperor Charles V Through all this, tiny Mantua not only",
"text": "survived but thrived, its court the envy of Italy. Its wealth and",
"text": "sovereignty would remain intact for a century after Isabella’s death, in",
"text": "1539.",
"text": "THE EAGLE AND THE SOW",
"text": "An eagle built a nest on a tree, and hatched out some eaglets. And a wild",
"text": "sow brought her litter under the tree. The eagle used to fly off after her",
"text": "prey, and bring it back to her young. And the sow rooted around the tree",
"text": "and hunted in the woods, and when night came she would bring her",
"text": "young something to eat.",
"text": "And the eagle and the sow lived in neighborly fashion. And a grimalkin",
"text": "laid her plans to destroy the eaglets and the little sucking pigs. She went",
"text": "to the eagle, and said: “Eagle, you had better not fly very far away.",
"text": "Beware of the sow; she is planning an evil design. She is going to",
"text": "undermine the roots of the tree. You see she is rooting all the time.”",
"text": "Then the grimalkin went to the sow and said: “Sow, you have not a good",
"text": "neighbor. Last evening I heard the eagle saying to her eaglets: ‘My dear",
"text": "little eaglets, I am going to treat you to a nice little pig. Just as soon as",
"text": "the sow is gone, I will bring you a little young sucking pig.”’",
"text": "From that time the eagle ceased to fly out after prey, and the sow did not",
"text": "go any more into the forest. The eaglets and the young pigs perished of",
"text": "starvation, and grimalkin feasted on them.",
"text": "FABLES, LEO TOLSTOY, 1828-1910",
"text": "InterpretationIsabella d’Este understood Italy’s political situation with amazing clarity:",
"text": "Once you took the side of any of the forces in the field, you were",
"text": "doomed. The powerful would take you over, the weak would wear you",
"text": "down. Any new alliance would lead to a new enemy, and as this cycle",
"text": "stirred up more conflict, other forces would be dragged in, until you",
"text": "could no longer extricate yourself. Eventually you would collapse from",
"text": "exhaustion.",
"text": "Isabella steered her kingdom on the only course that would bring her",
"text": "safely through. She would not allow herself to lose her head through",
"text": "loyalty to a duke or a king. Nor would she try to stop the conflict that",
"text": "raged around her—that would only drag her into it. And in any case the",
"text": "conflict was to her advantage. If the various parties were fighting to the",
"text": "death, and exhausting themselves in the process, they were in no position",
"text": "to gobble up Mantua. The source of Isabella’s power was her clever",
"text": "ability to seem interested in the affairs and interests of each side, while",
"text": "actually committing to no one but herself and her kingdom.",
"text": "Once you step into a fight that is not of your own choosing, you lose",
"text": "all initiative. The combatants’ interests become your interests; you",
"text": "become their tool. Learn to control yourself, to restrain your natural",
"text": "tendency to take sides and join the fight. Be friendly and charming to",
"text": "each of the combatants, then step back as they collide. With every battle",
"text": "they grow weaker, while you grow stronger with every battle you avoid.",
"text": "When the snipe and the mussel struggle, the fisherman gets the benefit.",
"text": "Ancient Chinese saying",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "To succeed in the game of power, you have to master your emotions. But",
"text": "even if you succeed in gaining such self-control, you can never control",
"text": "the temperamental dispositions of those around you. And this presents a",
"text": "great danger. Most people operate in a whirlpool of emotions, constantly",
"text": "reacting, churning up squabbles and conflicts. Your self-control and",
"text": "autonomy will only bother and infuriate them. They will try to draw you",
"text": "into the whirlpool, begging you to take sides in their endless battles, or to",
"text": "make peace for them. If you succumb to their emotional entreaties, little",
"text": "by little you will find your mind and time occupied by their problems.Do not allow whatever compassion and pity you possess to suck you in.",
"text": "You can never win in this game; the conflicts can only multiply.",
"text": "On the other hand, you cannot completely stand aside, for that would",
"text": "cause needless offense. To play the game properly, you must seem",
"text": "interested in other people’s problems, even sometimes appear to take",
"text": "their side. But while you make outward gestures of support, you must",
"text": "maintain your inner energy and sanity by keeping your emotions",
"text": "disengaged. No matter how hard people try to pull you in, never let your",
"text": "interest in their affairs and petty squabbles go beyond the surface. Give",
"text": "them gifts, listen with a sympathetic look, even occasionally play the",
"text": "charmer—but inwardly keep both the friendly kings and the perfidious",
"text": "Borgias at arm’s length. By refusing to commit and thus maintaining",
"text": "your autonomy you retain the initiative: Your moves stay matters of your",
"text": "own choosing, not defensive reactions to the push-and-pull of those",
"text": "around you.",
"text": "THE PRICE OF",
"text": "While a poor woman stood in the market place selling cheeses, a cat",
"text": "came along and carried off a cheese. A dog saw the pilferer and tried to",
"text": "take the cheese away from him. The cat stood up to the dog. So they",
"text": "pitched into each other. The dog barked and snapped; the cat spat and",
"text": "scratched, but they could bring the battle to no decision.",
"text": "“Let’s go to the fox and have him referee the matter, ” the cat finally",
"text": "suggested. “Agreed, ” said the dog. So they went to the fox. The fox",
"text": "listened to their arguments with a judicious air.",
"text": "“Foolish animals,” he chided them, “why carry on like that? If both of",
"text": "you are willing, I’ll divide the cheese in two and you’ll both be satisfied.",
"text": "”",
"text": "“Agreed, ” said the cat and the dog.",
"text": "So the fox took out his knife and cut the cheese in two, but, instead of",
"text": "cutting it lengthwise, he cut it in the width. “My half is smaller!”",
"text": "protested the dog.",
"text": "The fox looked judiciously through his spectacles at the dog’s share.",
"text": "“You’re right, quite right!” he decided.",
"text": "So he went and bit off a piece of the cat’s share.",
"text": "“That will make it even!” he said.",
"text": "When the cat saw what the fox did she began to yowl:",
"text": "“Just look! My part’s smaller now!”The fox again put on his spectacles and looked judiciously at the cat’s",
"text": "share.",
"text": "“Right you are!” said the fox. “Just a moment, and I’ll make it right.”",
"text": "And he went and bit off a piece from the dog’s cheese This went on so",
"text": "long, with the fox nibbling first at the dog’s and then at the cat’s share.",
"text": "that he finally ate up the whole cheese before their eyes.",
"text": "A TREASURY OF JEWISH FOLKLORE, NATHAN AUSUBEL, ED.,",
"text": "1948",
"text": "Slowness to pick up your weapons can be a weapon itself, especially if",
"text": "you let other people exhaust themselves fighting, then take advantage of",
"text": "their exhaustion. In ancient China, the kingdom of Chin once invaded the",
"text": "kingdom of Hsing. Huan, the ruler of a nearby province, thought he",
"text": "should rush to Hsing’s defense, but his adviser counseled him to wait:",
"text": "“Hsing is not yet going to ruin,” he said, “and Chin is not yet exhausted.",
"text": "If Chin is not exhausted, [we] cannot become very influential. Moreover,",
"text": "the merit of supporting a state in danger is not as great as the virtue of",
"text": "reviving a ruined one.” The adviser’s argument won the day, and as he",
"text": "had predicted, Huan later had the glory both of rescuing Hsing from the",
"text": "brink of destruction and then of conquering an exhausted Chin. He",
"text": "stayed out of the fighting until the forces engaged in it had worn each",
"text": "other down, at which point it was safe for him to intervene.",
"text": "That is what holding back from the fray allows you: time to position",
"text": "yourself to take advantage of the situation once one side starts to lose.",
"text": "You can also take the game a step further, by promising your support to",
"text": "both sides in a conflict while maneuvering so that the one to come out",
"text": "ahead in the struggle is you. This was what Castruccio Castracani, ruler",
"text": "of the Italian town of Lucca in the fourteenth century, did when he had",
"text": "designs on the town of Pistoia. A siege would have been expensive,",
"text": "costing both lives and money, but Castruccio knew that Pistoia contained",
"text": "two rival factions, the Blacks and the Whites, which hated one another.",
"text": "He negotiated with the Blacks, promising to help them against the",
"text": "Whites; then, without their knowledge, he promised the Whites he would",
"text": "help them against the Blacks. And Castruccio kept his promises—he sent",
"text": "an army to a Black-controlled gate to the city, which the sentries of",
"text": "course welcomed in. Meanwhile another of his armies entered through a",
"text": "White-controlled gate. The two armies united in the middle, occupied the",
"text": "town, killed the leaders of both factions, ended the internal war, and took",
"text": "Pistoia for Castruccio.",
"text": "Preserving your autonomy gives you options when people come to",
"text": "blows—you can play the mediator, broker the peace, while reallysecuring your own interests. You can pledge support to one side and the",
"text": "other may have to court you with a higher bid. Or, like Castruccio, you",
"text": "can appear to take both sides, then play the antagonists against each",
"text": "other.",
"text": "Oftentimes when a conflict breaks out, you are tempted to side with",
"text": "the stronger party, or the one that offers you apparent advantages in an",
"text": "alliance. This is risky business. First, it is often difficult to foresee which",
"text": "side will prevail in the long run. But even if you guess right and ally",
"text": "yourself with the stronger party, you may find yourself swallowed up and",
"text": "lost, or conveniently forgotten, when they become victors. Side with the",
"text": "weaker, on the other hand, and you are doomed. But play a waiting game",
"text": "and you cannot lose.",
"text": "In France’s July Revolution of 1830, after three days of riots, the",
"text": "statesman Talleyrand, now elderly, sat by his Paris window, listening to",
"text": "the pealing bells that signaled the riots were over. Turning to an assistant,",
"text": "he said, “Ah, the bells! We’re winning.” “Who’s ‘we,’ mon prince?” the",
"text": "assistant asked. Gesturing for the man to keep quiet, Talleyrand replied,",
"text": "“Not a word! I’ll tell you who we are tomorrow.” He well knew that only",
"text": "fools rush into a situation—that by committing too quickly you lose your",
"text": "maneuverability. People also respect you less: Perhaps tomorrow, they",
"text": "think, you will commit to another, different cause, since you gave",
"text": "yourself so easily to this one. Good fortune is a fickle god and will often",
"text": "pass from one side to the other. Commitment to one side deprives you of",
"text": "the advantage of time and the luxury of waiting. Let others fall in love",
"text": "with this group or that; for your part don’t rush in, don’t lose your head.",
"text": "Finally, there are occasions when it is wisest to drop all pretence of",
"text": "appearing supportive and instead to trumpet your independence and self-",
"text": "reliance. The aristocratic pose of independence is particularly important",
"text": "for those who need to gain respect. George Washington recognized this",
"text": "in his work to establish the young American republic on firm ground. As",
"text": "president, Washington avoided the temptation of making an alliance with",
"text": "France or England, despite the pressure on him to do so. He wanted the",
"text": "country to earn the world’s respect through its independence. Although a",
"text": "treaty with France might have helped in the short term, in the long run he",
"text": "knew it would be more effective to establish the nation’s autonomy.",
"text": "Europe would have to see the United States as an equal power.",
"text": "Remember: You have only so much energy and so much time. Every",
"text": "moment wasted on the affairs of others subtracts from your strength. You",
"text": "may be afraid that people will condemn you as heartless, but in the end,",
"text": "maintaining your independence and self-reliance will gain you morerespect and place you in a position of power from which you can choose",
"text": "to help others on your own initiative.",
"text": "Image: A Thicket of Shrubs. In the forest, one shrub latches on to",
"text": "another, entangling its neighbor with its thorns, the thicket slowly",
"text": "extending its impenetrable domain. Only what keeps its distance and",
"text": "stands apart can grow and rise above the thicket.",
"text": "Authority: Regard it as more courageous not to become involved in an",
"text": "engagement than to win in battle, and where there is already one",
"text": "interfering fool, take care that there shall not be two. (Baltasar Gracian,",
"text": "1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "Both parts of this law will turn against you if you take it too far. The",
"text": "game proposed here is delicate and difficult. If you play too many parties",
"text": "against one another, they will see through the maneuver and will gang up",
"text": "on you. If you keep your growing number of suitors waiting too long,",
"text": "you will inspire not desire but distrust. People will start to lose interest.",
"text": "Eventually you may find it worthwhile to commit to one side—if only",
"text": "for appearances’ sake, to prove you are capable of attachment.",
"text": "Even then, however, the key will be to maintain your inner",
"text": "independence—to keep yourself from getting emotionally involved.",
"text": "Preserve the unspoken option of being able to leave at any moment and",
"text": "reclaim your freedom if the side you are allied with starts to collapse.",
"text": "The friends you made while you were being courted will give you plenty",
"text": "of places to go once you jump ship.LAW 21",
"text": "PLAY A SUCKER TO CATCH A SUCKER—",
"text": "SEEM DUMBER THAN YOUR MARK",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, then, is to",
"text": "make your victims feel smart—and not just smart, but smarter than you",
"text": "are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have",
"text": "ulterior motives.",
"text": "In the winter of 1872, the U.S. financier Asbury Harpending was visiting",
"text": "London when he received a cable: A diamond mine had been discovered",
"text": "in the American West. The cable came from a reliable source—William",
"text": "Ralston, owner of the Bank of California—but Harpending nevertheless",
"text": "took it as a practical joke, probably inspired by the recent discovery of",
"text": "huge diamond mines in South Africa. True, when reports had first come",
"text": "in of gold being discovered in the western United States, everyone had",
"text": "been skeptical, and those had turned out to be true. But a diamond mine",
"text": "in the West! Harpending showed the cable to his fellow financier Baron",
"text": "Rothschild (one of the richest men in the world), saying it must be a",
"text": "joke. The baron, however, replied, “Don’t be too sure about that.",
"text": "America is a very large country. It has furnished the world with many",
"text": "surprises already. Perhaps it has others in store.” Harpending promptly",
"text": "took the first ship back to the States.",
"text": "Now, there is nothing of which a man is prouder than of interlecutal",
"text": "ability, for it is this that gives him his commanding place in the animal",
"text": "world. It is an exceedingly rash thing to ter anyone see that you are",
"text": "decidedly superior to him in this respect, and to let other people see it",
"text": "too…. hence, white rank and riches may always reckon upon deferential",
"text": "treatment in society, that is something which intellectual ability can",
"text": "never expect To be ignorea is the greatest favour shown to it; and if",
"text": "people notice it at all, it is because they regard it us a piece of",
"text": "imperinence, or else as something to which its possessor has nolegitimate right, and upon which he dares to pride himself; and in",
"text": "retaliation and revenge for his conduct, people secretly try and humiliare",
"text": "him in some other way; unit if they wait to ao this, it is only for a futing",
"text": "opporunity. A man may be as humble as possible in his demeanour and",
"text": "yet hardly ever get people to overlook his crime in standing intellectually",
"text": "above them. In the Garden of Roses, Sadi makes the remark: “You",
"text": "should know that foolish people are a hundredfold more averse to",
"text": "meeting the wise than the wise are indisposed for the company of the",
"text": "foolish. ”",
"text": "On the other hand, it is a real recommendation to be stupid. For just as",
"text": "warmth is agreeable to the body, so it does the mind good to feel its",
"text": "superiority; and a man will seek company likely to give him this feeling,",
"text": "as instinctively as he will approach the fireplace or walk in the sun if he",
"text": "wants to get warm. But this means that he will be disliked on account of",
"text": "his superiority; and if a man is to be liked, he must really be inferior in",
"text": "point of intellect.",
"text": "ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860",
"text": "When Harpending reached San Francisco, there was an excitement in",
"text": "the air recalling the Gold Rush days of the late 1840s. Two crusty",
"text": "prospectors named Philip Arnold and John Slack had been the ones to",
"text": "find the diamond mine. They had not divulged its location, in Wyoming,",
"text": "but had led a highly respected mining expert to it several weeks back,",
"text": "taking a circular route so he could not guess his whereabouts. Once",
"text": "there, the expert had watched as the miners dug up diamonds. Back in",
"text": "San Francisco the expert had taken the gems to various jewelers, one of",
"text": "whom had estimated their worth at $1.5 million.",
"text": "Harpending and Ralston now asked Arnold and Slack to accompany",
"text": "them back to New York, where the jeweler Charles Tiffany would verify",
"text": "the original estimates. The prospectors responded uneasily—they",
"text": "smelled a trap: How could they trust these city slickers? What if Tiffany",
"text": "and the financiers managed to steal the whole mine out from under",
"text": "them? Ralston tried to allay their fears by giving them $100,000 and",
"text": "placing another $300,000 in escrow for them. If the deal went through,",
"text": "they would be paid an additional $300,000. The miners agreed.",
"text": "The little group traveled to New York, where a meeting was held at",
"text": "the mansion of Samuel L. Barlow. The cream of the city’s aristocracy",
"text": "was in attendance—General George Brinton McClellan, commander of",
"text": "the Union forces in the Civil War; General Benjamin Butler; Horace",
"text": "Greeley, editor of the newspaper the New York Tribune; Harpending;Ralston; and Tiffany. Only Slack and Arnold were missing—as tourists",
"text": "in the city, they had decided to go sight-seeing.",
"text": "When Tiffany announced that the gems were real and worth a fortune,",
"text": "the financiers could barely control their excitement. They wired",
"text": "Rothschild and other tycoons to tell them about the diamond mine and",
"text": "inviting them to share in the investment. At the same time, they also told",
"text": "the prospectors that they wanted one more test: They insisted that a",
"text": "mining expert of their choosing accompany Slack and Arnold to the site",
"text": "to verify its wealth. The prospectors reluctantly agreed. In the meantime,",
"text": "they said, they had to return to San Francisco. The jewels that Tiffany",
"text": "had examined they left with Harpending for safekeeping.",
"text": "Several weeks later, a man named Louis Janin, the best mining expert",
"text": "in the country, met the prospectors in San Francisco. Janin was a born",
"text": "skeptic who was determined to make sure that the mine was not a fraud.",
"text": "Accompanying Janin were Harpending, and several other interested",
"text": "financiers. As with the previous expert, the prospectors led the team",
"text": "through a complex series of canyons, completely confusing them as to",
"text": "their whereabouts. Arriving at the site, the financiers watched in",
"text": "amazement as Janin dug the area up, leveling anthills, turning over",
"text": "boulders, and finding emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and most of all",
"text": "diamonds. The dig lasted eight days, and by the end, Janin was",
"text": "convinced: He told the investors that they now possessed the richest field",
"text": "in mining history. “With a hundred men and proper machinery,” he told",
"text": "them, “I would guarantee to send out one million dollars in diamonds",
"text": "every thirty days.”",
"text": "Returning to San Francisco a few days later, Ralston, Harpending, and",
"text": "company acted fast to form a $10 million corporation of private",
"text": "investors. First, however, they had to get rid of Arnold and Slack. That",
"text": "meant hiding their excitement—they certainly did not want to reveal the",
"text": "field’s real value. So they played possum. Who knows if Janin is right,",
"text": "they told the prospectors, the mine may not be as rich as we think. This",
"text": "just made the prospectors angry. Trying a different tactic, the financiers",
"text": "told the two men that if they insisted on having shares in the mine, they",
"text": "would end up being fleeced by the unscrupulous tycoons and investors",
"text": "who would run the corporation ; better, they said, to take the $700,000",
"text": "already offered—an enormous sum at the time—and put their greed",
"text": "aside. This the prospectors seemed to understand, and they finally agreed",
"text": "to take the money, in return signing the rights to the site over to the",
"text": "financiers, and leaving maps to it.News of the mine spread like wildfire. Prospectors fanned out across",
"text": "Wyoming. Meanwhile Harpending and group began spending the",
"text": "millions they had collected from their investors, buying equipment,",
"text": "hiring the best men in the business, and furnishing luxurious offices in",
"text": "New York and San Francisco.",
"text": "A few weeks later, on their first trip back to the site, they learned the",
"text": "hard truth: Not a single diamond or ruby was to be found. It was all a",
"text": "fake. They were ruined. Harpending had unwittingly lured the richest",
"text": "men in the world into the biggest scam of the century.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Arnold and Slack pulled off their stupendous con not by using a fake",
"text": "engineer or bribing Tiffany: All of the experts had been real. All of them",
"text": "honestly believed in the existence of the mine and in the value of the",
"text": "gems. What had fooled them all was nothing else than Arnold and Slack",
"text": "themselves. The two men seemed to be such rubes, such hayseeds, so",
"text": "naive, that no one for an instant had believed them capable of an",
"text": "audacious scam. The prospectors had simply observed the law of",
"text": "appearing more stupid than the mark—the deceiver’s First",
"text": "Commandment.",
"text": "The logistics of the con were quite simple. Months before Arnold and",
"text": "Slack announced the “discovery” of the diamond mine, they traveled to",
"text": "Europe, where they purchased some real gems for around $12,000 (part",
"text": "of the money they had saved from their days as gold miners). They then",
"text": "salted the “mine” with these gems, which the first expert dug up and",
"text": "brought to San Francisco. The jewelers who had appraised these stones,",
"text": "including Tiffany himself, had gotten caught up in the fever and had",
"text": "grossly overestimated their value. Then Ralston gave the prospectors",
"text": "$100,000 as security, and immediately after their trip to New York they",
"text": "simply went to Amsterdam, where they bought sacks of uncut gems,",
"text": "before returning to San Francisco. The second time they salted the mine,",
"text": "there were many more jewels to be found.",
"text": "The effectiveness of the scheme, however, rested not on tricks like",
"text": "these but on the fact that Arnold and Slack played their parts to",
"text": "perfection. On their trip to New York, where they mingled with",
"text": "millionaires and tycoons, they played up their clodhopper image,wearing pants and coats a size or two too small and acting incredulous at",
"text": "everything they saw in the big city. No one believed that these country",
"text": "simpletons could possibly be conning the most devious, unscrupulous",
"text": "financiers of the time. And once Harpending, Ralston, and even",
"text": "Rothschild accepted the mine’s existence, anyone who doubted it was",
"text": "questioning the intelligence of the world’s most successful businessmen.",
"text": "In the end, Harpending’s reputation was ruined and he never",
"text": "recovered; Rothschild learned his lesson and never fell for another con;",
"text": "Slack took his money and disappeared from view, never to be found.",
"text": "Arnold simply went home to Kentucky. After all, his sale of his mining",
"text": "rights had been legitimate; the buyers had taken the best advice, and if",
"text": "the mine had run out of diamonds, that was their problem. Arnold used",
"text": "the money to greatly enlarge his farm and open up a bank of his own.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "The feeling that someone else is more intelligent than we are is almost",
"text": "intolerable. We usually try to justify it in different ways: “He only has",
"text": "book knowledge, whereas I have real knowledge.” “Her parents paid for",
"text": "her to get a good education. If my parents had had as much money, if I",
"text": "had been as privileged….” “He’s not as smart as he thinks.” Last but not",
"text": "least: “She may know her narrow little field better than I do, but beyond",
"text": "that she’s really not smart at all. Even Einstein was a boob outside",
"text": "physics.”",
"text": "Given how important the idea of intelligence is to most people’s",
"text": "vanity, it is critical never inadvertently to insult or impugn a person’s",
"text": "brain power. That is an unforgivable sin. But if you can make this iron",
"text": "rule work for you, it opens up all sorts of avenues of deception.",
"text": "Subliminally reassure people that they are more intelligent than you are,",
"text": "or even that you are a bit of a moron, and you can run rings around them.",
"text": "The feeling of intellectual superiority you give them will disarm their",
"text": "suspicion-muscles.",
"text": "In 1865 the Prussian councillor Otto von Bismarck wanted Austria to",
"text": "sign a certain treaty. The treaty was totally in the interests of Prussia and",
"text": "against the interests of Austria, and Bismarck would have to strategize to",
"text": "get the Austrians to agree to it. But the Austrian negotiator, Count",
"text": "Blome, was an avid cardplayer. His particular game was quinze, and heoften said that he could judge a man’s character by the way he played",
"text": "quinze. Bismarck knew of this saying of Blome’s.",
"text": "The night before the negotiations were to begin, Bismarck innocently",
"text": "engaged Blome in a game of quinze. The Prussian would later write,",
"text": "“That was the very last time I ever played quinze. I played so recklessly",
"text": "that everyone was astonished. I lost several thousand talers [the currency",
"text": "of the time], but I succeeded in fooling [Blome], for he believed me to be",
"text": "more venturesome than I am and I gave way.” Besides appearing",
"text": "reckless, Bismarck also played the witless fool, saying ridiculous things",
"text": "and bumbling about with a surplus of nervous energy.",
"text": "All this made Blome feel he had gathered valuable information. He",
"text": "knew that Bismarck was aggressive—the Prussian already had that",
"text": "reputation, and the way he played had confirmed it. And aggressive men,",
"text": "Blome knew, can be foolish and rash. Accordingly, when the time came",
"text": "to sign the treaty, Blome thought he had the advantage. A heedless fool",
"text": "like Bismarck, he thought, is incapable of cold-blooded calculation and",
"text": "deception, so he only glanced at the treaty before signing it—he failed to",
"text": "read the fine print. As soon as the ink was dry, a joyous Bismarck",
"text": "exclaimed in his face, “Well, I could never have believed that I should",
"text": "find an Austrian diplomat willing to sign that document!”",
"text": "The Chinese have a phrase, “Masquerading as a swine to kill the",
"text": "tiger.” This refers to an ancient hunting technique in which the hunter",
"text": "clothes himself in the hide and snout of a pig, and mimics its grunting.",
"text": "The mighty tiger thinks a pig is coming his way, and lets it get close,",
"text": "savoring the prospect of an easy meal. But it is the hunter who has the",
"text": "last laugh.",
"text": "Masquerading as a swine works wonders on those who, like tigers, are",
"text": "arrogant and overconfident: The easier they think it is to prey on you, the",
"text": "more easily you can turn the tables. This trick is also useful if you are",
"text": "ambitious yet find yourself low in the hierarchy: Appearing less",
"text": "intelligent than you are, even a bit of a fool, is the perfect disguise. Look",
"text": "like a harmless pig and no one will believe you harbor dangerous",
"text": "ambitions. They may even promote you since you seem so likable, and",
"text": "subservient. Claudius before he became emperor of Rome, and the prince",
"text": "of France who later became Louis XIII, used this tactic when those",
"text": "above them suspected they might have designs on the throne. By playing",
"text": "the fool as young men, they were left alone. When the time came for",
"text": "them to strike, and to act with vigor and decisiveness, they caught",
"text": "everyone off-guard.Intelligence is the obvious quality to downplay, but why stop there?",
"text": "Taste and sophistication rank close to intelligence on the vanity scale;",
"text": "make people feel they are more sophisticated than you are and their",
"text": "guard will come down. As Arnold and Slack knew, an air of complete",
"text": "naivete can work wonders. Those fancy financiers were laughing at them",
"text": "behind their backs, but who laughed loudest in the end? In general, then,",
"text": "always make people believe they are smarter and more sophisticated than",
"text": "you are. They will keep you around because you make them feel better",
"text": "about themselves, and the longer you are around, the more opportunities",
"text": "you will have to deceive them.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Opossum. In playing",
"text": "dead, the opossum plays stupid.",
"text": "Many a predator has therefore left it",
"text": "alone. Who could believe that such an",
"text": "ugly, unintelligent, nervous little creature",
"text": "could be capable of such deception?",
"text": "Authority: Know how to make use of stupidity: The wisest man plays",
"text": "this card at times. There are occasions when the highest wisdom consists",
"text": "in appearing not to know—you must not be ignorant but capable of",
"text": "playing it. It is not much good being wise among fools and sane among",
"text": "lunatics. He who poses as a fool is not a fool. The best way to be well",
"text": "received by all is to clothe yourself in the skin of the dumbest of brutes.",
"text": "(Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "To reveal the true nature of your intelligence rarely pays; you should get",
"text": "in the habit of downplaying it at all times. If people inadvertently learn",
"text": "the truth—that you are actually much smarter than you look—they will",
"text": "admire you more for being discreet than for making your brilliance show.",
"text": "At the start of your climb to the top, of course, you cannot play too",
"text": "stupid: You may want to let your bosses know, in a subtle way, that youare smarter than the competition around you. As you climb the ladder,",
"text": "however, you should to some degree try to dampen your brilliance.",
"text": "There is, however, one situation where it pays to do the opposite—",
"text": "when you can cover up a deception with a show of intelligence. In",
"text": "matters of smarts as in most things, appearances are what count. If you",
"text": "seem to have authority and knowledge, people will believe what you say.",
"text": "This can be very useful in getting you out of a scrape.",
"text": "The art dealer Joseph Duveen was once attending a soiree at the New",
"text": "York home of a tycoon to whom he had recently sold a Dürer painting",
"text": "for a high price. Among the guests was a young French art critic who",
"text": "seemed extremely knowledgeable and confident. Wanting to impress this",
"text": "man, the tycoon’s daughter showed him the Dürer, which had not yet",
"text": "been hung. The critic studied it for a time, then finally said, “You know, I",
"text": "don’t think this Dürer is right.” He followed the young woman as she",
"text": "hurried to tell her father what he had said, and listened as the magnate,",
"text": "deeply unsettled, turned to Duveen for reassurance. Duveen just laughed.",
"text": "“How very amusing,” he said. “Do you realize, young man, that at least",
"text": "twenty other art experts here and in Europe have been taken in too, and",
"text": "have said that painting isn’t genuine? And now you’ve made the same",
"text": "mistake.” His confident tone and air of authority intimidated the",
"text": "Frenchman, who apologized for his mistake.",
"text": "Duveen knew that the art market was flooded with fakes, and that",
"text": "many paintings had been falsely ascribed to old masters. He tried his best",
"text": "to distinguish the real from the fake, but in his zeal to sell he often",
"text": "overplayed a work’s authenticity. What mattered to him was that the",
"text": "buyer believed he had bought a Dürer, and that Duveen himself",
"text": "convinced everyone of his “expertness” through his air of irreproachable",
"text": "authority. Thus, it is important to be able to play the professor when",
"text": "necessary and never impose such an attitude for its own sake.LAW 22",
"text": "USE THE SURRENDER TACTIC: TRANSFORM",
"text": "WEAKNESS INTO POWER",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender",
"text": "instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate",
"text": "your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the",
"text": "satisfaction of fighting and defeating you—surrender first. By turning",
"text": "the other cheek you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of",
"text": "power.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "The island of Melos is strategically situated in the heart of the",
"text": "Mediterranean. In classical times, the city of Athens dominated the sea",
"text": "and coastal areas around Greece, but Sparta, in the Peloponnese, had",
"text": "been Melos’s original colonizer. During the Peloponnesian War, then, the",
"text": "Melians refused to ally themselves with Athens and remained loyal to",
"text": "Mother Sparta. In 416 B.C. the Athenians sent an expedition against",
"text": "Melos. Before launching an all-out attack, however, they dispatched a",
"text": "delegation to persuade the Melians to surrender and become an ally",
"text": "rather than suffer devastation and defeat.",
"text": "THE CHESTNUT AND THE FIG TREE",
"text": "A man who had climbed upon a certain fig tree, was bending the boughs",
"text": "toward him and plucking the ripe fruit, which he then put into his mouth",
"text": "to destroy and gnaw with his hard teeth. The chestnut, seeing this, tossed",
"text": "its long branches and with tumultuous rustle exclaimed: “Oh Fig! Howmuch less protected by nature you are than I. See how my sweet offspring",
"text": "are set in close array; first clothed in soft wrappers over which is the",
"text": "hard but softly lined husk. And not content with this much care, nature",
"text": "has also given us these sharp and close-set spines, so that the hand of",
"text": "man cannot hurt us.” Then the fig tree began to laugh, and after the",
"text": "laughter it said: “You know well that man is of such ingenuity that he",
"text": "will bereave even you of your children. But in your case he will do it by",
"text": "means of rods and stones; and when they are felled he will trample them",
"text": "with his feet or hit them with stones, so that your offspring will emerge",
"text": "from their armor crushed and maimed; while I am touched carefully by",
"text": "his hands, and never, like you, with rouglxness”",
"text": "LEONARDO DAVINCI, 1452-1519",
"text": "“You know as well as we do,” the delegates said, “that the standard of",
"text": "justice depends on the equality of power to compel, and that in fact the",
"text": "strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they",
"text": "have to accept.” When the Melians responded that this denied the notion",
"text": "of fair play, the Athenians said that those in power determined what was",
"text": "fair and what was not. The Melians argued that this authority belonged to",
"text": "the gods, not to mortals. “Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of",
"text": "men,” replied a member of the Athenian delegation, “lead us to conclude",
"text": "that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can.”",
"text": "The Melians would not budge. Sparta, they insisted, would come to",
"text": "their defense. The Athenians countered that the Spartans were a",
"text": "conservative, practical people, and would not help Melos because they",
"text": "had nothing to gain and a lot to lose by doing so.",
"text": "Finally the Melians began to talk of honor and the principle of",
"text": "resisting brute force. “Do not be led astray by a false sense of honor,”",
"text": "said the Athenians. “Honor often brings men to ruin when they are faced",
"text": "with an obvious danger that somehow affects their pride. There is",
"text": "nothing disgraceful in giving way to the greatest city in Hellas when she",
"text": "is offering you such reasonable terms.” The debate ended. The Melians",
"text": "discussed the issue among themselves, and decided to trust in the aid of",
"text": "the Spartans, the will of the gods, and the rightness of their cause. They",
"text": "politely declined the Athenians’ offer.",
"text": "A few days later the Athenians invaded Melos. The Melians fought",
"text": "nobly, even without the Spartans, who did not come to their rescue. It",
"text": "took several attempts before the Athenians could surround and besiege",
"text": "their main city, but the Melians finally surrendered. The Athenians",
"text": "wasted no time—they put to death all the men of military age that they",
"text": "could capture, they sold the women and children as slaves, and theyrepopulated the island with their own colonists. Only a handful of",
"text": "Melians survived.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The Athenians were one of the most eminently practical people in",
"text": "history, and they made the most practical argument they could with the",
"text": "Melians: When you are weaker, there is nothing to be gained by fighting",
"text": "a useless fight. No one comes to help the weak—by doing so they would",
"text": "only put themselves in jeopardy. The weak are alone and must submit.",
"text": "Fighting gives you nothing to gain but martyrdom, and in the process a",
"text": "lot of people who do not believe in your cause will die.",
"text": "Weakness is no sin, and can even become a strength if you learn how",
"text": "to play it right. Had the Melians surrendered in the first place, they",
"text": "would have been able to sabotage the Athenians in subtle ways, or might",
"text": "have gotten what they could have out of the alliance and then left it when",
"text": "the Athenians themselves were weakened, as in fact happened several",
"text": "years later. Fortunes change and the mighty are often brought down.",
"text": "Surrender conceals great power: Lulling the enemy into complacency, it",
"text": "gives you time to recoup, time to undermine, time for revenge. Never",
"text": "sacrifice that time in exchange for honor in a battle that you cannot win.",
"text": "Voltaire was living in exile in London at a time when anti-French",
"text": "sentiment was at its highest. One day walking through the streets. he",
"text": "found himself surrounded by an angry crowd. “Hang him. Hang the",
"text": "Frenchman,”they yelled. Voltaire calmly addressed the mob with the",
"text": "following words: “Men of England’ You wish to kill me because I am a",
"text": "Frenchman. Am I not punished enough in not being born an",
"text": "Englishman?” The crowd cheered his thoughtfill words, and escorted",
"text": "him safely back to his lodgings.",
"text": "THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES. CLIFTON",
"text": "FADIMAN, ED., 1985",
"text": "Weak people never give way when they ought to.",
"text": "Cardinal de Retz, 1613-1679",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAWSometime in the 1920s the German writer Bertolt Brecht became a",
"text": "convert to the cause of Communism. From then on his plays, essays, and",
"text": "poems reflected his revolutionary fervor, and he generally tried to make",
"text": "his ideological statements as clear as possible. When Hitler came to",
"text": "power in Germany, Brecht and his Communist colleagues became",
"text": "marked men. He had many friends in the United States—Americans who",
"text": "sympathized with his beliefs, as well as fellow German intellectuals who",
"text": "had fled Hitler. In 1941, accordingly, Brecht emigrated to the United",
"text": "States, and chose to settle in Los Angeles, where he hoped to make a",
"text": "living in the film business.",
"text": "Over the next few years Brecht wrote screenplays with a pointedly an",
"text": "ticapitalist slant. He had little success in Hollywood, so in 1947, the war",
"text": "having ended, he decided to return to Europe. That same year, however,",
"text": "the U.S. Congress’s House Un-American Activities Committee began its",
"text": "investigation into supposed Communist infiltration in Hollywood. It",
"text": "began to gather information on Brecht, who had so openly espoused",
"text": "Marxism, and on September 19, 1947, only a month before he had",
"text": "planned to leave the United States, he received a subpoena to appear",
"text": "before the committee. In addition to Brecht, a number of other writers,",
"text": "producers, and directors were summoned to appear as well, and this",
"text": "group came to be known as the Hollywood 19.",
"text": "Before going to Washington, the Hollywood 19 met to decide on a",
"text": "plan of action. Their approach would be confrontational. Instead of",
"text": "answering questions about their membership, or lack of it, in the",
"text": "Communist Party, they would read prepared statements that would",
"text": "challenge the authority of the committee and argue that its activities were",
"text": "unconstitutional. Even if this strategy meant imprisonment, it would gain",
"text": "publicity for their cause.",
"text": "Brecht disagreed. What good was it, he asked, to play the martyr and",
"text": "gain a little public sympathy if in the process they lost the ability to stage",
"text": "their plays and sell their scripts for years to come? He felt certain they",
"text": "were all more intelligent than the members of the committee. Why lower",
"text": "themselves to the level of their opponents by arguing with them? Why",
"text": "not outfox the committee by appearing to surrender to it while subtly",
"text": "mocking it? The Hollywood 19 listened to Brecht politely, but decided to",
"text": "stick to their plan, leaving Brecht to go his own way.",
"text": "The committee finally summoned Brecht on October 30. They",
"text": "expected him to do what others among the Hollywood 19 who had",
"text": "testified before him had done: Argue, refuse to answer questions,",
"text": "challenge the committee’s right to hold its hearing, even yell and hurlinsults. Much to their surprise, however, Brecht was the very picture of",
"text": "congeniality. He wore a suit (something he rarely did), smoked a cigar",
"text": "(he had heard that the committee chairman was a passionate cigar",
"text": "smoker), answered their questions politely, and generally deferred to",
"text": "their authority.",
"text": "Unlike the other witnesses, Brecht answered the question of whether",
"text": "he belonged to the Communist Party: He was not a member, he said,",
"text": "which happened to be the truth. One committee member asked him, “Is it",
"text": "true you have written a number of revolutionary plays?” Brecht had",
"text": "written many plays with overt Communist messages, but he responded,",
"text": "“I have written a number of poems and songs and plays in the fight",
"text": "against Hitler and, of course, they can be considered, therefore, as",
"text": "revolutionary because I, of course, was for the overthrow of that",
"text": "government.” This statement went unchallenged.",
"text": "Brecht’s English was more than adequate, but he used an interpreter",
"text": "throughout his testimony, a tactic that allowed him to play subtle games",
"text": "with language. When committee members found Communist leanings in",
"text": "lines from English editions of his poems, he would repeat the lines in",
"text": "German for the interpreter, who would then retranslate them; and",
"text": "somehow they would come out innocuous. At one point a committee",
"text": "member read one of Brecht’s revolutionary poems out loud in English,",
"text": "and asked him if he had written it. “No,” he responded, “I wrote a",
"text": "German poem, which is very different from this.” The author’s elusive",
"text": "answers baffled the committee members, but his politeness and the way",
"text": "he yielded to their authority made it impossible for them to get angry",
"text": "with him.",
"text": "After only an hour of questioning, the committee members had had",
"text": "enough. “Thank you very much,” said the chairman, “You are a good",
"text": "example to the [other] witnesses.” Not only did they free him, they",
"text": "offered to help him if he had any trouble with immigration officials who",
"text": "might detain him for their own reasons. The following day, Brecht left",
"text": "the United States, never to return.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The Hollywood 19’s confrontational approach won them a lot of",
"text": "sympathy, and years later they gained a kind of vindication in public",
"text": "opinion. But they were also blacklisted, and lost valuable years of",
"text": "profitable working time. Brecht, on the other hand, expressed his disgustat the committee more indirectly. It was not that he changed his beliefs or",
"text": "compromised his values; instead, during his short testimony, he kept the",
"text": "upper hand by appearing to yield while all the time running circles",
"text": "around the committee with vague responses, outright lies that went",
"text": "unchallenged because they were wrapped in enigmas, and word games.",
"text": "In the end he kept the freedom to continue his revolutionary writing (as",
"text": "opposed to suffering imprisonment or detainment in the United States),",
"text": "even while subtly mocking the committee and its authority with his",
"text": "pseudo-obedience.",
"text": "Keep in mind the following: People trying to make a show of their",
"text": "authority are easily deceived by the surrender tactic. Your outward sign",
"text": "of submission makes them feel important; satisfied that you respect",
"text": "them, they become easier targets for a later counterattack, or for the kind",
"text": "of indirect ridicule used by Brecht. Measuring your power over time,",
"text": "never sacrifice long-term maneuverability for the short-lived glories of",
"text": "martyrdom.",
"text": "When the great lord passes, the wise peasant bows deeply and silently",
"text": "farts.",
"text": "Ethiophan proverb",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "What gets us into trouble in the realm of power is often our own",
"text": "overreaction to the moves of our enemies and rivals. That overreaction",
"text": "creates problems we would have avoided had we been more reasonable.",
"text": "It also has an endless rebound effect, for the enemy then overreacts as",
"text": "well, much as the Athenians did to the Melians. It is always our first",
"text": "instinct to react, to meet aggression with some other kind of aggression.",
"text": "But the next time someone pushes you and you find yourself starting to",
"text": "react, try this: Do not resist or fight back, but yield, turn the other cheek,",
"text": "bend. You will find that this often neutralizes their behavior—they",
"text": "expected, even wanted you to react with force and so they are caught off-",
"text": "guard and confounded by your lack of resistance. By yielding, you in",
"text": "fact control the situation, because your surrender is part of a larger plan",
"text": "to lull them into believing they have defeated you.",
"text": "This is the essence of the surrender tactic: Inwardly you stay firm, but",
"text": "outwardly you bend. Deprived of a reason to get angry, your opponentswill often be bewildered instead. And they are unlikely to react with",
"text": "more violence, which would demand a reaction from you. Instead you",
"text": "are allowed the time and space to plot the countermoves that will bring",
"text": "them down. In the battle of the intelligent against the brutal and the",
"text": "aggressive, the surrender tactic is the supreme weapon. It does require",
"text": "self-control: Those who genuinely surrender give up their freedom, and",
"text": "may be crushed by the humiliation of their defeat. You have to remember",
"text": "that you only appear to surrender, like the animal that plays dead to save",
"text": "its hide.",
"text": "We have seen that it can be better to surrender than to fight; faced with",
"text": "a more powerful opponent and a sure defeat, it is often also better to",
"text": "surrender than to run away. Running away may save you for the time",
"text": "being, but the aggressor will eventually catch up with you. If you",
"text": "surrender instead, you have an opportunity to coil around your enemy",
"text": "and strike with your fangs from close up.",
"text": "In 473 B.C., in ancient China, King Goujian of Yue suffered a horrible",
"text": "defeat from the ruler of Wu in the battle of Fujiao. Goujian wanted to",
"text": "flee, but he had an adviser who told him to surrender and to place",
"text": "himself in the service of the ruler of Wu, from which position he could",
"text": "study the man and plot his revenge. Deciding to follow this advice,",
"text": "Goujian gave the ruler all of his riches, and went to work in his",
"text": "conqueror’s stables as the lowest servant. For three years he humbled",
"text": "himself before the ruler, who then, finally satisfied of his loyalty,",
"text": "allowed him to return home. Inwardly, however, Goujian had spent those",
"text": "three years gathering information and plotting revenge. When a terrible",
"text": "drought struck Wu, and the kingdom was weakened by inner turmoil, he",
"text": "raised an army, invaded, and won with ease. That is the power behind",
"text": "surrender: It gives you the time and the flexibility to plot a devastating",
"text": "counterblow. Had Goujian run away, he would have lost this chance.",
"text": "When foreign trade began to threaten Japanese independence in the",
"text": "mid-nineteenth century, the Japanese debated how to defeat the",
"text": "foreigners. One minister, Hotta Masayoshi, wrote a memorandum in",
"text": "1857 that influenced Japanese policy for years to come: “I am therefore",
"text": "convinced that our policy should be to conclude friendly alliances, to",
"text": "send ships to foreign countries everywhere and conduct trade, to copy",
"text": "the foreigners where they are at their best and so repair our own",
"text": "shortcomings, to foster our national strength and complete our",
"text": "armaments, and so gradually subject the foreigners to our influence until",
"text": "in the end all the countries of the world know the blessings of perfect",
"text": "tranquillity and our hegemony is acknowledged throughout the globe.”This is a brilliant application of the Law: Use surrender to gain access to",
"text": "your enemy. Learn his ways, insinuate yourself with him slowly,",
"text": "outwardly conform to his customs, but inwardly maintain your own",
"text": "culture. Eventually you will emerge victorious, for while he considers",
"text": "you weak and inferior, and takes no precautions against you, you are",
"text": "using the time to catch up and surpass him. This soft, permeable form of",
"text": "invasion is often the best, for the enemy has nothing to react against,",
"text": "prepare for, or resist. And had Japan resisted Western influence by force,",
"text": "it might well have suffered a devastating invasion that would have",
"text": "permanently altered its culture.",
"text": "Surrender can also offer a way of mocking your enemies, of turning",
"text": "their power against them, as it did for Brecht. Milan Kundera’s novel",
"text": "The Joke, based on the author’s experiences in a penal camp in",
"text": "Czechoslovakia, tells the story of how the prison guards organized a",
"text": "relay race, guards against prisoners. For the guards this was a chance to",
"text": "show off their physical superiority. The prisoners knew they were",
"text": "expected to lose, so they went out of their way to oblige—miming",
"text": "exaggerated exertion while barely moving, running a few yards and",
"text": "collapsing, limping, jogging ever so slowly while the guards raced ahead",
"text": "at full speed. Both by joining the race and by losing it, they had obliged",
"text": "the guards obediently; but their “overobedience” had mocked the event",
"text": "to the point of ruining it. Overobedience—surrender—was here a way to",
"text": "demonstrate superiority in a reverse manner. Resistance would have",
"text": "engaged the prisoners in the cycle of violence, lowering them to the",
"text": "guards’ level. Overobeying the guards, however, made them ridiculous,",
"text": "yet they could not rightly punish the prisoners, who had only done what",
"text": "they asked.",
"text": "Power is always in flux—since the game is by nature fluid, and an",
"text": "arena of constant struggle, those with power almost always find",
"text": "themselves eventually on the downward swing. If you find yourself",
"text": "temporarily weakened, the surrender tactic is perfect for raising yourself",
"text": "up again—it disguises your ambition; it teaches you patience and self-",
"text": "control, key skills in the game; and it puts you in the best possible",
"text": "position for taking advantage of your oppressor’s sudden slide. If you",
"text": "run away or fight back, in the long run you cannot win. If you surrender,",
"text": "you will almost always emerge victorious.",
"text": "Image: An Oak",
"text": "Tree. The oak",
"text": "that resists the",
"text": "wind loses itsbranches one",
"text": "by one, and",
"text": "with nothing",
"text": "left to protect",
"text": "it, the trunk fi",
"text": "nally snaps.",
"text": "The oak that",
"text": "bends lives long",
"text": "er, its trunk grow",
"text": "ing wider, its roots",
"text": "deeper and more tenacious.",
"text": "Authority: Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye and a",
"text": "tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but",
"text": "whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.",
"text": "And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let them",
"text": "have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go",
"text": "with him twain. (Jesus Christ, in Matthew 5:38-41)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "The point of surrendering is to save your hide for a later date when you",
"text": "can reassert yourself. It is precisely to avoid martyrdom that one",
"text": "surrenders, but there are times when the enemy will not relent, and",
"text": "martyrdom seems the only way out. Furthermore, if you are willing to",
"text": "die, others may gain power and inspiration from your example.",
"text": "Yet martyrdom, surrender’s reversal, is a messy, inexact tactic, and is",
"text": "as violent as the aggression it combats. For every famous martyr there",
"text": "are thousands more who have inspired neither a religion nor a rebellion,",
"text": "so that if martyrdom does sometimes grant a certain power, it does so",
"text": "unpredictably. More important, you will not be around to enjoy that",
"text": "power, such as it is. And there is finally something selfish and arrogantabout martyrs, as if they felt their followers were less important than",
"text": "their own glory.",
"text": "When power deserts you, it is best to ignore this Law’s reversal. Leave",
"text": "martyrdom alone: The pendulum will swing back your way eventually,",
"text": "and you should stay alive to see it.LAW 23",
"text": "CONCENTRATE YOUR FORCES",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their",
"text": "strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it",
"text": "deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another—intensity",
"text": "defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to",
"text": "elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk",
"text": "for a long time to come.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "In China in the early sixth century B.C., the kingdom of Wu began a war",
"text": "with the neighboring northern provinces of the Middle Kingdom. Wu",
"text": "was a growing power, but it lacked the great history and civilization of",
"text": "the Middle Kingdom, for centuries the center of Chinese culture. By",
"text": "defeating the Middle Kingdom, the king of Wu would instantly raise his",
"text": "status.",
"text": "The war began with great fanfare and several victories, but it soon",
"text": "bogged down. A victory on one front would leave the Wu armies",
"text": "vulnerable on another. The king’s chief minister and adviser, Wu Tzu-",
"text": "hsiu, warned him that the barbarous state of Yueh, to the south, was",
"text": "beginning to notice the kingdom of Wu’s problems and had designs to",
"text": "invade. The king only laughed at such worries—one more big victory",
"text": "and the great Middle Kingdom would be his.",
"text": "THE GOOSE AND THE HOUSEA goose who was plucking grass upon a common thought herself",
"text": "affronted by a horse who fed near her; and, in hissing accents, thus",
"text": "addressed him: “I am certainly a more noble and perfect animal than",
"text": "you, for the whole range and extent of your faculties is confined to one",
"text": "element. I can walk upon the ground as well as you; I have, besides,",
"text": "wings, with which I can raise myself in the air; and when I please, I can",
"text": "sport on ponds and lakes, and refresh myself in the cool waters. I enjoy",
"text": "the different powers of a bird, a fish, and a quadruped.”",
"text": "The horse, snorting somewhat disdainfully, replied: “It is true you",
"text": "inhabit three elements, but you make no very distinguished figure in any",
"text": "one of them. You fly, indeed; but your flight is so heavy and clumsy, that",
"text": "you have no right to put yourself on a level with the lark or the swallow.",
"text": "You can swim on the surface of the waters, but you cannot live in them as",
"text": "fishes do; you cannot find your food in that element, nor glide smoothly",
"text": "along the bottom of the waves. And when you walk, or rather waddle,",
"text": "upon the ground, with your broad feet and your long neck stretched out,",
"text": "hissing at everyone who passes by, you bring upon yourself the derision",
"text": "of all beholders. I confess that I am only formed to move upon the",
"text": "ground; but how graceful is my make! How well turned mv lunbs! How",
"text": "highly finished my whole body! How great my strength! How astonishing",
"text": "my speed! I had much rather be confined to one element, and be admired",
"text": "in that, than be a goose in all!”",
"text": "FABLES FROM BOCCAACCIO AND CHAUCER. DR. JOHN AIKIN,",
"text": "1747-1822",
"text": "In the year 490, Wu Tzu-hsiu sent his son away to safety in the",
"text": "kingdom of Ch’i. In doing so he sent the king a signal that he",
"text": "disapproved of the war, and that he believed the king’s selfish ambition",
"text": "was leading Wu to ruin. The king, sensing betrayal, lashed out at his",
"text": "minister, accusing him of a lack of loyalty and, in a fit of anger, ordered",
"text": "him to kill himself. Wu Tzu-hsiu obeyed his king, but before he plunged",
"text": "the knife into his chest, he cried, “Tear out my eyes, oh King, and fix",
"text": "them on the gate of Wu, so that I may see the triumphant entry of Yueh.”",
"text": "As Wu Tzu-hsiu had predicted, within a few years a Yueh army passed",
"text": "beneath the gate of Wu. As the barbarians surrounded the palace, the",
"text": "king remembered his minister’s last words—and felt the dead man’s",
"text": "disembodied eyes watching his disgrace. Unable to bear his shame, the",
"text": "king killed himself, “covering his face so that he would not have to meet",
"text": "the reproachful gaze of his minister in the next world.”Interpretation",
"text": "The story of Wu is a paradigm of all the empires that have come to ruin",
"text": "by overreaching. Drunk with success and sick with ambition, such",
"text": "empires expand to grotesque proportions and meet a ruin that is total.",
"text": "This is what happened to ancient Athens, which lusted for the faraway",
"text": "island of Sicily and ended up losing its empire. The Romans stretched",
"text": "the boundaries of their empire to encompass vast territories; in doing so",
"text": "they increased their vulnerability, and the chances of invasion from yet",
"text": "another barbarian tribe. Their useless expansion led their empire into",
"text": "oblivion.",
"text": "For the Chinese, the fate of the kingdom of Wu serves as an elemental",
"text": "lesson on what happens when you dissipate your forces on several fronts,",
"text": "losing sight of distant dangers for the sake of present gain. “If you are",
"text": "not in danger,” says Sun-tzu, “do not fight.” It is almost a physical law:",
"text": "What is bloated beyond its proportions inevitably collapses. The mind",
"text": "must not wander from goal to goal, or be distracted by success from its",
"text": "sense of purpose and proportion. What is concentrated, coherent, and",
"text": "connected to its past has power. What is dissipated, divided, and",
"text": "distended rots and falls to the ground. The bigger it bloats, the harder it",
"text": "falls.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "The Rothschild banking family had humble beginnings in the Jewish",
"text": "ghetto of Frankfurt, Germany. The city’s harsh laws made it impossible",
"text": "for Jews to mingle outside the ghetto, but the Jews had turned this into a",
"text": "virtue—it made them self-reliant, and zealous to preserve their culture at",
"text": "all costs. Mayer Amschel, the first of the Rothschilds to accumulate",
"text": "wealth by lending money, in the late eighteenth century, well understood",
"text": "the power that comes from this kind of concentration and cohesion.",
"text": "First, Mayer Amschel allied himself with one family, the powerful",
"text": "princes of Thurn und Taxis. Instead of spreading his services out, he",
"text": "made himself these princes’ primary banker. Second, he entrusted none",
"text": "of his business to outsiders, using only his children and close relatives.",
"text": "The more unified and tight-knit the family, the more powerful it would",
"text": "become. Soon Mayer Amschel’s five sons were running the business.And when Mayer Amschel lay dying, in 1812, he refused to name a",
"text": "principal heir, instead setting up all of his sons to continue the family",
"text": "tradition, so that they would stay united and would resist the dangers of",
"text": "diffusion and of infiltration by outsiders.",
"text": "Beware of dissipating your powers: strive constantly to concentrate",
"text": "them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but it is sure",
"text": "to repent of every ill-judged outlay.",
"text": "JOHANN VON GOETHE, 1749-1832",
"text": "Once Mayer Amschel’s sons controlled the family business, they",
"text": "decided that the key to wealth on a larger scale was to secure a foothold",
"text": "in the finances of Europe as a whole, rather than being tied to any one",
"text": "country or prince. Of the five brothers, Nathan had already opened up",
"text": "shop in London. In 1813 James moved to Paris. Amschel remained in",
"text": "Frankfurt, Salomon established himself in Vienna, and Karl, the",
"text": "youngest son, went to Naples. With each sphere of influence covered,",
"text": "they could tighten their hold on Europe’s financial markets.",
"text": "This widespread network, of course, opened the Rothschilds to the",
"text": "very danger of which their father had warned them: diffusion, division,",
"text": "dissension. They avoided this danger, and established themselves as the",
"text": "most powerful force in European finance and politics, by once again",
"text": "resorting to the strategy of the ghetto—excluding outsiders,",
"text": "concentrating their forces. The Rothschilds established the fastest courier",
"text": "system in Europe, allowing them to get news of events before all their",
"text": "competitors. They held a virtual monopoly on information. And their",
"text": "internal communications and correspondence were written in Frankfurt",
"text": "Yiddish, and in a code that only the brothers could decipher. There was",
"text": "no point in stealing this information—no one could understand it. “Even",
"text": "the shewdest bankers cannot find their way through the Rothschild",
"text": "maze,” admitted a financier who had tried to infiltrate the clan.",
"text": "In 1824 James Rothschild decided it was time to get married. This",
"text": "presented a problem for the Rothschilds, since it meant incorporating an",
"text": "outsider into the Rothschild clan, an outsider who could betray its",
"text": "secrets. James therefore decided to marry within the family, and chose",
"text": "the daughter of his brother Salomon. The brothers were ecstatic—this",
"text": "was the perfect solution to their marriage problems. James’s choice now",
"text": "became the family policy: Two years later, Nathan married off his",
"text": "daughter to Salomon’s son. In the years to come, the five brothers",
"text": "arranged eighteen matches among their children, sixteen of these being",
"text": "contracted between first cousins.“We are like the mechanism of a watch: Each part is essential,” said",
"text": "brother Salomon. As in a watch, every part of the business moved in",
"text": "concert with every other, and the inner workings were invisible to the",
"text": "world, which only saw the movement of the hands. While other rich and",
"text": "powerful families suffered irrecoverable downturns during the tumultous",
"text": "first half of the nineteenth century, the tight-knit Rothschilds managed",
"text": "not only to preserve but to expand their unprecedented wealth.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The Rothschilds were born in strange times. They came from a place that",
"text": "had not changed in centuries, but lived in an age that gave birth to the",
"text": "Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, and an endless series of",
"text": "upheavals. The Rothchilds kept the past alive, resisted the patterns of",
"text": "dispersion of their era and for this are emblematic of the law of",
"text": "concentra tion.",
"text": "No one represents this better than James Rothschild, the son who",
"text": "established himself in Paris. In his lifetime James witnessed the defeat of",
"text": "Napoleon, the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, the bourgeois",
"text": "monarchy of Orleans, the return to a republic, and finally the",
"text": "enthronement of Napoleon III. French styles and fashions changed at a",
"text": "relentless pace during all this turmoil. Without appearing to be a relic of",
"text": "the past, James steered his family as if the ghetto lived on within them.",
"text": "He kept alive his clan’s inner cohesion and strength. Only through such",
"text": "an anchoring in the past was the family able to thrive amidst such chaos.",
"text": "Concentration was the foundation of the Rothschilds’ power, wealth, and",
"text": "stability.",
"text": "The best strategy is always to be very strony first in general, then",
"text": "at the decisive point…. There is no higher and simpler law of strategy",
"text": "than that of keeping one’s forces concentrated…. In short the",
"text": "first principle is: act with the utmost concentration.",
"text": "On War, Carl von Clausewitz, 1780-1831",
"text": "KEYS TO POWERThe world is plagued by greater and greater division—within countries,",
"text": "political groups, families, even individuals. We are all in a state of total",
"text": "distraction and diffusion, hardly able to keep our minds in one direction",
"text": "before we are pulled in a thousand others. The modern world’s level of",
"text": "conflict is higher than ever, and we have internalized it in our own lives.",
"text": "The solution is a form of retreat inside ourselves, to the past, to more",
"text": "concentrated forms of thought and action. As Schopenhauer wrote,",
"text": "“Intellect is a magnitude of intensity, not a magnitude of extensity.”",
"text": "Napoleon knew the value of concentrating your forces at the enemy’s",
"text": "weakest spot— it was the secret of his success on the battlefield. But his",
"text": "willpower and his mind were equally modeled on this notion. Single-",
"text": "mindedness of purpose, total concentration on the goal, and the use of",
"text": "these qualities against people less focused, people in a state of distraction",
"text": "—such an arrow will find its mark every time and overwhelm the enemy.",
"text": "Casanova attributed his success in life to his ability to concentrate on a",
"text": "single goal and push at it until it yielded. It was his ability to give",
"text": "himself over completely to the women he desired that made him so",
"text": "intensely seductive. For the weeks or months that one of these women",
"text": "lived in his orbit, he thought of no one else. When he was imprisoned in",
"text": "the treacherous “leads” of the doge’s palace in Venice, a prison from",
"text": "which no one had ever escaped, he concentrated his mind on the single",
"text": "goal of escape, day after day. A change of cells, which meant that",
"text": "months of digging had all been for naught, did not discourage him; he",
"text": "persisted and eventually escaped. “I have always believed,” he later",
"text": "wrote, “that when a man gets it into his head to do something, and when",
"text": "he exclusively occupies himself in that design, he must succeed,",
"text": "whatever the difficulties. That man will become Grand Vizier or Pope.”",
"text": "Concentrate on a single goal, a single task, and beat it into submission.",
"text": "In the world of power you will constantly need help from other people,",
"text": "usually those more powerful than you. The fool flits from one person to",
"text": "another, believing that he will survive by spreading himself out. It is a",
"text": "corollary of the law of concentration, however, that much energy is",
"text": "saved, and more power is attained, by affixing yourself to a single,",
"text": "appropriate source of power. The scientist Nikola Tesla ruined himself",
"text": "by believing that he somehow maintained his independence by not",
"text": "having to serve a single master. He even turned down J. P. Morgan, who",
"text": "offered him a rich contract. In the end, Tesla’s “independence” meant",
"text": "that he could depend on no single patron, but was always having to toady",
"text": "up to a dozen of them. Later in his life he realized his mistake.All the great Renaissance painters and writers wrestled with this",
"text": "problem, none more so than the sixteenth-century writer Pietro Aretino.",
"text": "Throughout his life Aretino suffered the indignities of having to please",
"text": "this prince and that. At last, he had had enough, and decided to woo",
"text": "Charles V, promising the emperor the services of his powerful pen. He",
"text": "finally discovered the freedom that came from attachment to a single",
"text": "source of power. Michelangelo found this freedom with Pope Julius II,",
"text": "Galileo with the Medicis. In the end, the single patron appreciates your",
"text": "loyalty and becomes dependent on your services; in the long run the",
"text": "master serves the slave.",
"text": "Finally, power itself always exists in concentrated forms. In any",
"text": "organization it is inevitable for a small group to hold the strings. And",
"text": "often it is not those with the titles. In the game of power, only the fool",
"text": "flails about without fixing his target. You must find out who controls the",
"text": "operations, who is the real director behind the scenes. As Richelieu",
"text": "discovered at the beginning of his rise to the top of the French political",
"text": "scene during the early seventeenth century, it was not King Louis XIII",
"text": "who decided things, it was the king’s mother. And so he attached himself",
"text": "to her, and catapulted through the ranks of the courtiers, all the way to",
"text": "the top.",
"text": "It is enough to strike oil once—your wealth and power are assured for",
"text": "a lifetime.",
"text": "Image: The Arrow. You cannot hit two targets",
"text": "with one arrow. If your thoughts stray, you",
"text": "miss the enemy’s heart. Mind and",
"text": "arrow must become one. Only",
"text": "with such concentration of",
"text": "mental and physical",
"text": "power can your arrow",
"text": "hit the target and",
"text": "pierce the",
"text": "heart.",
"text": "Authority: Prize intensity more than extensity. Perfection resides in",
"text": "quality, not quantity. Extent alone never rises above mediocrity, and it is",
"text": "the misfortune of men with wide general interests that while they would",
"text": "like to have their finger in every pie, they have one in none. Intensitygives eminence, and rises to the heroic in matters sublime. (Baltasar",
"text": "Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "There are dangers in concentration, and moments when dispersion is the",
"text": "proper tactical move. Fighting the Nationalists for control of China, Mao",
"text": "Tse-tung and the Communists fought a protracted war on several fronts,",
"text": "using sabotage and ambush as their main weapons. Dispersal is often",
"text": "suitable for the weaker side; it is, in fact, a crucial principle of guerrilla",
"text": "warfare. When fighting a stronger army, concentrating your forces only",
"text": "makes you an easier target—better to dissolve into the scenery and",
"text": "frustrate your enemy with the elusiveness of your presence.",
"text": "Tying yourself to a single source of power has one preeminent danger:",
"text": "If that person dies, leaves, or falls from grace, you suffer. This is what",
"text": "happened to Cesare Borgia, who derived his power from his father, Pope",
"text": "Alexander VI. It was the pope who gave Cesare armies to fight with and",
"text": "wars to wage in his name. When he suddenly died (perhaps from",
"text": "poison), Cesare was as good as dead. He had made far too many enemies",
"text": "over the years, and was now without his father’s protection. In cases",
"text": "when you may need protection, then, it is often wise to entwine yourself",
"text": "around several sources of power. Such a move would be especially",
"text": "prudent in periods of great tumult and violent change, or when your",
"text": "enemies are numerous. The more patrons and masters you serve the less",
"text": "risk you run if one of them falls from power. Such dispersion will even",
"text": "allow you to play one off against the other. Even if you concentrate on",
"text": "the single source of power, you still must practice caution, and prepare",
"text": "for the day when your master or patron is no longer there to help you.",
"text": "Finally, being too single-minded in purpose can make you an",
"text": "intolerable bore, especially in the arts. The Renaissance painter Paolo",
"text": "Uccello was so obsessed with perspective that his paintings look lifeless",
"text": "and contrived. Whereas Leonardo da Vinci interested himself in",
"text": "everything—architecture, painting, warfare, sculpture, mechanics.",
"text": "Diffusion was the source of his power. But such genius is rare, and the",
"text": "rest of us are better off erring on the side of intensity.LAW 24",
"text": "PLAY THE PERFECT COURTIER",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around",
"text": "power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he",
"text": "flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most",
"text": "oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership",
"text": "and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.",
"text": "COURT SOCIETY",
"text": "It is a fact of human nature that the structure of a court society forms",
"text": "itself around power. In the past, the court gathered around the ruler, and",
"text": "had many functions: Besides keeping the ruler amused, it was a way to",
"text": "solidify the hierarchy of royalty, nobility, and the upper classes, and to",
"text": "keep the nobility both subordinate and close to the ruler, so that he could",
"text": "keep an eye on them. The court serves power in many ways, but most of",
"text": "all it glorifies the ruler, providing him with a microcosmic world that",
"text": "must struggle to please him.",
"text": "To be a courtier was a dangerous game. A nineteenth-century Arab",
"text": "traveler to the court of Darfur, in what is now Sudan, reported that",
"text": "courtiers there had to do whatever the sultan did: If he were injured, they",
"text": "had to suffer the same injury; if he fell off his horse during a hunt, they",
"text": "fell, too. Mimicry like this appeared in courts all over the world. More",
"text": "troublesome was the danger of displeasing the ruler—one wrong move",
"text": "spelled death or exile. The successful courtier had to walk a tightrope,",
"text": "pleasing but not pleasing too much, obeying but somehow distinguishing",
"text": "himself from the other courtiers, while also never distinguishing himself",
"text": "so far as to make the ruler insecure.Great courtiers throughout history have mastered the science of",
"text": "manipulating people. They make the king feel more kingly; they make",
"text": "everyone else fear their power. They are magicians of appearance,",
"text": "knowing that most things at court are judged by how they seem. Great",
"text": "courtiers are gracious and polite; their aggression is veiled and indirect.",
"text": "Masters of the word, they never say more than necessary, getting the",
"text": "most out of a compliment or hidden insult. They are magnets of pleasure",
"text": "—people want to be around them because they know how to please, yet",
"text": "they neither fawn nor humiliate themselves. Great courtiers become the",
"text": "king’s favorites, enjoying the benefits of that position. They often end up",
"text": "more powerful than the ruler, for they are wizards in the accumulation of",
"text": "influence.",
"text": "Many today dismiss court life as a relic of the past, a historical",
"text": "curiosity. They reason, according to Machiavelli, “as though heaven, the",
"text": "sun, the elements, and men had changed the order of their motions and",
"text": "power, and were different from what they were in ancient times.” There",
"text": "may be no more Sun Kings but there are still plenty of people who",
"text": "believe the sun revolves around them. The royal court may have more or",
"text": "less disappeared, or at least lost its power, but courts and courtiers still",
"text": "exist because power still exists. A courtier is rarely asked to fall off a",
"text": "horse anymore, but the laws that govern court politics are as timeless as",
"text": "the laws of power. There is much to be learned, then, from great courtiers",
"text": "past and present.",
"text": "THE TWO DOGS",
"text": "Barbos, the faithful yard-dog who serves his master zealously, happens",
"text": "to see his old acquaintance Joujou, the curly lapdog, seated at the",
"text": "window on a soft down cushion. Sidling fondly up to her, like a child to a",
"text": "parent, he all but weeps with emotion; and there, under the window. he",
"text": "whines, wags his tail, and bounds about. “What sort of life do you lead",
"text": "now, Joujoutka, ever since the master took you into his mansion? You",
"text": "remember, no doubt, how we often used to suffer hunger out in the yard.",
"text": "What is your present service like?” “It would be a sin in me to murmur",
"text": "against my good fortune, ” answers Joujoutka. “My master cannot make",
"text": "enough of me. I live amidst riches and plenty, and I eat and drink off",
"text": "silver. I frolic with the master, and, if I get tired, I take my ease on",
"text": "carpets or on a soft couch. And how do you get on?” “I?” replies",
"text": "Barbos, letting his tail dangle like a whip, and hanging his head. “I live",
"text": "as I used to do. I suffer from cold and hunger; and here, while guardingmy master’s house, I have to sleep at the foot of the wall, and I get",
"text": "drenched in the rain. And if I bark at the wrong time, I am whipped. But",
"text": "how did you, Joujou, who were so small and weak, get taken into favor,",
"text": "while I jump out of my skin to no purpose?",
"text": "What is it you do?” “‘What is it you do?’ A pretty question to ask!”",
"text": "replied Joujou, mockingly. “I walk upon my hind legs.”",
"text": "FABLES, IVAN KRILOFF, 1768-1844",
"text": "THE LAWS OF COURT POLITICS",
"text": "Avoid Ostentation. It is never prudent to prattle on about yourself or",
"text": "call too much attention to your actions. The more you talk about your",
"text": "deeds the more suspicion you cause. You also stir up enough envy",
"text": "among your peers to induce treachery and backstabbing. Be careful, ever",
"text": "so careful, in trumpeting your own achievements, and always talk less",
"text": "about yourself than about other people. Modesty is generally preferable.",
"text": "Practice Nonchalance. Never seem to be working too hard. Your talent",
"text": "must appear to flow naturally, with an ease that makes people take you",
"text": "for a genius rather than a workaholic. Even when something demands a",
"text": "lot of sweat, make it look effortless—people prefer to not see your blood",
"text": "and toil, which is another form of ostentation. It is better for them to",
"text": "marvel at how gracefully you have achieved your accomplishment than",
"text": "to wonder why it took so much work.",
"text": "Be Frugal with Flattery. It may seem that your superiors cannot get",
"text": "enough flattery, but too much of even a good thing loses its value. It also",
"text": "stirs up suspicion among your peers. Learn to flatter indirectly—by",
"text": "downplaying your own contribution, for example, to make your master",
"text": "look bet ter.",
"text": "It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be",
"text": "rude. To make enemies by unnecessary and wilful incivility, is just as",
"text": "insane a proceeding as to set your house on fire. For politeness is like a",
"text": "counter—an avowedly false coin, with which it is foolish to be stingy. A",
"text": "sensible man will be generous in the use of it…. Wax, a substance",
"text": "naturally hard and brittle, can be made soft by the application of a little",
"text": "warmth, so that it will take any shape you please. In the same way, bybeing polite and friendly, you can make people pliable and obliging,",
"text": "even though they are apt to be crabbed and malevolent. Hence politeness",
"text": "is to human nature what warmth is to wax.",
"text": "ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860",
"text": "Arrange to Be Noticed. There is a paradox: You cannot display yourself",
"text": "too brazenly, yet you must also get yourself noticed. In the court of Louis",
"text": "XIV, whoever the king decided to look at rose instantly in the court",
"text": "hierarchy. You stand no chance of rising if the ruler does not notice you",
"text": "in the swamp of courtiers. This task requires much art. It is often initially",
"text": "a matter of being seen, in the literal sense. Pay attention to your physical",
"text": "appearance, then, and find a way to create a distinctive—a subtly",
"text": "distinctive—style and image.",
"text": "Alter Your Style and Language According to the Person You Are",
"text": "Dealing With. The pseudo-belief in equality—the idea that talking and",
"text": "acting the same way with everyone, no matter what their rank, makes",
"text": "you somehow a paragon of civilization—is a terrible mistake. Those",
"text": "below you will take it as a form of condescension, which it is, and those",
"text": "above you will be offended, although they may not admit it. You must",
"text": "change your style and your way of speaking to suit each person. This is",
"text": "not lying, it is acting, and acting is an art, not a gift from God. Learn the",
"text": "art. This is also true for the great variety of cultures found in the modern",
"text": "court: Never assume that your criteria of behavior and judgment are",
"text": "universal. Not only is an inability to adapt to another culture the height",
"text": "of barbarism, it puts you at a disadvantage.",
"text": "Never Be the Bearer of Bad News. The king kills the messenger who",
"text": "brings bad news: This is a cliche but there is truth to it. You must",
"text": "struggle and if necessary lie and cheat to be sure that the lot of the bearer",
"text": "of bad news falls on a colleague, never on you. Bring only good news",
"text": "and your approach will gladden your master.",
"text": "Never Affect Friendliness and Intimacy with Your Master. He does",
"text": "not want a friend for a subordinate, he wants a subordinate. Never",
"text": "approach him in an easy, friendly way, or act as if you are on the best of",
"text": "terms—that is his prerogative. If he chooses to deal with you on this",
"text": "level, assume a wary chumminess. Otherwise err in the opposite",
"text": "direction, and make the distance between you clear.Never Criticize Those Above You Directly. This may seem obvious,",
"text": "but there are often times when some sort of criticism is necessary—to",
"text": "say nothing, or to give no advice, would open you to risks of another",
"text": "sort. You must learn, however, to couch your advice and criticism as",
"text": "indirectly and as politely as possible. Think twice, or three times, before",
"text": "deciding you have made them sufficiently circuitous. Err on the side of",
"text": "subtlety and gentleness.",
"text": "Be Frugal in Asking Those Above You for Favors. Nothing irritates a",
"text": "master more than having to reject someone’s request. It stirs up guilt and",
"text": "resentment. Ask for favors as rarely as possible, and know when to stop.",
"text": "Rather than making yourself the supplicant, it is always better to earn",
"text": "your favors, so that the ruler bestows them willingly. Most important: Do",
"text": "not ask for favors on another person’s behalf, least of all a friend’s.",
"text": "Never Joke About Appearances or Taste. A lively wit and a humorous",
"text": "disposition are essential qualities for a good courtier, and there are times",
"text": "when vulgarity is appropriate and engaging. But avoid any kind of joke",
"text": "about appearance or taste, two highly sensitive areas, especially with",
"text": "those above you. Do not even try it when you are away from them. You",
"text": "will dig your own grave.",
"text": "Do Not Be the Court Cynic. Express admiration for the good work of",
"text": "others. If you constantly criticize your equals or subordinates some of",
"text": "that criticism will rub off on you, hovering over you like a gray cloud",
"text": "wherever you go. People will groan at each new cynical comment, and",
"text": "you will irritate them. By expressing modest admiration for other",
"text": "people’s achievements, you paradoxically call attention to your own. The",
"text": "ability to express wonder and amazement, and seem like you mean it, is",
"text": "a rare and dying talent, but one still greatly valued.",
"text": "Be Self-observant. The mirror is a miraculous invention; without it you",
"text": "would commit great sins against beauty and decorum. You also need a",
"text": "mirror for your actions. This can sometimes come from other people",
"text": "telling you what they see in you, but that is not the most trustworthy",
"text": "method: You must be the mirror, training your mind to try to see yourself",
"text": "as others see you. Are you acting too obsequious? Are you trying toohard to please? Do you seem desperate for attention, giving the",
"text": "impression that you are on the decline? Be observant about yourself and",
"text": "you will avoid a mountain of blunders.",
"text": "Master Your Emotions. As an actor in a great play, you must learn to cry",
"text": "and laugh on command and when it is appropriate. You must be able",
"text": "both to disguise your anger and frustration and to fake your contentment",
"text": "and agreement. You must be the master of your own face. Call it lying if",
"text": "you like; but if you prefer to not play the game and to always be honest",
"text": "and upfront, do not complain when others call you obnoxious and",
"text": "arrogant.",
"text": "Fit the Spirit of the Times. A slight affectation of a past era can be",
"text": "charming, as long as you choose a period at least twenty years back;",
"text": "wearing the fashions of ten years ago is ludicrous, unless you enjoy the",
"text": "role of court jester. Your spirit and way of thinking must keep up with",
"text": "the times, even if the times offend your sensibilities. Be too forward-",
"text": "thinking, however, and no one will understand you. It is never a good",
"text": "idea to stand out too much in this area; you are best off at least being",
"text": "able to mimic the spirit of the times.",
"text": "Be a Source of Pleasure. This is critical. It is an obvious law of human",
"text": "nature that we will flee what is unpleasant and distasteful, while charm",
"text": "and the promise of delight will draw us like moths to a flame. Make",
"text": "yourself the flame and you will rise to the top. Since life is otherwise so",
"text": "full of unpleasantness and pleasure so scarce, you will be as",
"text": "indispensable as food and drink. This may seem obvious, but what is",
"text": "obvious is often ignored or unappreciated. There are degrees to this: Not",
"text": "everyone can play the role of favorite, for not everyone is blessed with",
"text": "charm and wit. But we can all control our unpleasant qualities and",
"text": "obscure them when necessary.",
"text": "A man who knows the court is master of his gestures, of his eyes and",
"text": "of his face; he is profound, impenetrable; he dissimulates bad offices,",
"text": "smiles at his enemies, controls his irritation, disguises his passions,",
"text": "belies his heart, speaks and acts against his feelings.",
"text": "Jean de La Bruyère, 1645-1696SCENES OF COURT LIFE: Exemplary Deeds",
"text": "and Fatal Mistakes",
"text": "Scene I",
"text": "Alexander the Great, conqueror of the Mediterranean basin and the",
"text": "Middle East through to India, had had the great Aristotle as his tutor and",
"text": "mentor, and throughout his short life he remained devoted to philosophy",
"text": "and his master’s teachings. He once complained to Aristotle that during",
"text": "his long campaigns he had no one with whom he could discuss",
"text": "philosophical matters. Aristotle responded by suggesting that he take",
"text": "Callisthenes, a former pupil of Aristotle’s and a promising philosopher in",
"text": "his own right, along on the next campaign.",
"text": "Aristotle had schooled Callisthenes in the skills of being a courtier, but",
"text": "the young man secretly scoffed at them. He believed in pure philosophy,",
"text": "in unadorned words, in speaking the naked truth. If Alexander loved",
"text": "learning so much, Callisthenes thought, he could not object to one who",
"text": "spoke his mind. During one of Alexander’s major campaigns,",
"text": "Callisthenes spoke his mind one too many times and Alexander had him",
"text": "put to death. Interpretation",
"text": "In court, honesty is a fool’s game. Never be so self-absorbed as to",
"text": "believe that the master is interested in your criticisms of him, no matter",
"text": "how accurate they are.",
"text": "Scene II",
"text": "Beginning in the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago, Chinese scholars",
"text": "compiled a series of writings called the 21 Histories, an official",
"text": "biography of each dynasty, including stories, statistics, census figures,",
"text": "and war chronicles. Each history also contained a chapter called",
"text": "“Unusual Events,” and here, among the listings of earthquakes and",
"text": "floods, there would sometimes suddenly appear descriptions of such",
"text": "bizarre manifestations as two-headed sheep, geese flying backward, stars",
"text": "suddenly appearing in different parts of the sky, and so on. The",
"text": "earthquakes could be historically verified, but the monsters and weird",
"text": "natural phenomena were clearly inserted on purpose, and invariably",
"text": "occurred in clusters. What could this mean?The Chinese emperor was considered more than a man—he was a",
"text": "force of nature. His kingdom was the center of the universe, and",
"text": "everything revolved around him. He embodied the world’s perfection. To",
"text": "criticize him or any of his actions would have been to criticize the divine",
"text": "order. No minister or courtier dared approach the emperor with even the",
"text": "slightest cautionary word. But emperors were fallible and the kingdom",
"text": "suffered greatly by their mistakes. Inserting sightings of strange",
"text": "phenomena into the court chronicles was the only way to warn them. The",
"text": "emperor would read of geese flying backward and moons out of orbit,",
"text": "and realize that he was being cautioned. His actions were unbalancing",
"text": "the universe and needed to change.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "For Chinese courtiers, the problem of how to give the emperor advice",
"text": "was an important issue. Over the years, thousands of them had died",
"text": "trying to warn or counsel their master. To be made safely, their criticisms",
"text": "had to be indirect—yet if they were too indirect they would not be",
"text": "heeded. The chronicles were their solution: Identify no one person as the",
"text": "source of criticism, make the advice as impersonal as possible, but let the",
"text": "emperor know the gravity of the situation.",
"text": "Your master is no longer the center of the universe, but he still",
"text": "imagines that everything revolves around him. When you criticize him",
"text": "he sees the person criticizing, not the criticism itself. Like the Chinese",
"text": "courtiers, you must find a way to disappear behind the warning. Use",
"text": "symbols and other indirect methods to paint a picture of the problems to",
"text": "come, without putting your neck on the line.",
"text": "Scene III",
"text": "Early in his career, the French architect Jules Mansart received",
"text": "commissions to design minor additions to Versailles for King Louis XIV.",
"text": "For each design he would draw up his plans, making sure they followed",
"text": "Louis’s instructions closely. He would then present them to His Majesty.",
"text": "The courtier Saint-Simon described Mansart’s technique in dealing",
"text": "with the king: “His particular skill was to show the king plans that",
"text": "purposely included something imperfect about them, often dealing with",
"text": "the gardens, which were not Mansart’s specialty. The king, as Mansart",
"text": "expected, would put his finger exactly on the problem and propose howto solve it, at which point Mansart would exclaim for all to hear that he",
"text": "would never have seen the problem that the king had so masterfully",
"text": "found and solved; he would burst with admiration, confessing that next",
"text": "to the king he was but a lowly pupil.” At the age of thirty, having used",
"text": "these methods time and time again, Mansart received a prestigious royal",
"text": "commission: Although he was less talented and experienced than a",
"text": "number of other French designers, he was to take charge of the",
"text": "enlargement of Versailles. He was the king’s architect from then on.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "As a young man, Mansart had seen how many royal craftsmen in the",
"text": "service of Louis XIV had lost their positions not through a lack of talent",
"text": "but through a costly social blunder. He would not make that mistake.",
"text": "Mansart always strove to make Louis feel better about himself, to feed",
"text": "the king’s vanity as publicly as possible.",
"text": "Never imagine that skill and talent are all that matter. In court the",
"text": "courtier’s art is more important than his talent; never spend so much time",
"text": "on your studies that you neglect your social skills. And the greatest skill",
"text": "of all is the ability to make the master look more talented than those",
"text": "around him.",
"text": "Scene IV",
"text": "Jean-Baptiste Isabey had become the unofficial painter of the Napoleonic",
"text": "court. During the Congress of Vienna in 1814, after Napoleon, defeated,",
"text": "had been imprisoned on the island of Elba, the participants in these",
"text": "meetings, which were to decide the fate of Europe, invited Isabey to",
"text": "immortalize the historic events in an epic painting.",
"text": "When Isabey arrived in Vienna, Talleyrand, the main negotiator for the",
"text": "French, paid the artist a visit. Considering his role in the proceedings, the",
"text": "statesman explained, he expected to occupy center stage in the painting.",
"text": "Isabey cordially agreed. A few days later the Duke of Wellington, the",
"text": "main negotiator for the English, also approached Isabey, and said much",
"text": "the same thing that Talleyrand had. The ever polite Isabey agreed that the",
"text": "great duke should indeed be the center of attention.",
"text": "Back in his studio, Isabey pondered the dilemma. If he gave the",
"text": "spotlight to either of the two men, he could create a diplomatic rift,",
"text": "stirring up all sorts of resentment at a time when peace and concord werecritical. When the painting was finally unveiled, however, both",
"text": "Talleyrand and Wellington felt honored and satisfied. The work depicts a",
"text": "large hall filled with diplomats and politicians from all over Europe. On",
"text": "one side the Duke of Wellington enters the room, and all eyes are turned",
"text": "toward him; he is the “center” of attention. In the very center of the",
"text": "painting, meanwhile, sits Talleyrand.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "It is often very difficult to satisfy the master, but to satisfy two masters in",
"text": "one stroke takes the genius of a great courtier. Such predicaments are",
"text": "common in the life of a courtier: By giving attention to one master, he",
"text": "displeases another. You must find a way to navigate this Scylla and",
"text": "Charybdis safely. Masters must receive their due; never inadvertently stir",
"text": "up the resentment of one in pleasing another.",
"text": "Scene V",
"text": "George Brummell, also known as Beau Brummell, made his mark in the",
"text": "late 1700s by the supreme elegance of his appearance, his popularization",
"text": "of shoe buckles (soon imitated by all the dandies), and his clever way",
"text": "with words. His London house was the fashionable spot in town, and",
"text": "Brummell was the authority on all matters of fashion. If he disliked your",
"text": "footwear, you immediately got rid of it and bought whatever he was",
"text": "wearing. He perfected the art of tying a cravat; Lord Byron was said to",
"text": "spend many a night in front of the mirror trying to figure out the secret",
"text": "behind Brummell’s perfect knots.",
"text": "One of Brummell’s greatest admirers was the Prince of Wales, who",
"text": "fancied himself a fashionable young man. Becoming attached to the",
"text": "prince’s court (and provided with a royal pension), Brummell was soon",
"text": "so sure of his own authority there that he took to joking about the",
"text": "prince’s weight, referring to his host as Big Ben. Since trimness of figure",
"text": "was an important quality for a dandy, this was a withering criticism. At",
"text": "dinner once, when the service was slow, Brummell said to the prince,",
"text": "“Do ring, Big Ben.” The prince rang, but when the valet arrived he",
"text": "ordered the man to show Brummell the door and never admit him again.",
"text": "Despite falling into the prince’s disfavor, Brummell continued to treat",
"text": "everyone around him with the same arrogance. Without the Prince of",
"text": "Wales’ patronage to support him, he sank into horrible debt, but hemaintained his insolent manners, and everyone soon abandoned him. He",
"text": "died in the most pitiable poverty, alone and deranged.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Beau Brummell’s devastating wit was one of the qualities that endeared",
"text": "him to the Prince of Wales. But not even he, the arbiter of taste and",
"text": "fashion, could get away with a joke about the prince’s appearance, least",
"text": "of all to his face. Never joke about a person’s plumpness, even indirectly",
"text": "—and particularly when he is your master. The poorhouses of history are",
"text": "filled with people who have made such jokes at their master’s expense.",
"text": "Scene VI",
"text": "Pope Urban VIII wanted to be remembered for his skills in writing",
"text": "poetry, which unfortunately were mediocre at best. In 1629 Duke",
"text": "Francesco d‘Este, knowing the pope’s literary pretensions, sent the poet",
"text": "Fulvio Testi as his ambassador to the Vatican. One of Testi’s letters to the",
"text": "duke reveals why he was chosen: “Once our discussion was over, I",
"text": "kneeled to depart, but His Holiness made a signal and walked to another",
"text": "room where he sleeps, and after reaching a small table, he grabbed a",
"text": "bundle of papers and thus, turning to me with a smiling face, he said:",
"text": "‘We want Your Lordship to listen to some of our compositions.’ And, in",
"text": "fact, he read me two very long Pindaric poems, one in praise of the most",
"text": "holy Virgin, and the other one about Countess Matilde.”",
"text": "We do not know exactly what Testi thought of these very long poems,",
"text": "since it would have been dangerous for him to state his opinion freely,",
"text": "even in a letter. But he went on to write, “I, following the mood,",
"text": "commented on each line with the needed praise, and, after having kissed",
"text": "His Holiness’s foot for such an unusual sign of benevolence [the reading",
"text": "of the poetry], I left.” Weeks later, when the duke himself visited the",
"text": "pope, he managed to recite entire verses of the pope’s poetry and praised",
"text": "it enough to make the pope “so jubilant he seemed to lose his mind.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "In matters of taste you can never be too obsequious with your master.",
"text": "Taste is one of the ego’s prickliest parts; never impugn or question the",
"text": "master’s taste—his poetry is sublime, his dress impeccable, and his",
"text": "manner the model for all.Scene VII",
"text": "One afternoon in ancient China, Chao, ruler of Han from 358 to 333",
"text": "B.C., got drunk and fell asleep in the palace gardens. The court crown-",
"text": "keeper, whose sole task was to look after the ruler’s head apparel, passed",
"text": "through the gardens and saw his master sleeping without a coat. Since it",
"text": "was getting cold, the crown-keeper placed his own coat over the ruler,",
"text": "and left.",
"text": "When Chao awoke and saw the coat upon him, he asked his",
"text": "attendants, “Who put more clothes on my body?” “The crown-keeper,”",
"text": "they replied. The ruler immediately called for his official coat-keeper and",
"text": "had him punished for neglecting his duties. He also called for the crown-",
"text": "keeper, whom he had beheaded.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Do not overstep your bounds. Do what you are assigned to do, to the best",
"text": "of your abilities, and never do more. To think that by doing more you are",
"text": "doing better is a common blunder. It is never good to seem to be trying",
"text": "too hard—it is as if you were covering up some deficiency. Fulfilling a",
"text": "task that has not been asked of you just makes people suspicious. If you",
"text": "are a crown-keeper, be a crown-keeper. Save your excess energy for",
"text": "when you are not in the court.",
"text": "Scene VIII",
"text": "One day, for amusement, the Italian Renaissance painter Fra Filippo",
"text": "Lippi (1406-1469) and some friends went sailing in a small boat off",
"text": "Ancona. There they were captured by two Moorish galleys, which hauled",
"text": "them off in chains to Barbary, where they were sold as slaves. For",
"text": "eighteen long months Filippo toiled with no hope of returning to Italy.",
"text": "On several occasions Filippo saw the man who had bought him pass",
"text": "by, and one day he decided to sketch this man’s portrait, using burnt coal",
"text": "—charcoal—from the fire. Still in his chains, he found a white wall,",
"text": "where he drew a full-length likeness of his owner in Moorish clothing.",
"text": "The owner soon heard about this, for no one had seen such skill in",
"text": "drawing before in these parts; it seemed like a miracle, a gift from God.",
"text": "The drawing so pleased the owner that he instantly gave Filippo his",
"text": "freedom and employed him in his court. All the big men on the Barbarycoast came to see the magnificent color portraits that Fra Filippo then",
"text": "proceeded to do, and finally, in gratitude for the honor in this way",
"text": "brought upon him, Filippo’s owner returned the artist safely to Italy.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "We who toil for other people have all in some way been captured by",
"text": "pirates and sold into slavery. But like Fra Filippo (if to a lesser degree),",
"text": "most of us possess some gift, some talent, an ability to do something",
"text": "better than other people. Make your master a gift of your talents and you",
"text": "will rise above other courtiers. Let him take the credit if necessary, it will",
"text": "only be temporary: Use him as a stepping stone, a way of displaying",
"text": "your talent and eventually buying your freedom from enslavement.",
"text": "Scene IX",
"text": "Alfonso I of Aragon once had a servant who told the king that the night",
"text": "before he had had a dream: Alfonso had given him a gift of weapons,",
"text": "horses, and clothes. Alfonso, a generous, lordly man, decided it would be",
"text": "amusing to make this dream come true, and promptly gave the servant",
"text": "exactly these gifts.",
"text": "A little while later, the same servant announced to Alfonso that he had",
"text": "had yet another dream, and in this one Alfonso had given him a",
"text": "considerable pile of gold florins. The king smiled and said, “Don’t",
"text": "believe in dreams from now on; they lie.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "In his treatment of the servant’s first dream, Alfonso remained in control.",
"text": "By making a dream come true, he claimed a godlike power for himself,",
"text": "if in a mild and humorous way. In the second dream, however, all",
"text": "appearance of magic was gone; this was nothing but an ugly con game",
"text": "on the servant’s part. Never ask for too much, then, and know when to",
"text": "stop. It is the master’s prerogative to give—to give when he wants and",
"text": "what he wants, and to do so without prompting. Do not give him the",
"text": "chance to reject your requests. Better to win favors by deserving them, so",
"text": "that they are bestowed without your asking.Scene X",
"text": "The great English landscape painter J. M. W Turner (1775-1851) was",
"text": "known for his use of color, which he applied with a brilliance and a",
"text": "strange iridescence. The color in his paintings was so striking, in fact,",
"text": "that other artists never wanted his work hung next to theirs: It inevitably",
"text": "made everything around it seem dull.",
"text": "The painter Sir Thomas Lawrence once had the misfortune of seeing",
"text": "Turner’s masterpiece Cologne hanging in an exhibition between two",
"text": "works of his own. Lawrence complained bitterly to the gallery owner,",
"text": "who gave him no satisfaction: After all, someone’s paintings had to hang",
"text": "next to Turner’s. But Turner heard of Lawrence’s complaint, and before",
"text": "the exhibition opened, he toned down the brilliant golden sky in",
"text": "Cologne, making it as dull as the colors in Lawrence’s works. A friend of",
"text": "Turner’s who saw the painting approached the artist with a horrified",
"text": "look: “What have you done to your picture!” he said. “Well, poor",
"text": "Lawrence was so unhappy,” Turner replied, “and it’s only lampblack.",
"text": "It’ll wash off after the exhibition.” Interpretation",
"text": "Many of a courtier’s anxieties have to do with the master, with whom",
"text": "most dangers lie. Yet it is a mistake to imagine that the master is the only",
"text": "one to determine your fate. Your equals and subordinates play integral",
"text": "parts also. A court is a vast stew of resentments, fears, and powerful",
"text": "envy. You have to placate everyone who might someday harm you,",
"text": "deflecting their resentment and envy and diverting their hostility onto",
"text": "other people.",
"text": "Turner, eminent courtier, knew that his good fortune and fame",
"text": "depended on his fellow painters as well as on his dealers and patrons.",
"text": "How many of the great have been felled by envious colleagues! Better",
"text": "temporarily to dull your brilliance than to suffer the slings and arrows of",
"text": "envy.",
"text": "Scene XI",
"text": "Winston Churchill was an amateur artist, and after World War II his",
"text": "paintings became collector’s items. The American publisher Henry Luce,",
"text": "in fact, creator of Time and Life magazines, kept one of Churchill’s",
"text": "landscapes hanging in his private office in New York.",
"text": "On a tour through the United States once, Churchill visited Luce in his",
"text": "office, and the two men looked at the painting together. The publisherremarked, “It’s a good picture, but I think it needs something in the",
"text": "foreground—a sheep, perhaps.” Much to Luce’s horror, Churchill’s",
"text": "secretary called the publisher the next day and asked him to have the",
"text": "painting sent to England. Luce did so, mortified that he had perhaps",
"text": "offended the former prime minister. A few days later, however, the",
"text": "painting was shipped back, but slightly altered: a single sheep now",
"text": "grazed peacefully in the foreground.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "In stature and fame, Churchill stood head and shoulders above Luce, but",
"text": "Luce was certainly a man of power, so let us imagine a slight equality",
"text": "between them. Still, what did Churchill have to fear from an American",
"text": "publisher? Why bow to the criticism of a dilettante?",
"text": "A court—in this case the entire world of diplomats and international",
"text": "statesmen, and also of the journalists who court them—is a place of",
"text": "mutual dependence. It is unwise to insult or offend the taste of people of",
"text": "power, even if they are below or equal to you. If a man like Churchill can",
"text": "swallow the criticisms of a man like Luce, he proves himself a courtier",
"text": "without peer. (Perhaps his correction of the painting implied a certain",
"text": "condescension as well, but he did it so subtly that Luce did not perceive",
"text": "any slight.) Imitate Churchill: Put in the sheep. It is always beneficial to",
"text": "play the obliging courtier, even when you are not serving a master.",
"text": "THE DELICATE GAME OF",
"text": "COURTIERSHIP: A Warning",
"text": "Talleyrand was the consummate courtier, especially in serving his master",
"text": "Napoleon. When the two men were first getting to know each other,",
"text": "Napoleon once said in passing, “I shall come to lunch at your house one",
"text": "of these days.” Talleyrand had a house at Auteuil, in the suburbs of Paris.",
"text": "“I should be delighted, mon général,” the minister replied, “and since",
"text": "my house is close to the Bois de Boulogne, you will be able to amuse",
"text": "yourself with a bit of shooting in the afternoon.”",
"text": "“I do not like shooting,” said Napoleon, “But I love hunting. Are there",
"text": "any boars in the Bois de Boulogne?” Napoleon came from Corsica,where boar hunting was a great sport. By asking if there were boars in a",
"text": "Paris park, he showed himself still a provincial, almost a rube.",
"text": "Talleyrand did not laugh, however, but he could not resist a practical joke",
"text": "on the man who was now his master in politics, although not in blood",
"text": "and nobility, since Talleyrand came from an old aristocratic family. To",
"text": "Napoleon’s question, then, he simply replied, “Very few, mon général,",
"text": "but I dare say you will manage to find one.”",
"text": "It was arranged that Napoleon would arrive at Talleyrand’s house the",
"text": "following day at seven A.M. and would spend the morning there. The",
"text": "“boar hunt” would take place in the afternoon. Throughout the morning",
"text": "the excited general talked nothing but boar hunting. Meanwhile,",
"text": "Talleyrand secretly had his servants go to the market, buy two enormous",
"text": "black pigs, and take them to the great park.",
"text": "After lunch, the hunters and their hounds set off for the Bois de",
"text": "Boulogne. At a secret signal from Talleyrand, the servants loosed one of",
"text": "the pigs. “I see a boar,” Napoleon cried joyfully, jumping onto his horse",
"text": "to give chase. Talleyrand stayed behind. It took half an hour of galloping",
"text": "through the park before the “boar” was finally captured. At the moment",
"text": "of triumph, however, Napoleon was approached by one of his aides, who",
"text": "knew the creature could not possibly be a boar, and feared the general",
"text": "would be ridiculed once the story got out: “Sir,” he told Napoleon, “you",
"text": "realize of course that this is not a boar but a pig.”",
"text": "Flying into a rage, Napoleon immediately set off at a gallop for",
"text": "Talleyrand’s house. He realized along the way that he would now be the",
"text": "butt of many a joke, and that exploding at Talleyrand would only make",
"text": "him more ridiculous; it would be better to make a show of good humor.",
"text": "Still, he did not hide his displeasure well.",
"text": "Talleyrand decided to try to soothe the general’s bruised ego. He told",
"text": "Napoleon not to go back to Paris yet—he should again go hunting in the",
"text": "park. There were many rabbits there, and hunting them had been a",
"text": "favorite pastime of Louis XVI. Talleyrand even offered to let Napoleon",
"text": "use a set of guns that had once belonged to Louis. With much flattery",
"text": "and cajolery, he once again got Napoleon to agree to a hunt.",
"text": "The party left for the park in the late afternoon. Along the way,",
"text": "Napoleon told Talleyrand, “I’m not Louis XVI, I surely won’t kill even",
"text": "one rabbit.” Yet that afternoon, strangely enough, the park was teeming",
"text": "with rabbits. Napoleon killed at least fifty of them, and his mood",
"text": "changed from anger to satisfaction. At the end of his wild shooting spree,",
"text": "however, the same aide approached him and whispered in his ear, “To",
"text": "tell the truth, sir, I am beginning to believe these are not wild rabbits. Isuspect that rascal Talleyrand has played another joke on us.” (The aide",
"text": "was right: Talleyrand had in fact sent his servants back to the market,",
"text": "where they had purchased dozens of rabbits and then had released them",
"text": "in the Bois de Boulogne.)",
"text": "Napoleon immediately mounted his horse and galloped away, this time",
"text": "returning straight to Paris. He later threatened Talleyrand, warned him",
"text": "not to tell a soul what had happened; if he became the laughingstock of",
"text": "Paris, there would be hell to pay.",
"text": "It took months for Napoleon to be able to trust Talleyrand again, and",
"text": "he never totally forgave him his humiliation.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Courtiers are like magicians: They deceptively play with appearances,",
"text": "only letting those around them see what they want them to see. With so",
"text": "much deception and manipulation afoot, it is essential to keep people",
"text": "from seeing your tricks and glimpsing your sleight of hand.",
"text": "Talleyrand was normally the Grand Wizard of Courtiership, and but",
"text": "for Napoleon’s aide, he probably would have gotten away completely",
"text": "with both pleasing his master and having a joke at the general’s expense.",
"text": "But courtiership is a subtle art, and overlooked traps and inadvertent",
"text": "mistakes can ruin your best tricks. Never risk being caught in your",
"text": "maneuvers; never let people see your devices. If that happens you",
"text": "instantly pass in people’s perceptions from a courtier of great manners to",
"text": "a loathsome rogue. It is a delicate game you play; apply the utmost",
"text": "attention to covering your tracks, and never let your master unmask you.LAW 25",
"text": "RE-CREATE YOURSELF",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by",
"text": "forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the",
"text": "audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others",
"text": "define it for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures",
"text": "and actions—your power will be enhanced and your character will seem",
"text": "larger than life.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I",
"text": "Julius Caesar made his first significant mark on Roman society in 65",
"text": "B.C., when he assumed the post of aedile, the official in charge of grain",
"text": "distribution and public games. He began his entrance into the public eye",
"text": "by organizing a series of carefully crafted and well-timed spectacles—",
"text": "wild-beast hunts, extravagant gladiator shows, theatrical contests. On",
"text": "several occasions, he paid for these spectacles out of his own pocket. To",
"text": "the common man, Julius Caesar became indelibly associated with these",
"text": "much-loved events. As he slowly rose to attain the position of consul, his",
"text": "popularity among the masses served as the foundation of his power. He",
"text": "had created an image of himself as a great public showman.",
"text": "The man who intends to make his fortune in this ancient capital of the",
"text": "world [Rome] must be a chameleon susceptible of reflecting the colors of",
"text": "the atmosphere that surrounds him—a Proteus apt to assume every form,",
"text": "every shape. He must be supple, flexible, insinuating, close, inscrutable,",
"text": "often base, sometimes sincere, sometimes perfidious, always concealing",
"text": "a part of his knowledge, indulging in but one tone of voice, patient, a",
"text": "perfect master of his own countenance, as cold as ice when any otherman would be all fire; and if unfortunately he is not religious at heart—a",
"text": "very common occurrence for a soul possessing the above requisites-he",
"text": "must have religion in his mind, that is to say, on his face, on his lips, in",
"text": "his manners; he must suffer quietly, if he be an honest man, the necessity",
"text": "of knowing himself an arrant hypocrite. The man whose soul would",
"text": "loathe such a life should leave Rome and seek his fortune elsewhere. I do",
"text": "not know whether I am praising or excusing myself, but of all those",
"text": "qualities I possessed but one—namely, flexibility.",
"text": "MEMOIRS, GIOVANNI CASANOVA, 1725-1798",
"text": "In 49 B.C., Rome was on the brink of a civil war between rival",
"text": "leaders, Caesar and Pompey. At the height of the tension, Caesar, an",
"text": "addict of the stage, attended a theatrical performance, and afterward, lost",
"text": "in thought, he wandered in the darkness back to his camp at the Rubicon,",
"text": "the river that divides Italy from Gaul, where he had been campaigning.",
"text": "To march his army back into Italy across the Rubicon would mean the",
"text": "beginning of a war with Pompey.",
"text": "Before his staff Caesar argued both sides, forming the options like an",
"text": "actor on stage, a precursor of Hamlet. Finally, to put his soliloquy to an",
"text": "end, he pointed to a seemingly innocent apparition at the edge of the",
"text": "river—a very tall soldier blasting a call on a trumpet, then going across a",
"text": "bridge over the Rubicon—and pronounced, “Let us accept this as a sign",
"text": "from the Gods and follow where they beckon, in vengeance on our",
"text": "double-dealing enemies. The die is cast.” All of this he spoke",
"text": "portentously and dramatically, gesturing toward the river and looking his",
"text": "generals in the eye. He knew that these generals were uncertain in their",
"text": "support, but his oratory overwhelmed them with a sense of the drama of",
"text": "the moment, and of the need to seize the time. A more prosaic speech",
"text": "would never have had the same effect. The generals rallied to his cause;",
"text": "Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon and by the following year had",
"text": "vanquished Pompey, making Caesar dictator of Rome.",
"text": "In warfare, Caesar always played the leading man with gusto. He was",
"text": "as skilled a horseman as any of his soldiers, and took pride in outdoing",
"text": "them in feats of bravery and endurance. He entered battle astride the",
"text": "strongest mount, so that his soldiers would see him in the thick of battle,",
"text": "urging them on, always positioning himself in the center, a godlike",
"text": "symbol of power and a model for them to follow. Of all the armies in",
"text": "Rome, Caesar’s was the most devoted and loyal. His soldiers, like the",
"text": "common people who had attended his entertainments, had come to",
"text": "identify with him and with his cause.After the defeat of Pompey, the entertainments grew in scale. Nothing",
"text": "like them had ever been seen in Rome. The chariot races became more",
"text": "spectacular, the gladiator fights more dramatic, as Caesar staged fights to",
"text": "the death among the Roman nobility. He organized enormous mock",
"text": "naval battles on an artificial lake. Plays were performed in every Roman",
"text": "ward. A giant new theater was built that sloped dramatically down the",
"text": "Tarpeian Rock. Crowds from all over the empire flocked to these events,",
"text": "the roads to Rome lined with visitors’ tents. And in 45 B.C., timing his",
"text": "entry into the city for maximum effect and surprise, Caesar brought",
"text": "Cleopatra back to Rome after his Egyptian campaign, and staged even",
"text": "more extravagant public spectacles.",
"text": "These events were more than devices to divert the masses; they",
"text": "dramatically enhanced the public’s sense of Caesar’s character, and made",
"text": "him seem larger than life. Caesar was the master of his public image, of",
"text": "which he was forever aware. When he appeared before crowds he wore",
"text": "the most spectacular purple robes. He would be upstaged by no one. He",
"text": "was notoriously vain about his appearance—it was said that one reason",
"text": "he enjoyed being honored by the Senate and people was that on these",
"text": "occasions he could wear a laurel wreath, hiding his baldness. Caesar was",
"text": "a masterful orator. He knew how to say a lot by saying a little, intuited",
"text": "the moment to end a speech for maximum effect. He never failed to",
"text": "incorporate a surprise into his public appearances—a startling",
"text": "announcement that would heighten their drama.",
"text": "Immensely popular among the Roman people, Caesar was hated and",
"text": "feared by his rivals. On the ides of March—March 15—in the year 44",
"text": "B.C., a group of conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius surrounded him",
"text": "in the senate and stabbed him to death. Even dying, however, he kept his",
"text": "sense of drama. Drawing the top of his gown over his face, he let go of",
"text": "the cloth’s lower part so that it draped his legs, allowing him to die",
"text": "covered and decent. According to the Roman historian Suetonius, his",
"text": "final words to his old friend Brutus, who was about to deliver a second",
"text": "blow, were in Greek, and as if rehearsed for the end of a play: “You too,",
"text": "my child?”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The Roman theater was an event for the masses, attended by crowds",
"text": "unimaginable today. Packed into enormous auditoriums, the audience",
"text": "would be amused by raucous comedy or moved by high tragedy. Theaterseemed to contain the essence of life, in its concentrated, dramatic form.",
"text": "Like a religious ritual, it had a powerful, instant appeal to the common",
"text": "man.",
"text": "Julius Caesar was perhaps the first public figure to understand the vital",
"text": "link between power and theater. This was because of his own obsessive",
"text": "interest in drama. He sublimated this interest by making himself an actor",
"text": "and director on the world stage. He said his lines as if they had been",
"text": "scripted; he gestured and moved through a crowd with a constant sense",
"text": "of how he appeared to his audience. He incorporated surprise into his",
"text": "repertoire, building drama into his speeches, staging into his public",
"text": "appearances. His gestures were broad enough for the common man to",
"text": "grasp them instantly. He became immensely popular.",
"text": "Caesar set the ideal for all leaders and people of power. Like him, you",
"text": "must learn to enlarge your actions through dramatic techniques such as",
"text": "surprise, suspense, the creation of sympathy, and symbolic identification.",
"text": "Also like him, you must be constantly aware of your audience—of what",
"text": "will please them and what will bore them. You must arrange to place",
"text": "yourself at the center, to command attention, and never to be upstaged at",
"text": "any cost.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II",
"text": "In the year 1831, a young woman named Aurore Dupin Dudevant left",
"text": "her husband and family in the provinces and moved to Paris. She wanted",
"text": "to be a writer; marriage, she felt, was worse than prison, for it left her",
"text": "neither the time nor the freedom to pursue her passion. In Paris she",
"text": "would establish her independence and make her living by writing.",
"text": "Soon after Dudevant arrived in the capital, however, she had to",
"text": "confront certain harsh realities. To have any degree of freedom in Paris",
"text": "you had to have money. For a woman, money could only come through",
"text": "marriage or prostitution. No woman had ever come close to making a",
"text": "living by writing. Women wrote as a hobby, supported by their husbands,",
"text": "or by an inheritance. In fact when Dudevant first showed her writing to",
"text": "an editor, he told her, “You should make babies, Madame, not literature.”",
"text": "Clearly Dudevant had come to Paris to attempt the impossible. In the",
"text": "end, though, she came up with a strategy to do what no woman had ever",
"text": "done—a strategy to re-create herself completely, forging a public imageof her own making. Women writers before her had been forced into a",
"text": "ready-made role, that of the second-rate artist who wrote mostly for other",
"text": "women. Dudevant decided that if she had to play a role, she would turn",
"text": "the game around: She would play the part of a man.",
"text": "In 1832 a publisher accepted Dudevant’s first major novel, Indiana.",
"text": "She had chosen to publish it under a pseudonym, “George Sand,” and all",
"text": "of Paris assumed this impressive new writer was male. Dudevant had",
"text": "sometimes worn men’s clothes before creating “George Sand” (she had",
"text": "always found men’s shirts and riding breeches more comfortable); now,",
"text": "as a public figure, she exaggerated the image. She added long men’s",
"text": "coats, gray hats, heavy boots, and dandyish cravats to her wardrobe. She",
"text": "smoked cigars and in conversation expressed herself like a man, unafraid",
"text": "to dominate the conversation or to use a saucy word.",
"text": "This strange “male/female” writer fascinated the public. And unlike",
"text": "other women writers, Sand found herself accepted into the clique of male",
"text": "artists. She drank and smoked with them, even carried on affairs with the",
"text": "most famous artists of Europe—Musset, Liszt, Chopin. It was she who",
"text": "did the wooing, and also the abandoning—she moved on at her",
"text": "discretion.",
"text": "Those who knew Sand well understood that her male persona",
"text": "protected her from the public’s prying eyes. Out in the world, she",
"text": "enjoyed playing the part to the extreme; in private she remained herself.",
"text": "She also realized that the character of “George Sand” could grow stale or",
"text": "predictable, and to avoid this she would every now and then dramatically",
"text": "alter the character she had created; instead of conducting affairs with",
"text": "famous men, she would begin meddling in politics, leading",
"text": "demonstrations, inspiring student rebellions. No one would dictate to her",
"text": "the limits of the character she had created. Long after she died, and after",
"text": "most people had stopped reading her novels, the larger-than-life",
"text": "theatricality of that character has continued to fascinate and inspire.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Throughout Sand’s public life, acquaintances and other artists who spent",
"text": "time in her company had the feeling they were in the presence of a man.",
"text": "But in her journals and to her closest friends, such as Gustave Flaubert,",
"text": "she confessed that she had no desire to be a man, but was playing a part",
"text": "for public consumption. What she really wanted was the power to",
"text": "determine her own character. She refused the limits her society wouldhave set on her. She did not attain her power, however, by being herself;",
"text": "instead she created a persona that she could constantly adapt to her own",
"text": "desires, a persona that attracted attention and gave her presence.",
"text": "Understand this: The world wants to assign you a role in life. And",
"text": "once you accept that role you are doomed. Your power is limited to the",
"text": "tiny amount allotted to the role you have selected or have been forced to",
"text": "assume. An actor, on the other hand, plays many roles. Enjoy that",
"text": "protean power, and if it is beyond you, at least forge a new identity, one",
"text": "of your own making, one that has had no boundaries assigned to it by an",
"text": "envious and resentful world. This act of defiance is Promethean: It",
"text": "makes you responsible for your own creation.",
"text": "Your new identity will protect you from the world precisely because it",
"text": "is not “you”; it is a costume you put on and take off. You need not take it",
"text": "personally. And your new identity sets you apart, gives you theatrical",
"text": "presence. Those in the back rows can see you and hear you. Those in the",
"text": "front rows marvel at your audacity.",
"text": "Do not people talk in society of a man being a great actor? They do not",
"text": "mean by",
"text": "that that he feels, but that he excels in simulating, though he feels",
"text": "nothing.",
"text": "Denis Diderot, 1713-1784",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "The character you seem to have been born with is not necessarily who",
"text": "you are; beyond the characteristics you have inherited, your parents, your",
"text": "friends, and your peers have helped to shape your personality. The",
"text": "Promethean task of the powerful is to take control of the process, to stop",
"text": "allowing others that ability to limit and mold them. Remake yourself into",
"text": "a character of power. Working on yourself like clay should be one of",
"text": "your greatest and most pleasurable life tasks. It makes you in essence an",
"text": "artist—an artist creating yourself.",
"text": "In fact, the idea of self-creation comes from the world of art. For",
"text": "thousands of years, only kings and the highest courtiers had the freedom",
"text": "to shape their public image and determine their own identity. Similarly,",
"text": "only kings and the wealthiest lords could contemplate their own image inart, and consciously alter it. The rest of mankind played the limited role",
"text": "that society demanded of them, and had little self-consciousness.",
"text": "A shift in this condition can be detected in Velázquez’s painting Las",
"text": "Meninas, made in 1656. The artist appears at the left of the canvas,",
"text": "standing before a painting that he is in the process of creating, but that",
"text": "has its back to us—we cannot see it. Beside him stands a princess, her",
"text": "attendants, and one of the court dwarves, all watching him work. The",
"text": "people posing for the painting are not directly visible, but we can see",
"text": "them in tiny reflections in a mirror on the back wall—the king and queen",
"text": "of Spain, who must be sitting somewhere in the foreground, outside the",
"text": "picture.",
"text": "The painting represents a dramatic change in the dynamics of power",
"text": "and the ability to determine one’s own position in society. For Velázquez,",
"text": "the artist, is far more prominently positioned than the king and queen. In",
"text": "a sense he is more powerful than they are, since he is clearly the one",
"text": "controlling the image—their image. Velázquez no longer saw himself as",
"text": "the slavish, dependent artist. He had remade himself into a man of",
"text": "power. And indeed the first people other than aristocrats to play openly",
"text": "with their image in Western society were artists and writers, and later on",
"text": "dandies and bohemians. Today the concept of self-creation has slowly",
"text": "filtered down to the rest of society, and has become an ideal to aspire to.",
"text": "Like Velazquez, you must demand for yourself the power to determine",
"text": "your position in the painting, and to create your own image.",
"text": "The first step in the process of self-creation is self-consciousness—",
"text": "being aware of yourself as an actor and taking control of your",
"text": "appearance and emotions. As Diderot said, the bad actor is the one who",
"text": "is always sincere. People who wear their hearts on their sleeves out in",
"text": "society are tiresome and embarrassing. Their sincerity notwithstanding, it",
"text": "is hard to take them seriously. Those who cry in public may temporarily",
"text": "elicit sympathy, but sympathy soon turns to scorn and irritation at their",
"text": "self obsessiveness—they are crying to get attention, we feel, and a",
"text": "malicious part of us wants to deny them the satisfaction.",
"text": "Good actors control themselves better. They can play sincere and",
"text": "heartfelt, can affect a tear and a compassionate look at will, but they",
"text": "don’t have to feel it. They externalize emotion in a form that others can",
"text": "understand. Method acting is fatal in the real world. No ruler or leader",
"text": "could possibly play the part if all of the emotions he showed had to be",
"text": "real. So learn self-control. Adopt the plasticity of the actor, who can",
"text": "mold his or her face to the emotion required.The second step in the process of self-creation is a variation on the",
"text": "George Sand strategy: the creation of a memorable character, one that",
"text": "compels attention, that stands out above the other players on the stage.",
"text": "This was the game Abraham Lincoln played. The homespun, common",
"text": "country man, he knew, was a kind of president that America had never",
"text": "had but would delight in electing. Although many of these qualities came",
"text": "naturally to him, he played them up—the hat and clothes, the beard. (No",
"text": "president before him had worn a beard.) Lincoln was also the first",
"text": "president to use photographs to spread his image, helping to create the",
"text": "icon of the “homespun president.”",
"text": "Good drama, however, needs more than an interesting appearance, or a",
"text": "single stand-out moment. Drama takes place over time—it is an",
"text": "unfolding event. Rhythm and timing are critical. One of the most",
"text": "important elements in the rhythm of drama is suspense. Houdini for",
"text": "instance, could sometimes complete his escape acts in seconds—but he",
"text": "drew them out to minutes, to make the audience sweat.",
"text": "The key to keeping the audience on the edge of their seats is letting",
"text": "events unfold slowly, then speeding them up at the right moment,",
"text": "according to a pattern and tempo that you control. Great rulers from",
"text": "Napoleon to Mao Tse-tung have used theatrical timing to surprise and",
"text": "divert their public. Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood the importance",
"text": "of staging political events in a particular order and rhythm.",
"text": "At the time of his 1932 presidential election, the United States was in",
"text": "the midst of a dire economic crisis. Banks were failing at an alarming",
"text": "rate. Shortly after winning the election, Roosevelt went into a kind of",
"text": "retreat. He said nothing about his plans or his cabinet appointments. He",
"text": "even refused to meet the sitting president, Herbert Hoover, to discuss the",
"text": "transition. By the time of Roosevelt’s inauguration the country was in a",
"text": "state of high anxiety.",
"text": "In his inaugural address, Roosevelt shifted gears. He made a powerful",
"text": "speech, making it clear that he intended to lead the country in a",
"text": "completely new direction, sweeping away the timid gestures of his",
"text": "predecessors. From then on the pace of his speeches and public decisions",
"text": "—cabinet appointments, bold legislation—unfolded at an incredibly",
"text": "rapid rate. The period after the inauguration became known as the",
"text": "“Hundred Days,” and its success in altering the country’s mood partly",
"text": "stemmed from Roosevelt’s clever pacing and use of dramatic contrast.",
"text": "He held his audience in suspense, then hit them with a series of bold",
"text": "gestures that seemed all the more momentous because they came from",
"text": "nowhere. You must learn to orchestrate events in a similar manner, neverrevealing all your cards at once, but unfolding them in a way that",
"text": "heightens their dramatic effect.",
"text": "Besides covering a multitude of sins, good drama can also confuse and",
"text": "deceive your enemy. During World War II, the German playwright",
"text": "Bertolt Brecht worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter. After the war he",
"text": "was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities for",
"text": "his supposed Communist sympathies. Other writers who had been called",
"text": "to testify planned to humiliate the committee members with an angry",
"text": "emotional stand. Brecht was wiser: He would play the committee like a",
"text": "violin, charming them while fooling them as well. He carefully rehearsed",
"text": "his responses, and brought along some props, notably a cigar on which",
"text": "he puffed away, knowing the head of the committee liked cigars. And",
"text": "indeed he proceeded to beguile the committee with well-crafted",
"text": "responses that were ambiguous, funny, and double-edged. Instead of an",
"text": "angry, heartfelt tirade, he ran circles around them with a staged",
"text": "production, and they let him off scot-free.",
"text": "Other dramatic effects for your repertoire include the beau geste, an",
"text": "action at a climactic moment that symbolizes your triumph or your",
"text": "boldness. Caesar’s dramatic crossing of the Rubicon was a beau geste—",
"text": "a move that dazzled the soldiers and gave him heroic proportions. You",
"text": "must also appreciate the importance of stage entrances and exits. When",
"text": "Cleopatra first met Caesar in Egypt, she arrived rolled up in a carpet,",
"text": "which she arranged to have unfurled at his feet. George Washington",
"text": "twice left power with flourish and fanfare (first as a general, then as a",
"text": "president who refused to sit for a third term), showing he knew how to",
"text": "make the moment count, dramatically and symbolically. Your own",
"text": "entrances and exits should be crafted and planned as carefully.",
"text": "Remember that overacting can be counterproductive—it is another",
"text": "way of spending too much effort trying to attract attention. The actor",
"text": "Richard Burton discovered early in his career that by standing totally still",
"text": "onstage, he drew attention to himself and away from the other actors. It",
"text": "is less what you do that matters, clearly, than how you do it—your",
"text": "gracefulness and imposing stillness on the social stage count for more",
"text": "than overdoing your part and moving around too much.",
"text": "Finally: Learn to play many roles, to be whatever the moment",
"text": "requires. Adapt your mask to the situation—be protean in the faces you",
"text": "wear. Bismarck played this game to perfection: To a liberal he was a",
"text": "liberal, to a hawk he was a hawk. He could not be grasped, and what",
"text": "cannot be grasped cannot be consumed.Image:",
"text": "The Greek Sea-God Proteus.",
"text": "His power came from his ability to",
"text": "change shape at will, to be whatever the",
"text": "moment required. When Menelaus, brother",
"text": "of Agamemnon, tried to seize him, Proteus",
"text": "transformed himself into a lion, then a serpent, a",
"text": "panther, a boar, running water, and finally a leafy tree.",
"text": "Authority: Know how to be all things to all men. A discreet Proteus—a",
"text": "scholar among scholars, a saint among saints. That is the art of winning",
"text": "over everyone, for like attracts like. Take note of temperaments and",
"text": "adapt yourself to that of each person you meet—follow the lead of the",
"text": "serious and jovial in turn, changing your mood discreetly. (Baltasar",
"text": "Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "There can really be no reversal to this critical law: Bad theater is bad",
"text": "theater. Even appearing natural requires art—in other words, acting. Bad",
"text": "acting only creates embarrassment. Of course you should not be too",
"text": "dramatic—avoid the histrionic gesture. But that is simply bad theater",
"text": "anyway, since it violates centuries-old dramatic laws against overacting.",
"text": "In essence there is no reversal to this law.LAW 26",
"text": "KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never",
"text": "soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance",
"text": "by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your",
"text": "involvement.PART I: CONCEAL YOUR MISTAKES—",
"text": "HAVE A SCAPEGOAT AROUND TO TAKE",
"text": "THE BLAME",
"text": "Our good name and reputation depend more on what we conceal than on",
"text": "what we reveal. Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are truly clever",
"text": "manage to hide them, and to make sure someone else is blamed. A",
"text": "convenient scapegoat should always be kept around for such moments.",
"text": "(III 1.\\I,il .II ,1”/( F",
"text": "A great calamity befell the town of Chelm one day. The town cobbler",
"text": "murdered one of his customers. So he was brought before the judge, who",
"text": "sentenced him to die by hanging. When the verdict was read a townsman",
"text": "arose and cried out, “If your Honor pleases—you have sentenced to",
"text": "death the town cobbler! He’s the only one we’ve got. lf you hang him",
"text": "who will mend our shoes?” “Who? Who?” cried all the people of Chelm",
"text": "with one voice.",
"text": "The judge nodded in agreement and reconsidered his verdict. “Good",
"text": "people of Chelm,”he said, “what you say is true. Since we have only one",
"text": "cobbler it would he a great wrong against the community to let him die.",
"text": "As there are two roofers in the town let one of them be hanged instead.”",
"text": "A TREASURY OF JEWISH FOLKLORE, NATHAN AUSUBEL, ED..",
"text": "1948",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I",
"text": "Near the end of the second century A.D., as China’s mighty Han Empire",
"text": "slowly collapsed, the great general and imperial minister Ts‘ao Ts’ao",
"text": "emerged as the most powerful man in the country. Seeking to extend his",
"text": "power base and to rid himself of the last of his rivals, Ts‘ao Ts’ao began",
"text": "a campaign to take control of the strategically vital Central Plain. Duringthe siege of a key city, he slightly miscalculated the timing for supplies",
"text": "of grain to arrive from the capital. As he waited for the shipment to come",
"text": "in, the army ran low on food, and Ts‘ao Ts’ao was forced to order the",
"text": "chief of commissariat to reduce its rations.",
"text": "Ts‘ao Ts’ao kept a tight rein on the army, and ran a network of",
"text": "informers. His spies soon reported that the men were complaining,",
"text": "grumbling that he was living well while they themselves had barely",
"text": "enough to eat. Perhaps Ts‘ao Ts’ao was keeping the food for himself,",
"text": "they murmured. If the grumbling spread, Ts‘ao Ts’ao could have a",
"text": "mutiny on his hands. He summoned the chief of commissariat to his tent.",
"text": "“I want to ask you to lend me something, and you must not refuse,”",
"text": "Ts‘ao Ts’ao told the chief. “What is it?” the chief replied. “I want the",
"text": "loan of your head to show to the troops,” said Ts‘ao Ts’ao. “But I’ve",
"text": "done nothing wrong!” cried the chief. “I know,” said Ts‘ao Ts’ao with a",
"text": "sigh, “but if I do not put you to death, there will be a mutiny. Do not",
"text": "grieve—after you’re gone, I’ll look after your family.” Put this way, the",
"text": "request left the chief no choice, so he resigned himself to his fate and",
"text": "was beheaded that very day. Seeing his head on public display, the",
"text": "soldiers stopped grumbling. Some saw through Ts‘ao Ts’ao’s gesture, but",
"text": "kept quiet, stunned and intimidated by his violence. And most accepted",
"text": "his version of who was to blame, preferring to believe in his wisdom and",
"text": "fairness than in his incompetence and cruelty.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Ts‘ao Ts’ao came to power in an extremely tumultuous time. In the",
"text": "struggle for supremacy in the crumbling Han Empire, enemies had",
"text": "emerged from all sides. The battle for the Central Plain had proven more",
"text": "difficult than he imagined, and money and provisions were a constant",
"text": "concern. No wonder that under such stress, he had forgotten to order",
"text": "supplies in time.",
"text": "Once it became clear that the delay was a critical mistake, and that the",
"text": "army was seething with mutiny, Ts‘ao Ts’ao had two options: apology",
"text": "and excuses, or a scapegoat. Understanding the workings of power and",
"text": "the importance of appearances as he did, Ts‘ao Ts’ao did not hesitate for",
"text": "a moment: He shopped around for the most convenient head and had it",
"text": "served up immediately.",
"text": "Occasional mistakes are inevitable—the world is just too",
"text": "unpredictable. People of power, however, are undone not by the mistakesthey make, but by the way they deal with them. Like surgeons, they must",
"text": "cut away the tumor with speed and finality. Excuses and apologies are",
"text": "much too blunt tools for this delicate operation; the powerful avoid them.",
"text": "By apologizing you open up all sorts of doubts about your competence,",
"text": "your intentions, any other mistakes you may not have confessed. Excuses",
"text": "satisfy no one and apologies make everyone uncomfortable. The mistake",
"text": "does not vanish with an apology; it deepens and festers. Better to cut it",
"text": "off instantly, distract attention from yourself, and focus attention on a",
"text": "convenient scapegoat before people have time to ponder your",
"text": "responsibility or your possible incompetence.",
"text": "I would rather betray the whole world than let the world betray me.",
"text": "General Ts‘ao Ts’ao, c. A.D. 155-220",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II",
"text": "For several years Cesare Borgia campaigned to gain control of large",
"text": "parts of Italy in the name of his father, Pope Alexander. In the year 1500",
"text": "he managed to take Romagna, in northern Italy. The region had for years",
"text": "been ruled by a series of greedy masters who had plundered its wealth",
"text": "for themselves. Without police or any disciplining force, it had",
"text": "descended into lawlessness, whole areas being ruled by robbers and",
"text": "feuding families. To establish order, Cesare appointed a lieutenant",
"text": "general of the region—Remirro de Orco, “a cruel and vigorous man,”",
"text": "according to Niccolõ Machiavelli. Cesare gave de Orco absolute powers.",
"text": "With energy and violence, de Orco established a severe, brutal justice",
"text": "in Romagna, and soon rid it of almost all of its lawless elements. But in",
"text": "his zeal he sometimes went too far, and after a couple of years the local",
"text": "population resented and even hated him. In December of 1502, Cesare",
"text": "took decisive action. He first let it be known that he had not approved of",
"text": "de Orco’s cruel and violent deeds, which stemmed from the lieutenant’s",
"text": "brutal nature. Then, on December 22, he imprisoned de Orco in the town",
"text": "of Cesena, and the day after Christmas the townspeople awoke to find a",
"text": "strange spectacle in the middle of the piazza: de Orco’s headless body,",
"text": "dressed in a lavish suit with a purple cape, the head impaled beside it on",
"text": "a pike, the bloody knife and executioner’s block laid out beside the head.",
"text": "As Machiavelli concluded his comments on the affair, “The ferocity of",
"text": "this scene left the people at once stunned and satisfied.”Interpretation",
"text": "Cesare Borgia was a master player in the game of power. Always",
"text": "planning several moves ahead, he set his opponents the cleverest traps.",
"text": "For this Machiavelli honored him above all others in The Prince.",
"text": "Cesare foresaw the future with amazing clarity in Romagna: Only",
"text": "brutal justice would bring order to the region. The process would take",
"text": "several years, and at first the people would welcome it. But it would",
"text": "soon make many enemies, and the citizens would come to resent the",
"text": "imposition of such unforgiving justice, especially by outsiders. Cesare",
"text": "himself, then, could not be seen as the agent of this justice—the people’s",
"text": "hatred would cause too many problems in the future. And so he chose the",
"text": "one man who could do the dirty work, knowing in advance that once the",
"text": "task was done he would have to display de Orco’s head on a pike. The",
"text": "scapegoat in this case had been planned from the beginning.",
"text": "With Ts‘ao Ts’ao, the scapegoat was an entirely innocent man; in the",
"text": "Romagna, he was the offensive weapon in Cesare’s arsenal that let him",
"text": "get the dirty work done without bloodying his own hands. With this",
"text": "second kind of scapegoat it is wise to separate yourself from the hatchet",
"text": "man at some point, either leaving him dangling in the wind or, like",
"text": "Cesare, even making yourself the one to bring him to justice. Not only",
"text": "are you free of involvement in the problem, you can appear as the one",
"text": "who cleaned it up.",
"text": "The Athenians regularly maintained a number of degraded and useless",
"text": "beings at the public expense; and when any calamity, such as plague,",
"text": "drought, or famine, befell the city … [these scapegoats] were led about",
"text": "…",
"text": "and then sacrificed, apparently by being stoned outside the city.",
"text": "The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazer, 1854-1941",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "The use of scapegoats is as old as civilization itself, and examples of it",
"text": "can be found in cultures around the world. The main idea behind these",
"text": "sacrifices is the shifting of guilt and sin to an outside figure—object,",
"text": "animal, or man—which is then banished or destroyed. The Hebrews used",
"text": "to take a live goat (hence the term “scapegoat”) upon whose head thepriest would lay both hands while confessing the sins of the Children of",
"text": "Israel. Having thus had those sins transferred to it, the beast would be led",
"text": "away and abandoned in the wilderness. With the Athenians and the",
"text": "Aztecs, the scapegoat was human, often a person fed and raised for the",
"text": "purpose. Since famine and plague were thought to be visited on humans",
"text": "by the gods, in punishment for wrongdoing, the people suffered not only",
"text": "from the famine and plague themselves but from blame and guilt. They",
"text": "freed themselves of guilt by transferring it to an innocent person, whose",
"text": "death was intended to satisfy the divine powers and banish the evil from",
"text": "their midst.",
"text": "It is an extremely human response to not look inward after a mistake",
"text": "or crime, but rather to look outward and to affix blame and guilt on a",
"text": "convenient object. When the plague was ravaging Thebes, Oedipus",
"text": "looked everywhere for its cause, everywhere except inside himself and",
"text": "his own sin of incest, which had so offended the gods and occasioned the",
"text": "plague. This profound need to exteriorize one’s guilt, to project it on",
"text": "another person or object, has an immense power, which the clever know",
"text": "how to harness. Sacrifice is a ritual, perhaps the most ancient ritual of",
"text": "all; ritual too is a well-spring of power. In the killing of de Orco, note",
"text": "Cesare’s symbolic and ritualistic display of his body. By framing it in",
"text": "this dramatic way he focused guilt outward. The citizens of Romagna",
"text": "responded instantly. Because it comes so naturally to us to look outward",
"text": "rather than inward, we readily accept the scapegoat’s guilt.",
"text": "The bloody sacrifice of the scapegoat seems a barbaric relic of the",
"text": "past, but the practice lives on to this day, if indirectly and symbolically;",
"text": "since power depends on appearances, and those in power must seem",
"text": "never to make mistakes, the use of scapegoats is as popular as ever. What",
"text": "modem leader will take responsibility for his blunders? He searches out",
"text": "others to blame, a scapegoat to sacrifice. When Mao Tse-tung’s Cultural",
"text": "Revolution failed miserably, he made no apologies or excuses to the",
"text": "Chinese people; instead, like Ts‘ao Ts’ao before him, he offered up",
"text": "scapegoats, including his own personal secretary and high-ranking",
"text": "member of the Party, Ch’en Po-ta.",
"text": "Franklin D. Roosevelt had a reputation for honesty and fairness.",
"text": "Throughout his career, however, he faced many situations in which being",
"text": "the nice guy would have spelled political disaster—yet he could not be",
"text": "seen as the agent of any foul play. For twenty years, then, his secretary,",
"text": "Louis Howe, played the role de Orco had. He handled the backroom",
"text": "deals, the manipulation of the press, the underhanded campaign",
"text": "maneuvers. And whenever a mistake was committed, or a dirty trickcontradicting Roosevelt’s carefully crafted image became public, Howe",
"text": "served as the scapegoat, and never complained.",
"text": "Besides conveniently shifting blame, a scapegoat can serve as a",
"text": "warning to others. In 1631 a plot was hatched to oust France’s Cardinal",
"text": "Richelieu from power, a plot that became known as “The Day of the",
"text": "Dupes.” It almost succeeded, since it involved the upper echelons of",
"text": "government, including the queen mother. But through luck and his own",
"text": "connivances, Richelieu survived.",
"text": "One of the key conspirators was a man named Marillac, the keeper of",
"text": "the seals. Richelieu could not imprison him without implicating the",
"text": "queen mother, an extremely dangerous tactic, so he targeted Marillac’s",
"text": "brother, a marshal in the army. This man had no involvement in the plot.",
"text": "Richelieu, however, afraid that other conspiracies might be in the air,",
"text": "especially in the army, decided to set an example. He tried the brother on",
"text": "trumped-up charges and had him executed. In this way he indirectly",
"text": "punished the real perpetrator, who had thought himself protected, and",
"text": "warned any future conspirators that he would not shrink from sacrificing",
"text": "the innocent to protect his own power.",
"text": "In fact it is often wise to choose the most innocent victim possible as a",
"text": "sacrificial goat. Such people will not be powerful enough to fight you,",
"text": "and their naive protests may be seen as protesting too much—may be",
"text": "seen, in other words, as a sign of their guilt. Be careful, however, not to",
"text": "create a martyr. It is important that you remain the victim, the poor leader",
"text": "betrayed by the incompetence of those around you. If the scapegoat",
"text": "appears too weak and his punishment too cruel, you may end up the",
"text": "victim of your own device. Sometimes you should find a more powerful",
"text": "scapegoat—one who will elicit less sympathy in the long run.",
"text": "In this vein, history has time and again shown the value of using a",
"text": "close associate as a scapegoat. This is known as the “fall of the favorite.”",
"text": "Most kings had a personal favorite at court, a man whom they singled",
"text": "out, sometimes for no apparent reason, and lavished with favors and",
"text": "attention. But this court favorite could serve as a convenient scapegoat in",
"text": "case of a threat to the king’s reputation. The public would readily believe",
"text": "in the scapegoat’s guilt—why would the king sacrifice his favorite unless",
"text": "he were guilty? And the other courtiers, resentful of the favorite anyway,",
"text": "would rejoice at his downfall. The king, meanwhile, would rid himself of",
"text": "a man who by that time had probably learned too much about him,",
"text": "perhaps becoming arrogant and even disdainful of him. Choosing a close",
"text": "associate as a scapegoat has the same value as the “fall of the favorite.”",
"text": "You may lose a friend or aide, but in the long-term scheme of things, it ismore important to hide your mistakes than to hold on to someone who",
"text": "one day will probably turn against you. Besides, you can always find a",
"text": "new favorite to take his place.",
"text": "Image: The Innocent Goat. On",
"text": "the Day of Atonement, the high",
"text": "priest brings the goat into the",
"text": "temple, places his hands on its",
"text": "head, and confesses the peo",
"text": "ple’s sins, transferring guilt to",
"text": "the guiltless beast, which is",
"text": "then led to the wilderness and",
"text": "abandoned, the people’s sins",
"text": "and blame vanishing with him.",
"text": "Authority: Folly consists not in committing Folly, but in being incapable",
"text": "of concealing it. All men make mistakes, but the wise conceal the",
"text": "blunders they have made, while fools make them public. Reputation",
"text": "depends more on what is hidden than on what is seen. If you can’t be",
"text": "good, be careful. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)PART II: MAKE USE OF THE CAT’S-PAW",
"text": "In the fable, the Monkey grabs the paw of his friend, the Cat, and uses it",
"text": "to fish chestnuts out of the fire, thus getting the nuts he craves, without",
"text": "hurting himself.",
"text": "If there is something unpleasant or unpopular that needs to be done, it",
"text": "is far too risky for you to do the work yourself. You need a cat‘s-paw-",
"text": "someone who does the dirty, dangerous work for you. The cat’s-paw",
"text": "grabs what you need, hurts whom you need hurt, and keeps people from",
"text": "noticing that you are the one responsible. Let someone else be the",
"text": "executioner, or the bearer of bad news, while you bring only joy and glad",
"text": "tidings.",
"text": "THE MONKEY AND THE CAT",
"text": "A monkey and cat, in roguery and fun Sworn brothers twain, both owned",
"text": "a common master, Whatever mischief in the house was done By Pug and",
"text": "Tom was contrived each disaster…. One winter’s day was seen this",
"text": "hopeful pair Close to the kitchen fire, as usual, posted. Amongst the red-",
"text": "hot coals the cook with care Had plac’d some nice plump chestnuts to be",
"text": "roasted, From whence in smoke a pungent odor rose, Whose oily",
"text": "fragrance struck the monkey’s nose. “Tom!” says sly Pug, “pray could",
"text": "not you and I Share this dessert the cook is pleased to cater? Had I such",
"text": "claws as yours, I’d quickly try: Lend me a hand—’twill be a coup-de-",
"text": "maître.” So said, he seized his colleague’s ready paw, Pulled out the",
"text": "fruit, and crammed it in his jaw.",
"text": "Now came the shining Mistress of the fane. And off in haste the two",
"text": "marauders scampered.",
"text": "Tom for his share of the plunder had the pain.",
"text": "Whilst Pug his palate with the dainties pampered.",
"text": "FABLES, JEAN OF LA FONTAINE. 1621-1695",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW IIn 59 B.C., the future queen Cleopatra of Egypt, then ten years old,",
"text": "witnessed the overthrow and banishment of her father, Ptolemy XII, at",
"text": "the hand of his elder daughters—her own sisters. One of the daughters,",
"text": "Berenice, emerged as the leader of the rebellion, and to ensure that she",
"text": "would now rule Egypt alone, she imprisoned her other sisters and",
"text": "murdered her own husband. This may have been necessary as a practical",
"text": "step to secure her rule. But that a member of the royal family, a queen no",
"text": "less, would so overtly exact such violence on her own family horrified",
"text": "her subjects and stirred up powerful opposition. Four years later this",
"text": "opposition was able to return Ptolemy to power, and he promptly had",
"text": "Berenice and the other elder sisters beheaded.",
"text": "In 51 B.C. Ptolemy died, leaving four remaining children as heirs. As",
"text": "was the tradition in Egypt, the eldest son, Ptolemy XIII (only ten at the",
"text": "time), married the elder sister, Cleopatra (now eighteen), and the couple",
"text": "took the throne together as king and queen. None of the four children felt",
"text": "satisfied with this; everyone, including Cleopatra, wanted more power. A",
"text": "struggle emerged between Cleopatra and Ptolemy, each trying to push",
"text": "the other to the side.",
"text": "In 48 B.C., with the help of a government faction that feared",
"text": "Cleopatra’s ambitions, Ptolemy was able to force his sister to flee the",
"text": "country, leaving himself as sole ruler. In exile, Cleopatra schemed. She",
"text": "wanted to rule alone and to restore Egypt to its past glory, a goal she felt",
"text": "none of her other siblings could achieve; yet as long as they were alive,",
"text": "she could not realize her dream. And the example of Berenice had made",
"text": "it clear that no one would serve a queen who was seen murdering her",
"text": "own kind. Even Ptolemy XIII had not dared murder Cleopatra, although",
"text": "he knew she would plot against him from abroad.",
"text": "Within a year after Cleopatra’s banishment, the Roman dictator Julius",
"text": "Caesar arrived in Egypt, determined to make the country a Roman",
"text": "colony. Cleopatra saw her chance: Reentering Egypt in disguise, she",
"text": "traveled hundreds of miles to reach Caesar in Alexandria. Legend has it",
"text": "that she had herself smuggled into his presence rolled up inside a carpet,",
"text": "which was gracefully unfurled at his feet, revealing the young queen.",
"text": "Cleopatra immediately went to work on the Roman. She appealed to his",
"text": "love of spectacle and his interest in Egyptian history, and poured on her",
"text": "feminine charms. Caesar soon succumbed and restored Cleopatra to the",
"text": "throne.",
"text": "Cleopatra’s siblings seethed—she had outmaneuvered them. Ptolemy",
"text": "XIII would not wait to see what happened next: From his palace in",
"text": "Alexandria, he summoned a great army to march on the city and attackCaesar. In response, Caesar immediately put Ptolemy and the rest of the",
"text": "family under house arrest. But Cleopatra’s younger sister Arsinoe",
"text": "escaped from the palace and placed herself at the head of the",
"text": "approaching Egyptian troops, proclaiming herself queen of Egypt. Now",
"text": "Cleopatra finally saw her chance: She convinced Caesar to release",
"text": "Ptolemy from house arrest, under the agreement that he would broker a",
"text": "truce. Of course she knew he would do the opposite—that he would fight",
"text": "Arsinoe for control of the Egyptian army. But this was to Cleopatra’s",
"text": "benefit, for it would divide the royal family. Better still, it would give",
"text": "Caesar the chance to defeat and kill her siblings in battle.",
"text": "Reinforced by troops from Rome, Caesar swiftly defeated the rebels.",
"text": "In the Egyptians’ retreat, Ptolemy drowned in the Nile. Caesar captured",
"text": "Arsinoe and had her sent to Rome as a prisoner. He also executed the",
"text": "numerous enemies who had conspired against Cleopatra, and imprisoned",
"text": "others who had opposed her. To reinforce her position as uncontested",
"text": "queen, Cleopatra now married the only sibling left, Ptolemy XIV—only",
"text": "eleven at the time, and the weakest of the lot. Four years later Ptolemy",
"text": "mysteriously died, of poison.",
"text": "In 41 B.C., Cleopatra employed on a second Roman leader, Marc",
"text": "Antony, the same tactics she had used so well on Julius Caesar. After",
"text": "seducing him, she hinted to him that her sister Arsinoe, still a prisoner in",
"text": "Rome, had conspired to destroy him. Marc Antony believed her and",
"text": "promptly had Arsinoe executed, thereby getting rid of the last of the",
"text": "siblings who had posed such a threat to Cleopatra.",
"text": "IIII ( ROW COBRA AND",
"text": "Once upon a time there was a crow and his wife who had built a nest in a",
"text": "banyan tree. A big snake crawled into the hollow trunk and ate up the",
"text": "chicks as they were hatched. The crow did not want to move, since he",
"text": "loved the tree dearly. So he went to his friend the jackal for advice. A",
"text": "plan of action was devised. The crow and his wife flew about in",
"text": "implementation.",
"text": "As the wife approached a pond, she saw the women of the king’s court",
"text": "bathing, with pearls, necklaces, gems, garments, and a golden chain",
"text": "laying on the shore. The crow-hen seized the golden chain in her beak",
"text": "and flew toward the banyan tree with the eunuchs in pursuit. When she",
"text": "reached the tree, she dropped the chain into the hole. As the kings’ men",
"text": "climbed the tree for the chain, they saw the swelling hood of the cobra.So they killed the snake with their clubs, retrieved the golden chain, and",
"text": "went back to the pond. And the crow and his wife lived happily ever after.",
"text": "A TALE FROM THE PANCHATANTRA, FOURTH CENTURY,",
"text": "RETOLD IN THE CRAFT OF POWER, R. G. H. SIU, 1979",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Legend has it that Cleopatra succeeded through her seductive charms,",
"text": "but in reality her power came from an ability to get people to do her",
"text": "bidding without realizing they were being manipulated. Caesar and",
"text": "Antony not only rid her of her most dangerous siblings—Ptolemy XIII",
"text": "and Arsinoe—they decimated all of her enemies, in both the government",
"text": "and the military. The two men became her cat’s-paws. They entered the",
"text": "fire for her, did the ugly but necessary work, while shielding her from",
"text": "appearing as the destroyer of her siblings and fellow Egyptians. And in",
"text": "the end, both men acquiesced to her desire to rule Egypt not as a Roman",
"text": "colony but as an independent allied kingdom. And they did all this for",
"text": "her without realizing how she had manipulated them. This was",
"text": "persuasion of the subtlest and most powerful kind.",
"text": "A queen must never dirty her hands with ugly tasks, nor can a king",
"text": "appear in public with blood on his face. Yet power cannot survive",
"text": "without the constant squashing of enemies—there will always be dirty",
"text": "little tasks that have to be done to keep you on the throne. Like",
"text": "Cleopatra, you need a cat’s-paw.",
"text": "This will usually be a person from outside your immediate circle, who",
"text": "will therefore be unlikely to realize how he or she is being used. You will",
"text": "find these dupes everywhere—people who enjoy doing you favors,",
"text": "especially if you throw them a minimal bone or two in exchange. But as",
"text": "they accomplish tasks that may seem to them innocent enough, or at least",
"text": "completely justified, they are actually clearing the field for you,",
"text": "spreading the information you feed them, undermining people they do",
"text": "not realize are your rivals, inadvertently furthering your cause, dirtying",
"text": "their hands while yours remain spotless.",
"text": "HOW TO BROADCAST NEWS",
"text": "When Omar, son of al-Khattab, was converted to Islam, he wanted the",
"text": "news of his conversion to reach everyone quickly. He went to see Jamil,",
"text": "son of Ma’mar al-Jumahi. The latter was renowned for the speed with",
"text": "which he passed on secrets. If he was told anything in confidence, he leteveryone know about it immediately. Omar said to him: “I have become",
"text": "a Muslim. Do not say anything. Keep it dark. Do not mention it in front",
"text": "of anyone.” Jamil went out into the street and began shouting at the top",
"text": "of his voice: “Do you believe that Omar, son of al-Khattab, has not",
"text": "become a Muslim? Well, do not believe that! I am telling you that he",
"text": "has!”",
"text": "The news of Omar’s conversion to Islam was spread everywhere. And",
"text": "that was just what he intended.",
"text": "I HE SUBTLE RUSE: THE BOOK OF ARABIC WISDOM AND",
"text": "GUILE, IHIRTEENTH CENTURY",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II",
"text": "In the late 1920s, civil war broke out in China as the Nationalist and",
"text": "Communist parties battled for control of the country. In 1927 Chiang",
"text": "Kai-shek, the Nationalist leader, vowed to kill every last Communist, and",
"text": "over the next few years he nearly accomplished his task, pushing his",
"text": "enemies hard until, in 1934-1935, he forced them into the Long March, a",
"text": "six-thousand-mile retreat from the southeast to the remote northwest,",
"text": "through harsh terrain, in which most of their ranks were decimated. In",
"text": "late 1936 Chiang planned one last offensive to wipe them out, but he was",
"text": "caught in a mutiny: His own soldiers captured him and turned him over",
"text": "to the Communists. Now he could only expect the worst.",
"text": "Meanwhile, however, the Japanese began an invasion of China, and",
"text": "much to Chiang’s surprise, instead of killing him the Communist leader,",
"text": "Mao Tse-tung, proposed a deal: The Communists would let him go, and",
"text": "would recognize him as commander of their forces as well as his, if he",
"text": "would agree to fight alongside them against their common enemy.",
"text": "Chiang had expected torture and execution; now he could not believe his",
"text": "luck. How soft these Reds had become. Without having to fight a",
"text": "rearguard action against the Communists, he knew he could beat the",
"text": "Japanese, and then a few years down the line he would turn around and",
"text": "destroy the Reds with ease. He had nothing to lose and everything to",
"text": "gain by agreeing to their terms.",
"text": "The Communists proceeded to fight the Japanese in their usual",
"text": "fashion, with hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, while the Nationalists fought amore conventional war. Together, after several years, they succeeded in",
"text": "evicting the Japanese. Now, however, Chiang finally understood what",
"text": "Mao had really planned. His own army had met the brunt of the Japanese",
"text": "artillery, was greatly weakened, and would take a few years to recover.",
"text": "The Communists, meanwhile, had not only avoided any direct hits from",
"text": "the Japanese, they had used the time to recoup their strength, and to",
"text": "spread out and gain pockets of influence all over China. As soon as the",
"text": "war against the Japanese ended, the civil war started again—but this time",
"text": "the Communists enveloped the weakened Nationalists and slowly beat",
"text": "them into submission. The Japanese had served as Mao’s cat’s-paw,",
"text": "inadvertently ploughing the fields for the Communists and making",
"text": "possible their victory over Chiang Kai-shek.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Most leaders who had taken as powerful an enemy as Chiang Kai-shek",
"text": "prisoner would have made sure to kill him. But in doing so they would",
"text": "have lost the chance Mao exploited. Without the experienced Chiang as",
"text": "leader of the Nationalists, the fight to drive the Japanese out might have",
"text": "lasted much longer, with devastating results. Mao was far too clever to",
"text": "let anger spoil the chance to kill two birds with one stone. In essence,",
"text": "Mao used two cat‘s-paws to help him attain total victory. First, he",
"text": "cleverly baited Chiang into taking charge of the war against the",
"text": "Japanese. Mao knew the Nationalists led by Chiang would do most of",
"text": "the hard fighting and would succeed in pushing the Japanese out of",
"text": "China, if they did not have to concern themselves with fighting the",
"text": "Communists at the same time. The Nationalists, then, were the first cat’s-",
"text": "paw, used to evict the Japanese. But Mao also knew that in the process of",
"text": "leading the war against the invaders, the Japanese artillery and air",
"text": "support would decimate the conventional forces of the Nationalists,",
"text": "doing damage it could take the Communists decades to inflict. Why",
"text": "waste time and lives if the Japanese could do the job quickly? It was this",
"text": "wise policy of using one cat’s-paw after another that allowed the",
"text": "Communists to prevail.",
"text": "There are two uses of the cat‘s-paw: to save appearances, as Cleopatra",
"text": "did, and to save energy and effort. The latter case in particular demands",
"text": "that you plan several moves in advance, realizing that a temporary move",
"text": "backward (letting Chiang go, say) can lead to a giant leap forward. If you",
"text": "are temporarily weakened and need time to recover, it will often serveyou well to use those around you both as a screen to hide your intentions",
"text": "and as a cat’s-paw to do your work for you. Look for a powerful third",
"text": "party who shares an enemy with you (if for different reasons), then take",
"text": "advantage of their superior power to deal blows which would have cost",
"text": "you much more energy, since you are weaker. You can even gently guide",
"text": "them into hostilities. Always search out the overly aggressive as",
"text": "potential cat’s-paws—they are often more than willing to get into a fight,",
"text": "and you can choose just the right fight for your purposes.",
"text": "\\OOAND",
"text": "A wise man, walking alone, Was being bothered by a fool throwing",
"text": "stones at his head. Turning to face him, he said: “My dear chap, well",
"text": "thrown! Please accept these few francs. You’ve worked hard enough to",
"text": "get more than mere thanks. Every effort deserves its reward. But see that",
"text": "man over there? He can afford More than I can. Present him with some",
"text": "of your stones: they’ll earn a good wage.” Lured by the bait, the stupid",
"text": "man Ran off to repeat the outrage On the other worthy citizen. This time",
"text": "he wasn’t paid in money for his stones. Up rushed serving-men, And",
"text": "seized him and thrashed him and broke all his bones. In the courts of",
"text": "kings there are pests like this. devoid of sense: They’ll make their master",
"text": "laugh at your expense. To silence their cackle, should you hand out",
"text": "rough Punishment? Maybe you’re not strong enough. Better persuade",
"text": "them to attack Somebody else, who can more than pay them back.",
"text": "SELECTED FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW III",
"text": "Kuriyama Daizen was an adept of Cha-no-yu (Hot Water for Tea, the",
"text": "Japanese tea ceremony) and a student of the teachings of the great tea",
"text": "master Sen no Rikyu. Around 1620 Daizen learned that a friend of his,",
"text": "Hoshino Soemon, had borrowed a large sum of money (300 ryo) to help",
"text": "a relative who had fallen into debt. But although Soemon had managed",
"text": "to bail out his relative, he had simply displaced the burden onto himself.",
"text": "Daizen knew Soemon well—he neither cared nor understood much about",
"text": "money, and could easily get into trouble through slowness in repayingthe loan, which had been made by a wealthy merchant called Kawachiya",
"text": "Sanemon. Yet if Daizen offered to help Soemon pay back the loan, he",
"text": "would refuse, out of pride, and might even be offended.",
"text": "One day Daizen visited his friend, and after touring the garden and",
"text": "looking at Soemon’s prized peonies, they retired to his reception room.",
"text": "Here Daizen saw a painting by the master Kano Tennyu. “Ah,” Daizen",
"text": "exclaimed, “a splendid piece of painting…. I don’t know when I have",
"text": "seen anything I like better.” After several more bouts of praise, Soemon",
"text": "had no choice: “Well,” he said, “since you like it so much, I hope you",
"text": "will do me the favor of accepting it.”",
"text": "At first Daizen refused, but when Soemon insisted he gave in. The",
"text": "next day Soemon in turn received a package from Daizen. Inside it was a",
"text": "beautiful and delicate vase, which Daizen, in an accompanying note,",
"text": "asked his friend to accept as a token of his appreciation for the painting",
"text": "that Soemon had so graciously given him the day before. He explained",
"text": "that the vase had been made by Sen no Rikyu himself, and bore an",
"text": "inscription from Emperor Hideyoshi. If Soemon did not care for the",
"text": "vase, Daizen suggested, he might make a gift of it to an adherent of Cha-",
"text": "no-yu—perhaps the merchant Kawachiya Sanemon, who had often",
"text": "expressed a desire to possess it. “I hear,” Daizen continued, “he has a",
"text": "fine piece of fancy paper [the 300-ryo I.O.U.] which you would much",
"text": "like. It is possible you might arrange an exchange.”",
"text": "Realizing what his gracious friend was up to, Soemon took the vase to",
"text": "the wealthy lender. “However did you get this,” exclaimed Sanemon,",
"text": "when Soemon showed him the vase. “I have often heard of it, but this is",
"text": "the first time I have ever seen it. It is such a treasure that it is never",
"text": "allowed outside the gate!” He instantly offered to exchange the debt note",
"text": "for the flower vase, and to give Soemon 300 ryo more on top of it. But",
"text": "Soemon, who did not care for money, only wanted the debt note back,",
"text": "and Sanemon gladly gave it to him. Then Soemon immediately hurried",
"text": "to Daizen’s house to thank him for his clever support.",
"text": "THE INDIAN BIRD",
"text": "A merchant kept a bird in a cage. He was going to India, the land from",
"text": "which the bird came, and asked it whether he could bring anything back",
"text": "for it. The bird asked for its freedom, but was refused. So he asked the",
"text": "merchant to visit a jungle in India and announce his captivity to the free",
"text": "birds who were there. The merchant did so, and no sooner had he spoken",
"text": "when a wild bird, just like his own, fell senseless out of a tree on to theground. The merchant thought that this must be a relative of his own",
"text": "bird, and felt sad that he should have caused this death. When he got",
"text": "home, the bird asked him whether he had brought good news from India.",
"text": "“No,” said the merchant, “I fear that my news is bad. One of your",
"text": "relations collapsed and fell at my feet when I mentioned your captivity.”.",
"text": "As soon as these words were spoken the merchant’s bird collapsed and",
"text": "fell to the bottom of the cage. “The news of his kins-man’s death has",
"text": "killed him, too, ”thotight the merchant. Sorrowfully he picked up the bird",
"text": "and put it on the windowsill. At once the bird revived and flew to a",
"text": "nearby tree. “Now you know, ”the bird said, “that what you hought was",
"text": "disaster was in fact good news for me. And how the message, the",
"text": "suggestion of how to behave in order to free myself, was transmitted to",
"text": "me through you, my captor.” And he flew away, free at last.",
"text": "TALES OF THE DERVISHES. IDRIES SHAH. 1967",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Kuriyama Daizen understood that the granting of a favor is never simple:",
"text": "If it is done with fuss and obviousness, its receiver feels burdened by an",
"text": "obligation. This may give the doer a certain power, but it is a power that",
"text": "will eventually self-destruct, for it will stir up resentment and resistance.",
"text": "A favor done indirectly and elegantly has ten times more power. Daizen",
"text": "knew a direct approach would only have offended Soemon. By letting",
"text": "his friend give him the painting, however, he made Soemon feel that he",
"text": "too had pleased his friend with a gift. In the end, all three parties",
"text": "emerged from the encounter feeling fulfilled in their own way.",
"text": "In essence, Daizen made himself the cat‘s-paw, the tool to take the",
"text": "chestnuts out of the fire. He must have felt some pain in losing the vase,",
"text": "but he gained not only the painting but, more important, the power of the",
"text": "courtier. The courtier uses his gloved hand to soften any blows against",
"text": "him, disguise his scars, and make the act of rescue more elegant and",
"text": "clean. By helping others, the courtier eventually helps himself. Daizen’s",
"text": "example provides the paradigm for every favor done between friends and",
"text": "peers: never impose your favors. Search out ways to make yourself the",
"text": "cat’s-paw, indirectly extricating your friends from distress without",
"text": "imposing yourself or making them feel obligated to you.",
"text": "One should not be too straightforward. Go and see the forest.",
"text": "The straight trees are cut down, the crooked ones are left standing.",
"text": "Kautilya, Indian philosopher, third century B.C.KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "As a leader you may imagine that constant diligence, and the appearance",
"text": "of working harder than anyone else, signify power. Actually, though,",
"text": "they have the opposite effect: They imply weakness. Why are you",
"text": "working so hard? Perhaps you are incompetent, and have to put in extra",
"text": "effort just to keep up; perhaps you are one of those people who does not",
"text": "know how to delegate, and has to meddle in everything. The truly",
"text": "powerful, on the other hand, seem never to be in a hurry or",
"text": "overburdened. While others work their fingers to the bone, they take",
"text": "their leisure. They know how to find the right people to put in the effort",
"text": "while they save their energy and keep their hands out of the fire.",
"text": "Similarly, you may believe that by taking on the dirty work yourself,",
"text": "involving yourself directly in unpleasant actions, you impose your power",
"text": "and instill fear. In fact you make yourself look ugly, and abusive of your",
"text": "high position. Truly powerful people keep their hands clean. Only good",
"text": "things surround them, and the only announcements they make are of",
"text": "glorious achievements.",
"text": "You will often find it necessary, of course, to expend energy, or to",
"text": "effect an evil but necessary action. But you must never appear to be this",
"text": "action’s agent. Find a cat‘s-paw. Develop the arts of finding, using, and,",
"text": "in time, getting rid of these people when their cat’s-paw role has been",
"text": "fulfilled.",
"text": "On the eve of an important river battle, the great third-century Chinese",
"text": "strategist Chuko Liang found himself falsely accused of secretly working",
"text": "for the other side. As proof of his loyalty, his commander ordered him to",
"text": "produce 100,000 arrows for the army within three days, or be put to",
"text": "death. Instead of trying to manufacture the arrows, an impossible task,",
"text": "Liang took a dozen boats and had bundles of straw lashed to their sides.",
"text": "In the late afternoon, when mist always blanketed the river, he floated",
"text": "the boats toward the enemy camp. Fearing a trap from the wily Chuko",
"text": "Liang, the enemy did not attack the barely visible boats with boats of",
"text": "their own, but showered them with arrows from the bank. As Liang’s",
"text": "boats inched closer, they redoubled the rain of arrows, which stuck in the",
"text": "thick straw. After several hours, the men hiding on board sailed the",
"text": "vessels quickly downstream, where Chuko Liang met them and collected",
"text": "his 100,000 arrows.",
"text": "Chuko Liang would never do work that others could do for him—he",
"text": "was always thinking up tricks like this one. The key to planning such astrategy is the ability to think far ahead, to imagine ways in which other",
"text": "people can be baited into doing the job for you.",
"text": "An essential element in making this strategy work is to disguise your",
"text": "goal, shrouding it in mystery, like the strange enemy boats appearing",
"text": "dimly in the mist. When your rivals cannot be sure what you are after,",
"text": "they will react in ways that often work against them in the long run. In",
"text": "fact they will become your cat’s-paws. If you disguise your intentions, it",
"text": "is much easier to guide them into moves that accomplish exactly what",
"text": "you want done, but prefer not to do yourself. This may require planning",
"text": "several moves in advance, like a billiard ball that bounces off the sides a",
"text": "few times before heading into the right pocket.",
"text": "The early-twentieth-century American con artist Yellow Kid Weil",
"text": "knew that no matter how skillfully he homed in on the perfect wealthy",
"text": "sucker, if he, a stranger, approached this man directly, the sucker might",
"text": "become suspicious. So Weil would find someone the sucker already",
"text": "knew to serve as a cat‘s-paw—someone lower on the totem pole who",
"text": "was himself an unlikely target, and would therefore be less suspicious.",
"text": "Weil would interest this man in a scheme promising incredible wealth.",
"text": "Convinced the scheme was for real, the cat’s-paw would often suggest,",
"text": "without prompting, that his boss or wealthy friend should get involved:",
"text": "Having more cash to invest, this man would increase the size of the pot,",
"text": "making bigger bucks for all concerned. The cat‘s-paw would then",
"text": "involve the wealthy sucker who had been Weil’s target all along, but who",
"text": "would not suspect a trap, since it was his trusty subordinate who had",
"text": "roped him in. Devices like this are often the best way to approach a",
"text": "person of power: Use an associate or subordinate to hook you up with",
"text": "your primary target. The cat’s-paw establishes your credibility and",
"text": "shields you from the unsavory appearance of being too pushy in your",
"text": "courtship.",
"text": "The easiest and most effective way to use a cat’s-paw is often to plant",
"text": "information with him that he will then spread to your primary target.",
"text": "False or planted information is a powerful tool, especially if spread by a",
"text": "dupe whom no one suspects. You will find it very easy to play innocent",
"text": "and disguise yourself as the source.",
"text": "DAVID AND BATHSHEBA",
"text": "At the turn of the year, when kings take the field, David sent Joab out",
"text": "with his other officers and all the Israelite forces, and they ravaged",
"text": "Ammon and laid siege to Rabbah, while David remained in Jerusalem.One evening David got up from his couch and, as he walked about on the",
"text": "roof of the palace, he saw from there a woman bathing and she was very",
"text": "beautiful. He sent to inquire who she was, and the answer came, “It must",
"text": "be Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite….” David",
"text": "wrote a letter to Joab and sent Uriah with it. He wrote in the letter: “Put",
"text": "Uriah opposite the enemy where the fighting is fiercest and then fall",
"text": "back, and leave him to meet his death.”… Joab… stationed Uriah at a",
"text": "point where he knew they would put up a stout fight. The men of the city",
"text": "sallied out and engaged Joab, and some of David’s guards fell; Uriah the",
"text": "Hittite was also killed. Joab sent David a dispatch with all the news of",
"text": "the battle…. When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she",
"text": "mourned for him; and when the period of mourning was over, David sent",
"text": "for her and brought her into his house. She became his wife and bore",
"text": "him a son.",
"text": "OLD TESTAMENT, 2 SAMUEL,11-12",
"text": "The strategic therapist Dr. Milton H. Erickson would often encounter",
"text": "among his patients a married couple in which the wife wanted the",
"text": "therapy but the husband absolutely refused it. Rather than wasting",
"text": "energy trying to deal with the man directly, Dr. Erickson would see the",
"text": "wife alone, and as she talked he would interject interpretations of the",
"text": "husband’s behavior that he knew would rile the husband up if he heard",
"text": "them. Sure enough, the wife would tell her husband what the doctor had",
"text": "said. After a few weeks the husband would be so furious he would insist",
"text": "on joining his wife in the sessions so he could set the doctor straight.",
"text": "Finally, you may well find cases in which deliberately offering",
"text": "yourself as the cat’s-paw will ultimately gain you great power. This is the",
"text": "ruse of the perfect courtier. Its symbol is Sir Walter Raleigh, who once",
"text": "placed his own cloak on the muddy ground so that Queen Elizabeth",
"text": "would not sully her shoes. As the instrument that protects a master or",
"text": "peer from unpleasantness or danger, you gain immense respect, which",
"text": "sooner or later will pay dividends. And remember: If you can make your",
"text": "assistance subtle and gracious rather than boastful and burdensome, your",
"text": "recompense will be that much the more satisfying and powerful.",
"text": "Image: The Cat’s-Paw.",
"text": "It has long claws to grab",
"text": "things. It is soft and",
"text": "padded. Take hold of the cat",
"text": "and use its paw to pluckthings out of the fire, to claw",
"text": "your enemy, to play with the",
"text": "mouse before devouring it.",
"text": "Sometimes you hurt the",
"text": "cat, but most often it",
"text": "doesn’t feel a thing.",
"text": "Authority: Do everything pleasant yourself, everything unpleasant",
"text": "through third parties. By adopting the first course you win favor, by",
"text": "taking the second you deflect ill will. Important affairs often require",
"text": "rewards and punishments. Let only the good come from you and the evil",
"text": "from others. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "The cat’s-paw and the scapegoat must be used with extreme caution and",
"text": "delicacy. They are like screens that hide your own involvement in dirty",
"text": "work from the public; if at any moment the screen is lifted and you are",
"text": "seen as the manipulator, the puppet master, the whole dynamic turns",
"text": "around—your hand will be seen everywhere, and you will be blamed for",
"text": "misfortunes you may have had nothing to do with. Once the truth is",
"text": "revealed, events will snowball beyond your control.",
"text": "In 1572, Queen Catherine de’ Médicis of France conspired to do away",
"text": "with Gaspard de Coligny, an admiral in the French navy and a leading",
"text": "member of the Huguenot (French Protestant) community. Coligny was",
"text": "close to Catherine’s son, Charles IX, and she feared his growing",
"text": "influence on the young king. So she arranged for a member of the Guise",
"text": "family, one of the most powerful royal clans in France, to assassinate",
"text": "him.",
"text": "Secretly, however, Catherine had another plan: She wanted the",
"text": "Huguenots to blame the Guises for killing one of their leaders, and to",
"text": "take revenge. With one blow, she would erase or injure two threateningrivals, Coligny and the Guise family. Yet both plans went awry. The",
"text": "assassin missed his target, only wounding Coligny; knowing Catherine",
"text": "as his enemy, he strongly suspected it was she who had set up the attack",
"text": "on him, and he told the king so. Eventually the failed assassination and",
"text": "the arguments that ensued from it set off a chain of events that led to a",
"text": "bloody civil war between Catholics and Protestants, culminating in the",
"text": "horrifying Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve, in which thousands of",
"text": "Protestants were killed.",
"text": "If you have to use a cat’s-paw or a scapegoat in an action of great",
"text": "consequence, be very careful: Too much can go wrong. It is often wiser",
"text": "to use such dupes in more innocent endeavors, where mistakes or",
"text": "miscalculations will cause no serious harm.",
"text": "Finally, there are moments when it is advantageous to not disguise",
"text": "your involvement or responsibility, but rather to take the blame yourself",
"text": "for some mistake. If you have power and are secure in it, you should",
"text": "sometimes play the penitent: With a sorrowful look, you ask for",
"text": "forgiveness from those weaker than you. It is the ploy of the king who",
"text": "makes a show of his own sacrifices for the good of the people. Similarly,",
"text": "upon occasion you may want to appear as the agent of punishment in",
"text": "order to instill fear and trembling in your subordinates. Instead of the",
"text": "cat‘s-paw you show your own mighty hand as a threatening gesture. Play",
"text": "such a card sparingly. If you play it too often, fear will turn into",
"text": "resentment and hatred. Before you know it, such emotions will spark a",
"text": "vigorous opposition that will someday bring you down. Get in the habit",
"text": "of using a cat’s-paw—it is far safer.LAW 27",
"text": "PLAY ON PEOPLE’S NEED TO BELIEVE TO",
"text": "CREATE A CULTLIKE FOLLOWING",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the",
"text": "focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow.",
"text": "Keep your words vague but full of promise ; emphasize enthusiasm over",
"text": "rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to",
"text": "perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of",
"text": "organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring",
"text": "you untold power.",
"text": "THE SCIENCE OF CHARLATANISM, OR",
"text": "HOW TO CREATE A CULT IN FIVE EASY",
"text": "STEPS",
"text": "In searching, as you must, for the methods that will gain you the most",
"text": "power for the least effort, you will find the creation of a cultlike",
"text": "following one of the most effective. Having a large following opens up",
"text": "all sorts of possibilities for deception; not only will your followers",
"text": "worship you, they will defend you from your enemies and will",
"text": "voluntarily take on the work of enticing others to join your fledgling cult.",
"text": "This kind of power will lift you to another realm: You will no longer",
"text": "have to struggle or use subterfuge to enforce your will. You are adored",
"text": "and can do no wrong.",
"text": "You might think it a gargantuan task to create such a following, but in",
"text": "fact it is fairly simple. As humans, we have a desperate need to believe in",
"text": "something, anything. This makes us eminently gullible: We simplycannot endure long periods of doubt, or of the emptiness that comes from",
"text": "a lack of something to believe in. Dangle in front of us some new cause,",
"text": "elixir, get-rich-quick scheme, or the latest technological trend or art",
"text": "movement and we leap from the water as one to take the bait. Look at",
"text": "history: The chronicles of the new trends and cults that have made a",
"text": "mass following for themselves could fill a library. After a few centuries,",
"text": "a few decades, a few years, a few months, they generally look ridiculous,",
"text": "but at the time they seem so attractive, so transcendental, so divine.",
"text": "Always in a rush to believe in something, we will manufacture saints",
"text": "and faiths out of nothing. Do not let this gullibility go to waste: Make",
"text": "yourself the object of worship. Make people form a cult around you.",
"text": "The great European charlatans of the sixteenth and seventeenth",
"text": "centuries mastered the art of cultmaking. They lived, as we do now, in a",
"text": "time of transformation: Organized religion was on the wane, science on",
"text": "the rise. People were desperate to rally around a new cause or faith. The",
"text": "charlatans had begun by peddling health elixirs and alchemic shortcuts to",
"text": "wealth. Moving quickly from town to town, they originally focused on",
"text": "small groups—until, by accident, they stumbled on a truth of human",
"text": "nature: The larger the group they gathered around themselves, the easier",
"text": "it was to deceive.",
"text": "The charlatan would station himself on a high wooden platform (hence",
"text": "the term “mountebank”) and crowds would swarm around him. In a",
"text": "group setting, people were more emotional, less able to reason. Had the",
"text": "charlatan spoken to them individually, they might have found him",
"text": "ridiculous, but lost in a crowd they got caught up in a communal mood",
"text": "of rapt attention. It became impossible for them to find the distance to be",
"text": "skeptical. Any deficiencies in the charlatan’s ideas were hidden by the",
"text": "zeal of the mass. Passion and enthusiasm swept through the crowd like a",
"text": "contagion, and they reacted violently to anyone who dared to spread a",
"text": "seed of doubt. Both consciously studying this dynamic over decades of",
"text": "experiment and spontaneously adapting to these situations as they",
"text": "happened, the charlatans perfected the science of attracting and holding a",
"text": "crowd, molding the crowd into followers and the followers into a cult.",
"text": "It was to the charlatan’s advantage that the individuals predisposed to",
"text": "credulity should multiply, that the groups of his adherents should enlarge",
"text": "to mass proportions, guaranteeing an ever greater scope for his",
"text": "triumphs. And this was in fact to occur, as science was popularized, from",
"text": "the Renaissance on down through succeeding centuries. With the",
"text": "immense growth of knowledge and its spread through printing in modern",
"text": "times, the mass of the half educated, the eagerly gullible prey of thequack, also increased, became indeed a majority; real power could be",
"text": "based on their wishes, opinions, preferences, and rejections. The",
"text": "charlatan’s empire accordingly widened with the modern dissemination",
"text": "of knowledge; since he operated on the basis of science, however much",
"text": "he perverted it, producing gold with a technique borrowed from",
"text": "chemistry and his wonderful balsams with the apparatus of medicine, he",
"text": "could not appeal to an entirely ignorant folk. The illiterate would be",
"text": "protected against his absurdities by their healthy common sense. His",
"text": "choicest audience would be composed of the semiliterate, those who had",
"text": "exchanged their common sense for a little distorted information and had",
"text": "encountered science and education at some time, though briefly and",
"text": "unsuccessfully…. The great mass of mankind has always been",
"text": "predisposed to marvel at mysteries, and this was especially true at",
"text": "certain historic periods when the secure foundations of life seemed",
"text": "shaken and old values, economic or spiritual, long accepted as",
"text": "certainties, could no longer be relied upon. Then the numbers of the",
"text": "charlatan’s dupes multiplied—the “self killers,” as a seventeenth-century",
"text": "Englishman called them.",
"text": "THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO,",
"text": "1939",
"text": "The gimmicks of the charlatans may seem quaint today, but there are",
"text": "thousands of charlatans among us still, using the same tried-and-true",
"text": "methods their predecessors refined centuries ago, only changing the",
"text": "names of their elixirs and modernizing the look of their cults. We find",
"text": "these latter-day charlatans in all arenas of life—business, fashion,",
"text": "politics, art. Many of them, perhaps, are following in the charlatan",
"text": "tradition without having any knowledge of its history, but you can be",
"text": "more systematic and deliberate. Simply follow the five steps of",
"text": "cultmaking that our charlatan ancestors perfected over the years.",
"text": "Step 1: Keep It Vague; Keep It Simple. To create a cult you must first",
"text": "attract attention. This you should do not through actions, which are too",
"text": "clear and readable, but through words, which are hazy and deceptive.",
"text": "Your initial speeches, conversations, and interviews must include two",
"text": "elements: on the one hand the promise of something great and",
"text": "transformative, and on the other a total vagueness. This combination will",
"text": "stimulate all kinds of hazy dreams in your listeners, who will make their",
"text": "own connections and see what they want to see.To make your vagueness attractive, use words of great resonance but",
"text": "cloudy meaning, words full of heat and enthusiasm. Fancy titles for",
"text": "simple things are helpful, as are the use of numbers and the creation of",
"text": "new words for vague concepts. All of these create the impression of",
"text": "specialized knowledge, giving you a veneer of profundity. By the same",
"text": "token, try to make the subject of your cult new and fresh, so that few will",
"text": "understand it. Done right, the combination of vague promises, cloudy but",
"text": "alluring concepts, and fiery enthusiasm will stir people’s souls and a",
"text": "group will form around you.",
"text": "Talk too vaguely and you have no credibility. But it is more dangerous",
"text": "to be specific. If you explain in detail the benefits people will gain by",
"text": "following your cult, you will be expected to satisfy them.",
"text": "As a corollary to its vagueness your appeal should also be simple.",
"text": "Most people’s problems have complex causes: deep-rooted neurosis,",
"text": "interconnected social factors, roots that go way back in time and are",
"text": "exceedingly hard to unravel. Few, however, have the patience to deal",
"text": "with this; most people want to hear that a simple solution will cure their",
"text": "problems. The ability to offer this kind of solution will give you great",
"text": "power and build you a following. Instead of the complicated",
"text": "explanations of real life, return to the primitive solutions of our",
"text": "ancestors, to good old country remedies, to mysterious panaceas.",
"text": "Step 2: Emphasize the Visual and the Sensual over the Intellectual.",
"text": "Once people have begun to gather around you, two dangers will present",
"text": "themselves: boredom and skepticism. Boredom will make people go",
"text": "elsewhere ; skepticism will allow them the distance to think rationally",
"text": "about whatever it is you are offering, blowing away the mist you have",
"text": "artfully created and revealing your ideas for what they are. You need to",
"text": "amuse the bored, then, and ward off the cynics.",
"text": "THE OW WHO WAS GOD",
"text": "Once upon a starless midnight there was an owl who sat on the branch",
"text": "of an oak tree. Two ground moles tried to slip quietly by, unnoticed.",
"text": "“You!” said the owl. “Who?” they quavered, in fear and astonishment,",
"text": "for they could not believe it was possible for anyone to see them in that",
"text": "thick darkness. “You two!” said the owl. The moles hurried away and",
"text": "told the other creatures of the field and forest that the owl was the",
"text": "greatest and wisest of all animals because he could see in the dark and",
"text": "because he could answer any question. “I’ll see about that,” said asecretary bird, and he called on the owl one night when it was again very",
"text": "dark. “How many claws am I holding up?” said the secretary bird.",
"text": "“Two,” said the owl, and that was right. “Can you give me another",
"text": "expression for ‘that is to say’ or ‘namely?’ ” asked the secretary bird.",
"text": "“To wit,” said the owl. “Why does a lover call on his love?” asked the",
"text": "secretary bird. “To woo,” said the owl. The secretary bird hastened back",
"text": "to the other creatures and reported that the owl was indeed the greatest",
"text": "and wisest animal in the world because he could see in the dark and",
"text": "because he could answer any question.",
"text": "“Can he see in the daytime, too?” asked a red fox. “Yes,” echoed a",
"text": "dormouse and a French poodle. “Can he see in the daytime, too?” All",
"text": "the other creatures laughed loudly at this silly question, and they set",
"text": "upon the red fox and his friends and drove them out of the region. Then",
"text": "they sent a messenger to the owl and asked him to be their leader. When",
"text": "the owl appeared among the animals it was high noon and the sun was",
"text": "shining brightly. He walked very slowly, which gave him an appearance",
"text": "of great dignity, and he peered about him with large, staring eyes, which",
"text": "gave him an air of tremendous importance. “He’s God!” screamed a",
"text": "Plymouth Rock hen. And the others took up the cry “He’s God!” So they",
"text": "followed him wherever he went and when he began to bump into things",
"text": "they began to bump into things. too. Finally he came to a concrete",
"text": "highway and he started up the middle of it and all the other creatures",
"text": "followed him. Presently a hawk, who was acting as outrider, observed a",
"text": "truck coming toward them at fifty miles an hour, and he reported to the",
"text": "secretary bird and the secretary bird reported to the owl. “There’s",
"text": "danger ahead, ” said the secretary bird. “To wit?” said the owl. The",
"text": "secretary bird told him. “Aren’t you afraid?” He asked. “Who?” said the",
"text": "owl calmly, for he could not see the truck. “He’s God!” cried all the",
"text": "creatures again, and they were still crying “He’s God!” when the truck",
"text": "hit them and ran them down. Some of the animals were merely injured,",
"text": "but most of them, including the owl, were killed. Moral: You can fool too",
"text": "many of the people too much of the time.",
"text": "THE THURBER CARNIVAI , JAMES THURBER , 1894-1961",
"text": "The best way to do this is through theater, or other devices of its kind.",
"text": "Surround yourself with luxury, dazzle your followers with visual",
"text": "splendor, fill their eyes with spectacle. Not only will this keep them from",
"text": "seeing the ridiculousness of your ideas, the holes in your belief system, it",
"text": "will also attract more attention, more followers. Appeal to all the senses:",
"text": "Use incense for scent, soothing music for hearing, colorful charts and",
"text": "graphs for the eye. You might even tickle the mind, perhaps by usingnew technological gadgets to give your cult a pseudo-scientific veneer—",
"text": "as long as you do not make anyone really think. Use the exotic—distant",
"text": "cultures, strange customs—to create theatrical effects, and to make the",
"text": "most banal and ordinary affairs seem signs of something extraordinary.",
"text": "Step 3: Borrow the Forms of Organized Religion to Structure the",
"text": "Group. Your cultlike following is growing; it is time to organize it. Find",
"text": "a way both elevating and comforting. Organized religions have long held",
"text": "unquestioned authority for large numbers of people, and continue to do",
"text": "so in our supposedly secular age. And even if the religion itself has faded",
"text": "some, its forms still resonate with power. The lofty and holy associations",
"text": "of organized religion can be endlessly exploited. Create rituals for your",
"text": "followers; organize them into a hierarchy, ranking them in grades of",
"text": "sanctity, and giving them names and titles that resound with religious",
"text": "overtones; ask them for sacrifices that will fill your coffers and increase",
"text": "your power. To emphasize your gathering’s quasi-religious nature, talk",
"text": "and act like a prophet. You are not a dictator, after all; you are a priest, a",
"text": "guru, a sage, a shaman, or any other word that hides your real power in",
"text": "the mist of religion.",
"text": "Step 4: Disguise Your Source of Income. Your group has grown, and",
"text": "you have structured it in a churchlike form. Your coffers are beginning to",
"text": "fill with your followers’ money. Yet you must never be seen as hungry",
"text": "for money and the power it brings. It is at this moment that you must",
"text": "disguise the source of your income.",
"text": "Your followers want to believe that if they follow you all sorts of good",
"text": "things will fall into their lap. By surrounding yourself with luxury you",
"text": "become living proof of the soundness of your belief system. Never reveal",
"text": "that your wealth actually comes from your followers’ pockets; instead,",
"text": "make it seem to come from the truth of your methods. Followers will",
"text": "copy your each and every move in the belief that it will bring them the",
"text": "same results, and their imitative enthusiasm will blind them to the",
"text": "charlatan nature of your wealth.",
"text": "Step 5: Set Up an Us-Versus-Them Dynamic. The group is now large",
"text": "and thriving, a magnet attracting more and more particles. If you are not",
"text": "careful, though, inertia will set in, and time and boredom will",
"text": "demagnetize the group. To keep your followers united, you must now dowhat all religions and belief systems have done: create an us-versus-them",
"text": "dynamic.",
"text": "First, make sure your followers believe they are part of an exclusive",
"text": "club, unified by a bond of common goals. Then, to strengthen this bond,",
"text": "manufacture the notion of a devious enemy out to ruin you. There is a",
"text": "force of nonbelievers that will do anything to stop you. Any outsider",
"text": "who tries to reveal the charlatan nature of your belief system can now be",
"text": "described as a member of this devious force.",
"text": "If you have no enemies, invent one. Given a straw man to react",
"text": "against, your followers will tighten and cohere. They have your cause to",
"text": "believe in and infidels to destroy.",
"text": "OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW",
"text": "Observance I",
"text": "In the year 1653, a twenty-seven-year-old Milan man named Francesco",
"text": "Giuseppe Borri claimed to have had a vision. He went around town",
"text": "telling one and all that the archangel Michael had appeared to him and",
"text": "announced that he had been chosen to be the capitano generale of the",
"text": "Army of the New Pope, an army that would seize and revitalize the",
"text": "world. The archangel had further revealed that Borri now had the power",
"text": "to see people’s souls, and that he would soon discover the philosopher’s",
"text": "stone—a long-sought-after substance that could change base metals into",
"text": "gold. Friends and acquaintances who heard Borri explain the vision, and",
"text": "who witnessed the change that had come over him, were impressed, for",
"text": "Borri had previously devoted himself to a life of wine, women, and",
"text": "gambling. Now he gave all that up, plunging himself into the study of",
"text": "alchemy and talking only of mysticism and the occult.",
"text": "The transformation was so sudden and miraculous, and Borri’s words",
"text": "were so filled with enthusiasm, that he began to create a following.",
"text": "Unfortunately the Italian Inquisition began to notice him as well—they",
"text": "prosecuted anyone who delved into the occult—so he left Italy and",
"text": "began to wander Europe, from Austria to Holland, telling one and all that",
"text": "“to those who follow me all joy shall be granted.” Wherever Borri stayed",
"text": "he attracted followers. His method was simple: He spoke of his vision,",
"text": "which had grown more and more elaborate, and offered to “look into”the soul of anyone who believed him (and they were many). Seemingly",
"text": "in a trance, he would stare at this new follower for several minutes, then",
"text": "claim to have seen the person’s soul, degree of enlightenment, and",
"text": "potential for spiritual greatness. If what he saw showed promise, he",
"text": "would add the person to his growing order of disciples, an honor indeed.",
"text": "The cult had six degrees, into which the disciples were assigned",
"text": "according to what Borri had glimpsed in their souls. With work and total",
"text": "devotion to the cult they could graduate to a higher degree. Borri—",
"text": "whom they called “His Excellency,” and “Universal Doctor”—demanded",
"text": "from them the strictest vows of poverty. All the goods and moneys they",
"text": "possessed had to be turned over to him. But they did not mind handing",
"text": "over their property, for Borri had told them, “I shall soon bring my",
"text": "chemical studies to a happy conclusion by the discovery of the",
"text": "philosopher’s stone, and by this means we shall all have as much gold as",
"text": "we desire.”",
"text": "Given his growing wealth, Borri began to change his style of living.",
"text": "Renting the most splendid apartment in the city into which he had",
"text": "temporarily settled, he would furnish it with fabulous furniture and",
"text": "accessories, which he had begun to collect. He would drive through the",
"text": "city in a coach studded with jewels, with six magnificent black horses at",
"text": "its head. He never stayed too long in one place, and when he",
"text": "disappeared, saying he had more souls to gather into his flock, his",
"text": "reputation only grew in his absence. He became famous, although in fact",
"text": "he had never done a single concrete thing.",
"text": "To become the founder of a new religion one must be psychologically",
"text": "infallible in one’s knowledge of a certain average type of souls who have",
"text": "not yet recognized that they belong together.",
"text": "FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, 1844-1900",
"text": "Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate",
"text": "needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be",
"text": "deceived.",
"text": "NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI, 1469-1527",
"text": "From all over Europe, the blind, the crippled, and the desperate came",
"text": "to visit Borri, for word had spread that he had healing powers. He asked",
"text": "no fee for his services, which only made him seem more marvelous, and",
"text": "indeed some claimed that in this or that city he had performed a miracle",
"text": "cure. By only hinting at his accomplishments, he encouraged people’s",
"text": "imaginations to blow them up to fantastic proportions. His wealth, forexample, actually came from the vast sums he was collecting from his",
"text": "increasingly select group of rich disciples; yet it was presumed that he",
"text": "had in fact perfected the philosopher’s stone. The Church continued to",
"text": "pursue him, denouncing him for heresy and witchcraft, and Borri’s",
"text": "response to these charges was a dignified silence; this only enhanced his",
"text": "reputation and made his followers more passionate. Only the great are",
"text": "persecuted, after all; how many understood Jesus Christ in his own time?",
"text": "Borri did not have to say a word—his followers now called the Pope the",
"text": "Antichrist.",
"text": "And so Borri’s power grew and grew, until one day he left the city of",
"text": "Amsterdam (where he had settled for a while), absconding with huge",
"text": "sums of borrowed money and diamonds that had been entrusted to him.",
"text": "(He claimed to be able to remove the flaws from diamonds through the",
"text": "power of his gifted mind.) Now he was on the run. The Inquisition",
"text": "eventually caught up with him, and for the last twenty years of his life he",
"text": "was imprisoned in Rome. But so great was the belief in his occult powers",
"text": "that to his dying day he was visited by wealthy believers, including",
"text": "Queen Christina of Sweden. Supplying him with money and materials,",
"text": "these visitors allowed him to continue his search for the elusive",
"text": "philosopher’s stone. Interpretation",
"text": "THE TEMPLE OF HEALTH",
"text": "[In the late 1780s] the Scottish quack James Graham… was winning a",
"text": "large following and great riches in London…. [Graham] maintained a",
"text": "show of great scientific technique. In 1772 … he had visited",
"text": "Philadelphia, where he met Benjamin Franklin and became interested in",
"text": "the latter’s experiments with electricity. These appear to have inspired",
"text": "the apparatus in the “Temple of Health,”",
"text": "the fabulous establishment he opened in London for the sale of his",
"text": "elixirs…. In the chief room, where he received patients, stood “the",
"text": "largest air pump in the world” to assist him in his “philosophical",
"text": "investigations” into disease, and also a “stupendous metallic",
"text": "conductor,” a richly gilded pedestal surrounded with retorts and vials of",
"text": "“etherial and other essences.” … According to J. Ennemoser, who",
"text": "published a history of magic in 1844 at Leipzig, Graham’s “house…",
"text": "united the useful with the pleasurable. Everywhere the utmost",
"text": "magnificence was displayed. Even in the outer court, averred an eye-",
"text": "witness, it seemed as though art, invention, and riches had been",
"text": "exhausted. On the side walls in the chambers an arc-shaped glow wasprovided by artificial electric light; star rays darted forth; transparent",
"text": "glasses of all colors were placed with clever selection and much taste.",
"text": "All this, the same eyewitness assures us, was ravishing and exalted the",
"text": "imagination to the highest degree.” Visitors were given a printed sheet of",
"text": "rules for healthy living. In the Great Apollo Apartment they might join in",
"text": "mysterious rituals, accompanied by chants : “Hail, Vital Air, aethereal !",
"text": "Magnetic Magic, hail !” And while they hailed the magic of magnetism,",
"text": "the windows were darkened, revealing a ceiling studded with electric",
"text": "stars and a young and lovely “Rosy Goddess of Health” in a niche….",
"text": "Every evening this Temple of Health was crowded with guests; it had",
"text": "become the fashion to visit it and try the great twelve-foot bed of state,",
"text": "the “Grand Celestial Bed,” said to cure any disease…. This bed,",
"text": "according to Ennemoser, “stood in a splendid room, into which a",
"text": "cylinder led from an adjoining chamber to conduct the healing",
"text": "currents… at the same time all sorts of pleasing scents of strengthening",
"text": "herbs and Oriental incense were also brought in through glass tubes.",
"text": "The heavenly bed itself rested upon six solid transparent pillars; the",
"text": "bedclothes were of purple and sky-blue Atlas silk, spread over a mattress",
"text": "saturated with Arabian perfumed waters to suit the tastes of the Persian",
"text": "court. The chamber in which it was placed he called the Sanctum",
"text": "Sanctorum…. To add to all this, there were the melodious notes of the",
"text": "harmonica, soft flutes, agreeable voices, and a great organ.”",
"text": "THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO,",
"text": "1939",
"text": "Before he formed his cult, Borri seems to have stumbled on a critical",
"text": "discovery. Tiring of his life of debauchery, he had decided to give it up",
"text": "and to devote himself to the occult, a genuine interest of his. He must",
"text": "have noticed, however, that when he alluded to a mystical experience",
"text": "(rather than physical exhaustion) as the source of his conversion, people",
"text": "of all classes wanted to hear more. Realizing the power he could gain by",
"text": "ascribing the change to something external and mysterious, he went",
"text": "further with his manufactured visions. The grander the vision, and the",
"text": "more sacrifices he asked for, the more appealing and believable his story",
"text": "seemed to become.",
"text": "Remember: People are not interested in the truth about change. They",
"text": "do not want to hear that it has come from hard work, or from anything as",
"text": "banal as exhaustion, boredom, or depression; they are dying to believe in",
"text": "something romantic, otherworldly. They want to hear of angels and out-",
"text": "of-body experiences. Indulge them. Hint at the mystical source of some",
"text": "personal change, wrap it in ethereal colors, and a cultlike following willform around you. Adapt to people’s needs: The messiah must mirror the",
"text": "desires of his followers. And always aim high. The bigger and bolder",
"text": "your illusion, the better.",
"text": "Observance II",
"text": "In the mid-1700s, word spread in Europe’s fashionable society of a Swiss",
"text": "country doctor named Michael Schüppach who practiced a different kind",
"text": "of medicine: He used the healing powers of nature to perform miraculous",
"text": "cures. Soon well-to-do people from all over the Continent, their ailments",
"text": "both serious and mild, were making the trek to the alpine village of",
"text": "Langnau, where Schüppach lived and worked. Trudging through the",
"text": "mountains, these visitors witnessed the most dramatic natural landscapes",
"text": "that Europe has to offer. By the time they reached Langnau, they were",
"text": "already feeling transformed and on their way to health.",
"text": "Schüppach, who had become known as simply the “Mountain",
"text": "Doctor,” had a small pharmacy in town. This place became quite a scene:",
"text": "Crowds of people from many different countries would cram the small",
"text": "room, its walls lined with colorful bottles filled with herbal cures. Where",
"text": "most doctors of the time prescribed foul-tasting concoctions that bore",
"text": "incomprehensible Latin titles (as medicines often do still), Schüppach’s",
"text": "cures had names such as “The Oil of Joy,” “Little Flower’s Heart,” or",
"text": "“Against the Monster,” and they tasted sweet and pleasing.",
"text": "Visitors to Langnau would have to wait patiently for a visit with the",
"text": "Mountain Doctor, because every day some eighty messengers would",
"text": "arrive at the pharmacy bearing flasks of urine from all over Europe.",
"text": "Schüppach claimed he could diagnose what ailed you simply by looking",
"text": "at a sample of your urine and reading a written description of your",
"text": "ailment. (Naturally he read the description very carefully before",
"text": "prescribing a cure.) When he finally had a spare minute (the urine",
"text": "samples took up much of his time), he would call the visitor into his",
"text": "office in the pharmacy. He would then examine this person’s urine",
"text": "sample, explaining that its appearance would tell him everything he",
"text": "needed to know. Country people had a sense for these things, he would",
"text": "say—their wisdom came from living a simple, godly life with none of",
"text": "the complications of urban living. This personal consultation would also",
"text": "include a discussion as to how one might bring one’s soul more into",
"text": "harmony with nature.Schüppach had devised many forms of treatment, each profoundly",
"text": "unlike the usual medical practices of the time. He was a believer, for",
"text": "instance, in electric shock therapy. To those who wondered whether this",
"text": "was in keeping with his belief in the healing power of nature, he would",
"text": "explain that electricity is a natural phenomenon; he was merely imitating",
"text": "the power of lightning. One of his patients claimed to be inhabited by",
"text": "seven devils. The doctor cured him with electrical shocks, and as he",
"text": "administered these he exclaimed that he could see the devils flying out of",
"text": "the man’s body, one by one. Another man claimed to have swallowed a",
"text": "hay wagon and its driver, which were causing him massive pains in the",
"text": "chest. The Mountain Doctor listened patiently, claimed to be able to hear",
"text": "the crack of a whip in the man’s belly, promised to cure him, and gave",
"text": "him a sedative and a purgative. The man fell asleep on a chair outside the",
"text": "pharmacy. As soon as he awoke he vomited, and as he vomited a hay",
"text": "wagon sped past him (the Mountain Doctor had hired it for the",
"text": "occasion), the crack of its whip making him feel that somehow he had",
"text": "indeed expelled it under the doctor’s care.",
"text": "Over the years, the Mountain Doctor’s fame grew. He was consulted",
"text": "by the powerful—even the writer Goethe made the trek to his village—",
"text": "and he became the center of a cult of nature in which everything natural",
"text": "was considered worthy of worship. Schüppach was careful to create",
"text": "effects that would entertain and inspire his patients. A professor who",
"text": "visited him once wrote, “One stands or sits in company, one plays cards,",
"text": "sometimes with a young woman; now a concert is given, now a lunch or",
"text": "supper, and now a little ballet is presented. With a very happy effect, the",
"text": "freedom of nature is everywhere united with the pleasures of the beau",
"text": "monde, and if the doctor is not able to heal any diseases, he can at least",
"text": "cure hypochondria and the vapors.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Schüppach had begun his career as an ordinary village doctor. He would",
"text": "sometimes use in his practice some of the village remedies he had grown",
"text": "up with, and apparently he noticed some results, for soon these herbal",
"text": "tinctures and natural forms of healing became his specialty. And in fact",
"text": "his natural form of healing did have profound psychological effects on",
"text": "his patients. Where the normal drugs of the time created fear and pain,",
"text": "Schüppach’s treatments were comfortable and soothing. The resulting",
"text": "improvement in the patient’s mood was a critical element in the cures hebrought about. His patients believed so deeply in his skills that they",
"text": "willed themselves into health. Instead of scoffing at their irrational",
"text": "explanations for their ailments, Schüppach used their hypochondria to",
"text": "make it seem that he had effected a great cure.",
"text": "The case of the Mountain Doctor teaches us valuable lessons in the",
"text": "creation of a cultlike following. First, you must find a way to engage",
"text": "people’s will, to make their belief in your powers strong enough that they",
"text": "imagine all sorts of benefits. Their belief will have a self-fulfilling",
"text": "quality, but you must make sure that it is you, rather than their own will,",
"text": "who is seen as the agent of transformation. Find the belief, cause, or",
"text": "fantasy that will make them believe with a passion and they will imagine",
"text": "the rest, worshipping you as healer, prophet, genius, whatever you like.",
"text": "Second, Schüppach teaches us the everlasting power of belief in",
"text": "nature, and in simplicity. Nature, in reality, is full of much that is",
"text": "terrifying—poisonous plants, fierce animals, sudden disasters, plagues.",
"text": "Belief in the healing, comforting quality of nature is really a constructed",
"text": "myth, a romanticism. But the appeal to nature can bring you great power,",
"text": "especially in complicated and stressful times.",
"text": "This appeal, however, must be handled right. Devise a kind of theater",
"text": "of nature in which you, as the director, pick and choose the qualities that",
"text": "fit the romanticism of the times. The Mountain Doctor played the part to",
"text": "perfection, playing up his homespun wisdom and wit, and staging his",
"text": "cures as dramatic pieces. He did not make himself one with nature;",
"text": "instead he molded nature into a cult, an artificial construction. To create",
"text": "a “natural” effect you actually have to work hard, making nature",
"text": "theatrical and delightfully pagan. Otherwise no one will notice. Nature",
"text": "too must follow trends and be progressive.",
"text": "Observance III",
"text": "In 1788, at the age of fifty-five, the doctor and scientist Franz Mesmer",
"text": "was at a crossroads. He was a pioneer in the study of animal magnetism",
"text": "—the belief that animals contain magnetic matter, and that a doctor or",
"text": "specialist can effect miraculous cures by working on this charged",
"text": "substance—but in Vienna, where he lived, his theories had met with",
"text": "scorn and ridicule from the medical establishment. In treating women for",
"text": "convulsions, Mesmer claimed to have worked a number of cures, his",
"text": "proudest achievement being the restoration of sight to a blind girl. But",
"text": "another doctor who examined the young girl said she was as blind asever, an assessment with which she herself agreed. Mesmer countered",
"text": "that his enemies were out to slander him by winning her over to their",
"text": "side. This claim only elicited more ridicule. Clearly the sober-minded",
"text": "Viennese were the wrong audience for his theories, and so he decided to",
"text": "move to Paris and start again.",
"text": "Renting a splendid apartment in his new city, Mesmer decorated it",
"text": "appropriately. Stained glass in most of the windows created a religious",
"text": "feeling, and mirrors on all the walls produced an hypnotic effect. The",
"text": "doctor advertised that in his apartment he would give demonstrations of",
"text": "the powers of animal magnetism, inviting the diseased and melancholic",
"text": "to feel its powers. Soon Parisians of all classes (but mostly women, who",
"text": "seemed more attracted to the idea than men did) were paying for entry to",
"text": "witness the miracles that Mesmer promised.",
"text": "Inside the apartment, the scents of orange blossom and exotic incense",
"text": "wafted through special vents. As the initiates filtered into the salon",
"text": "where the demonstrations took place, they heard harp music and the",
"text": "lulling sounds of a female vocalist coming from another room. In the",
"text": "center of the salon was a long oval container filled with water that",
"text": "Mesmer claimed had been magnetized. From holes in the container’s",
"text": "metal lid protruded long movable iron rods. The visitors were instructed",
"text": "to sit around the container, place these magnetized rods on the body part",
"text": "that gave them pains or problems, and then hold hands with their",
"text": "neighbors, sitting as close as possible to one another to help the magnetic",
"text": "force pass between their bodies. Sometimes, too, they were attached to",
"text": "each other by cords.",
"text": "THE POWIROI II",
"text": "In the town of Tarnopol lived a man by the name of Reb Feivel. One day,",
"text": "as he sat in his house deeply-absorbed in his Talmud, he heard a loud",
"text": "noise outside. When he went to the window he saw a lot of little",
"text": "pranksters. “Up to some new piece of mischief, no doubt.” he thought.",
"text": "“Children, run quickly to the synagogue,” he cried, leaning out and",
"text": "improvising the first story that occurred to him. “You’ll see there a sea",
"text": "monster, and what a monster ! It’s a creature with five feet, three eyes,",
"text": "and a beard like that of a goat, only it’s green !”",
"text": "And sure enough the children scampered off and Reb Feivel returned to",
"text": "his studies. He smiled into his beard as he thought of the trick he had",
"text": "played on those little rascals. It wasn’t long before his studies were",
"text": "interrupted again, this time by running footsteps. When he went to thewindow he saw several Jews running. “Where are you running ?” he",
"text": "called out.",
"text": "“To the sonagogue !” answered the Jews. “Haven’t you heard? There’s a",
"text": "sea monster, there’s a creature with five legs, three eyes, and a beard like",
"text": "that of a goat, only it’s green !” Reb Feivel laughed with glee, thinking of",
"text": "the trick he had played, and sat down again to his Talmud. But no sooner",
"text": "had he begun to concentrate when suddenly he heard a dinning tumult",
"text": "outside. And what did he see? A great crowd of men, women and",
"text": "children, all running toward the synagogue. “What’s iep?” he cried,",
"text": "sticking his head out of the window.",
"text": "“What a question! Why, don’t you know?” they answered. “Right in front",
"text": "of the synagogue there’s a sea monster. It’s a creature with five legs,",
"text": "three eyes, and a beard like that of a goat, only it’s green!”",
"text": "And as the crowd hurried by, Reb Feivel suddenly noticed that the rabbi",
"text": "himself was among them.",
"text": "“Lord of the world!” he exclaimed. “If the rabbi himself is running with",
"text": "them surely there must be something happening. Where there’s smoke",
"text": "there’s fire!” Without further thought Reb Feivel grabbed his hat, left his",
"text": "house, and also began running. “Who can tell?” he muttered to himself",
"text": "as he ran, all out of breath, toward the synagogue.",
"text": "A TREASURY OF JEWISH FOLKLORE, NATHAN AUSUBEL, ED.,",
"text": "1948",
"text": "Mesmer would leave the room, and “assistant magnetizers”—all",
"text": "handsome and strapping young men—would enter with jars of",
"text": "magnetized water that they would sprinkle on the patients, rubbing the",
"text": "healing fluid on their bodies, massaging it into their skin, moving them",
"text": "toward a trancelike state. And after a few minutes a kind of delirium",
"text": "would overcome the women. Some would sob, some would shriek and",
"text": "tear their hair, others would laugh hysterically. At the height of the",
"text": "delirium Mesmer would reenter the salon, dressed in a flowing silk robe",
"text": "embroidered with golden flowers and carrying a white magnetic rod.",
"text": "Moving around the container, he would stroke and soothe the patients",
"text": "until calm was restored. Many women would later attribute the strange",
"text": "power he had on them to his piercing look, which, they thought, was",
"text": "exciting or quieting the magnetic fluids in their bodies.",
"text": "Within months of his arrival in Paris, Mesmer became the rage. His",
"text": "supporters included Marie-Antoinette herself, the queen of France, wife",
"text": "of Louis XVI. As in Vienna, he was condemned by the official faculty of",
"text": "medicine, but it did not matter. His growing following of pupils and",
"text": "patients paid him handsomely.Mesmer expanded his theories to proclaim that all humanity could be",
"text": "brought into harmony through the power of magnetism, a concept with",
"text": "much appeal during the French Revolution. A cult of Mesmerism spread",
"text": "across the country; in many towns, “Societies of Harmony” sprang up to",
"text": "experiment with magnetism. These societies eventually became",
"text": "notorious: They tended to be led by libertines who would turn their",
"text": "sessions into a kind of group orgy.",
"text": "At the height of Mesmer’s popularity, a French commission published",
"text": "a report based on years of testing the theory of animal magnetism. The",
"text": "conclusion: Magnetism’s effects on the body actually came from a kind",
"text": "of group hysteria and autosuggestion. The report was well documented,",
"text": "and ruined Mesmer’s reputation in France. He left the country and went",
"text": "into retirement. Only a few years later, however, imitators sprang up all",
"text": "over Europe and the cult of Mesmerism spread once again, its believers",
"text": "more numerous than ever.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Mesmer’s career can be broken into two parts. When still in Vienna, he",
"text": "clearly believed in the validity of his theory, and did all he could to prove",
"text": "it. But his growing frustration and the disapproval of his colleagues made",
"text": "him adopt another strategy. First he moved to Paris, where no one knew",
"text": "him, and where his extravagant theories found a more fruitful soil. Then",
"text": "he appealed to the French love of theater and spectacle, making his",
"text": "apartment into a kind of magical world in which a sensory overload of",
"text": "smells, sights, and sounds entranced his customers. Most important, from",
"text": "now on he practiced his magnetism only on a group. The group provided",
"text": "the setting in which the magnetism would have its proper effect, one",
"text": "believer infecting the other, overwhelming any individual doubter.",
"text": "Mesmer thus passed from being a confirmed advocate of magnetism to",
"text": "the role of a charlatan using every trick in the book to captivate the",
"text": "public. The biggest trick of all was to play on the repressed sexuality that",
"text": "bubbles under the surface of any group setting. In a group, a longing for",
"text": "social unity, a longing older than civilization, cries out to be awakened.",
"text": "This desire may be subsumed under a unifying cause, but beneath it is a",
"text": "repressed sexuality that the charlatan knows how to exploit and",
"text": "manipulate for his own purposes.",
"text": "This is the lesson that Mesmer teaches us: Our tendency to doubt, the",
"text": "distance that allows us to reason, is broken down when we join a group.The warmth and infectiousness of the group overwhelm the skeptical",
"text": "individual. This is the power you gain by creating a cult. Also, by",
"text": "playing on people’s repressed sexuality, you lead them into mistaking",
"text": "their excited feelings for signs of your mystical strength. You gain untold",
"text": "power by working on people’s unrealized desire for a kind of",
"text": "promiscuous and pagan unity.",
"text": "Remember too that the most effective cults mix religion with science.",
"text": "Take the latest technological trend or fad and blend it with a noble cause,",
"text": "a mystical faith, a new form of healing. People’s interpretations of your",
"text": "hybrid cult will run rampant, and they will attribute powers to you that",
"text": "you had never even thought to claim.",
"text": "Image: The Magnet. An unseen force draws objects to it, which in turn",
"text": "become magnetized themselves, drawing other pieces to them, the",
"text": "magnetic power of the whole constantly increasing. But take away the",
"text": "original magnet and it all falls apart. Become the magnet, the invisible",
"text": "force that attracts people’s imaginations and holds them together. Once",
"text": "they have clustered around you, no power can wrest them away.",
"text": "Authority: The charlatan achieves his great power by simply opening a",
"text": "possibility for men to believe what they already want to believe…. The",
"text": "credulous cannot keep at a distance; they crowd around the wonder",
"text": "worker, entering his personal aura, surrendering themselves to illusion",
"text": "with a heavy solemnity, like cattle. (Grete de Francesco)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "One reason to create a following is that a group is often easier to deceive",
"text": "than an individual, and turns over to you that much more power. This",
"text": "comes, however, with a danger: If at any moment the group sees through",
"text": "you, you will find yourself facing not one deceived soul but an angry",
"text": "crowd that will tear you to pieces as avidly as it once followed you. The",
"text": "charlatans constantly faced this danger, and were always ready to moveout of town as it inevitably became clear that their elixirs did not work",
"text": "and their ideas were sham. Too slow and they paid with their lives. In",
"text": "playing with the crowd, you are playing with fire, and must constantly",
"text": "keep an eye out for any sparks of doubt, any enemies who will turn the",
"text": "crowd against you. When you play with the emotions of a crowd, you",
"text": "have to know how to adapt, attuning yourself instantaneously to all of",
"text": "the moods and desires that a group will produce. Use spies, be on top of",
"text": "everything, and keep your bags packed.",
"text": "For this reason you may often prefer to deal with people one by one.",
"text": "Isolating them from their normal milieu can have the same effect as",
"text": "putting them in a group—it makes them more prone to suggestion and",
"text": "intimidation. Choose the right sucker and if he eventually sees through",
"text": "you he may prove easier to escape than a crowd.LAW 28",
"text": "ENTER ACTION WITH BOLDNESS",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and",
"text": "hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to",
"text": "enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are",
"text": "easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one",
"text": "honors the timid.",
"text": "THE TWO ADVENTURERS",
"text": "The path of pleasure never leads to glory! The prodigious achievements",
"text": "of Hercules were the result of high adventure, and though there is little,",
"text": "either in fable or history, to show that he had any rivals, still it is",
"text": "recorded that a knight errant, in company with a fellow adventurer,",
"text": "sought his fortune in a romantic country. He had not traveled far when",
"text": "his companion observed a post, on which was written the following",
"text": "inscription: “Brave adventurer, if you have a desire to discover that",
"text": "which has never been seen by any knight errant, you have only to pass",
"text": "this torrent, and then take in your arms an elephant of stone and carry it",
"text": "in one breath to the summit of this mountain, whose noble head seems",
"text": "blended with the sky.” “But,” said the knight’s companion, “the water",
"text": "may be deep as well as rapid, and though, notwithstanding, we should",
"text": "pass it, why should we be encumbered with the elephant? What a",
"text": "ridiculous undertaking!” And philosophically and with nice calculation,",
"text": "he observed that the elephant might be carried four steps; but for",
"text": "conveying it to the top of the mountain in one breath, that was not in the",
"text": "power of a mortal, unless it should",
"text": "be the dwarf figure of an elephant, fit only to be placed on the top of a",
"text": "stick; and then what honor would there be in such an adventure? “There",
"text": "is,” said he, “some deception in this writing. It is an enigma only fit to",
"text": "amuse a child. I shall therefore leave you and your elephant.”The reasoner then departed; but the adventurous man rushed with his",
"text": "eyes closed across the water; neither depth nor violence prevented him.",
"text": "and according to the inscription he saw the elephant lying on the",
"text": "opposite bank.",
"text": "He took it and carried it to the top of the hill, where he saw a town. A",
"text": "shriek from the elephant alarmed the people of the city, who rose in",
"text": "arms; but the adventurer, nothing daunted, was determined to die a hero.",
"text": "The people, however, were awed by his presence, and he was astonished",
"text": "to hear them proclaim him successor to their king, who had recently",
"text": "died. Great enterprises are only achieved by adventurous spirits. They",
"text": "who calculate with too great nicety every difficulty and obstacle which is",
"text": "likely to lie in their way, lose that time in hesitation, which the more",
"text": "daring seize and render available to the loftiest purposes.",
"text": "FABLES. JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695",
"text": "BOLDNESS AND HESITATION: A Brief Psychological Comparison",
"text": "Boldness and hesitation elicit very different psychological responses in",
"text": "their targets: Hesitation puts obstacles in your path, boldness eliminates",
"text": "them. Once you understand this, you will find it essential to overcome",
"text": "your natural timidity and practice the art of audacity. The following are",
"text": "among the most pronounced psychological effects of boldness and",
"text": "timidity.",
"text": "The Bolder the Lie the Better. We all have weaknesses, and our efforts",
"text": "are never perfect. But entering action with boldness has the magical",
"text": "effect of hiding our deficiencies. Con artists know that the bolder the lie,",
"text": "the more convincing it becomes. The sheer audacity of the story makes it",
"text": "more credible, distracting attention from its inconsistencies. When",
"text": "putting together a con or entering any kind of negotiation, go further than",
"text": "you planned. Ask for the moon and you will be surprised how often you",
"text": "get it.",
"text": "Lions Circle the Hesitant Prey. People have a sixth sense for the",
"text": "weaknesses of others. If, in a first encounter, you demonstrate your",
"text": "willingness to compromise, back down, and retreat, you bring out the",
"text": "lion even in people who are not necessarily bloodthirsty. Everything",
"text": "depends on perception, and once you are seen as the kind of person who",
"text": "quickly goes on the defensive, who is willing to negotiate and be",
"text": "amenable, you will be pushed around without mercy.Boldness Strikes Fear; Fear Creates Authority. The bold move makes",
"text": "you seem larger and more powerful than you are. If it comes suddenly,",
"text": "with the stealth and swiftness of a snake, it inspires that much more fear.",
"text": "By intimidating with a bold move, you establish a precedent: in every",
"text": "subsequent encounter, people will be on the defensive, in terror of your",
"text": "next strike.",
"text": "Going Halfway with Half a Heart Digs the Deeper Grave. If you enter",
"text": "an action with less than total confidence, you set up obstacles in your",
"text": "own path. When a problem arises you will grow confused, seeing options",
"text": "where there are none and inadvertently creating more problems still.",
"text": "Retreating from the hunter, the timid hare scurries more easily into his",
"text": "snares.",
"text": "Hesitation Creates Gaps, Boldness Obliterates Them. When you take",
"text": "time to think, to hem and haw, you create a gap that allows others time to",
"text": "think as well. Your timidity infects people with awkward energy, elicits",
"text": "embarrassment. Doubt springs up on all sides.",
"text": "Boldness destroys such gaps. The swiftness of the move and the",
"text": "energy of the action leave others no space to doubt and worry. In",
"text": "seduction, hesitation is fatal—it makes your victim conscious of your",
"text": "intentions. The bold move crowns seduction with triumph: It leaves no",
"text": "time for reflection.",
"text": "Audacity Separates You from the Herd. Boldness gives you presence",
"text": "and makes you seem larger than life. The timid fade into the wallpaper,",
"text": "the bold draw attention, and what draws attention draws power. We",
"text": "cannot keep our eyes off the audacious—we cannot wait to see their next",
"text": "bold move.",
"text": "OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW",
"text": "Observance IIn May of 1925, five of the most successful dealers in the French scrap-",
"text": "metal business found themselves invited to an “official” but “highly",
"text": "confidential” meeting with the deputy director general of the Ministry of",
"text": "Post and Telegraphs at the Hotel Crillon, then the most luxurious hotel in",
"text": "Paris. When the businessmen arrived, it was the director general himself,",
"text": "a Monsieur Lustig, who met them in a swank suite on the top floor.",
"text": "The businessmen had no idea why they had been summoned to this",
"text": "meeting, and they were bursting with curiosity. After drinks, the director",
"text": "explained. “Gentlemen,” he said, “this is an urgent matter that requires",
"text": "complete secrecy. The government is going to have to tear down the",
"text": "Eiffel Tower.” The dealers listened in stunned silence as the director",
"text": "explained that the tower, as recently reported in the news, desperately",
"text": "needed repairs. It had originally been meant as a temporary structure (for",
"text": "the Exposition of 1889), its maintenance costs had soared over the years,",
"text": "and now, in a time of a fiscal crisis, the government would have to spend",
"text": "millions to fix it. Many Parisians considered the Eiffel Tower an eyesore",
"text": "and would be delighted to see it go. Over time, even the tourists would",
"text": "forget about it—it would live on in photographs and postcards.",
"text": "“Gentlemen,” Lustig said, “you are all invited to make the government",
"text": "an offer for the Eiffel Tower.”",
"text": "He gave the businessmen sheets of government stationery filled with",
"text": "figures, such as the tonnage of the tower’s metal. Their eyes popped as",
"text": "they calculated how much they could make from the scrap. Then Lustig",
"text": "led them to a waiting limo, which brought them to the Eiffel Tower.",
"text": "Flashing an official badge, he guided them through the area, spicing his",
"text": "tour with amusing anecdotes. At the end of the visit he thanked them and",
"text": "asked them to have their offers delivered to his suite within four days.",
"text": "Several days after the offers were submitted, one of the five, a",
"text": "Monsieur P., received notice that his bid was the winner, and that to",
"text": "secure the sale he should come to the suite at the hotel within two days,",
"text": "bearing a certified check for more than 250,000 francs (the equivalent",
"text": "today of about $1,000,000)—a quarter of the total price. On delivery of",
"text": "the check, he would receive the documents confirming his ownership of",
"text": "the Eiffel Tower. Monsieur P. was excited—he would go down in history",
"text": "as the man who had bought and torn down the infamous landmark. But",
"text": "by the time he arrived at the suite, check in hand, he was beginning to",
"text": "have doubts about the whole affair. Why meet in a hotel instead of a",
"text": "government building? Why hadn’t he heard from other officials? Was",
"text": "this a hoax, a scam? As he listened to Lustig discuss the arrangementsfor the scrapping of the tower, he hesitated, and contemplated backing",
"text": "out.",
"text": "Suddenly, however, he realized that the director had changed his tone.",
"text": "Instead of talking about the tower, he was complaining about his low",
"text": "salary, about his wife’s desire for a fur coat, about how galling it was to",
"text": "work hard and be unappreciated. It dawned on Monsieur P. that this high",
"text": "government official was asking for a bribe. The effect on him, though,",
"text": "was not outrage but relief. Now he was sure that Lustig was for real,",
"text": "since in all of his previous encounters with French bureaucrats, they had",
"text": "inevitably asked for a little greasing of the palm. His confidence",
"text": "restored, Monsieur P. slipped the director several thousand francs in bills,",
"text": "then handed him the certified check. In return he received the",
"text": "documentation, including an impressive-looking bill of sale. He left the",
"text": "hotel, dreaming of the profits and fame to come.",
"text": "Over the next few days, however, as Monsieur P. waited for",
"text": "correspondence from the government, he began to realize that something",
"text": "was amiss. A few telephone calls made it clear that there was no deputy",
"text": "director general Lustig, and there were no plans to destroy the Eiffel",
"text": "Tower: He had been bilked of over 250,000 francs!",
"text": "Monsieur P. never went to the police. He knew what kind of reputation",
"text": "he would get if word got out that he had fallen for one of the most",
"text": "absurdly audacious cons in history. Besides the public humiliation, it",
"text": "would have been business suicide.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Had Count Victor Lustig, con artist extraordinaire, tried to sell the Arc de",
"text": "Triomphe, a bridge over the Seine, a statue of Balzac, no one would have",
"text": "believed him. But the Eiffel Tower was just too large, too improbable to",
"text": "be part of a con job. In fact it was so improbable that Lustig was able to",
"text": "return to Paris six months later and “resell” the Eiffel Tower to a",
"text": "different scrap-iron dealer, and for a higher price—a sum in francs",
"text": "equivalent today to over $1,500,000!",
"text": "Largeness of scale deceives the human eye. It distracts and awes us,",
"text": "and is so self-evident that we cannot imagine there is any illusion or",
"text": "deception afoot. Arm yourself with bigness and boldness—stretch your",
"text": "deceptions as far as they will go and then go further. If you sense that the",
"text": "sucker has suspicions, do as the intrepid Lustig did: Instead of backing",
"text": "down, or lowering his price, he simply raised his price higher, by askingfor and getting a bribe. Asking for more puts the other person on the",
"text": "defensive, cuts out the nibbling effect of compromise and doubt, and",
"text": "overwhelms with its boldness.",
"text": "Always set to work without misgivings on the score of imprudence. Fear",
"text": "of failure in the mind of a performer is, for an onlooker, already evidence",
"text": "of failure…. Actions are dangerous when there is doubt as to their",
"text": "wisdom; it would be safer to do nothing.",
"text": "BALTASAR GRACIÁN, 1601-1658",
"text": "THE STORY OF HUH SAENG",
"text": "In a lowly thatched cottage in the Namsan Valley there lived a poor",
"text": "couple, Mr. and Mrs. Huh Saeng. The husband confined himself for",
"text": "seven years and only read books in his cold room…. One day his wife, all",
"text": "in tears, said to him: “Look here, my good man! What is the use of all",
"text": "your book reading? I have spent my youth in washing and sewing for",
"text": "other people and yet I have no spare jacket or skirt to wear and I have",
"text": "had no food to eat during the past three days. I am hungry and cold. I",
"text": "can stand it no more!” … Hearing these words, the middle-aged scholar",
"text": "closed his book… rose to his feet and… without saying another word, he",
"text": "went out of doors…. Arriving in the heart of the city, he slopped a",
"text": "passing gentleman. “Hello, my friend! Who is the richest man in town?”",
"text": "“Poor countryman! Don’t you know Bvôn-ssi, the millionaire? His",
"text": "glittering tile-roofed house pierced by twelve gates is just over there.”",
"text": "Huh Saeng bent his steps to the rich man’s house. Having entered the btg",
"text": "gate, he flung the guest-room door open and addressed the host:“I need",
"text": "10,000 yang for capital for my commercial business and I want you to",
"text": "lend me the money.” “Alright, sir. Where shall I send the money?”",
"text": "“To the Ansông Market in care of a commission merchant.” “Very well.",
"text": "sir. I will draw on Kim, who does the biggest commission business in the",
"text": "Ansông Market. You’ll get the money there.” “Good-bye. sir.” When Huh",
"text": "Saeng was gone, all the other guests in the room asked Bvôn-ssi why he",
"text": "gave so much money to a beggarlike stranger whose family name was",
"text": "unknown to him. But the rich man replied with a triumphant face: “Even",
"text": "though he was in ragged clothes, he spoke clearly to the point without",
"text": "betraying shame or inferiority, unlike common people who want to",
"text": "borrow money for a bad debt. Such a man as he is either mad or self-",
"text": "confident in doing business. But judging from his dauntless eyes and",
"text": "booming voice he is an uncommon man with a superhuman brain,",
"text": "worthy of my trust. I know money and I know men. Money often makes aman small, but a man like him makes big money. I am only glad to have",
"text": "helped a big man do big business.”",
"text": "BEHIND THE SCENES OF ROYAL PALACES IN KOREA, HA TAE-",
"text": "HUNG, 1983",
"text": "Observance II",
"text": "On his deathbed in 1533, Vasily III, the Grand Duke of Moscow and",
"text": "ruler of a semi-united Russia, proclaimed his three-year-old son, Ivan IV,",
"text": "as his successor. He appointed his young wife, Helena, as regent until",
"text": "Ivan reached his majority and could rule on his own. The aristocracy—",
"text": "the boyars—secretly rejoiced: For years the dukes of Moscow had been",
"text": "trying to extend their authority over the boyars’ turf. With Vasily dead,",
"text": "his heir a mere three years old, and a young woman in charge of the",
"text": "dukedom, the boyars would be able to roll back the dukes’ gains, wrest",
"text": "control of the state, and humiliate the royal family.",
"text": "Aware of these dangers, young Helena turned to her trusted friend",
"text": "Prince Ivan Obolensky to help her rule. But after five years as regent she",
"text": "suddenly died—poisoned by a member of the Shuisky family, the most",
"text": "fearsome boyar clan. The Shuisky princes seized control of the",
"text": "government and threw Obolensky in prison, where he starved to death.",
"text": "At the age of eight, Ivan was now a despised orphan, and any boyar or",
"text": "family member who took an interest in him was immediately banished or",
"text": "killed.",
"text": "And so Ivan roamed the palace, hungry, ill clothed, and often in hiding",
"text": "from the Shuiskys, who treated him roughly when they saw him. On",
"text": "some days they would search him out, clothe him in royal robes, hand",
"text": "him a scepter, and set him on the throne—a kind of mock ritual in which",
"text": "they lampooned his royal pretensions. Then they would shoo him away.",
"text": "One evening several of them chased the Metropolitan—the head of the",
"text": "Russian church—through the palace, and he sought refuge in Ivan’s",
"text": "room; the boy watched in horror as the Shuiskys entered, hurled insults,",
"text": "and beat the Metropolitan mercilessly.",
"text": "Ivan had one friend in the palace, a boyar named Vorontsov who",
"text": "consoled and advised him. One day, however, as he, Vorontsov, and the",
"text": "newest Metropolitan conferred in the palace refectory, several Shuiskys",
"text": "burst in, beat up Uorontsov, and insulted the Metropolitan by tearing and",
"text": "treading on his robes. Then they banished Vorontsov from Moscow.Throughout all this Ivan maintained a strict silence. To the boyars it",
"text": "seemed that their plan had worked: The young man had turned into a",
"text": "terrified and obedient idiot. They could ignore him now, even leave him",
"text": "alone. But on the evening of December 29, 1543, Ivan, now thirteen,",
"text": "asked Prince Andrei Shuisky to come to his room. When the prince",
"text": "arrived, the room was filled with palace guards. Young Ivan then pointed",
"text": "his finger at Andrei and ordered the guards to arrest him, have him",
"text": "killed, and throw his body to the bloodhounds in the royal kennel. Over",
"text": "the next few days Ivan had all of Andrei’s close associates arrested and",
"text": "banished. Caught off-guard by his sudden boldness, the boyars now",
"text": "stood in mortal terror of this youth, the future Ivan the Terrible, who had",
"text": "planned and waited for five years to execute this one swift and bold act",
"text": "that would secure his power for decades to come.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The world is full of boyars—men who despise you, fear your ambition,",
"text": "and jealously guard their shrinking realms of power. You need to",
"text": "establish your authority and gain respect, but the moment the boyars",
"text": "sense your growing boldness, they will act to thwart you. This is how",
"text": "Ivan met such a situation: He lay low, showing neither ambition nor",
"text": "discontent. He waited, and when the time came he brought the palace",
"text": "guards over to his side. The guards had come to hate the cruel Shuiskys.",
"text": "Once they agreed to Ivan’s plan, he struck with the swiftness of a snake,",
"text": "pointing his finger at Shuisky and giving him no time to react.",
"text": "Negotiate with a boyar and you create opportunities for him. A small",
"text": "compromise becomes the toehold he needs to tear you apart. The sudden",
"text": "bold move, without discussion or warning, obliterates these toeholds, and",
"text": "builds your authority. You terrify doubters and despisers and gain the",
"text": "confidence of the many who admire and glorify those who act boldly.",
"text": "Observance III",
"text": "In 1514 the twenty-two-year-old Pietro Aretino was working as a lowly",
"text": "assistant scullion to a wealthy Roman family. He had ambitions of",
"text": "greatness as a writer, to enflame the world with his name, but how could",
"text": "a mere lackey hope to realize such dreams?",
"text": "That year Pope Leo X received from the king of Portugal an embassy",
"text": "that included many gifts, most prominent among them a great elephant,the first in Rome since imperial times. The pontiff adored this elephant",
"text": "and showered it with attention and gifts. But despite his love and care,",
"text": "the elephant, which was called Hanno, became deathly ill. The pope",
"text": "summoned doctors, who administered a five-hundred-pound purgative to",
"text": "the elephant, but all to no avail. The animal died and the pope went into",
"text": "mourning. To console himself he summoned the great painter Raphael",
"text": "and ordered him to create a life-sized painting of Hanno above the",
"text": "animal’s tomb, bearing the inscription, “What nature took away, Raphael",
"text": "has with his art restored.”",
"text": "Over the next few days, a pamphlet circulated throughout Rome that",
"text": "caused great merriment and laughter. Entitled “The Last Will and",
"text": "Testament of the Elephant Hanno,” it read, in part, “To my heir the",
"text": "Cardinal Santa Croce, I give my knees, so that he can imitate my",
"text": "genuflections…. To my heir Cardinal Santi Quattro, I give my jaws, so",
"text": "that he can more readily devour all of Christ’s revenues…. To my heir",
"text": "Cardinal Medici, I give my ears, so that he can hear everyone’s",
"text": "doings….” To Cardinal Grassi, who had a reputation for lechery, the",
"text": "elephant bequeathed the appropriate, oversized part of his own anatomy.",
"text": "On and on the anonymous pamphlet went, sparing none of the great in",
"text": "Rome, not even the pope. With each one it took aim at their best-known",
"text": "weakness. The pamphlet ended with verse, “See to it that Aretino is your",
"text": "friend / For he is a bad enemy to have. / His words alone could ruin the",
"text": "high pope / So God guard everyone from his tongue.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "With one short pamphlet, Aretino, son of a poor shoemaker and a servant",
"text": "himself, hurled himself to fame. Everyone in Rome rushed to find out",
"text": "who this daring young man was. Even the pope, amused by his audacity,",
"text": "sought him out and ended up giving him a job in the papal service. Over",
"text": "the years he came to be known as the “Scourge of Princes,” and his",
"text": "biting tongue earned him the respect and fear of the great, from the king",
"text": "of France to the Hapsburg emperor.",
"text": "Fear, which always magnifies objects, gives a body to all their fancies,",
"text": "which takes for its form whatever they conceive to exist in their enemies’",
"text": "thoughts; so that fearful persons seldom fail to fall into real",
"text": "inconveniences, occasioned by imaginary dangers…. And the duke,",
"text": "whose predominant character was to be always full of fear and of",
"text": "distrust, was, of all men I have ever seen, the most capable of falling intofalse steps, by the dread he had of falling into them; being in that like",
"text": "unto hares.",
"text": "CARDINAL DE RETZ, 1613-1679",
"text": "The Aretino strategy is simple: When you are as small and obscure as",
"text": "David was, you must find a Goliath to attack. The larger the target, the",
"text": "more attention you gain. The bolder the attack, the more you stand out",
"text": "from the crowd, and the more admiration you earn. Society is full of",
"text": "those who think daring thoughts but lack the guts to print and publicize",
"text": "them. Voice what the public feels—the expression of shared feelings is",
"text": "always powerful. Search out the most prominent target possible and sling",
"text": "your boldest shot. The world will enjoy the spectacle, and will honor the",
"text": "underdog—you, that is—with glory and power.",
"text": "1111. BOY AND",
"text": "A boy playing in the fields got stung by a nettle. He ran home to his",
"text": "mother, telling her that he had but touched that nasty weed, and it had",
"text": "stung him. “It was just your touching it, my boy,” said the mother, “that",
"text": "caused it to sting you; the next time you meddle with a nettle, grasp it",
"text": "tightly, and it will do you no hurt.”",
"text": "Do boldly what you do at all.",
"text": "FABLES, AESOP. SIXTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Most of us are timid. We want to avoid tension and conflict and we want",
"text": "to be liked by all. We may contemplate a bold action but we rarely bring",
"text": "it to life. We are terrified of the consequences, of what others might think",
"text": "of us, of the hostility we will stir up if we dare go beyond our usual",
"text": "place.",
"text": "Although we may disguise our timidity as a concern for others, a",
"text": "desire not to hurt or offend them, in fact it is the opposite—we are really",
"text": "self-absorbed, worried about ourselves and how others perceive us.",
"text": "Boldness, on the other hand, is outer-directed, and often makes people",
"text": "feel more at ease, since it is less self-conscious and less repressed.This can be seen most clearly in seduction. All great seducers succeed",
"text": "through effrontery. Casanova’s boldness was not revealed in a daring",
"text": "approach to the woman he desired, or in intrepid words to flatter her; it",
"text": "consisted in his ability to surrender himself to her completely and to",
"text": "make her believe he would do anything for her, even risk his life, which",
"text": "in fact he sometimes did. The woman on whom he lavished this attention",
"text": "understood that he held nothing back from her. This was infinitely more",
"text": "flattering than compliments. At no point during the seduction would he",
"text": "show hesitation or doubt, simply because he never felt it.",
"text": "Part of the charm of being seduced is that it makes us feel engulfed,",
"text": "temporarily outside of ourselves and the usual doubts that permeate our",
"text": "lives. The moment the seducer hesitates, the charm is broken, because",
"text": "we become aware of the process, of their deliberate effort to seduce us,",
"text": "of their self-consciousness. Boldness directs attention outward and keeps",
"text": "the illusion alive. It never induces awkwardness or embarrassment. And",
"text": "so we admire the bold, and prefer to be around them, because their self-",
"text": "confidence infects us and draws us outside our own realm of inwardness",
"text": "and reflection.",
"text": "HOW IOBL.",
"text": "But with those who have made an impression upon your heart, I have",
"text": "noticed that you are timid. This quality might affect a bourgeoise, but",
"text": "you must attack the heart of a woman of the world with other weapons….",
"text": "I tell you on behalf of women: there is not one of us who does not prefer",
"text": "a little rough handling to too much consideration. Men lose through",
"text": "blundering more hearts than virtue saves. The more timidity a lover",
"text": "shows with us the more it concerns our pride to goad him on; the more",
"text": "respect he has for our resistance, the more respect we demand of him.",
"text": "We would willingly say to you men: “Ah, in pity’s name do not suppose",
"text": "us to be so very virtuous; you are forcing us to have too much of it….”",
"text": "We are continually struggling to hide the fact that we have permitted",
"text": "ourselves to be loved. Put a woman in a position to say that she has",
"text": "yielded only to a species of violence, or to surprise: persuade her that",
"text": "you do not undervalue her, and I will answer for her heart….A little more",
"text": "boldness on your part would put you both at your ease. Do you",
"text": "remember what M. de la Rochefoucauld told you lately: “A reasonable",
"text": "man in love may act like a madman, but he should not and cannot act",
"text": "like an idiot.”LIFE, LETTERS, AND EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY OF NINON DE",
"text": "LENCLOS, NINON DE LENCLOS, 1620-1705",
"text": "Few are born bold. Even Napoleon had to cultivate the habit on the",
"text": "battlefield, where he knew it was a matter of life and death. In social",
"text": "settings he was awkward and timid, but he overcame this and practiced",
"text": "boldness in every part of his life because he saw its tremendous power,",
"text": "how it could literally enlarge a man (even one who, like Napoleon, was",
"text": "in fact conspicuously small). We also see this change in Ivan the",
"text": "Terrible: A harmless boy suddenly transforms himself into a powerful",
"text": "young man who commands authority, simply by pointing a finger and",
"text": "taking bold action.",
"text": "You must practice and develop your boldness. You will often find uses",
"text": "for it. The best place to begin is often the delicate world of negotiation,",
"text": "particularly those discussions in which you are asked to set your own",
"text": "price. How often we put ourselves down by asking for too little. When",
"text": "Christopher Columbus proposed that the Spanish court finance his",
"text": "voyage to the Americas, he also made the insanely bold demand that he",
"text": "be called “Grand Admiral of the Ocean.” The court agreed. The price he",
"text": "set was the price he received—he demanded to be treated with respect,",
"text": "and so he was. Henry Kissinger too knew that in negotiation, bold",
"text": "demands work better than starting off with piecemeal concessions and",
"text": "trying to meet the other person halfway. Set your value high, and then, as",
"text": "Count Lustig did, set it higher.",
"text": "Understand: If boldness is not natural, neither is timidity. It is an",
"text": "acquired habit, picked up out of a desire to avoid conflict. If timidity has",
"text": "taken hold of you, then, root it out. Your fears of the consequences of a",
"text": "bold action are way out of proportion to reality, and in fact the",
"text": "consequences of timidity are worse. Your value is lowered and you",
"text": "create a self-fulfilling cycle of doubt and disaster. Remember: The",
"text": "problems created by an audacious move can be disguised, even",
"text": "remedied, by more and greater audacity.",
"text": "Image: The Lion and the",
"text": "Hare. The lion creates no",
"text": "gaps in his way—his",
"text": "movements are too",
"text": "swift, his jaws too quick",
"text": "and powerful. The",
"text": "timid hare will do any",
"text": "thing to escape danger,but in its haste to",
"text": "retreat and flee, it backs",
"text": "into traps, hops smack",
"text": "into its enemies’ jaws.",
"text": "Authority: I certainly think that it is better to be impetuous than cautious,",
"text": "for fortune is a woman, and it is necessary, if you wish to master her, to",
"text": "conquer her by force; and it can be seen that she lets herself be overcome",
"text": "by the bold rather than by those who proceed coldly. And therefore, like",
"text": "a woman, she is always a friend to the young, because they are less",
"text": "cautious, fiercer, and master her with greater audacity. (Niccolò",
"text": "Machiavelli, 1469-1527)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "Boldness should never be the strategy behind all of your actions. It is a",
"text": "tactical instrument, to be used at the right moment. Plan and think ahead,",
"text": "and make the final element the bold move that will bring you success. In",
"text": "other words, since boldness is a learned response, it is also one that you",
"text": "learn to control and utilize at will. To go through life armed only with",
"text": "audacity would be tiring and also fatal. You would offend too many",
"text": "people, as is proven by those who cannot control their boldness. One",
"text": "such person was Lola Montez; her audacity brought her triumphs and led",
"text": "to her seduction of the king of Bavaria. But since she could never rein in",
"text": "her boldness, it also led to her downfall—in Bavaria, in England,",
"text": "wherever she turned. It crossed the border between boldness and the",
"text": "appearance of cruelty, even insanity. Ivan the Terrible suffered the same",
"text": "fate: When the power of boldness brought him success, he stuck to it, to",
"text": "the point where it became a lifelong pattern of violence and sadism. He",
"text": "lost the ability to tell when boldness was appropriate and when it was",
"text": "not.",
"text": "Timidity has no place in the realm of power; you will often benefit,",
"text": "however, by being able to feign it. At that point, of course, it is no longertimidity but an offensive weapon: You are luring people in with your",
"text": "show of shyness, all the better to pounce on them boldly later.LAW 29",
"text": "PLAN ALL THE WAY TO THE END",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all",
"text": "the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might",
"text": "reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the",
"text": "end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know",
"text": "when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by",
"text": "thinking far ahead.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "In 1510 a ship set out from the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the",
"text": "Dominican Republic) for Venezuela, where it was to rescue a besieged",
"text": "Spanish colony. Several miles out of port, a stowaway climbed out of a",
"text": "provision chest: Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a noble Spaniard who had",
"text": "come to the New World in search of gold but had fallen into debt and had",
"text": "escaped his creditors by hiding in the chest.",
"text": "There are very few men—and they are the exceptions—who are able to",
"text": "think and feel beyond the present moment.",
"text": "CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ, 1780-1831",
"text": "Balboa had been obsessed with gold ever since Columbus had",
"text": "returned to Spain from his voyages with tales of a fabulous but as yet",
"text": "undiscovered kingdom called El Dorado. Balboa was one of the first",
"text": "adventurers to come in search of Columbus’s land of gold, and he had",
"text": "decided from the beginning that he would be the one to find it, throughsheer audacity and single-mindedness. Now that he was free of his",
"text": "creditors, nothing would stop him.",
"text": "Unfortunately the ship’s owner, a wealthy jurist named Francisco Fer",
"text": "nández de Enciso, was furious when told of the stowaway, and he",
"text": "ordered that Balboa be left on the first island they came across. Before",
"text": "they found any island, however, Enciso received news that the colony he",
"text": "was to rescue had been abandoned. This was Balboa’s chance. He told",
"text": "the sailors of his previous voyages to Panama, and of the rumors he had",
"text": "heard of gold in the area. The excited sailors convinced Enciso to spare",
"text": "Balboa’s life, and to establish a colony in Panama. Weeks later they",
"text": "named their new settlement “Darien.”",
"text": "Darien’s first governor was Enciso, but Balboa was not a man to let",
"text": "others steal the initiative. He campaigned against Enciso among the",
"text": "sailors, who eventually made it clear that they preferred him as governor.",
"text": "Enciso fled to Spain, fearing for his life. Months later, when a",
"text": "representative of the Spanish crown arrived to establish himself as the",
"text": "new, official governor of Darien, he was turned away. On his return",
"text": "voyage to Spain, this man drowned; the drowning was accidental, but",
"text": "under Spanish law, Balboa had murdered the governor and usurped his",
"text": "position.",
"text": "Balboa’s bravado had got him out of scrapes before, but now his hopes",
"text": "of wealth and glory seemed doomed. To lay claim to El Dorado, should",
"text": "he discover it, he would need the approval of the Spanish king—which,",
"text": "as an outlaw, he would never receive. There was only one solution.",
"text": "Panamanian Indians had told Balboa of a vast ocean on the other side of",
"text": "the Central American isthmus, and had said that by traveling south upon",
"text": "this western coast, he would reach a fabulous land of gold, called by a",
"text": "name that to his ears sounded like “Biru.” Balboa decided he would",
"text": "cross the treacherous jungles of Panama and become the first European",
"text": "to bathe his feet in this new ocean. From there he would march on El",
"text": "Dorado. If he did this on Spain’s behalf, he would obtain the eternal",
"text": "gratitude of the king, and would secure his own reprieve—only he had to",
"text": "act before Spanish authorities came to arrest him.",
"text": "THE TWO FROGS",
"text": "Two frogs dwelt in the same pool. The pool being dried up under the",
"text": "summer’s heat, they left it, and set out together to seek another home. As",
"text": "they went along they chanced to pass a deep well, amply supplied with",
"text": "water, on seeing which one of the frogs said to the other: “Let us descendand make our abode in this well, it will furnish us with shelter and",
"text": "food.” The other replied with greater caution: “But suppose the water",
"text": "should fail us, how can we get out again from so great a depth?” Do",
"text": "nothing without a regard to the consequences.",
"text": "FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "In 1513, then, Balboa set out, with 190 soldiers. Halfway across the",
"text": "isthmus (some ninety miles wide at that point), only sixty soldiers",
"text": "remained, many having succumbed to the harsh conditions—the blood-",
"text": "sucking insects, the torrential rainfall, fever. Finally, from a mountaintop,",
"text": "Balboa became the first European to lay eyes on the Pacific Ocean. Days",
"text": "later he marched in his armor into its waters, bearing the banner of",
"text": "Castile and claiming all its seas, lands, and islands in the name of the",
"text": "Spanish throne.",
"text": "Look to the end, no matter what it is you are considering. Often enough,",
"text": "God gives a man a glimpse of happiness, and then utterly ruins him.",
"text": "THE HISTORIES, HERODOTUS, FIFTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "Indians from the area greeted Balboa with gold, jewels, and precious",
"text": "pearls, the like of which he had never seen. When he asked where these",
"text": "had come from, the Indians pointed south, to the land of the Incas. But",
"text": "Balboa had only a few soldiers left. For the moment, he decided, he",
"text": "should return to Darien, send the jewels and gold to Spain as a token of",
"text": "good will, and ask for a large army to aid him in the conquest of El",
"text": "Dorado.",
"text": "When news reached Spain of Balboa’s bold crossing of the isthmus,",
"text": "his discovery of the western ocean, and his planned conquest of El",
"text": "Dorado, the former criminal became a hero. He was instantly proclaimed",
"text": "governor of the new land. But before the king and queen received word",
"text": "of his discovery, they had already sent a dozen ships, under the command",
"text": "of a man named Pedro Arias Dávila, “Pedrarias,” with orders to arrest",
"text": "Balboa for murder and to take command of the colony. By the time",
"text": "Pedrarias arrived in Panama, he had learned that Balboa had been",
"text": "pardoned, and that he was to share the governorship with the former",
"text": "outlaw.",
"text": "All the same, Balboa felt uneasy. Gold was his dream, El Dorado his",
"text": "only desire. In pursuit of this goal he had nearly died many times over,",
"text": "and to share the wealth and glory with a newcomer would be intolerable.",
"text": "He also soon discovered that Pedrarias was a jealous, bitter man, and",
"text": "equally unhappy with the situation. Once again, the only solution forBalboa was to seize the initiative by proposing to cross the jungle with a",
"text": "larger army, carrying ship-building materials and tools. Once on the",
"text": "Pacific coast, he would create an armada with which to conquer the",
"text": "Incas. Surprisingly enough, Pedrarias agreed to the plan—perhaps",
"text": "sensing it would never work. Hundreds died in this second march",
"text": "through the jungle, and the timber they carried rotted in the torrential",
"text": "rains. Balboa, as usual, was undaunted—no power in the world could",
"text": "thwart his plan—and on arriving at the Pacific he began to cut down",
"text": "trees for new lumber. But the men remaining to him were too few and",
"text": "too weak to mount an invasion, and once again Balboa had to return to",
"text": "Darien.",
"text": "Pedrarias had in any case invited Balboa back to discuss a new plan,",
"text": "and on the outskirts of the settlement, the explorer was met by Francisco",
"text": "Pizarro, an old friend who had accompanied him on his first crossing of",
"text": "the isthmus. But this was a trap: Leading one hundred soldiers, Pizarro",
"text": "surrounded his former friend, arrested him, and returned him to",
"text": "Pedrarias, who tried him on charges of rebellion. A few days later",
"text": "Balboa’s head fell into a basket, along with those of his most trusted",
"text": "followers. Years later Pizarro himself reached Peru, and Balboa’s deeds",
"text": "were forgotten.",
"text": "THE KING. THE SUFI. AND THE SURGEON",
"text": "In ancient times a king of Tartary was out walking with some of his",
"text": "noblemen. At the roadside was an abdal (a wandering Sufi), who cried",
"text": "out: “Whoever will give me a hundred dinars, I will give him some good",
"text": "advice.” The king stopped, and said: “Abdal, what is this good advice",
"text": "for a hundred dinars?” “Sir,” answered the abdal, “order the sum to be",
"text": "given to me, and I will tell it you immediately.” The king did so,",
"text": "expecting to hear something extraordinary. The dervish said to him: “My",
"text": "advice is this: Never begin anything until you have reflected what will be",
"text": "the end of it.” At this the nobles and everyone else present laughed,",
"text": "saying that the abdal had been wise to ask for his money in advance. But",
"text": "the king said: “You have no reason to laugh at the good advice this",
"text": "abdal has given me. No one is unaware of the fact that we should think",
"text": "well before doing anything. But we are daily guilty of not remembering,",
"text": "and the consequences are evil. I very much value this dervish’s advice. ”",
"text": "The king decided to bear the advice always in his mind, and commanded",
"text": "it to be written in gold on the walls and even engraved on his silver",
"text": "plate.Not long afterward a plotter desired to kill the king. He bribed the royal",
"text": "surgeon with a promise of the prime ministership if he thrust a poisoned",
"text": "lancet into the king’s arm. When the time came to let some of the king’s",
"text": "blood, a silver basin was placed to catch the blood. Suddenly the",
"text": "surgeon became aware of the words engraved upon it: “Never begin",
"text": "anything until you have reflected what will be the end of it. ” It was only",
"text": "then that he realized that if the plotter became king he could have the",
"text": "surgeon killed instantly, and would not need to fulfill his bargain.",
"text": "The king, seeing that the surgeon was now trembling, asked him what",
"text": "was wrong with hun. And so he confessed the truth, at that very moment.",
"text": "The plotter was seized; and the king sent for all the people who had been",
"text": "present when the abdal gave his advice, and said to them: “Do you still",
"text": "laugh at the dervish?”",
"text": "CARAVAN OF DREAMS. IDRIES SHAH, 1968",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Most men are ruled by the heart, not the head. Their plans are vague, and",
"text": "when they meet obstacles they improvise. But improvisation will only",
"text": "bring you as far as the next crisis, and is never a substitute for thinking",
"text": "several steps ahead and planning to the end.",
"text": "Balboa had a dream of glory and wealth, and a vague plan to reach it.",
"text": "Yet his bold deeds, and his discovery of the Pacific, are largely forgotten,",
"text": "for he committed what in the world of power is the ultimate sin: He went",
"text": "part way, leaving the door open for others to take over. A real man of",
"text": "power would have had the prudence to see the dangers in the distance—",
"text": "the rivals who would want to share in the conquests, the vultures that",
"text": "would hover once they heard the word “gold.” Balboa should have kept",
"text": "his knowledge of the Incas secret until after he had conquered Peru. Only",
"text": "then would his wealth, and his head, have been secure. Once Pedrarias",
"text": "arrived on the scene, a man of power and prudence would have schemed",
"text": "to kill or imprison him, and to take over the army he had brought for the",
"text": "conquest of Peru. But Balboa was locked in the moment, always reacting",
"text": "emotionally, never thinking ahead.",
"text": "What good is it to have the greatest dream in the world if others reap",
"text": "the benefits and the glory? Never lose your head over a vague, open-",
"text": "ended dream—plan to the end.OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "In 1863 the Prussian premier Otto von Bismarck surveyed the",
"text": "chessboard of European power as it then stood. The main players were",
"text": "England, France, and Austria. Prussia itself was one of several states in",
"text": "the loosely allied German Federation. Austria, dominant member of the",
"text": "Federation, made sure that the other German states remained weak,",
"text": "divided and submissive. Bismarck believed that Prussia was destined for",
"text": "something far greater than servant boy to Austria.",
"text": "This is how Bismarck played the game. His first move was to start a",
"text": "war with lowly Denmark, in order to recover the former Prussian lands",
"text": "of Schleswig-Holstein. He knew that these rumblings of Prussian",
"text": "independence might worry France and England, so he enlisted Austria in",
"text": "the war, claiming that he was recovering Schleswig-Holstein for their",
"text": "benefit. In a few months, after the war was decided, Bismarck demanded",
"text": "that the newly conquered lands be made part of Prussia. The Austrians of",
"text": "course were furious, but they compromised: First they agreed to give the",
"text": "Prussians Schleswig, and a year later they sold them Holstein. The world",
"text": "began to see that Austria was weakening and that Prussia was on the rise.",
"text": "Bismarck’s next move was his boldest: In 1866 he convinced King",
"text": "William of Prussia to withdraw from the German Federation, and in",
"text": "doing so to go to war with Austria itself. King William’s wife, his son",
"text": "the crown prince, and the princes of the other German kingdoms",
"text": "vehemently opposed such a war. But Bismarck, undaunted, succeeded in",
"text": "forcing the conflict, and Prussia’s superior army defeated the Austrians",
"text": "in the brutally short Seven Weeks War. The king and the Prussian",
"text": "generals then wanted to march on Vienna, taking as much land from",
"text": "Austria as possible. But Bismarck stopped them—now he presented",
"text": "himself as on the side of peace. The result was that he was able to",
"text": "conclude a treaty with Austria that granted Prussia and the other German",
"text": "states total autonomy. Bismarck could now position Prussia as the",
"text": "dominant power in Germany and the head of a newly formed North",
"text": "German Confederation.",
"text": "The French and the English began to compare Bismarck to Attila the",
"text": "Hun, and to fear that he had designs on all of Europe. Once he had",
"text": "started on the path to conquest, there was no telling where he would stop.",
"text": "And, indeed, three years later Bismarck provoked a war with France.",
"text": "First he appeared to give his permission to France’s annexation of",
"text": "Belgium, then at the last moment he changed his mind. Playing a cat-and-mouse game, he infuriated the French emperor, Napoleon III, and",
"text": "stirred up his own king against the French. To no one’s surprise, war",
"text": "broke out in 1870. The newly formed German federation enthusiastically",
"text": "joined in the war on France, and once again the Prussian military",
"text": "machine and its allies destroyed the enemy army in a matter of months.",
"text": "Although Bismarck opposed taking any French land, the generals",
"text": "convinced him that Alsace-Lorraine would become part of the",
"text": "federation.",
"text": "Now all of Europe feared the next move of the Prussian monster, led",
"text": "by Bismarck, the “Iron Chancellor.” And in fact a year later Bismarck",
"text": "founded the German Empire, with the Prussian king as the newly",
"text": "crowned emperor and Bismarck himself a prince. But then something",
"text": "strange happened: Bismarck instigated no more wars. And while the",
"text": "other European powers grabbed up land for colonies in other continents,",
"text": "he severely limited Germany’s colonial acquisitions. He did not want",
"text": "more land for Germany, but more security. For the rest of his life he",
"text": "struggled to maintain peace in Europe and to prevent further wars.",
"text": "Everybody assumed he had changed, mellowing with the years. They",
"text": "had failed to understand: This was the final move of his original plan.",
"text": "He who asks fortune-tellers the future unwittingly forfeits an inner",
"text": "intimation of coming events that is a thousand times more exact than",
"text": "anything they may say.",
"text": "WALTER BENJAMIN, 1892-1940",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "There is a simple reason why most men never know when to come off",
"text": "the attack: They form no concrete idea of their goal. Once they achieve",
"text": "victory they only hunger for more. To stop—to aim for a goal and then",
"text": "keep to it—seems almost inhuman, in fact; yet nothing is more critical to",
"text": "the maintenance of power. The person who goes too far in his triumphs",
"text": "creates a reaction that inevitably leads to a decline. The only solution is",
"text": "to plan for the long run. Foresee the future with as much clarity as the",
"text": "gods on Mount Olympus, who look through the clouds and see the ends",
"text": "of all things.",
"text": "From the beginning of his career in politics, Bismarck had one goal: to",
"text": "form an independent German state led by Prussia. He instigated the war",
"text": "with Denmark not to conquer territory but to stir up Prussian nationalism",
"text": "and unite the country. He incited the war with Austria only to gainPrussian independence. (This was why he refused to grab Austrian",
"text": "territory.) And he fomented the war with France to unite the German",
"text": "kingdoms against a common enemy, and thus to prepare for the",
"text": "formation of a united Germany.",
"text": "Once this was achieved, Bismarck stopped. He never let triumph go to",
"text": "his head, was never tempted by the siren call of more. He held the reins",
"text": "tightly, and whenever the generals, or the king, or the Prussian people",
"text": "demanded new conquests, he held them back. Nothing would spoil the",
"text": "beauty of his creation, certainly not a false euphoria that pushed those",
"text": "around him to attempt to go past the end that he had so carefully",
"text": "planned.",
"text": "Experience shows that, if one foresees from far away the designs to be",
"text": "undertaken, one can act with speed when the moment comes to execute",
"text": "them.",
"text": "Cardinall Richelieu, 1585-1642",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "According to the cosmology of the ancient Greeks, the gods were",
"text": "thought to have complete vision into the future. They saw everything to",
"text": "come, right down to the intricate details. Men, on the other hand, were",
"text": "seen as victims of fate, trapped in the moment and their emotions, unable",
"text": "to see beyond immediate dangers. Those heroes, such as Odysseus, who",
"text": "were able to look beyond the present and plan several steps ahead,",
"text": "seemed to defy fate, to approximate the gods in their ability to determine",
"text": "the future. The comparison is still valid—those among us who think",
"text": "further ahead and patiently bring their plans to fruition seem to have a",
"text": "godlike power.",
"text": "Because most people are too imprisoned in the moment to plan with",
"text": "this kind of foresight, the ability to ignore immediate dangers and",
"text": "pleasures translates into power. It is the power of being able to overcome",
"text": "the natural human tendency to react to things as they happen, and instead",
"text": "to train oneself to step back, imagining the larger things taking shape",
"text": "beyond one’s immediate vision. Most people believe that they are in fact",
"text": "aware of the future, that they are planning and thinking ahead. They are",
"text": "usually deluded: What they are really doing is succumbing to their",
"text": "desires, to what they want the future to be. Their plans are vague, basedon their imaginations rather than their reality. They may believe they are",
"text": "thinking all the way to the end, but they are really only focusing on the",
"text": "happy ending, and deluding themselves by the strength of their desire.",
"text": "In 415 B.C., the ancient Athenians attacked Sicily, believing their",
"text": "expedition would bring them riches, power, and a glorious ending to the",
"text": "sixteen-year Peloponnesian War. They did not consider the dangers of an",
"text": "invasion so far from home; they did not foresee that the Sicilians would",
"text": "fight all the harder since the battles were in their own homeland, or that",
"text": "all of Athens’s enemies would band together against them, or that war",
"text": "would break out on several fronts, stretching their forces way too thin.",
"text": "The Sicilian expedition was a complete disaster, leading to the",
"text": "destruction of one of the greatest civilizations of all time. The Athenians",
"text": "were led into this disaster by their hearts, not their minds. They saw only",
"text": "the chance of glory, not the dangers that loomed in the distance.",
"text": "Cardinal de Retz, the seventeenth-century Frenchman who prided",
"text": "himself on his insights into human schemes and why they mostly fail,",
"text": "analyzed this phenomenon. In the course of a rebellion he spearheaded",
"text": "against the French monarchy in 1651, the young king, Louis XIV, and",
"text": "his court had suddenly left Paris and established themselves in a palace",
"text": "outside the capital. The presence of the king so close to the heart of the",
"text": "revolution had been a tremendous burden on the revolutionaries, and",
"text": "they breathed a sigh of relief. This later proved their downfall, however,",
"text": "since the court’s absence from Paris gave it much more room to",
"text": "maneuver. “The most ordinary cause of people’s mistakes,” Cardinal de",
"text": "Retz later wrote, “is their being too much frightened at the present",
"text": "danger, and not enough so at that which is remote.”",
"text": "The dangers that are remote, that loom in the distance—if we can see",
"text": "them as they take shape, how many mistakes we avoid. How many plans",
"text": "we would instantly abort if we realized we were avoiding a small danger",
"text": "only to step into a larger one. So much of power is not what you do but",
"text": "what you do not do—the rash and foolish actions that you refrain from",
"text": "before they get you into trouble. Plan in detail before you act—do not let",
"text": "vague plans lead you into trouble. Will this have unintended",
"text": "consequences? Will I stir up new enemies? Will someone else take",
"text": "advantage of my labors? Unhappy endings are much more common than",
"text": "happy ones—do not be swayed by the happy ending in your mind.",
"text": "The French elections of 1848 came down to a struggle between Louis-",
"text": "Adolphe Thiers, the man of order, and General Louis Eugène Cavaignac,",
"text": "the rabble-rouser of the right. When Thiers realized he was hopelessly",
"text": "behind in this high-stakes race, he searched desperately for a solution.His eye fell on Louis Bonaparte, grand-nephew of the great general",
"text": "Napoleon, and a lowly deputy in the parliament. This Bonaparte seemed",
"text": "a bit of an imbecile, but his name alone could get him elected in a",
"text": "country yearning for a strong ruler. He would be Thiers’s puppet and",
"text": "eventually would be pushed offstage. The first part of the plan worked to",
"text": "perfection, and Napoleon was elected by a large margin. The problem",
"text": "was that Thiers had not foreseen one simple fact: This “imbecile” was in",
"text": "fact a man of enormous ambition. Three years later he dissolved",
"text": "parliament, declared himself emperor, and ruled France for another",
"text": "eighteen years, much to the horror of Thiers and his party.",
"text": "The ending is everything. It is the end of the action that determines",
"text": "who gets the glory, the money, the prize. Your conclusion must be crystal",
"text": "clear, and you must keep it constantly in mind. You must also figure out",
"text": "how to ward off the vultures circling overhead, trying to live off the",
"text": "carcass of your creation. And you must anticipate the many possible",
"text": "crises that will tempt you to improvise. Bismarck overcame these",
"text": "dangers because he planned to the end, kept on course through every",
"text": "crisis, and never let others steal the glory. Once he had reached his stated",
"text": "goal, he withdrew into his shell like a turtle. This kind of self-control is",
"text": "godlike.",
"text": "When you see several steps ahead, and plan your moves all the way to",
"text": "the end, you will no longer be tempted by emotion or by the desire to",
"text": "improvise. Your clarity will rid you of the anxiety and vagueness that are",
"text": "the primary reasons why so many fail to conclude their actions",
"text": "successfully. You see the ending and you tolerate no deviation.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Gods on",
"text": "Mount Olympus.",
"text": "Looking down on",
"text": "human actions from the",
"text": "clouds, they see in advance the",
"text": "endings of all the great dreams that",
"text": "lead to disaster and tragedy. And",
"text": "they laugh at our inability to see beyond",
"text": "the moment, and at how we delude ourselves.Authority: How much easier it is never to get in than to get yourself out!",
"text": "We should act contrary to the reed which, when it first appears, throws",
"text": "up a long straight stem but afterwards, as though it were exhausted …",
"text": "makes several dense knots, indicating that it no longer has its original",
"text": "vigor and drive. We must rather begin gently and coolly, saving our",
"text": "breath for the encounter and our vigorous thrusts for finishing off the",
"text": "job. In their beginnings it is we who guide affairs and hold them in our",
"text": "power; but so often once they are set in motion, it is they which guide us",
"text": "and sweep us along. (Montaigne, 1533-1592)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "It is a cliché among strategists that your plan must include alternatives",
"text": "and have a degree of flexibility. That is certainly true. If you are locked",
"text": "into a plan too rigidly, you will be unable to deal with sudden shifts of",
"text": "fortune. Once you have examined the future possibilities and decided on",
"text": "your target, you must build in alternatives and be open to new routes",
"text": "toward your goal.",
"text": "Most people, however, lose less from overplanning and rigidity than",
"text": "from vagueness and a tendency to improvise constantly in the face of",
"text": "circumstance. There is no real purpose in contemplating a reversal to this",
"text": "Law, then, for no good can come from refusing to think far into the",
"text": "future and planning to the end. If you are clear- and far-thinking enough,",
"text": "you will understand that the future is uncertain, and that you must be",
"text": "open to adaptation. Only having a clear objective and a far-reaching plan",
"text": "allows you that freedom.LAW 30",
"text": "MAKE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS SEEM",
"text": "EFFORTLESS",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and",
"text": "practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be",
"text": "concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more.",
"text": "Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work—it only raises",
"text": "questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.",
"text": "KANO TANNYU. MASTER ARTIST",
"text": "Date Masamune once sent for Tannyu to decorate a pair of gold screens",
"text": "seven feet high. The artist said he thought black-and-white sketches",
"text": "would suit them, and went home again after considering them carefully.",
"text": "The next morning he came early and made a large quantity of ink into",
"text": "which he dipped a horseshoe he had brought with him, and then",
"text": "proceeded to make impressions of this all over one of the screens. Then,",
"text": "with a large brush, he drew a number of lines across them. Meanwhile",
"text": "Masamune had come in to watch his work, and at this he could contain",
"text": "his irritation no longer, and muttering, “What a beastly mess!” he strode",
"text": "away to his own apartments. The retainers told Tannyu he was in a very",
"text": "bad temper indeed. “He shouldn’t look on while I am at work, then,”",
"text": "replied the painter, “he should wait till it is finished.” Then he took up a",
"text": "smaller brush and dashed in touches here and there, and as he did so the",
"text": "prints of the horse-shoe turned into crabs, while the big broad strokes",
"text": "became rushes. He then turned to the other screen and splashed drops of",
"text": "ink all over it, and when he had added a few brush-strokes here and",
"text": "there they became a flight of swallows over willow trees. When",
"text": "Masamune saw the finished work he was as overjoyed at the artist’s skillas he had previously been annoyed at the apparent mess he was making",
"text": "of the screens.",
"text": "CHA-NO-YU: THE JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY A. L. SADLER,",
"text": "1962",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I",
"text": "The Japanese tea ceremony called Cha-no-yu (“Hot Water for Tea”) has",
"text": "origins in ancient times, but it reached its peak of refinement in the",
"text": "sixteenth century under its most renowned practitioner, Sen no Rikyu.",
"text": "Although not from a noble family, Rikyu rose to great power, becoming",
"text": "the preferred tea master of the Emperor Hideyoshi, and an important",
"text": "adviser on aesthetic and even political matters. For Rikyu, the secret of",
"text": "success consisted in appearing natural, concealing the effort behind one’s",
"text": "work.",
"text": "One day Rikyu and his son went to an acquaintance’s house for a tea",
"text": "ceremony. On the way in, the son remarked that the lovely antique-",
"text": "looking gate at their host’s house gave it an evocatively lonely",
"text": "appearance. “I don’t think so,” replied his father, “it looks as though it",
"text": "had been brought from some mountain temple a long way off, and as if",
"text": "the labor required to import it must have cost a lot of money.” If the",
"text": "owner of the house had put this much effort into one gate, it would show",
"text": "in his tea ceremony—and indeed Sen no Rikyu had to leave the",
"text": "ceremony early, unable to endure the affectation and effort it",
"text": "inadvertently revealed.",
"text": "On another evening, while having tea at a friend’s house, Rikyu saw",
"text": "his host go outside, hold up a lantern in the darkness, cut a lemon off a",
"text": "tree, and bring it in. This charmed Rikyu—the host needed a relish for",
"text": "the dish he was serving, and had spontaneously gone outside to get one.",
"text": "But when the man offered the lemon with some Osaka rice cake, Rikyu",
"text": "realized that he had planned the cutting of the lemon all along, to go with",
"text": "this expensive delicacy. The gesture no longer seemed spontaneous—it",
"text": "was a way for the host to prove his cleverness. He had accidentally",
"text": "revealed how hard he was trying. Having seen enough, Rikyu politely",
"text": "declined the cake, excused himself, and left.",
"text": "Emperor Hideyoshi once planned to visit Rikyu for a tea ceremony.",
"text": "On the night before he was to come, snow began to fall. Thinkingquickly, Rikyu laid round cushions that fit exactly on each of the",
"text": "stepping-stones that led through the garden to his house. Just before",
"text": "dawn, he rose, saw that it had stopped snowing, and carefully removed",
"text": "the cushions. When Hideyoshi arrived, he marveled at the simple beauty",
"text": "of the sight—the perfectly round stepping stones, unencumbered by",
"text": "snow—and noticed how it called no attention to the manner in which",
"text": "Rikyu had accomplished it, but only to the polite gesture itself.",
"text": "After Sen no Rikyu died, his ideas had a profound influence on the",
"text": "practice of the tea ceremony. The Tokugawa shogun Yorinobu, son of the",
"text": "great Emperor Ieyasu, was a student of Rikyu’s teachings. In his garden",
"text": "he had a stone lantern made by a famous master, and Lord Sakai",
"text": "Tadakatsu asked if he could come by one day to see it. Yorinobu replied",
"text": "that he would be honored, and commanded his gardeners to put",
"text": "everything in order for the visit. These gardeners, unfamiliar with the",
"text": "precepts of Cha-no-yu, thought the stone lantern misshapen, its windows",
"text": "being too small for the present taste. They had a local workman enlarge",
"text": "the windows. A few days before Lord Sakai’s visit, Yorinobu toured the",
"text": "garden. When he saw the altered windows he exploded with rage, ready",
"text": "to impale on his sword the fool who had ruined the lantern, upsetting its",
"text": "natural grace and destroying the whole purpose of Lord Sakai’s visit.",
"text": "When Yorinobu calmed down, however, he remembered that he had",
"text": "originally bought two of the lanterns, and that the second was in his",
"text": "garden on the island of Kishu. At great expense, he hired a whale boat",
"text": "and the finest rowers he could find, ordering them to bring the lantern to",
"text": "him within two days—a difficult feat at best. But the sailors rowed day",
"text": "and night, and with the luck of a good wind they arrived just in time. To",
"text": "Yorinobu’s delight, this stone lantern was more magnificent than the",
"text": "first, for it had stood untouched for twenty years in a bamboo thicket,",
"text": "acquiring a brilliant antique appearance and a delicate covering of moss.",
"text": "When Lord Sakai arrived, later that same day, he was awed by the",
"text": "lantern, which was more magnificent than he had imagined—so graceful",
"text": "and at one with the elements. Fortunately he had no idea what time and",
"text": "effort it had cost Yorinobu to create this sublime effect.",
"text": "THE RESILING MASTER",
"text": "There was once a wrestling master who was versed in 360 feints and",
"text": "holds. He took a special liking to one of his pupils, to whom he taught",
"text": "359 of them over a period of time. Somehow he never got around to the",
"text": "last trick. As months went by the young man became so proficient in theart that he bested everyone who dared to face him in the ring. He was so",
"text": "proud of his prowess that one day he boasted before the sultan that he",
"text": "could readily whip his master, were it not out of respect for his age and",
"text": "gratitude for his tutelage.",
"text": "The sultan became incensed at this irreverence and ordered an",
"text": "immediate match with the royal court in attendance.",
"text": "At the gong the youth barged forward with a lusty yell, only to be",
"text": "confronted with the unfamiliar 360th feint. The master seized his former",
"text": "pupil, lifted him high above his head, and flung him crashing to the",
"text": "ground. The sultan and the assembly let out a loud cheer. When the",
"text": "sultan asked the master how he was able to overcome such a strong",
"text": "opponent, the master confessed that he had reserved a secret technique",
"text": "for himself for just such a contingency. Then he related the lamentation",
"text": "of a master of archery, who taught everything he knew. “No one has",
"text": "learned archery from me,” the poor fellow complained, “who has not",
"text": "tried to use me as a butt in the end.”",
"text": "A STORY OF SAADI, AS TOLD IN THE CRAFT OF POWER, R.G.",
"text": "H. SIU, 1979",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "To Sen no Rikyu, the sudden appearance of something naturally, almost",
"text": "accidentally graceful was the height of beauty. This beauty came without",
"text": "warning and seemed effortless. Nature created such things by its own",
"text": "laws and processes, but men had to create their effects through labor and",
"text": "contrivance. And when they showed the effort of producing the effect,",
"text": "the effect was spoiled. The gate came from too far away, the cutting of",
"text": "the lemon looked contrived.",
"text": "You will often have to use tricks and ingenuity to create your effects—",
"text": "the cushions in the snow, the men rowing all night—but your audience",
"text": "must never suspect the work or the thinking that has gone into them.",
"text": "Nature does not reveal its tricks, and what imitates nature by appearing",
"text": "effortless approximates nature’s power.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW IIThe great escape artist Harry Houdini once advertised his act as “The",
"text": "Impossible Possible.” And indeed those who witnessed his dramatic",
"text": "escapes felt that what he did onstage contradicted commonsense ideas of",
"text": "human capacity.",
"text": "One evening in 1904, an audience of 4,000 Londoners filled a theater",
"text": "to watch Houdini accept a challenge: to escape from a pair of manacles",
"text": "billed as the strongest ever invented. They contained six sets of locks and",
"text": "nine tumblers in each cuff; a Birmingham maker had spent five years",
"text": "constructing them. Experts who examined them said they had never seen",
"text": "anything so intricate, and this intricacy was thought to make them",
"text": "impossible to escape.",
"text": "The crowd watched the experts secure the manacles on Houdini’s",
"text": "wrists. Then the escape artist entered a black cabinet on stage. The",
"text": "minutes went by; the more time passed, the more certain it seemed that",
"text": "these manacles would be the first to defeat him. At one point he emerged",
"text": "from the cabinet, and asked that the cuffs be temporarily removed so that",
"text": "he could take off his coat—it was hot inside. The challengers refused,",
"text": "suspecting his request was a trick to find out how the locks worked.",
"text": "Undeterred, and without using his hands, Houdini managed to lift the",
"text": "coat over his shoulders, turn it inside out, remove a penknife from his",
"text": "vest pocket with his teeth, and, by moving his head, cut the coat off his",
"text": "arms. Freed from the coat, he stepped back into the cabinet, the audience",
"text": "roaring with approval at his grace and dexterity.",
"text": "Finally, having kept the audience waiting long enough, Houdini",
"text": "emerged from the cabinet a second time, now with his hands free, the",
"text": "manacles raised high in triumph. To this day no one knows how he",
"text": "managed the escape. Although he had taken close to an hour to free",
"text": "himself, he had never looked concerned, had shown no sign of doubt.",
"text": "Indeed it seemed by the end that he had drawn out the escape as a way to",
"text": "heighten the drama, to make the audience worry—for there was no other",
"text": "sign that the performance had been anything but easy. The complaint",
"text": "about the heat was equally part of the act. The spectators of this and",
"text": "other Houdini performances must have felt he was toying with them:",
"text": "These manacles are nothing, he seemed to say, I could have freed myself",
"text": "a lot sooner, and from a lot worse.",
"text": "Over the years, Houdini escaped from the chained carcass of an",
"text": "embalmed “sea monster” (a half octopus, half whalelike beast that had",
"text": "beached near Boston); he had himself sealed inside an enormous",
"text": "envelope from which he emerged without breaking the paper; he passed",
"text": "through brick walls; he wriggled free from straitjackets while danglinghigh in the air; he leaped from bridges into icy waters, his hands",
"text": "manacled and his legs in chains; he had himself submerged in glass cases",
"text": "full of water, hands pad-locked, while the audience watched in",
"text": "amazement as he worked himself free, struggling for close to an hour",
"text": "apparently without breathing. Each time he seemed to court certain death",
"text": "yet survived with superhuman aplomb. Meanwhile, he said nothing",
"text": "about his methods, gave no clues as to how he accomplished any of his",
"text": "tricks—he left his audiences and critics speculating, his power and",
"text": "reputation enhanced by their struggles with the inexplicable. Perhaps the",
"text": "most baffling trick of all was making a ten-thousand-pound elephant",
"text": "disappear before an audience’s eyes, a feat he repeated on stage for over",
"text": "nineteen weeks. No one has ever really explained how he did this, for in",
"text": "the auditorium where he performed the trick, there was simply nowhere",
"text": "for an elephant to hide.",
"text": "The effortlessness of Houdini’s escapes led some to think he used",
"text": "occult forces, his superior psychic abilities giving him special control",
"text": "over his body. But a German escape artist named Kleppini claimed to",
"text": "know Houdini’s secret: He simply used elaborate gadgets. Kleppini also",
"text": "claimed to have defeated Houdini in a handcuff challenge in Holland.",
"text": "Houdini did not mind all kinds of speculation floating around about",
"text": "his methods, but he would not tolerate an outright lie, and in 1902 he",
"text": "challenged Kleppini to a handcuff duel. Kleppini accepted. Through a",
"text": "spy, he found out the secret word to unlock a pair of French",
"text": "combination-lock cuffs that Houdini liked to use. His plan was to choose",
"text": "these cuffs to escape from onstage. This would definitively debunk",
"text": "Houdini—his “genius” simply lay in his use of mechanical gadgets.",
"text": "On the night of the challenge, just as Kleppini had planned, Houdini",
"text": "offered him a choice of cuffs and he selected the ones with the",
"text": "combination lock. He was even able to disappear with them behind a",
"text": "screen to make a quick test, and reemerged seconds later, confident of",
"text": "victory.",
"text": "Acting as if he sensed fraud, Houdini refused to lock Kleppini in the",
"text": "cuffs. The two men argued and began to fight, even wrestling with each",
"text": "other onstage. After a few minutes of this, an apparently angry, frustrated",
"text": "Houdini gave up and locked Kleppini in the cuffs. For the next few",
"text": "minutes Kleppini strained to get free. Something was wrong—minutes",
"text": "earlier he had opened the cuffs behind the screen; now the same code no",
"text": "longer worked. He sweated, racking his brains. Hours went by, the",
"text": "audience left, and finally an exhausted and humiliated Kleppini gave up",
"text": "and asked to be released.The cuffs that Kleppini himself had opened behind the screen with the",
"text": "word “C-L-E-F-S” (French for “keys”) now clicked open only with the",
"text": "word “F-R-A-U-D.” Kleppini never figured out how Houdini had",
"text": "accomplished this uncanny feat.",
"text": "Keep the extent of your abilities unknown. The wise man does not allow",
"text": "his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he desires to",
"text": "be honored by all. He allows you to know them but not to comprehend",
"text": "them. No one must know the extent of his abilities, lest he be",
"text": "disappointed. No one ever has an opportunity of fathoming him entirely.",
"text": "For guesses and doubts about the extent of his talents arouse more",
"text": "veneration than accurate knowledge of them, be they ever so great.",
"text": "BALTASAR GRACIÁN. 1601-1658",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Although we do not know for certain how Houdini accomplished many",
"text": "of his most ingenious escapes, one thing is clear: It was not the occult, or",
"text": "any kind of magic, that gave him his powers, but hard work and endless",
"text": "practice, all of which he carefully concealed from the world. Houdini",
"text": "never left anything to chance—day and night he studied the workings of",
"text": "locks, researched centuries-old sleight-of-hand tricks, pored over books",
"text": "on mechanics, whatever he could use. Every moment not spent",
"text": "researching he spent working his body, keeping himself exceptionally",
"text": "limber, and learning how to control his muscles and his breathing.",
"text": "Early on in Houdini’s career, an old Japanese performer whom he",
"text": "toured with taught him an ancient trick: how to swallow an ivory ball,",
"text": "then bring it back up. He practiced this endlessly with a small peeled",
"text": "potato tied to a string—up and down he would manipulate the potato",
"text": "with his throat muscles, until they were strong enough to move it without",
"text": "the string. The organizers of the London handcuff challenge had",
"text": "searched Houdini’s body thoroughly beforehand, but no one could check",
"text": "the inside of his throat, where he could have concealed small tools to",
"text": "help him escape. Even so, Kleppini was fundamentally wrong: It was not",
"text": "Houdini’s tools but his practice, work, and research that made his",
"text": "escapes possible.",
"text": "Kleppini, in fact, was completely outwitted by Houdini, who set the",
"text": "whole thing up. He let his opponent learn the code to the French cuffs,",
"text": "then baited him into choosing those cuffs onstage. Then, during the two",
"text": "men’s tussle, the dexterous Houdini was able to change the code to “F-R-A-U-D.” He had spent weeks practicing this trick, but the audience",
"text": "saw none of the sweat and toil behind the scenes. Nor was Houdini ever",
"text": "nervous; he induced nervousness in others. (He deliberately dragged out",
"text": "the time it would take to escape, as a way of heightening the drama, and",
"text": "making the audience squirm.) His escapes from death, always graceful",
"text": "and easy, made him look like a superman.",
"text": "As a person of power, you must research and practice endlessly before",
"text": "appearing in public, onstage or anywhere else. Never expose the sweat",
"text": "and labor behind your poise. Some think such exposure will demonstrate",
"text": "their diligence and honesty, but it actually just makes them look weaker",
"text": "—as if anyone who practiced and worked at it could do what they had",
"text": "done, or as if they weren’t really up to the job. Keep your effort and your",
"text": "tricks to yourself and you seem to have the grace and ease of a god. One",
"text": "never sees the source of a god’s power revealed; one only sees its effects.",
"text": "A line [of poetry] will take us hours maybe;",
"text": "Yet if it does not seem a moment’s thought,",
"text": "Our stitching and unstitching has been naught.",
"text": "Adam’s Curse, William Buller Yeats, 1865-1939",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Humanity’s first notions of power came from primitive encounters with",
"text": "nature—the flash of lightning in the sky, a sudden flood, the speed and",
"text": "ferocity of a wild animal. These forces required no thinking, no planning",
"text": "—they awed us by their sudden appearance, their gracefulness, and their",
"text": "power over life and death. And this remains the kind of power we have",
"text": "always wanted to imitate. Through science and technology we have re-",
"text": "created the speed and sublime power of nature, but something is missing:",
"text": "Our machines are noisy and jerky, they reveal their effort. Even the very",
"text": "best creations of technology cannot root out our admiration for things",
"text": "that move easily and effortlessly. The power of children to bend us to",
"text": "their will comes from a kind of seductive charm that we feel in the",
"text": "presence of a creature less reflective and more graceful than we are. We",
"text": "cannot return to such a state, but if we can create the appearance of this",
"text": "kind of ease, we elicit in others the kind of primitive awe that nature has",
"text": "always evoked in hu mankind.One of the first European writers to expound on this principle came",
"text": "from that most unnatural of environments, the Renaissance court. In The",
"text": "Book of the Courtier, published in 1528, Baldassare Castiglione",
"text": "describes the highly elaborate and codified manners of the perfect court",
"text": "citizen. And yet, Castiglione explains, the courtier must execute these",
"text": "gestures with what he calls sprezzatura, the capacity to make the difficult",
"text": "seem easy. He urges the courtier to “practice in all things a certain",
"text": "nonchalance which conceals all artistry and makes whatever one says or",
"text": "does seem uncontrived and effortless.” We all admire the achievement of",
"text": "some unusual feat, but if it is accomplished naturally and gracefully, our",
"text": "admiration increases tenfold—“whereas … to labor at what one is doing",
"text": "and … to make bones over it, shows an extreme lack of grace and causes",
"text": "everything, whatever its worth, to be discounted.”",
"text": "Much of the idea of sprezzatura came from the world of art. All the",
"text": "great Renaissance artists carefully kept their works under wraps. Only",
"text": "the finished masterpiece could be shown to the public. Michelangelo",
"text": "forbade even popes to view his work in process. A Renaissance artist",
"text": "was always careful to keep his studios shut to patrons and public alike,",
"text": "not out of fear of imitation, but because to see the making of the works",
"text": "would mar the magic of their effect, and their studied atmosphere of ease",
"text": "and natural beauty.",
"text": "The Renaissance painter Vasari, also the first great art critic, ridiculed",
"text": "the work of Paolo Uccello, who was obsessed with the laws of",
"text": "perspective. The effort Uccello spent on improving the appearance of",
"text": "perspective was too obvious in his work—it made his paintings ugly and",
"text": "labored, overwhelmed by the effort of their effects. We have the same",
"text": "response when we watch performers who put too much effort into their",
"text": "act: Seeing them trying so hard breaks the illusion. It also makes us",
"text": "uncomfortable. Calm, graceful performers, on the other hand, set us at",
"text": "ease, creating the illusion that they are not acting but being natural and",
"text": "themselves, even when everything they are doing involves labor and",
"text": "practice.",
"text": "The idea of sprezzatura is relevant to all forms of power, for power",
"text": "depends vitally on appearances and the illusions you create. Your public",
"text": "actions are like artworks: They must have visual appeal, must create",
"text": "anticipation, even entertain. When you reveal the inner workings of your",
"text": "creation, you become just one more mortal among others. What is",
"text": "understandable is not awe-inspiring—we tell ourselves we could do as",
"text": "well if we had the money and time. Avoid the temptation of showinghow clever you are—it is far more clever to conceal the mechanisms of",
"text": "your cleverness.",
"text": "Talleyrand’s application of this concept to his daily life greatly",
"text": "enhanced the aura of power that surrounded him. He never liked to work",
"text": "too hard, so he made others do the work for him—the spying, the",
"text": "research, the detailed analyses. With all this labor at his disposal, he",
"text": "himself never seemed to strain. When his spies revealed that a certain",
"text": "event was about to take place, he would talk in social conversation as if",
"text": "he sensed its imminence. The result was that people thought he was",
"text": "clairvoyant. His short pithy statements and witticisms always seemed to",
"text": "summarize a situation perfectly, but they were based on much research",
"text": "and thought. To those in government, including Napoleon himself,",
"text": "Talleyrand gave the impression of immense power—an effect entirely",
"text": "dependent on the apparent ease with which he accomplished his feats.",
"text": "There is another reason for concealing your shortcuts and tricks: When",
"text": "you let this information out, you give people ideas they can use against",
"text": "you. You lose the advantages of keeping silent. We tend to want the",
"text": "world to know what we have done—we want our vanity gratified by",
"text": "having our hard work and cleverness applauded, and we may even want",
"text": "sympathy for the hours it has taken to reach our point of artistry. Learn to",
"text": "control this propensity to blab, for its effect is often the opposite of what",
"text": "you expected. Remember: The more mystery surrounds your actions, the",
"text": "more awesome your power seems. You appear to be the only one who",
"text": "can do what you do—and the appearance of having an exclusive gift is",
"text": "immensely powerful. Finally, because you achieve your",
"text": "accomplishments with grace and ease, people believe that you could",
"text": "always do more if you tried harder. This elicits not only admiration but a",
"text": "touch of fear. Your powers are untapped—no one can fathom their limits.",
"text": "Image: The Racehorse. From up close we would see the",
"text": "strain, the effort to control the horse, the labored, painful",
"text": "breathing. But from the distance where we sit and watch, it",
"text": "is all gracefulness, flying through the air. Keep others at a",
"text": "distance and they will only see the ease with which you move.",
"text": "Authority: For whatever action [nonchalance] accompanies, no matter",
"text": "how trivial it is, it not only reveals the skill of the person doing it but",
"text": "also very often causes it to be considered far greater than it really is. This",
"text": "is because it makes the onlookers believe that a man who performs wellwith so much facility must possess even greater skill than he does.",
"text": "(Baldassare Castiglione, 1478-1529)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "The secrecy with which you surround your actions must seem",
"text": "lighthearted in spirit. A zeal to conceal your work creates an unpleasant,",
"text": "almost paranoiac impression: you are taking the game too seriously.",
"text": "Houdini was careful to make the concealment of his tricks seem a game,",
"text": "all part of the show. Never show your work until it is finished, but if you",
"text": "put too much effort into keeping it under wraps you will be like the",
"text": "painter Pontormo, who spent the last years of his life hiding his frescoes",
"text": "from the public eye and only succeeded in driving himself mad. Always",
"text": "keep your sense of humor about yourself.",
"text": "There are also times when revealing the inner workings of your",
"text": "projects can prove worthwhile. It all depends on your audience’s taste,",
"text": "and on the times in which you operate. P. T. Barnum recognized that his",
"text": "public wanted to feel involved in his shows, and that understanding his",
"text": "tricks delighted them, partly, perhaps, because implicitly debunking",
"text": "people who kept their sources of power hidden from the masses appealed",
"text": "to America’s democratic spirit. The public also appreciated the",
"text": "showman’s humor and honesty. Barnum took this to the extreme of",
"text": "publicizing his own humbuggery in his popular autobiography, written",
"text": "when his career was at its height.",
"text": "As long as the partial disclosure of tricks and techniques is carefully",
"text": "planned, rather than the result of an uncontrollable need to blab, it is the",
"text": "ultimate in cleverness. It gives the audience the illusion of being superior",
"text": "and involved, even while much of what you do remains concealed from",
"text": "them.LAW 31",
"text": "CONTROL THE OPTIONS: GET OTHERS TO",
"text": "PLAY WITH THE CARDS YOU DEAL",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a",
"text": "choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your",
"text": "puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one",
"text": "they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils,",
"text": "both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma:",
"text": "They are gored wherever they turn.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I",
"text": "From early in his reign, Ivan IV, later known as Ivan the Terrible, had to",
"text": "confront an unpleasant reality: The country desperately needed reform,",
"text": "but he lacked the power to push it through. The greatest limit to his",
"text": "authority came from the boyars, the Russian princely class that",
"text": "dominated the country and terrorized the peasantry.",
"text": "In 1553, at the age of twenty-three, Ivan fell ill. Lying in bed, nearing",
"text": "death, he asked the boyars to swear allegiance to his son as the new czar.",
"text": "Some hesitated, some even refused. Then and there Ivan saw he had no",
"text": "power over the boyars. He recovered from his illness, but he never forgot",
"text": "the lesson: The boyars were out to destroy him. And indeed in the years",
"text": "to come, many of the most powerful of them defected to Russia’s main",
"text": "enemies, Poland and Lithuania, where they plotted their return and the",
"text": "overthrow of the czar. Even one of Ivan’s closest friends, Prince Andrey",
"text": "Kurbski, suddenly turned against him, defecting to Lithuania in 1564,",
"text": "and becoming the strongest of Ivan’s enemies.When Kurbski began raising troops for an invasion, the royal dynasty",
"text": "seemed suddenly more precarious than ever. With émigré nobles",
"text": "fomenting invasion from the west, Tartars bearing down from the east,",
"text": "and the boyars stirring up trouble within the country, Russia’s vast size",
"text": "made it a nightmare to defend. In whatever direction Ivan struck, he",
"text": "would leave himself vulnerable on the other side. Only if he had absolute",
"text": "power could he deal with this many-headed Hydra. And he had no such",
"text": "power.",
"text": "Ivan brooded until the morning of December 3, 1564, when the",
"text": "citizens of Moscow awoke to a strange sight. Hundreds of sleds filled the",
"text": "square before the Kremlin, loaded with the czar’s treasures and with",
"text": "provisions for the entire court. They watched in disbelief as the czar and",
"text": "his court boarded the sleds and left town. Without explaining why, he",
"text": "established himself in a village south of Moscow. For an entire month a",
"text": "kind of terror gripped the capital, for the Muscovites feared that Ivan had",
"text": "abandoned them to the bloodthirsty boyars. Shops closed up and riotous",
"text": "mobs gathered daily. Finally, on January 3 of 1565, a letter arrived from",
"text": "the czar, explaining that he could no longer bear the boyars’ betrayals",
"text": "and had decided to abdicate once and for all.",
"text": "The German Chancellor Bismarck, enraged at the constant criticisms",
"text": "from Rudolf Virchow (the German pathologist and liberal politician),",
"text": "had his seconds call upon the scientist to challenge him to a duel. “As",
"text": "the challenged party, I have the choice of weapons,” said Virchow, “and",
"text": "I choose these.” He held aloft two large and apparently identical",
"text": "sausages. “One of these,” he went on, “is infected with deadly germs;",
"text": "the orher is perfectly sound. Let His Excellency decide which one he",
"text": "wishes to eat, and I will eat the other.” Almost immediately the message",
"text": "came back that the chancellor had decided to cancel the duel.",
"text": "THE LITTLE. BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES. CLIFTON",
"text": "FADIMAN, FD., 1985",
"text": "Read aloud in public, the letter had a startling effect: Merchants and",
"text": "commoners blamed the boyars for Ivan’s decision, and took to the",
"text": "streets, terrifying the nobility with their fury. Soon a group of delegates",
"text": "representing the church, the princes, and the people made the journey to",
"text": "Ivan’s village, and begged the czar, in the name of the holy land of",
"text": "Russia, to return to the throne. Ivan listened but would not change his",
"text": "mind. After days of hearing their pleas, however, he offered his subjectsa choice: Either they grant him absolute powers to govern as he pleased,",
"text": "with no interference from the boyars, or they find a new leader.",
"text": "Faced with a choice between civil war and the acceptance of despotic",
"text": "power, almost every sector of Russian society “opted” for a strong czar,",
"text": "calling for Ivan’s return to Moscow and the restoration of law and order.",
"text": "In February, with much celebration, Ivan returned to Moscow. The",
"text": "Russians could no longer complain if he behaved dictatorially—they had",
"text": "given him this power themselves.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Ivan the Terrible faced a terrible dilemma: To give in to the boyars would",
"text": "lead to certain destruction, but civil war would bring a different kind of",
"text": "ruin. Even if Ivan came out of such a war on top, the country would be",
"text": "devastated and its divisions would be stronger than ever. His weapon of",
"text": "choice in the past had been to make a bold, offensive move. Now,",
"text": "however, that kind of move would turn against him—the more boldly he",
"text": "confronted his enemies, the worse the reactions he would spark.",
"text": "The main weakness of a show of force is that it stirs up resentment and",
"text": "eventually leads to a response that eats at your authority. Ivan,",
"text": "immensely creative in the use of power, saw clearly that the only path to",
"text": "the kind of victory he wanted was a false withdrawal. He would not force",
"text": "the country over to his position, he would give it “options”: either his",
"text": "abdication, and certain anarchy, or his accession to absolute power. To",
"text": "back up his move, he made it clear that he preferred to abdicate: “Call",
"text": "my bluff,” he said, “and watch what happens.” No one called his bluff.",
"text": "By withdrawing for just a month, he showed the country a glimpse of the",
"text": "nightmares that would follow his abdication—Tartar invasions, civil war,",
"text": "ruin. (All of these did eventually come to pass after Ivan’s death, in the",
"text": "infamous “Time of the Troubles.”)",
"text": "Withdrawal and disappearance are classic ways of controlling the",
"text": "options. You give people a sense of how things will fall apart without",
"text": "you, and you offer them a “choice”: I stay away and you suffer the",
"text": "consequences, or I return under circumstances that I dictate. In this",
"text": "method of controlling people’s options, they choose the option that gives",
"text": "you power because the alternative is just too unpleasant. You force their",
"text": "hand, but indirectly: They seem to have a choice. Whenever people feel",
"text": "they have a choice, they walk into your trap that much more easily.THE I IAR",
"text": "Once upon a time there was a king of Armenia, who, being of a curious",
"text": "turn of mind and in need of some new diversion, sent his heralds",
"text": "throughout the land to make the following proclamation: “Hear this!",
"text": "Whatever man among you can prove himself the most outrageous liar in",
"text": "Armenia shall receive an apple made of pure gold from the hands of His",
"text": "Majesty the King!” People began to swarm to the palace from every",
"text": "town and hamlet in the country, people of all ranks and conditions,",
"text": "princes, merchants, farmers, priests, rich and poor, tall and short, fat",
"text": "and thin. There was no lack of liars in the land, and each one told his",
"text": "tale to the king. A ruler, however, has heard practically every sort of lie,",
"text": "and none of those now told him convinced the king that he had listened",
"text": "to the best of them. The king was beginning to grow tired of his new sport",
"text": "and was thinking of calling the whole contest off without declaring a",
"text": "winner, when there appeared before him a poor, ragged man, carrying a",
"text": "large earthenware pitcher under his arm. “What can I do for you?”",
"text": "asked His Majesty. “Sire!” said the poor man, slightly bewildered",
"text": "“Surely you remember? You owe me a pot of gold, and I have come to",
"text": "collect it.” “You are a pet feet liar, sir!’ exclaimed the king ”I owe you",
"text": "no money’” ”A perfect liar, am I?” said the poor man. ”Then give me the",
"text": "golden apple!” The king, realizing that the man was Irving to trick him.",
"text": "started to hedge. ”No. no! You are not a liar!” ”Then give me the pot of",
"text": "gold you owe me. sire.” said the man. The king saw the dilemma, He",
"text": "handed over the golden apple.",
"text": "ARMENIAN FOLK-IALES AND FABLES. REIOLD BY CAHARLES",
"text": "DOWNING. 1993",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II",
"text": "As a seventeenth-century French courtesan, Ninon de Lenclos found that",
"text": "her life had certain pleasures. Her lovers came from royalty and",
"text": "aristocracy, and they paid her well, entertained her with their wit and",
"text": "intellect, satisfied her rather demanding sensual needs, and treated her",
"text": "almost as an equal. Such a life was infinitely preferable to marriage. In",
"text": "1643, however, Ninon’s mother died suddenly, leaving her, at the age of",
"text": "twenty-three, totally alone in the world—no family, no dowry, nothing tofall back upon. A kind of panic overtook her and she entered a convent,",
"text": "turning her back on her illustrious lovers. A year later she left the",
"text": "convent and moved to Lyons. When she finally reappeared in Paris, in",
"text": "1648, lovers and suitors flocked to her door in greater numbers than ever",
"text": "before, for she was the wittiest and most spirited courtesan of the time",
"text": "and her presence had been greatly missed.",
"text": "Ninon’s followers quickly discovered, however, that she had changed",
"text": "her old way of doing things, and had set up a new system of options. The",
"text": "dukes, seigneurs, and princes who wanted to pay for her services could",
"text": "continue to do so, but they were no longer in control—she would sleep",
"text": "with them when she wanted, according to her whim. All their money",
"text": "bought them was a possibility. If it was her pleasure to sleep with them",
"text": "only once a month, so be it.",
"text": "Those who did not want to be what Ninon called a payeur could join",
"text": "the large and growing group of men she called her martyrs—men who",
"text": "visited her apartment principally for her friendship, her biting wit, her",
"text": "lute-playing, and the company of the most vibrant minds of the period,",
"text": "including Molière, La Rochefoucauld, and Saint-Évremond. The",
"text": "martyrs, too, however, entertained a possibility: She would regularly",
"text": "select from them a favori, a man who would become her lover without",
"text": "having to pay, and to whom she would abandon herself completely for as",
"text": "long as she so desired—a week, a few months, rarely longer. A payeur",
"text": "could not become a favori, but a martyr had no guarantee of becoming",
"text": "one, and indeed could remain disappointed for an entire lifetime. The",
"text": "poet Charleval, for example, never enjoyed Ninon’s favors, but never",
"text": "stopped coming to visit—he did not want to do without her company.",
"text": "As word of this system reached polite French society, Ninon became",
"text": "the object of intense hostility. Her reversal of the position of the",
"text": "courtesan scandalized the queen mother and her court. Much to their",
"text": "horror, however, it did not discourage her male suitors—indeed it only",
"text": "increased their numbers and intensified their desire. It became an honor",
"text": "to be a payeur, helping Ninon to maintain her lifestyle and her glittering",
"text": "salon, accompanying her sometimes to the theater, and sleeping with her",
"text": "when she chose. Even more distinguished were the martyrs, enjoying her",
"text": "company without paying for it and maintaining the hope, however",
"text": "remote, of some day becoming her favori. That possibility spurred on",
"text": "many a young nobleman, as word spread that none among the courtesans",
"text": "could surpass Ninon in the art of love. And so the married and the single,",
"text": "the old and the young, entered her web and chose one of the two options",
"text": "presented to them, both of which amply satisfied her.Interpretation",
"text": "The life of the courtesan entailed the possibility of a power that was",
"text": "denied a married woman, but it also had obvious perils. The man who",
"text": "paid for the courtesan’s services in essence owned her, determining when",
"text": "he could possess her and when, later on, he would abandon her. As she",
"text": "grew older, her options narrowed, as fewer men chose her. To avoid a life",
"text": "of poverty she had to amass her fortune while she was young. The",
"text": "courtesan’s legendary greed, then, reflected a practical necessity, yet also",
"text": "lessened her allure, since the illusion of being desired is important to",
"text": "men, who are often alienated if their partner is too interested in their",
"text": "money. As the courtesan aged, then, she faced a most difficult fate.",
"text": "Ninon de Lenclos had a horror of any kind of dependence. She early",
"text": "on tasted a kind of equality with her lovers, and she would not settle into",
"text": "a system that left her such distasteful options. Strangely enough, the",
"text": "system she devised in its place seemed to satisfy her suitors as much as it",
"text": "did her. The payeurs may have had to pay, but the fact that Ninon would",
"text": "only sleep with them when she wanted to gave them a thrill unavailable",
"text": "with every other courtesan: She was yielding out of her own desire. The",
"text": "martyrs’ avoidance of the taint of having to pay gave them a sense of",
"text": "superiority; as members of Ninon’s fraternity of admirers, they also",
"text": "might some day experience the ultimate pleasure of being her favori.",
"text": "Finally, Ninon did not force her suitors into either category. They could",
"text": "“choose” which side they preferred—a freedom that left them a vestige",
"text": "of masculine pride.",
"text": "Such is the power of giving people a choice, or rather the illusion of",
"text": "one, for they are playing with cards you have dealt them. Where the",
"text": "alternatives set up by Ivan the Terrible involved a certain risk—one",
"text": "option would have led to his losing his power—Ninon created a situation",
"text": "in which every option redounded to her favor. From the payeurs she",
"text": "received the money she needed to run her salon. And from the martyrs",
"text": "she gained the ultimate in power: She could surround herself with a bevy",
"text": "of admirers, a harem from which to choose her lovers.",
"text": "The system, though, depended on one critical factor: the possibility,",
"text": "however remote, that a martyr could become a favori. The illusion that",
"text": "riches, glory, or sensual satisfaction may someday fall into your victim’s",
"text": "lap is an irresistible carrot to include in your list of choices. That hope,",
"text": "however slim, will make men accept the most ridiculous situations,",
"text": "because it leaves them the all-important option of a dream. The illusionof choice, married to the possibility of future good fortune, will lure the",
"text": "most stubborn sucker into your glittering web.",
"text": "J. P. Morgan Sr. once told a jeweler of his acquaintance that he was",
"text": "interested in buying a pearl scarf-pin. Just a few weeks later, the jeweler",
"text": "happened upon a magnificent pearl. He had it mounted in an",
"text": "appropriate setting and sent it to Morgan, together with a bill for $5,000.",
"text": "The following day the package was returned. Morgan’s accompanying",
"text": "note read: “I like the pin, but I don’t like the price. If you will accept the",
"text": "enclosed check for $4,000, please send back the box with the seal",
"text": "unbroken.” The enraged jeweler refused the check and dismissed the",
"text": "messenger in disgust. He opened up the box to reclaim the unwanted pin,",
"text": "only to find that it had been removed. In its place was a check for",
"text": "$5,000.",
"text": "THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES. CLIFTON",
"text": "FADIMAN, ED.. 1985",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Words like “freedom,” “options,” and “choice” evoke a power of",
"text": "possibility far beyond the reality of the benefits they entail. When",
"text": "examined closely, the choices we have—in the marketplace, in elections,",
"text": "in our jobs—tend to have noticeable limitations: They are often a matter",
"text": "of a choice simply between A and B, with the rest of the alphabet out of",
"text": "the picture. Yet as long as the faintest mirage of choice flickers on, we",
"text": "rarely focus on the missing options. We “choose” to believe that the",
"text": "game is fair, and that we have our freedom. We prefer not to think too",
"text": "much about the depth of our liberty to choose.",
"text": "This unwillingness to probe the smallness of our choices stems from",
"text": "the fact that too much freedom creates a kind of anxiety. The phrase",
"text": "“unlimited options” sounds infinitely promising, but unlimited options",
"text": "would actually paralyze us and cloud our ability to choose. Our limited",
"text": "range of choices comforts us.",
"text": "This supplies the clever and cunning with enormous opportunities for",
"text": "deception. For people who are choosing between alternatives find it hard",
"text": "to believe they are being manipulated or deceived; they cannot see that",
"text": "you are allowing them a small amount of free will in exchange for a",
"text": "much more powerful imposition of your own will. Setting up a narrowrange of choices, then, should always be a part of your deceptions. There",
"text": "is a saying: If you can get the bird to walk into the cage on its own, it",
"text": "will sing that much more prettily.",
"text": "The following are among the most common forms of “controlling the",
"text": "options”:",
"text": "Color the Choices. This was a favored technique of Henry Kissinger. As",
"text": "President Richard Nixon’s secretary of state, Kissinger considered",
"text": "himself better informed than his boss, and believed that in most",
"text": "situations he could make the best decision on his own. But if he tried to",
"text": "determine policy, he would offend or perhaps enrage a notoriously",
"text": "insecure man. So Kissinger would propose three or four choices of action",
"text": "for each situation, and would present them in such a way that the one he",
"text": "preferred always seemed the best solution compared to the others. Time",
"text": "after time, Nixon fell for the bait, never suspecting that he was moving",
"text": "where Kissinger pushed him. This is an excellent device to use on the",
"text": "insecure master.",
"text": "Force the Resister. One of the main problems faced by Dr. Milton H.",
"text": "Erickson, a pioneer of hypnosis therapy in the 1950s, was the relapse.",
"text": "His patients might seem to be recovering rapidly, but their apparent",
"text": "susceptibility to the therapy masked a deep resistance: They would soon",
"text": "relapse into old habits, blame the doctor, and stop coming to see him. To",
"text": "avoid this, Erickson began ordering some patients to have a relapse, to",
"text": "make themselves feel as bad as when they first came in—to go back to",
"text": "square one. Faced with this option, the patients would usually “choose”",
"text": "to avoid the relapse—which, of course, was what Erickson really",
"text": "wanted.",
"text": "This is a good technique to use on children and other willful people",
"text": "who enjoy doing the opposite of what you ask them to: Push them to",
"text": "“choose” what you want them to do by appearing to advocate the",
"text": "opposite.",
"text": "Alter the Playing Field. In the 1860s, John D. Rockefeller set out to",
"text": "create an oil monopoly. If he tried to buy up the smaller oil companies",
"text": "they would figure out what he was doing and fight back. Instead, he",
"text": "began secretly buying up the railway companies that transported the oil.",
"text": "When he then attempted to take over a particular company, and met with",
"text": "resistance, he reminded them of their dependence on the rails. Refusingthem shipping, or simply raising their fees, could ruin their business.",
"text": "Rockefeller altered the playing field so that the only options the small oil",
"text": "producers had were the ones he gave them.",
"text": "In this tactic your opponents know their hand is being forced, but it",
"text": "doesn’t matter. The technique is effective against those who resist at all",
"text": "costs.",
"text": "The Shrinking Options. The late-nineteenth-century art dealer",
"text": "Ambroise Vollard perfected this technique.",
"text": "Customers would come to Vollard’s shop to see some Cézannes. He",
"text": "would show three paintings, neglect to mention a price, and pretend to",
"text": "doze off. The visitors would have to leave without deciding. They would",
"text": "usually come back the next day to see the paintings again, but this time",
"text": "Vollard would pull out less interesting works, pretending he thought they",
"text": "were the same ones. The baffled customers would look at the new",
"text": "offerings, leave to think them over, and return yet again. Once again the",
"text": "same thing would happen: Vollard would show paintings of lesser quality",
"text": "still. Finally the buyers would realize they had better grab what he was",
"text": "showing them, because tomorrow they would have to settle for",
"text": "something worse, perhaps at even higher prices.",
"text": "A variation on this technique is to raise the price every time the buyer",
"text": "hesitates and another day goes by. This is an excellent negotiating ploy",
"text": "to use on the chronically indecisive, who will fall for the idea that they",
"text": "are getting a better deal today than if they wait till tomorrow.",
"text": "The Weak Man on the Precipice. The weak are the easiest to maneuver",
"text": "by controlling their options. Cardinal de Retz, the great seventeenth-",
"text": "century provocateur, served as an unofficial assistant to the Duke of",
"text": "Orléans, who was notoriously indecisive. It was a constant struggle to",
"text": "convince the duke to take action—he would hem and haw, weigh the",
"text": "options, and wait till the last moment, giving everyone around him an",
"text": "ulcer. But Retz discovered a way to handle him: He would describe all",
"text": "sorts of dangers, exaggerating them as much as possible, until the duke",
"text": "saw a yawning abyss in every direction except one: the one Retz was",
"text": "pushing him to take.",
"text": "This tactic is similar to “Color the Choices,” but with the weak you",
"text": "have to be more aggressive. Work on their emotions—use fear and terror",
"text": "to propel them into action. Try reason and they will always find a way to",
"text": "procrastinate.Brothers in Crime. This is a classic con-artist technique: You attract",
"text": "your victims to some criminal scheme, creating a bond of blood and guilt",
"text": "between you. They participate in your deception, commit a crime (or",
"text": "think they do—see the story of Sam Geezil in Law 3), and are easily",
"text": "manipulated. Serge Stavisky, the great French con artist of the 1920s, so",
"text": "entangled the government in his scams and swindles that the state did not",
"text": "dare to prosecute him, and “chose” to leave him alone. It is often wise to",
"text": "implicate in your deceptions the very person who can do you the most",
"text": "harm if you fail. Their involvement can be subtle—even a hint of their",
"text": "involvement will narrow their options and buy their silence.",
"text": "The Horns of a Dilemma. This idea was demonstrated by General",
"text": "William Sherman’s infamous march through Georgia during the",
"text": "American Civil War. Although the Confederates knew what direction",
"text": "Sherman was heading in, they never knew if he would attack from the",
"text": "left or the right, for he divided his army into two wings—and if the",
"text": "rebels retreated from one wing they found themselves facing the other.",
"text": "This is a classic trial lawyer’s technique: The lawyer leads the witnesses",
"text": "to decide between two possible explanations of an event, both of which",
"text": "poke a hole in their story. They have to answer the lawyer’s questions,",
"text": "but whatever they say they hurt themselves. The key to this move is to",
"text": "strike quickly: Deny the victim the time to think of an escape. As they",
"text": "wriggle between the horns of the dilemma, they dig their own grave.",
"text": "Understand: In your struggles with your rivals, it will often be necessary",
"text": "for you to hurt them. And if you are clearly the agent of their",
"text": "punishment, expect a counterattack—expect revenge. If, however, they",
"text": "seem to themselves to be the agents of their own misfortune, they will",
"text": "submit quietly. When Ivan left Moscow for his rural village, the citizens",
"text": "asking him to return agreed to his demand for absolute power. Over the",
"text": "years to come, they resented him less for the terror he unleashed on the",
"text": "country, because, after all, they had granted him his power themselves.",
"text": "This is why it is always good to allow your victims their choice of",
"text": "poison, and to cloak your involvement in providing it to them as far as",
"text": "possible.",
"text": "Image: The Horns of the Bull. The bull backs you into the corner with its",
"text": "horns—not a single horn, which you might be e able to escape, but a pair",
"text": "of horns that trap you within their hold. Run right or run left—either way",
"text": "you move into their piercing ends and are gored.Authority: For the wounds and every other evil that men inflict upon",
"text": "themselves spontaneously, and of their own choice, are in the long run",
"text": "less painful than those inflicted by others. (Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-",
"text": "1527)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "Controlling the options has one main purpose: to disguise yourself as the",
"text": "agent of power and punishment. The tactic works best, then, for those",
"text": "whose power is fragile, and who cannot operate too openly without",
"text": "incurring suspicion, resentment, and anger. Even as a general rule,",
"text": "however, it is rarely wise to be seen as exerting power directly and",
"text": "forcefully, no matter how secure or strong you are. It is usually more",
"text": "elegant and more effective to give people the illusion of choice.",
"text": "On the other hand, by limiting other people’s options you sometimes",
"text": "limit your own. There are situations in which it is to your advantage to",
"text": "allow your rivals a large degree of freedom: As you watch them operate,",
"text": "you give yourself rich opportunities to spy, gather information, and plan",
"text": "your deceptions. The nineteenth-century banker James Rothschild liked",
"text": "this method: He felt that if he tried to control his opponents’ movements,",
"text": "he lost the chance to observe their strategy and plan a more effective",
"text": "course. The more freedom he allowed them in the short term, the more",
"text": "forcefully he could act against them in the long run.LAW 32",
"text": "PLAY TO PEOPLE’S FANTASIES",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never",
"text": "appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that",
"text": "comes from disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people",
"text": "who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the",
"text": "desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the",
"text": "fantasies of the masses.",
"text": "THE FUNERAL OF THE LIONESS",
"text": "The lion having suddenly lost his queen, every one hastened to show",
"text": "allegiance to the monarch, by offering consolation. These compliments,",
"text": "alas, served but to increase the widower’s affliction. Due notice was",
"text": "given throughout the kingdom that the funeral would be performed at a",
"text": "certain time and place; the lion’s officers were ordered to be in",
"text": "attendance, to regulate the ceremony, and place the company according",
"text": "to their respective rank. One may well judge no one absented himself.",
"text": "The monarch gave way to his grief, and the whole cave, lions having no",
"text": "other temples, resounded with his cries. After his example, all the",
"text": "courtiers roared in their different tones. A court is the sort of place",
"text": "where everyone is either sorrowful, gay, or indifferent to everything, just",
"text": "as the reigning prince may think fit; or if any one is not actually, he at",
"text": "least tries to appear so; each endeavors to mimic the master. It is truly",
"text": "said that one mind animates a thousand bodies, clearly showing that",
"text": "human beings are mere machines. But let us return to our subject. The",
"text": "stag alone shed no tears. How could he, forsooth? The death of the",
"text": "queen avenged him; she had formerly strangled his wife and son. A",
"text": "courtier thought fit to inform the bereaved monarch, and even affirmed",
"text": "that he had seen the stag laugh. The rage of a king, says Solomon, is",
"text": "terrible, and especially that of a lion-king. “Pitiful forester!” heexclaimed, “darest thou laugh when all around are dissolved in tears?",
"text": "We will not soil our royal claws with thy profane blood! Do thou, brave",
"text": "wolf, avenge our queen, by immolating this traitor to her august manes.",
"text": "”",
"text": "Hereupon the stag replied: “Sire, the time for weeping is passed; grief is",
"text": "here superfluous. Your revered spouse appeared to me but now, reposing",
"text": "on a bed of roses; I instantly recognized her. ‘Friend,’ said she to me,",
"text": "‘have done with this funereal pomp, cease these useless tears. I have",
"text": "tasted a thousand delights in the Elysian fields, conversing with those",
"text": "who are saints like myself. Let the king’s despair remain for some time",
"text": "unchecked, it gratifies me.’” Scarcely had he spoken, when every one",
"text": "shouted: “A miracle! a miracle!” The stag, instead of being punished,",
"text": "received a handsome gift. Do but entertain a king with dreams, flatter",
"text": "him, and tell him a few pleasant fantastic lies: whatever his indignation",
"text": "against you may be, he will swallow the bait, and make you his dearest",
"text": "friend.",
"text": "FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "The city-state of Venice was prosperous for so long that its citizens felt",
"text": "their small republic had destiny on its side. In the Middle Ages and High",
"text": "Renaissance, its virtual monopoly on trade to the east made it the",
"text": "wealthiest city in Europe. Under a beneficent republican government,",
"text": "Venetians enjoyed liberties that few other Italians had ever known. Yet in",
"text": "the sixteenth century their fortunes suddenly changed. The opening of",
"text": "the New World transferred power to the Atlantic side of Europe—to the",
"text": "Spanish and Portuguese, and later the Dutch and English. Venice could",
"text": "not compete economically and its empire gradually dwindled. The final",
"text": "blow was the devastating loss of a prized Mediterranean possession, the",
"text": "island of Cyprus, captured from Venice by the Turks in 1570.",
"text": "Now noble families went broke in Venice, and banks began to fold. A",
"text": "kind of gloom and depression settled over the citizens. They had known",
"text": "a glittering past—had either lived through it or heard stories about it",
"text": "from their elders. The closeness of the glory years was humiliating. The",
"text": "Venetians half believed that the goddess Fortune was only playing a jokeon them, and that the old days would soon return. For the time being,",
"text": "though, what could they do?",
"text": "In 1589 rumors began to swirl around Venice of the arrival not far",
"text": "away of a mysterious man called “Il Bragadino,” a master of alchemy, a",
"text": "man who had won incredible wealth through his ability, it was said, to",
"text": "multiply gold through the use of a secret substance. The rumor spread",
"text": "quickly because a few years earlier, a Venetian nobleman passing",
"text": "through Poland had heard a learned man prophesy that Venice would",
"text": "recover her past glory and power if she could find a man who understood",
"text": "the alchemic art of manufacturing gold. And so, as word reached Venice",
"text": "of the gold this Bragadino possessed—he clinked gold coins",
"text": "continuously in his hands, and golden objects filled his palace—some",
"text": "began to dream: Through him, their city would prosper again.",
"text": "Members of Venice’s most important noble families accordingly went",
"text": "together to Brescia, where Bragadino lived. They toured his palace and",
"text": "watched in awe as he demonstrated his gold-making abilities, taking a",
"text": "pinch of seemingly worthless minerals and transforming it into several",
"text": "ounces of gold dust. The Venetian senate prepared to debate the idea of",
"text": "extending an official invitation to Bragadino to stay in Venice at the",
"text": "city’s expense, when word suddenly reached them that they were",
"text": "competing with the Duke of Mantua for his services. They heard of a",
"text": "magnificent party in Bragadino’s palace for the duke, featuring garments",
"text": "with golden buttons, gold watches, gold plates, and on and on. Worried",
"text": "they might lose Bragadino to Mantua, the senate voted almost",
"text": "unanimously to invite him to Venice, promising him the mountain of",
"text": "money he would need to continue living in his luxurious style—but only",
"text": "if he came right away.",
"text": "Late that year the mysterious Bragadino arrived in Venice. With his",
"text": "piercing dark eyes under thick brows, and the two enormous black",
"text": "mastiffs that accompanied him everywhere, he was forbidding and",
"text": "impressive. He took up residence in a sumptuous palace on the island of",
"text": "the Giudecca, with the republic funding his banquets, his expensive",
"text": "clothes, and all his other whims. A kind of alchemy fever spread through",
"text": "Venice. On street corners, hawkers would sell coal, distilling apparatus,",
"text": "bellows, how-to books on the subject. Everyone began to practice",
"text": "alchemy—everyone except Bragadino.",
"text": "The alchemist seemed to be in no hurry to begin manufacturing the",
"text": "gold that would save Venice from ruin. Strangely enough this only",
"text": "increased his popularity and following; people thronged from all over",
"text": "Europe, even Asia, to meet this remarkable man. Months went by, withgifts pouring in to Bragadino from all sides. Still he gave no sign of the",
"text": "miracle that the Venetians confidently expected him to produce.",
"text": "Eventually the citizens began to grow impatient, wondering if he would",
"text": "wait forever. At first the senators warned them not to hurry him—he was",
"text": "a capricious devil, who needed to be cajoled. Finally, though, the nobility",
"text": "began to wonder too, and the senate came under pressure to show a",
"text": "return on the city’s ballooning investment.",
"text": "Bragadino had only scorn for the doubters, but he responded to them.",
"text": "He had, he said, already deposited in the city’s mint the mysterious",
"text": "substance with which he multiplied gold. He could use this substance up",
"text": "all at once, and produce double the gold, but the more slowly the process",
"text": "took place, the more it would yield. If left alone for seven years, sealed",
"text": "in a casket, the substance would multiply the gold in the mint thirty times",
"text": "over. Most of the senators agreed to wait to reap the gold mine",
"text": "Bragadino promised. Others, however, were angry: seven more years of",
"text": "this man living royally at the public trough! And many of the common",
"text": "citizens of Venice echoed these sentiments. Finally the alchemist’s",
"text": "enemies demanded he produce a proof of his skills: a substantial amount",
"text": "of gold, and soon.",
"text": "Lofty, apparently devoted to his art, Bragadino responded that Venice,",
"text": "in its impatience, had betrayed him, and would therefore lose his",
"text": "services. He left town, going first to nearby Padua, then, in 1590, to",
"text": "Munich, at the invitation of the Duke of Bavaria, who, like the entire city",
"text": "of Venice, had known great wealth but had fallen into bankruptcy",
"text": "through his own profligacy, and hoped to regain his fortune through the",
"text": "famous alchemist’s services. And so Bragadino resumed the comfortable",
"text": "arrangement he had known in Venice, and the same pattern repeated",
"text": "itself.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The young Cypriot Mamugna had lived in Venice for several years",
"text": "before reincarnating himself as the alchemist Bragadino. He saw how",
"text": "gloom had settled on the city, how everyone was hoping for a",
"text": "redemption from some indefinite source. While other charlatans",
"text": "mastered everyday cons based on sleight of hand, Mamugnà mastered",
"text": "human nature. With Venice as his target from the start, he traveled",
"text": "abroad, made some money through his alchemy scams, and then returned",
"text": "to Italy, setting up shop in Brescia. There he created a reputation that heknew would spread to Venice. From a distance, in fact, his aura of power",
"text": "would be all the more impressive.",
"text": "At first Mamugna did not use vulgar demonstrations to convince",
"text": "people of his alchemic skill. His sumptuous palace, his opulent garments,",
"text": "the clink of gold in his hands, all these provided a superior argument to",
"text": "anything rational. And these established the cycle that kept him going:",
"text": "His obvious wealth confirmed his reputation as an alchemist, so that",
"text": "patrons like the Duke of Mantua gave him money, which allowed him to",
"text": "live in wealth, which reinforced his reputation as an alchemist, and so",
"text": "on. Only once this reputation was established, and dukes and senators",
"text": "were fighting over him, did he resort to the trifling necessity of a",
"text": "demonstration. By then, however, people were easy to deceive: They",
"text": "wanted to believe. The Venetian senators who watched him multiply",
"text": "gold wanted to believe so badly that they failed to notice the glass pipe",
"text": "up his sleeve, from which he slipped gold dust into his pinches of",
"text": "minerals. Brilliant and capricious, he was the alchemist of their fantasies",
"text": "—and once he had created an aura like this, no one noticed his simple",
"text": "deceptions.",
"text": "Such is the power of the fantasies that take root in us, especially in",
"text": "times of scarcity and decline. People rarely believe that their problems",
"text": "arise from their own misdeeds and stupidity. Someone or something out",
"text": "there is to blame—the other, the world, the gods—and so salvation",
"text": "comes from the outside as well. Had Bragadino arrived in Venice armed",
"text": "with a detailed analysis of the reasons behind the city’s economic",
"text": "decline, and of the hard-nosed steps that it could take to turn things",
"text": "around, he would have been scorned. The reality was too ugly and the",
"text": "solution too painful—mostly the kind of hard work that the citizens’",
"text": "ancestors had mustered to create an empire. Fantasy, on the other hand—",
"text": "in this case the romance of alchemy—was easy to understand and",
"text": "infinitely more palatable.",
"text": "To gain power, you must be a source of pleasure for those around you",
"text": "—and pleasure comes from playing to people’s fantasies. Never promise",
"text": "a gradual improvement through hard work; rather, promise the moon, the",
"text": "great and sudden transformation, the pot of gold.",
"text": "No man need despair of gaining converts to the most extravagant",
"text": "hypothesis who has art enough to represent it in favorable colors.",
"text": "David Hume, 1711-1776",
"text": "If you want to tell lies that will be believed, don’t tell the truth that won’t.EMPEROR TOKUGAWA IEYASU OF JAPAN, SEVENTEENTH",
"text": "CENTURY",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Fantasy can never operate alone. It requires the backdrop of the",
"text": "humdrum and the mundane. It is the oppressiveness of reality that allows",
"text": "fantasy to take root and bloom. In sixteenth-century Venice, the reality",
"text": "was one of decline and loss of prestige. The corresponding fantasy",
"text": "described a sudden recovery of past glories through the miracle of",
"text": "alchemy. While the reality only got worse, the Venetians inhabited a",
"text": "happy dream world in which their city restored its fabulous wealth and",
"text": "power overnight, turning dust into gold.",
"text": "The person who can spin a fantasy out of an oppressive reality has",
"text": "access to untold power. As you search for the fantasy that will take hold",
"text": "of the masses, then, keep your eye on the banal truths that weigh heavily",
"text": "on us all. Never be distracted by people’s glamorous portraits of",
"text": "themselves and their lives; search and dig for what really imprisons",
"text": "them. Once you find that, you have the magical key that will put great",
"text": "power in your hands.",
"text": "Although times and people change, let us examine a few of the",
"text": "oppressive realities that endure, and the opportunities for power they",
"text": "provide:",
"text": "The Reality: Change is slow and gradual. It requires hard work, a bit of",
"text": "luck, a fair amount of self-sacrifice, and a lot of patience.",
"text": "The Fantasy: A sudden transformation will bring a total change in one’s",
"text": "fortunes, bypassing work, luck, self-sacrifice, and time in one fantastic",
"text": "stroke.",
"text": "This is of course the fantasy par excellence of the charlatans who",
"text": "prowl among us to this day, and was the key to Bragadino’s success.",
"text": "Promise a great and total change—from poor to rich, sickness to health,",
"text": "misery to ecstasy—and you will have followers.",
"text": "How did the great sixteenth-century German quack Leonhard",
"text": "Thurneisser become the court physician for the Elector of Brandenburgwithout ever studying medicine? Instead of offering amputations,",
"text": "leeches, and foul-tasting purgatives (the medicaments of the time),",
"text": "Thurneisser offered sweet-tasting elixirs and promised instant recovery.",
"text": "Fashionable courtiers especially wanted his solution of “drinkable gold,”",
"text": "which cost a fortune. If some inexplicable illness assailed you,",
"text": "Thurneisser would consult a horoscope and prescribe a talisman. Who",
"text": "could resist such a fantasy—health and well-being without sacrifice and",
"text": "pain!",
"text": "The Reality: The social realm has hard-set codes and boundaries. We",
"text": "understand these limits and know that we have to move within the same",
"text": "familiar circles, day in and day out.",
"text": "The Fantasy: We can enter a totally new world with different codes and",
"text": "the promise of adventure.",
"text": "In the early 1700s, all London was abuzz with talk of a mysterious",
"text": "stranger, a young man named George Psalmanazar. He had arrived from",
"text": "what was to most Englishmen a fantastical land: the island of Formosa",
"text": "(now Taiwan), off the coast of China. Oxford University engaged",
"text": "Psalmanazar to teach the island’s language; a few years later he",
"text": "translated the Bible into Formosan, then wrote a book—an immediate",
"text": "best-seller—on Formosa’s history and geography. English royalty wined",
"text": "and dined the young man, and everywhere he went he entertained his",
"text": "hosts with wondrous stories of his homeland, and its bizarre customs.",
"text": "After Psalmanazar died, however, his will revealed that he was in fact",
"text": "merely a Frenchman with a rich imagination. Everything he had said",
"text": "about Formosa—its alphabet, its language, its literature, its entire culture",
"text": "—he had invented. He had built on the English public’s ignorance of the",
"text": "place to concoct an elaborate story that fulfilled their desire for the exotic",
"text": "and strange. British culture’s rigid control of people’s dangerous dreams",
"text": "gave him the perfect opportunity to exploit their fantasy.",
"text": "The fantasy of the exotic, of course, can also skirt the sexual. It must",
"text": "not come too close, though, for the physical hinders the power of",
"text": "fantasy; it can be seen, grasped, and then tired of—the fate of most",
"text": "courtesans. The bodily charms of the mistress only whet the master’s",
"text": "appetite for more and different pleasures, a new beauty to adore. To",
"text": "bring power, fantasy must remain to some degree unrealized, literally",
"text": "unreal. The dancer Mata Hari, for instance, who rose to public",
"text": "prominence in Paris before World War I, had quite ordinary looks. Herpower came from the fantasy she created of being strange and exotic,",
"text": "unknowable and indecipherable. The taboo she worked with was less sex",
"text": "itself than the breaking of social codes.",
"text": "Another form of the fantasy of the exotic is simply the hope for relief",
"text": "from boredom. Con artists love to play on the oppressiveness of the",
"text": "working world, its lack of adventure. Their cons might involve, say, the",
"text": "recovery of lost Spanish treasure, with the possible participation of an",
"text": "alluring Mexican señorita and a connection to the president of a South",
"text": "American country—anything offering release from the humdrum.",
"text": "The Reality: Society is fragmented and full of conflict.",
"text": "The Fantasy: People can come together in a mystical union of souls.",
"text": "In the 1920s the con man Oscar Hartzell made a quick fortune out of",
"text": "the age-old Sir Francis Drake swindle—basically promising any sucker",
"text": "who happened to be surnamed “Drake” a substantial share of the long-",
"text": "lost “Drake treasure,” to which Hartzell had access. Thousands across",
"text": "the Midwest fell for the scam, which Hartzell cleverly turned into a",
"text": "crusade against the government and everyone else who was trying to",
"text": "keep the Drake fortune out of the rightful hands of its heirs. There",
"text": "developed a mystical union of the oppressed Drakes, with emotional",
"text": "rallies and meetings. Promise such a union and you can gain much",
"text": "power, but it is a dangerous power that can easily turn against you. This",
"text": "is a fantasy for demagogues to play on.",
"text": "The Reality: Death. The dead cannot be brought back, the past cannot be",
"text": "changed. The Fantasy: A sudden reversal of this intolerable fact.",
"text": "This con has many variations, but requires great skill and subtlety.",
"text": "The beauty and importance of the art of Vermeer have long been",
"text": "recognized, but his paintings are small in number, and are extremely",
"text": "rare. In the 1930s, though, Vermeers began to appear on the art market.",
"text": "Experts were called on to verify them, and pronounced them real.",
"text": "Possession of these new Vermeers would crown a collector’s career. It",
"text": "was like the resurrection of Lazarus: In a strange way, Vermeer had been",
"text": "brought back to life. The past had been changed.",
"text": "Only later did it come out that the new Vermeers were the work of a",
"text": "middle-aged Dutch forger named Han van Meegeren. And he had chosenVermeer for his scam because he understood fantasy: The paintings",
"text": "would seem real precisely because the public, and the experts as well, so",
"text": "desperately wanted to believe they were.",
"text": "Remember: The key to fantasy is distance. The distant has allure and",
"text": "promise, seems simple and problem free. What you are offering, then,",
"text": "should be ungraspable. Never let it become oppressively familiar; it is",
"text": "the mirage in the distance, withdrawing as the sucker approaches. Never",
"text": "be too direct in describing the fantasy—keep it vague. As a forger of",
"text": "fantasies, let your victim come close enough to see and be tempted, but",
"text": "keep him far away enough that he stays dreaming and desiring.",
"text": "Image: The",
"text": "Moon. Unattainable,",
"text": "always changing shape,",
"text": "disappearing and reappear",
"text": "ing. We look at it, imagine,",
"text": "wonder, and pine—never fa",
"text": "miliar, continuous provoker",
"text": "of dreams. Do not offer",
"text": "the obvious. Promise",
"text": "the moon.",
"text": "Authority: A lie is an allurement, a fabrication, that can be embellished",
"text": "into a fantasy. It can be clothed in the raiments of a mystic conception.",
"text": "Truth is cold, sober fact, not so comfortable to absorb. A lie is more",
"text": "palatable. The most detested person in the world is the one who always",
"text": "tells the truth, who never romances…. I found it far more interesting and",
"text": "profitable to romance than to tell the truth. (Joseph Weil, a.k.a. “The",
"text": "Yellow Kid,” 1875-1976)REVERSAL",
"text": "If there is power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses, there is also",
"text": "danger. Fantasy usually contains an element of play—the public half",
"text": "realizes it is being duped, but it keeps the dream alive anyway, relishing",
"text": "the entertainment and the temporary diversion from the everyday that",
"text": "you are providing. So keep it light—never come too close to the place",
"text": "where you are actually expected to produce results. That place may",
"text": "prove extremely hazardous.",
"text": "After Bragadino established himself in Munich, he found that the",
"text": "sober-minded Bavarians had far less faith in alchemy than the",
"text": "temperamental Venetians. Only the duke really believed in it, for he",
"text": "needed it desperately to rescue him from the hopeless mess he was in. As",
"text": "Bragadino played his familiar waiting game, accepting gifts and",
"text": "expecting patience, the public grew angry. Money was being spent and",
"text": "was yielding no results. In 1592 the Bavarians demanded justice, and",
"text": "eventually Bragadino found himself swinging from the gallows. As",
"text": "before, he had promised and had not delivered, but this time he had",
"text": "misjudged the forbearance of his hosts, and his inability to fulfill their",
"text": "fantasy proved fatal.",
"text": "One last thing: Never make the mistake of imagining that fantasy is",
"text": "always fantastical. It certainly contrasts with reality, but reality itself is",
"text": "sometimes so theatrical and stylized that fantasy becomes a desire for",
"text": "simple things. The image Abraham Lincoln created of himself, for",
"text": "example, as a homespun country lawyer with a beard, made him the",
"text": "common man’s president.",
"text": "P. T. Barnum created a successful act with Tom Thumb, a dwarf who",
"text": "dressed up as famous leaders of the past, such as Napoleon, and",
"text": "lampooned them wickedly. The show delighted everyone, right up to",
"text": "Queen Victoria, by appealing to the fantasy of the time: Enough of the",
"text": "vainglorious rulers of history, the common man knows best. Tom Thumb",
"text": "reversed the familiar pattern of fantasy in which the strange and",
"text": "unknown becomes the ideal. But the act still obeyed the Law, for",
"text": "underlying it was the fantasy that the simple man is without problems,",
"text": "and is happier than the powerful and the rich.",
"text": "Both Lincoln and Tom Thumb played the commoner but carefully",
"text": "maintained their distance. Should you play with such a fantasy, you too",
"text": "must carefully cultivate distance and not allow your “common” persona",
"text": "to become too familiar or it will not project as fantasy.LAW 33",
"text": "DISCOVER EACH MAN’S THUMBSCREW",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is",
"text": "usually an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a",
"text": "small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can",
"text": "turn to your advantage.",
"text": "FINDING THE THUMBSCREW: A Strategic",
"text": "Plan of Action",
"text": "We all have resistances. We live with a perpetual armor around ourselves",
"text": "to defend against change and the intrusive actions of friends and rivals.",
"text": "We would like nothing more than to be left to do things our own way.",
"text": "Constantly butting up against these resistances will cost you a lot of",
"text": "energy. One of the most important things to realize about people, though,",
"text": "is that they all have a weakness, some part of their psychological armor",
"text": "that will not resist, that will bend to your will if you find it and push on",
"text": "it. Some people wear their weaknesses openly, others disguise them.",
"text": "Those who disguise them are often the ones most effectively undone",
"text": "through that one chink in their armor.",
"text": "THE LION. THE CHAMOIS. AND THE FOX",
"text": "A lion was chasing a chamois along a valley. He had all but caught it,",
"text": "and with longing eyes was anticipating a certain and a satisfying repast.",
"text": "It seemed as if it were utterly impossible for the victim to escape; for a",
"text": "deep ravine appeared to bar the way for both the hunter and the hunted.",
"text": "But the nimble chamois, gathering together all its strength, shot like anarrow from a bow across the chasm, and stood still on the rocky cliff on",
"text": "the other side. Our lion pulled up short. But at that moment a friend of",
"text": "his happened to be near at hand. That friend was the fox. “What!” said",
"text": "he, “with your strength and agility, is it possible that you will yield to a",
"text": "feeble chamois? You have only to will, and you will be able to work",
"text": "wonders. Though the abyss be deep, yet, if you are only in earnest, I am",
"text": "certain you will clear it. Surely you can confide in my disinterested",
"text": "friendship. I would not expose your life to danger if I were not so well",
"text": "aware of your strength and dexterity. ” The lion’s blood waxed hot, and",
"text": "began to boil in his veins. He flung himself with all his might into space.",
"text": "But he could not clear the chasm; so down he tumbled headlong, and",
"text": "was killed by the fall. Then what did his dear friend do? He cautiously",
"text": "made his way down to the bottom of the ravine. and there, out in the",
"text": "open space and the free air, seeing that the lion wanted neither flattery",
"text": "nor obedience now, he set to work to pay the last sad rites to his dead",
"text": "friend, and in a month picked his bones clean.",
"text": "FABLES, IVAN KRILOFF, 1768-1844",
"text": "In planning your assault, keep these principles in mind:",
"text": "Pay Attention to Gestures and Unconscious Signals. As Sigmund",
"text": "Freud remarked, “No mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he",
"text": "chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.”",
"text": "This is a critical concept in the search for a person’s weakness—it is",
"text": "revealed by seemingly unimportant gestures and passing words.",
"text": "The key is not only what you look for but where and how you look.",
"text": "Everyday conversation supplies the richest mine of weaknesses, so train",
"text": "yourself to listen. Start by always seeming interested—the appearance of",
"text": "a sympathetic ear will spur anyone to talk. A clever trick, often used by",
"text": "the nineteenth-century French statesman Talleyrand, is to appear to open",
"text": "up to the other person, to share a secret with them. It can be completely",
"text": "made up, or it can be real but of no great importance to you—the",
"text": "important thing is that it should seem to come from the heart. This will",
"text": "usually elicit a response that is not only as frank as yours but more",
"text": "genuine—a response that reveals a weakness.",
"text": "If you suspect that someone has a particular soft spot, probe for it",
"text": "indirectly. If, for instance, you sense that a man has a need to be loved,",
"text": "openly flatter him. If he laps up your compliments, no matter how",
"text": "obvious, you are on the right track. Train your eye for details—howsomeone tips a waiter, what delights a person, the hidden messages in",
"text": "clothes. Find people’s idols, the things they worship and will do anything",
"text": "to get—perhaps you can be the supplier of their fantasies. Remember:",
"text": "Since we all try to hide our weaknesses, there is little to be learned from",
"text": "our conscious behavior. What oozes out in the little things outside our",
"text": "conscious control is what you want to know.",
"text": "Find the Helpless Child. Most weaknesses begin in childhood, before",
"text": "the self builds up compensatory defenses. Perhaps the child was",
"text": "pampered or indulged in a particular area, or perhaps a certain emotional",
"text": "need went unfulfilled; as he or she grows older, the indulgence or the",
"text": "deficiency may be buried but never disappears. Knowing about a",
"text": "childhood need gives you a powerful key to a person’s weakness.",
"text": "One sign of this weakness is that when you touch on it the person will",
"text": "often act like a child. Be on the lookout, then, for any behavior that",
"text": "should have been outgrown. If your victims or rivals went without",
"text": "something important, such as parental support, when they were children,",
"text": "supply it, or its facsimile. If they reveal a secret taste, a hidden",
"text": "indulgence, indulge it. In either case they will be unable to resist you.",
"text": "Look for Contrasts. An overt trait often conceals its opposite. People",
"text": "who thump their chests are often big cowards; a prudish exterior may",
"text": "hide a lascivious soul; the uptight are often screaming for adventure; the",
"text": "shy are dying for attention. By probing beyond appearances, you will",
"text": "often find people’s weaknesses in the opposite of the qualities they",
"text": "reveal to you.",
"text": "Find the Weak Link. Sometimes in your search for weaknesses it is not",
"text": "what but who that matters. In today’s versions of the court, there is often",
"text": "someone behind the scenes who has a great deal of power, a tremendous",
"text": "influence over the person superficially on top. These behind-the-scenes",
"text": "powerbrokers are the group’s weak link: Win their favor and you",
"text": "indirectly influence the king. Alternatively, even in a group of people",
"text": "acting with the appearance of one will—as when a group under attack",
"text": "closes ranks to resist an outsider—there is always a weak link in the",
"text": "chain. Find the one person who will bend under pressure.Fill the Void. The two main emotional voids to fill are insecurity and",
"text": "unhappiness. The insecure are suckers for any kind of social validation;",
"text": "as for the chronically unhappy, look for the roots of their unhappiness.",
"text": "The insecure and the unhappy are the people least able to disguise their",
"text": "weaknesses. The ability to fill their emotional voids is a great source of",
"text": "power, and an indefinitely prolongable one.",
"text": "Feed on Uncontrollable Emotions. The uncontrollable emotion can be",
"text": "a paranoid fear—a fear disproportionate to the situation—or any base",
"text": "motive such as lust, greed, vanity, or hatred. People in the grip of these",
"text": "emotions often cannot control themselves, and you can do the controlling",
"text": "for them.",
"text": "IRING IZAR",
"text": "[Hollywood super-agent] Irving Paul Lazar was once anxious to sell",
"text": "[studio mogul] Jack L. Warner a play. “I had a long meeting with him",
"text": "today,” Lazar explained [to screenwriter Garson Kanin], “but I didn’t",
"text": "mention it, I didn’t even bring it up.” “Why not?” I asked. “Because I’m",
"text": "going to wait until the weekend after next, when I go to Palm Springs.”",
"text": "“I don’t understand.” “You don’t? I go to Palm Springs every weekend,",
"text": "but Warner isn’t going this weekend. He’s got a preview or something. So",
"text": "he’s not coming down till the next weekend, so that’s when I’m going to",
"text": "bring it up. ” “Irving, I’m more and more confused.” “Look,” said",
"text": "Irving impatiently, ”I know what I’m doing. I know how to sell Warner.",
"text": "This is a type of material that he’s uneasy with, so I have to hit him with",
"text": "it hard and suddenly to get an okay.” ”But why Palm Springs?”",
"text": "”Because in Palm Springs, every day he goes to the baths at The Spa.",
"text": "And that’s where I’m going to be when he’s there. Now there’s a thing",
"text": "about Jack: He’s eighty and he’s very vain, and he doesn’t like people to",
"text": "see him naked. So when I walk up to him naked at The Spa—I mean he’s",
"text": "naked—well, I’m naked too, but I don’t care who sees me. He does. And",
"text": "I walk up to him naked, and I start to talk to him about this thing, he’ll",
"text": "be very embarrassed.And he’ll want to get away from me, and the easiest",
"text": "way is to say ‘Yes,’ because he knows if he says ‘No,’ then I’m going to",
"text": "stick with him, and stay right on it, and not give up. So to get rid of me,",
"text": "he’ll probably say, ‘Yes.’” Two weeks later, I read of the acquisition of",
"text": "this particular property by Warner Brothers. I phoned Lazar and asked",
"text": "how it had been accomplished. ”How do you think?” he asked. ”In the",
"text": "buff, that’s how… just the way I told you it was going to work.”HOLLYWOOD, GARSON KANIN, 1974",
"text": "OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW",
"text": "Observance I",
"text": "In 1615 the thirty-year-old bishop of Luçon, later known as Cardinal",
"text": "Richelieu, gave a speech before representatives of the three estates of",
"text": "France—clergy, nobility, and commoners. Richelieu had been chosen to",
"text": "serve as the mouthpiece for the clergy—an immense responsibility for a",
"text": "man still young and not particularly well known. On all of the important",
"text": "issues of the day, the speech followed the Church line. But near the end",
"text": "of it Richelieu did something that had nothing to do with the Church and",
"text": "everything to do with his career. He turned to the throne of the fifteen-",
"text": "year-old King Louis XIII, and to the Queen Mother Marie de’ Médicis,",
"text": "who sat beside Louis, as the regent ruling France until her son reached",
"text": "his majority. Everyone expected Richelieu to say the usual kind words to",
"text": "the young king. Instead, however, he looked directly at and only at the",
"text": "queen mother. Indeed his speech ended in long and fulsome praise of her,",
"text": "praise so glowing that it actually offended some in the Church. But the",
"text": "smile on the queen’s face as she lapped up Richelieu’s compliments was",
"text": "unforgettable.",
"text": "A year later the queen mother appointed Richelieu secretary of state",
"text": "for foreign affairs, an incredible coup for the young bishop. He had now",
"text": "entered the inner circle of power, and he studied the workings of the",
"text": "court as if it were the machinery of a watch. An Italian, Concino",
"text": "Concini, was the queen mother’s favorite, or rather her lover, a role that",
"text": "made him perhaps the most powerful man in France. Concini was vain",
"text": "and foppish, and Richelieu played him perfectly—attending to him as if",
"text": "he were the king. Within months Richelieu had become one of Concini’s",
"text": "favorites. But something happened in 1617 that turned everything upside",
"text": "down: the young king, who up until then had shown every sign of being",
"text": "an idiot, had Concini murdered and his most important associates",
"text": "imprisoned. In so doing Louis took command of the country with one",
"text": "blow, sweeping the queen mother aside.",
"text": "Had Richelieu played it wrong? He had been close to both Concini",
"text": "and Marie de Médicis, whose advisers and ministers were now all out offavor, some even arrested. The queen mother herself was shut up in the",
"text": "Louvre, a virtual prisoner. Richelieu wasted no time. If everyone was",
"text": "deserting Marie de Médicis, he would stand by her. He knew Louis could",
"text": "not get rid of her, for the king was still very young, and had in any case",
"text": "always been inordinately attached to her. As Marie’s only remaining",
"text": "powerful friend, Richelieu filled the valuable function of liaison between",
"text": "the king and his mother. In return he received her protection, and was",
"text": "able to survive the palace coup, even to thrive. Over the next few years",
"text": "the queen mother grew still more dependent on him, and in 1622 she",
"text": "repaid him for his loyalty: Through the intercession of her allies in",
"text": "Rome, Richelieu was elevated to the powerful rank of cardinal.",
"text": "By 1623 King Louis was in trouble. He had no one he could trust to",
"text": "advise him, and although he was now a young man instead of a boy, he",
"text": "remained childish in spirit, and affairs of state came hard to him. Now",
"text": "that he had taken the throne, Marie was no longer the regent and",
"text": "theoretically had no power, but she still had her son’s ear, and she kept",
"text": "telling him that Richelieu was his only possible savior. At first Louis",
"text": "would have none of it—he hated the cardinal with a passion, only",
"text": "tolerating him out of love for Marie. In the end, however, isolated in the",
"text": "court and crippled by his own indecisiveness, he yielded to his mother",
"text": "and made Richelieu first his chief councilor and later prime minister.",
"text": "Now Richelieu no longer needed Marie de Médicis. He stopped",
"text": "visiting and courting her, stopped listening to her opinions, even argued",
"text": "with her and opposed her wishes. Instead he concentrated on the king,",
"text": "making himself indispensable to his new master. All the previous",
"text": "premiers, understanding the king’s childishness, had tried to keep him",
"text": "out of trouble; the shrewd Richelieu played him differently, deliberately",
"text": "pushing him into one ambitious project after another, such as a crusade",
"text": "against the Huguenots and finally an extended war with Spain. The",
"text": "immensity of these projects only made the king more dependent on his",
"text": "powerful premier, the only man able to keep order in the realm. And so,",
"text": "for the next eighteen years, Richelieu, exploiting the king’s weaknesses,",
"text": "governed and molded France according to his own vision, unifying the",
"text": "country and making it a strong European power for centuries to come.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Richelieu saw everything as a military campaign, and no strategic move",
"text": "was more important to him than discovering his enemy’s weaknesses andapplying pressure to them. As early as his speech in 1615, he was",
"text": "looking for the weak link in the chain of power, and he saw that it was",
"text": "the queen mother. Not that Marie was obviously weak—she governed",
"text": "both France and her son; but Richelieu saw that she was really an",
"text": "insecure woman who needed constant masculine attention. He showered",
"text": "her with affection and respect, even toadying up to her favorite, Concini.",
"text": "He knew the day would come when the king would take over, but he also",
"text": "recognized that Louis loved his mother dearly and would always remain",
"text": "a child in relation to her. The way to control Louis, then, was not by",
"text": "gaining his favor, which could change overnight, but by gaining sway",
"text": "over his mother, for whom his affection would never change.",
"text": "Once Richelieu had the position he desired—prime minister—he",
"text": "discarded the queen mother, moving on to the next weak link in the",
"text": "chain: the king’s own character. There was a part of him that would",
"text": "always be a helpless child in need of higher authority. It was on the",
"text": "foundation of the king’s weakness that Richelieu established his own",
"text": "power and fame.",
"text": "Remember: When entering the court, find the weak link. The person in",
"text": "control is often not the king or queen; it is someone behind the scenes—",
"text": "the favorite, the husband or wife, even the court fool. This person may",
"text": "have more weaknesses than the king himself, because his power depends",
"text": "on all kinds of capricious factors outside his control.",
"text": "Finally, when dealing with helpless children who cannot make",
"text": "decisions, play on their weakness and push them into bold ventures.",
"text": "They will have to depend on you even more, for you will become the",
"text": "adult figure whom they rely on to get them out of scrapes and to safety.",
"text": "THE THINGS ON",
"text": "As time went on I came to look for the little weaknesses…. It’s the little",
"text": "things that count. On one occasion, I worked on the president of a large",
"text": "bank in Omaha. The [phony] deal involved the purchase of the street",
"text": "railway system of Omaha, including a bridge across the Mississippi",
"text": "River. My principals were supposedly German and I had to negotiate",
"text": "with Berlin. While awaiting word from them I introduced my fake",
"text": "mining-stock proposition. Since this man was rich, I decided to play for",
"text": "high stakes…. Meanwhile, I played golf with the banker, visited his",
"text": "home, and went to the theater with him and his wife. Though he showed",
"text": "some interest in my stock deal, he still wasn’t convinced. I had built it up",
"text": "to the point that an investment of $1,250,000 was required. Of this I wasto put up $900,000, the banker $350,000. But still he hesitated. One",
"text": "evening when I was at his home for dinner I wore some perfume-Coty’s",
"text": "“April Violets.” It was not then considered effeminate for a man to use a",
"text": "dash of perfume. The banker’s wife thought it very lovely. “Where did",
"text": "you get it?” “It is a rare blend,” I told her, “especially made for me by a",
"text": "French perfumer. Do you like it?” ”l love it,” she replied. The following",
"text": "day I went through my effects and found two empty bottles. Both had",
"text": "come from France, but were empty. I went to a downtown department",
"text": "store and purchased ten ounces of Coty’s ”April Violets.” I poured this",
"text": "into the two French bottles, carefully sealed them, wrapped them in",
"text": "tissue paper. That evening I dropped by the banker’s home and presented",
"text": "the two bottles to his wife. ”They were especially put up for me in",
"text": "Cologne,” I told her. The next day the banker called at my hotel. His wife",
"text": "was enraptured by the perfume. She considered it the most wonderful,",
"text": "the most exotic fragrance she had ever used. I did not tell the banker he",
"text": "could get all he wanted right in Omaha. ”She said,” the banker added,",
"text": "”that I was fortunate to be associated with a man like you.” From then",
"text": "on his attitude was changed, for he had complete faith in his wife’s",
"text": "judgment …. He parted with $350,000. This, incidentally was my biggest",
"text": "[con] score.",
"text": "“YELLOW KID” WEIL, 1875-1976",
"text": "Observance II",
"text": "In December of 1925, guests at the swankiest hotel in Palm Beach,",
"text": "Florida, watched with interest as a mysterious man arrived in a Rolls-",
"text": "Royce driven by a Japanese chauffeur. Over the next few days they",
"text": "studied this handsome man, who walked with an elegant cane, received",
"text": "telegrams at all hours, and only engaged in the briefest of conversations.",
"text": "He was a count, they heard, Count Victor Lustig, and he came from one",
"text": "of the wealthiest families in Europe—but this was all they could find out.",
"text": "Imagine their amazement, then, when Lustig one day walked up to one",
"text": "of the least distinguished guests in the hotel, a Mr. Herman Loller, head",
"text": "of an engineering company, and entered into conversation with him.",
"text": "Loller had made his fortune only recently, and forging social connections",
"text": "was very important to him. He felt honored and somewhat intimidated by",
"text": "this sophisticated man, who spoke perfect English with a hint of a",
"text": "foreign accent. Over the days to come, the two became friends.Loller of course did most of the talking, and one night he confessed",
"text": "that his business was doing poorly, with more troubles ahead. In return,",
"text": "Lustig confided in his new friend that he too had serious money",
"text": "problems—Communists had seized his family estate and all its assets.",
"text": "He was too old to learn a trade and go to work. Luckily he had found an",
"text": "answer—“ a money-making machine.” “You counterfeit?” Loller",
"text": "whispered in half-shock. No, Lustig replied, explaining that through a",
"text": "secret chemical process, his machine could duplicate any paper currency",
"text": "with complete accuracy. Put in a dollar bill and six hours later you had",
"text": "two, both perfect. He proceeded to explain how the machine had been",
"text": "smuggled out of Europe, how the Germans had developed it to",
"text": "undermine the British, how it had supported the count for several years,",
"text": "and on and on. When Loller insisted on a demonstration, the two men",
"text": "went to Lustig’s room, where the count produced a magnificent",
"text": "mahogany box fitted with slots, cranks, and dials. Loller watched as",
"text": "Lustig inserted a dollar bill in the box. Sure enough, early the following",
"text": "morning Lustig pulled out two bills, still wet from the chemicals.",
"text": "Lustig gave the notes to Loller, who immediately took the bills to a",
"text": "local bank—which accepted them as genuine. Now the businessman",
"text": "feverishly begged Lustig to sell him a machine. The count explained that",
"text": "there was only one in existence, so Loller made him a high offer:",
"text": "$25,000, then a considerable amount (more than $400,000 in today’s",
"text": "terms). Even so, Lustig seemed reluctant: He did not feel right about",
"text": "making his friend pay so much. Yet finally he agreed to the sale. After",
"text": "all, he said, “I suppose it matters little what you pay me. You are, after",
"text": "all, going to recover the amount within a few days by duplicating your",
"text": "own bills.” Making Loller swear never to reveal the machine’s existence",
"text": "to other people, Lustig accepted the money. Later the same day he",
"text": "checked out of the hotel. A year later, after many futile attempts at",
"text": "duplicating bills, Loller finally went to the police with the story of how",
"text": "Count Lustig had conned him with a pair of dollar bills, some chemicals,",
"text": "and a worthless mahogany box. Interpretation",
"text": "Count Lustig had an eagle eye for other people’s weaknesses. He saw",
"text": "them in the smallest gesture. Loller, for instance, overtipped waiters,",
"text": "seemed nervous in conversation with the concierge, talked loudly about",
"text": "his business. His weakness, Lustig knew, was his need for social",
"text": "validation and for the respect that he thought his wealth had earned him.",
"text": "He was also chronically insecure. Lustig had come to the hotel to hunt",
"text": "for prey. In Loller he homed in on the perfect sucker—a man hungering",
"text": "for someone to fill his psychic voids.In offering Loller his friendship, then, Lustig knew he was offering",
"text": "him the immediate respect of the other guests. As a count, Lustig was",
"text": "also offering the newly rich businessman access to the glittering world of",
"text": "old wealth. And for the coup de grace, he apparently owned a machine",
"text": "that would rescue Loller from his worries. It would even put him on a",
"text": "par with Lustig himself, who had also used the machine to maintain his",
"text": "status. No wonder Loller took the bait.",
"text": "Remember: When searching for suckers, always look for the",
"text": "dissatisfied, the unhappy, the insecure. Such people are riddled with",
"text": "weaknesses and have needs that you can fill. Their neediness is the",
"text": "groove in which you place your thumbnail and turn them at will.",
"text": "Observance III",
"text": "In the year 1559, the French king Henri II died in a jousting exhibition.",
"text": "His son assumed the throne, becoming Francis II, but in the background",
"text": "stood Henri’s wife and queen, Catherine de’ Médicis, a woman who had",
"text": "long ago proven her skill in affairs of state. When Francis died the next",
"text": "year, Catherine took control of the country as regent to her next son in",
"text": "line of succession, the future Charles IX, a mere ten years old at the time.",
"text": "The main threats to the queen’s power were Antoine de Bourbon, king",
"text": "of Navarre, and his brother, Louis, the powerful prince of Condé, both of",
"text": "whom could claim the right to serve as regent instead of Catherine, who,",
"text": "after all, was Italian—a foreigner. Catherine quickly appointed Antoine",
"text": "lieutenant general of the kingdom, a title that seemed to satisfy his",
"text": "ambition. It also meant that he had to remain in court, where Catherine",
"text": "could keep an eye on him. Her next move proved smarter still: Antoine",
"text": "had a notorious weakness for young women, so she assigned one of her",
"text": "most attractive maids of honor, Louise de Rouet, to seduce him. Now",
"text": "Antoine’s intimate, Louise reported all of his actions to Catherine. The",
"text": "move worked so brilliantly that Catherine assigned another of her maids",
"text": "to Prince Condé, and thus was formed her escadron volant—“flying",
"text": "squadron”—of young girls whom she used to keep the unsuspecting",
"text": "males in the court under her control.",
"text": "In 1572 Catherine married off her daughter, Marguerite de Valois, to",
"text": "Henri, the son of Antoine and the new king of Navarre. To put a family",
"text": "that had always struggled against her so close to power was a dangerous",
"text": "move, so to make sure of Henri’s loyalty she unleashed on him the",
"text": "loveliest member of her “flying squadron,” Charlotte de BeauneSemblançay, baroness of Sauves. Catherine did this even though Henri",
"text": "was married to her daughter. Within weeks, Marguerite de Valois wrote",
"text": "in her memoirs, “Mme. de Sauves so completely ensnared my husband",
"text": "that we no longer slept together, nor even conversed.”",
"text": "And while I am on the subject, there is another fact that deserves",
"text": "mention. It is this. A man shows his character just in the way in which he",
"text": "deals with trifles-for then he is off his guard. This will often afford a",
"text": "good opportunity of observing the boundless egoism of a man’s nature,",
"text": "and his total lack of consideration for others; and if these defects show",
"text": "themselves in small things, or merely in his general demeanour, you will",
"text": "find that they also underlie his action in matters of importance, although",
"text": "he may disguise the fact. This is an opportunity which should not be",
"text": "missed. If in the little affairs of every day—the trifles of life…—a man is",
"text": "inconsiderate and seeks only what is advantageous or convenient to",
"text": "himself, to the prejudice of others’ rights; if he appropriates to himself",
"text": "that which belongs to all alike, you may be sure there is no justice in his",
"text": "heart, and that he would be a scoundrel on a wholesale scale, only that",
"text": "law and compulsion bind his hands.",
"text": "Arthur SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860",
"text": "The baroness was an excellent spy and helped to keep Henri under",
"text": "Catherine’s thumb. When the queen’s youngest son, the Duke of",
"text": "Alençon, grew so close to Henri that she feared the two might plot",
"text": "against her, she assigned the baroness to him as well. This most",
"text": "infamous member of the flying squadron quickly seduced Alençon, and",
"text": "soon the two young men fought over her and their friendship quickly",
"text": "ended, along with any danger of a conspiracy.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Catherine had seen very early on the sway that a mistress has over a man",
"text": "of power: Her own husband, Henri II, had kept one of the most infamous",
"text": "mistresses of them all, Diane de Poitiers. What Catherine learned from",
"text": "the experience was that a man like her husband wanted to feel he could",
"text": "win a woman over without having to rely on his status, which he had",
"text": "inherited rather than earned. And such a need contained a huge blind",
"text": "spot: As long as the woman began the affair by acting as if she had been",
"text": "conquered, the man would fail to notice that as time passed the mistress",
"text": "had come to hold power over him, as Diane de Poitiers did over Henri. Itwas Catherine’s strategy to turn this weakness to her advantage, using it",
"text": "as a way to conquer and control men. All she had to do was unleash the",
"text": "loveliest women in the court, her “flying squadron,” on men whom she",
"text": "knew shared her husband’s vulnerability.",
"text": "Remember: Always look for passions and obsessions that cannot be",
"text": "controlled. The stronger the passion, the more vulnerable the person.",
"text": "This may seem surprising, for passionate people look strong. In fact,",
"text": "however, they are simply filling the stage with their theatricality,",
"text": "distracting people from how weak and helpless they really are. A man’s",
"text": "need to conquer women actually reveals a tremendous helplessness that",
"text": "has made suckers out of them for thousands of years. Look at the part of",
"text": "a person that is most visible—their greed, their lust, their intense fear.",
"text": "These are the emotions they cannot conceal, and over which they have",
"text": "the least control. And what people cannot control, you can control for",
"text": "them.",
"text": "THE BATTLE AT PHARSALIA",
"text": "When the two armies [Julius Caesar’s and Pompey‘s] were come into",
"text": "Pharsalia, and both encamped there, Pompey’s thoughts ran the same",
"text": "way as they had done before, against fighting…. But those who were",
"text": "about him were greatly confident of success … as if they had already",
"text": "conquered…. The cavalry especially were obstinate for fighting, being",
"text": "splendidly armed and bravely mounted, and valuing themselves upon the",
"text": "fine horses they kept, and upon their own handsome persons; as also",
"text": "upon the advantage of their numbers, for they were five thousand against",
"text": "one thousand of Caesar’s. Nor were the numbers of the infantry less",
"text": "disproportionate, there being forty-five thousand of Pompey’s against",
"text": "twenty-two thousand of the enemy. [The next day] whilst the infantry was",
"text": "thus sharply engaged in the main battle, on the flank Pompey’s horse",
"text": "rode up confidently, and opened [his cavalry’s] ranks very wide, that",
"text": "they might surround the right wing of Caesar. But before they engaged,",
"text": "Caesar’s cohorts rushed out and attacked them, and did not dart their",
"text": "javelins at a distance, nor strike at the thighs and legs, as they usually",
"text": "did in close battle, but aimed at their faces. For thus Caesar had",
"text": "instructed them, in hopes that young gentlemen, who had nol known",
"text": "much of battles and wounds, but came wearing their hair long, in the",
"text": "flower of their age and height of their beauty, would be more",
"text": "apprehensive of such blows, and not care for hazarding both a danger at",
"text": "present and a blemish for the future.And so it proved, for they were so far from bearing the stroke of the",
"text": "javelins, that they could not stand the sight of them, but turned about,",
"text": "and covered their faces to secure them. Once in disorder, presently they",
"text": "turned about to fly; and so most shamefully ruined all. For those who",
"text": "had beat them back at once outflanked the infantry, and falling on their",
"text": "rear, cut them to pieces. Pompey, who commanded the other wing of the",
"text": "army, when he saw his cavalry thus broken and flying, was no longer",
"text": "himself, nor did he now remember that he was Pompey the Great, but,",
"text": "like one whom some god had deprived of his senses, retired to his tent",
"text": "without speaking a word, and there sat to expect the event, till the whole",
"text": "army was routed.",
"text": "THE LIFE OF JULIUS CAESAR. PLUIARCH, c. A.D. 46-120",
"text": "Observance IV",
"text": "Arabella Huntington, wife of the great late-nineteenth-century railroad",
"text": "magnate Collis P. Huntington, came from humble origins and always",
"text": "struggled for social recognition among her wealthy peers. When she",
"text": "gave a party in her San Francisco mansion, few of the social elite would",
"text": "show up; most of them took her for a gold digger, not their kind. Because",
"text": "of her husband’s fabulous wealth, art dealers courted her, but with such",
"text": "condescension they obviously saw her as an upstart. Only one man of",
"text": "consequence treated her differently: the dealer Joseph Duveen.",
"text": "For the first few years of Duveen’s relationship with Arabella, he",
"text": "made no effort to sell expensive art to her. Instead he accompanied her to",
"text": "fine stores, chatted endlessly about queens and princesses he knew, on",
"text": "and on. At last, she thought, a man who treated her as an equal, even a",
"text": "superior, in high society. Meanwhile, if Duveen did not try to sell art to",
"text": "her, he did subtly educate her in his aesthetic ideas—namely, that the",
"text": "best art was the most expensive art. And after Arabella had soaked up his",
"text": "way of seeing things, Duveen would act as if she always had exquisite",
"text": "taste, even though before she met him her aesthetics had been abysmal.",
"text": "When Collis Huntington died, in 1900, Arabella came into a fortune.",
"text": "She suddenly started to buy expensive paintings, by Rembrandt and",
"text": "Velázquez, for example—and only from Duveen. Years later Duveen",
"text": "sold her Gainsborough’s Blue Boy for the highest price ever paid for a",
"text": "work of art at the time, an astounding purchase for a family that",
"text": "previously had shown little interest in collecting.Interpretation",
"text": "Joseph Duveen instantly understood Arabella Huntington and what made",
"text": "her tick: She wanted to feel important, at home in society. Intensely",
"text": "insecure about her lower-class background, she needed confirmation of",
"text": "her new social status. Duveen waited. Instead of rushing into trying to",
"text": "persuade her to collect art, he subtly went to work on her weaknesses. He",
"text": "made her feel that she deserved his attention not because she was the",
"text": "wife of one of the wealthiest men in the world but because of her own",
"text": "special character—and this completely melted her. Duveen never",
"text": "condescended to Arabella; rather than lecturing to her, he instilled his",
"text": "ideas in her indirectly. The result was one of his best and most devoted",
"text": "clients, and also the sale of The Blue Boy.",
"text": "People’s need for validation and recognition, their need to feel",
"text": "important, is the best kind of weakness to exploit. First, it is almost",
"text": "universal; second, exploiting it is so very easy. All you have to do is find",
"text": "ways to make people feel better about their taste, their social standing,",
"text": "their intelligence. Once the fish are hooked, you can reel them in again",
"text": "and again, for years—you are filling a positive role, giving them what",
"text": "they cannot get on their own. They may never suspect that you are",
"text": "turning them like a thumbscrew, and if they do they may not care,",
"text": "because you are making them feel better about themselves, and that is",
"text": "worth any price.",
"text": "Observance V",
"text": "In 1862 King William of Prussia named Otto von Bismarck premier and",
"text": "minister for foreign affairs. Bismarck was known for his boldness, his",
"text": "ambition—and his interest in strengthening the military. Since William",
"text": "was surrounded by liberals in his government and cabinet, politicians",
"text": "who already wanted to limit his powers, it was quite dangerous for him",
"text": "to put Bismarck in this sensitive position. His wife, Queen Augusta, had",
"text": "tried to dissuade him, but although she usually got her way with him, this",
"text": "time William stuck to his guns.",
"text": "Only a week after becoming prime minister, Bismarck made an",
"text": "impromptu speech to a few dozen ministers to convince them of the need",
"text": "to enlarge the army. He ended by saying, “The great questions of the",
"text": "time will be decided, not by speeches and resolutions of majorities, but",
"text": "by iron and blood.” His speech was immediately disseminatedthroughout Germany. The queen screamed at her husband that Bismarck",
"text": "was a barbaric militarist who was out to usurp control of Prussia, and",
"text": "that William had to fire him. The liberals in the government agreed with",
"text": "her. The outcry was so vehement that William began to be afraid he",
"text": "would end up on a scaffold, like Louis XVI of France, if he kept",
"text": "Bismarck on as prime minister.",
"text": "Bismarck knew he had to get to the king before it was too late. He also",
"text": "knew he had blundered, and should have tempered his fiery words. Yet",
"text": "as he contemplated his strategy, he decided not to apologize but to do the",
"text": "exact opposite. Bismarck knew the king well.",
"text": "When the two men met, William, predictably, had been worked into a",
"text": "tizzy by the queen. He reiterated his fear of being guillotined. But",
"text": "Bismarck only replied, “Yes, then we shall be dead! We must die sooner",
"text": "or later, and could there be a more respectable way of dying? I should die",
"text": "fighting for the cause of my king and master. Your Majesty would die",
"text": "sealing with your own blood your royal rights granted by God’s grace.",
"text": "Whether upon the scaffold or upon the battlefield makes no difference to",
"text": "the glorious staking of body and life on behalf of rights granted by God’s",
"text": "grace!” On he went, appealing to William’s sense of honor and the",
"text": "majesty of his position as head of the army. How could the king allow",
"text": "people to push him around? Wasn’t the honor of Germany more",
"text": "important than quibbling over words? Not only did the prime minister",
"text": "convince the king to stand up to both his wife and his parliament, he",
"text": "persuaded him to build up the army—Bismarck’s goal all along.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Bismarck knew the king felt bullied by those around him. He knew that",
"text": "William had a military background and a deep sense of honor, and that",
"text": "he felt ashamed at his cravenness before his wife and his government.",
"text": "William secretly yearned to be a great and mighty king, but he dared not",
"text": "express this ambition because he was afraid of ending up like Louis XVI.",
"text": "Where a show of courage often conceals a man’s timidity, William’s",
"text": "timidity concealed his need to show courage and thump his chest.",
"text": "Bismarck sensed the longing for glory beneath William’s pacifist",
"text": "front, so he played to the king’s insecurity about his manhood, finally",
"text": "pushing him into three wars and the creation of a German empire.",
"text": "Timidity is a potent weakness to exploit. Timid souls often yearn to be",
"text": "their opposite—to be Napoleons. Yet they lack the inner strength. You, inessence, can become their Napoleon, pushing them into bold actions that",
"text": "serve your needs while also making them dependent on you. Remember:",
"text": "Look to the opposites and never take appearances at face value.",
"text": "Image: The",
"text": "Thumbscrew.",
"text": "Your enemy",
"text": "has secrets that",
"text": "he guards, thinks",
"text": "thoughts he will",
"text": "not reveal. But",
"text": "they come out in",
"text": "ways he cannot",
"text": "help. It is there some",
"text": "where, a groove of",
"text": "weakness on his head,",
"text": "at his heart, over his",
"text": "belly. Once you find the",
"text": "groove, put your thumb in",
"text": "it and turn him at will.",
"text": "Authority: Find out each man’s thumbscrew. ’Tis the art of setting their",
"text": "wills in action. It needs more skill than resolution. You must know where",
"text": "to get at anyone. Every volition has a special motive which varies",
"text": "according to taste. All men are idolaters, some of fame, others of self-",
"text": "interest, most of pleasure. Skill consists in knowing these idols in order",
"text": "to bring them into play. Knowing any man’s mainspring of motive you",
"text": "have as it were the key to his will. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "Playing on people’s weakness has one significant danger: You may stir",
"text": "up an action you cannot control.",
"text": "In your games of power you always look several steps ahead and plan",
"text": "accordingly. And you exploit the fact that other people are more",
"text": "emotional and incapable of such foresight. But when you play on their",
"text": "vulnerabilities, the areas over which they have least control, you can",
"text": "unleash emotions that will upset your plans. Push timid people into bold",
"text": "action and they may go too far; answer their need for attention orrecognition and they may need more than you want to give them. The",
"text": "helpless, childish element you are playing on can turn against you.",
"text": "The more emotional the weakness, the greater the potential danger.",
"text": "Know the limits to this game, then, and never get carried away by your",
"text": "control over your victims. You are after power, not the thrill of control.LAW 34",
"text": "BE ROYAL IN YOUR OWN FASHION: ACT",
"text": "LIKE A KING TO BE TREATED LIKE ONE",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated: In",
"text": "the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect",
"text": "you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in",
"text": "others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make",
"text": "yourself seem destined to wear a crown.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "In July of 1830, a revolution broke out in Paris that forced the king,",
"text": "Charles X, to abdicate. A commission of the highest authorities in the",
"text": "land gathered to choose a successor, and the man they picked was Louis-",
"text": "Philippe, the Duke of Orléans.",
"text": "From the beginning it was clear that Louis-Philippe would be a",
"text": "different kind of king, and not just because he came from a different",
"text": "branch of the royal family, or because he had not inherited the crown but",
"text": "had been given it, by a commission, putting his legitimacy in question.",
"text": "Rather it was that he disliked ceremony and the trappings of royalty; he",
"text": "had more friends among the bankers than among the nobility; and his",
"text": "style was not to create a new kind of royal rule, as Napoleon had done,",
"text": "but to downplay his status, the better to mix with the businessmen and",
"text": "middle-class folk who had called him to lead. Thus the symbols that",
"text": "came to be associated with Louis-Philippe were neither the scepter nor",
"text": "the crown, but the gray hat and umbrella with which he would proudly",
"text": "walk the streets of Paris, as if he were a bourgeois out for a stroll. WhenLouis-Philippe invited James Rothschild, the most important banker in",
"text": "France, to his palace, he treated him as an equal. And unlike any king",
"text": "before him, not only did he talk business with Monsieur Rothschild but",
"text": "that was literally all he talked, for he loved money and had amassed a",
"text": "huge fortune.",
"text": "As the reign of the “bourgeois king” plodded on, people came to",
"text": "despise him. The aristocracy could not endure the sight of an unkingly",
"text": "king, and within a few years they turned on him. Meanwhile the growing",
"text": "class of the poor, including the radicals who had chased out Charles X,",
"text": "found no satisfaction in a ruler who neither acted as a king nor governed",
"text": "as a man of the people. The bankers to whom Louis-Philippe was the",
"text": "most beholden soon realized that it was they who controlled the country,",
"text": "not he, and they treated him with growing contempt. One day, at the start",
"text": "of a train trip organized for the royal family, James Rothschild actually",
"text": "berated him—and in public—for being late. Once the king had made",
"text": "news by treating the banker as an equal; now the banker treated the king",
"text": "as an inferior.",
"text": "Eventually the workers’ insurrections that had brought down Louis-",
"text": "Philippe’s predecessor began to reemerge, and the king put them down",
"text": "with force. But what was he defending so brutally? Not the institution of",
"text": "the monarchy, which he disdained, nor a democratic republic, which his",
"text": "rule prevented. What he was really defending, it seemed, was his own",
"text": "fortune, and the fortunes of the bankers—not a way to inspire loyalty",
"text": "among the citizenry.",
"text": "Never lose your self-respect, nor be too familiar with yoetrself when you",
"text": "are alone. Let your integrity itself be your own standard of rectitude, and",
"text": "be more indebted to the severity of your own judgment of yourself than to",
"text": "all external precepts. Desist from unseemly conduct, rather out of respect",
"text": "for your own virtue than for the strictures of external authority. Come to",
"text": "hold yourself in awe, and you will have no need of Seneca’s imaginary",
"text": "tittor.",
"text": "BALIASAR GRACIAN. 1601-1658",
"text": "In early 1848, Frenchmen of all classes began to demonstrate for",
"text": "electoral reforms that would make the country truly democratic. By",
"text": "February the demonstrations had turned violent. To assuage the",
"text": "populace, Louis-Philippe fired his prime minister and appointed a liberal",
"text": "as a replacement. But this created the opposite of the desired effect: The",
"text": "people sensed they could push the king around. The demonstrationsturned into a full-fledged revolution, with gunfire and barricades in the",
"text": "streets.",
"text": "On the night of February 23, a crowd of Parisians surrounded the",
"text": "palace. With a suddenness that caught everyone by surprise, Louis-",
"text": "Philippe abdicated that very evening and fled to England. He left no",
"text": "successor, nor even the suggestion of one—his whole government folded",
"text": "up and dissolved like a traveling circus leaving town.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Louis-Philippe consciously dissolved the aura that naturally pertains to",
"text": "kings and leaders. Scoffing at the symbolism of grandeur, he believed a",
"text": "new world was dawning, where rulers should act and be like ordinary",
"text": "citizens. He was right: A new world, without kings and queens, was",
"text": "certainly on its way. He was profoundly wrong, however, in predicting a",
"text": "change in the dynamics of power.",
"text": "The bourgeois king’s hat and umbrella amused the French at first, but",
"text": "soon grew irritating. People knew that Louis-Philippe was not really like",
"text": "them at all—that the hat and umbrella were essentially a kind of trick to",
"text": "encourage them in the fantasy that the country had suddenly grown more",
"text": "equal. Actually, though, the divisions of wealth had never been greater.",
"text": "The French expected their ruler to be a bit of a showman, to have some",
"text": "presence. Even a radical like Robespierre, who had briefly come to",
"text": "power during the French Revolution fifty years earlier, had understood",
"text": "this, and certainly Napoleon, who had turned the revolutionary republic",
"text": "into an imperial regime, had known it in his bones. Indeed as soon as",
"text": "Louis-Philippe fled the stage, the French revealed their true desire: They",
"text": "elected Napoleon’s grand-nephew president. He was a virtual unknown,",
"text": "but they hoped he would re-create the great general’s powerful aura,",
"text": "erasing the awkward memory of the “bourgeois king.”",
"text": "Powerful people may be tempted to affect a common-man aura, trying",
"text": "to create the illusion that they and their subjects or underlings are",
"text": "basically the same. But the people whom this false gesture is intended to",
"text": "impress will quickly see through it. They understand that they are not",
"text": "being given more power—that it only appears as if they shared in the",
"text": "powerful person’s fate. The only kind of common touch that works is the",
"text": "kind affected by Franklin Roosevelt, a style that said the president shared",
"text": "values and goals with the common people even while he remained apatrician at heart. He never pretended to erase his distance from the",
"text": "crowd.",
"text": "Leaders who try to dissolve that distance through a false chumminess",
"text": "gradually lose the ability to inspire loyalty, fear, or love. Instead they",
"text": "elicit contempt. Like Louis-Philippe, they are too uninspiring even to be",
"text": "worth the guillotine—the best they can do is simply vanish in the night,",
"text": "as if they were never there.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "When Christopher Columbus was trying to find funding for his",
"text": "legendary voyages, many around him believed he came from the Italian",
"text": "aristocracy. This view was passed into history through a biography",
"text": "written after the explorer’s death by his son, which describes him as a",
"text": "descendant of a Count Colombo of the Castle of Cuccaro in Montferrat.",
"text": "Colombo in turn was said to be descended from the legendary Roman",
"text": "general Colonius, and two of his first cousins were supposedly direct",
"text": "descendants of an emperor of Con stantinople. An illustrious background",
"text": "indeed. But it was nothing more than illustrious fantasy, for Columbus",
"text": "was actually the son of Domenico Colombo, a humble weaver who had",
"text": "opened a wine shop when Christopher was a young man, and who then",
"text": "made his living by selling cheese.",
"text": "Columbus himself had created the myth of his noble background,",
"text": "because from early on he felt that destiny had singled him out for great",
"text": "things, and that he had a kind of royalty in his blood. Accordingly he",
"text": "acted as if he were indeed descended from noble stock. After an",
"text": "uneventful career as a merchant on a commercial vessel, Columbus,",
"text": "originally from Genoa, settled in Lisbon. Using the fabricated story of",
"text": "his noble background, he married into an established Lisbon family that",
"text": "had excellent connections with Portuguese royalty.",
"text": "Through his in-laws, Columbus finagled a meeting with the king of",
"text": "Portugal, Joao II, whom he petitioned to finance a westward voyage",
"text": "aimed at discovering a shorter route to Asia. In return for announcing",
"text": "that any discoveries he achieved would be made in the king’s name,",
"text": "Columbus wanted a series of rights: the title Grand Admiral of the",
"text": "Oceanic Sea; the office of viceroy over any lands he found; and 10",
"text": "percent of the future commerce with such lands. All of these rights wereto be hereditary and for all time. Columbus made these demands even",
"text": "though he had previously been a mere merchant, he knew almost nothing",
"text": "about navigation, he could not work a quadrant, and he had never led a",
"text": "group of men. In short he had absolutely no qualifications for the journey",
"text": "he proposed. Furthermore, his petition included no details as to how he",
"text": "would accomplish his plans, just vague promises.",
"text": "When Columbus finished his pitch, João II smiled: He politely",
"text": "declined the offer, but left the door open for the future. Here Columbus",
"text": "must have noticed something he would never forget: Even as the king",
"text": "turned down the sailor’s demands, he treated them as legitimate. He",
"text": "neither laughed at Columbus nor questioned his background and",
"text": "credentials. In fact the king was impressed by the boldness of",
"text": "Columbus’s requests, and clearly felt comfortable in the company of a",
"text": "man who acted so confidently. The meeting must have convinced",
"text": "Columbus that his instincts were correct: By asking for the moon, he had",
"text": "instantly raised his own status, for the king assumed that unless a man",
"text": "who set such a high price on himself were mad, which Columbus did not",
"text": "appear to be, he must somehow be worth it.",
"text": "HIPPOFIDES IT SI",
"text": "In the next generation the family became much more famous than before",
"text": "through the distinction conferred upon it by Cleisthenes the master of",
"text": "Sicyon. Cleisthenes… had a daughter, Agarista, whom he wished to",
"text": "marry to the best man in all Greece. So during the Olympic games, in",
"text": "which he had himself won the chariot race, he had a public",
"text": "announcement made, to the effect that any Greek who thought himself",
"text": "good enough to become Cleisthenes’ son-in-law should present himself",
"text": "in Sicyon within sixty days—or sooner if he wished—because he",
"text": "intended, within the year following the sixtieth day, to betroth his",
"text": "daughter to her future husband. Cleisthenes had had a race-track and a",
"text": "wrestling-ring specially made for his purpose, and presently the suitors",
"text": "began to arrive—every man of Greek nationality who had something to",
"text": "be proud of either in his country or in himself…. Cleisthenes began by",
"text": "asking each [of the numerous suitors] in turn to name his country and",
"text": "parentage; then he kept them in his house for a year, to get to know them",
"text": "well, entering into conversation with them sometimes singly, sometimes",
"text": "all together, and testing each of them for his manly qualities and temper,",
"text": "education and manners…. But the most important test of all was their",
"text": "behaviour at the dinner-table. All this went on throughout their stay inSicyon, and all the time he entertained them handsomely. For one reason",
"text": "or another it was the two Athenians who impressed Cleisthenes most",
"text": "favourably, and of the two Tisander’s son Hippocleides came to be",
"text": "preferred…. At last the day came which had been fixed for the betrothal,",
"text": "and Cleisthenes had to declare his choice. He nzarked the day by the",
"text": "sacrifice of a hundred oxen, and then gave a great banquet, to which not",
"text": "only the suitors but everyone of note in Sicyon was invited. When dinner",
"text": "was over, the suitors began to compete with each other in music and in",
"text": "talking in company. In both these accomplishments it was Hippocleides",
"text": "who proved by far the doughtiest champion, until at last, as more and",
"text": "more wine was drunk, he asked the flute-player to play him a tune and",
"text": "began to dance to it. Now it may well be that he danced to his own",
"text": "satisfaction; Cleisthenes, however, who was watching the performance,",
"text": "began to have serious doubts about the whole business. Presently, after a",
"text": "brief pause, Hippocleides sent for a table; the table was brought, and",
"text": "Hippocleides, climbing on to it, danced first some Laconian dances, next",
"text": "some Attic ones, and ended by standing on his head and beating time",
"text": "with his legs in the air The Laconian and Attic dances were bad enough;",
"text": "but Cleisthenes, though he already loathed the thought of having a son-",
"text": "in-law like that, nevertheless restrained himself and managed to avoid an",
"text": "outburst; but when he saw Hippocleides beating time with his legs, he",
"text": "could bear it no longer. “Son of Tisander, ”he cried, “you have danced",
"text": "away your marriage. ”",
"text": "THE HISTORIES, Herodotus, FIFTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "A few years later Columbus moved to Spain. Using his Portuguese",
"text": "connections, he moved in elevated circles at the Spanish court, receiving",
"text": "subsidies from illustrious financiers and sharing tables with dukes and",
"text": "princes. To all these men he repeated his request for financing for a",
"text": "voyage to the west—and also for the rights he had demanded from João",
"text": "II. Some, such as the powerful duke of Medina, wanted to help, but",
"text": "could not, since they lacked the power to grant him the titles and rights",
"text": "he wanted. But Columbus would not back down. He soon realized that",
"text": "only one person could meet his demands: Queen Isabella. In 1487 he",
"text": "finally managed a meeting with the queen, and although he could not",
"text": "convince her to finance the voyage, he completely charmed her, and",
"text": "became a frequent guest in the palace.",
"text": "In 1492 the Spanish finally expelled the Moorish invaders who",
"text": "centuries earlier had seized parts of the country. With the wartime burden",
"text": "on her treasury lifted, Isabella felt she could finally respond to the",
"text": "demands of her explorer friend, and she decided to pay for three ships,equipment, the salaries of the crews, and a modest stipend for Columbus.",
"text": "More important, she had a contract drawn up that granted Columbus the",
"text": "titles and rights on which he had insisted. The only one she denied—and",
"text": "only in the contract’s fine print—was the 10 percent of all revenues from",
"text": "any lands discovered: an absurd demand, since he wanted no time limit",
"text": "on it. (Had the clause been left in, it would eventually have made",
"text": "Columbus and his heirs the wealthiest family on the planet. Columbus",
"text": "never read the fine print.)",
"text": "Satisfied that his demands had been met, Columbus set sail that same",
"text": "year in search of the passage to Asia. (Before he left he was careful to",
"text": "hire the best navigator he could find to help him get there.) The mission",
"text": "failed to find such a passage, yet when Columbus petitioned the queen to",
"text": "finance an even more ambitious voyage the following year, she agreed.",
"text": "By then she had come to see Columbus as destined for great things.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "As an explorer Columbus was mediocre at best. He knew less about the",
"text": "sea than did the average sailor on his ships, could never determine the",
"text": "latitude and longitude of his discoveries, mistook islands for vast",
"text": "continents, and treated his crew badly. But in one area he was a genius:",
"text": "He knew how to sell himsel£ How else to explain how the son of a",
"text": "cheese vendor, a low-level sea merchant, managed to ingratiate himself",
"text": "with the highest royal and aristocratic families?",
"text": "Columbus had an amazing power to charm the nobility, and it all came",
"text": "from the way he carried himself. He projected a sense of confidence that",
"text": "was completely out of proportion to his means. Nor was his confidence",
"text": "the aggressive, ugly self-promotion of an upstart—it was a quiet and",
"text": "calm self-assurance. In fact it was the same confidence usually shown by",
"text": "the nobility themselves. The powerful in the old-style aristocracies felt",
"text": "no need to prove or assert themselves; being noble, they knew they",
"text": "always deserved more, and asked for it. With Columbus, then, they felt",
"text": "an instant affinity, for he carried himself just the way they did—elevated",
"text": "above the crowd, destined for greatness.",
"text": "Understand: It is within your power to set your own price. How you",
"text": "carry yourself reflects what you think of yourself. If you ask for little,",
"text": "shuffle your feet and lower your head, people will assume this reflects",
"text": "your character. But this behavior is not you—it is only how you have",
"text": "chosen to present yourself to other people. You can just as easily presentthe Columbus front: buoyancy, confidence, and the feeling that you were",
"text": "born to wear a crown.",
"text": "With all great deceivers there is a noteworthy occurrence to which",
"text": "they owe their power. In the actual act of deception they are overcome by",
"text": "belief in themselves: it is this which then speaks so miraculously and",
"text": "compellingly to those around them.",
"text": "Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "As children, we start our lives with great exuberance, expecting and",
"text": "demanding everything from the world. This generally carries over into",
"text": "our first forays into society, as we begin our careers. But as we grow",
"text": "older the rebuffs and failures we experience set up boundaries that only",
"text": "get firmer with time. Coming to expect less from the world, we accept",
"text": "limitations that are really self-imposed. We start to bow and scrape and",
"text": "apologize for even the simplest of requests. The solution to such a",
"text": "shrinking of horizons is to deliberately force ourselves in the opposite",
"text": "direction—to downplay the failures and ignore the limitations, to make",
"text": "ourselves demand and expect as much as the child. To accomplish this,",
"text": "we must use a particular strategy upon ourselves. Call it the Strategy of",
"text": "the Crown.",
"text": "The Strategy of the Crown is based on a simple chain of cause and",
"text": "effect: If we believe we are destined for great things, our belief will",
"text": "radiate outward, just as a crown creates an aura around a king. This",
"text": "outward radiance will infect the people around us, who will think we",
"text": "must have reasons to feel so confident. People who wear crowns seem to",
"text": "feel no inner sense of the limits to what they can ask for or what they can",
"text": "accomplish. This too radiates outward. Limits and boundaries disappear.",
"text": "Use the Strategy of the Crown and you will be surprised how often it",
"text": "bears fruit. Take as an example those happy children who ask for",
"text": "whatever they want, and get it. Their high expectations are their charm.",
"text": "Adults enjoy granting their wishes—just as Isabella enjoyed granting the",
"text": "wishes of Columbus.",
"text": "Throughout history, people of undistinguished birth—the Theodoras",
"text": "of Byzantium, the Columbuses, the Beethovens, the Disraelis—have",
"text": "managed to work the Strategy of the Crown, believing so firmly in theirown greatness that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The trick is",
"text": "simple: Be overcome by your self-belief. Even while you know you are",
"text": "practicing a kind of deception on yourself, act like a king. You are likely",
"text": "to be treated as one.",
"text": "The crown may separate you from other people, but it is up to you to",
"text": "make that separation real: You have to act differently, demonstrating",
"text": "your distance from those around you. One way to emphasize your",
"text": "difference is to always act with dignity, no matter the circumstance.",
"text": "Louis-Philippe gave no sense of being different from other people—he",
"text": "was the banker king. And the moment his subjects threatened him, he",
"text": "caved in. Everyone sensed this and pounced. Lacking regal dignity and",
"text": "firmness of purpose, Louis-Philippe seemed an impostor, and the crown",
"text": "was easily toppled from his head.",
"text": "Regal bearing should not be confused with arrogance. Arrogance may",
"text": "seem the king’s entitlement, but in fact it betrays insecurity. It is the very",
"text": "opposite of a royal demeanor.",
"text": "Haile Selassie, ruler of Ethiopia for forty or so years beginning in",
"text": "1930, was once a young man named Lij Tafari. He came from a noble",
"text": "family, but there was no real chance of him coming to power, for he was",
"text": "far down the line of succession from the king then on the throne,",
"text": "Menelik II. Nevertheless, from an early age he exhibited a self-",
"text": "confidence and a royal bearing that surprised everyone around him.",
"text": "At the age of fourteen, Tafari went to live at the court, where he",
"text": "immediately impressed Menelik and became his favorite. Tafari’s grace",
"text": "under fire, his patience, and his calm self-assurance fascinated the king.",
"text": "The other young nobles, arrogant, blustery, and envious, would push this",
"text": "slight, bookish teenager around. But he never got angry—that would",
"text": "have been a sign of insecurity, to which he would not stoop. There were",
"text": "already people around him who felt he would someday rise to the top, for",
"text": "he acted as if he were already there.",
"text": "Years later, in 1936, when the Italian Fascists had taken over Ethiopia",
"text": "and Tafari, now called Haile Selassie, was in exile, he addressed the",
"text": "League of Nations to plead his country’s case. The Italians in the",
"text": "audience heckled him with vulgar abuse, but he maintained his dignified",
"text": "pose, as if completely unaffected. This elevated him while making his",
"text": "opponents look even uglier. Dignity, in fact, is invariably the mask to",
"text": "assume under difficult circumstances: It is as if nothing can affect you,",
"text": "and you have all the time in the world to respond. This is an extremely",
"text": "powerful pose.A royal demeanor has other uses. Con artists have long known the",
"text": "value of an aristocratic front; it either disarms people and makes them",
"text": "less suspicious, or else it intimidates them and puts them on the",
"text": "defensive—and as Count Victor Lustig knew, once you put a sucker on",
"text": "the defensive he is doomed. The con man Yellow Kid Weil, too, would",
"text": "often assume the trappings of a man of wealth, along with the",
"text": "nonchalance that goes with them. Alluding to some magical method of",
"text": "making money, he would stand aloof, like a king, exuding confidence as",
"text": "if he really were fabulously rich. The suckers would beg to be in on the",
"text": "con, to have a chance at the wealth that he so clearly displayed.",
"text": "Finally, to reinforce the inner psychological tricks involved in",
"text": "projecting a royal demeanor, there are outward strategies to help you",
"text": "create the effect. First, the Columbus Strategy: Always make a bold",
"text": "demand. Set your price high and do not waver. Second, in a dignified",
"text": "way, go after the highest person in the building. This immediately puts",
"text": "you on the same plane as the chief executive you are attacking. It is the",
"text": "David and Goliath Strategy: By choosing a great opponent, you create",
"text": "the appearance of greatness.",
"text": "Third, give a gift of some sort to those above you. This is the strategy",
"text": "of those who have a patron: By giving your patron a gift, you are",
"text": "essentially saying that the two of you are equal. It is the old con game of",
"text": "giving so that you can take. When the Renaissance writer Pietro Aretino",
"text": "wanted the Duke of Mantua as his next patron, he knew that if he was",
"text": "slavish and sycophantic, the duke would think him unworthy; so he",
"text": "approached the duke with gifts, in this case paintings by the writer’s",
"text": "good friend Titian. Accepting the gifts created a kind of equality between",
"text": "duke and writer: The duke was put at ease by the feeling that he was",
"text": "dealing with a man of his own aristocratic stamp. He funded Aretino",
"text": "generously. The gift strategy is subtle and brilliant because you do not",
"text": "beg: You ask for help in a dignified way that implies equality between",
"text": "two people, one of whom just happens to have more money.",
"text": "Remember: It is up to you to set your own price. Ask for less and that",
"text": "is just what you will get. Ask for more, however, and you send a signal",
"text": "that you are worth a king’s ransom. Even those who turn you down",
"text": "respect you for your confidence, and that respect will eventually pay off",
"text": "in ways you cannot imagine.",
"text": "Image: The Crown. Place it upon your head",
"text": "and you assume a different pose—tranquil",
"text": "yet radiating assurance. Never show",
"text": "doubt, never lose your dignity beneaththe crown, or it will not fit. It will seem",
"text": "to be destined for one more worthy. Do",
"text": "not wait for a coronation; the great",
"text": "est emperors crown themselves.",
"text": "Authority: Everyone should be royal after his own fashion. Let all your",
"text": "actions, even though they are not those of a king, be, in their own sphere,",
"text": "worthy of one. Be sublime in your deeds, lofty in your thoughts; and in",
"text": "all your doings show that you deserve to be a king even though you are",
"text": "not one in reality. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "The idea behind the assumption of regal confidence is to set yourself",
"text": "apart from other people, but if you take this too far it will be your",
"text": "undoing. Never make the mistake of thinking that you elevate yourself",
"text": "by humiliating people. Also, it is never a good idea to loom too high",
"text": "above the crowd—you make an easy target. And there are times when an",
"text": "aristocratic pose is eminently dangerous.",
"text": "Charles I, king of England during the 1640s, faced a profound public",
"text": "disenchantment with the institution of monarchy. Revolts erupted",
"text": "throughout the country, led by Oliver Cromwell. Had Charles reacted to",
"text": "the times with insight, supporting reforms and making a show of",
"text": "sacrificing some of his power, history might have been different. Instead",
"text": "he reverted to an even more regal pose, seeming outraged by the assault",
"text": "on his power and on the divine institution of monarchy. His stiff",
"text": "kingliness offended people and spurred on their revolts. And eventuallyCharles lost his head, literally. Understand: You are radiating confidence,",
"text": "not arrogance or disdain.",
"text": "Finally, it is true that you can sometimes find some power through",
"text": "affecting a kind of earthy vulgarity, which will prove amusing by its",
"text": "extreme-ness. But to the extent that you win this game by going beyond",
"text": "the limits, separating yourself from other people by appearing even more",
"text": "vulgar than they are, the game is dangerous: There will always be people",
"text": "more vulgar than you, and you will easily be replaced the following",
"text": "season by someone younger and worse.LAW 35",
"text": "MASTER THE ART OF TIMING",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Never seem to be in a hurry-hurrying betrays a lack of control over",
"text": "yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that",
"text": "everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right",
"text": "moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to",
"text": "power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike",
"text": "fiercely when it has reached fruition.",
"text": "SERTORIUS’S LESSON",
"text": "Sertorius’s strength was now rapidly increasing, for all the tribes",
"text": "between the Ebro and the Pyrenees came over to his side, and troops",
"text": "came flocking daily to join him from every quarter. At the same time he",
"text": "was troubled by the lack of discipline and the overconfidence of these",
"text": "newly arrived barbarians, who would shout at him to attack the enemy",
"text": "and had no patience with his delaying tactics, and he therefore tried to",
"text": "win them over by argument. them over by argument. But when he saw",
"text": "that they were discontented and persisted in pressing their demands",
"text": "regardless of the circumstances, he let them have their way and allowed",
"text": "them to engage the enemy; he hoped that they would suffer a severe",
"text": "defeat without being completely crushed, and that this would make them",
"text": "better disposed to obey his orders in future. The event turned out as he",
"text": "expected and Sertorius came to their rescue, provided a rallying point",
"text": "for the fugitives, and led them safely back to his camp. His next step was",
"text": "to revive their dejected spirits, and so a few days later he summoned a",
"text": "general assembly. Before it he produced two horses, one of them old and",
"text": "enfeebled, the other large and lusty and possessing a flowing tail, which",
"text": "was remarkable for the thickness and beauty of its hair. By the side of the",
"text": "weak horse stood a tall strong man, and by the side of the powerful horse",
"text": "a short man of mean physique. At a signal the strong man seized the tailof his horse and tried with all his strength to pull it towards him, as if to",
"text": "tear it off, while the weak man began to pull the hairs one by one from",
"text": "the tail of the strong horse.",
"text": "The strong man, after tugging with all his might to no purpose and",
"text": "causing the spectators a great deal of amusement in the process, finally",
"text": "gave up the attempt, while the weak man quickly and with very little",
"text": "trouble stripped his horse’s tail completely bare. Then Sertorius rose to",
"text": "his feet and said, “Now you can see, my friends and allies, that",
"text": "perseverance is more effective than brute strength and that there are",
"text": "many difficulties that cannot be overcome if you try to do everything at",
"text": "once, but which will yield if you master them little by little. The truth is",
"text": "that a steady continuous effort is irresistible, for this is the way in which",
"text": "Time captures and subdues the greatest powers on earth. Now Time, you",
"text": "should remember, is a good friend and ally to those who use their",
"text": "intelligence to choose the right moment, but a most dangerous enemy to",
"text": "those who rush into action at the wrong one.”",
"text": "LIFE OF SERTORIUS, PLUTARCH, C.A.D. 46-120",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "Starting out in life as a nondescript French seminary-school teacher,",
"text": "Joseph Fouché wandered from town to town for most of the decade of",
"text": "the 1780s, teaching mathematics to young boys. Yet he never completely",
"text": "committed himself to the church, never took his vows as a priest—he",
"text": "had bigger plans. Patiently waiting for his chance, he kept his options",
"text": "open. And when the French Revolution broke out, in 1789, Fouché",
"text": "waited no longer: He got rid of his cassock, grew his hair long, and",
"text": "became a revolutionary. For this was the spirit of the times. To miss the",
"text": "boat at this critical moment could have spelt disaster. Fouché did not",
"text": "miss the boat: Befriending the revolutionary leader Robespierre, he",
"text": "quickly rose in the rebel ranks. In 1792 the town of Nantes elected",
"text": "Fouche to be its representative to the National Convention (created that",
"text": "year to frame a new constitution for a French republic).",
"text": "When Fouché arrived in Paris to take his seat at the convention, a",
"text": "violent rift had broken out between the moderates and the radical",
"text": "Jacobins. Fouché sensed that in the long run neither side would emergevictorious. Power rarely ends up in the hands of those who start a",
"text": "revolution, or even of those who further it; power sticks to those who",
"text": "bring it to a conclusion. That was the side Fouche wanted to be on.",
"text": "His sense of timing was uncanny. He started as a moderate, for",
"text": "moderates were in the majority. When the time came to decide on",
"text": "whether or not to execute Louis XVI, however, he saw that the people",
"text": "were clamoring for the king’s head, so he cast the deciding vote—for the",
"text": "guillotine. Now he had become a radical. Yet as tensions came to the boil",
"text": "in Paris, he foresaw the danger of being too closely associated with any",
"text": "one faction, so he accepted a position in the provinces, where he could",
"text": "lie low for a while. A few months later he was assigned to the post of",
"text": "proconsul in Lyons, where he oversaw the execution of dozens of",
"text": "aristocrats. At a certain moment, however, he called a halt to the killings,",
"text": "sensing that the mood of the country was turning-and despite the blood",
"text": "already on his hands, the citizens of Lyons hailed him as a savior from",
"text": "what had become known as the Terror.",
"text": "So far Fouché had played his cards brilliantly, but in 1794 his old",
"text": "friend Robespierre recalled him to Paris to account for his actions in",
"text": "Lyons. Robespierre had been the driving force behind the Terror. He had",
"text": "sent heads on both the right and the left rolling, and Fouché, whom he no",
"text": "longer trusted, seemed destined to provide the next head. Over the next",
"text": "few weeks, a tense struggle ensued: While Robespierre railed openly",
"text": "against Fouché, accusing of him dangerous ambitions and calling for his",
"text": "arrest, the crafty Fouché worked more indirectly, quietly gaining support",
"text": "among those who were beginning to tire of Robespierre’s dictatorial",
"text": "control. Fouche was playing for time. He knew that the longer he",
"text": "survived, the more disaffected citizens he could rally against",
"text": "Robespierre. He had to have broad support before he moved against the",
"text": "powerful leader. He rallied support among both the moderates and the",
"text": "Jacobins, playing on the widespread fear of Robespierre-everyone was",
"text": "afraid of being the next to go to the guillotine. It all came to fruition on",
"text": "July 27: The convention turned against Robespierre, shouting down his",
"text": "usual lengthy speech. He was quickly arrested, and a few days later it",
"text": "was Robespierre’s head, not Fouché’s, that fell into the basket.",
"text": "When Fouché returned to the convention after Robespierre’s death, he",
"text": "played his most unexpected move: Having led the conspiracy against",
"text": "Robespierre, he was expected to sit with the moderates, but lo and",
"text": "behold, he once again changed sides, joining the radical Jacobins. For",
"text": "perhaps the first time in his life he aligned himself with the minority.",
"text": "Clearly he sensed a reaction stirring: He knew that the moderate factionthat had executed Robespierre, and was now about to take power, would",
"text": "initiate a new round of the Terror, this time against the radicals. In siding",
"text": "with the Jacobins, then, Fouché was sitting with the martyrs of the days",
"text": "to come—the people who would be considered blameless in the troubles",
"text": "that were on their way. Taking sides with what was about to become the",
"text": "losing team was a risky gambit, of course, but Fouché must have",
"text": "calculated he could keep his head long enough to quietly stir up the",
"text": "populace against the moderates and watch them fall from power. And",
"text": "indeed, although the moderates did call for his arrest in December of",
"text": "1795, and would have sent him to the guillotine, too much time had",
"text": "passed. The executions had become unpopular with the people, and",
"text": "Fouché survived the swing of the pendulum one more time.",
"text": "A new government took over, the Directoire. It was not, however, a",
"text": "Jacobin government, but a moderate one—more moderate than the",
"text": "government that had reimposed the Terror. Fouché, the radical, had kept",
"text": "his head, but now he had to keep a low profile. He waited patiently on",
"text": "the sidelines for several years, allowing time to soften any bitter feelings",
"text": "against him, then he approached the Directoire and convinced them he",
"text": "had a new passion: intelligence-gathering. He became a paid spy for the",
"text": "government, excelled at the job, and in 1799 was rewarded by being",
"text": "made minister of police. Now he was not just empowered but required to",
"text": "extend his spying to every corner of France—a responsibility that would",
"text": "greatly reinforce his natural ability to sniff out where the wind was",
"text": "blowing. One of the first social trends he detected, in fact, came in the",
"text": "person of Napoleon, a brash young general whose destiny he right away",
"text": "saw was entwined with the future of France. When Napoleon unleashed",
"text": "a coup d‘etat, on November 9, 1799, Fouche pretended to be asleep.",
"text": "Indeed he slept the whole day. For this indirect assistance—it might have",
"text": "been thought his job, after all, to prevent a military coup—Napoleon",
"text": "kept him on as minister of police in the new regime.",
"text": "Over the next few years, Napoleon came to rely on Fouché more and",
"text": "more. He even gave this former revolutionary a title, duke of Otranto,",
"text": "and rewarded him with great wealth. By 1808, however, Fouché, always",
"text": "attuned to the times, sensed that Napoleon was on the downswing. His",
"text": "futile war with Spain, a country that posed no threat to France, was a",
"text": "sign that he was losing a sense of proportion. Never one to be caught on",
"text": "a sinking ship, Fouché conspired with Talleyrand to bring about",
"text": "Napoleon’s downfall. Although the conspiracy failed—Talleyrand was",
"text": "fired; Fouché stayed, but was kept on a tight leash—it publicized a",
"text": "growing discontent with the emperor, who seemed to be losing control.By 1814 Napoleon’s power had crumbled and allied forces finally",
"text": "conquered him.",
"text": "The next government was a restoration of the monarchy, in the form of",
"text": "King Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI. Fouché, his nose always",
"text": "sniffing the air for the next social shift, knew Louis would not last long",
"text": "—he had none of Napoleon’s flair. Fouché once again played his waiting",
"text": "game, lying low, staying away from the spotlight. Sure enough, in",
"text": "February of 1815, Napoleon escaped from the island of Elba, where he",
"text": "had been imprisoned. Louis XVIII panicked: His policies had alienated",
"text": "the citizenry, who were clamoring for Napoleon’s return. So Louis turned",
"text": "to the one man who could maybe have saved his hide, Fouché, the",
"text": "former radical who had sent his brother, Louis XVI, to the guillotine, but",
"text": "was now one of the most popular and widely admired politicians in",
"text": "France. Fouché, however, would not side with a loser: He refused",
"text": "Louis’s request for help by pretending that his help was unnecessary—by",
"text": "swearing that Napoleon would never return to power (although he knew",
"text": "otherwise). A short time later, of course, Napoleon and his new citizen",
"text": "army were closing in on Paris.",
"text": "Seeing his reign about to collapse, feeling that Fouché had betrayed",
"text": "him, and certain that he did not want this powerful and able man on",
"text": "Napoleon’s team, King Louis ordered the minister’s arrest and execution.",
"text": "On March 16, 1815, policemen surrounded Fouché’s coach on a Paris",
"text": "boulevard. Was this finally his end? Perhaps, but not immediately:",
"text": "Fouché told the police that an ex-member of government could not be",
"text": "arrested on the street. They fell for the story and allowed him to return",
"text": "home. Later that day, though, they came to his house and once again",
"text": "declared him under arrest. Fouché nodded—but would the officers be so",
"text": "kind as allow a gentleman to wash and to change his clothes before",
"text": "leaving his house for the last time? They gave their permission, Fouché",
"text": "left the room, and the minutes went by. Fouché did not return. Finally the",
"text": "policemen went into the next room—where they saw a ladder against an",
"text": "open window, leading down to the garden below.",
"text": "That day and the next the police combed Paris for Fouche, but by then",
"text": "Napoleon’s cannons were audible in the distance and the king and all the",
"text": "king’s men had to flee the city. As soon as Napoleon entered Paris,",
"text": "Fouché came out of hiding. He had cheated the executioner once again.",
"text": "Napoleon greeted his former minister of police and gladly restored him",
"text": "to his old post. During the 100 days that Napoleon remained in power,",
"text": "until Waterloo, it was essentially Fouché who governed France. After",
"text": "Napoleon fell, Louis XVIII returned to the throne, and like a cat withnine lives, Fouche stayed on to serve in yet another government—by",
"text": "then his power and influence had grown so great that not even the king",
"text": "dared challenge him.",
"text": "Mr. Shih had two sons: one loved learning; the other war. The first",
"text": "expounded his moral teachings at the admiring court of Ch‘i and was",
"text": "made a tutor, while the second talked strategy at the bellicose court of",
"text": "Ch’u and was made a general. The impecunious Mr. Meng, hearing of",
"text": "these successes, sent his own two sons out to follow the example of the",
"text": "Shih boys. The first expounded his moral teachings at the court ofCh‘in,",
"text": "but the King of Ch’in said: “At present the states are quarreling violently",
"text": "and every prince is busy arming his troops to the teeth. If I followed this",
"text": "prig’s pratings we should soon be annihilated.” So he had the fellow",
"text": "castrated. Meanwhile, the second brother displayed his military genius",
"text": "at the court of Wei. But the King of Wei said: “Mine is a weak state. If I",
"text": "relied on force instead of diplomacy, we should soon be wiped out. If, on",
"text": "the other hand, I let this fire-eater go, he will offer his services to",
"text": "another state and then we shall be in trouble.” So he had the fellow’s feet",
"text": "cut off Both.families did exactly the same thing, but one timed it right,",
"text": "the other wrong. Thtts success depends not on ratiocination but on",
"text": "rhythm.",
"text": "LlEH TZU. QUOTED IN THE CHINESE LOOKING GLASS. DENNIS",
"text": "BLOODWORTH, 1967",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "In a period of unprecedented turmoil, Joseph Fouché thrived through his",
"text": "mastery of the art of timing. He teaches us a number of key lessons.",
"text": "First, it is critical to recognize the spirit of the times. Fouché always",
"text": "looked two steps ahead, found the wave that would carry him to power,",
"text": "and rode it. You must always work with the times, anticipate twists and",
"text": "turns, and never miss the boat. Sometimes the spirit of the times is",
"text": "obscure: Recognize it not by what is loudest and most obvious in it, but",
"text": "by what lies hidden and dormant. Look forward to the Napoleons of the",
"text": "future rather than holding on to the ruins of the past.",
"text": "Second, recognizing the prevailing winds does not necessarily mean",
"text": "running with them. Any potent social movement creates a powerful",
"text": "reaction, and it is wise to anticipate what that reaction will be, as Fouché",
"text": "did after the execution of Robespierre. Rather than ride the cresting wave",
"text": "of the moment, wait for the tide’s ebb to carry you back to power. Uponoccasion bet on the reaction that is brewing, and place yourself in the",
"text": "vanguard of it.",
"text": "Finally, Fouché had remarkable patience. Without patience as your",
"text": "sword and shield, your timing will fail and you will inevitably find",
"text": "yourself a loser. When the times were against Fouché, he did not",
"text": "struggle, get emotional, or strike out rashly. He kept his cool and",
"text": "maintained a low profile, patiently building support among the citizenry,",
"text": "the bulwark in his next rise to power. Whenever he found himself in the",
"text": "weaker position, he played for time, which he knew would always be his",
"text": "ally if he was patient. Recognize the moment, then, to hide in the grass",
"text": "or slither under a rock, as well as the moment to bare your fangs and",
"text": "attack.",
"text": "Space we can recover, time never.",
"text": "Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Time is an artificial concept that we ourselves have created to make the",
"text": "limitlessness of eternity and the universe more bearable, more human.",
"text": "Since we have constructed the concept of time, we are also able to mold",
"text": "it to some degree, to play tricks with it. The time of a child is long and",
"text": "slow, with vast expanses; the time of an adult whizzes by frighteningly",
"text": "fast. Time, then, depends on perception, which, we know, can be",
"text": "willfully altered. This is the first thing to understand in mastering the art",
"text": "of timing. If the inner turmoil caused by our emotions tends to make time",
"text": "move faster, it follows that once we control our emotional responses to",
"text": "events, time will move much more slowly. This altered way of dealing",
"text": "with things tends to lengthen our perception of future time, opens up",
"text": "possibilities that fear and anger close off, and allows us the patience that",
"text": "is the principal requirement in the art of timing.",
"text": "The sultan [of Persia] had sentenced two men to death. One of them,",
"text": "knowing how much the sultan loved his stallion, offered to teach the",
"text": "horse to fly within a year in return for his life. The sultan, fancying",
"text": "himself as the rider of the only flying horse in the world, agreed. The",
"text": "other prisoner looked at his friend in disbelief “You know horses don’t",
"text": "fly. What made you come up with a crazv idea like that? You’re onlypostponing the inevitable.” “Not so, ” said the (first prisoner]. “I have",
"text": "actuallv given myself four chances for freedom. First, the sultan might",
"text": "die during the year. Second, I might die. Third, the horse might die. And",
"text": "fourth … I might teach the horse to fly!”",
"text": "THE CRAFT OF POWER, R.G.H. SIU, 1979",
"text": "There are three kinds of time for us to deal with; each presents",
"text": "problems that can be solved with skill and practice. First there is long",
"text": "time: the drawn-out, years-long kind of time that must be managed with",
"text": "patience and gentle guidance. Our handling of long time should be",
"text": "mostly defensive—this is the art of not reacting impulsively, of waiting",
"text": "for opportunity.",
"text": "Next there is forced time: the short-term time that we can manipulate as",
"text": "an offensive weapon, upsetting the timing of our opponents. Finally there",
"text": "is end time, when a plan must be executed with speed and force. We have",
"text": "waited, found the moment, and must not hesitate.",
"text": "Long Time. The famous seventeenth-century Ming painter Chou Yung",
"text": "relates a story that altered his behavior forever. Late one winter afternoon",
"text": "he set out to visit a town that lay across the river from his own town. He",
"text": "was bringing some important books and papers with him and had",
"text": "commissioned a young boy to help him carry them. As the ferry neared",
"text": "the other side of the river, Chou Yung asked the boatman if they would",
"text": "have time to get to the town before its gates closed, since it was a mile",
"text": "away and night was approaching. The boatman glanced at the boy, and at",
"text": "the bundle of loosely tied papers and books—“Yes,” he replied, “if you",
"text": "do not walk too fast.”",
"text": "As they started out, however, the sun was setting. Afraid of being",
"text": "locked out of the town at night, prey to local bandits, Chou and the boy",
"text": "walked faster and faster, finally breaking into a run. Suddenly the string",
"text": "around the papers broke and the documents scattered on the ground. It",
"text": "took them many minutes to put the packet together again, and by the",
"text": "time they had reached the city gates, it was too late.",
"text": "When you force the pace out of fear and impatience, you create a nest",
"text": "of problems that require fixing, and you end up taking much longer than",
"text": "if you had taken your time. Hurriers may occasionally get there quicker,",
"text": "but papers fly everywhere, new dangers arise, and they find themselves",
"text": "in constant crisis mode, fixing the problems that they themselves have",
"text": "created. Sometimes not acting in the face of danger is your best move—you wait, you deliberately slow down. As time passes it will eventually",
"text": "present opportunities you had not imagined.",
"text": "Waiting involves controlling not only your own emotions but those of",
"text": "your colleagues, who, mistaking action for power, may try to push you",
"text": "into making rash moves. In your rivals, on the other hand, you can",
"text": "encourage this same mistake: If you let them rush headlong into trouble",
"text": "while you stand back and wait, you will soon find ripe moments to",
"text": "intervene and pick up the pieces. This wise policy was the principal",
"text": "strategy of the great early-seventeenth-century emperor Tokugawa",
"text": "Ieyasu of Japan. When his predecessor, the headstrong Hideyoshi, whom",
"text": "he served as a general, staged a rash invasion of Korea, Ieyasu did not",
"text": "involve himself. He knew the invasion would be a disaster and would",
"text": "lead to Hideyoshi’s downfall. Better to stand patiently on the sidelines,",
"text": "even for many years, and then be in position to seize power when the",
"text": "time is right—exactly what Ieyasu did, with great artistry.",
"text": "THE TROUT AND THE GUDGEON",
"text": "A fisherman in the month of May stood angling on the bank of the",
"text": "Thames with an artificial fly. He threw his bait with so much art, that a",
"text": "young trout was rushing toward it, when she was prevented by her",
"text": "mother. “Never,” said she, “my child, be too precipitate, where there is a",
"text": "possibility of danger. Take due time to consider, before you risk an action",
"text": "that may be fatal. How know you whether yon appearance be indeed a",
"text": "fly, or the snare of an enemy? Let someone else make the experiment",
"text": "before you. If it be a fly, he will very probably elude the first attack: and",
"text": "the second may be made, if not with success, at least with safety.” She",
"text": "had no sooner spoken, than a gudgeon seized the pretended fly, and",
"text": "became an example to the giddy daughter of the importance of her",
"text": "mother’s counsel.",
"text": "FABLES, ROBERT DODSLEY, 1703-1764",
"text": "You do not deliberately slow time down to live longer, or to take more",
"text": "pleasure in the moment, but the better to play the game of power. First,",
"text": "when your mind is uncluttered by constant emergencies you will see",
"text": "further into the future. Second, you will be able to resist the baits that",
"text": "people dangle in front of you, and will keep yourself from becoming",
"text": "another impatient sucker. Third, you will have more room to be flexible.",
"text": "Opportunities will inevitably arise that you had not expected and would",
"text": "have missed had you forced the pace. Fourth, you will not move fromone deal to the next without completing the first one. To build your",
"text": "power’s foundation can take years; make sure that foundation is secure.",
"text": "Do not be a flash in the pan—success that is built up slowly and surely is",
"text": "the only kind that lasts.",
"text": "Finally, slowing time down will give you a perspective on the times",
"text": "you live in, letting you take a certain distance and putting you in a less",
"text": "emotionally charged position to see the shapes of things to come.",
"text": "Hurriers will often mistake surface phenomena for a real trend, seeing",
"text": "only what they want to see. How much better to see what is really",
"text": "happening, even if it is unpleasant or makes your task harder.",
"text": "Forced Time. The trick in forcing time is to upset the timing of others—",
"text": "to make them hurry, to make them wait, to make them abandon their own",
"text": "pace, to distort their perception of time. By upsetting the timing of your",
"text": "opponent while you stay patient, you open up time for yourself, which is",
"text": "half the game.",
"text": "In 1473 the great Turkish sultan Mehmed the Conqueror invited",
"text": "negotiations with Hungary to end the off-and-on war the two countries",
"text": "had waged for years. When the Hungarian emissary arrived in Turkey to",
"text": "start the talks, Turkish officials humbly apologized—Mehmed had just",
"text": "left Istanbul, the capital, to battle his longtime foe, Uzun Hasan. But he",
"text": "urgently wanted peace with Hungary, and had asked that the emissary",
"text": "join him at the front.",
"text": "When the emissary arrived at the site of the fighting, Mehmed had",
"text": "already left it, moving eastward in pursuit of his swift foe. This happened",
"text": "several times. Wherever the emissary stopped, the Turks lavished gifts",
"text": "and banquets on him, in pleasurable but time-consuming ceremonies.",
"text": "Finally Mehmed defeated Uzun and met with the emissary. Yet his terms",
"text": "for peace with Hungary were excessively harsh. After a few days, the",
"text": "negotiations ended, and the usual stalemate remained in place. But this",
"text": "was fine with Mehmed. In fact he had planned it that way all along:",
"text": "Plotting his campaign against Uzun, he had seen that diverting his armies",
"text": "to the east would leave his western flank vulnerable. To prevent Hungary",
"text": "from taking advantage of his weakness and his preoccupation elsewhere,",
"text": "he first dangled the lure of peace before his enemy, then made them wait",
"text": "—all on his own terms.",
"text": "Making people wait is a powerful way of forcing time, as long as they",
"text": "do not figure out what you are up to. You control the clock, they linger in",
"text": "limbo—and rapidly come unglued, opening up opportunities for you to",
"text": "strike. The opposite effect is equally powerful: You make youropponents hurry. Start off your dealings with them slowly, then suddenly",
"text": "apply pressure, making them feel that everything is happening at once.",
"text": "People who lack the time to think will make mistakes—so set their",
"text": "deadlines for them. This was the technique Machiavelli admired in",
"text": "Cesare Borgia, who, during negotiations, would suddenly press",
"text": "vehemently for a decision, upsetting his opponent’s timing and patience.",
"text": "For who would dare make Cesare wait?",
"text": "Joseph Duveen, the famous art dealer, knew that if he gave an",
"text": "indecisive buyer like John D. Rockefeller a deadline—the painting had",
"text": "to leave the country, another tycoon was interested in it—the client",
"text": "would buy just in time. Freud noticed that patients who had spent years",
"text": "in psychoanalysis without improvement would miraculously recover just",
"text": "in time if he fixed a definite date for the end of the therapy. Jacques",
"text": "Lacan, the famous French psychoanalyst, used a variation on this tactic",
"text": "—he would sometimes end the customary hour session of therapy after",
"text": "only ten minutes, without warning. After this happened several times, the",
"text": "patient would realize that he had better make maximum use of the time,",
"text": "rather than wasting much of the hour with a lot of talk that meant",
"text": "nothing. The deadline, then, is a powerful tool. Close off the vistas of",
"text": "indecision and force people to make up their damn minds or get to the",
"text": "point never let them make you play on their excruciating terms. Never",
"text": "give them time.",
"text": "Magicians and showmen are experts in forcing time. Houdini could",
"text": "often wriggle free of handcuffs in minutes, but he would draw the escape",
"text": "out to an hour, making the audience sweat, as time came to an apparent",
"text": "standstill. Magicians have always known that the best way to alter our",
"text": "perception of time is often to slow down the pace. Creating suspense",
"text": "brings time to a terrifying pause: The slower the magician’s hands move,",
"text": "the easier it is to create the illusion of speed, making people think the",
"text": "rabbit has appeared instantaneously. The great nineteenth-century",
"text": "magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin took explicit notice of this effect:",
"text": "“The more slowly a story is told,” he said, “the shorter it seems.”",
"text": "Going slower also makes what you are doing more interesting—the",
"text": "audience yields to your pace, becomes entranced. It is a state in which",
"text": "time whizzes delightfully by. You must practice such illusions, which",
"text": "share in the hypnotist’s power to alter perceptions of time.",
"text": "End Time. You can play the game with the utmost artistry—waiting",
"text": "patiently for the right moment to act, putting your competitors off their",
"text": "form by messing with their timing—but it won’t mean a thing unless youknow how to finish. Do not be one of those people who look like",
"text": "paragons of patience but are actually just afraid to bring things to a close:",
"text": "Patience is worthless unless combined with a willingness to fall",
"text": "ruthlessly on your opponent at the right moment. You can wait as long as",
"text": "necessary for the conclusion to come, but when it comes it must come",
"text": "quickly. Use speed to paralyze your opponent, cover up any mistakes",
"text": "you might make, and impress people with your aura of authority and",
"text": "finality.",
"text": "With the patience of a snake charmer, you draw the snake out with",
"text": "calm and steady rhythms. Once the snake is out, though, would you",
"text": "dangle your foot above its deadly head? There is never a good reason to",
"text": "allow the slightest hitch in your endgame. Your mastery of timing can",
"text": "really only be judged by how you work with end time—how you quickly",
"text": "change the pace and bring things to a swift and definitive conclusion.",
"text": "Image: The Hawk. Patiently and silently it circles the sky, high",
"text": "above, all-seeing with its powerful eyes. Those below have",
"text": "no awareness that they are being tracked. Suddenly,",
"text": "when the moment arrives, the hawk swoops",
"text": "down with a speed that cannot be de",
"text": "fended against; before its prey",
"text": "knows what has happened,",
"text": "the bird’s viselike talons",
"text": "have carried it",
"text": "up into the",
"text": "sky.",
"text": "Authority: There is a tide in the affairs of men, / Which, taken at the",
"text": "flood, leads on to fortune; / Omitted, all the voyage of their life / Is",
"text": "bound in shallows and in miseries. (Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare,",
"text": "1564-1616)REVERSAL",
"text": "There is no power to be gained in letting go of the reins and adapting to",
"text": "whatever time brings. To some degree you must guide time or you will",
"text": "be its merciless victim. There is accordingly no reversal to this law.LAW 36",
"text": "DISDAIN THINGS YOU CANNOT HAVE:",
"text": "IGNORING THEM IS THE BEST REVENGE",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility.",
"text": "The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a",
"text": "small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it.",
"text": "It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want",
"text": "but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the",
"text": "more superior you seem.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "The Mexican rebel leader Pancho Villa started out as the chief of a gang",
"text": "of bandits, but after revolution broke out in Mexico in 1910, he became a",
"text": "kind of folk hero—robbing trains and giving the money to the poor,",
"text": "leading daring raids, and charming the ladies with romantic escapades.",
"text": "His exploits fascinated Americans—he seemed a man from another era,",
"text": "part Robin Hood, part Don Juan. After a few years of bitter fighting,",
"text": "however, General Carranza emerged as the victor in the Revolution; the",
"text": "defeated Villa and his troops went back home, to the northern state of",
"text": "Chihuahua. His army dwindled and he turned to banditry again,",
"text": "damaging his popularity. Finally, perhaps out of desperation, he began to",
"text": "rail against the United States, the gringos, whom he blamed for his",
"text": "troubles.",
"text": "In March of 1916, Pancho Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico.",
"text": "Rampaging through the town, he and his gang killed seventeen American",
"text": "soldiers and civilians. President Woodrow Wilson, like many Americans,had admired Villa; now, however, the bandit needed to be punished.",
"text": "Wilson’s advisers urged him to send troops into Mexico to capture Villa.",
"text": "For a power as large as the United States, they argued, not to strike back",
"text": "at an army that had invaded its territory would send the worst kind of",
"text": "signal. Furthermore, they continued, many Americans saw Wilson as a",
"text": "pacifist, a principle the public doubted as a response to violence; he",
"text": "needed to prove his mettle and manliness by ordering the use of force.",
"text": "The pressure on Wilson was strong, and before the month was out,",
"text": "with the approval of the Carranza government, he sent an army of ten",
"text": "thousand soldiers to capture Pancho Villa. The venture was called the",
"text": "Punitive Expedition, and its leader was the dashing General John J.",
"text": "Pershing, who had defeated guerrillas in the Philippines and Native",
"text": "Americans in the American Southwest. Certainly Pershing could find",
"text": "and overpower Pancho Villa.",
"text": "The Punitive Expedition became a sensational story, and carloads of",
"text": "U.S. reporters followed Pershing into action. The campaign, they wrote,",
"text": "would be a test of American power. The soldiers carried the latest in",
"text": "weaponry, communicated by radio, and were supported by",
"text": "reconnaissance from the air.",
"text": "In the first few months, the troops split up into small units to comb the",
"text": "wilds of northern Mexico. The Americans offered a $50,000 reward for",
"text": "information leading to Villa’s capture. But the Mexican people, who had",
"text": "been disillusioned with Villa when he had returned to banditry, now",
"text": "idolized him for facing this mighty American army. They began to give",
"text": "Pershing false leads: Villa had been seen in this village, or in that",
"text": "mountain hideaway, airplanes would be dispatched, troops would scurry",
"text": "after them, and no one would ever see him. The wily bandit seemed to be",
"text": "always one step ahead of the American military.",
"text": "THE ON AND THE CRAPES",
"text": "A starving fox … saw a cluster Of luscious-looking grapes of purplish",
"text": "luster Dangling above him on a trellis-frame. He would have dearly",
"text": "liked them for his lunch, But when he tried and failed to reach the bunch:",
"text": "“Ah well, it’s more than likely they’re not sweet—Good only for green",
"text": "fools to eat!”",
"text": "Wasn’t he wise to say they were unripe Rather than whine and gripe?",
"text": "FABLES. JEAN DE LA FONTAINE. 1621-1695Once when G. K. Chesterton’s economic views were abused in print by",
"text": "George Bernard Shaw, his friends waited in vain for him to reply.",
"text": "Historian Hilaire Belloc reproached him. “My dear Belloc,” Chesterton",
"text": "said, “I have answered him. To a man of Shaw’s wit, silence is the one",
"text": "unbearable repartee.",
"text": "THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES, CLIFTON",
"text": "FADIMAN, ED., 1985",
"text": "By the summer of that year, the expedition had swelled to 123,000",
"text": "men. They suffered through the stultifying heat, the mosquitoes, the wild",
"text": "terrain. Trudging over a countryside in which they were already resented,",
"text": "they infuriated both the local people and the Mexican government. At",
"text": "one point Pancho Villa hid in a mountain cave to recover from a gunshot",
"text": "wound he received in a skirmish with the Mexican army; looking down",
"text": "from his aerie, he could watch Pershing lead the exhausted American",
"text": "troops back and forth across the mountains, never getting any closer to",
"text": "their goal.",
"text": "All the way into winter, Villa played his cat-and-mouse game.",
"text": "Americans came to see the affair as a kind of slapstick farce—in fact",
"text": "they began to admire Villa again, respecting his resourcefulness in",
"text": "eluding a superior force. In January of 1917, Wilson finally ordered",
"text": "Pershing’s withdrawal. As the troops made their way back to American",
"text": "territory, rebel forces pursued them, forcing the U.S. Army to use",
"text": "airplanes to protect its rear flanks. The Punitive Expedition was being",
"text": "punished itself—it had turned into a retreat of the most humiliating sort.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Woodrow Wilson organized the Punitive Expedition as a show of force:",
"text": "He would teach Pancho Villa a lesson and in the process show the world",
"text": "that no one, large or small, could attack the mighty United States and get",
"text": "away with it. The expedition would be over in a few weeks, and Villa",
"text": "would be forgotten.",
"text": "That was not how it played out. The longer the expedition took, the",
"text": "more it focused attention on the Americans’ incompetence and on Villa’s",
"text": "cleverness. Soon what was forgotten was not Villa but the raid that had",
"text": "started it all. As a minor annoyance became an international",
"text": "embarrassment, and the enraged Americans dispatched more troops, the",
"text": "imbalance between the size of the pursuer and the size of the pursued—",
"text": "who still managed to stay free—made the affair a joke. And in the endthis white elephant of an army had to lumber out of Mexico, humiliated.",
"text": "The Punitive Expedition did the opposite of what it set out to do: It left",
"text": "Villa not only free but more popular than ever.",
"text": "What could Wilson have done differently? He could have pressured",
"text": "the Carranza government to catch Villa for him. Alternatively, since",
"text": "many Mexicans had tired of Villa before the Punitive Expedition began,",
"text": "he could have worked quietly with them and won their support for a",
"text": "much smaller raid to capture the bandit. He could have organized a trap",
"text": "on the American side of the border, anticipating the next raid. Or he",
"text": "could have ignored the matter altogether for the time being, waiting for",
"text": "the Mexicans themselves to do away with Villa of their own accord.",
"text": "THE ASS AND THE GARDENER",
"text": "An ass had once by some accident lost his tail, which was a grievous",
"text": "affliction to him; and he was everywhere seeking after it, being fool",
"text": "enough to think he could get it set on again. He passed through a",
"text": "meadow, and afterwards got into a garden. The gardener seeing him, and",
"text": "not able to endure the mischief he was doing in trampling down his",
"text": "plants, fell into a violent rage, ran to the ass, and never standing on the",
"text": "ceremony of a pillory, cut off both his ears, and beat him out of the",
"text": "ground. Thus the ass, who bemoaned the loss of his tail, was in far",
"text": "greater affliction when he saw himself without ears.",
"text": "FABLES, PILPAY, INDIA, FOURTH CENTURY",
"text": "THE PRODIGY OX",
"text": "Once, when the Tokudaiji minister of the right was chief of the imperial",
"text": "police, he was holding a meeting of his staff at the middle gate when an",
"text": "ox belonging to an official named Akikane got loose and wandered into",
"text": "the ministry building. It climbed up on the dais where the chief was",
"text": "seated and lay there, chewing its cud. Everyone was sure that this was",
"text": "some grave portent, and urged that the ox be sent to a yin-yang diviner.",
"text": "However, the prime minister, the father of the minister of the right, said,",
"text": "“An ox has no discrimination. It has legs—there is nowhere it won’t go.",
"text": "It does not make sense to deprive an underpaid official of the wretched",
"text": "ox he needs in order to attend court.” He returned the ox to its owner",
"text": "and changed the matting on which it had lain. No untoward event of anykind occurred afterward. They say that if you see a prodigy and do not",
"text": "treat it as such, its character as a prodigy is destroyed.",
"text": "ESSAYS IN IDLENESS, KENKO, JAPAN, FOURTEENTH CENTURY",
"text": "Remember: You choose to let things bother you. You can just as easily",
"text": "choose not to notice the irritating offender, to consider the matter trivial",
"text": "and unworthy of your interest. That is the powerful move. What you do",
"text": "not react to cannot drag you down in a futile engagement. Your pride is",
"text": "not involved. The best lesson you can teach an irritating gnat is to",
"text": "consign it to oblivion by ignoring it. If it is impossible to ignore (Pancho",
"text": "Villa had in fact killed American citizens), then conspire in secret to do",
"text": "away with it, but never inadvertently draw attention to the bothersome",
"text": "insect that will go away or die on its own. If you waste time and energy",
"text": "in such entanglements, it is your own fault. Learn to play the card of",
"text": "disdain and turn your back on what cannot harm you in the long run.",
"text": "Just think—it cost your government $130 million to try to get me. I took",
"text": "them",
"text": "over rough, hilly country. Sometimes for fifty miles at a stretch they had",
"text": "no water.",
"text": "They had nothing but the sun and mosquitoes…. And nothing was",
"text": "gained.",
"text": "Pancho Villa, 1878-1923",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "In the year 1527, King Henry VIII of England decided he had to find a",
"text": "way to get rid of his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine had failed to",
"text": "produce a son, a male heir who would ensure the continuance of his",
"text": "dynasty, and Henry thought he knew why: He had read in the Bible the",
"text": "passage, “And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean",
"text": "thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be",
"text": "childless.” Before marrying Henry, Catherine had married his older",
"text": "brother Arthur, but Arthur had died five months later. Henry had waited",
"text": "an appropriate time, then had married his brother’s widow.",
"text": "Catherine was the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of",
"text": "Spain, and by marrying her Henry had kept alive a valuable alliance.",
"text": "Now, however, Catherine had to assure him that her brief marriage withArthur had never been consummated. Otherwise Henry would view their",
"text": "relationship as incestuous and their marriage as null and void. Catherine",
"text": "insisted that she had remained a virgin through her marriage to Arthur,",
"text": "and Pope Clement VII supported her by giving his blessing to the union,",
"text": "which he could not have done had he considered it incestuous. Yet after",
"text": "years of marriage to Henry, Catherine had failed to produce a son, and in",
"text": "the early 1520s she had entered menopause. To the king this could only",
"text": "mean one thing: She had lied about her virginity, their union was",
"text": "incestuous, and God had punished them.",
"text": "There was another reason why Henry wanted to get rid of Catherine:",
"text": "He had fallen in love with a younger woman, Anne Boleyn. Not only",
"text": "was he in love with her, but if he married her he could still hope to sire a",
"text": "legitimate son. The marriage to Catherine had to be annulled. For this,",
"text": "however, Henry had to apply to the Vatican. But Pope Clement would",
"text": "never annul the marriage.",
"text": "By the summer of 1527, rumors spread throughout Europe that Henry",
"text": "was about to attempt the impossible—to annul his marriage against",
"text": "Clement’s wishes. Catherine would never abdicate, let alone voluntarily",
"text": "enter a nunnery, as Henry had urged her. But Henry had his own strategy:",
"text": "He stopped sleeping in the same bed with Catherine, since he considered",
"text": "her his sister-in-law, not his lawful wife. He insisted on calling her",
"text": "Princess Dowager of Wales, her title as Arthur’s widow. Finally, in 1531,",
"text": "he banished her from court and shipped her off to a distant castle. The",
"text": "pope ordered him to return her to court, on pain of excommunication, the",
"text": "most severe penalty a Catholic could suffer. Henry not only ignored this",
"text": "threat, he insisted that his marriage to Catherine had been dissolved, and",
"text": "in 1533 he married Anne Boleyn.",
"text": "Clement refused to recognize the marriage, but Henry did not care. He",
"text": "no longer recognized the pope’s authority, and proceeded to break with",
"text": "the Roman Catholic Church, establishing the Church of England in its",
"text": "stead, with the king as the head of the new church. And so, not",
"text": "surprisingly, the newly formed Church of England proclaimed Anne",
"text": "Boleyn England’s rightful queen.",
"text": "The pope tried every threat in the book, but nothing worked. Henry",
"text": "simply ignored him. Clement fumed—no one had ever treated him so",
"text": "contemptuously. Henry had humiliated him and he had no power of",
"text": "recourse. Even excommunication (which he constantly threatened but",
"text": "never carried out) would no longer matter.",
"text": "Catherine too felt the devastating sting of Henry’s disdain. She tried to",
"text": "fight back, but in appealing to Henry her words fell on deaf ears, andsoon they fell on no one’s. Isolated from the court, ignored by the king,",
"text": "mad with anger and frustration, Catherine slowly deteriorated, and",
"text": "finally died in January of 1536, from a cancerous tumor of the heart.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "When you pay attention to a person, the two of you become partners of",
"text": "sorts, each moving in step to the actions and reactions of the other. In the",
"text": "process you lose your initiative. It is a dynamic of all interactions: By",
"text": "acknowledging other people, even if only to fight with them, you open",
"text": "yourself to their influence. Had Henry locked horns with Catherine, he",
"text": "would have found himself mired in endless arguments that would have",
"text": "weakened his resolve and eventually worn him down. (Catherine was a",
"text": "strong, stubborn woman.) Had he set out to convince Clement to change",
"text": "his verdict on the marriage’s validity, or tried to compromise and",
"text": "negotiate with him, he would have gotten bogged down in Clement’s",
"text": "favorite tactic: playing for time, promising flexibility, but actually",
"text": "getting what popes always got—their way.",
"text": "Henry would have none of this. He played a devastating power game",
"text": "—total disdain. By ignoring people you cancel them out. This unsettles",
"text": "and infuriates them—but since they have no dealings with you, there is",
"text": "nothing they can do.",
"text": "And in this view it is advisable to let everyone of your acquaintance—",
"text": "whether man or woman—feel now and then that you could very well",
"text": "dispense with their company. This will consolidate friendship. Nay, with",
"text": "most people there will be no harm in occasionally mixing a grain of",
"text": "disdain with your treatment of them; that will make them value your",
"text": "friendship all the more. Chi non stima vien stimato, as a subtle Italian",
"text": "proverb has it—to disregard is to win regard. But if we really think very",
"text": "highly of a person, we should conceal it from him like a crime. This is",
"text": "not a very gratifying thing to do, but it is right. Why, a dog will not bear",
"text": "being treated too kindly, let alone a man!",
"text": "ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860",
"text": "THE MONKEY AND THE PEAS",
"text": "A monkey was carrying two handfuls of peas. One little pea dropped out.",
"text": "He tried to pick it up, and spilt twenty. He tried to pick up the twenty, andspilt them all. Then he lost his temper, scattered the peas in all",
"text": "directions, and ran away.",
"text": "FABLES, LEO TOLSTOY, 1828-1910",
"text": "This is the offensive aspect of the law. Playing the card of contempt is",
"text": "immensely powerful, for it lets you determine the conditions of the",
"text": "conflict. The war is waged on your terms. This is the ultimate power",
"text": "pose: You are the king, and you ignore what offends you. Watch how this",
"text": "tactic infuriates people—half of what they do is to get your attention, and",
"text": "when you withhold it from them, they flounder in frustration.",
"text": "MAN: Kick him—he’ll forgive you. Flatter him—he may or may not",
"text": "see through you. But ignore him and he’ll hate you.",
"text": "Idries Shah, Caravan of Dreams, 1968",
"text": "As some make gossip out of everything, so others make much ado about",
"text": "everything. They are always talking big, [and] take everything seriously,",
"text": "making a quarrel and a mystery of it. You should take very few",
"text": "grievances to heart, for to do so is to give yourself groundless worry. It is",
"text": "a topsyturvy way of behaving to take to heart cares which you ought to",
"text": "throw over your shoulder. Many things which seemed important [at the",
"text": "time] turn out to be of no account when they are ignored; and others,",
"text": "which seem trifling, appear formidable when you pay attention to them.",
"text": "Things can easily be settled at the outset, but not so later on. In many",
"text": "cases, the remedy itself is the cause of the disease: to let things be is not",
"text": "the least satisfactory of life’s rules.",
"text": "BALTASAR GRACIÁN, 1601-1658",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Desire often creates paradoxical effects: The more you want something,",
"text": "the more you chase after it, the more it eludes you. The more interest you",
"text": "show, the more you repel the object of your desire. This is because your",
"text": "interest is too strong—it makes people awkward, even fearful.",
"text": "Uncontrollable desire makes you seem weak, unworthy, pathetic.",
"text": "You need to turn your back on what you want, show your contempt",
"text": "and disdain. This is the kind of powerful response that will drive your",
"text": "targets crazy. They will respond with a desire of their own, which is",
"text": "simply to have an effect on you—perhaps to possess you, perhaps to hurtyou. If they want to possess you, you have successfully completed the",
"text": "first step of seduction. If they want to hurt you, you have unsettled them",
"text": "and made them play by your rules (see Laws 8 and 39 on baiting people",
"text": "into action).",
"text": "Contempt is the prerogative of the king. Where his eyes turn, what he",
"text": "decides to see, is what has reality; what he ignores and turns his back on",
"text": "is as good as dead. That was the weapon of King Louis XIV—if he did",
"text": "not like you, he acted as if you were not there, maintaining his",
"text": "superiority by cutting off the dynamic of interaction. This is the power",
"text": "you have when you play the card of contempt, periodically showing",
"text": "people that you can do without them.",
"text": "If choosing to ignore enhances your power, it follows that the opposite",
"text": "approach—commitment and engagement—often weakens you. By",
"text": "paying undue attention to a puny enemy, you look puny, and the longer it",
"text": "takes you to crush such an enemy, the larger the enemy seems. When",
"text": "Athens set out to conquer the island of Sicily, in 415 B.C., a giant power",
"text": "was attacking a tiny one. Yet by entangling Athens in a long-drawn-out",
"text": "conflict, Syracuse, Sicily’s most important city-state, was able to grow in",
"text": "stature and confidence. Finally defeating Athens, it made itself famous",
"text": "for centuries to come. In recent times, President John F. Kennedy made a",
"text": "similar mistake in his attitude to Fidel Castro of Cuba: His failed",
"text": "invasion at the Bay of Pigs, in 1961, made Castro an international hero.",
"text": "A second danger: If you succeed in crushing the irritant, or even if you",
"text": "merely wound it, you create sympathy for the weaker side. Critics of",
"text": "Franklin D. Roosevelt complained bitterly about the money his",
"text": "administration spent on government projects, but their attacks had no",
"text": "resonance with the public, who saw the president as working to end the",
"text": "Great Depression. His opponents thought they had an example that",
"text": "would show just how wasteful he had become: his dog, Fala, which he",
"text": "lavished with favors and attention. Critics railed at his insensitivity—",
"text": "spending taxpayers’ money on a dog while so many Americans were still",
"text": "in poverty. But Roosevelt had a response: How dare his critics attack a",
"text": "defenseless little dog? His speech in defense of Fala was one of the most",
"text": "popular he ever gave. In this case, the weak party involved was the",
"text": "president’s dog and the attack backfired—in the long run, it only made",
"text": "the president more sympathetic, since many people will naturally side",
"text": "with the “underdog,” just as the American public came to sympathize",
"text": "with the wily but outnumbered Pancho Villa.",
"text": "It is tempting to want to fix our mistakes, but the harder we try, the",
"text": "worse we often make them. It is sometimes more politic to leave themalone. In 1971, when the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers,",
"text": "a group of government documents about the history of U.S. involvement",
"text": "in Indochina, Henry Kissinger erupted into a volcanic rage. Furious",
"text": "about the Nixon administration’s vulnerability to this kind of damaging",
"text": "leak, he made recommendations that eventually led to the formation of a",
"text": "group called the Plumbers to plug the leaks. This was the unit that later",
"text": "broke into Democratic Party offices in the Watergate Hotel, setting off",
"text": "the chain of events that led to Nixon’s downfall. In reality the publication",
"text": "of the Pentagon Papers was not a serious threat to the administration, but",
"text": "Kissinger’s reaction made it a big deal. In trying to fix one problem, he",
"text": "created another: a paranoia for security that in the end was much more",
"text": "destructive to the government. Had he ignored the Pentagon Papers, the",
"text": "scandal they had created would eventually have blown over.",
"text": "Instead of inadvertently focusing attention on a problem, making it",
"text": "seem worse by publicizing how much concern and anxiety it is causing",
"text": "you, it is often far wiser to play the contemptuous aristocrat, not deigning",
"text": "to acknowledge the problem’s existence. There are several ways to",
"text": "execute this strategy.",
"text": "First there is the sour-grapes approach. If there is something you want",
"text": "but that you realize you cannot have, the worst thing you can do is draw",
"text": "attention to your disappointment by complaining about it. An infinitely",
"text": "more powerful tactic is to act as if it never really interested you in the",
"text": "first place. When the writer George Sand’s supporters nominated her to",
"text": "be the first female member of the Académie Française, in 1861, Sand",
"text": "quickly saw that the academy would never admit her. Instead of whining,",
"text": "though, she claimed she had no interest in belonging to this group of",
"text": "worn-out, overrated, out-of-touch windbags. Her disdain was the perfect",
"text": "response: Had she shown her anger at her exclusion, she would have",
"text": "revealed how much it meant to her. Instead she branded the academy a",
"text": "club of old men—and why should she be angry or disappointed at not",
"text": "having to spend her time with them? Crying “sour grapes” is sometimes",
"text": "seen as a reflection of the weak; it is actually the tactic of the powerful.",
"text": "THE MAN AND HIS SHADOW",
"text": "There was a certain original man who desired to catch his own shadow.",
"text": "He makes a step or two toward it, but it moves away from him. He",
"text": "quickens his pace; it does the same. At last he takes to running; but the",
"text": "quicker he goes, the quicker runs the shadow also, utterly refusing to",
"text": "give itself up, just as if it had been a treasure. But see! our eccentricfriend suddenly turns round, and walks away from it. And presently he",
"text": "looks behind him; now the shadow runs after him. Ladies fair, I have",
"text": "often observed… that Fortune treats us in a similar way. One man tries",
"text": "with all his might to seize the goddess, and only loses his time and his",
"text": "trouble. Another seems, to all appearance, to be running out of her sight;",
"text": "but, no: she herself takes a pleasure in pursuing him.",
"text": "FABLES, IVAN KRILOFF, 1768-1844",
"text": "Second, when you are attacked by an inferior, deflect people’s",
"text": "attention by making it clear that the attack has not even registered. Look",
"text": "away, or answer sweetly, showing how little the attack concerns you.",
"text": "Similarly, when you yourself have committed a blunder, the best",
"text": "response is often to make less of your mistake by treating it lightly.",
"text": "The Japanese emperor Go-Saiin, a great disciple of the tea ceremony,",
"text": "owned a priceless antique tea bowl that all the courtiers envied. One day",
"text": "a guest, Dainagon Tsunehiro, asked if he could carry the tea bowl into",
"text": "the light, to examine it more closely. The bowl rarely left the table, but",
"text": "the emperor was in good spirits and he consented. As Dainagon carried",
"text": "the bowl to the railing of the verandah, however, and held it up to the",
"text": "light, it slipped from his hands and fell on a rock in the garden below,",
"text": "smashing into tiny fragments.",
"text": "The emperor of course was furious. “It was indeed most clumsy of me",
"text": "to let it drop in this way,” said Dainagon, with a deep bow, “but really",
"text": "there is not much harm done. This Ido tea-bowl is a very old one and it is",
"text": "impossible to say how much longer it would have lasted, but anyhow it is",
"text": "not a thing of any public use, so I think it rather fortunate that it has",
"text": "broken thus.” This surprising response had an immediate effect: The",
"text": "emperor calmed down. Dainagon neither sniveled nor overapologized,",
"text": "but signaled his own worth and power by treating his mistake with a",
"text": "touch of disdain. The emperor had to respond with a similar aristocratic",
"text": "indifference; his anger had made him seem low and petty—an image",
"text": "Dainagon was able to manipulate.",
"text": "Among equals this tactic might backfire: Your indifference could",
"text": "make you seem callous. But with a master, if you act quickly and without",
"text": "great fuss, it can work to great effect: You bypass his angry response,",
"text": "save him the time and energy he would waste by brooding over it, and",
"text": "allow him the opportunity to display his own lack of pettiness publicly.",
"text": "If we make excuses and denials when we are caught in a mistake or a",
"text": "deception, we stir the waters and make the situation worse. It is often",
"text": "wiser to play things the opposite way. The Renaissance writer Pietro",
"text": "Aretino often boasted of his aristocratic lineage, which was, of course, afiction, since he was actually the son of a shoemaker. When an enemy of",
"text": "his finally revealed the embarrassing truth, word quickly spread, and",
"text": "soon all of Venice (where he lived at the time) was aghast at Aretino’s",
"text": "lies. Had he tried to defend himself, he would have only dragged himself",
"text": "down. His response was masterful: He announced that he was indeed the",
"text": "son of a shoemaker, but this only proved his greatness, since he had risen",
"text": "from the lowest stratum of society to its very pinnacle. From then on he",
"text": "never mentioned his previous lie, trumpeting instead his new position on",
"text": "the matter of his ancestry.",
"text": "Remember: The powerful responses to niggling, petty annoyances and",
"text": "irritations are contempt and disdain. Never show that something has",
"text": "affected you, or that you are offended—that only shows you have",
"text": "acknowledged a problem. Contempt is a dish that is best served cold and",
"text": "without affectation.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Tiny",
"text": "Wound.",
"text": "It is small but painful and irritating. You",
"text": "try all sorts of medicaments, you com",
"text": "plain, you scratch and pick at the scab.",
"text": "Doctors only make it worse, transforming",
"text": "the tiny wound into a grave matter. If only",
"text": "you had left the wound alone, letting time",
"text": "heal it and freeing yourself of worry.",
"text": "Authority: Know how to play the card of contempt. It is the most politic",
"text": "kind of revenge. For there are many of whom we should have known",
"text": "nothing if their distinguished opponents had taken no notice of them.",
"text": "There is no revenge like oblivion, for it is the entombment of the",
"text": "unworthy in the dust of their own nothingness. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-",
"text": "1658)",
"text": "REVERSALYou must play the card of contempt with care and delicacy. Most small",
"text": "troubles will vanish on their own if you leave them be; but some will",
"text": "grow and fester unless you attend to them. Ignore a person of inferior",
"text": "stature and the next time you look he has become a serious rival, and",
"text": "your contempt has made him vengeful as well. The great princes of",
"text": "Renaissance Italy chose to ignore Cesare Borgia at the outset of his",
"text": "career as a young general in the army of his father, Pope Alexander VI.",
"text": "By the time they paid attention it was too late—the cub was now a lion,",
"text": "gobbling up chunks of Italy. Often, then, while you show contempt",
"text": "publicly you will also need to keep an eye on the problem privately,",
"text": "monitoring its status and making sure it goes away. Do not let it become",
"text": "a cancerous cell.",
"text": "Develop the skill of sensing problems when they are still small and",
"text": "taking care of them before they become intractable. Learn to distinguish",
"text": "between the potentially disastrous and the mildly irritating, the nuisance",
"text": "that will quietly go away on its own. In either case, though, never",
"text": "completely take your eye off it. As long as it is alive it can smolder and",
"text": "spark into life.LAW 37",
"text": "CREATE COMPELLING SPECTACLES",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power",
"text": "—everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you,",
"text": "then, full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your",
"text": "presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are",
"text": "really doing.",
"text": "ANTONY AND CLEOPATHA",
"text": "She relied above all upon her physical presence and the spell and",
"text": "enchantment which it could create…. She came sailing up the river",
"text": "Cydnus in a barge with a poop of gold, its purple sails billowing in the",
"text": "wind, while her rowers caressed the water with oars of silver which",
"text": "dipped in time to the music of the flute, accompanied by pipes and lutes.",
"text": "Cleopatra herself reclined beneath a canopy of cloth of gold, dressed in",
"text": "the character of Aphrodite, as we see her in paintings, while on either",
"text": "side to complete the picture stood boys costumed as Cupids who cooled",
"text": "her with their fans. Instead of a crew the barge was lined with the most",
"text": "beautiful of her waiting-women attired as Nereids and Graces, some at",
"text": "the rudders, others at the tackle of the sails, and all the while an",
"text": "indescribably rich perfume, exhaled from innumerable censers, was",
"text": "wafted from the vessel to the riverbanks. Great multitudes accompanied",
"text": "this royal progress, some of them following the queen on both sides of",
"text": "the river from its very mouth, while others hurried down from the city of",
"text": "Tarsus to gaze at the sight. Gradually the crowds drifted away from the",
"text": "marketplace, where Antony awaited the queen enthroned on his tribunal,",
"text": "until at last he was left sitting quite alone. And the word spread on every",
"text": "side that Aphrodite had come to revel with Dionysus for the happiness of",
"text": "Asia. Antony then sent a message inviting Cleopatra to dine with him.",
"text": "But she thought it more appropriate that he should come to her, and so,as he wished to show his courtesy and goodwill, he accepted and went.",
"text": "He found the preparations made to receive him magnificent bevond",
"text": "words, but what astonished him most of all was the extraordinary",
"text": "number of lights. So many of these, it is said, were let down from the roof",
"text": "and displayed on all sides at once, and they were arranged and grouped",
"text": "in such ingenious patterns in relation to each other, some in squares and",
"text": "some in circles, that they created as brilliant a spectacle as can ever",
"text": "have been devised to delight the eve.",
"text": "LIFE OF ANTONY. PLI [ARCH. C. A.D. 46-120",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I",
"text": "In the early 1780s, word spread through Berlin of the strange and",
"text": "spectacular medical practice of a Dr. Weisleder. He performed his",
"text": "miracles in an enormous converted beer hall, outside which Berliners",
"text": "began to notice ever longer lines of people—the blind, the lame, anyone",
"text": "with an illness incurable by normal medicine. When it leaked out that the",
"text": "doctor worked by exposing the patient to the rays of the moon, he soon",
"text": "became dubbed The Moon Doctor of Berlin.",
"text": "Sometime in 1783, it was reported that Dr. Weisleder had cured a",
"text": "well-to-do woman of a terrible ailment. He suddenly became a celebrity.",
"text": "Previously only the poorest Berliners had been seen waiting outside the",
"text": "beer hall in their rags; now magnificent carriages were parked outside,",
"text": "and gentlemen in frock coats, and ladies with enormous coiffures, lined",
"text": "the street as sunset drew near. Even folk with the mildest of ailments",
"text": "came, out of sheer curiosity. As they waited in line, the poorer clients",
"text": "would explain to the gentlemen and ladies that the doctor only practiced",
"text": "when the moon was in its increscent phase. Many would add that they",
"text": "themselves had already been exposed to the healing powers he called",
"text": "forth from the rays of the moon. Even those who felt cured kept coming",
"text": "back, drawn by this powerful experience.",
"text": "Inside the beer hall, a strange and stirring spectacle greeted the visitor:",
"text": "Packed into the entrance hall was a crowd of all classes and ethnic",
"text": "backgrounds, a veritable Tower of Babel. Through tall windows on the",
"text": "northern side of the hall, silvery moonlight poured in at odd angles. The",
"text": "doctor and his wife, who, it seemed, was also able to effect the cure,practiced on the second floor, which was reached by a stairway, at the",
"text": "end of the hall. As the line edged closer to the stairs, the sick would hear",
"text": "shouts and cries from above, and word would spread of, perhaps, a blind",
"text": "gentleman suddenly able to see.",
"text": "Once upstairs, the line would fork in two directions, toward a northern",
"text": "room for the doctor, a southern one for his wife, who worked only on the",
"text": "ladies. Finally, after hours of anticipation and waiting in line, the",
"text": "gentlemen patients would be led before the amazing doctor himself, an",
"text": "elderly man with a few stalks of wild gray hair and an air of nervous",
"text": "energy. He would take the patient (let us say a young boy, brought in by",
"text": "his father), uncover the afflicted body part, and lift the boy up to the",
"text": "window, which faced the light of the moon. He would rub the site of the",
"text": "injury or illness, mumble something unintelligible, look knowingly at the",
"text": "moon, and then, after collecting his fee, send the boy and his father on",
"text": "their way. Meanwhile, in the south-facing room, his wife would be doing",
"text": "the same with the ladies—which was odd, really, since the moon cannot",
"text": "appear in two places at once; it cannot have been visible, in other words,",
"text": "from both windows. Apparently the mere thought, idea, and symbol of",
"text": "the moon were enough, for the ladies did not complain, and would later",
"text": "remark confidently that the wife of the Moon Doctor had the same",
"text": "healing powers as he.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Dr. Weisleder may have known nothing about medicine, but he",
"text": "understood human nature. He recognized that people do not always want",
"text": "words, or rational explanations, or demonstrations of the powers of",
"text": "science; they want an immediate appeal to their emotions. Give them that",
"text": "and they will do the rest—such as imagine they can be healed by the",
"text": "light reflected from a rock a quarter million miles away. Dr. Weisleder",
"text": "had no need of pills, or of lengthy lectures on the moon’s power, or of",
"text": "any silly gadgetry to amplify its rays. He understood that the simpler the",
"text": "spectacle the better—just the moonlight pouring in from the side, the",
"text": "stairway leading to the heavens, and the rays of the moon, whether",
"text": "directly visible or not. Any added effects might have made it seem that",
"text": "the moon was not strong enough on its own. And the moon was strong",
"text": "enough—it was a magnet for fantasies, as it has been throughout history.",
"text": "Simply by associating himself with the image of the moon, the doctor",
"text": "gained power.Remember: Your search for power depends on shortcuts. You must",
"text": "always circumvent people’s suspicions, their perverse desire to resist",
"text": "your will. Images are an extremely effective shortcut: Bypassing the",
"text": "head, the seat of doubt and resistance, they aim straight for the heart.",
"text": "Overwhelming the eyes, they create powerful associations, bringing",
"text": "people together and stirring their emotions. With the white light of the",
"text": "moon in their eyes, your targets are blinded to the deceptions you",
"text": "practice.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II",
"text": "In 1536 the future king Henri II of France took his first mistress, Diane",
"text": "de Poitiers. Diane was thirty-seven at the time, and was the widow of the",
"text": "grand seneschal of Normandy. Henri, meanwhile, was a sprightly lad of",
"text": "seventeen, who was just beginning to sow his wild oats. At first their",
"text": "union seemed merely platonic, with Henri showing an intensely spiritual",
"text": "devotion to Diane. But it soon became clear that he loved her in every",
"text": "way, preferring her bed to that of his young wife, Catherine de’ Médicis.",
"text": "In 1547 King Francis died and Henri ascended to the throne. This new",
"text": "situation posed perils for Diane de Poitiers. She had just turned forty-",
"text": "eight, and despite her notorious cold baths and rumored youth potions,",
"text": "she was beginning to show her age; now that Henri was king, perhaps he",
"text": "would return to the queen’s bed, and do as other kings had done—choose",
"text": "mistresses from the bevy of beauties who made the French court the",
"text": "envy of Europe. He was, after all, only twenty-eight, and cut a dashing",
"text": "figure. But Diane did not give up so easily. She would continue to",
"text": "enthrall her lover, as she had enthralled him for the past eleven years.",
"text": "In the Middle Ages the symbolist attitude was much more in evidence. …",
"text": "Symbolism appears as a sort of short cut of thought. Instead of looking",
"text": "for the relation between two things by following the hidden detours of",
"text": "their causal connexions, thought makes a leap and discovers their",
"text": "relation not in the connexion of cause and effects, but in a connexion of",
"text": "signification…. Symbolist thought permits an infinity of relations",
"text": "between things. Each thing may denote a number of distinct ideas by its",
"text": "different special qualities, and a quality may have several symbolic",
"text": "meanings. The highest conceptions have symbols by the thousand.",
"text": "Nothing is too humble to represent and glory the sublime. The walnutsignifies Christ: the sweet kernel is His divine nature, the green and",
"text": "pulpy outer peel is His humanity, the wooden shell between is the cross.",
"text": "Thus all things raise his thoughts to the eternal…. Every precious stone,",
"text": "besides its natural splendour sparkles with the brilliance of its symbolic",
"text": "values. The assimilation of roses and virginity is much more than a",
"text": "poetic comparison, for it reveals their common essence. As each notion",
"text": "arises in the mind the logic of symbolism creates an harmony of ideas.",
"text": "THE WANING OF THE MIDDLE AGES, JOHAN HUIZINGA, 1928",
"text": "Diane’s secret weapons were symbols and images, to which she had",
"text": "always paid great attention. Early on in her relationship with Henri, she",
"text": "had created a motif by intertwining her initials with his, to symbolize",
"text": "their union. The idea worked like a charm: Henri put this insignia",
"text": "everywhere—on his royal robes, on monuments, on churches, on the",
"text": "facade of the Louvre, then the royal palace in Paris. Diane’s favorite",
"text": "colors were black and white, which she wore exclusively, and wherever",
"text": "it was possible the insignia appeared in these colors. Everyone",
"text": "recognized the symbol and its meaning. Soon after Henri took the throne,",
"text": "however, Diane went still further: She decided to identify herself with",
"text": "the Roman goddess Diana, her namesake. Diana was the goddess of the",
"text": "hunt, the traditional royal pastime and the particular passion of Henri.",
"text": "Equally important, in Renaissance art she symbolized chastity and purity.",
"text": "For a woman like Diane to identify herself with this goddess would",
"text": "instantly call up those images in the court, giving her an air of",
"text": "respectability. Symbolizing her “chaste” relationship with Henri, it",
"text": "would also set her apart from the adulterous liaisons of royal mistresses",
"text": "past.",
"text": "To effect this association, Diane began by completely transforming her",
"text": "castle at Anet. She razed the building’s structure and in its place erected",
"text": "a magnificent Doric-columned edifice modeled after a Roman temple. It",
"text": "was made in white Normandy stone flecked with black silex,",
"text": "reproducing Diane’s trademark colors of black and white. The insignia of",
"text": "her and Henri’s initials appeared on the columns, the doors, the windows,",
"text": "the carpet. Meanwhile, symbols of Diana—crescent moons, stags, and",
"text": "hounds—adorned the gates and facade. Inside, enormous tapestries",
"text": "depicting episodes in the life of the goddess lay on the floors and hung",
"text": "on the walls. In the garden stood the famous Goujon sculpture Diane",
"text": "Chasseresse, which is now in the Louvre, and which had an uncanny",
"text": "resemblance to Diane de Poitiers. Paintings and other depictions of",
"text": "Diana appeared in every corner of the castle.Anet overwhelmed Henri, who soon was trumpeting the image of",
"text": "Diane de Poitiers as a Roman goddess. In 1548, when the couple",
"text": "appeared together in Lyons for a royal celebration, the townspeople",
"text": "welcomed them with a tableau vivant depicting a scene with Diana the",
"text": "huntress. France’s greatest poet of the period, Pierre de Ronsard, began",
"text": "to write verses in honor of Diana—indeed a kind of cult of Diana sprang",
"text": "up, all inspired by the king’s mistress. It seemed to Henri that Diane had",
"text": "given herself a kind of divine aura, and as if he were destined to worship",
"text": "her for the rest of his life. And until his death, in 1559, he did remain",
"text": "faithful to her—making her a duchess, giving her untold wealth, and",
"text": "displaying an almost religious devotion to his first and only mistress.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Diane de Poitiers, a woman from a modest bourgeois background,",
"text": "managed to captivate Henri for over twenty years. By the time he died",
"text": "she was well into her sixties, yet his passion for her only increased with",
"text": "the years. She knew the king well. He was not an intellectual but a lover",
"text": "of the outdoors—he particularly loved jousting tournaments, with their",
"text": "bright pennants, brilliantly caparisoned horses, and beautifully dressed",
"text": "women. Henri’s love of visual splendor seemed childlike to Diane, and",
"text": "she played on this weakness of his at every opportunity.",
"text": "Most astute of all was Diane’s appropriation of the goddess Diana.",
"text": "Here she took the game beyond physical imagery into the realm of the",
"text": "psychic symbol. It was quite a feat to transform a king’s mistress into an",
"text": "emblem of power and purity, but she managed it. Without the resonance",
"text": "of the goddess, Diane was merely an aging courtesan. With the imagery",
"text": "and symbolism of Diana on her shoulders, she seemed a mythic force,",
"text": "destined for greatness.",
"text": "You too can play with images like these, weaving visual clues into an",
"text": "encompassing gestalt, as Diane did with her colors and her insignia.",
"text": "Establish a trademark like these to set yourself apart. Then take the game",
"text": "further: Find an image or symbol from the past that will neatly fit your",
"text": "situation, and put it on your shoulders like a cape. It will make you seem",
"text": "larger than life.",
"text": "There was a man named Sakamotoya Hechigwan who lived in upper",
"text": "Kyoto…. When [Emperor] Hideyoshi gave his great Cha-no-yu [tea",
"text": "ceremony] meeting at Kitano in the tenth month of 1588, Hechigwan set",
"text": "up a great red umbrella nine feet across mounted on a stick seven feethigh. The circumference of the handle he surrounded for about two feet",
"text": "by a reed fence in such a way that the rays of the sun were reflected from",
"text": "it and diffused the colour of the umbrella all around. This device pleased",
"text": "Hideyoshi so much that he remitted Hechigwan’s taxes as a reward.",
"text": "CHA-NO-YU: THE JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY, A. L. SADLER,",
"text": "1962",
"text": "Because of the light it shines on the other stars which make up a kind of",
"text": "court around it, because of the just and equal distribution of its rays to",
"text": "all alike, because of the good it brings to all places, producing life, joy",
"text": "and action, because of its constancy from which it never varies, I chose",
"text": "the sun as the most magnificent image to represent a great leader.",
"text": "Louis XIV, the Sun King, 1638-1715",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Using words to plead your case is risky business: Words are dangerous",
"text": "instruments, and often go astray. The words people use to persuade us",
"text": "virtually invite us to reflect on them with words of our own; we mull",
"text": "them over, and often end up believing the opposite of what they say.",
"text": "(That is part of our perverse nature.) It also happens that words offend",
"text": "us, stirring up associations unintended by the speaker.",
"text": "The visual, on the other hand, short-circuits the labyrinth of words. It",
"text": "strikes with an emotional power and immediacy that leave no gaps for",
"text": "reflection and doubt. Like music, it leaps right over rational, reasonable",
"text": "thoughts. Imagine the Moon Doctor trying to make a case for his medical",
"text": "practice, trying to convince the unconverted by telling them about the",
"text": "healing powers of the moon, and about his own special connection to a",
"text": "distant object in the sky. Fortunately for him, he was able to create a",
"text": "compelling spectacle that made words unnecessary. The moment his",
"text": "patients entered the beer hall, the image of the moon spoke eloquently",
"text": "enough.",
"text": "Understand: Words put you on the defensive. If you have to explain",
"text": "yourself your power is already in question. The image, on the other hand,",
"text": "imposes itself as a given. It discourages questions, creates forceful",
"text": "associations, resists unintended interpretations, communicates instantly,",
"text": "and forges bonds that transcend social differences. Words stir uparguments and divisions; images bring people together. They are the",
"text": "quintessential instruments of power.",
"text": "The symbol has the same force, whether it is visual (the statue of",
"text": "Diana) or a verbal description of something visual (the words “the Sun",
"text": "King”). The symbolic object stands for something else, something",
"text": "abstract (such as the image “Diana” standing for chastity). The abstract",
"text": "concept—purity, patriotism, courage, love—is full of emotional and",
"text": "powerful associations. The symbol is a shortcut of expression, containing",
"text": "dozens of meanings in one simple phrase or object. The symbol of the",
"text": "Sun King, as explained by Louis XIV, can be read on many layers, but",
"text": "the beauty of it is that its associations required no explanation, spoke",
"text": "immediately to his subjects, distinguished him from all other kings, and",
"text": "conjured up a kind of majesty that went far beyond the words",
"text": "themselves. The symbol contains untold power.",
"text": "The first step in using symbols and images is to understand the",
"text": "primacy of sight among the senses. Before the Renaissance, it has been",
"text": "argued, sight and the other senses—taste, touch, and so on—operated on",
"text": "a relatively equal plane. Since then, however, the visual has come to",
"text": "dominate the others, and is the sense we most depend on and trust. As",
"text": "Gracián said, “The truth is generally seen, rarely heard.” When the",
"text": "Renaissance painter Fra Filippo Lippi was a captured slave among the",
"text": "Moors, he won his freedom by sketching a drawing of his master on a",
"text": "white wall with a piece of charcoal; when the owner saw the drawing, he",
"text": "instantly understood the power of a man who could make such images,",
"text": "and let Fra Lippi go. That one image was far more powerful than any",
"text": "argument the artist could have made with words.",
"text": "Never neglect the way you arrange things visually. Factors like color,",
"text": "for example, have enormous symbolic resonance. When the con artist",
"text": "Yellow Kid Weil created a newsletter touting the phony stocks he was",
"text": "peddling, he called it the “Red Letter Newsletter” and had it printed, at",
"text": "considerable expense, in red ink. The color created a sense of urgency,",
"text": "power, and good fortune. Weil recognized details like these as keys to",
"text": "deception—as do modern advertisers and mass-marketers. If you use",
"text": "“gold” in the title of anything you are trying to sell, for example, print it",
"text": "in gold. Since the eye predominates, people will respond more to the",
"text": "color than to the word.",
"text": "The visual contains great emotional power. The Roman emperor",
"text": "Constantine worshipped the sun as a god for most of his life; one day,",
"text": "though, he looked up at the sun, and saw a cross superimposed on it. The",
"text": "vision of the cross over the sun proved to him the ascendancy of the newreligion, and he converted not just himself but the whole Roman Empire",
"text": "to Christianity soon thereafter. All the preaching and proselytizing in the",
"text": "world could not have been as powerful. Find and associate yourself with",
"text": "the images and symbols that will communicate in this immediate way",
"text": "today, and you will have untold power.",
"text": "Most effective of all is a new combination—a fusion of images and",
"text": "symbols that have not been seen together before, but that through their",
"text": "association clearly demonstrate your new idea, message, religion. The",
"text": "creation of new images and symbols out of old ones in this way has a",
"text": "poetic effect—viewers’ associations run rampant, giving them a sense of",
"text": "participation.",
"text": "Visual images often appear in a sequence, and the order in which they",
"text": "appear creates a symbol. The first to appear, for instance, symbolizes",
"text": "power; the image at the center seems to have central importance.",
"text": "Near the end of World War II, orders came down from General",
"text": "Eisenhower that American troops were to lead the way into Paris after its",
"text": "liberation from the Nazis. The French general Charles de Gaulle,",
"text": "however, realized that this sequence would imply that the Americans",
"text": "now commanded the fate of France. Through much manipulation, de",
"text": "Gaulle made certain that he and the French Second Armored Division",
"text": "would appear at the head of the liberating force. The strategy worked:",
"text": "After he had successfully pulled off this stunt, the Allies started treating",
"text": "him as the new leader of an independent France. De Gaulle knew that a",
"text": "leader has to locate himself literally at the head of his troops. This visual",
"text": "association is crucial to the emotional response that he needs to elicit.",
"text": "Things change in the game of symbols: It is probably no longer",
"text": "possible to pose as a “sun king,” or to wrap the mantle of Diana around",
"text": "you. Yet you can associate yourself with such symbols more indirectly.",
"text": "And, of course, you can make your own mythology out of figures from",
"text": "more recent history, people who are comfortably dead but still",
"text": "powerfully associative in the public eye. The idea is to give yourself an",
"text": "aura, a stature that your normal banal appearance simply will not create.",
"text": "By herself Diane de Poitiers had no such radiant powers; she was as",
"text": "human and ordinary as most of us. But the symbol elevated her above the",
"text": "human lot, and made her seem divine.",
"text": "Using symbols also has a courtier-like effect, since they are often",
"text": "gentler than brutish words. The psychotherapist Dr. Milton H. Erickson",
"text": "always tried to find symbols and images that would communicate to the",
"text": "patient in ways that words could not. When dealing with a severely",
"text": "troubled patient, he would not question him directly but would talk aboutsomething irrelevant, such as driving through the desert in Arizona,",
"text": "where he practiced in the 1950s. In describing this he would eventually",
"text": "come to an appropriate symbol for what he suspected was the man’s",
"text": "problem. If he felt the patient was isolated, say, Dr. Erickson would talk",
"text": "of a single iron-wood tree, and how its isolation left it battered by the",
"text": "winds. Making an emotional connection with the tree as a symbol, the",
"text": "patient would open up more readily to the doctor’s probing.",
"text": "Use the power of symbols as a way to rally, animate, and unite your",
"text": "troops or team. During the rebellion against the French crown in 1648,",
"text": "those loyal to the king disparaged the rebels by comparing them to the",
"text": "slingshots (in French, frondes) that little boys use to frighten big boys.",
"text": "Cardinal de Retz decided to turn this disparaging term into the rebels’",
"text": "symbol: The uprising was now known as the Fronde, and the rebels as",
"text": "frondeurs. They began to wear sashes in their hats that symbolized the",
"text": "slingshot, and the word became their rallying cry. Without it the rebellion",
"text": "might well have petered out. Always find a symbol to represent your",
"text": "cause—the more emotional associations, the better.",
"text": "The best way to use images and symbols is to organize them into a",
"text": "grand spectacle that awes people and distracts them from unpleasant",
"text": "realities. This is easy to do: People love what is grand, spectacular, and",
"text": "larger than life. Appeal to their emotions and they will flock to your",
"text": "spectacle in hordes. The visual is the easiest route to their hearts.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Cross and the",
"text": "Sun. Crucifixion and",
"text": "total radiance. With one",
"text": "imposed over the other, a",
"text": "new reality takes shape—",
"text": "a new power is in the",
"text": "ascendant. The sym",
"text": "bol—no explanation",
"text": "necessary.",
"text": "Authority: The people are always impressed by the superficial",
"text": "appearance of things…. The [prince] should, at fitting times of the year,keep the people occupied and distracted with festivities and spectacles.",
"text": "(Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "No power is made available by ignoring images and symbols. There is",
"text": "no possible reversal to this law.LAW 38",
"text": "THINK AS YOU LIKE BUT BEHAVE LIKE",
"text": "OTHERS",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your",
"text": "unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you",
"text": "only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a",
"text": "way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in",
"text": "and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant",
"text": "friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.",
"text": "THINK WITH THE FEW AND SPEAK WITH",
"text": "THE MANY",
"text": "It is easy to run into danger by trying to swim against the stream. Only a",
"text": "Socrates could attempt to do that. Disagreement is regarded as offensive",
"text": "because it is a condemnation of the views of others; the numbers of the",
"text": "disgruntled grow, on account either of some matter that has been the",
"text": "object of censure or of some person who has praised it: Truth is for the",
"text": "few, error is as usual as it is vulgar. Nor is the wise man to be recognized",
"text": "by what he says in the marketplace, for he speaks there not with his own",
"text": "voice, but with that of universal folly, however much his inmost thoughts",
"text": "may gainsay it: The wise man avoids being contradicted as sedulously as",
"text": "he avoids contradicting; the publicity of censure is withheld from that",
"text": "which readily provokes it. Thought is free; it cannot and should not be",
"text": "coerced; retire into the sanctuary of your silence and if you sometimes",
"text": "allow yourself to break it, do so under the aegis of a discreet few.",
"text": "BALTASAR GRACIÁN, 1601-1658TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Around the year 478 B.C., the city of Sparta sent an expedition to Persia",
"text": "led by the young Spartan nobleman Pausanias. The city-states of Greece",
"text": "had recently fought off a mighty invasion from Persia, and now",
"text": "Pausanias, along with allied ships from Athens, had orders to punish the",
"text": "invaders and win back the islands and coastal towns that the Persians had",
"text": "occupied. Both the Athenians and the Spartans had great respect for",
"text": "Pausanias-he had proven himself as a fearless warrior, with a flair for the",
"text": "dramatic.",
"text": "With amazing speed, Pausanias and his troops took Cyprus, then",
"text": "moved on to the mainland of Asia Minor known as the Hellespont and",
"text": "captured Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul). Now master of part of the",
"text": "Persian empire, Pausanias began to show signs of behavior that went",
"text": "beyond his normal flamboyance. He appeared in public wearing",
"text": "pomades in his hair and flowing Persian robes, and accompanied by a",
"text": "bodyguard of Egyptians. He held lavish banquets in which he sat in the",
"text": "Persian manner and demanded to be entertained. He stopped seeing his",
"text": "old friends, entered into communication with the Persian King Xerxes,",
"text": "and all in all affected the style and manner of a Persian dictator.",
"text": "Clearly power and success had gone to Pausanias’s head. His army-",
"text": "Athenians and Spartans alike-at first thought this a passing fancy: He had",
"text": "always been a bit exaggerated in his gestures. But when he flaunted his",
"text": "disdain for the Greeks’ simple way of life, and insulted the common",
"text": "Greek soldier, they began to feel he had gone too far. Although there was",
"text": "no concrete evidence for this, rumors spread that he had gone over to the",
"text": "other side, and that he dreamed of becoming a kind of Greek Xerxes. To",
"text": "quell the possibility of mutiny, the Spartans relieved Pausanias of his",
"text": "command and called him home.",
"text": "Pausanias, however, continued to dress in the Persian style, even in",
"text": "Sparta. After a few months he independently hired a trireme and returned",
"text": "to the Hellespont, telling his compatriots he was going to continue the",
"text": "fight against the Persians. Actually, however, he had different plans—to",
"text": "make himself ruler of all Greece, with the aid of Xerxes himself. The",
"text": "Spartans declared him a public enemy and sent a ship to capture him.",
"text": "Pausanias surrendered, certain that he could clear himself of the charges",
"text": "of treason. It did come out during the trial that during his reign as",
"text": "commander he had offended his fellow Greeks time and again, erecting",
"text": "monuments, for instance, in his own name, rather than in those of thecities whose troops had fought alongside him, as was the custom. Yet",
"text": "Pausanias proved right: Despite the evidence of his numerous contacts",
"text": "with the enemy, the Spartans refused to imprison a man of such noble",
"text": "birth, and let him go.",
"text": "Now thinking himself untouchable, Pausanias hired a messenger to",
"text": "take a letter to Xerxes, but the messenger instead took the letter to the",
"text": "Spartan authorities. These men wanted to find out more, so they had the",
"text": "messenger arrange to meet Pausanias in a temple where they could hide",
"text": "and listen behind a partition. What Pausanias said shocked them-they",
"text": "had never heard such contempt for their ways spoken so brazenly by one",
"text": "of their own—and they made arrangements for his immediate arrest.",
"text": "On his way home from the temple, Pausanias got word of what had",
"text": "happened. He ran to another temple to hide, but the authorities followed",
"text": "him there and placed sentries all around. Pausanias refused to surrender.",
"text": "Unwilling to forcibly remove him from the sacred temple, the authorities",
"text": "kept him trapped inside, until he eventually died of starvation.",
"text": "Bene vixit, qui bene latuit—“He lives well who conceals himself well. ”",
"text": "OVID, c. 43 B.C.-A.D. 18",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "At first glance it might seem that Pausanias simply fell in love with",
"text": "another culture, a phenomenon as old as time. Never comfortable with",
"text": "the asceti cism of the Spartans, he found himself enthralled by the",
"text": "Persian love of luxury and sensual pleasure. He put on Persian robes and",
"text": "perfumes with a sense of deliverance from Greek discipline and",
"text": "simplicity.",
"text": "This is how it appears when people adopt a culture in which they were",
"text": "not raised. Often, however, there is also something else at play: People",
"text": "who flaunt their infatuation with a different culture are expressing a",
"text": "disdain and contempt for their own. They are using the outward",
"text": "appearance of the exotic to separate themselves from the common folk",
"text": "who unques tioningly follow the local customs and laws, and to express",
"text": "their sense of superiority. Otherwise they would act with more dignity,",
"text": "showing respect for those who do not share their desires. Indeed their",
"text": "need to show their difference so dramatically often makes them disliked",
"text": "by the people whose beliefs they challenge, indirectly and subtly,",
"text": "perhaps, but offensively nonetheless.As Thucydides wrote of Pausanias, “By his contempt for the laws and",
"text": "his imitation of foreign ways he had made himself very widely suspected",
"text": "of being unwilling to abide by normal standards.” Cultures have norms",
"text": "that reflect centuries of shared beliefs and ideals. Do not expect to scoff",
"text": "at such things with impunity. You will be punished somehow, even if just",
"text": "through isolation—a position of real powerlessness.",
"text": "Many of us, like Pausanias, feel the siren call of the exotic, the",
"text": "foreign. Measure and moderate this desire. Flaunting your pleasure in",
"text": "alien ways of thinking and acting will reveal a different motive—to",
"text": "demonstrate your superiority over your fellows.",
"text": "Wise men [should be] like coffers with double bottoms: Which when",
"text": "others look into, being opened, they see not all that they hold.",
"text": "SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 1554-1618",
"text": "WHEN THE WATERS WERE CHANGED",
"text": "Once upon a time Khidr, the teacher of Moses, called upon mankind with",
"text": "a warning. At a certain date, he said, all the water in the world which",
"text": "had not been specially hoarded, would disappear. It would then be",
"text": "renewed, with different water, which would drive men mad. Only one",
"text": "man listened to the meaning of this advice. He collected water and went",
"text": "to a secure place where he stored it, and waited for the water to change",
"text": "its character. On the appointed date the streams stopped running, the",
"text": "wells went dry, and the man who had listened, seeing this happening,",
"text": "went to his retreat and drank his preserved water. When he saw, from his",
"text": "security, the waterfalls again beginning to flow, this man descended",
"text": "among the other sons of men. He found that they were thinking and",
"text": "talking in an entirely different way from before; yet they had no memory",
"text": "of what had happened, nor of having been warned. When he tried to talk",
"text": "to them, he realized that they thought that he was mad, and they showed",
"text": "hostility or compassion, not understanding. At first he drank none of the",
"text": "new water, but went back to his concealment, to draw on his supplies,",
"text": "every day. Finally, however, he took the decision to drink the new water",
"text": "because he could not bear the loneliness of living, behaving and thinking",
"text": "in a different way from everyone else. He drank the new water, and",
"text": "became like the rest. Then he forgot all about his own store of special",
"text": "water, and his fellows began to look upon him as a madman who had",
"text": "miraculously been restored to sanity.",
"text": "TALES OF THE DERVISHES, IDRIES SHAH, 1967OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "During the late sixteenth century, a violent reaction against the Protestant",
"text": "Reformation erupted in Italy. The Counter-Reformation, as it was called,",
"text": "included its own version of the Inquisition to root out all deviations from",
"text": "the Catholic Church. Among its victims was the scientist Galileo, but an",
"text": "important thinker who suffered even greater persecution was the",
"text": "Dominican monk and philosopher Tommaso Campanella.",
"text": "A follower of the materialist doctrine of the Roman philosopher",
"text": "Epicurus, Campanella did not believe in miracles, or in heaven and hell.",
"text": "The Church had promoted such superstitions, he wrote, to control the",
"text": "common folk by keeping them in fear. Such ideas verged on atheism, and",
"text": "Campanella expressed them incautiously. In 1593 the Inquisition threw",
"text": "him into prison for his heretical beliefs. Six years later, as a form of",
"text": "partial release, he was confined to a monastery in Naples.",
"text": "Southern Italy was controlled by Spain at the time, and in Naples",
"text": "Campanella became involved in a plot to fight and throw out these",
"text": "invaders. His hope was to establish an independent republic based on his",
"text": "own ideas of utopia. The leaders of the Italian Inquisition, working with",
"text": "their Spanish counterparts, had him imprisoned again. This time they",
"text": "also tortured him, to discover the true nature of his impious beliefs: He",
"text": "was subjected to the infamous la veglia, a torture in which he was",
"text": "suspended by his arms in a squatting position a few inches above a seat",
"text": "studded with spikes. The posture was impossible to sustain, and in time",
"text": "the victim would end up sitting on the spikes, which would tear his flesh",
"text": "at the slightest contact.",
"text": "During these years, however, Campanella learned something about",
"text": "power. Facing the prospect of execution for heresy, he changed his",
"text": "strategy: He would not renounce his beliefs, yet he knew he had to",
"text": "disguise their outward appearance.",
"text": "To save his life, Campanella feigned madness. He let his inquisitors",
"text": "imagine that his beliefs stemmed from an incontrollable unsoundness of",
"text": "mind. For a while the tortures continued, to see if his insanity was faked,",
"text": "but in 1603 his sentence was commuted to life in prison. The first four",
"text": "years of this he spent chained to a wall in an underground dungeon.",
"text": "Despite such conditions, he continued to write—although no longer",
"text": "would he be so foolish as to express his ideas directly.",
"text": "One book of Campanella’s, The Hispanic Monarchy, promoted the",
"text": "idea that Spain had a divine mission to expand its powers around theworld, and offered the Spanish king practical, Machiavelli-type advice",
"text": "for achieving this. Despite his own interest in Machiavelli, the book in",
"text": "general presented ideas completely the opposite to his own. The",
"text": "Hispanic Monarchy was in fact a ploy, an attempt to show his conversion",
"text": "to orthodoxy in the boldest manner possible. It worked: In 1626, six",
"text": "years after its publication, the pope finally let Campanella out of prison.",
"text": "Shortly after gaining his freedom, Campanella wrote Atheism",
"text": "Conquered, a book attacking free-thinkers, Machiavellians, Calvinists,",
"text": "and heretics of all stripes. The book is written in the form of debates in",
"text": "which heretics express their beliefs and are countered by arguments for",
"text": "the superiority of Catholicism. Campanella had obviously reformed—his",
"text": "book made that clear. Or did it?",
"text": "The arguments in the mouths of the heretics had never before been",
"text": "expressed with such verve and freshness. Pretending to present their side",
"text": "only to knock it down, Campanella actually summarized the case against",
"text": "Catholicism with striking passion. When he argued the other side,",
"text": "supposedly his side, on the other hand, he resorted to stale clichés and",
"text": "convoluted rationales. Brief and eloquent, the heretics’ arguments",
"text": "seemed bold and sincere. The lengthy arguments for Catholicism seemed",
"text": "tiresome and unconvincing.",
"text": "Catholics who read the book found it disturbing and ambiguous, but",
"text": "they could not claim it was heretical, or that Campanella should be",
"text": "returned to prison. His defense of Catholicism, after all, used arguments",
"text": "they had used themselves. Yet in the years to come, Atheism Conquered",
"text": "became a bible for atheists, Machiavellians and libertines who used the",
"text": "arguments Campanella had put in their mouths to defend their dangerous",
"text": "ideas. Combining an outward display of conformity with an expression",
"text": "of his true beliefs in a way that his sympathizers would understand,",
"text": "Campanella showed that he had learned his lesson.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "In the face of awesome persecution, Campanella devised three",
"text": "strategic moves that saved his hide, freed him from prison, and allowed",
"text": "him to continue to express his beliefs. First he feigned madness—the",
"text": "medieval equivalent of disavowing responsibility for one’s actions, like",
"text": "blaming one’s parents today. Next he wrote a book that expressed the",
"text": "exact opposite of his own beliefs. Finally, and most brilliantly of all, he",
"text": "disguised his ideas while insinuating them at the same time. It is an oldbut powerful trick: You pretend to disagree with dangerous ideas, but in",
"text": "the course of your disagreement you give those ideas expression and",
"text": "exposure. You seem to conform to the prevailing orthodoxy, but those",
"text": "who know will understand the irony involved. You are protected.",
"text": "It is inevitable in society that certain values and customs lose contact",
"text": "with their original motives and become oppressive. And there will",
"text": "always be those who rebel against such oppression, harboring ideas far",
"text": "ahead of their time. As Campanella was forced to realize, however, there",
"text": "is no point in making a display of your dangerous ideas if they only bring",
"text": "you suffering and persecution. Martyrdom serves no purpose—better to",
"text": "live on in an oppressive world, even to thrive in it. Meanwhile find a way",
"text": "to express your ideas subtly for those who understand you. Laying your",
"text": "pearls before swine will only bring you trouble.",
"text": "Never combat any man‘s opinion; for though you reached the age of",
"text": "Methuselah, you would never have done setting him right upon all the",
"text": "absurd things that he believes.",
"text": "It is also well to avoid correcting people’s mistakes in conversation,",
"text": "however good your intentions may be; for it is easy to offend people, and",
"text": "difficult, if not impossible to mend them.",
"text": "If you feel irritated by the absurd remarks of two people whose",
"text": "conversation you happen to overhear, you should imagine that you are",
"text": "listening to the dialogue of two fools in a comedy. Probatum est.",
"text": "The man who comes into the world with the notion that he is really going",
"text": "to instruct it in matters of the highest importance, may thank his stars if",
"text": "he escapes with a whole skin.",
"text": "ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860",
"text": "For a long time I have not said what I believed, nor do I ever believe",
"text": "what I say, and if indeed sometimes I do happen to tell the truth,",
"text": "I hide it among so many lies that it is hard to find.",
"text": "Niccolò Machiavelli, in a letter to Francesco Gnicciardini, May 17, 1521",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "We all tell lies and hide our true feelings, for complete free expression is",
"text": "a social impossibility. From an early age we learn to conceal our",
"text": "thoughts, telling the prickly and insecure what we know they want tohear, watching carefully lest we offend them. For most of us this is",
"text": "natural—there are ideas and values that most people accept, and it is",
"text": "pointless to argue. We believe what we want to, then, but on the outside",
"text": "we wear a mask.",
"text": "There are people, however, who see such restraints as an intolerable",
"text": "infringement on their freedom, and who have a need to prove the",
"text": "superiority of their values and beliefs. In the end, though, their",
"text": "arguments convince only a few and offend a great deal more. The reason",
"text": "arguments do not work is that most people hold their ideas and values",
"text": "without thinking about them. There is a strong emotional content in their",
"text": "beliefs: They really do not want to have to rework their habits of",
"text": "thinking, and when you challenge them, whether directly through your",
"text": "arguments or indirectly through your behavior, they are hostile.",
"text": "Wise and clever people learn early on that they can display",
"text": "conventional behavior and mouth conventional ideas without having to",
"text": "believe in them. The power these people gain from blending in is that of",
"text": "being left alone to have the thoughts they want to have, and to express",
"text": "them to the people they want to express them to, without suffering",
"text": "isolation or ostracism. Once they have established themselves in a",
"text": "position of power, they can try to convince a wider circle of the",
"text": "correctness of their ideas—perhaps working indirectly, using",
"text": "Campanella’s strategies of irony and insinuation.",
"text": "In the late fourteenth century, the Spanish began a massive persecution",
"text": "of the Jews, murdering thousands and driving others out of the country.",
"text": "Those who remained in Spain were forced to convert. Yet over the next",
"text": "three hundred years, the Spanish noticed a phenomenon that disturbed",
"text": "them: Many of the converts lived their outward lives as Catholics, yet",
"text": "somehow managed to retain their Jewish beliefs, practicing the religion",
"text": "in private. Many of these so-called Marranos (originally a derogatory",
"text": "term, being the Spanish for “pig”) attained high levels of government",
"text": "office, married into the nobility, and gave every appearance of Christian",
"text": "piety, only to be discovered late in life as practicing Jews. (The Spanish",
"text": "Inquisition was specifically commissioned to ferret them out.) Over the",
"text": "years they mastered the art of dissimulation, displaying crucifixes",
"text": "liberally, giving generous gifts to churches, even occasionally making",
"text": "anti-Semitic remarks—and all the while maintaining their inner freedom",
"text": "and beliefs.",
"text": "In society, the Marranos knew, outward appearances are what matter.",
"text": "This remains true today. The strategy is simple: As Campanella did in",
"text": "writing Atheism Conquered, make a show of blending in, even going sofar as to be the most zealous advocate of the prevailing orthodoxy. If you",
"text": "stick to conventional appearances in public few will believe you think",
"text": "differently in private.",
"text": "THE CITIZEN AND THE TRAVELLER",
"text": "“Look around you,” said the citizen. “This is the largest market in the",
"text": "world.” “Oh surely not,” said the traveller. “Well, perhaps not the",
"text": "largest,” said the citizen, “but much the best.” “You are certainly wrong",
"text": "there,” said the traveller. “I can tell you….” They buried the stranger in",
"text": "the dusk.",
"text": "FABLES, ROBERT Louis STEVENSON, 1850-1894",
"text": "If Machiavelli had had a prince for disciple, the first thing he would have",
"text": "recommended him to do would have been to write a book against",
"text": "Machiavellism.",
"text": "VOLTAIRE, 1694-1778",
"text": "Do not be so foolish as to imagine that in our own time the old",
"text": "orthodoxies are gone. Jonas Salk, for instance, thought science had",
"text": "gotten past politics and protocol. And so, in his search for a polio",
"text": "vaccine, he broke all the rules—going public with a discovery before",
"text": "showing it to the scientific community, taking credit for the vaccine",
"text": "without acknowledging the scientists who had paved the way, making",
"text": "himself a star. The public may have loved him but scientists shunned",
"text": "him. His disrespect for his community’s orthodoxies left him isolated,",
"text": "and he wasted years trying to heal the breach, and struggling for funding",
"text": "and cooperation.",
"text": "Bertolt Brecht underwent a modem form of Inquisition—the House",
"text": "Un-American Activities Committee—and approached it with",
"text": "considerable canniness. Having worked off and on in the American film",
"text": "industry during World War II, in 1947 Brecht was summoned to appear",
"text": "before the committee to answer questions on his suspected Communist",
"text": "sympathies. Other writers called before the committee made a point of",
"text": "attacking its members, and of acting as belligerently as possible in order",
"text": "to gain sympathy for themselves. Brecht, on the other hand, who had",
"text": "actually worked steadfastly for the Communist cause, played the",
"text": "opposite game: He answered questions with ambiguous generalities that",
"text": "defied easy interpretation. Call it the Campanella strategy. Brecht even",
"text": "wore a suit—a rare event for him-and made a point of smoking a cigar",
"text": "during the proceedings, knowing that a key committee member had apassion for cigars. In the end he charmed the committee members, who",
"text": "let him go scot-free.",
"text": "Brecht then moved to East Germany, where he encountered a different",
"text": "kind of Inquisition. Here the Communists were in power, and they",
"text": "criticized his plays as decadent and pessimistic. He did not argue with",
"text": "them, but made small changes in the performance scripts to shut them",
"text": "up. Meanwhile he managed to preserve the published texts as written.",
"text": "His outward conformity in both cases gave him the freedom to work",
"text": "unhindered, without having to change his thinking. In the end, he made",
"text": "his way safely through dangerous times in different countries through the",
"text": "use of little dances of orthodoxy, and proved he was more powerful than",
"text": "the forces of repression.",
"text": "Not only do people of power avoid the offenses of Pausanias and Salk,",
"text": "they also learn to play the clever fox and feign the common touch. This",
"text": "has been the ploy of con artists and politicians throughout the centuries.",
"text": "Leaders like Julius Caesar and Franklin D. Roosevelt have overcome",
"text": "their natural aristocratic stance to cultivate a familiarity with the",
"text": "common man. They have expressed this familiarity in little gestures,",
"text": "often symbolic, to show the people that their leaders share popular",
"text": "values, despite their different status.",
"text": "The logical extension of this practice is the invaluable ability to be all",
"text": "things to all people. When you go into society, leave behind your own",
"text": "ideas and values, and put on the mask that is most appropriate for the",
"text": "group in which you find yourself. Bismarck played this game",
"text": "successfully for years—there were people who vaguely understood what",
"text": "he was up to, but not clearly enough that it mattered. People will",
"text": "swallow the bait because it flatters them to believe that you share their",
"text": "ideas. They will not take you as a hypocrite if you are careful—for how",
"text": "can they accuse you of hypocrisy if you do not let them know exactly",
"text": "what you stand for? Nor will they see you as lacking in values. Of course",
"text": "you have values—the values you share with them, while in their",
"text": "company.",
"text": "Authority: Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls",
"text": "before swine, lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you.",
"text": "(Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:6)",
"text": "Image: The Black The herd shuns the Sheep. black sheep, uncertain",
"text": "whether or not it belongs with them. So it straggles behind, or wanders",
"text": "away from the herd, where it is cornered by wolves and promptly",
"text": "devoured. Stay with the herd—there is safety in numbers. Keep your",
"text": "differences in your thoughts and not in your fleece.REVERSAL",
"text": "The only time it is worth standing out is when you already stand out—",
"text": "when you have achieved an unshakable position of power, and can",
"text": "display your difference from others as a sign of the distance between",
"text": "you. As president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson would",
"text": "sometimes hold meetings while he sat on the toilet. Since no one else",
"text": "either could or would claim such a “privilege,” Johnson was showing",
"text": "people that he did not have to observe the protocols and niceties of",
"text": "others. The Roman emperor Caligula played the same game: He would",
"text": "wear a woman’s negligee, or a bathrobe, to receive important visitors. He",
"text": "even went so far as to have his horse elected consul. But it backfired, for",
"text": "the people hated Caligula, and his gestures eventually brought his",
"text": "overthrow. The truth is that even those who attain the heights of power",
"text": "would be better off at least affecting the common touch, for at some",
"text": "point they may need popular support.",
"text": "Finally, there is always a place for the gadfly, the person who",
"text": "successfully defies custom and mocks what has grown lifeless in a",
"text": "culture. Oscar Wilde, for example, achieved considerable social power",
"text": "on this foundation: He made it clear that he disdained the usual ways of",
"text": "doing things, and when he gave public readings his audiences not only",
"text": "expected him to insult them but welcomed it. We notice, however, that",
"text": "his eccentric role eventually destroyed him. Even had he come to a better",
"text": "end, remember that he possessed an unusual genius: Without his gift to",
"text": "amuse and delight, his barbs would simply have offended people.LAW 39",
"text": "STIR UP WATERS TO CATCH FISH",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always",
"text": "stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while",
"text": "staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies",
"text": "off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle",
"text": "them and you hold the strings.",
"text": "ITAKURA SHICEMUNE GRINDS HIS OWN",
"text": "TEA",
"text": "The Kyoto Shoshidai ltakura Suwo-no-kami Shigemune was very fond of",
"text": "Cha-no-yu (the tea ceremony), and used to grind his own tea while",
"text": "sitting in the court as judge. And the reason was this. He once asked a",
"text": "friend of his who was his companion in Cha-no-yu, a tea merchant",
"text": "named Eiki, to tell him frankly what was the public opinion about him.",
"text": "“Well,” said Eiki, “they say that you get irritated with those who don’t",
"text": "give their evidence very clearly and scold them, and so people are afraid",
"text": "to bring lawsuits before you and if they do, the truth does not come out.”",
"text": "“Ah, I am glad you have told me that,” replied Shigemune, “for now that",
"text": "I consider it, I have fallen into the habit of speaking sharply to people in",
"text": "this way, and no doubt humble folk and those who are not ready in",
"text": "speech get flurried and are unable to put their case in the best light. I",
"text": "will see to it that this does not occur in the future.” So after this he had a",
"text": "tea mill placed before him in court and in front of it the paper-covered",
"text": "shoji were drawn to, and Shigemune sat behind them and ground the tea",
"text": "and thus kept his mind calm while he heard the cases. And he could",
"text": "easily see whether his composure was ruffied or not by looking at the",
"text": "tea, which would not fall evenly ground to the proper consistency if hegot excited. And so justice was done impartially and people went away",
"text": "from his court satisfied.",
"text": "CHA-NO-YU: THE JAPANESE TFA CEREMONY A. L. SADLER,",
"text": "1962",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "In January of 1809, an agitated and anxious Napoleon hurried back to",
"text": "Paris from his Spanish wars. His spies and confidants had confirmed a",
"text": "rumor that his foreign minister Talleyrand had conspired against him",
"text": "with Fouché, the minister of police. Immediately on arriving in the",
"text": "capital the shocked emperor summoned his ministers to the palace.",
"text": "Following them into the meeting right after their arrival, he began pacing",
"text": "up and down, and started rambling vaguely about plotters working",
"text": "against him, speculators bringing down the stock market, legislators",
"text": "delaying his policies—and his own ministers undermining him.",
"text": "As Napoleon talked, Talleyrand leaned on the mantelpiece, looking",
"text": "completely indifferent. Facing Talleyrand directly, Napoleon announced,",
"text": "“For these ministers, treason has begun when they permit themselves to",
"text": "doubt.” At the word “treason” the ruler expected his minister to be",
"text": "afraid. But Talleyrand only smiled, calm and bored.",
"text": "The sight of a subordinate apparently serene in the face of charges that",
"text": "could get him hanged pushed Napoleon to the edge. There were",
"text": "ministers, he said, who wanted him dead, and he took a step closer to",
"text": "Talleyrand—who stared back at him unfazed. Finally Napoleon",
"text": "exploded. “You are a coward,” he screamed in Talleyrand’s face, “a man",
"text": "of no faith. Nothing is sacred to you. You would sell your own father. I",
"text": "have showered you with riches and yet there is nothing you would not do",
"text": "to hurt me.” The other ministers looked at each other in disbelief—they",
"text": "had never seen this fearless general, the conqueror of most of Europe, so",
"text": "unhinged.",
"text": "“You deserve to be broken like glass,” Napoleon continued, stamping.",
"text": "“I have the power to do it, but I have too much contempt for you to",
"text": "bother. Why didn’t I have you hanged from the gates of the Tuileries?",
"text": "But there is still time for that.” Yelling, almost out of breath, his face red,",
"text": "his eyes bulging, he went on, “You, by the way, are nothing but shit in a",
"text": "silk stocking…. What about your wife? You never told me that SanCarlos was your wife’s lover?” “Indeed, sire, it did not occur to me that",
"text": "this information had any bearing on Your Majesty’s glory or my own,”",
"text": "said Talleyrand calmly, completely unflustered. After a few more insults,",
"text": "Napoleon walked away. Talleyrand slowly crossed the room, moving",
"text": "with his characteristic limp. As an attendant helped him with his cloak,",
"text": "he turned to his fellow ministers (all afraid they would never see him",
"text": "again), and said, “What a pity, gentlemen, that so great a man should",
"text": "have such bad manners.”",
"text": "Despite his anger, Napoleon did not arrest his foreign minister. He",
"text": "merely relieved him of his duties and banished him from the court,",
"text": "believing that for this man humiliation would be punishment enough. He",
"text": "did not realize that word had quickly spread of his tirade—of how the",
"text": "emperor had completely lost control of himself, and how Talleyrand had",
"text": "essentially humiliated him by maintaining his composure and dignity. A",
"text": "page had been turned: For the first time people had seen the great",
"text": "emperor lose his cool under fire. A feeling spread that he was on the way",
"text": "down. As Talleyrand later said, “This is the beginning of the end.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "This was indeed the beginning of the end. Waterloo was still six years",
"text": "ahead, but Napoleon was on a slow descent to defeat, crystallizing in",
"text": "1812 with his disastrous invasion of Russia. Talleyrand was the first to",
"text": "see the signs of his decline, especially in the irrational war with Spain.",
"text": "Sometime in 1808, the minister decided that for the future peace of",
"text": "Europe, Napoleon had to go. And so he conspired with Fouché.",
"text": "It is possible that the conspiracy was never anything more than a ploy",
"text": "—a device to push Napoleon over the edge. For it is hard to believe that",
"text": "two of the most practical men in history would only go halfway in their",
"text": "plotting. They may have been only stirring the waters, trying to goad",
"text": "Napoleon into a misstep. And indeed, what they got was the tantrum that",
"text": "laid out his loss of control for all to see. In fact, Napoleon’s soon-famous",
"text": "blowup that afternoon had a profoundly negative effect on his public",
"text": "image.",
"text": "This is the problem with the angry response. At first it may strike fear",
"text": "and terror, but only in some, and as the days pass and the storm clears,",
"text": "other responses emerge—embarrassment and uneasiness about the",
"text": "shouter’s capacity for going out of control, and resentment of what has",
"text": "been said. Losing your temper, you always make unfair and exaggeratedaccusations. A few such tirades and people are counting the days until",
"text": "you are gone.",
"text": "In the face of a conspiracy against him, a conspiracy between his two",
"text": "most important ministers, Napoleon certainly had a right to feel angry",
"text": "and anxious. But by responding so angrily, and so publicly, he only",
"text": "demonstrated his frustration. To show your frustration is to show that",
"text": "you have lost your power to shape events; it is the helpless action of the",
"text": "child who resorts to a hysterical fit to get his way. The powerful never",
"text": "reveal this kind of weakness.",
"text": "There were a number of things Napoleon could have done in this",
"text": "situation. He could have thought about the fact that two eminently",
"text": "sensible men had had reason to turn against him, and could have listened",
"text": "and learned from them. He could have tried to win them back to him. He",
"text": "could even have gotten rid of them, making their imprisonment or death",
"text": "an ominous display of his power. No tirades, no childish fits, no",
"text": "embarrassing after-effects—just a quiet and definitive severing of ties.",
"text": "Remember: Tantrums neither intimidate nor inspire loyalty. They only",
"text": "create doubts and uneasiness about your power. Exposing your",
"text": "weakness, these stormy eruptions often herald a fall.",
"text": "If possible, no animosity should be felt for anyone…. To speak angrily to",
"text": "a person, to show your hatred by what you say or by the way you look, is",
"text": "an unnecessary proceeding-dangerous, foolish, ridiculous, and vulgar.",
"text": "Anger or hatred should never be shown otherwise than in what you do;",
"text": "and feelings will be all the more effective in action. in so far as you avoid",
"text": "the exhibition of them in any other way. It is only the cold-blooded",
"text": "animals whose bite is poisonous.",
"text": "ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER. 1788-1860",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "By the late 1920s, Haile Selassie had nearly achieved his goal of",
"text": "assuming total control over Ethiopia, a country he felt needed strong and",
"text": "unified leadership. As regent to the empress Zauditu (stepdaughter of the",
"text": "late queen) and heir to the throne, Selassie had spent several years",
"text": "weakening the power of Ethiopia’s various warlords. Now only one real",
"text": "obstacle stood in his way: the empress and her husband, Ras Gugsa.",
"text": "Selassie knew the royal couple hated him and wanted to get rid of him,so to cut short their plotting he made Gugsa the governor of the northern",
"text": "province of Begemeder, forcing him to leave the capital, where the",
"text": "empress lived.",
"text": "For several years Gugsa played the loyal administrator. But Selassie",
"text": "did not trust him: He knew that Gugsa and the empress were plotting",
"text": "revenge. As time passed and Gugsa made no move, the chances of a plot",
"text": "only increased. Selassie knew what he had to do: draw Gugsa out, get",
"text": "under his skin, and push him into action before he was ready.",
"text": "For several years, a northern tribe, the Azebu Gallas, had been in",
"text": "virtual rebellion against the throne, robbing and pillaging local villages",
"text": "and refusing to pay taxes. Selassie had done nothing to stop them, letting",
"text": "them grow stronger. Finally, in 1929, he ordered Ras Gugsa to lead an",
"text": "army against these disobedient tribesmen. Gugsa agreed, but inwardly he",
"text": "seethed—he had no grudge against the Azebu Gallas, and the demand",
"text": "that he fight them hurt his pride. He could not disobey the order, but as",
"text": "he worked to put together an army, he began to spread an ugly rumor—",
"text": "that Selassie was in cahoots with the pope, and planned to convert the",
"text": "country to Roman Catholicism and make it a colony of Italy. Gugsa’s",
"text": "army swelled, and some of the tribes from which its soldiers came",
"text": "secretly agreed to fight Selassie. In March of 1930 an enormous force of",
"text": "35,000 men began to march, not on the Azebu Gallas but south, toward",
"text": "the capital of Addis Ababa. Made confident by his growing strength,",
"text": "Gugsa now openly led a holy war to depose Selassie and put the country",
"text": "back in the hands of true Christians.",
"text": "He did not see the trap that had been laid for him. Before Selassie had",
"text": "ordered Gugsa to fight the Azebu Gallas, he had secured the support of",
"text": "the Ethiopian church. And before the revolt got underway, he had bribed",
"text": "several of Gugsa’s key allies not to show up for battle. As the rebel army",
"text": "marched south, airplanes flew overhead dropping leaflets announcing",
"text": "that the highest church officials had recognized Selassie as the true",
"text": "Christian leader of Ethiopia, and that they had excommunicated Gugsa",
"text": "for fomenting a civil war. These leaflets severely blunted the emotions",
"text": "behind the holy crusade. And as battle loomed and the support that",
"text": "Gugsa’s allies had promised him failed to show up, soldiers began to flee",
"text": "or defect.",
"text": "When the battle came, the rebel army quicky collapsed. Refusing to",
"text": "surrender, Ras Gugsa was killed in the fighting. The empress, distraught",
"text": "over her husband’s death, died a few days later. On April 30, Selassie",
"text": "issued a formal proclamation announcing his new title: Emperor of",
"text": "Ethiopia.THE MONKEY AND THE WASP",
"text": "A monkey, whilst munching a ripe pear, was pestered by the bare-faced",
"text": "importunities of a wasp, who, nolens volens, would have a part. After",
"text": "threatening the monkey with his anger if he further hesitated to submit to",
"text": "his demand, he settled on the fruit; but was as soon knocked off by the",
"text": "monkey. The irritable wasp now had recourse to invective —and, after",
"text": "using the most insulting language, which the other calmly listened to, he",
"text": "so worked himself up into violent passion that, losing all consideration",
"text": "of the penalty, he flew to the face of the monkey, and stung him with such",
"text": "rage that he was unable to extricate his weapon, and was compelled to",
"text": "tear himself away, leaving it in the wound—thus entailing on himself a",
"text": "lingering death, accompanied by pains much greater than those he had",
"text": "inflicted.",
"text": "FABLES, JONATHAN BIRCH, 1783-1847",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Haile Selassie always saw several moves ahead. He knew that if he let",
"text": "Ras Gugsa decide the time and place of the revolt, the danger would be",
"text": "much greater than if he forced Gugsa to act on Selassie’s terms. So he",
"text": "goaded him into rebellion by offending his manly pride, asking him to",
"text": "fight people he had no quarrel with on behalf of a man he hated.",
"text": "Thinking everything out ahead, Selassie made sure that Gugsa’s rebellion",
"text": "would come to nothing, and that he could use it to do away with his last",
"text": "two enemies.",
"text": "This is the essence of the Law: When the waters are still, your",
"text": "opponents have the time and space to plot actions that they will initiate",
"text": "and control. So stir the waters, force the fish to the surface, get them to",
"text": "act before they are ready, steal the initiative. The best way to do this is to",
"text": "play on uncontrollable emotions—pride, vanity, love, hate. Once the",
"text": "water is stirred up, the little fish cannot help but rise to the bait. The",
"text": "angrier they become, the less control they have, and finally they are",
"text": "caught in the whirlpool you have made, and they drown.",
"text": "DITCH HIGH PRIEST",
"text": "Kin ’yo, an officer of the second rank, had a brother called the High",
"text": "Priest Ryogaku, an extremely bad-tempered man. Next to his monasterygrew a large nettle-tree which occasioned the nickname people gave him,",
"text": "the Nettle-tree High Priest. “That name is outrageous,”said the high",
"text": "priest, and cut down the tree. The stump still being left, people referred",
"text": "to him now as the Stump High Priest. More furious than ever, Ryogaku",
"text": "had the stump dug up and thrown away, but this left a big ditch. People",
"text": "now called him the Ditch High Priest.",
"text": "ESSAYS IN IDLENESS. KENKO, JAPAN, FOURTEENTH CENTURY",
"text": "A sovereign should never launch an army out of anger,",
"text": "a leader should never start a war out of wrath.",
"text": "Sun-tzu, fourth century B.C.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Angry people usually end up looking ridiculous, for their response seems",
"text": "out of proportion to what occasioned it. They have taken things too",
"text": "seriously, exaggerating the hurt or insult that has been done to them.",
"text": "They are so sensitive to slight that it becomes comical how much they",
"text": "take personally. More comical still is their belief that their outbursts",
"text": "signify power. The truth is the opposite: Petulance is not power, it is a",
"text": "sign of helplessness. People may temporarily be cowed by your",
"text": "tantrums, but in the end they lose respect for you. They also realize they",
"text": "can easily undermine a person with so little self-control.",
"text": "The answer, however, is not to repress our angry or emotional",
"text": "responses. For repression drains us of energy and pushes us into strange",
"text": "behavior. Instead we have to change our perspective: We have to realize",
"text": "that nothing in the social realm, and in the game of power, is personal.",
"text": "Everyone is caught up in a chain of events that long predates the",
"text": "present moment. Our anger often stems from problems in our childhood,",
"text": "from the problems of our parents which stem from their own childhood,",
"text": "on and on. Our anger also has roots in the many interactions with others,",
"text": "the accumulated disappointments and heartaches that we have suffered.",
"text": "An individual will often appear as the instigator of our anger but it is",
"text": "much more complicated, goes far beyond what that individual did to us.",
"text": "If a person explodes with anger at you (and it seems out of proportion to",
"text": "what you did to them), you must remind yourself that it is not",
"text": "exclusively directed at you—do not be so vain. The cause is much larger,",
"text": "goes way back in time, involves dozens of prior hurts, and is actually notworth the bother to understand. Instead of seeing it as a personal grudge,",
"text": "look at the emotional outburst as a disguised power move, an attempt to",
"text": "control or punish you cloaked in the form of hurt feelings and anger.",
"text": "This shift of perspective will let you play the game of power with",
"text": "more clarity and energy. Instead of overreacting, and becoming ensnared",
"text": "in people’s emotions, you will turn their loss of control to your",
"text": "advantage: You keep your head while they are losing theirs.",
"text": "During an important battle in the War of the Three Kingdoms, in the",
"text": "third century A.D., advisers to the commander Ts‘ao Ts’ao discovered",
"text": "documents showing that certain of his generals had conspired with the",
"text": "enemy, and urged him to arrest and execute them. Instead he ordered the",
"text": "documents burned and the matter forgotten. At this critical moment in",
"text": "the battle, to get upset or demand justice would have reverberated against",
"text": "him: An angry action would have called attention to the generals’",
"text": "disloyalty, which would have harmed the troops’ morale. Justice could",
"text": "wait—he would deal with the generals in time. Ts‘ao Ts’ao kept his head",
"text": "and made the right decision.",
"text": "Compare this to Napoleon’s response to Talleyrand: Instead of taking",
"text": "the conspiracy personally, the emperor should have played the game like",
"text": "Ts‘ao Ts’ao, carefully weighing the consequences of any action he took.",
"text": "The more powerful response in the end would have been to ignore",
"text": "Talleyrand, or to bring the minister gradually back to his side and punish",
"text": "him later.",
"text": "Anger only cuts off our options, and the powerful cannot thrive",
"text": "without options. Once you train yourself not to take matters personally,",
"text": "and to control your emotional responses, you will have placed yourself in",
"text": "a position of tremendous power: Now you can play with the emotional",
"text": "responses of other people. Stir the insecure into action by impugning",
"text": "their manhood, and by dangling the prospect of an easy victory before",
"text": "their faces. Do as Houdini did when challenged by the less successful",
"text": "escape artist Kleppini: Reveal an apparent weakness (Houdini let",
"text": "Kleppini steal the combination for a pair of cuffs) to lure your opponent",
"text": "into action. Then you can beat him with ease. With the arrogant too you",
"text": "can appear weaker than you are, taunting them into a rash action.",
"text": "Sun Pin, commander of the armies of Ch‘i and loyal disciple of Sun-",
"text": "tzu, once led his troops against the armies of Wei, which outnumbered",
"text": "him two to one. “Let us light a hundred thousand fires when our army",
"text": "enters Wei,” suggested Sun Pin, “fifty thousand on the next day, and only",
"text": "thirty thousand on the third.” On the third day the Wei general",
"text": "exclaimed, “I knew the men of Ch’i were cowards, and after only threedays more than half of them have deserted!” So, leaving behind his slow-",
"text": "moving heavy infantry, the general decided to seize the moment and",
"text": "move swiftly on the Ch’I camp with a lightly armed force. Sun Pin’s",
"text": "troops retreated, luring Wei’s army into a narrow pass, where they",
"text": "ambushed and destroyed them. With the Wei general dead and his forces",
"text": "decimated, Sun Pin now easily defeated the rest of his army.",
"text": "In the face of a hot-headed enemy, finally, an excellent response is no",
"text": "response. Follow the Talleyrand tactic: Nothing is as infuriating as a man",
"text": "who keeps his cool while others are losing theirs. If it will work to your",
"text": "advantage to unsettle people, affect the aristocratic, bored pose, neither",
"text": "mocking nor triumphant but simply indifferent. This will light their fuse.",
"text": "When they embarrass themselves with a temper tantrum, you will have",
"text": "gained several victories, one of these being that in the face of their",
"text": "childishness you have maintained your dignity and composure.",
"text": "Image: The Pond of Fish. The waters",
"text": "are clear and calm, and the fish are well below the surface.",
"text": "Stir the waters and they emerge. Stir it some more and they get",
"text": "angry, rising to the surface, biting whatever comes near—",
"text": "including a freshly baited hook.",
"text": "Authority: If your opponent is of a hot temper, try to irritate him. If he is",
"text": "arrogant, try to encourage his egotism…. One who is skilled at making",
"text": "the enemy move does so by creating a situation according to which the",
"text": "enemy will act; he entices the enemy with something he is certain to",
"text": "take. He keeps the enemy on the move by holding out bait and then",
"text": "attacks him with picked troops. (Sun-tzu, fourth century B.C.)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "When playing with people’s emotions you have to be careful. Study the",
"text": "enemy beforehand: Some fish are best left at the bottom of the pond.",
"text": "The leaders of the city of Tyre, capital of ancient Phoenicia, felt",
"text": "confident they could withstand Alexander the Great, who had conquered",
"text": "the Orient but had not attacked their city, which stood well protected on",
"text": "the water. They sent ambassadors to Alexander saying that although they",
"text": "would recognize him as emperor they would not allow him or his forcesto enter Tyre. This of course enraged him, and he immediately mounted a",
"text": "siege. For four months the city withstood him, and finally he decided that",
"text": "the struggle was not worth it, and that he would come to terms with the",
"text": "Tyrians. But they, feeling that they had already baited Alexander and",
"text": "gotten away with it, and confident that they could withstand him, refused",
"text": "to negotiate—in fact they killed his messengers.",
"text": "This pushed Alexander over the edge. Now it did not matter to him",
"text": "how long the siege lasted or how large an army it needed; he had the",
"text": "resources, and would do whatever it took. He remounted his assault so",
"text": "strenuously that he captured Tyre within days, burned it to the ground,",
"text": "and sold its people into slavery.",
"text": "You can bait the powerful and get them to commit and divide their",
"text": "forces as Sun Pin did, but test the waters first. Find the gap in their",
"text": "strength. If there is no gap—if they are impossibly strong—you have",
"text": "nothing to gain and everything to lose by provoking them. Choose",
"text": "carefully whom you bait, and never stir up the sharks.",
"text": "Finally there are times when a well-timed burst of anger can do you",
"text": "good, but your anger must be manufactured and under your control.",
"text": "Then you can determine exactly how and on whom it will fall. Never stir",
"text": "up reactions that will work against you in the long run. And use your",
"text": "thunder-bolts rarely, to make them the more intimidating and",
"text": "meaningful. Whether purposefully staged or not, if your outbursts come",
"text": "too often, they will lose their power.LAW 40",
"text": "DESPISE THE FREE LUNCH",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "What is offered for free is dangerous-it usually involves either a trick or",
"text": "a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your",
"text": "own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often",
"text": "wise to pay the full price—there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be",
"text": "lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign",
"text": "and a magnet for power.",
"text": "BURIED TREASURE",
"text": "Many weak-minded persons in cities hope to discover property under the",
"text": "surface of the earth and to make some profit from it. In the Maghrib",
"text": "there are many Berber “students” who are unable to make a living by",
"text": "natural ways and means. They approach well-to-do people with papers",
"text": "that have torn margins and contain either non-Arabic writing or what",
"text": "they claim to be the translation of a document written by the owner of",
"text": "buried treasures, giving the clue to the hiding place. In this way, they try",
"text": "to get their sustenance by [persuading the well-to-do] to send them out",
"text": "to dig and hunt for treasure. Occasionally, one of these treasure hunters",
"text": "displays strange information or some remarkable trick of magic with",
"text": "which he fools people into believing his other claims, although, in fact,",
"text": "he knows nothing of magic and its procedures…. The things that have",
"text": "been said about [treasure hunting] have no scientific basis, nor are they",
"text": "based upon [factual] information. It should be realized that although",
"text": "treasures are found, this happens rarely and by chance, not by systematic",
"text": "search…. Those who are deluded or afflicted by these things must take",
"text": "refuge in God from their inability to make a living and their laziness in",
"text": "this respect. They should not occupy themselves with absurdities and",
"text": "untrue stories.THE MUQADDIMAH, IBN KHALDUN, 1332-1406",
"text": "MONEY AND POWER",
"text": "In the realm of power, everything must be judged by its cost, and",
"text": "everything has a price. What is offered for free or at bargain rates often",
"text": "comes with a psychological price tag—complicated feelings of",
"text": "obligation, compromises with quality, the insecurity those compromises",
"text": "bring, on and on. The powerful learn early to protect their most valuable",
"text": "resources: independence and room to maneuver. By paying the full price,",
"text": "they keep themselves free of dangerous entanglements and worries.",
"text": "Being open and flexible with money also teaches the value of strategic",
"text": "generosity, a variation on the old trick of “giving when you are about to",
"text": "take.” By giving the appropriate gift, you put the recipient under",
"text": "obligation. Generosity softens people up—to be deceived. By gaining a",
"text": "reputation for liberality, you win people’s admiration while distracting",
"text": "them from your power plays. By strategically spreading your wealth, you",
"text": "charm the other courtiers, creating pleasure and making valuable allies.",
"text": "Look at the masters of power—the Caesars, the Queen Elizabeths, the",
"text": "Michelangelos, the Medicis: Not a miser among them. Even the great",
"text": "con artists spend freely to swindle. Tight purse strings are unattractive—",
"text": "when engaged in seduction, Casanova would give completely not only of",
"text": "himself but of his wallet. The powerful understand that money is",
"text": "psychologically charged, and that it is also a vessel of politeness and",
"text": "sociability. They make the human side of money a weapon in their",
"text": "armory.",
"text": "For everyone able to play with money, thousands more are locked in a",
"text": "self-destructive refusal to use money creatively and strategically. These",
"text": "types represent the opposite pole to the powerful, and you must learn to",
"text": "recognize them—either to avoid their poisonous natures or to turn their",
"text": "inflexibility to your advantage:",
"text": "The Greedy Fish. The greedy fish take the human side out of money.",
"text": "Cold and ruthless, they see only the lifeless balance sheet; viewing others",
"text": "solely as either pawns or obstructions in their pursuit of wealth, they",
"text": "trample on people’s sentiments and alienate valuable allies. No onewants to work with the greedy fish, and over the years they end up",
"text": "isolated, which often proves their undoing.",
"text": "Greedy fish are the con artist’s bread and butter: Lured by the bait of",
"text": "easy money, they swallow the ruse hook, line, and sinker. They are easy",
"text": "to deceive, for they spend so much time dealing with numbers (not with",
"text": "people) that they become blind to psychology, including their own.",
"text": "Either avoid them before they exploit you or play on their greed to your",
"text": "gain.",
"text": "The Bargain Demon. Powerful people judge everything by what it costs,",
"text": "not just in money but in time, dignity, and peace of mind. And this is",
"text": "exactly what Bargain Demons cannot do. Wasting valuable time digging",
"text": "for bargains, they worry endlessly about what they could have gotten",
"text": "elsewhere for a little less. On top of that, the bargain item they do buy is",
"text": "often shabby; perhaps it needs costly repairs, or will have to be replaced",
"text": "twice as fast as a high-quality item. The costs of these pursuits—not",
"text": "always in money (though the price of a bargain is often deceptive) but in",
"text": "time and peace of mind—discourage normal people from undertaking",
"text": "them, but for the Bargain Demon the bargain is an end in itself.",
"text": "These types might seem to harm only themselves, but their attitudes",
"text": "are contagious: Unless you resist them they will infect you with the",
"text": "insecure feeling that you should have looked harder to find a cheaper",
"text": "price. Don’t argue with them or try to change them. Just mentally add up",
"text": "the cost, in time and inner peace if not in hidden financial expense, of the",
"text": "irrational pursuit of a bargain.",
"text": "The Sadist. Financial sadists play vicious power games with money as a",
"text": "way of asserting their power. They might, for example, make you wait",
"text": "for money that is owed you, promising you that the check is in the mail.",
"text": "Or if they hire you to work for them, they meddle in every aspect of the",
"text": "job, haggling and giving you ulcers. Sadists seem to think that paying for",
"text": "something gives them the right to torture and abuse the seller. They have",
"text": "no sense of the courtier element in money. If you are unlucky enough to",
"text": "get involved with this type, accepting a financial loss may be better in",
"text": "the long run than getting entangled in their destructive power games.",
"text": "The Indiscriminate Giver. Generosity has a definite function in power: It",
"text": "attracts people, softens them up, makes allies out of them. But it has to",
"text": "be used strategically, with a definite end in mind. Indiscriminate Givers,on the other hand, are generous because they want to be loved and",
"text": "admired by all. And their generosity is so indiscriminate and needy that",
"text": "it may not have the desired effect: If they give to one and all, why should",
"text": "the recipient feel special? Attractive as it may seem to make an",
"text": "Indiscriminate Giver your mark, in any involvement with this type you",
"text": "will often feel burdened by their insatiable emotional needs.",
"text": "THE",
"text": "A miser, to make sure of his property, sold all that he had and converted",
"text": "it into a great lump of gold, which he htd in a hole in the ground, and",
"text": "went continually to visit and inspect it. This roused the curiosity of one of",
"text": "his workmen, who, suspecting that there was a treasure, when his",
"text": "master’s back was turned, went to the spot, and stole it away. When the",
"text": "miser returned and found the place empty, he wept and tore his hair. But",
"text": "a neighbor who saw him in this extravagant grief, and learned the cause",
"text": "of it, said: “Fret thyself no longer, but take a stone and put it in the same",
"text": "place, and think that it is your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to",
"text": "use it. the one will do you as much good as the other.”",
"text": "The worth of money is not in its possession, but in its use.",
"text": "FABLES, AFSOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW",
"text": "Transgression I",
"text": "After Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru, in 1532, gold from the Incan",
"text": "Empire began to pour into Spain, and Spaniards of all classes started",
"text": "dreaming of the instant riches to be had in the New World. The story",
"text": "soon spread of an Indian chief to the east of Peru who once each year",
"text": "would ritually cover himself in gold dust and dive into a lake. Soon word",
"text": "of mouth transformed El Dorado, the “Golden Man,” into an empire",
"text": "called El Dorado, wealthier than the Incan, where the streets were paved",
"text": "and the buildings inlaid with gold. This elaboration of the story did not",
"text": "seem implausible, for surely a chief who could afford to waste gold dust",
"text": "in a lake must rule a golden empire. Soon Spaniards were searching for",
"text": "El Dorado all over northern South America.In February of 1541, the largest expedition yet in this venture, led by",
"text": "Pizarro’s brother Gonzalo, left Quito, in Ecuador. Resplendent in their ar",
"text": "mors and colorful silks, 340 Spaniards headed east, along with 4,000",
"text": "Indians to carry supplies and serve as scouts, 4,000 swine, dozens of",
"text": "llamas, and close to 1,000 dogs. But the expedition was soon hit by",
"text": "torrential rain, which rotted its gear and spoiled its food. Meanwhile, as",
"text": "Gonzalo Pizarro questioned the Indians they met along the way, those",
"text": "who seemed to be withholding information, or who had not even heard",
"text": "of the fabulous kingdom, he would torture and feed to the dogs. Word of",
"text": "the Spaniards’ mur derousness spread quickly among the Indians, who",
"text": "realized that the only way to avoid Gonzalo’s wrath was to make up",
"text": "stories about El Dorado and send him as far away as possible. As",
"text": "Gonzalo and his men followed the leads the Indians gave them, then,",
"text": "they were only led farther into deep jungle.",
"text": "The explorers’ spirits sagged. Their uniforms had long since shredded;",
"text": "their armor rusted and they threw it away; their shoes were torn to",
"text": "pieces, forcing them to walk barefoot; the Indian slaves they had set out",
"text": "with had either died or deserted them; they had eaten not only the swine",
"text": "but the hunting dogs and llamas. They lived on roots and fruit. Realizing",
"text": "that they could not continue this way, Pizarro decided to risk river travel,",
"text": "and a barge was built out of rotting wood. But the journey down the",
"text": "treacherous Napo River proved no easier. Setting up camp on the river’s",
"text": "edge, Gonzalo sent scouts ahead on the barge to find Indian settlements",
"text": "with food. He waited and waited for the scouts to return, only to find out",
"text": "they had decided to desert the expedition and continue down the river on",
"text": "their own.",
"text": "The rain continued without end. Gonzalo’s men forgot about El Dorado;",
"text": "they wanted only to return to Quito. Finally, in August of 1542, a little",
"text": "over a hundred men, from an expedition originally numbering in the",
"text": "thousands, managed to find their way back. To the residents of Quito",
"text": "they seemed to have emerged from hell itself, wrapped in tatters and",
"text": "skins, their bodies covered in sores, and so emaciated as to be",
"text": "unrecognizable. For over a year and a half they had marched in an",
"text": "enormous circle, two thousand miles by foot. The vast sums of money",
"text": "invested in the expedition had yielded nothing—no sign of El Dorado",
"text": "and no sign of gold. Interpretation",
"text": "Even after Gonzalo Pizarro’s disaster, the Spaniards launched expedition",
"text": "after expedition in search of El Dorado. And like Pizarro the",
"text": "conquistadors would burn and loot villages, torture Indians, endure",
"text": "unimaginable hardships, and get no closer to gold. The money they spenton such expeditions cannot be calculated; yet despite the futility of the",
"text": "search, the lure of the fantasy endured.",
"text": "There is a popular saying in Japan that goes “Tada yori takai mono wa",
"text": "nai,” meaning: “Nothing is more costly than something given free of",
"text": "charge.”",
"text": "THE UNSPOKEN WAY, MICHIHIRO MATSUMOTO, 1988",
"text": "MONEY",
"text": "Yusuf Ibn Jafar el-Amudi used to take sums of money, sometimes very",
"text": "large ones, from those who came to study with him. A distinguished",
"text": "legalist visiting him once said: “I am enchanted and impressed by your",
"text": "teachings, and I am sure that you are directing your disciples in a proper",
"text": "manner. But it is not in accordance with tradition to take money for",
"text": "knowledge. Besides, the action is open to misinterpretation.” El-Amudi",
"text": "said: “I have never sold any knowledge. There is no Imoney on earth",
"text": "sufficient to pay for it. As for misinterpretation, the abstaining from",
"text": "taking money will not prevent it, for it will find some other object. Rather",
"text": "should you know that a man who takes money may be greedy for money,",
"text": "or he may not. But a man who takes nothing at all is under the gravest",
"text": "suspicion of robbing the disciple of his soul. People who say, ‘I take",
"text": "nothing,’ may be found to take away the volition of their victim.”",
"text": "THE DERMIS PROBE, IDRIES SHAH, 1970",
"text": "Not only did the search for El Dorado cost millions of lives—both",
"text": "Indian and Spanish—it helped bring the ruin of the Spanish empire. Gold",
"text": "became Spain’s obsession. The gold that did find its way back to Spain-",
"text": "and a lot did—was reinvested in more expeditions, or in the purchase of",
"text": "luxuries, rather than in agriculture or any other productive endeavor.",
"text": "Whole Spanish towns were depopulated as their menfolk left to hunt",
"text": "gold. Farms fell into ruin, and the army had no recruits for its European",
"text": "wars. By the end of the seventeenth century, the entire country had",
"text": "shrunk by more than half of its population; the city of Madrid had gone",
"text": "from a population of 400,000 to 150,000. With diminishing returns from",
"text": "its efforts over so many years, Spain fell into a decline from which it",
"text": "never recovered.",
"text": "Power requires self-discipline. The prospect of wealth, particularly",
"text": "easy, sudden wealth, plays havoc with the emotions. The suddenly rich",
"text": "believe that more is always possible. The free lunch, the money that will",
"text": "fall into your lap, is just around the corner.In this delusion the greedy neglect everything power really depends",
"text": "on: self-control, the goodwill of others, and so on. Understand: With one",
"text": "exception—death—no lasting change in fortune comes quickly. Sudden",
"text": "wealth rarely lasts, for it is built on nothing solid. Never let lust for",
"text": "money lure you out of the protective and enduring fortress of real power.",
"text": "Make power your goal and money will find its way to you. Leave El",
"text": "Dorado for suckers and fools.",
"text": "Transgression II",
"text": "In the early eighteenth century, no one stood higher in English society",
"text": "than the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. The duke, having led",
"text": "successful campaigns against the French, was considered Europe’s",
"text": "premier general and strategist. And his wife, the duchess, after much",
"text": "maneuvering, had established herself as the favorite of Queen Anne, who",
"text": "became ruler of England in 1702. In 1704 the duke’s triumph at the",
"text": "Battle of Blenheim made him the toast of England, and to honor him the",
"text": "queen awarded him a large plot of land in the town of Woodstock, and",
"text": "the funds to create a great palace there. Calling his planned home the",
"text": "Palace of Blenheim, the duke chose as his architect the young John",
"text": "Vanbrugh, a kind of Renaissance man who wrote plays as well as",
"text": "designed buildings. And so construction began, in the summer of 1705,",
"text": "with much fanfare and great hopes.",
"text": "Vanbrugh had a dramatist’s sense of architecture. His palace was to be",
"text": "a monument to Marlborough’s brilliance and power, and was to include",
"text": "artificial lakes, enormous bridges, elaborate gardens, and other",
"text": "fantastical touches. From day one, however, the duchess could not be",
"text": "pleased: She thought Vanbrugh was wasting money on yet another stand",
"text": "of trees; she wanted the palace finished as soon as possible. The duchess",
"text": "tortured Vanbrugh and his workmen on every detail. She was consumed",
"text": "with petty matters; although the government was paying for Blenheim,",
"text": "she counted every penny. Eventually her grumbling, about Blenheim and",
"text": "other things too, created an irreparable rift between her and Queen Anne,",
"text": "who, in 1711, dismissed her from the court, ordering her to vacate her",
"text": "apartments at the royal palace. When the duchess left (fuming over the",
"text": "loss of her position, and also of her royal salary), she emptied the",
"text": "apartment of every fixture down to the brass doorknobs.THE MAN WHO LOVED MONEY BETTER",
"text": "THAN LIFE",
"text": "In ancient times there was an old woodcutter who went to the mountain",
"text": "almost every day to cut wood.",
"text": "It was said that this old n?an was a miser who hoarded his silver until it",
"text": "changed to gold, and that he cared more for gold than anything else in",
"text": "all the world.",
"text": "One day a wilderness tiger sprang at him and though he ran he could",
"text": "not escape, and the tiger carried him off in its mouth.",
"text": "The woodcutter’s son saw his father’s danger, and ran to save him if",
"text": "possible. He carried a long knife, and as he could run faster than the",
"text": "tiger, who had a man to carry, he soon overtook them.",
"text": "His father was not much hurt, for the tiger held him by his clothes. When",
"text": "the old woodcutter saw his son about to stab the tiger he called out in",
"text": "great alarm: “Do not spoil the tiger’s skin! Do not spoil the tiger’s skin!",
"text": "If you can kill him without cutting holes in his skin we can get many",
"text": "pieces of silver for it. Kill him, but do not cut his body.” While the son",
"text": "was listening to his father’s instructions the tiger suddenly dashed off",
"text": "into the forest, carrying the old man where the son could not reach him,",
"text": "and he was soon killed.",
"text": "“CHINESE FABLE,” VARIOUS FABLES FROM VARIOUS PLACES,",
"text": "DIANE DI PRIMA, ED., 1960",
"text": "Over the next ten years, work on Blenheim would stop and start, as the",
"text": "funds became harder to procure from the government. The duchess",
"text": "thought Vanbrugh was out to ruin her. She quibbled over every carload",
"text": "of stone and bushel of lime, counted every extra yard of iron railing or",
"text": "foot of wainscot, hurling abuse at the wasteful workmen, contractors,",
"text": "and surveyors. Marlborough, old and weary, wanted nothing more than",
"text": "to settle into the palace in his last years, but the project became bogged",
"text": "down in a swamp of litigation, the workmen suing the duchess for",
"text": "wages, the duchess suing the architect right back. In the midst of this",
"text": "interminable wrangling, the duke died. He had never spent a night in his",
"text": "beloved Blenheim.",
"text": "After Marlborough’s death, it became clear that he had a vast estate,",
"text": "worth over £2 million—more than enough to pay for finishing the",
"text": "palace. But the duchess would not relent: She held back Vanbrugh’s",
"text": "wages as well as the workmen’s, and finally had the architect dismissed.The man who took his place finished Blenheim in a few years, following",
"text": "Vanbrugh’s designs to the letter. Vanbrugh died in 1726, locked out of",
"text": "the palace by the duchess, unable to set foot in his greatest creation.",
"text": "Foreshadowing the romantic movement, Blenheim had started a whole",
"text": "new trend in architecture, but had given its creator a twenty-year",
"text": "nightmare.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "For the Duchess of Marlborough, money was a way to play sadistic",
"text": "power games. She saw the loss of money as a symbolic loss of power.",
"text": "With Vanbrugh her contortions went deeper still: He was a great artist,",
"text": "and she envied his power to create, to attain a fame outside her reach.",
"text": "She may not have had his gifts, but she did have the money to torture and",
"text": "abuse him over the pettiest details—to ruin his life.",
"text": "This kind of sadism, however, bears an awful price. It made",
"text": "construction that should have lasted ten years take twenty. It poisoned",
"text": "many a relationship, alienated the duchess from the court, deeply pained",
"text": "the duke (who wanted only to live peacefully in Blenheim), created",
"text": "endless lawsuits, and took years off Vanbrugh’s life. Finally, too,",
"text": "posterity had the last word: Vanbrugh is recognized as a genius while the",
"text": "duchess is forever remembered for her consummate cheapness.",
"text": "The powerful must have grandeur of spirit—they can never reveal any",
"text": "pettiness. And money is the most visible arena in which to display either",
"text": "grandeur or pettiness. Best spend freely, then, and create a reputation for",
"text": "generosity, which in the end will pay great dividends. Never let financial",
"text": "details blind you to the bigger picture of how people perceive you. Their",
"text": "resentment will cost you in the long run. And if you want to meddle in",
"text": "the work of creative people under your hire, at least pay them well. Your",
"text": "money will buy their submission better than your displays of power.",
"text": "THE STORY OF MOSES AND PHARAOH",
"text": "It is written in the histories of the prophets that Moses was sent to",
"text": "Pharaoh with many miracles, wonders and honors. Now the daily ration",
"text": "for Pharaoh’s table was 4,000 sheep, 400 cows, 200 camels, and a",
"text": "corresponding amount of chickens, fish, beverages, fried meats, sweets,",
"text": "and other things. All the people of Egypt and all his army used to eat at",
"text": "his table every day. For 400 years he had claimed divinity and never",
"text": "ceased providing this food. When Moses prayed, saying, “O Lord,destroy Pharaoh,” God answered his prayer and said, “I shall destroy",
"text": "him in water, and I shall bestow all his wealth and that of his soldiers on",
"text": "you and your peoples.” Several vears passed bv after this promise, and",
"text": "Pharaoh, doomed to rum, continued to live in all his magnificence.",
"text": "Moses was impatient for God to destroy Pharaoh quickle, and he could",
"text": "not endure to wail any longer. So he fasted for forty days and went to",
"text": "Mount Sinai, and in his communing with god he said, “O Lord. Thou",
"text": "didst promise that Thou wouldst destroy Pharaoh, and still he has",
"text": "forsaken none of his blasphemies and pretensions. So when wilt Thou",
"text": "destroy him?”",
"text": "A voice came from The Truth saying, “O Muses, you want Me to destroy",
"text": "Pharaoh as quickly as possible, but a thousand times a thousand of My",
"text": "servants want Me never to do so, because they partake of his bounty and",
"text": "enjoy tranquillity under his rule. By My power I swear that as long as he",
"text": "provides abundant food and comfort for My creatures, I shall not destroy",
"text": "him.”",
"text": "Moses said, “Then when will Thy promise be fulfilled?” God said, “Mv",
"text": "promise will be fulfilled when he withholds his provision from My",
"text": "creatures. If ever he begins to lessen his bounty, know that his hour is",
"text": "drawing near.”",
"text": "It chanced that one day Pharaoh said to Haman, “Moses has gathered",
"text": "the Sons of Israel about him and is causing us disquiet. We know not",
"text": "what will be the issue of his affair with us. We must keep our stores full",
"text": "lest at any time we be without resources. So we must halve our daily",
"text": "rations and keep the saving in reserve.” He deducted 2, 000 sheep, 200",
"text": "cows, and a 100 camels, and similarly every two or three days reduced",
"text": "the ration. Moses then knew that the promise of The Truth was near to",
"text": "fulfillment, for excessive economy is a sign of decline and a bad omen.",
"text": "The masters of tradition say that on the day when Pharaoh was drowned",
"text": "only two ewes had been killed in his kitchen. Nothing is better than",
"text": "generosity…. If a man is rich and desires, without a royal charter, to act",
"text": "like a lord; if he wants men to humble themselves before him, to revere",
"text": "him and call him Lord and prince, then tell him every day to spread a",
"text": "table with victuals. All those who have acquired renown in the world,",
"text": "have gained it mainly through hospitality, while the miserly and",
"text": "avaricious are despised in both worlds.",
"text": "THE BOOK OF GOVERNMENT OR RULES FOR KINGS, NIZAM",
"text": "AL-MULK, ELEVENTH CENTURYOBSERVANCES OF THE LAW",
"text": "Observance I",
"text": "Pietro Aretino, son of a lowly shoemaker, had catapulted himself into",
"text": "fame as a writer of biting satires. But like every Renaissance artist, he",
"text": "needed to find a patron who would give him a comfortable lifestyle",
"text": "while not interfering with his work. In 1528 Aretino decided to attempt a",
"text": "new strategy in the patronage game. Leaving Rome, he established",
"text": "himself in Venice, where few had heard of him. He had a fair amount of",
"text": "money he had managed to save, but little else. Soon after he moved into",
"text": "his new home, however, he threw open its doors to rich and poor,",
"text": "regaling them with banquets and amusements. He befriended each and",
"text": "every gondolier, tipping them royally. In the streets, he spread his money",
"text": "liberally, giving it away to beggars, orphans, washerwomen. Among the",
"text": "city’s commoners, word quickly spread that Aretino was more than just a",
"text": "great writer, he was a man of power—a kind of lord.",
"text": "Artists and men of influence soon began to frequent Aretino’s house.",
"text": "Within a few years he made himself a celebrity; no visiting dignitary",
"text": "would think of leaving Venice without paying him a call. His generosity",
"text": "had cost him most of his savings, but had bought him influence and a",
"text": "good name—a cornerstone in the foundation of power. Since in",
"text": "Renaissance Italy as elsewhere the ability to spend freely was the",
"text": "privilege of the rich, the aristocracy thought Aretino had to be a man of",
"text": "influence, since he spent money like one. And since the influence of a",
"text": "man of influence is worth buying, Aretino became the recipient of all",
"text": "sorts of gifts and moneys. Dukes and duchesses, wealthy merchants, and",
"text": "popes and princes competed to gain his favor, and showered him with all",
"text": "kinds of presents.",
"text": "Aretino’s spending habits, of course, were strategic, and the strategy",
"text": "worked like a charm. But for real money and comfort he needed a great",
"text": "patron’s bottomless pockets. Having surveyed the possibilities, he",
"text": "eventually set his sights on the extremely wealthy Marquis of Mantua,",
"text": "and wrote an epic poem that he dedicated to the marquis. This was a",
"text": "common practice of writers looking for patronage: In exchange for a",
"text": "dedication they would get a small stipend, enough to write yet another",
"text": "poem, so that they spent their lives in a kind of constant servility.",
"text": "Aretino, however, wanted power, not a measly wage. He might dedicate",
"text": "a poem to the marquis, but he would offer it to him as a gift, implying bydoing so that he was not a hired hack looking for a stipend but that he",
"text": "and the marquis were equals.",
"text": "Aretino’s gift-giving did not stop there: As a close friend of two of",
"text": "Venice’s greatest artists, the sculptor Jacopo Sansovino and the painter",
"text": "Titian, he convinced these men to participate in his gift-giving scheme.",
"text": "Aretino had studied the marquis before going to work on him, and knew",
"text": "his taste inside and out; he was able to advise Sansovino and Titian what",
"text": "subject matter would please the marquis most. When he then sent a",
"text": "Sansovino sculpture and a Titian painting to the marquis as gifts from all",
"text": "three of them, the man was beside himself with joy.",
"text": "Over the next few months, Aretino sent other gifts—swords, saddles,",
"text": "the glass that was a Venetian specialty, things he knew the marquis",
"text": "prized. Soon he, Titian, and Sansovino began to receive gifts from the",
"text": "marquis in return. And the strategy went further: When the son-in-law of",
"text": "a friend of Aretino’s found himself in jail in Mantua, Aretino was able to",
"text": "get the marquis to arrange his release. Aretino’s friend, a wealthy",
"text": "merchant, was a man of great influence in Venice; by turning the",
"text": "goodwill he had built up with the marquis to use, Aretino had now",
"text": "bought this man’s indebtedness, too, and he in turn would help Aretino",
"text": "when he could. The circle of influence was growing wider. Time and",
"text": "again, Aretino was able to cash in on the immense political power of the",
"text": "marquis, who also helped him in his many court romances.",
"text": "Eventually, however, the relationship became strained, as Aretino",
"text": "came to feel that the marquis should have requited his generosity better.",
"text": "But he would not lower himself to begging or whining: Since the",
"text": "exchange of gifts between the two men had made them equals, it would",
"text": "not seem right to bring up money. He simply withdrew from the",
"text": "marquis’s circle and hunted for other wealthy prey, settling first on the",
"text": "French king Francis, then the Medicis, the Duke of Urbino, Emperor",
"text": "Charles V, and more. In the end, having many patrons meant he did not",
"text": "have to bow to any of them, and his power seemed comparable to that of",
"text": "a great lord. Interpretation",
"text": "Aretino understood two fundamental properties of money: First, that it",
"text": "has to circulate to bring power. What money should buy is not lifeless",
"text": "objects but power over people. By keeping money in constant",
"text": "circulation, Aretino bought an ever-expanding circle of influence that in",
"text": "the end more than compensated him for his expenses.",
"text": "Second, Aretino understood the key property of the gift. To give a gift",
"text": "is to imply that you and the recipient are equals at the very least, or that",
"text": "you are the recipient’s superior. A gift also involves an indebtedness orobligation; when friends, for instance, offer you something for free, you",
"text": "can be sure they expect something in return, and that to get it they are",
"text": "making you feel indebted. (The mechanism may or may not be entirely",
"text": "conscious on their part, but this is how it works.)",
"text": "Aretino avoided such encumbrances on his freedom. Instead of acting",
"text": "like a menial who expects the powerful to pay his way in life, he turned",
"text": "the whole dynamic around; instead of being indebted to the powerful, he",
"text": "made the powerful indebted to him. This was the point of his gift-giving,",
"text": "a ladder that carried him to the highest social levels. By the end of his",
"text": "life he had become the most famous writer in Europe.",
"text": "Understand: Money may determine power relationships, but those",
"text": "relationships need not depend on the amount of money you have; they",
"text": "also depend on the way you use it. Powerful people give freely, buying",
"text": "influence rather than things. If you accept the inferior position because",
"text": "you have no fortune yet, you may find yourself in it forever. Play the",
"text": "trick that Aretino played on Italy’s aristocracy: Imagine yourself an",
"text": "equal. Play the lord, give freely, open your doors, circulate your money,",
"text": "and create the facade of power through an alchemy that transforms",
"text": "money into influence.",
"text": "Observance II",
"text": "Soon after Baron James Rothschild made his fortune in Paris in the early",
"text": "1820s, he faced his most intractable problem: How could a Jew and a",
"text": "German, a total outsider to French society, win the respect of the",
"text": "xenophobic French upper classes? Rothschild was a man who",
"text": "understood power—he knew that his fortune would bring him status, but",
"text": "that if he remained socially alienated neither his status nor his fortune",
"text": "would last. So he looked at the society of the time and asked what would",
"text": "win their hearts.",
"text": "Charity? The French couldn’t care less. Political influence? He already",
"text": "had that, and if anything it only made people more suspicious of him.",
"text": "The one weak spot, he decided, was boredom. In the period of the",
"text": "restoration of the monarchy, the French upper classes were bored. So",
"text": "Rothschild began to spend astounding sums of money on entertaining",
"text": "them. He hired the best architects in France to design his gardens and",
"text": "ballroom; he hired Marie-Antoine Carême, the most celebrated French",
"text": "chef, to prepare the most lavish parties Paris had ever witnessed; no",
"text": "Frenchman could resist, even if the parties were given by a German Jew.Rothschild’s weekly soirees began to attract bigger and bigger numbers.",
"text": "Over the next few years he won the only thing that would secure an",
"text": "outsider’s power: social acceptance.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Strategic generosity is always a great weapon in building a support base,",
"text": "particularly for the outsider. But the Baron de Rothschild was cleverer",
"text": "still: He knew it was his money that had created the barrier between him",
"text": "and the French, making him look ugly and untrustworthy. The best way",
"text": "to overcome this was literally to waste huge sums, a gesture to show he",
"text": "valued French culture and society over money. What Rothschild did",
"text": "resembled the famous potlatch feasts of the American Northwest: By",
"text": "periodically destroying its wealth in a giant orgy of festivals and",
"text": "bonfires, an Indian tribe would symbolize its power over other tribes.",
"text": "The base of its power was not money but its ability to spend, and its",
"text": "confidence in a superiority that would restore to it all that the potlatch",
"text": "had destroyed.",
"text": "In the end, the baron’s soirees reflected his desire to mingle not just in",
"text": "France’s business world but in its society. By wasting money on his pot-",
"text": "latches, he hoped to demonstrate that his power went beyond money into",
"text": "the more precious realm of culture. Rothschild may have won social",
"text": "acceptance by spending money, but the support base he gained was one",
"text": "that money alone could not buy. To secure his fortune he had to “waste”",
"text": "it. That is strategic generosity in a nutshell—the ability to be flexible",
"text": "with your wealth, putting it to work, not to buy objects, but to win",
"text": "people’s hearts.",
"text": "Observance III",
"text": "The Medicis of Renaissance Florence had built their immense power on",
"text": "the fortune they had made in banking. But in Florence, centuries-old",
"text": "republic that it was, the idea that money bought power went against all",
"text": "the city’s proud democratic values. Cosimo de’ Medici, the first of the",
"text": "family to gain great fame, worked around this by keeping a low profile.",
"text": "He never flaunted his wealth. But by the time his grandson Lorenzo",
"text": "came of age, in the 1470s, the family’s wealth was too large, and their",
"text": "influence too noticeable, to be disguised any longer.THE FLAME-COLORED CLOCK",
"text": "During the campaign of Carnbyses in Egypt, a great many Greeks visited",
"text": "that country for one reason or another: some, as was to be expected, for",
"text": "trade, some to serve in the army, others, no doubt, out of mere curiosity,",
"text": "to see what they could see. Amongst the sightseers was Aeaces’s son",
"text": "Syloson, the exiled brother of Polycrates of Samos. While he was in",
"text": "Egypt, Syloson had an extraordinary stroke of luck: he was hanging",
"text": "about the streets of Memphis dressed in a flame-colored cloak, when",
"text": "Darius, who at that time was a member of Cambyses’s guard and not yet",
"text": "of any particular importance, happened to catch sight of him and, seized",
"text": "with a sudden longing to possess the cloak, came up to Syloson and",
"text": "made him an offer for it.",
"text": "His extreme anxiety to get it was obvious enough to Syloson, who was",
"text": "inspired to say: “I am not selling this for any money, but if you must",
"text": "have it, I will give it to you for free. ” Darius thererepon thanked him",
"text": "warmly and took it. Syloson at the moment merely thought he had lost it",
"text": "by his foolish good nature; then came the death of Cambyses and the",
"text": "revolt of the seven against the Magus, and Darius ascended the throne.",
"text": "Syloson now had the news that the man whose request for the flame-",
"text": "colored cloak he had formerly gratified in Egypt had become king of",
"text": "Persia. He hurried to Susa, sat down at the entrance of the royal palace,",
"text": "and claimed to be included in the official list of the king’s benefactors.",
"text": "The sentry on guard reported his claim to Darius, who asked in surprise",
"text": "who the man might be. “For surely,” he said, “as I have so recently",
"text": "come to the throne, there cannot be any Greek to whom I am indebted for",
"text": "a service. Hardly any of them have been here yet, and I certainly cannot",
"text": "remember owing anything to a Greek. But bring him in all the same, that",
"text": "I may know what he means by this claim.”",
"text": "The guard escorted Syloson into the royal presence, and when the",
"text": "interpreters asked him who he was and what he had done to justify the",
"text": "statement that he was the king’s benefactor, he reminded Darius of the",
"text": "story of the cloak, and said that he was the man who had given it him.",
"text": "“Sir,” exclaimed Darius, “you are the most generous of men; for while I",
"text": "was still a person of no power or consequence you gave me a present—",
"text": "small indeed, but deserving then as much gratitude from me as would the",
"text": "most splendid of gifts today. I will give you in return more silver and",
"text": "gold than you can count, that you may never regret that you once did a",
"text": "favor to Darius the son of Hystaspes. ” “My lord, ” replied Syloson, ”do",
"text": "not give me gold or silver, but recover Samos for me, my native island,which now since Oroetes killed my brother Polycrates is in the hands of",
"text": "one of our servants. Let Samos be your gift to me—but let no man in the",
"text": "island be killed or enslaved.”",
"text": "Darius consented to Syloson’s request, and dispatched a force under the",
"text": "command of Otanes, one of the seven, with orders to do everything that",
"text": "Syloson had asked.",
"text": "THE HISTORIES. HERODOTUS. FIFTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "Lorenzo solved the problem in his own way by developing the",
"text": "strategy of distraction that has served people of wealth ever since: He",
"text": "became the most illustrious patron of the arts that history has ever",
"text": "known. Not only did he spend lavishly on paintings, he created Italy’s",
"text": "finest apprentice schools for young artists. It was in one of these schools",
"text": "that the young Michelangelo first caught the attention of Lorenzo, who",
"text": "invited the artist to come and live in his house. He did the same with",
"text": "Leonardo da Vinci. Once under his wing, Michelangelo and Leonardo",
"text": "requited his generosity by becoming loyal artists in his stable.",
"text": "Whenever Lorenzo faced an enemy, he would wield the weapon of",
"text": "patronage. When Pisa, Florence’s traditional enemy, threatened to rebel",
"text": "against it in 1472, Lorenzo placated its people by pouring money into its",
"text": "university, which had once been its pride and joy but had long ago lost",
"text": "its luster. The Pisans had no defense against this insidious maneuver,",
"text": "which simultaneously fed their love of culture and blunted their desire",
"text": "for battle. Interpretation",
"text": "Lorenzo undoubtedly loved the arts, but his patronage of artists had a",
"text": "practical function as well, of which he was keenly aware. In Florence at",
"text": "the time, banking was perhaps the least admired way of making money,",
"text": "and was certainly not a respected source of power. The arts were at the",
"text": "other pole, the pole of quasi-religious transcendence. By spending on the",
"text": "arts, Lorenzo diluted people’s opinions of the ugly source of his wealth,",
"text": "disguising himself in nobility. There is no better use of strategic",
"text": "generosity than that of distracting attention from an unsavory reality and",
"text": "wrapping oneself in the mantle of art or religion.",
"text": "Observance IV",
"text": "Louis XIV had an eagle eye for the strategic power of money. When he",
"text": "came to the throne, the powerful nobility had recently proven a thorn in",
"text": "the monarchy’s side, and seethed with rebelliousness. So heimpoverished these aristocrats by making them spend enormous sums on",
"text": "maintaining their position in the court. Making them dependent on royal",
"text": "largesse for their livelihood, he had them in his claws.",
"text": "Next Louis brought the nobles to their knees with strategic generosity.",
"text": "It would work like this: Whenever he noticed a stubborn courtier whose",
"text": "influence he needed to gain, or whose troublemaking he needed to",
"text": "squelch, he would use his vast wealth to soften the soil. First he would",
"text": "ignore his victim, making the man anxious. Then the man would",
"text": "suddenly find that his son had been given a well-paid post, or that funds",
"text": "had been spent liberally in his home region, or that he had been given a",
"text": "painting he had long coveted. Presents would flow from Louis’s hands.",
"text": "Finally, weeks or months later, Louis would ask for the favor he had",
"text": "needed all along. A man who had once vowed to do anything to stop the",
"text": "king would find he had lost the desire to fight. A straightforward bribe",
"text": "would have made him rebellious; this was far more insidious. Facing",
"text": "hardened earth in which nothing could take root, Louis loosened the soil",
"text": "before he planted his seeds. Interpretation",
"text": "Louis understood that there is a deep-rooted emotional element in our",
"text": "attitude to money, an element going back to childhood. When we are",
"text": "children, all kinds of complicated feelings about our parents center",
"text": "around gifts; we see the giving of a gift as a sign of love and approval.",
"text": "And that emotional element never goes away. The recipients of gifts,",
"text": "financial or otherwise, are suddenly as vulnerable as children, especially",
"text": "when the gift comes from someone in authority. They cannot help",
"text": "opening up; their will is loosened, as Louis loosened the soil.",
"text": "To succeed best, the gift should come out of the blue. It should be",
"text": "remarkable for the fact that a gift like it has never been given before, or",
"text": "for being preceded by a cold shoulder from the giver. The more often",
"text": "you give to particular people, the blunter this weapon becomes. If they",
"text": "don’t take your gifts for granted, becoming monsters of ingratitude, they",
"text": "will resent what appears to be charity. The sudden, unexpected, one-time",
"text": "gift will not spoil your children; it will keep them under your thumb.",
"text": "Observance V",
"text": "The antique dealer Fushimiya, who lived in the city of Edo (former name",
"text": "for Tokyo) in the seventeenth century, once made a stop at a village",
"text": "teahouse. After enjoying a cup of tea, he spent several minutes",
"text": "scrutinizing the cup, which he eventually paid for and took away withhim. A local artisan, watching this, waited until Fushimiya left the shop,",
"text": "then approached the old woman who owned the teahouse and asked her",
"text": "who this man was. She told him it was Japan’s most famous connoisseur,",
"text": "antique dealer to the lord of Izumo. The artisan ran out of the shop,",
"text": "caught up with Fushimiya, and begged him to sell him the cup, which",
"text": "must clearly be valuable if Fushimiya judged it so. Fushimiya laughed",
"text": "heartily: “It’s just an ordinary cup of Bizen ware,” he explained, “and it",
"text": "is not valuable at all. The reason I was looking at it was that the steam",
"text": "seemed to hang about it strangely and I wondered if there wasn’t a leak",
"text": "somewhere.” (Devotees of the Tea Ceremony were interested in any odd",
"text": "or accidental beauty in nature.) Since the artisan still seemed so excited",
"text": "about it, Fushimiya gave him the cup for free.",
"text": "The artisan took the cup around, trying to find an expert who would",
"text": "appraise it at a high price, but since all of them recognized it as an",
"text": "ordinary teacup he got nowhere. Soon he was neglecting his own",
"text": "business, thinking only of the cup and the fortune it could bring. Finally",
"text": "he went to Edo to talk to Fushimiya at his shop. There the dealer,",
"text": "realizing that he had inadvertently caused this man pain by making him",
"text": "believe the cup had great worth, paid him 100 ryo (gold pieces) for the",
"text": "cup as a kindness. The cup was indeed mediocre, but he wanted to rid the",
"text": "artisan of his obsession, while also allowing him to feel that his effort",
"text": "had not been wasted. The artisan thanked him and went on his way.",
"text": "Money is never spent to so much advantage as when vou have been",
"text": "cheated out of it; for at one stroke you have purchased prudence.",
"text": "ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860",
"text": "Soon word spread of Fushimiya’s purchase of the teacup. Every dealer",
"text": "in Japan clamored for him to sell it, since a cup he had bought for 100",
"text": "ryo must be worth much more. He tried to explain the circumstances in",
"text": "which he had bought the cup, but the dealers could not be dissuaded.",
"text": "Fushimiya finally relented and put the cup up for sale.",
"text": "During the auction, two buyers simultaneously bid 200 ryo for the",
"text": "teacup, and then began to fight over who had bid first. Their fighting",
"text": "tipped over a table and the teacup fell to the ground and broke into",
"text": "several pieces. The auction was clearly over. Fushimiya glued and",
"text": "mended the cup, then stored it away, thinking the affair finished. Years",
"text": "later, however, the great tea master Matsudaira Fumai visited the store,",
"text": "and asked to see the cup, which by then had become legendary. Fumai",
"text": "examined it. “As a piece,” he said, “it is not up to much, but a Tea",
"text": "Master prizes sentiment and association more than intrinsic value.” Hebought the cup for a high sum. A glued-together work of less than",
"text": "ordinary craftsmanship had become one of the most famous objects in",
"text": "Japan.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The story shows, first, an essential aspect of money: That it is humans",
"text": "who have created it and humans who instill it with meaning and value.",
"text": "Second, with objects as with money, what the courtier most values are",
"text": "the sentiments and emotions embedded in them—these are what make",
"text": "them worth having. The lesson is simple: The more your gifts and your",
"text": "acts of generosity play with sentiment, the more powerful they are. The",
"text": "object or concept that plays with a charged emotion or hits a chord of",
"text": "sentiment has more power than the money you squander on an expensive",
"text": "yet lifeless present.",
"text": "Observance VI",
"text": "Akimoto Suzutomo, a wealthy adherent of the tea ceremony, once gave",
"text": "his page 100 ryo (gold pieces) and instructed him to purchase a tea bowl",
"text": "offered by a particular dealer. When the page saw the bowl, he doubted it",
"text": "was worth that much, and after much bargaining got the price reduced to",
"text": "95 ryo. Days later, after Suzutomo had put the bowl to use, the page",
"text": "proudly told him what he had done.",
"text": "“What an ignoramus you are!” replied Suzutomo. “A tea bowl that",
"text": "anyone asks 100 pieces of gold for can only be a family heirloom, and a",
"text": "thing like that is only sold when the family is pressed for money. And in",
"text": "that case they will be hoping to find someone who will give even 150",
"text": "pieces for it. So what sort of fellow is it who does not consider their",
"text": "feelings? Quite apart from that, a curio that you give 100 ryo for is",
"text": "something worth having, but one that has only cost 95 gives a mean",
"text": "impression. So never let me see that tea bowl again!” And he had the",
"text": "bowl locked away, and never took it out.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "When you insist on paying less, you may save your five ryo, but the",
"text": "insult you cause and the cheap impression you create will cost you inreputation, which is the thing the powerful prize above all. Learn to pay",
"text": "the full price—it will save you a lot in the end.",
"text": "A GIFT OF FISH",
"text": "Kung-yi Hsiu, premier of Lu, was fond of fish. Therefore, people in the",
"text": "whole country conscientiously bought fish, which they presented to him.",
"text": "However, Kung-yi would not accept the presents. Against such a step his",
"text": "younger brother remonstrated with him and said: “You like fish, indeed.",
"text": "Why don’t you accept the present of fish?” In reply, he said: “It is solely",
"text": "because I like fish that I would not accept the fish they gave me. Indeed,",
"text": "if I accept the fish, I will be placed under an obligation to them. Once",
"text": "placed under an obligation to them, I will some time have to bend the",
"text": "law. If I bend the law, I will be dismissed from the premiership. After",
"text": "being dismissed from the premiership, I might not be able to supply",
"text": "myself with fish. On the contrary, if I do not accept the fish from them",
"text": "and am not dismissed the premiership, however fond of fish, I can always",
"text": "supply myself with fish.”",
"text": "HAN-FEI-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "Observance VII",
"text": "Sometime near the beginning of the seventeenth century in Japan, a",
"text": "group of generals whiled away the time before a big battle by staging an",
"text": "incense-smelling competition. Each participant anted up a prize for the",
"text": "contest’s winners—bows, arrows, saddles, and other items a warrior",
"text": "would covet.",
"text": "The great Lord Date Masamune happened to pass by and was induced to",
"text": "participate. For a prize, he offered the gourd that hung from his belt.",
"text": "Everyone laughed, for no one wanted to win this cheap item. A retainer",
"text": "of the host finally accepted the gourd.",
"text": "When the party broke up, however, and the generals were chatting",
"text": "outside the tent, Masamune brought over his magnificent horse and gave",
"text": "it to the retainer. “There,” he said, “a horse has come out of the gourd.”",
"text": "The stunned generals suddenly regretted their scorn at Masamune’s gift.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Masamune understood the following: Money gives its possessor the",
"text": "ability to give pleasure to others. The more you can do this, the more you",
"text": "attract admiration. When you make a horse come out of a gourd, you",
"text": "give the ultimate demonstration of your power.Image: The River. To protect",
"text": "yourself or to save the resource,",
"text": "you dam it up. Soon, however,",
"text": "the waters become dank and",
"text": "pestilent. Only the foulest",
"text": "forms of life can live in such",
"text": "stagnant waters; nothing trav",
"text": "els on them, all commerce",
"text": "stops. Destroy the dam. When",
"text": "water flows and circulates, it gen",
"text": "erates abundance, wealth, and",
"text": "power in ever larger circles. The",
"text": "River must flood periodically",
"text": "for good things to flourish.",
"text": "I took money only from those who could afford it and were willing to go",
"text": "in with me in schemes they fancied would fleece others. They wanted",
"text": "money for its own sake. I wanted it for the luxuries and pleasures it",
"text": "would afford me. They were seldom concerned with human nature. They",
"text": "knew little-and cared less-about their fellow men. If they had been",
"text": "keener students of human nature, if they had given more time to",
"text": "companionship with their fellows and less to the chase of the almighty",
"text": "dollar, they wouldn’t have been such easy marks.",
"text": "“YELLOW KID” WEIL. 1875-1976",
"text": "Authority: The great man who is a miser is a great fool, and a man in",
"text": "high places can have no vice so harmful as avarice. A miserly man can",
"text": "conquer neither lands nor lordships, for he does not have a plentiful",
"text": "supply of friends with whom he may work his will. Whoever wants to",
"text": "have friends must not love his possessions but must acquire friends by",
"text": "means of fair gifts; for in the same way that the lodestone subtly draws",
"text": "iron to itself, so the gold and silver that a man gives attract the hearts of",
"text": "men. (The Romance of the Rose, Guillaume de Lorris, c. 1200-1238)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "The powerful never forget that what is offered for free is inevitably a",
"text": "trick. Friends who offer favors without asking for payment will laterwant something far dearer than the money you would have paid them.",
"text": "The bargain has hidden problems, both material and psychological.",
"text": "Learn to pay, then, and to pay well.",
"text": "On the other hand, this Law offers great opportunities for swindling",
"text": "and deception if you apply it from the other side. Dangling the lure of a",
"text": "free lunch is the con artist’s stock in trade.",
"text": "No man was better at this than the most successful con artist of our",
"text": "age, Joseph Weil, a.k.a. “The Yellow Kid.” The Yellow Kid learned early",
"text": "that what made his swindles possible was his fellow humans’ greed.",
"text": "“This desire to get something for nothing,” he once wrote, “has been",
"text": "very costly to many people who have dealt with me and with other con",
"text": "men…. When people learn—as I doubt they will—that they can’t get",
"text": "something for nothing, crime will diminish and we shall all live in",
"text": "greater harmony.” Over the years Weil devised many ways to seduce",
"text": "people with the prospect of easy money. He would hand out “free” real",
"text": "estate—who could resist such an offer?—and then the suckers would",
"text": "learn they had to pay $25 to register the sale. Since the land was free, it",
"text": "seemed worth the high fee, and the Yellow Kid would make thousands of",
"text": "dollars on the phony registration. In exchange he would give his suckers",
"text": "a phony deed. Other times, he would tell suckers about a fixed horse",
"text": "race, or a stock that would earn 200 percent in a few weeks. As he spun",
"text": "his stories he would watch the sucker’s eyes open wide at the thought of",
"text": "a free lunch.",
"text": "The lesson is simple: Bait your deceptions with the possibility of easy",
"text": "money. People are essentially lazy, and want wealth to fall in their lap",
"text": "rather than to work for it. For a small sum, sell them advice on how to",
"text": "make millions (P. T. Barnum did this later in life), and that small sum",
"text": "will become a fortune when multiplied by thousands of suckers. Lure",
"text": "people in with the prospect of easy money and you have the room to",
"text": "work still more deceptions on them, since greed is powerful enough to",
"text": "blind your victims to anything. And as the Yellow Kid said, half the fun",
"text": "is teaching a moral lesson: Greed does not pay.LAW 41",
"text": "AVOID STEPPING INTO A GREAT MAN’S",
"text": "SHOES",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "What happens first always appears better and more original than what",
"text": "comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you",
"text": "will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do",
"text": "not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making:",
"text": "Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the",
"text": "overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in",
"text": "your own way.",
"text": "THE EXCELLENCE OF BEING FIRST",
"text": "Many would have shone like the very phoenix in their occupations if",
"text": "others had not preceded them. Being first is a great advantage; with",
"text": "eminence, twice as good. Deal the first hand and you will win the upper",
"text": "ground…. Those who go first win fame by right of birth, and those who",
"text": "follow are like second sons, contenting themselves with meager",
"text": "portions…. Solomon opted wisely for pacifism, yielding warlike things to",
"text": "his father. By changing course he found it easier to become a hero….",
"text": "And our great Philip II governed the entire world from the throne of his",
"text": "prudence, astonishing the ages. If his unconquered father was a model of",
"text": "energy, Philip was a paradigm of prudence…. This sort of novelty has",
"text": "helped the well-advised win a place in the roll of the great. Without",
"text": "leaving their own art, the ingenious leave the common path and take,",
"text": "even in professions gray with age, new steps toward eminence. Horace",
"text": "yielded epic poetry to Virgil, and Martial the lyric to Horace. Terence",
"text": "opted for comedy, Persius for satire, each hoping to be first in his genre.",
"text": "Bold fancy never succumbed to facile imitation.A POCKET MIRROR FOR HEROES, BALTASAR GRACIÁN,",
"text": "TRANSLATED BY CHRISTOPHER MAURER, 1996",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "When Louis XIV died, in 1715, after a glorious fifty-five-year reign, all",
"text": "eyes focused on his great-grandson and chosen successor, the future",
"text": "Louis XV. Would the boy, only five at the time, prove as great a leader as",
"text": "the Sun King? Louis XIV had transformed a country on the verge of civil",
"text": "war into the preeminent power in Europe. The last years of his reign had",
"text": "been difficult—he had been old and tired—but it was hoped that the",
"text": "child would develop into the kind of strong ruler who would reinvigorate",
"text": "the land and add to the firm foundation that Louis XIV had laid.",
"text": "To this end the child was given the best minds of France as his tutors,",
"text": "men who would instruct him in the arts of statecraft, in the methods that",
"text": "the Sun King had perfected. Nothing was neglected in his education. But",
"text": "when Louis XV came to the throne, in 1726, a sudden change came over",
"text": "him: He no longer had to study or please others or prove himself. He",
"text": "stood alone at the top of a great country, with wealth and power at his",
"text": "command. He could do as he wished.",
"text": "In the first years of his reign, Louis gave himself over to pleasure,",
"text": "leaving the government in the hands of a trusted minister, André-Hercule",
"text": "de Fleury. This caused little concern, for he was a young man who",
"text": "needed to sow his wild oats, and de Fleury was a good minister. But it",
"text": "slowly became clear that this was more than a passing phase. Louis had",
"text": "no interest in governing. His main worry was not France’s finances, or a",
"text": "possible war with Spain, but boredom. He could not stand being bored,",
"text": "and when he was not hunting deer, or chasing young girls, he whiled",
"text": "away his time at the gambling tables, losing huge sums in a single night.",
"text": "The court, as usual, reflected the tastes of the ruler. Gambling and",
"text": "lavish parties became the obsession. The courtiers had no concern with",
"text": "the future of France—they poured their energies into charming the king,",
"text": "angling for titles that would bring them life pensions, and for cabinet",
"text": "positions demanding little work but paying huge salaries. Parasites",
"text": "flocked to the court, and the state’s debts swelled.",
"text": "In 1745 Louis fell in love with Madame de Pompadour, a woman of",
"text": "middle-class origin who had managed to rise through her charms, herintelligence, and a good marriage. Madame de Pompadour became the",
"text": "official royal mistress; she also became France’s arbiter of taste and",
"text": "fashion. But the Madame had political ambitions as well, and she",
"text": "eventually emerged as the country’s unofficial prime minister—it was",
"text": "she, not Louis, who wielded hiring-and-firing power over France’s most",
"text": "important ministers.",
"text": "As he grew older Louis only needed more diversion. On the grounds",
"text": "of Versailles he built a brothel, Parc aux Cerfs, which housed some of the",
"text": "prettiest young girls of France. Underground passages and hidden stair-",
"text": "cases gave Louis access at all hours. After Madame de Pompadour died,",
"text": "in 1764, she was succeeded as royal mistress by Madame du Barry, who",
"text": "soon came to dominate the court, and who, like de Pompadour before",
"text": "her, began to meddle in affairs of state. If a minister did not please her he",
"text": "would find himself fired. All of Europe was aghast when du Barry, the",
"text": "daughter of a baker, managed to arrange the firing of Étienne de",
"text": "Choiseul, the foreign minister and France’s most able diplomat. He had",
"text": "shown her too little respect. As time went by, swindlers and charlatans",
"text": "made their nests in Versailles, and enticed Louis’s interest in astrology,",
"text": "the occult, and fraudulent business deals. The young and pampered",
"text": "teenager who had taken over France years before had only grown worse",
"text": "with age.",
"text": "The motto that became attached to Louis’s reign was “Après moi, le",
"text": "déluge”—“After me the flood,” or, Let France rot after I am gone. And",
"text": "indeed when Louis did go, in 1774, worn out by debauchery, his country",
"text": "and his own finances were in horrible disarray. His grandson Louis XVI",
"text": "inherited a realm in desperate need of reform and a strong leader. But",
"text": "Louis XVI was even weaker than his grandfather, and could only watch",
"text": "as the country descended into revolution. In 1792 the republic introduced",
"text": "by the French Revolution declared the end of the monarchy, and gave the",
"text": "king a new name, “Louis the Last.” A few months later he kneeled on the",
"text": "guillotine, his about-to-be-severed head stripped of all the radiance and",
"text": "power that the Sun King had invested in the crown.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "From a country that had descended into civil war in the late 1640s, Louis",
"text": "XIV forged the mightiest realm in Europe. Great generals would tremble",
"text": "in his presence. A cook once made a mistake in preparing a dish and",
"text": "committed suicide rather than face the king’s wrath. Louis XIV hadmany mistresses, but their power ended in the bedroom. He filled his",
"text": "court with the most brilliant minds of the age. The symbol of his power",
"text": "was Versailles: Refusing to accept the palace of his forefathers, the",
"text": "Louvre, he built his own palace in what was then the middle of nowhere,",
"text": "symbolizing that this was a new order he had founded, one without",
"text": "precedent. He made Versailles the centerpiece of his reign, a place that",
"text": "all the powerful of Europe envied and visited with a sense of awe. In",
"text": "essence, Louis took a great void—the decaying monarchy of France—",
"text": "and filled it with his own symbols and radiant power.",
"text": "Louis XV, on the other hand, symbolizes the fate of all those who",
"text": "inherit something large or who follow in a great man’s footsteps. It",
"text": "would seem easy for a son or successor to build on the grand foundation",
"text": "left for them, but in the realm of power the opposite is true. The",
"text": "pampered, indulged son almost always squanders the inheritance, for he",
"text": "does not start with the father’s need to fill a void. As Machiavelli states,",
"text": "necessity is what impels men to take action, and once the necessity is",
"text": "gone, only rot and decay are left. Having no need to increase his store of",
"text": "power, Louis XV inevitably succumbed to inertia. Under him, Versailles,",
"text": "the symbol of the Sun King’s authority, became a pleasure palace of",
"text": "incomparable banality, a kind of Las Vegas of the Bourbon monarchy. It",
"text": "came to represent all that the oppressed peasantry of France hated about",
"text": "their king, and during the Revolution they looted it with glee.",
"text": "CUT OF PERICLES",
"text": "As a young man Pericles was inclined to shrink from facing the people.",
"text": "One reason for this was that he was considered to bear a distinct",
"text": "resemblance to the tyrant Pisistratus, and when men who were well on in",
"text": "years remarked on the charm of Pericles’ voice and the smoothness and",
"text": "fluency of his speech, they were astonished at the resemblance between",
"text": "the two. The fact that he was rich and that he came of a distinguished",
"text": "family and possessed exceedingly powerful friends made the fear of",
"text": "ostracism very real to him, and at the beginning of his career he took no",
"text": "part in politics but devoted himself to soldiering, in which he showed",
"text": "great daring and enterprise. However, the time came when Aristides was",
"text": "dead. Themistocles in exile, and Cimon frequently absent on distant",
"text": "campaigns. Then at last Pericles decided to attach himself to the people’s",
"text": "party and to take up the cause of the poor and the many instead of that of",
"text": "the rich and the few, in spite of the fact that this was quite contrary to his",
"text": "own temperament, which was thoroughly aristocratic. He was afraid,apparently, of being suspected of aiming at a dictatorship: so that when",
"text": "he saw that Cimon’s sympathies were strongly with the nobles and that",
"text": "Cimon was the idol of the aristocratic party, Pericles began to ingratiate",
"text": "himself with the people, partly for self-preservation and partly by way of",
"text": "securing power against his rival. He now entered upon a new mode of",
"text": "life. He was never to be seen walking in any street except the one which",
"text": "led to the market-place and the council chamber.",
"text": "THE LIFE OF PERICLES, PLUTARCH, c. A.D. 46-120",
"text": "Louis XV had only one way out of the trap awaiting the son or",
"text": "successor of a man like the Sun King: to psychologically begin from",
"text": "nothing, to denigrate the past and his inheritance, and to move in a",
"text": "totally new direction, creating his own world. Assuming you have the",
"text": "choice, it would be better to avoid the situation altogether, to place",
"text": "yourself where there is a vacuum of power, where you can be the one to",
"text": "bring order out of chaos without having to compete with another star in",
"text": "the sky. Power depends on appearing larger than other people, and when",
"text": "you are lost in the shadow of the father, the king, the great predecessor,",
"text": "you cannot possibly project such a presence.",
"text": "But when they began to make sovereignty hereditary, the children quickly",
"text": "degenerated from their fathers; and, so far from trying to equal their",
"text": "father’s",
"text": "virtues, they considered that a prince had nothing else to do than to excel",
"text": "all the rest in idleness, indulgence, and every other variety of pleasure.",
"text": "Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527",
"text": "THE LIFE OF PIETRO PERUGINO, PAINTER,",
"text": "c.1450-1523",
"text": "How beneficial poverty may sometimes be to those with talent, and how",
"text": "it may serve as a powerful goad to make them perfect or excellent in",
"text": "whatever occupation they might choose, can be seen very clearly in the",
"text": "actions of Pietro Perugino. Wishing by means of his ability to attain",
"text": "some respectable rank, after leaving disastrous calamities behind in",
"text": "Perugia and coming to Florence, he remained there many months in",
"text": "poverty, sleeping in a chest, since he had no other bed; he turned night",
"text": "into day, and with the greatest zeal continually applied himself to the",
"text": "study of his profession. After painting had become second nature to him,",
"text": "Pietro’s only pleasure was always to be working in his craft andconstantly to be painting. And because he always had the dread of",
"text": "poverty before his eyes, he did things to make money which he probably",
"text": "would not have bothered to do had he not been forced to support himself.",
"text": "Perhaps wealth would have closed to him and his talent the path to",
"text": "excellence just as poverty had opened it up to him, but need spurred him",
"text": "on since he desired to rise from such a miserable and lowly position-if",
"text": "not perhaps to the summit and supreme height of excellence, then at least",
"text": "to a point where he could have enough to live on. For this reason, he",
"text": "took no notice of cold, hunger, discomfort, inconvenience, toil or shame",
"text": "if he could only live one day in ease and repose; and he would always",
"text": "say—and as if it were a proverb—that after bad weather, good weather",
"text": "must follow, and that during the good weather houses must be built for",
"text": "shelter in times of need.",
"text": "LIVES OF THE ARTISTS, GIORGIO VASARI, 1511-1574",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "Alexander the Great had a dominant passion as a young man—an intense",
"text": "dislike for his father, King Philip of Macedonia. He hated Philip’s",
"text": "cunning, cautious style of ruling, his bombastic speeches, his drinking",
"text": "and whoring, and his love of wrestling and of other wastes of time.",
"text": "Alexander knew he had to make himself the very opposite of his",
"text": "domineering father: He would force himself to be bold and reckless, he",
"text": "would control his tongue and be a man of few words, and he would not",
"text": "lose precious time in pursuit of pleasures that brought no glory.",
"text": "Alexander also resented the fact that Philip had conquered most of",
"text": "Greece: “My father will go on conquering till there is nothing",
"text": "extraordinary left for me to do,” he once complained. While other sons",
"text": "of powerful men were content to inherit wealth and live a life of leisure,",
"text": "Alexander wanted only to outdo his father, to obliterate Philip’s name",
"text": "from history by surpassing his accomplishments.",
"text": "Alexander itched to show others how superior he was to his father. A",
"text": "Thessalian horse-dealer once brought a prize horse named Bucephalus to",
"text": "sell to Philip. None of the king’s grooms could get near the horse—it was",
"text": "far too savage—and Philip berated the merchant for bringing him such a",
"text": "useless beast. Watching the whole affair, Alexander scowled and",
"text": "commented, “What a horse they are losing for want of skill and spirit tomanage him!” When he had said this several times, Philip had finally",
"text": "had enough, and challenged him to take on the horse. He called the",
"text": "merchant back, secretly hoping his son would have a nasty fall and learn",
"text": "a bitter lesson. But Alexander was the one to teach the lesson: Not only",
"text": "did he mount Bucephalus, he managed to ride him at full gallop, taming",
"text": "the horse that would later carry him all the way to India. The courtiers",
"text": "applauded wildly, but Philip seethed inside, seeing not a son but a rival",
"text": "to his power.",
"text": "Alexander’s defiance of his father grew bolder. One day the two men",
"text": "had a heated argument before the entire court, and Philip drew his sword",
"text": "as if to strike his son; having drunk too much wine, however, the king",
"text": "stumbled. Alexander pointed at his father and jeered, “Men of",
"text": "Macedonia, see there the man who is preparing to pass from Europe to",
"text": "Asia. He cannot pass from one table to another without falling.”",
"text": "When Alexander was eighteen, a disgruntled courtier murdered Philip.",
"text": "As word of the regicide spread through Greece, city after city rose up in",
"text": "rebellion against their Macedonian rulers. Philip’s advisers counseled",
"text": "Alexander, now the king, to proceed cautiously, to do as Philip had done",
"text": "and conquer through cunning. But Alexander would do things his way:",
"text": "He marched to the furthest reaches of the kingdom, suppressed the",
"text": "rebellious towns, and reunited the empire with brutal efficiency.",
"text": "As a young rebel grows older, his struggle against the father often",
"text": "wanes, and he gradually comes to resemble the very man he had wanted",
"text": "to defy. But Alexander’s loathing of his father did not end with Philip’s",
"text": "death. Once he had consolidated Greece, he set his eyes on Persia, the",
"text": "prize that had eluded his father, who had dreamed of conquering Asia. If",
"text": "he defeated the Persians, Alexander would finally surpass Philip in glory",
"text": "and fame.",
"text": "Alexander crossed into Asia with an army of 35,000 to face a Persian",
"text": "force numbering over a million. Before engaging the Persians in battle he",
"text": "passed through the town of Gordium. Here, in the town’s main temple,",
"text": "there stood an ancient chariot tied with cords made of the rind of the cor",
"text": "nel tree. Legend had it that any man who could undo these cords—the",
"text": "Gordian knot—would rule the world. Many had tried to untie the",
"text": "enormous and intricate knot, but none had succeeded. Alexander, seeing",
"text": "he could not possibly untie the knot with his bare hands, took out his",
"text": "sword and with one slash cut it in half. This symbolic gesture showed the",
"text": "world that he would not do as others, but would blaze his own path.",
"text": "Against astounding odds, Alexander conquered the Persians. Most",
"text": "expected him to stop there—it was a great triumph, enough to secure hisfame for eternity. But Alexander had the same relationship to his own",
"text": "deeds as he had to his father: His conquest of Persia represented the past,",
"text": "and he wanted never to rest on past triumphs, or to allow the past to",
"text": "outshine the present. He moved on to India, extending his empire beyond",
"text": "all known limits. Only his disgruntled and weary soldiers prevented him",
"text": "from going farther.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Alexander represents an extremely uncommon type in history: the son of",
"text": "a famous and successful man who manages to surpass the father in glory",
"text": "and power. The reason this type is uncommon is simple: The father most",
"text": "often manages to amass his fortune, his kingdom, because he begins with",
"text": "little or nothing. A desperate urge impels him to succeed—he has",
"text": "nothing to lose by cunning and impetuousness, and has no famous father",
"text": "of his own to compete against. This kind of man has reason to believe in",
"text": "himself—to believe that his way of doing things is the best, because,",
"text": "after all, it worked for him.",
"text": "When a man like this has a son, he becomes domineering and",
"text": "oppressive, imposing his lessons on the son, who is starting off life in",
"text": "circumstances totally different from those in which the father himself",
"text": "began. Instead of allowing the son to go in a new direction, the father",
"text": "will try to put him in his own shoes, perhaps secretly wishing the boy",
"text": "will fail, as Philip half wanted to see Alexander thrown from",
"text": "Bucephalus. Fathers envy their sons’ youth and vigor, after all, and their",
"text": "desire is to control and dominate. The sons of such men tend to become",
"text": "cowed and cautious, terrified of losing what their fathers have gained.",
"text": "The son will never step out of his father’s shadow unless he adopts the",
"text": "ruthless strategy of Alexander: disparage the past, create your own",
"text": "kingdom, put the father in the shadows instead of letting him do the same",
"text": "to you. If you cannot materially start from ground zero—it would be",
"text": "foolish to renounce an inheritance—you can at least begin from ground",
"text": "zero psychologically, by throwing off the weight of the past and charting",
"text": "a new direction. Alexander instinctively recognized that privileges of",
"text": "birth are impediments to power. Be merciless with the past, then—not",
"text": "only with your father and his father but with your own earlier",
"text": "achievements. Only the weak rest on their laurels and dote on past",
"text": "triumphs; in the game of power there is never time to rest.THE PROBLEM OF PAUL MORPHY",
"text": "The slightest acquaintance with chess shows one that it is a play-",
"text": "substitute for the art of war and indeed it has been a favorite recreation",
"text": "of some of the greatest military leaders, from William the Conqueror to",
"text": "Napoleon. In the contest between the opposing armies the same",
"text": "principles of both strategy and tactics are displayed as in actual war, the",
"text": "same foresight and powers of calculation are necessary, the same",
"text": "capacity for divining the plans of the opponent, and the rigor with which",
"text": "decisions are followed by their consequences is, if anything, even more",
"text": "ruthless. More than that, it is plain that the unconscious motive actuating",
"text": "the players is not the mere love of pugnacity characteristic of all",
"text": "competitive games, but the grimmer one of father-murder. It is true that",
"text": "the original goal of capturing the king has been given up, but from the",
"text": "point of view of motive there is, except in respect of crudity, not",
"text": "appreciable change in the present goal of sterilizing him in immobility….",
"text": "“Checkmate” means literally “the king is dead.” … Our knowledge of",
"text": "the unconscious motivation of chess-playing tells us that what it",
"text": "represented could only have been the wish to overcome the father in an",
"text": "acceptable way…. It is no doubt significant that [nineteenth-century",
"text": "chess champion Paul] Morphy’s soaring odyssey into the higher realms",
"text": "of chess began just a year after the unexpectedly sudden death of his",
"text": "father, which had been a great shock to him, and we may surmise that his",
"text": "brilliant effort of sublimation was, like Shakespeare’s Hamlet and",
"text": "Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, a reaction to this critical event….",
"text": "Something should now be said about the reception Morphy’s successes",
"text": "met with, for they were of such a kind as to raise the question whether",
"text": "his subsequent collapse may not have been influenced through his",
"text": "perhaps belonging to the type that Freud has described under the name",
"text": "of Die am Erfolge scheitern (“Those wrecked by success”)…. Couched",
"text": "in more psychological language, was Morphy affrighted at his own",
"text": "presumptuousness when the light of publicity was thrown on [his great",
"text": "success?] Freud has pointed out that the people who break under the",
"text": "strain of too great success do so because they can endure it only in",
"text": "imagination, not in reality. To castrate the father in a dream is a very",
"text": "different matter from doing it in reality. The real situation provokes the",
"text": "unconscious guilt in its full force, and the penalty may be mental",
"text": "collapse.",
"text": "THE PROBLEM OF PAUL MORPHY, ERNEST JONES, 1951KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "In many ancient kingdoms, for example Bengal and Sumatra, after the",
"text": "king had ruled for several years his subjects would execute him. This",
"text": "was done partly as a ritual of renewal, but also to prevent him from",
"text": "growing too powerful-for the king would generally try to establish a",
"text": "permanent order, at the expense of other families and of his own sons.",
"text": "Instead of protecting the tribe and leading it in times of war, he would",
"text": "attempt to dominate it. And so he would be beaten to death, or executed",
"text": "in an elaborate ritual. Now that he was no longer around for his honors to",
"text": "go to his head, he could be worshipped as a god. Meanwhile the field had",
"text": "been cleared for a new and youthful order to establish itself.",
"text": "The ambivalent, hostile attitude towards the king or father figure also",
"text": "finds expression in legends of heroes who do not know their father.",
"text": "Moses, the archetypal man of power, was found abandoned among the",
"text": "bulrushes and never knew his parents; without a father to compete with",
"text": "him or limit him, he could attain the heights of power. Hercules had no",
"text": "earthly father-he was the son of the god Zeus. Later in his life Alexander",
"text": "the Great spread the story that the god Jupiter Ammon had sired him, not",
"text": "Philip of Macedon. Legends and rituals like these eliminate the human",
"text": "father because he symbolizes the destructive power of the past.",
"text": "The past prevents the young hero from creating his own world—he",
"text": "must do as his father did, even after that father is dead or powerless. The",
"text": "hero must bow and scrape before his predecessor and yield to tradition",
"text": "and precedent. What had success in the past must be carried over to the",
"text": "present, even though circumstances have greatly changed. The past also",
"text": "weighs the hero down with an inheritance that he is terrified of losing,",
"text": "making him timid and cautious.",
"text": "Power depends on the ability to fill a void, to occupy a field that has",
"text": "been cleared of the dead weight of the past. Only after the father figure",
"text": "has been properly done away with will you have the necessary space to",
"text": "create and establish a new order. There are several strategies you can",
"text": "adopt to accomplish this—variations on the execution of the king that",
"text": "disguise the violence of the impulse by channeling it in socially",
"text": "acceptable forms.",
"text": "Perhaps the simplest way to escape the shadow of the past is simply to",
"text": "belittle it, playing on the timeless antagonism between the generations,",
"text": "stirring up the young against the old. For this you need a convenient",
"text": "older figure to pillory. Mao Tse-tung, confronting a culture that fiercelyresisted change, played on the suppressed resentment against the",
"text": "overbearing presence of the venerable Confucius in Chinese culture.",
"text": "John F. Kennedy knew the dangers of getting lost in the past; he radically",
"text": "distinguished his presidency from that of his predecessor, Dwight D.",
"text": "Eisenhower, and also from the preceding decade, the 1950s, which",
"text": "Eisenhower personified. Kennedy, for instance, would not play the dull",
"text": "and fatherly game of golf—a symbol of retirement and privilege, and",
"text": "Eisenhower’s passion. Instead he played football on the White House",
"text": "lawn. In every aspect his administration represented vigor and youth, as",
"text": "opposed to the stodgy Eisenhower. Kennedy had discovered an old truth:",
"text": "The young are easily set against the old, since they yearn to make their",
"text": "own place in the world and resent the shadow of their fathers.",
"text": "The distance you establish from your predecessor often demands some",
"text": "symbolism, a way of advertising itself publicly. Louis XIV, for example,",
"text": "created such symbolism when he rejected the traditional palace of the",
"text": "French kings and built his own palace of Versailles. King Philip II of",
"text": "Spain did the same when he created his center of power, the palace of El",
"text": "Escorial, in what was then the middle of nowhere. But Louis carried the",
"text": "game further: He would not be a king like his father or earlier ancestors,",
"text": "he would not wear a crown or carry a scepter or sit on a throne, he would",
"text": "establish a new kind of imposing authority with symbols and rituals of",
"text": "its own. Louis made his ancestors’ rituals into laughable relics of the",
"text": "past. Follow his example: Never let yourself be seen as following your",
"text": "predecessor’s path. If you do you will never surpass him. You must",
"text": "physically demonstrate your difference, by establishing a style and",
"text": "symbolism that sets you apart.",
"text": "The Roman emperor Augustus, successor to Julius Caesar, understood",
"text": "this thoroughly. Caesar had been a great general, a theatrical figure",
"text": "whose spectacles kept the Romans entertained, an international emissary",
"text": "seduced by the charms of Cleopatra—a larger-than-life figure. So",
"text": "Augustus, despite his own theatrical tendencies, competed with Caesar",
"text": "not by trying to outdo him but by differentiating himself from him: He",
"text": "based his power on a return to Roman simplicity, an austerity of both",
"text": "style and substance. Against the memory of Caesar’s sweeping presence",
"text": "Augustus posed a quiet and manly dignity.",
"text": "The problem with the overbearing predecessor is that he fills the vistas",
"text": "before you with symbols of the past. You have no room to create your",
"text": "own name. To deal with this situation you need to hunt out the vacuums",
"text": "—those areas in culture that have been left vacant and in which you can",
"text": "become the first and principal figure to shine.When Pericles of Athens was about to launch a career as a statesman,",
"text": "he looked for the one thing that was missing in Athenian politics. Most",
"text": "of the great politicians of his time had allied themselves with the",
"text": "aristocracy; indeed Pericles himself had aristocratic tendencies. Yet he",
"text": "decided to throw in his hat with the city’s democratic elements. The",
"text": "choice had nothing to do with his personal beliefs, but it launched him on",
"text": "a brilliant career. Out of necessity he became a man of the people.",
"text": "Instead of competing in an arena filled with great leaders both past and",
"text": "present, he would make a name for himself where no shadows could",
"text": "obscure his presence.",
"text": "When the painter Diego de Velázquez began his career, he knew he",
"text": "could not compete in refinement and technique with the great",
"text": "Renaissance painters who had come before him. Instead he chose to",
"text": "work in a style that by the standards of the time seemed coarse and",
"text": "rough, in a way that had never been seen before. And in this style he",
"text": "excelled. There were members of the Spanish court who wanted to",
"text": "demonstrate their own break with the past; the newness of Velázquez’s",
"text": "style thrilled them. Most people are afraid to break so boldly with",
"text": "tradition, but they secretly admire those who can break up the old forms",
"text": "and reinvigorate the culture. This is why there is so much power to be",
"text": "gained from entering vacuums and voids.",
"text": "There is a kind of stubborn stupidity that recurs throughout history,",
"text": "and is a strong impediment to power: The superstitious belief that if the",
"text": "person before you succeeded by doing A, B, and C, you can re-create",
"text": "their success by doing the same thing. This cookie-cutter approach will",
"text": "seduce the uncreative, for it is easy, and appeals to their timidity and",
"text": "their laziness. But circumstances never repeat themselves exactly.",
"text": "When General Douglas MacArthur assumed command of American",
"text": "forces in the Philippines during World War II, an assistant handed him a",
"text": "book containing the various precedents established by the commanders",
"text": "before him, the methods that had been successful for them. MacArthur",
"text": "asked the assistant how many copies there were of this book. Six, the",
"text": "assistant answered. “Well,” the general replied, “you get all those six",
"text": "copies together and burn them—every one of them. I’ll not be bound by",
"text": "precedents. Any time a problem comes up, I’ll make the decision at once",
"text": "—immediately.” Adopt this ruthless strategy toward the past: Burn all",
"text": "the books, and train yourself to react to circumstances as they happen.",
"text": "You may believe that you have separated yourself from the",
"text": "predecessor or father figure, but as you grow older you must be eternally",
"text": "vigilant lest you become the father you had rebelled against. As a youngman, Mao Tse-tung disliked his father and in the struggle against him",
"text": "found his own identity and a new set of values. But as he aged, his",
"text": "father’s ways crept back in. Mao’s father had valued manual work over",
"text": "intellect; Mao had scoffed at this as a young man, but as he grew older",
"text": "he unconsciously returned to his father’s views and echoed such outdated",
"text": "ideas by forcing a whole generation of Chinese intellectuals into manual",
"text": "labor, a nightmarish mistake that cost his regime dearly. Remember: You",
"text": "are your own father. Do not let yourself spend years creating yourself",
"text": "only to let your guard down and allow the ghost of the past—father,",
"text": "habit, history—to sneak back in.",
"text": "Finally, as noted in the story of Louis XV, plenitude and prosperity",
"text": "tend to make us lazy and inactive: When our power is secure we have no",
"text": "need to act. This is a serious danger, especially for those who achieve",
"text": "success and power at an early age. The playwright Tennessee Williams,",
"text": "for instance, found himself skyrocketed from obscurity to fame by the",
"text": "success of The Glass Menagerie. “The sort of life which I had had",
"text": "previous to this popular success,” he later wrote, “was one that required",
"text": "endurance, a life of clawing and scratching, but it was a good life",
"text": "because it was the sort of life for which the human organism is created. I",
"text": "was not aware of how much vital energy had gone into this struggle until",
"text": "the struggle was removed. This was security at last. I sat down and",
"text": "looked about me and was suddenly very depressed.” Williams had a",
"text": "nervous breakdown, which may in fact have been necessary for him:",
"text": "Pushed to the psychological edge, he could start writing with the old",
"text": "vitality again, and he produced A Streetcar Named Desire. Fyodor",
"text": "Dostoyevsky, similarly, whenever he wrote a successful novel, would",
"text": "feel that the financial security he had gained made the act of creation",
"text": "unnecessary. He would take his entire savings to the casino and would",
"text": "not leave until he had gambled away his last penny. Once reduced to",
"text": "poverty he could write again.",
"text": "It is not necessary to go to such extremes, but you must be prepared to",
"text": "return to square one psychologically rather than growing fat and lazy",
"text": "with prosperity. Pablo Picasso could deal with success, but only by",
"text": "constantly changing the style of his painting, often breaking completely",
"text": "with what had made him successful before. How often our early",
"text": "triumphs turn us into a kind of caricature of ourselves. Powerful people",
"text": "recognize these traps; like Alexander the Great, they struggle constantly",
"text": "to re-create themselves. The father must not be allowed to return; he",
"text": "must be slain at every step of the way.Image: The Father. He casts a giant shadow over his children, keeping",
"text": "them in thrall long after he is gone by tying them to the past, squashing",
"text": "their youthful spirit, and forcing them down the same tired path he",
"text": "followed himself. His tricks are many. At every crossroads you must slay",
"text": "the father and step out of his shadow.",
"text": "Authority: Beware of stepping into a great man’s shoes—you will have",
"text": "to accomplish twice as much to surpass him. Those who follow are taken",
"text": "for imitators. No matter how much they sweat, they will never shed that",
"text": "burden. It is an uncommon skill to find a new path for excellence, a",
"text": "modern route to celebrity. There are many roads to singularity, not all of",
"text": "them well traveled. The newest ones can be arduous, but they are often",
"text": "shortcuts to greatness. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "The shadow of a great predecessor could be used to advantage if it is",
"text": "chosen as a trick, a tactic that can be discarded once it has brought you",
"text": "power. Napoleon III used the name and legend of his illustrious grand-",
"text": "uncle Napoleon Bonaparte to help him become first president and then",
"text": "emperor of France. Once on the throne, however, he did not stay tied to",
"text": "the past; he quickly showed how different his reign would be, and was",
"text": "careful to keep the public from expecting him to attain the heights that",
"text": "Bonaparte had attained.",
"text": "The past often has elements worth appropriating, qualities that would",
"text": "be foolish to reject out of a need to distinguish yourself. Even Alexander",
"text": "the Great recognized and was influenced by his father’s skill in",
"text": "organizing an army. Making a display of doing things differently from",
"text": "your predecessor can make you seem childish and in fact out of control,",
"text": "unless your actions have a logic of their own.",
"text": "Joseph II, son of the Austrian empress Maria Theresa, made a show of",
"text": "doing the exact opposite of his mother—dressing like an ordinary",
"text": "citizen, staying in inns instead of palaces, appearing as the “people’s",
"text": "emperor.” Maria Theresa, on the other hand, had been regal and",
"text": "aristocratic. The problem was that she had also been beloved, an empress",
"text": "who ruled wisely after years of learning the hard way. If you have the",
"text": "kind of intelligence and instinct that will point you in the right direction,",
"text": "playing the rebel will not be dangerous. But if you are mediocre, asJoseph II was in comparison to his mother, you are better off learning",
"text": "from your predecessor’s knowledge and experience, which are based on",
"text": "something real.",
"text": "Finally, it is often wise to keep an eye on the young, your future rivals",
"text": "in power. Just as you try to rid yourself of your father, they will soon",
"text": "play the same trick on you, denigrating everything you have",
"text": "accomplished. Just as you rise by rebelling against the past, keep an eye",
"text": "on those rising from below, and never give them the chance to do the",
"text": "same to you.",
"text": "The great Baroque artist and architect Pietro Bernini was a master at",
"text": "sniffing out younger potential rivals and keeping them in his shadow.",
"text": "One day a young stonemason named Francesco Borromini showed",
"text": "Bernini his architectural sketches. Recognizing his talent immediately,",
"text": "Bernini instantly hired Borromini as his assistant, which delighted the",
"text": "young man but was actually only a tactic to keep him close at hand, so",
"text": "that he could play psychological games on him and create in him a kind",
"text": "of inferiority complex. And indeed, despite Borromini’s brilliance,",
"text": "Bernini has the greater fame. His strategy with Borromini he made a",
"text": "lifelong practice: Fearing that the great sculptor Alessandro Algardi, for",
"text": "example, would eclipse him in fame, he arranged it so that Algardi could",
"text": "only find work as his assistant. And any assistant who rebelled against",
"text": "Bernini and tried to strike out on his own would find his career ruined.LAW 42",
"text": "STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP",
"text": "WILL SCATTER",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual —the stirrer, the",
"text": "arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill. If you allow such people",
"text": "room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for",
"text": "the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them—",
"text": "they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or",
"text": "banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will",
"text": "scatter.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I",
"text": "Near the end of the sixth century B.C., the city-state of Athens overthrew",
"text": "the series of petty tyrants who had dominated its politics for decades. It",
"text": "established instead a democracy that was to last over a century, a",
"text": "democracy that became the source of its power and its proudest",
"text": "achievement. But as the democracy evolved, so did a problem the",
"text": "Athenians had never faced: How to deal with those who did not concern",
"text": "themselves with the cohesion of a small city surrounded by enemies,",
"text": "who did not work for its greater glory, but thought of only themselves",
"text": "and their own ambitions and petty intrigues? The Athenians understood",
"text": "that these people, if left alone, would sow dissension, divide the city into",
"text": "factions, and stir up anxieties, all of which could lead to the ruin of their",
"text": "democracy.",
"text": "Violent punishment no longer suited the new, civilized order that",
"text": "Athens had created. Instead the citizens found another, more satisfying,and less brutal way to deal with the chronically selfish: Every year they",
"text": "would gather in the marketplace and write on a piece of earthenware, an",
"text": "ostrakon, the name of an individual they wanted to see banished from the",
"text": "city for ten years. If a particular name appeared on six thousand ballots,",
"text": "that person would instantly be exiled. If no one received six thousand",
"text": "votes, the person with the most ostraka recording his name would suffer",
"text": "the ten-year “ostracism.” This ritual expulsion became a kind of festival",
"text": "—what a joy to be able to banish those irritating, anxiety-inducing",
"text": "individuals who wanted to rise above the group they should have served.",
"text": "In 490 B.C., Aristides, one of the great generals of Athenian history,",
"text": "helped defeat the Persians at the battle of Marathon. Meanwhile, off the",
"text": "battlefield, his fairness as a judge had earned him the nickname “The",
"text": "Just.” But as the years went by the Athenians came to dislike him. He",
"text": "made such a show of his righteousness, and this, they believed, disguised",
"text": "his feelings of superiority and scorn for the common folk. His",
"text": "omnipresence in Athenian politics became obnoxious; the citizens grew",
"text": "tired of hearing him called “The Just.” They feared that this was just the",
"text": "type of man—judgmental, haughty—who would eventually stir up fierce",
"text": "divisions among them. In 482 B.C., despite Aristides’ invaluable",
"text": "expertise in the continuing war with the Persians, they collected the",
"text": "ostraka and had him banished.",
"text": "After Aristides’ ostracism, the great general Themistocles emerged as",
"text": "the city’s premier leader. But his many honors and victories went to his",
"text": "head, and he too became arrogant and overbearing, constantly reminding",
"text": "the Athenians of his triumphs in battle, the temples he had built, the",
"text": "dangers he had fended off. He seemed to be saying that without him the",
"text": "city would come to ruin. And so, in 472 B.C., Themistocles’ name was",
"text": "filled in on the ostraka and the city was rid of his poisonous presence.",
"text": "THE, CONQUEST OF PER",
"text": "The struggle now became fiercer than ever around the royal litter [of A",
"text": "tahualpa, king of the Incan empire]. It reeled more and more, and at",
"text": "length, several of the nobles who supported it having been slain, it was",
"text": "overturned, and the Indian prince would have come with violence to the",
"text": "ground, had not his fall been broken bv the efforts of Pizarro and some",
"text": "other of the cavaliers, who caught him in their arms. The imperial borla",
"text": "was instantly snatched from his temples by a soldier. and the unhappy",
"text": "monarch, strongly secured, was removed to a neighboring building",
"text": "where he was carefully guarded.All attempt at resistance now ceased. The fate of the Inca [Atahualpa]",
"text": "soon spread over town and country. The charm that might have held the",
"text": "Peruvians together was dissolved. Every man thought only of his own",
"text": "safety. Even the [Incan] soldiery encamped on the adjacent fields took",
"text": "the alarm, and, learning the fatal tidings, were seen flying in every",
"text": "direction before their pursuers, who in the heat of triumph showed no",
"text": "touch of mercy. At length night, more pitiful than man, threw her friendly",
"text": "mantle over the fugitives, and the scattered troops of Pizarro rallied once",
"text": "more at the sound of the trumpet in the bloody square of Cajamarca….",
"text": "[Atahualpa] was reverenced as more than a human. He was not merely",
"text": "the head of the state, but the point to which all its institutions converged",
"text": "as to a common center—the keystone of the political fabric which must",
"text": "fall to pieces by its own weight when that was withdrawn. So it fared on",
"text": "the [execution] of Atahualpa. His death not only left the throne vacant,",
"text": "without any certain successor, but the manner of it announced to the",
"text": "Peruvian people that a hand stronger than that of their Incas had now",
"text": "seized the scepter, and that the dynasty of the Children of the Sun had",
"text": "passed away forever.",
"text": "THE CONQUEST OF PERU, WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, 1847",
"text": "The greatest political figure in fifth-century Athens was undoubtedly",
"text": "Pericles. Although several times threatened with ostracism, he avoided",
"text": "that fate by maintaining close ties with the people. Perhaps he had",
"text": "learned a lesson as a child from his favorite tutor, the incomparable",
"text": "Damon, who excelled above all other Athenians in his intelligence, his",
"text": "musical skills, and his rhetorical abilities. It was Damon who had trained",
"text": "Pericles in the arts of ruling. But he, too, suffered ostracism, for his",
"text": "superior airs and his insulting manner toward the commoners stirred up",
"text": "too much resentment.",
"text": "Toward the end of the century there lived a man named Hyperbolus.",
"text": "Most writers of the time describe him as the city’s most worthless",
"text": "citizen: He did not care what anyone thought of him, and slandered",
"text": "whomever he disliked. He amused some, but irritated many more. In 417",
"text": "B.C., Hyperbolus saw an opportunity to stir up anger against the two",
"text": "leading politicians of the time, Alcibiades and Nicias. He hoped that one",
"text": "of the two would be ostracized and that he would rise in that man’s",
"text": "place. His campaign seemed likely to succeed: The Athenians disliked",
"text": "Alcibiades’ flamboyant and carefree lifestyle, and were wary of Nicias’",
"text": "wealth and aloofness. They seemed certain to ostracize one or the other.",
"text": "But Alcibiades and Nicias, although they were otherwise enemies,",
"text": "pooled their resources and managed to turn the ostracism on Hyperbolusinstead. His obnoxiousness, they argued, could only be terminated by",
"text": "banishment.",
"text": "Earlier sufferers of ostracism had been formidable, powerful men.",
"text": "Hyperbolus, however, was a low buffoon, and with his banishment the",
"text": "Athenians felt that ostracism had been degraded. And so they ended the",
"text": "practice that for nearly a hundred years had been one of the keys to",
"text": "keeping the peace within Athens.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The ancient Athenians had social instincts unknown today—the passage",
"text": "of centuries has blunted them. Citizens in the true sense of the word, the",
"text": "Athenians sensed the dangers posed by asocial behavior, and saw how",
"text": "such behavior often disguises itself in other forms: the holier-than-thou",
"text": "attitude that silently seeks to impose its standards on others; overweening",
"text": "ambition at the expense of the common good; the flaunting of",
"text": "superiority; quiet scheming; terminal obnoxiousness. Some of these",
"text": "behaviors would eat away at the city’s cohesion by creating factions and",
"text": "sowing dissension, others would ruin the democratic spirit by making the",
"text": "common citizen feel inferior and envious. The Athenians did not try to",
"text": "reeducate people who acted in these ways, or to absorb them somehow",
"text": "into the group, or to impose a violent punishment that would only create",
"text": "other problems. The solution was quick and effective: Get rid of them.",
"text": "Within any group, trouble can most often be traced to a single source,",
"text": "the unhappy, chronically dissatisfied one who will always stir up",
"text": "dissension and infect the group with his or her ill ease. Before you know",
"text": "what hit you the dissatisfaction spreads. Act before it becomes",
"text": "impossible to disentangle one strand of misery from another, or to see",
"text": "how the whole thing started. First, recognize troublemakers by their",
"text": "overbearing presence, or by their complaining nature. Once you spot",
"text": "them do not try to reform them or appease them—that will only make",
"text": "things worse. Do not attack them, whether directly or indirectly, for they",
"text": "are poisonous in nature and will work underground to destroy you. Do as",
"text": "the Athenians did: Banish them before it is too late. Separate them from",
"text": "the group before they become the eye of a whirlpool. Do not give them",
"text": "time to stir up anxieties and sow discontent; do not give them room to",
"text": "move. Let one person suffer so that the rest can live in peace.",
"text": "When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.",
"text": "Chinese sayingOBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II",
"text": "In 1296 the cardinals of the Catholic Church met in Rome to select a new",
"text": "pope. They chose Cardinal Gaetani, for he was incomparably shrewd;",
"text": "such a man would make the Vatican a great power. Taking the name",
"text": "Boniface VIII, Gaetani soon proved he deserved the cardinals’high",
"text": "opinion of him: He plotted his moves carefully in advance, and stopped",
"text": "at nothing to get his way. Once in power, Boniface quickly crushed his",
"text": "rivals and unified the Papal States. The European powers began to fear",
"text": "him, and sent delegates to negotiate with him. The German King",
"text": "Albrecht of Austria even yielded some territory to Boniface. All was",
"text": "proceeding according to the pope’s plan.",
"text": "One piece did not fall into place, however, and that was Tuscany, the",
"text": "richest part of Italy. If Boniface could conquer Florence, Tuscany’s most",
"text": "powerful city, the region would be his. But Florence was a proud",
"text": "republic, and would be hard to defeat. The pope had to play his cards",
"text": "skillfully.",
"text": "Florence was divided by two rival factions, the Blacks and the Whites.",
"text": "The Whites were the merchant families that had recently and quickly",
"text": "risen to power and wealth; the Blacks were the older money. Because of",
"text": "their popularity with the people, the Whites retained control of the city,",
"text": "to the Blacks’ increasing resentment. The feud between the two grew",
"text": "steadily more bitter.",
"text": "THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP",
"text": "Once apon a time, the wolves sent an embassy to the sheep, desiring that",
"text": "there might be peace between them for the time to come. “Why,” said",
"text": "they, “should we be for ever waging this deadly strife? Those wicked",
"text": "dogs are the cause of all; they are incessantly barking at us, and",
"text": "provoking us. Send them away, and there will be no longer any obstacle",
"text": "to our eternal friendship and peace.” The silly sheep listened, the dogs",
"text": "were dismissed, and the flock, thus deprived of their best protectors,",
"text": "became an easy prey to their treacherous enemy.",
"text": "FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "Here Boniface saw his chance: He would plot to help the Blacks take",
"text": "over the city, and Florence would be in his pocket. And as he studied the",
"text": "situation he began to focus on one man, Dante Alighieri, the celebratedwriter, poet, and ardent supporter of the Whites. Dante had always been",
"text": "interested in politics. He believed passionately in the republic, and often",
"text": "chastised his fellow citizens for their lack of spine. He also happened to",
"text": "be the city’s most eloquent public speaker. In 1300, the year Boniface",
"text": "began plotting to take over Tuscany, Dante’s fellow citizens had voted",
"text": "him in to Florence’s highest elected position, making him one of the",
"text": "city’s six priors. During his six-month term in the post, he had stood",
"text": "firmly against the Blacks and against all of the pope’s attempts to sow",
"text": "disorder.",
"text": "By 1301, however, Boniface had a new plan: He called in Charles de",
"text": "Valois, powerful brother of the king of France, to help bring order to",
"text": "Tuscany. As Charles marched through northern Italy, and Florence",
"text": "seethed with anxiety and fear, Dante quickly emerged as the man who",
"text": "could rally the people, arguing vehemently against appeasement and",
"text": "working desperately to arm the citizens and to organize resistance",
"text": "against the pope and his puppet French prince. By hook or by crook,",
"text": "Boniface had to neutralize Dante. And so, even as on the one hand he",
"text": "threatened Florence with Charles de Valois, on the other he held out the",
"text": "olive branch, the possibility of negotiations, hoping Dante would take the",
"text": "bait. And indeed the Florentines decided to send a delegation to Rome",
"text": "and try to negotiate a peace. To head the mission, predictably, they chose",
"text": "Dante.",
"text": "Some warned the poet that the wily pope was setting up a trap to lure",
"text": "him away, but Dante went to Rome anyway, arriving as the French army",
"text": "stood before the gates of Florence. He felt sure that his eloquence and",
"text": "reason would win the pope over and save the city. Yet when the pope met",
"text": "the poet and the Florentine delegates, he instantly intimidated them, as",
"text": "he did so many. “Fall on your knees before me!” he bellowed at their",
"text": "first meeting. “Submit to me! I tell you that in all truth I have nothing in",
"text": "my heart but to promote your peace.” Succumbing to his powerful",
"text": "presence, the Florentines listened as the pope promised to look after their",
"text": "interests. He then advised them to return home, leaving one of their",
"text": "members behind to continue the talks. Boniface signaled that the man to",
"text": "stay was to be Dante. He spoke with the utmost politeness, but in essence",
"text": "it was an order.",
"text": "And so Dante remained in Rome. And while he and the pope",
"text": "continued their dialogue, Florence fell apart. With no one to rally the",
"text": "Whites, and with Charles de Valois using the pope’s money to bribe and",
"text": "sow dissension, the Whites disintegrated, some arguing for negotiations,",
"text": "others switching sides. Facing an enemy now divided and unsure ofitself, the Blacks easily destroyed them within weeks, exacting violent",
"text": "revenge on them. And once the Blacks stood firmly in power, the pope",
"text": "finally dismissed Dante from Rome.",
"text": "The Blacks ordered Dante to return home to face accusations and",
"text": "stand trial. When the poet refused, the Blacks condemned him to be",
"text": "burned to death if he ever set foot in Florence again. And so Dante began",
"text": "a miserable life of exile, wandering through Italy, disgraced in the city",
"text": "that he loved, never to return to Florence, even after his death.",
"text": "THE LIFE OF THEMISTOCLES",
"text": "[Themistocles‘s] fellow citizens reached the point at which their jealousy",
"text": "made them listen to any slander at his expense, and so [he] was forced to",
"text": "remind the assembly of his achievements until they could bear this no",
"text": "longer. He once said to those who were complaining of him: “Why are",
"text": "you tired of receiving benefits so often from the same men?” Besides this",
"text": "he gave offense to the people when he built the temple of Artemis, for not",
"text": "only did he style the goddess Artemis Aristoboule, or Artemis wisest in",
"text": "counsel —with the hint that it was he who had given the best counsel to",
"text": "the Athenians and the Greeks-but he chose a site for it near his own",
"text": "house at Melite… So at last the Athenians banished him. They made use",
"text": "of the ostracism to humble his great reputation and his authority, as",
"text": "indeed was their habit with any whose power they regarded as",
"text": "oppressive, or who had risen to an eminence which they considered out",
"text": "of keeping with the equality of a democracy.",
"text": "THE LIFE OF THEMISTOCLES, PLUTARCH, C. A.D. 46-120",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Boniface knew that if he only had a pretext to lure Dante away, Florence",
"text": "would crumble. He played the oldest card in the book—threatening with",
"text": "one hand while holding out the olive branch with the other—and Dante",
"text": "fell for it. Once the poet was in Rome, the pope kept him there for as",
"text": "long as it took. For Boniface understood one of the principal precepts in",
"text": "the game of power: One resolute person, one disobedient spirit, can turn",
"text": "a flock of sheep into a den of lions. So he isolated the troublemaker.",
"text": "Without the backbone of the city to keep them together, the sheep",
"text": "quickly scattered.",
"text": "Learn the lesson: Do not waste your time lashing out in all directions",
"text": "at what seems to be a many-headed enemy. Find the one head thatmatters—the person with willpower, or smarts, or, most important of all,",
"text": "charisma. Whatever it costs you, lure this person away, for once he is",
"text": "absent his powers will lose their effect. His isolation can be physical",
"text": "(banishment or absence from the court), political (narrowing his base of",
"text": "support), or psychological (alienating him from the group through",
"text": "slander and insinuation). Cancer begins with a single cell; excise it",
"text": "before it spreads beyond cure.",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "In the past, an entire nation would be ruled by a king and his handful of",
"text": "ministers. Only the elite had any power to play with. Over the centuries,",
"text": "power has gradually become more and more diffused and democratized.",
"text": "This has created, however, a common misperception that groups no",
"text": "longer have centers of power—that power is spread out and scattered",
"text": "among many people. Actually, however, power has changed in its",
"text": "numbers but not in its essence. There may be fewer mighty tyrants",
"text": "commanding the power of life and death over millions, but there remain",
"text": "thousands of petty tyrants ruling smaller realms, and enforcing their will",
"text": "through indirect power games, charisma, and so on. In every group,",
"text": "power is concentrated in the hands of one or two people, for this is one",
"text": "area in which human nature will never change: People will congregate",
"text": "around a single strong personality like planets orbiting a sun.",
"text": "To labor under the illusion that this kind of power center no longer",
"text": "exists is to make endless mistakes, waste energy and time, and never hit",
"text": "the target. Powerful people never waste time. Outwardly they may play",
"text": "along with the game—pretending that power is shared among many—",
"text": "but inwardly they keep their eyes on the inevitable few in the group who",
"text": "hold the cards. These are the ones they work on. When troubles arise,",
"text": "they look for the underlying cause, the single strong character who",
"text": "started the stirring and whose isolation or banishment will settle the",
"text": "waters again.",
"text": "In his family-therapy practice, Dr. Milton H. Erickson found that if the",
"text": "family dynamic was unsettled and dysfunctional there was inevitably one",
"text": "person who was the stirrer, the troublemaker. In his sessions he would",
"text": "symbolically isolate this rotten apple by seating him or her apart from the",
"text": "others, if only by a few feet. Slowly the other family members would seethe physically separate person as the source of their difficulty. Once you",
"text": "recognize who the stirrer is, pointing it out to other people will",
"text": "accomplish a great deal. Understanding who controls the group dynamic",
"text": "is a critical realization. Remember: Stirrers thrive by hiding in the group,",
"text": "disguising their actions among the reactions of others. Render their",
"text": "actions visible and they lose their power to upset.",
"text": "A key element in games of strategy is isolating the enemy’s power. In",
"text": "chess you try to corner the king. In the Chinese game of go you try to",
"text": "isolate the enemy’s forces in small pockets, rendering them immobile",
"text": "and ineffectual. It is often better to isolate your enemies than to destroy",
"text": "them—you seem less brutal. The result, though, is the same, for in the",
"text": "game of power, isolation spells death.",
"text": "The most effective form of isolation is somehow to separate your",
"text": "victims from their power base. When Mao Tse-tung wanted to eliminate",
"text": "an enemy in the ruling elite, he did not confront the person directly; he",
"text": "silently and stealthily worked to isolate the man, divide his allies and",
"text": "turn them away from him, shrink his support. Soon the man would",
"text": "vanish on his own.",
"text": "Presence and appearance have great import in the game of power. To",
"text": "seduce, particularly in the beginning stages, you need to be constantly",
"text": "present, or create the feeling that you are; if you are often out of sight,",
"text": "the charm will wear off. Queen Elizabeth’s prime minister, Robert Cecil,",
"text": "had two main rivals: the queen’s favorite, the Earl of Essex, and her",
"text": "former favorite, Sir Walter Raleigh. He contrived to send them both on a",
"text": "mission against Spain; with them away from the court he managed to",
"text": "wrap his tentacles around the queen, secure his position as her top",
"text": "adviser and weaken her affection for Raleigh and the earl. The lesson",
"text": "here is twofold: First, your absence from the court spells danger for you,",
"text": "and you should never leave the scene in a time of turmoil, for your",
"text": "absence can both symbolize and induce a loss of power; second, and on",
"text": "the other hand, luring your enemies away from the court at critical",
"text": "moments is a great ploy.",
"text": "Isolation has other strategic uses. When trying to seduce people, it is",
"text": "often wise to isolate them from their usual social context. Once isolated",
"text": "they are vulnerable to you, and your presence becomes magnified.",
"text": "Similarly, con artists often look for ways to isolate their marks from their",
"text": "normal social milieux, steering them into new environments in which",
"text": "they are no longer comfortable. Here they feel weak, and succumb to",
"text": "deception more easily. Isolation, then, can prove a powerful way of",
"text": "bringing people under your spell to seduce or swindle them.You will often find powerful people who have alienated themselves",
"text": "from the group. Perhaps their power has gone to their heads, and they",
"text": "consider themselves superior; perhaps they have lost the knack of",
"text": "communicating with ordinary folk. Remember: This makes them",
"text": "vulnerable. Powerful though they be, people like this can be turned to",
"text": "use.",
"text": "The monk Rasputin gained his power over Czar Nicholas and Czarina",
"text": "Alexandra of Russia through their tremendous isolation from the people.",
"text": "Alexandra in particular was a foreigner, and especially alienated from",
"text": "everyday Russians; Rasputin used his peasant origins to insinuate",
"text": "himself into her good graces, for she desperately wanted to communicate",
"text": "with her subjects. Once in the court’s inner circle, Rasputin made himself",
"text": "indispensable and attained great power. Heading straight for the center,",
"text": "he aimed for the one figure in Russia who commanded power (the",
"text": "czarina dominated her husband), and found he had no need to isolate her",
"text": "for the work was already done. The Rasputin strategy can bring you",
"text": "great power: Always search out people who hold high positions yet who",
"text": "find themselves isolated on the board. They are like apples falling into",
"text": "your lap, easily seduced, and able to catapult you into power yourself.",
"text": "Finally, the reason you strike at the shepherd is because such an action",
"text": "will dishearten the sheep beyond any rational measure. When Hernando",
"text": "Cortés and Francisco Pizarro led their tiny forces against the Aztec and",
"text": "Incan empires, they did not make the mistake of fighting on several",
"text": "fronts, nor were they intimidated by the numbers arrayed against them;",
"text": "they captured the kings, Moctezuma and Atahualpa. Vast empires fell",
"text": "into their hands. With the leader gone the center of gravity is gone; there",
"text": "is nothing to revolve around and everything falls apart. Aim at the",
"text": "leaders, bring them down, and look for the endless opportunities in the",
"text": "confusion that will ensue.",
"text": "Image: A Flock of Fatted",
"text": "Sheep. Do not waste precious",
"text": "time trying to steal a sheep or two; do",
"text": "not risk life and limb by setting upon",
"text": "the dogs that guard the flock. Aim at the",
"text": "shepherd. Lure him away and the dogs",
"text": "will follow. Strike him down and the flock will",
"text": "scatter—you can pick them off one by one.Authority: If you draw a bow, draw the strongest. If you use an arrow,",
"text": "use the longest. To shoot a rider, first shoot his horse. To catch a gang of",
"text": "bandits, first capture its leader. Just as a country has its border, so the",
"text": "killing of men has its limits. If the enemy’s attack can be stopped [with a",
"text": "blow to the head], why have any more dead and wounded than",
"text": "necessary? (Chinese poet Tu Fu, Tang dynasty, eighth century)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "“Any harm you do to a man should be done in such a way that you need",
"text": "not fear his revenge,” writes Machiavelli. If you act to isolate your",
"text": "enemy, make sure he lacks the means to repay the favor. If you apply this",
"text": "Law, in other words, apply it from a position of superiority, so that you",
"text": "have nothing to fear from his resentment.",
"text": "Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln’s successor as U.S. president, saw",
"text": "Ulysses S. Grant as a troublesome member of his government. So he",
"text": "isolated Grant, as a prelude to forcing him out. This only enraged the",
"text": "great general, however, who responded by forming a support base in the",
"text": "Republican party and going on to become the next president. It would",
"text": "have been far wiser to keep a man like Grant in the fold, where he could",
"text": "do less harm, than to make him revengeful. And so you may often find it",
"text": "better to keep people on your side, where you can watch them, than to",
"text": "risk creating an angry enemy. Keeping them close, you can secretly",
"text": "whittle away at their support base, so that when the time comes to cut",
"text": "them loose they will fall fast and hard without knowing what hit them.LAW 43",
"text": "WORK ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF",
"text": "OTHERS",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You",
"text": "must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you",
"text": "have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is",
"text": "to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up",
"text": "the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold",
"text": "dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they",
"text": "will grow to hate you.",
"text": "CYRUS’S RUSE",
"text": "Thinking of the means by which he could most effectively persuade the",
"text": "Persians to revolt, [Cyrus’s] deliberations led him to adopt the following",
"text": "plan, which he found best suited to his purpose. He wrote on a roll of",
"text": "parchment that Astyages had appointed him to command the Persian",
"text": "army; then he summoned an assembly of the Persians, opened the roll in",
"text": "their presence and read out what he had written. “And now, he added, I",
"text": "have an order for you: every man is to appear on parade with a",
"text": "billhook….” The order was obeyed. All the men assembled with their",
"text": "billhooks, and Cyrus’s next command was that before the day was out",
"text": "they should clear a certain piece of rough land full of thorn-bushes,",
"text": "about eighteen or twenty furlongs square. This too was done, whereupon",
"text": "Cyrus issued the further order that they should present themselves again",
"text": "on the following day, after having taken a bath. Meanwhile, Cyrus",
"text": "collected and slaughtered all his father’s goats, sheep, and oxen in",
"text": "preparation for entertaining the whole Persian army at a banquet,",
"text": "together with the best wine and bread he could procure. The next day the",
"text": "guests assembled, and were told to sit down on the grass and enjoythemselves. After the meal Cyrus asked them which they preferred—",
"text": "yesterday’s work or today’s amusement; and they replied that it was",
"text": "indeed a far cry from the previous day’s misery to their present",
"text": "pleasures. This was the answer which Cyrus wanted; he seized upon it at",
"text": "once and proceeded to lay bare what he had in mind. “Men of Persia,”",
"text": "he said, “listen to me: obey my orders, and you will be able to enjoy a",
"text": "thousand pleasures as good as this without ever turning your hands to",
"text": "menial labor; but, if you disobey, yesterday’s task will be the pattern of",
"text": "innumerable others you will be forced to perform. Take my advice and",
"text": "win your freedom. I am the man destined to undertake your liberation,",
"text": "and it is my belief that you are a match for the Medes in war as in",
"text": "everything else. It is the truth I tell you. Do not delay, but fling off the",
"text": "yoke of Astyages at once.”",
"text": "The Persians had long resented their subjection to the Medes. At last",
"text": "they had found a leader, and welcomed with enthusiasm the prospect of",
"text": "liberty…. On the present occasion the Persians under Cyrus rose against",
"text": "the Medes and from then onwards were masters of Asia.",
"text": "THE HISTORIES, HERODOTUS, FIFTH CENTURY B.C..",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Near the end of the reign of Louis XV, all of France seemed desperate",
"text": "for change. When the king’s grandson and chosen successor, the future",
"text": "Louis XVI, married the fifteen-year-old daughter of the empress of",
"text": "Austria, the French caught a glimpse of the future that seemed hopeful.",
"text": "The young bride, Marie-Antoinette, was beautiful and full of life. She",
"text": "instantly changed the mood of the court, which was rank with Louis",
"text": "XV’s de baucheries; even the common people, who had yet to see her,",
"text": "talked excitedly of Marie-Antoinette. The French had grown disgusted",
"text": "with the series of mistresses who had dominated Louis XV, and they",
"text": "looked forward to serving their new queen. In 1773, when Marie-",
"text": "Antoinette publicly rode through the streets of Paris for the first time,",
"text": "applauding crowds swarmed around her carriage. “How fortunate,” she",
"text": "wrote her mother, “to be in a position in which one can gain widespread",
"text": "affection at so little cost.”",
"text": "In 1774 Louis XV died and Louis XVI took the throne. As soon as",
"text": "Marie-Antoinette became queen she abandoned herself to the pleasuresshe loved the most—ordering and wearing the most expensive gowns",
"text": "and jewelry in the realm; sporting the most elaborate hair in history, her",
"text": "sculpted coiffures rising as much as three feet above her head; and",
"text": "throwing a constant succession of masked balls and fêtes. All of these",
"text": "whims she paid for on credit, never concerning herself with the cost or",
"text": "who paid the bills.",
"text": "Marie-Antoinette’s greatest pleasure was the creation and designing of",
"text": "a private Garden of Eden at the Petit Trianon, a château on the grounds",
"text": "of Versailles with its own woods. The gardens at the Petit Trianon were",
"text": "to be as “natural” as possible, including moss applied by hand to the",
"text": "trees and rocks. To heighten the pastoral effect, the queen employed",
"text": "peasant milkmaids to milk the finest-looking cows in the realm;",
"text": "launderers and cheese-makers in special peasant outfits she helped",
"text": "design; shepherds to tend sheep with silk ribbons around their necks.",
"text": "When she inspected the barns, she would watch her milkmaids squeezing",
"text": "milk into porcelain vases made at the royal ceramic works. To pass the",
"text": "time, Marie-Antoinette would gather flowers in the woods around the",
"text": "Petit Trianon, or watch her “good peasants” doing their “chores.” The",
"text": "place became a separate world, its community limited to her chosen",
"text": "favorites.",
"text": "With each new whim, the cost of maintaining the Petit Trianon soared.",
"text": "Meanwhile, France itself was deteriorating: There was famine and",
"text": "widespread discontent. Even socially insulated courtiers seethed with",
"text": "resentment—the queen treated them like children. Only her favorites",
"text": "mattered, and these were becoming fewer and fewer. But Marie-",
"text": "Antoinette did not concern herself with this. Not once throughout her",
"text": "reign did she read a minister’s report. Not once did she tour the",
"text": "provinces and rally the people to her side. Not once did she mingle",
"text": "among the Parisians, or receive a delegation from them. She did none of",
"text": "these things because as queen she felt the people owed her their",
"text": "affection, and she was not required to love them in return.",
"text": "In 1784 the queen became embroiled in a scandal. As part of an",
"text": "elaborate swindle, the most expensive diamond necklace in Europe had",
"text": "been purchased under her name, and during the swindlers’ trial her lavish",
"text": "lifestyle became public: People heard about the money she spent on",
"text": "jewels and dresses and masked dances. They gave her the nickname",
"text": "“Madame Deficit,” and from then on she became the focus of the",
"text": "people’s growing resentment. When she appeared in her box at the opera",
"text": "the audience greeted her with hisses. Even the court turned against her.For while she had been running up her huge expenditures, the country",
"text": "was headed for ruin.",
"text": "Five years later, in 1789, an unprecedented event took place: the",
"text": "beginning of the French Revolution. The queen did not worry—let the",
"text": "people have their little rebellion, she seemed to think; it would soon",
"text": "quiet down and she would be able to resume her life of pleasure. That",
"text": "year the people marched on Versailles, forcing the royal family to quit",
"text": "the palace and take residence in Paris. This was a triumph for the rebels,",
"text": "but it offered the queen an opportunity to heal the wounds she had",
"text": "opened and establish contact with the people. The queen, however, had",
"text": "not learned her lesson: Not once would she leave the palace during her",
"text": "stay in Paris. Her subjects could rot in hell for all she cared.",
"text": "In 1792 the royal couple was moved from the palace to a prison, as the",
"text": "revolution officially declared the end of the monarchy. The following",
"text": "year Louis XVI was tried, found guilty, and guillotined. As Marie-",
"text": "Antoinette awaited the same fate, hardly a soul came to her defense—not",
"text": "one of her former friends in the court, not one of Europe’s other",
"text": "monarchs (who, as members of their own countries’ royal families, had",
"text": "all the reason in the world to show that revolution did not pay), not even",
"text": "her own family in Austria, including her brother, who now sat on the",
"text": "throne. She had become the world’s pariah. In October of 1793, she",
"text": "finally knelt at the guillotine, unrepentant and defiant to the bitter end.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "From early on, Marie-Antoinette acquired the most dangerous of",
"text": "attitudes: As a young princess in Austria she was endlessly flattered and",
"text": "cajoled. As the future queen of the French court she was the center of",
"text": "everyone’s attention. She never learned to charm or please other people,",
"text": "to become attuned to their individual psychologies. She never had to",
"text": "work to get her way, to use calculation or cunning or the arts of",
"text": "persuasion. And like everyone who is indulged from an early age, she",
"text": "evolved into a monster of insensitivity.",
"text": "Marie-Antoinette became the focus of an entire country’s",
"text": "dissatisfaction because it is so infuriating to meet with a person who",
"text": "makes no effort to seduce you or attempt to persuade you, even if only",
"text": "for the purpose of deception. And do not imagine that she represents a",
"text": "bygone era, or that she is even rare. Her type is today more common than",
"text": "ever. Such types live in their own bubble—they seem to feel they areborn kings and queens, and that attention is owed them. They do not",
"text": "consider anyone else’s nature, but bulldoze over people with the self-",
"text": "righteous arrogance of a Marie-Antoinette. Pampered and indulged as",
"text": "children, as adults they still believe that everything must come to them;",
"text": "convinced of their own charm, they make no effort to charm, seduce, or",
"text": "gently persuade.",
"text": "In the realm of power, such attitudes are disastrous. At all times you",
"text": "must attend to those around you, gauging their particular psychology,",
"text": "tailoring your words to what you know will entice and seduce them. This",
"text": "requires energy and art. The higher your station, the greater the need to",
"text": "remain attuned to the hearts and minds of those below you, creating a",
"text": "base of support to maintain you at the pinnacle. Without that base, your",
"text": "power will teeter, and at the slightest change of fortune those below will",
"text": "gladly assist in your fall from grace.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "In A.D. 225, Chuko Liang, master strategist and chief minister to the",
"text": "ruler of Shu in ancient China, confronted a dangerous situation. The",
"text": "kingdom of Wei had mounted an all-out attack on Shu from the north.",
"text": "More dangerous still, Wei had formed an alliance with the barbarous",
"text": "states to the south of Shu, led by King Menghuo. Chuko Liang had to",
"text": "deal with this second menace from the south before he could hope to",
"text": "fend off Wei in the north.",
"text": "As Chuko Liang prepared to march south against the barbarians, a",
"text": "wise man in his camp offered him advice. It would be impossible, this",
"text": "man said, to pacify the region by force. Liang would probably beat",
"text": "Menghuo, but as soon as he headed north again to deal with Wei,",
"text": "Menghuo would reinvade. “It is better to win hearts,” said the wise man,",
"text": "“than cities; better to battle with hearts than with weapons. I hope you",
"text": "will succeed in winning the hearts of these people.” “You read my",
"text": "thoughts,” responded Chuko Liang.",
"text": "THE GENTLE ART OF PERSUASION",
"text": "The north wind and the sun were disputing which was the stronger, and",
"text": "agreed to acknowledge as the victor whichever of them could strip atraveler of his clothing. The wind tried first. But its violent gusts only",
"text": "made the man hold his clothes tightly around him, and when it blew",
"text": "harder still the cold made him so uncomfortable that he put on an extra",
"text": "wrap. Eventually the wind got tired of it and handed him over to the sun.",
"text": "The sun shone first with a moderate warmth, which made the man take",
"text": "off his topcoat. Then it blazed fiercely, till, unable to stand the heat, he",
"text": "stripped and went off to bathe in a nearby river. Persuasion is more",
"text": "effective than force.",
"text": "FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "As Liang expected, Menghuo launched a powerful attack. But Liang",
"text": "laid a trap and managed to capture a large part of Menghuo’s army,",
"text": "including the king himself. Instead of punishing or executing his",
"text": "prisoners, however, he separated the soldiers from their king, had their",
"text": "shackles removed, regaled them with food and wine, and then addressed",
"text": "them. “You are all upright men,” he said. “I believe you all have parents,",
"text": "wives, and children waiting for you at home. They are doubtless",
"text": "shedding bitter tears at your fate. I am going to release you, so that you",
"text": "can return home to your loved ones and comfort them.” The men",
"text": "thanked Liang with tears in their eyes; then he sent for Menghuo. “If I",
"text": "release you,” asked Liang, “what will you do?” “I will pull my army",
"text": "together again,” answered the king, “and lead it against you to a decisive",
"text": "battle. But if you capture me a second time, I will bow to your",
"text": "superiority.” Not only did Liang order Menghuo released, he gave him a",
"text": "gift of a horse and saddle. When angry lieutenants wondered why he did",
"text": "this, Liang told them, “I can capture that man as easily as I can take",
"text": "something out of my pocket. I am trying to win his heart. When I do,",
"text": "peace will come of itself here in the south.”",
"text": "As Menghuo had said he would, he attacked again. But his own",
"text": "officers, whom Liang had treated so well, rebelled against him, captured",
"text": "him, and turned him over to Liang, who asked him again the same",
"text": "question as before. Menghuo replied that he had not been beaten fairly,",
"text": "but merely betrayed by his own officers; he would fight again, but if",
"text": "captured a third time he would bow to Liang’s superiority.",
"text": "Over the following months Liang outwitted Menghuo again and again,",
"text": "capturing him a third, a fourth, and a fifth time. On each occasion",
"text": "Menghuo’s troops grew more dissatisfied. Liang had treated them with",
"text": "respect; they had lost their heart for fighting. But every time Chuko",
"text": "Liang asked Menghuo to yield, the great king would come up with",
"text": "another excuse: You tricked me, I lost through bad luck, on and on. Ifyou capture me again, he would promise, I swear I will not betray you.",
"text": "And so Liang would let him go.",
"text": "When he captured Menghuo for the sixth time, he asked the king the",
"text": "same question again. “If you capture me a seventh time,” the king",
"text": "replied, “I shall give you my loyalty and never rebel again.” “Very well,”",
"text": "said Liang. “But if I capture you again, I will not release you.”",
"text": "Now Menghuo and his soldiers fled to a far corner of their kingdom,",
"text": "the region of Wuge. Defeated so many times, Menghuo had only one",
"text": "hope left: He would ask the help of King Wutugu of Wuge, who had an",
"text": "immense and ferocious army. Wutugu’s warriors wore an armor of",
"text": "tightly woven vines soaked in oil, then dried to an impenetrable",
"text": "hardness. With Menghuo at his side, Wutugu marched this mighty army",
"text": "against Liang, and this time the great strategist seemed frightened,",
"text": "leading his men in a hurried retreat. But he was merely leading Wutugu",
"text": "into a trap: He cornered the king’s men in a narrow valley, then lit fires",
"text": "set all around them. When the fires reached the soldiers Wutugu’s whole",
"text": "army burst into flame—the oil in their armor, of course, being highly",
"text": "flammable. All of them perished.",
"text": "Liang had managed to separate Menghuo and his entourage from the",
"text": "carnage in the valley, and the king found himself a captive for the",
"text": "seventh time. After this slaughter Liang could not bear to face his",
"text": "prisoner again. He sent a messenger to the captured king: “He has",
"text": "commissioned me to release you. Mobilize another army against him, if",
"text": "you can, and try once more to defeat him.” Sobbing, the king fell to the",
"text": "ground, crawled to Liang on his hands and knees, and prostrated himself",
"text": "at his feet. “Oh great minister,” cried Menghuo, “yours is the majesty of",
"text": "Heaven. We men of the south will never again offer resistance to your",
"text": "rule.” “Do you now yield?” asked Liang. “I, my sons, and my grandsons",
"text": "are deeply moved by Your Honor’s boundless, life-giving mercy. How",
"text": "could we not yield?”",
"text": "Liang honored Menghuo with a great banquet, reestablished him on",
"text": "the throne, restored his conquered lands to his rule, then returned north",
"text": "with his army, leaving no occupying force. Liang never came back—he",
"text": "had no need to: Menghuo had become his most devoted and unshakable",
"text": "ally.",
"text": "The men who have changed the universe have never gotten there by",
"text": "working on leaders, but rather by moving the masses. Working on",
"text": "leaders is the method of intrigue and only leads to secondary results.",
"text": "Working on the masses, however, is the stroke of genius that changes the",
"text": "face of the world.NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821",
"text": "LIFE OF ABBENDER THE GREAT",
"text": "This long and painful pursuit of Darius—for in eleven days he marched",
"text": "33 hundred furlongs—harassed his soldiers so that most of them were",
"text": "ready to give it up, chiefly for want of water. While they were in this",
"text": "distress, it happened that some Macedonians who had fetched water in",
"text": "skins upon their mules from a river they had found out came about noon",
"text": "to the place where Alexander was, and seeing him almost choked with",
"text": "thirst, presently filled a helmet and offered it him…. Then he took the",
"text": "helmet into his hands, and looking round about, when he saw all those",
"text": "who were near him stretching their heads out and looking earnestly after",
"text": "the drink, he returned it again with thanks without tasting a drop of it.",
"text": "“For,” said he, “if I alone should drink, the rest will be out of heart.”",
"text": "The soldiers no sooner took notice of his temperance and magnanimity",
"text": "upon this occasion, but they one and all cried out to him to lead them",
"text": "forward boldly, and began whipping on their horses. For whilst they had",
"text": "such a king they said they defied both weariness and thirst, and looked",
"text": "upon themselves to be little less than immortal.",
"text": "THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, PLUTARCH, C. A.D. 46-",
"text": "120",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Chuko Liang had two options: Try to defeat the barbarians in the south",
"text": "with one crushing blow, or patiently and slowly win them to his side over",
"text": "time. Most people more powerful than their enemy grab the first option",
"text": "and never consider the second, but the truly powerful think far ahead:",
"text": "The first option may be quick and easy, but over time it brews ugly",
"text": "emotions in the hearts of the vanquished. Their resentment turns to",
"text": "hatred; such animosity keeps you on edge—you spend your energy",
"text": "protecting what you have gained, growing paranoid and defensive. The",
"text": "second option, though more difficult, not only brings you peace of mind,",
"text": "it converts a potential enemy into a pillar of support.",
"text": "In all your encounters, take a step back—take the time to calculate and",
"text": "attune yourself to your targets’ emotional makeup and psychological",
"text": "weaknesses. Force will only strengthen their resistance. With most",
"text": "people the heart is the key: They are like children, ruled by theiremotions. To soften them up, alternate harshness with mercy. Play on",
"text": "their basic fears, and also their loves—freedom, family, etc. Once you",
"text": "break them down, you will have a lifelong friend and fiercely loyal ally.",
"text": "Governments saw men only in mass; but our men, being irregulars, were",
"text": "not",
"text": "formations, but individuals…. Our kingdoms lay in each man’s mind.",
"text": "Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence, 1888-1935",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "In the game of power, you are surrounded by people who have absolutely",
"text": "no reason to help you unless it is in their interest to do so. And if you",
"text": "have nothing to offer their self-interest, you are likely to make them",
"text": "hostile, for they will see in you just one more competitor, one more",
"text": "waster of their time. Those that overcome this prevailing coldness are the",
"text": "ones who find the key that unlocks the stranger’s heart and mind,",
"text": "seducing him into their comer, if necessary softening him up for a punch.",
"text": "But most people never learn this side of the game. When they meet",
"text": "someone new, rather than stepping back and probing to see what makes",
"text": "this person unique, they talk about themselves, eager to impose their own",
"text": "willpower and prejudices. They argue, boast, and make a show of their",
"text": "power. They may not know it but they are secretly creating an enemy, a",
"text": "resister, because there is no more infuriating feeling than having your",
"text": "individuality ignored, your own psychology unacknowledged. It makes",
"text": "you feel lifeless and resentful.",
"text": "Remember: The key to persuasion is softening people up and breaking",
"text": "them down, gently. Seduce them with a two-pronged approach: Work on",
"text": "their emotions and play on their intellectual weaknesses. Be alert to both",
"text": "what separates them from everyone else (their individual psychology)",
"text": "and what they share with everyone else (their basic emotional",
"text": "responses). Aim at the primary emotions—love, hate, jealousy. Once you",
"text": "move their emotions you have reduced their control, making them more",
"text": "vulnerable to persuasion.",
"text": "When Chuko Liang wanted to dissuade an important general of a rival",
"text": "kingdom from entering into an alliance with Ts‘ao Ts’ao, Liang’s",
"text": "dreaded enemy, he did not detail Ts‘ao Ts’ao’s cruelty, or attack him on",
"text": "moral grounds. Instead Liang suggested that Ts‘ao Ts’ao was really afterthe general’s beautiful young wife. This hit the general in the gut, and",
"text": "won him over. Mao Tse-tung similarly always appealed to popular",
"text": "emotions, and spoke in the simplest terms. Educated and well-read",
"text": "himself, in his speeches he used visceral metaphors, voicing the public’s",
"text": "deepest anxieties and encouraging them to vent their frustrations in",
"text": "public meetings. Rather than arguing the practical aspects of a particular",
"text": "program, he would describe how it would affect them on the most",
"text": "primitive, down-to-earth level. Do not believe that this approach works",
"text": "only with the illiterate and unschooled—it works on one and all. All of",
"text": "us are mortal and face the same dreadful fate, and all of us share the",
"text": "desire for attachment and belonging. Stir up these emotions and you",
"text": "captivate our hearts.",
"text": "The best way to do this is with a dramatic jolt, of the kind that Chuko",
"text": "Liang created when he fed and released prisoners who expected only the",
"text": "worst from him. Shaking them to the core, he softened their hearts. Play",
"text": "on contrasts like this: Push people to despair, then give them relief. If",
"text": "they expect pain and you give them pleasure, you win their hearts.",
"text": "Creating pleasure of any kind, in fact, will usually bring you success, as",
"text": "will allaying fears and providing or promising security.",
"text": "Symbolic gestures are often enough to win sympathy and goodwill. A",
"text": "gesture of self-sacrifice, for example—a show that you suffer as those",
"text": "around you do—will make people identify with you, even if your",
"text": "suffering is symbolic or minor and theirs is real. When you enter a",
"text": "group, make a gesture of goodwill; soften the group up for the harsher",
"text": "actions that will follow later.",
"text": "When T. E. Lawrence was fighting the Turks in the deserts of the",
"text": "Middle East during World War I, he had an epiphany: It seemed to him",
"text": "that conventional warfare had lost its value. The old-fashioned soldier",
"text": "was lost in the enormous armies of the time, in which he was ordered",
"text": "about like a lifeless pawn. Lawrence wanted to turn this around. For him,",
"text": "every soldier’s mind was a kingdom he had to conquer. A committed,",
"text": "psychologically motivated soldier would fight harder and more",
"text": "creatively than a puppet.",
"text": "Lawrence’s perception is still more true in the world today, where so",
"text": "many of us feel alienated, anonymous, and suspicious of authority, all of",
"text": "which makes overt power plays and force even more counterproductive",
"text": "and dangerous. Instead of manipulating lifeless pawns, make those on",
"text": "your side convinced and excited by the cause you have enlisted them in;",
"text": "this will not only make your work easier but it will also give you more",
"text": "leeway to deceive them later on. And to accomplish this you need to dealwith their individual psychologies. Never clumsily assume that the tactic",
"text": "that worked on one person will necessarily work on another. To find the",
"text": "key that will motivate them, first get them to open up. The more they",
"text": "talk, the more they reveal about their likes and dislikes—the handles and",
"text": "levers to move them with.",
"text": "The quickest way to secure people’s minds is by demonstrating, as",
"text": "simply as possible, how an action will benefit them. Self-interest is the",
"text": "strongest motive of all: A great cause may capture minds, but once the",
"text": "first flush of excitement is over, interest will flag—unless there is",
"text": "something to be gained. Self-interest is the solider foundation. The",
"text": "causes that work best use a noble veneer to cover a blatant appeal to self-",
"text": "interest; the cause seduces but the self-interest secures the deal.",
"text": "The people who are best at appealing to people’s minds are often",
"text": "artists, intellectuals, and those of a more poetic nature. This is because",
"text": "ideas are most easily communicated through metaphors and imagery. It",
"text": "is always good policy, then, to have in your pocket at least one artist or",
"text": "intellectual who can appeal concretely to people’s minds. Kings have",
"text": "always kept a stable of writers in their barn: Frederick the Great had his",
"text": "Voltaire (until they quarreled and separated), Napoleon won over",
"text": "Goethe. Conversely, Napoleon III’s alienation of writers such as Victor",
"text": "Hugo, whom he exiled from France, contributed to his growing",
"text": "unpopularity and eventual downfall. It is dangerous, then, to alienate",
"text": "those who have powers of expression, and useful to pacify and exploit",
"text": "them.",
"text": "Finally, learn to play the numbers game. The wider your support base",
"text": "the stronger your power. Understanding that one alienated, disaffected",
"text": "soul can spark a blaze of discontent, Louis XIV made sure to endear",
"text": "himself to the lowest members of his staff. You too must constantly win",
"text": "over more allies on all levels—a time will inevitably come when you",
"text": "will need them.",
"text": "Image:",
"text": "The Keyhole.",
"text": "People build",
"text": "walls to keep you",
"text": "out; never force",
"text": "your way in—you",
"text": "will find only more",
"text": "walls within walls.",
"text": "There are doors in",
"text": "these walls, doors tothe heart and mind, and",
"text": "they have tiny key",
"text": "holes. Peer through the",
"text": "keyhole, find the key",
"text": "that opens the door,",
"text": "and you have access",
"text": "to their will with",
"text": "no ugly signs",
"text": "of forced",
"text": "entry.",
"text": "Authority: The difficulties in the way of persuasion lie in my knowing",
"text": "the heart of the persuaded in order thereby to fit my wording into it….",
"text": "For this reason, whoever attempts persuasion before the throne, must",
"text": "carefully observe the sovereign’s feelings of love and hate, his secret",
"text": "wishes and fears, before he can conquer his heart. (Han-fei-tzu, Chinese",
"text": "philosopher, third century B.C.)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "There is no possible reversal to this Law.LAW 44",
"text": "DISARM AND INFURIATE WITH THE",
"text": "MIRROR EFFECT",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception:",
"text": "When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot",
"text": "figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them,",
"text": "making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you",
"text": "seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a",
"text": "mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the",
"text": "power of the Mirror Effect.",
"text": "MIRROR EFFECTS: Preliminary Typology",
"text": "Mirrors have the power to disturb us. Gazing at our reflection in the",
"text": "mirror, we most often see what we want to see—the image of ourselves",
"text": "with which we are most comfortable. We tend not to look too closely,",
"text": "ignoring the wrinkles and blemishes. But if we do look hard at the",
"text": "reflected image, we sometimes feel that we are seeing ourselves as others",
"text": "see us, as a person among other people, an object rather than a subject.",
"text": "That feeling makes us shudder—we see ourselves, but from the outside,",
"text": "minus the thoughts, spirit, and soul that fill our consciousness. We are a",
"text": "thing.",
"text": "In using Mirror Effects we symbolically re-create this disturbing",
"text": "power by mirroring the actions of other people, mimicking their",
"text": "movements to unsettle and infuriate them. Made to feel mocked, cloned,",
"text": "objectlike, an image without a soul, they get angry. Or do the same thing",
"text": "slightly differently and they might feel disarmed—you have perfectlyreflected their wishes and desires. This is the narcissistic power of",
"text": "mirrors. In either case, the Mirror Effect unsettles your targets, whether",
"text": "angering or entrancing them, and in that instant you have the power to",
"text": "manipulate or seduce them. The Effect contains great power because it",
"text": "operates on the most primitive emotions.",
"text": "There are four main Mirror Effects in the realm of power:",
"text": "The Neutralizing Effect. In ancient Greek mythology, the Gorgon",
"text": "Medusa had serpents for hair, protruding tongue, massive teeth, and a",
"text": "face so ugly that anyone who gazed at her was turned into stone, out of",
"text": "fright. But the hero Perseus managed to slay Medusa by polishing his",
"text": "bronze shield into a mirror, then using the reflection in the mirror to",
"text": "guide him as he crept up and cut off her head without looking at her",
"text": "directly. If the shield in this instance was a mirror, the mirror also was a",
"text": "kind of shield: Medusa could not see Perseus, she saw only her own",
"text": "reflected actions, and behind this screen the hero stole up and destroyed",
"text": "her.",
"text": "This is the essence of the Neutralizing Effect: Do what your enemies",
"text": "do, following their actions as best you can, and they cannot see what you",
"text": "are up to—they are blinded by your mirror. Their strategy for dealing",
"text": "with you depends on your reacting to them in a way characteristic of",
"text": "you; neutralize it by playing a game of mimicry with them. The tactic",
"text": "has a mocking, even infuriating effect. Most of us remember the",
"text": "childhood experience of someone teasing us by repeating our words",
"text": "exactly—after a while, usually not long, we wanted to punch them in the",
"text": "face. Working more subtly as an adult, you can still unsettle your",
"text": "opponents this way; shielding your own strategy with the mirror, you lay",
"text": "invisible traps, or push your opponents into the trap they planned for",
"text": "you.",
"text": "This powerful technique has been used in military strategy since the",
"text": "days of Sun-tzu; in our own time it often appears in political",
"text": "campaigning. It is also useful for disguising those situations in which",
"text": "you have no particular strategy yourself. This is the Warrior’s Mirror.",
"text": "THE MERCHANT AND HIS",
"text": "A certain merchant once had a great desire to make a long journey. Now",
"text": "in regard that he was not very wealthy, “It is requisite, ”said he to",
"text": "himself, “that before my departure I should leave some part of my estate",
"text": "in the city, to the end that if I meet with ill luck in my travels, I may havewherewithal to keep me at my return.”To this purpose he delivered a",
"text": "great number of bars of iron, which were a principal part of his wealth,",
"text": "in trust to one of his friends, desiring him to keep them during his",
"text": "absence; and then, taking his leave, away he went. Some time after,",
"text": "having had but ill luck in his travels, he returned home; and the first",
"text": "thing he did was to go to his friend, and demand his iron: but his friend,",
"text": "who owed several sums of money, having sold the iron to pay his own",
"text": "debts, made him this answer: “Truly, friend,”said he, “I put your iron",
"text": "into a room that was close locked, imagining it would have been there as",
"text": "secure as my own gold; but an accident has happened which no one",
"text": "could have suspected, for there was a rat in the room which ate it all",
"text": "up.” The merchant, pretending ignorance, replied, “It is a terrible",
"text": "misfortune to me indeed; but I know of old that rats love iron extremely;",
"text": "I have suffered by them many times before in the same manner, and",
"text": "therefore can the better bear my present affliction.” This answer",
"text": "extremely pleased the friend, who was glad to hear the merchant so well",
"text": "inclined to believe that a rat had eaten his iron; and to remove all",
"text": "suspicions, desired him to dine with him the next day. The merchant",
"text": "promised he would, but in the meantime he met in the middle of the city",
"text": "one of his friend’s children; the child he carried home, and locked up in",
"text": "a room. The next day he went to his friend, who seemed to be in great",
"text": "affliction, which he asked him the cause of, as if he had been perfectly",
"text": "ignorant of what had happened. ”O, my dear friend,” answered the",
"text": "other, ”I beg you to excuse me, if you do not see me so cheerful as",
"text": "otherwise I would be; I have lost one of my children; I have had him",
"text": "cried by sound of trumpet, but I know not what is become of him.” “O!”",
"text": "replied the merchant, ”I am grieved to hear this; for yesterday in the",
"text": "evening, as I parted from hence, I saw an owl in the air with a child in",
"text": "his claws; but whether it were yours I cannot tell.” “Why, you most",
"text": "foolish and absurd creature!” replied the friend, ”are you not ashamed",
"text": "to tell such an egregious lie? An owl, that weighs at most not above two",
"text": "or three pounds, can he carry a boy that weighs above fifty?” ”Why,”",
"text": "replied the merchant, ”do you make such a wonder at that? As if in a",
"text": "country where one rat can eat a hundred tons’ weight of iron, it were",
"text": "such a wonder for an owl to carry a child that weighs not over fifty",
"text": "pounds in all!” The friend, upon this, found that the merchant was no",
"text": "such fool as he took him to be, begged his pardon for the cheat which he",
"text": "designed to have put apon him, restored him the value of his iron, and so",
"text": "had his son again.",
"text": "FABLES, PILPAY. INDIA. FOURTH CENTURYA reverse version of the Neutralizing Effect is the Shadow: You",
"text": "shadow your opponents’ every move without their seeing you. Use the",
"text": "Shadow to gather information that will neutralize their strategy later on,",
"text": "when you will be able to thwart their every move. The Shadow is",
"text": "effective because to follow the movements of others is to gain valuable",
"text": "insights into their habits and routines. The Shadow is the preeminent",
"text": "device for detectives and spies.",
"text": "The Narcissus Effect. Gazing at an image in the waters of a pond, the",
"text": "Greek youth Narcissus fell in love with it. And when he found out that",
"text": "the image was his own reflection, and that he therefore could not",
"text": "consummate his love, he despaired and drowned himself. All of us have",
"text": "a similar problem: We are profoundly in love with ourselves, but since",
"text": "this love excludes a love object outside ourselves, it remains",
"text": "continuously unsatisfied and unfulfilled. The Narcissus Effect plays on",
"text": "this universal narcissism: You look deep into the souls of other people;",
"text": "fathom their inmost desires, their values, their tastes, their spirit; and you",
"text": "reflect it back to them, making yourself into a kind of mirror image. Your",
"text": "ability to reflect their psyche gives you great power over them; they may",
"text": "even feel a tinge of love.",
"text": "This is simply the ability to mimic another person not physically, but",
"text": "psychologically, and it is immensely powerful because it plays upon the",
"text": "unsatisfied self-love of a child. Normally, people bombard us with their",
"text": "experiences, their tastes. They hardly ever make the effort to see things",
"text": "through our eyes. This is annoying, but it also creates great opportunity:",
"text": "If you can show you understand another person by reflecting their inmost",
"text": "feelings, they will be entranced and disarmed, all the more so because it",
"text": "happens so rarely. No one can resist this feeling of being harmoniously",
"text": "reflected in the outside world, even though you might well be",
"text": "manufacturing it for their benefit, and for deceptive purposes of your",
"text": "own.",
"text": "The Narcissus Effect works wonders in both social life and business; it",
"text": "gives us both the Seducer’s and the Courtier’s Mirror.",
"text": "The Moral Effect The power of verbal argument is extremely limited,",
"text": "and often accomplishes the opposite of what is intended. As Gracián",
"text": "remarks, “The truth is generally seen, rarely heard.” The Moral Effect is",
"text": "a perfect way to demonstrate your ideas through action. Quite simply,",
"text": "you teach others a lesson by giving them a taste of their own medicine.",
"text": "In the Moral Effect, you mirror what other people have done to you,",
"text": "and do so in a way that makes them realize you are doing to them exactlywhat they did to you. You make them feel that their behavior has been",
"text": "unpleasant, as opposed to hearing you complain and whine about it,",
"text": "which only gets their defenses up. And as they feel the result of their",
"text": "actions mirrored back at them, they realize in the profoundest sense how",
"text": "they hurt or punish others with their unsocial behavior. You objectify the",
"text": "qualities you want them to feel ashamed of and create a mirror in which",
"text": "they can gaze at their follies and learn a lesson about themselves. This",
"text": "technique is often used by educators, psychologists, and anyone who has",
"text": "to deal with unpleasant and unconscious behavior. This is the Teacher’s",
"text": "Mirror. Whether or not there is actually anything wrong with the way",
"text": "people have treated you, however, it can often be to your advantage to",
"text": "reflect it back to them in a way that makes them feel guilty about it.",
"text": "The Hallucinatory Effect. Mirrors are tremendously deceptive, for they",
"text": "create a sense that you are looking at the real world. Actually, though,",
"text": "you are only staring at a piece of glass, which, as everyone knows,",
"text": "cannot show the world exactly as it is: Everything in a mirror is reversed.",
"text": "When Alice goes through the looking glass in Lewis Carroll’s book, she",
"text": "enters a world that is back-to-front, and more than just visually.",
"text": "The Hallucinatory Effect comes from creating a perfect copy of an",
"text": "object, a place, a person. This copy acts as a kind of dummy—people",
"text": "take it for the real thing, because it has the physical appearance of the",
"text": "real thing. This is the preeminent technique of con artists, who",
"text": "strategically mimic the real world to deceive you. It also has applications",
"text": "in any arena that requires camouflage. This is the Deceiver’s Mirror.",
"text": "OBSERVANCES OF MIRROR EFFECTS",
"text": "Observance I",
"text": "In February of 1815, the emperor Napoleon escaped from the island of",
"text": "Elba, where he had been imprisoned by the allied forces of Europe, and",
"text": "returned to Paris in a march that stirred the French nation, rallying troops",
"text": "and citizens of all classes to his side and chasing his successor, King",
"text": "Louis XVIII, off the throne. By March, however, having reestablished",
"text": "himself in power, he had to face the fact that France’s situation had",
"text": "gravely changed. The country was devastated, he had no allies amongthe other European nations, and his most loyal and important ministers",
"text": "had deserted him or left the country. Only one man remained from the",
"text": "old regime—Joseph Fouche, his former minister of police.",
"text": "Napoleon had relied on Fouché to do his dirty work throughout his",
"text": "previous reign, but he had never been able to figure his minister out. He",
"text": "kept a corps of agents to spy on all of his ministers, so that he would",
"text": "always have an edge on them, but no one had gotten anything on Fouché.",
"text": "If suspected of some misdeed, the minister would not get angry or take",
"text": "the accusation personally—he would submit, nod, smile, and change",
"text": "colors chameleonlike, adapting to the requirements of the moment. At",
"text": "first this had seemed somewhat pleasant and charming, but after a while",
"text": "it frustrated Napoleon, who felt outdone by this slippery man. At one",
"text": "time or another he had fired all of his most important ministers,",
"text": "including Talleyrand, but he never touched Fouché. And so, in 1815,",
"text": "back in power and in need of help, he felt he had no choice but to",
"text": "reappoint Fouché as his minister of police.",
"text": "When you have come to grips and are striving together with the enemy,",
"text": "and you realize that you cannot advance, you “soak in” and become one",
"text": "with the enemy. You can win by applying a suitable technique while you",
"text": "are mutually entangled. … You can win often decisively with the",
"text": "advantage of knowing how to “soak” into the enemy, whereas, were you",
"text": "to draw apart, you would lose the chance to win.",
"text": "A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS, MIYAMOTO MUSASHI, JAPAN,",
"text": "SEVENTEENTH CENTURY",
"text": "Several weeks into his new reign, Napoleon’s spies told him they",
"text": "believed Fouché was in secret contact with ministers of foreign",
"text": "countries, including Metternich of Austria. Afraid that his most valuable",
"text": "minister was betraying him to his enemies, Napoleon had to find out the",
"text": "truth before it was too late. He could not confront Fouché directly—in",
"text": "person the man was as slippery as an eel. He needed hard proof.",
"text": "This seemed to come in April, when the emperor’s private police",
"text": "captured a Viennese gentleman who had come to Paris to pass",
"text": "information on to Fouché. Ordering the man brought before him,",
"text": "Napoleon threatened to shoot him then and there unless he confessed; the",
"text": "man broke down and admitted he had given Fouché a letter from",
"text": "Metternich, written in invisible ink, arranging for a secret meeting of",
"text": "special agents in Basel. Napoleon accordingly ordered one of his ownagents to infiltrate this meeting. If Fouché was indeed planning to betray",
"text": "him, he would finally be caught red-handed and would hang.",
"text": "Napoleon waited impatiently for the agent’s return, but to his",
"text": "bewilderment the agent showed up days later reporting that he had heard",
"text": "nothing that would implicate Fouché in a conspiracy. In fact it seemed",
"text": "that the other agents present suspected Fouché of double-crossing them,",
"text": "as if he were working for Napoleon all along. Napoleon did not believe",
"text": "this for an instant—Fouché had somehow outwitted him again.",
"text": "The following morning Fouché visited Napoleon, and remarked, “By",
"text": "the way, sire, I never told you that I had a letter from Metternich a few",
"text": "days ago; my mind was so full of things of greater moment. Besides, his",
"text": "emissary omitted to give me the powder needed to make the writing",
"text": "legible…. Here at length is the letter.” Sure that Fouché was toying with",
"text": "him, Napoleon exploded, “You are a traitor, Fouché! I ought to have you",
"text": "hanged.” He continued to harangue Fouché, but could not fire him",
"text": "without proof. Fouché only expressed amazement at the emperor’s",
"text": "words, but inwardly he smiled, for all along he had been playing a",
"text": "mirroring game. Interpretation",
"text": "Fouché had known for years that Napoleon kept on top of those around",
"text": "him by spying on them day and night. The minister had survived this",
"text": "game by having his own spies spy on Napoleon’s spies, thus neutralizing",
"text": "any action Napoleon might take against him. In the case of the meeting",
"text": "in Basel, he even turned the tables: Knowing about Napoleon’s double",
"text": "agent, he set it up so that it would appear as if Fouché were a loyal",
"text": "double agent too.",
"text": "Fouché gained power and flourished in a period of great tumult by",
"text": "mirroring those around him. During the French Revolution he was a",
"text": "radical Jacobin; after the Terror he became a moderate republican; and",
"text": "under Napoleon he became a committed imperialist whom Napoleon",
"text": "ennobled and made the duke of Otranto. If Napoleon took up the weapon",
"text": "of digging up dirt on people, Fouché made sure he had the dirt on",
"text": "Napoleon, as well as on everyone else. This also allowed him to predict",
"text": "the emperor’s plans and desires, so that he could echo his boss’s",
"text": "sentiments before he had even uttered them. Shielding his actions with a",
"text": "mirror strategy, Fouché could also plot offensive moves without being",
"text": "caught in the act.",
"text": "THE FOX AND THE STORKOne day Mr. Fox decided to fork out And invite old Mrs. Stork out. The",
"text": "dinner wasn’t elaborate—Being habitually mean, He didn’t go in for",
"text": "haute cuisine-In fact it consisted of a shallow plate Of thin gruel. Within",
"text": "a minute Our joker had lapped his plate clean; Meanwhile his guest,",
"text": "fishing away with her beak, Got not a morsel in it. To pay him back for",
"text": "this cruel Practical joke, the stork invited The fox to dinner the following",
"text": "week. “I should be delighted,” He replied; “When it comes to friends I",
"text": "never stand upon pride.” Punctually on the day he ran To his hostess’s",
"text": "house and at once began Praising everything: “What taste! What chic!",
"text": "And the food—done just to a turn!” Then sat down with a hearty",
"text": "appetite (Foxes are always ready to eat) And savored the delicious smell",
"text": "of meat. It was minced meat and served—to serve him right!—In a long-",
"text": "necked, narrow-mouthed urn. The stork, easily stooping, Enjoyed her fill",
"text": "With her long bill; His snout, though, being the wrong shape and size,",
"text": "He had to return to his den Empty-bellied, tail dragging, ears drooping,",
"text": "As red in the face as a fox who’s been caught by a hen.",
"text": "SELECTED FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695",
"text": "This is the power of mirroring those around you. First, you give",
"text": "people the feeling that you share their thoughts and goals. Second, if they",
"text": "suspect you have ulterior motives, the mirror shields you from them,",
"text": "preventing them from figuring out your strategy. Eventually this will",
"text": "infuriate and unsettle them. By playing the double, you steal their",
"text": "thunder, suck away their initiative, make them feel helpless. You also",
"text": "gain the ability to choose when and how to unsettle them—another",
"text": "avenue to power. And the mirror saves you mental energy: simply",
"text": "echoing the moves of others gives you the space you need to develop a",
"text": "strategy of your own.",
"text": "Observance II",
"text": "Early on in his career, the ambitious statesman and general Alcibiades of",
"text": "Athens (450-404 B.C.) fashioned a formidable weapon that became the",
"text": "source of his power. In every encounter with others, he would sense their",
"text": "moods and tastes, then carefully tailor his words and actions to mirror",
"text": "their inmost desires. He would seduce them with the idea that their",
"text": "values were superior to everyone else’s, and that his goal was to model",
"text": "himself on them or help them realize their dreams. Few could resist his",
"text": "charm.The first man to fall under his spell was the philosopher Socrates.",
"text": "Alcibiades represented the opposite of the Socratic ideal of simplicity",
"text": "and uprightness: He lived lavishly and was completely unprincipled.",
"text": "Whenever he met Socrates, however, he mirrored the older man’s",
"text": "sobriety, eating simply, accompanying Socrates on long walks, and",
"text": "talking only of philosophy and virtue. Socrates was not completely",
"text": "fooled—he was not unaware of Alcibiades’ other life. But that only",
"text": "made him vulnerable to a logic that flattered him: Only in my presence,",
"text": "he felt, does this man submit to a virtuous influence; only I have such",
"text": "power over him. This feeling intoxicated Socrates, who became",
"text": "Alcibiades’ fervent admirer and supporter, one day even risking his own",
"text": "life to rescue the young man in battle.",
"text": "The Athenians considered Alcibiades their greatest orator, for he had",
"text": "an uncanny ability to tune in to his audience’s aspirations, and mirror",
"text": "their desires. He made his greatest speeches in support of the invasion of",
"text": "Sicily, which he thought would bring great wealth to Athens and",
"text": "limitless glory to himself. The speeches gave expression to young",
"text": "Athenians’ thirst to conquer lands for themselves, rather than living off",
"text": "the victories of their ancestors. But he also tailored his words to reflect",
"text": "older men’s nostalgia for the glory years when Athens led the Greeks",
"text": "against Persia, and then went on to create an empire. All Athens now",
"text": "dreamed of conquering Sicily; Alcibiades’ plan was approved, and he",
"text": "was made the expedition’s commander.",
"text": "THE PU RI.OINED LLTTER",
"text": "When I wish to find out how wise, or how stupid, or how good, or how",
"text": "wicked is any one, or what are his thoughts at the moment, I fashion the",
"text": "expression of my face, as accurately as possible, in accordance with the",
"text": "expression of his, and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise",
"text": "in my mind or heart, as if to match or correspond with the expression.",
"text": "EDGAR ALLAN POE, 1809-1849",
"text": "While Alcibiades was leading the invasion of Sicily, however, certain",
"text": "Athenians fabricated charges against him of profaning sacred statues. He",
"text": "knew his enemies would have him executed if he returned home, so at",
"text": "the last minute he deserted the Athenian fleet and defected to Athens’s",
"text": "bitter enemy, Sparta. The Spartans welcomed this great man to their side,",
"text": "but they knew his reputation and were wary of him. Alcibiades loved",
"text": "luxury; the Spartans were a warrior people who worshipped austerity,",
"text": "and they were afraid he would corrupt their youth. But much to theirrelief, the Alcibiades who arrived in Sparta was not at all what they",
"text": "expected: He wore his hair untrimmed (as they did), took cold baths, ate",
"text": "coarse bread and black broth, and wore simple clothes. To the Spartans",
"text": "this signified that he had come to see their way of life as superior to the",
"text": "Athenian; greater than they were, he had chosen to be a Spartan rather",
"text": "than being born one, and should thus be honored above all others. They",
"text": "fell under his spell and gave him great powers. Unfortunately Alcibiades",
"text": "rarely knew how to rein in his charm—he managed to seduce the king of",
"text": "Sparta’s wife and make her pregnant. When this became public he once",
"text": "more had to flee for his life.",
"text": "This time Alcibiades defected to Persia, where he suddenly went from",
"text": "Spartan simplicity to embracing the lavish Persian lifestyle down to the",
"text": "last detail. It was of course immensely flattering to the Persians to see a",
"text": "Greek of Alcibiades’ stature prefer their culture over his own, and they",
"text": "showered him with honors, land, and power. Once seduced by the mirror,",
"text": "they failed to notice that behind this shield Alcibiades was playing a",
"text": "double game, secretly helping the Athenians in their war with Sparta and",
"text": "thus reingratiat ing himself with the city to which he desperately wanted",
"text": "to return, and which welcomed him back with open arms in 408 B.C.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Early in his political career, Alcibiades made a discovery that changed",
"text": "his whole approach to power: He had a colorful and forceful personality,",
"text": "but when he argued his ideas strongly with other people he would win",
"text": "over a few while at the same time alienating many more. The secret to",
"text": "gaining ascendancy over large numbers, he came to believe, was not to",
"text": "impose his colors but to absorb the colors of those around him, like a",
"text": "chameleon. Once people fell for the trick, the deceptions he went on to",
"text": "practice would be invisible to them.",
"text": "Understand: Everyone is wrapped up in their own narcissistic shell.",
"text": "When you try to impose your own ego on them, a wall goes up,",
"text": "resistance is increased. By mirroring them, however, you seduce them",
"text": "into a kind of narcissistic rapture: They are gazing at a double of their",
"text": "own soul. This double is actually manufactured in its entirety by you.",
"text": "Once you have used the mirror to seduce them, you have great power",
"text": "over them.",
"text": "It is worth noting, however, the dangers in the promiscuous use of the",
"text": "mirror. In Alcibiades’ presence people felt larger, as if their egos hadbeen doubled. But once he left, they felt empty and diminished, and",
"text": "when they saw him mirroring completely different people as totally as he",
"text": "had mirrored them, they felt not just diminished but betrayed.",
"text": "Alcibiades’ overuse of the Mirror Effect made whole peoples feel used,",
"text": "so that he constantly had to flee from one place to another. Indeed",
"text": "Alcibiades so angered the Spartans that they finally had him murdered.",
"text": "He had gone too far. The Seducer’s Mirror must be used with caution",
"text": "and discrimination.",
"text": "LORENZO DE’ MEDICI SEDUCES THE POPE",
"text": "Lorenzo [de’ Medici] lost no opportunity of increasing the respect which",
"text": "Pope Innocent now felt for him and of gaining his friendship, if possible",
"text": "his affection. He took the trouble to discover the Pope’s tastes and",
"text": "indulged them accordingly. He sent him… casks of his favourite wine….",
"text": "He sent him courteous, flattering letters in which he assured him, when",
"text": "the Pope was ill, that he felt his sufferings as though they were his own,",
"text": "in which he encouraged him with such fortifying statements as “a Pope",
"text": "is what he wills to be,” and in which, as though incidentally, he included",
"text": "his views on the proper course of papal policies. Innocent was gratified",
"text": "by Lorenzo’s attentions and convinced by his arguments…. So",
"text": "completely, indeed, did he come to share his opinions that, as the",
"text": "disgruntled Ferrarese ambassador put it, “the Pope sleeps with the eyes",
"text": "of the Magnificent Lorenzo.”",
"text": "THE HOUSE OF MEDICI: ITS RISE AND FALL, CHRISTOPHER",
"text": "HIBBERT, 1980",
"text": "Observance III",
"text": "In 1652 the recently widowed Baroness Mancini moved her family from",
"text": "Rome to Paris, where she could count on the influence and protection of",
"text": "her brother Cardinal Mazarin, the French prime minister. Of the",
"text": "baroness’s five daughters, four dazzled the court with their beauty and",
"text": "high spirits. These infamously charming nieces of Cardinal Mazarin",
"text": "became known as the Mazarinettes, and soon found themselves invited",
"text": "to all the most important court functions.",
"text": "One daughter, Marie Mancini, did not share this good fortune, for she",
"text": "lacked the beauty and grace of her sisters—who, along with her mother",
"text": "and even Cardinal Mazarin, eventually came to dislike her, for they felt",
"text": "she spoiled the family image. They tried to persuade her to enter aconvent, where she would be less of an embarrassment, but she refused.",
"text": "Instead she applied herself to her studies, learning Latin and Greek,",
"text": "perfecting her French, and practicing her musical skills. On the rare",
"text": "occasions when the family would let her attend court affairs, she trained",
"text": "herself to be an artful listener, sizing people up for their weaknesses and",
"text": "hidden desires. And when she finally met the future King Louis XIV, in",
"text": "1657 (Louis was seventeen years old, Marie eighteen), she decided that",
"text": "to spite her family and uncle, she would find a way to make this young",
"text": "man fall in love with her.",
"text": "This was a seemingly impossible task for such a plain-looking girl, but",
"text": "Marie studied the future king closely. She noticed that her sisters’",
"text": "frivolity did not please him, and she sensed that he loathed the scheming",
"text": "and petty politicking that went on all around him. She saw that he had a",
"text": "romantic nature—he read adventure novels, insisted on marching at the",
"text": "head of his armies, and had high ideals and a passion for glory. The court",
"text": "did not feed these fantasies of his; it was a banal, superficial world that",
"text": "bored him.",
"text": "The key to Louis’s heart, Marie saw, would be to construct a mirror",
"text": "reflecting his fantasies and his youthful yearnings for glory and romance.",
"text": "To begin with she immersed herself in the romantic novels, poems, and",
"text": "plays that she knew the young king read voraciously. When Louis began",
"text": "to engage her in conversation, to his delight she would talk of the things",
"text": "that stirred his soul—not this fashion or that piece of gossip, but rather",
"text": "courtly love, the deeds of great knights, the nobility of past kings and",
"text": "heroes. She fed his thirst for glory by creating an image of an august,",
"text": "superior king whom he could aspire to become. She stirred his",
"text": "imagination.",
"text": "As the future Sun King spent more and more time in Marie’s presence,",
"text": "it eventually became clear that he had fallen in love with the least likely",
"text": "young woman of the court. To the horror of her sisters and mother, he",
"text": "showered Marie Mancini with attention. He brought her along on his",
"text": "military campaigns, and made a show of stationing her where she could",
"text": "watch as he marched into battle. He even promised Marie that he would",
"text": "marry her and make her queen.",
"text": "Wittgenstein had an extraordinary gift for divining the thoughts of the",
"text": "person with whom he was engaged in discussion. While the other",
"text": "struggled to put his thought into words, Wittgenstein would perceive",
"text": "what it was and state it for him. This power of his, which sometimes",
"text": "seemed uncanny, was made possible, I am sure, by his own prolonged",
"text": "and continuous researches.LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN: A MEMOIR. NORMAN MALCOLM,",
"text": "1958",
"text": "The doctor should be opaque to his patients, and like a mirror, should",
"text": "show them nothing but what is shown to him.",
"text": "SIGMUND FREUD, 1856-1939",
"text": "Mazarin, however, would never allow the king to marry his niece, a",
"text": "woman who could bring France no diplomatic or royal alliances. Louis",
"text": "had to marry a princess of Spain or Austria. In 1658 Louis succumbed to",
"text": "the pressure and agreed to break off the first romantic involvement of his",
"text": "life. He did so with much regret, and at the end of his life he",
"text": "acknowledged that he never loved anyone as much as Marie Mancini.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Marie Mancini played the seducer’s game to perfection. First, she took a",
"text": "step back, to study her prey. Seduction often fails to get past the first step",
"text": "because it is too aggressive; the first move must always be a retreat. By",
"text": "studying the king from a distance Marie saw what distinguished him",
"text": "from others—his high ideals, romantic nature, and snobbish disdain for",
"text": "petty politics. Marie’s next step was to make a mirror for these hidden",
"text": "yearnings on Louis’s part, letting him glimpse what he himself could be",
"text": "—a godlike king!",
"text": "This mirror had several functions: Satisfying Louis’s ego by giving",
"text": "him a double to look at, it also focused on him so exclusively as to give",
"text": "him the feeling that Marie existed for him alone. Surrounded by a pack",
"text": "of scheming courtiers who only had their own self-interest at heart, he",
"text": "could not fail to be touched by this devotional focus. Finally Marie’s",
"text": "mirror set up an ideal for him to live up to: the noble knight of the",
"text": "medieval court. To a soul both romantic and ambitious, nothing could be",
"text": "more intoxicating than to have someone hold up an idealized reflection",
"text": "of him. In effect it was Marie Mancini who created the image of the Sun",
"text": "King—indeed Louis later admitted the enormous part she had played in",
"text": "fashioning his radiant self-image.",
"text": "This is the power of the Seducer’s Mirror: By doubling the tastes and",
"text": "ideals of the target, it shows your attention to his or her psychology, an",
"text": "attention more charming than any aggressive pursuit. Find out what sets",
"text": "the other person apart, then hold up the mirror that will reflect it andbring it out of them. Feed their fantasies of power and greatness by",
"text": "reflecting their ideals, and they will succumb.",
"text": "Observance IV",
"text": "In 1538, with the death of his mother, Helena, the eight-year-old future",
"text": "czar Ivan IV (or Ivan the Terrible) of Russia became an orphan. For the",
"text": "next five years he watched as the princely class, the boyars, terrorized",
"text": "the country. Now and then, to mock the young Ivan, they would make",
"text": "him wear a crown and scepter and place him on the throne. When the",
"text": "little boy’s feet dangled over the edge of the chair, they would laugh and",
"text": "lift him off it, handing him from man to man in the air, making him feel",
"text": "his helplessness compared to them.",
"text": "When Ivan was thirteen, he boldly murdered the boyar leader and",
"text": "ascended to the throne. For the next few decades he struggled to subdue",
"text": "the boyars’ power, but they continued to defy him. By 1575 his efforts to",
"text": "transform Russia and defeat its enemies had exhausted him. Meanwhile,",
"text": "his subjects were complaining bitterly about his endless wars, his secret",
"text": "police, the unvanquished and oppressive boyars. His own ministers",
"text": "began to question his moves. Finally he had had enough. In 1564 he had",
"text": "temporarily abandoned the throne, forcing his subjects to call him back",
"text": "to power. Now he took the strategy a step further, and abdicated.",
"text": "To take his place Ivan elevated a general of his, Simeon",
"text": "Bekbulatovich, to the throne. But although Simeon had recently",
"text": "converted to Christianity, he was by birth a Tartar, and his enthronement",
"text": "was an insult to Ivan’s subjects, since Russians looked down on the",
"text": "Tartars as inferiors and infidels. Yet Ivan ordered that all Russians,",
"text": "including the boyars, pledge obedience to their new ruler. And while",
"text": "Simeon moved into the Kremlin, Ivan lived in a humble house on",
"text": "Moscow’s outskirts, from which he would sometimes visit the palace,",
"text": "bow before the throne, sit among the other boyars, and humbly petition",
"text": "Simeon for favors.",
"text": "Over time it became clear that Simeon was a kind of king’s double. He",
"text": "dressed like Ivan, and acted like Ivan, but he had no real power, since no",
"text": "one would really obey him. The boyars at the court who were old enough",
"text": "to remember taunting Ivan when he was a boy, by placing him on the",
"text": "throne, saw the connection: They had made Ivan feel like a weak",
"text": "pretender, so now he mirrored them by placing a weak pretender of his",
"text": "own on the throne.For two long years Ivan held the mirror of Simeon up to the Russian",
"text": "people. The mirror said: Your whining and disobedience have made me a",
"text": "czar with no real power, so I will reflect back to you a czar with no real",
"text": "power. You have treated me disrespectfully, so I will do the same to you,",
"text": "making Russia the laughingstock of the world. In 1577, in the name of",
"text": "the Russian people, the chastised boyars once again begged Ivan to",
"text": "return to the throne, which he did. He lived as czar until his death, in",
"text": "1584, and the conspiracies, complaining, and second-guessing",
"text": "disappeared along with Simeon.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "In 1564, after threatening to abdicate, Ivan had been granted absolute",
"text": "powers. But these powers had slowly been chipped away as every sector",
"text": "of society—the boyars, the church, the government—vied for more",
"text": "control. Foreign wars had exhausted the country, internal bickering had",
"text": "increased, and Ivan’s attempts to respond had been met with scorn.",
"text": "Russia had turned into a kind of boisterous classroom in which the pupils",
"text": "laughed openly at the teacher. If he raised his voice or complained, he",
"text": "only met more resistance. He had to teach them a lesson, give them a",
"text": "taste of their own medicine. Simeon Bekbulatovich was the mirror he",
"text": "used to do so.",
"text": "After two years in which the throne had been an object of ridicule and",
"text": "disgust, the Russian people learned their lesson. They wanted their czar",
"text": "back, conceding to him all the dignity and respect that the position",
"text": "should always have commanded. For the rest of his reign, Russia and",
"text": "Ivan got along fine.",
"text": "Understand: People are locked in their own experiences. When you",
"text": "whine about some insensitivity on their part, they may seem to",
"text": "understand, but inwardly they are untouched and even more resistant.",
"text": "The goal of power is always to lower people’s resistance to you. For this",
"text": "you need tricks, and one trick is to teach them a lesson.",
"text": "Instead of haranguing people verbally, then, create a kind of mirror of",
"text": "their behavior. In doing so you leave them two choices: They can ignore",
"text": "you, or they can start to think about themselves. And even if they ignore",
"text": "you, you will have planted a seed in their unconscious that will",
"text": "eventually take root. When you mirror their behavior, incidentally, do not",
"text": "be afraid to add a touch of caricature and exaggeration, as Ivan did byenthroning a Tartar—it is the little spice in the soup that will open their",
"text": "eyes and make them see the ridiculousness in their own actions.",
"text": "Observance V",
"text": "Dr. Milton H. Erickson, a pioneer in strategic psychotherapy, would",
"text": "often educate his patients powerfully but indirectly by creating a kind of",
"text": "mirror effect. Constructing an analogy to make patients see the truth on",
"text": "their own, he would bypass their resistance to change. When Dr.",
"text": "Erickson treated married couples complaining of sexual problems, for",
"text": "instance, he often found that psychotherapy’s tradition of direct",
"text": "confrontation and problem-airing only heightened the spouses’ resistance",
"text": "and sharpened their differences. Instead, he would draw a husband and",
"text": "wife out on other topics, often banal ones, trying to find an analogy for",
"text": "the sexual conflict.",
"text": "In one couple’s first session, the pair were discussing their eating",
"text": "habits, especially at dinner. The wife preferred the leisurely approach—a",
"text": "drink before the meal, some appetizers, and then a small main course, all",
"text": "at a slow, civilized pace. This frustrated the husband—he wanted to get",
"text": "dinner over quickly and to dig right into the main course, the bigger the",
"text": "better. As the conversation continued, the couple began to catch glimpses",
"text": "of an analogy to their problems in bed. The moment they made this",
"text": "connection, however, Dr. Erickson would change the subject, carefully",
"text": "avoiding a discussion of the real problem.",
"text": "The couple thought Erickson was just getting to know them and would",
"text": "deal with the problem directly the next time he saw them. But at the end",
"text": "of this first session, Dr. Erickson directed them to arrange a dinner a few",
"text": "nights away that would combine each person’s desire: The wife would",
"text": "get the slow meal, including time spent bonding, and the husband would",
"text": "get the big dishes he wanted to eat. Without realizing they were acting",
"text": "under the doctor’s gentle guidance, the couple would walk into a mirror",
"text": "of their problem, and in the mirror they would solve their problems",
"text": "themselves, ending the evening just as the doctor had hoped—by",
"text": "mirroring the improved dinner dynamics in bed.",
"text": "In dealing with more severe problems, such as the schizophrenic’s",
"text": "mirror fantasy world of his or her own construction, Dr. Erickson would",
"text": "always try to enter the mirror and work within it. He once treated a",
"text": "hospital inmate who believed he was Jesus Christ—draping sheets",
"text": "around his body, talking in vague parables, and bombarding staff andpatients with endless Christian proselytizing. No therapy or drugs",
"text": "seemed to work, until one day Dr. Erickson went up to the young man",
"text": "and said, “I understand you have had experience as a carpenter.” Being",
"text": "Christ, the patient had to say that he had had such experience, and",
"text": "Erickson immediately put him to work building bookcases and other",
"text": "useful items, allowing him to wear his Jesus garb. Over the next weeks,",
"text": "as the patient worked on these projects, his mind became less occupied",
"text": "with Jesus fantasies and more focused on his labor. As the carpentry",
"text": "work took precedence, a psychic shift took effect: The religious fantasies",
"text": "remained, but faded comfortably into the background, allowing the man",
"text": "to function in society.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Communication depends on metaphors and symbols, which are the basis",
"text": "of language itself. A metaphor is a kind of mirror to the concrete and",
"text": "real, which it often expresses more clearly and deeply than a literal",
"text": "description does. When you are dealing with the intractable willpower of",
"text": "other people, direct communication often only heightens their resistance.",
"text": "This happens most clearly when you complain about people’s",
"text": "behavior, particularly in sensitive areas such as their lovemaking. You",
"text": "will effect a far more lasting change if, like Dr. Erickson, you construct",
"text": "an analogy, a symbolic mirror of the situation, and guide the other",
"text": "through it. As Christ himself understood, talking in parables is often the",
"text": "best way to teach a lesson, for it allows people to realize the truth on",
"text": "their own.",
"text": "When dealing with people who are lost in the reflections of fantasy",
"text": "worlds (including a host of people who do not live in mental hospitals),",
"text": "never try to push them into reality by shattering their mirrors. Instead,",
"text": "enter their world and operate inside it, under their rules, gently guiding",
"text": "them out of the hall of mirrors they have entered.",
"text": "Observance VI",
"text": "The great sixteenth-century Japanese tea master Takeno Sho-o once",
"text": "passed by a house and noticed a young man watering flowers near his",
"text": "front gate. Two things caught Sho-o’s attention—first, the graceful way",
"text": "the man performed his task; and, second, the stunningly beautiful rose of",
"text": "Sharon blossoms that bloomed in the garden. He stopped and introducedhimself to the man, whose name was Sen no Rikyu. Sho-o wanted to",
"text": "stay, but he had a prior engagement and had to hurry off. Before he left,",
"text": "however, Rikyu invited him to take tea with him the following morning.",
"text": "Sho-o happily accepted.",
"text": "When Sho-o opened the garden gate the next day, he was horrified to",
"text": "see that not a single flower remained. More than anything else, he had",
"text": "come to see the rose of Sharon blossoms that he had not had the time to",
"text": "appreciate the day before; now, disappointed, he started to leave, but at",
"text": "the gate he stopped himself, and decided to enter Sen no Rikyu’s tea",
"text": "room. Immediately inside, he stopped in his tracks and gazed in",
"text": "astonishment: Before him a vase hung from the ceiling, and in the vase",
"text": "stood a single rose of Sharon blossom, the most beautiful in the garden.",
"text": "Somehow Sen no Rikyu had read his guest’s thoughts, and, with this one",
"text": "eloquent gesture, had demonstrated that this day guest and host would be",
"text": "in perfect harmony.",
"text": "Sen no Rikyu went on to become the most famous tea master of all,",
"text": "and his trademark was this uncanny ability to harmonize himself with his",
"text": "guests’ thoughts and to think one step ahead, enchanting them by",
"text": "adapting to their taste.",
"text": "One day Rikyu was invited to tea by Yamashina Hechigwan, an",
"text": "admirer of the tea ceremony but also a man with a vivid sense of humor.",
"text": "When Rikyu arrived at Hechigwan’s home, he found the garden gate",
"text": "shut, so he opened it to look for the host. On the other side of the gate he",
"text": "saw that someone had first dug a ditch, then carefully covered it over",
"text": "with canvas and earth. Realizing that Hechigwan had planned a practical",
"text": "joke, he obligingly walked right into the ditch, muddying his clothes in",
"text": "the process.",
"text": "Apparently horrified, Hechigwan came running out, and hurried Rikyu",
"text": "to a bath that for some inexplicable reason stood already prepared. After",
"text": "bathing, Rikyu joined Hechigwan in the tea ceremony, which both",
"text": "enjoyed immensely, sharing a laugh about the accident. Later Sen no",
"text": "Rikyu explained to a friend that he had heard about Hechigwan’s",
"text": "practical joke beforehand, “But since it should always be one’s aim to",
"text": "conform to the wishes of one’s host, I fell into the hole knowingly and",
"text": "thus assured the success of the meeting. Tea is by no means mere",
"text": "obsequiousness, but there is no tea where the host and guest are not in",
"text": "harmony with one another.” Hechigwan’s vision of the dignified Sen no",
"text": "Rikyu at the bottom of a ditch had pleased him endlessly, but Rikyu had",
"text": "gained a pleasure of his own in complying with his host’s wish and",
"text": "watching him amuse himself in this way.Interpretation",
"text": "Sen no Rikyu was no magician or seer—he watched those around him",
"text": "acutely, plumbing the subtle gestures that revealed a hidden desire, then",
"text": "producing that desire’s image. Although Sho-o never spoke of being",
"text": "enchanted by the rose of Sharon blossoms, Rikyu read it in his eyes. If",
"text": "mirroring a person’s desires meant falling into a ditch, so be it. Rikyu’s",
"text": "power resided in his skillful use of the Courtier’s Mirror, which gave him",
"text": "the appearance of an unusual ability to see into other people.",
"text": "Learn to manipulate the Courtier’s Mirror, for it will bring you great",
"text": "power. Study people’s eyes, follow their gestures—surer barometers of",
"text": "pain and pleasure than any spoken word. Notice and remember the",
"text": "details—the clothing, the choice of friends, the daily habits, the tossed-",
"text": "out remarks—that reveal hidden and rarely indulged desires. Soak it all",
"text": "in, find out what lies under the surface, then make yourself the mirror of",
"text": "their unspoken selves. That is the key to this power: The other person has",
"text": "not asked for your consideration, has not mentioned his pleasure in the",
"text": "rose of Sharon, and when you reflect it back to him his pleasure is",
"text": "heightened because it is unasked for. Remember: The wordless",
"text": "communication, the indirect compliment, contains the most power. No",
"text": "one can resist the enchantment of the Courtier’s Mirror.",
"text": "Observance VII",
"text": "Yellow Kid Weil, con artist extraordinaire, used the Deceiver’s Mirror in",
"text": "his most brilliant cons. Most audacious of all was his re-creation of a",
"text": "bank in Muncie, Indiana. When Weil read one day that the Merchants",
"text": "Bank in Muncie had moved, he saw an opportunity he could not pass up.",
"text": "Weil rented out the original Merchants building, which still contained",
"text": "bank furniture, complete with teller windows. He bought money bags,",
"text": "stenciled a bank’s invented name on them, filled them with steel",
"text": "washers, and arrayed them impressively behind the teller windows, along",
"text": "with bundles of boodle—real bills hiding newspaper cut to size. For his",
"text": "bank’s staff and customers Weil hired gamblers, bookies, girls from local",
"text": "bawdy houses, and other assorted confederates. He even had a local thug",
"text": "pose as a bank dick.",
"text": "Claiming to be the broker for a certificate investment the bank was",
"text": "offering, Weil would fish the waters and hook the proper wealthy sucker.",
"text": "He would bring this man to the bank and ask to see the president. An“officer” of the bank would tell them that they had to wait, which only",
"text": "heightened the realism of the con—one always has to wait to see the",
"text": "bank president. And as they waited the bank would bustle with banklike",
"text": "activity, as call girls and bookies in disguise floated in and out, making",
"text": "deposits and withdrawals and tipping their hats to the phony bank dick.",
"text": "Lulled by this perfect copy of reality, the sucker would deposit $50,000",
"text": "into the fake bank without a worry in the world.",
"text": "Over the years Weil did the same thing with a deserted yacht club, an",
"text": "abandoned brokerage office, a relocated real estate office, and a",
"text": "completely realistic gambling club.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "The mirroring of reality offers immense deceptive powers. The right",
"text": "uniform, the perfect accent, the proper props—the deception cannot be",
"text": "deciphered because it is enmeshed in a simulation of reality. People have",
"text": "an intense desire and need to believe, and their first instinct is to trust a",
"text": "well-constructed facade, to mistake it for reality. After all, we cannot go",
"text": "around doubting the reality of everything we see—that would be too",
"text": "exhausting. We habitually accept appearances, and this is a credulity you",
"text": "can use.",
"text": "In this particular game it is the first moment that counts the most. If",
"text": "your suckers’ suspicions are not raised by their first glance at the",
"text": "mirror’s reflection, they will stay suppressed. Once they enter your hall",
"text": "of mirrors, they will be unable to distinguish the real from the fake, and",
"text": "it will become easier and easier to deceive them. Remember: Study the",
"text": "world’s surfaces and learn to mirror them in your habits, your manner,",
"text": "your clothes. Like a carnivorous plant, to unsuspecting insects you will",
"text": "look like all the other plants in the field.",
"text": "Authority: The task of a military operation is to accord deceptively with",
"text": "the intentions of the enemy … get to what they want first, subtly",
"text": "anticipate them. Maintain discipline and adapt to the enemy…. Thus, at",
"text": "first you are like a maiden, so the enemy opens his door; then you are",
"text": "like a rabbit on the loose, so the enemy cannot keep you out. (Sun-tzu,",
"text": "fourth century B.C.)",
"text": "Image: The",
"text": "Shield of Perseus. It is pol",
"text": "ished into a reflecting mirror.",
"text": "Medusa cannot see you, only herown hideousness reflected back at her.",
"text": "Behind such a mirror you can de",
"text": "ceive, mock, and infuriate. With",
"text": "one blow you sever Medusa’s",
"text": "unsuspecting head.",
"text": "A WARNING: BEWARE OF MIRRORED",
"text": "SITUATIONS",
"text": "Mirrors contain great power but also dangerous reefs, including the",
"text": "mirrored situation—a situation that seems to reflect or closely resemble a",
"text": "previous one, mostly in style and surface appearance. You can often back",
"text": "into such a situation without fully understanding it, while those around",
"text": "you understand it quite well, and compare it and you to whatever",
"text": "happened before. Most often you suffer by the comparison, seeming",
"text": "either weaker than the previous occupant of your position or else tainted",
"text": "by any unpleasant associations that person has left behind.",
"text": "In 1864 the composer Richard Wagner moved to Munich at the behest",
"text": "of Ludwig II, known variously as the Swan King or the Mad King of",
"text": "Bavaria. Ludwig was Wagner’s biggest fan and most generous patron.",
"text": "The strength of his support turned Wagner’s head—once established in",
"text": "Munich under the king’s protection, he would be able to say and do",
"text": "whatever he wanted.",
"text": "Wagner moved into a lavish house, which the king eventually bought",
"text": "for him. This house was but a stone’s throw from the former home of",
"text": "Lola Montez, the notorious courtesan who had plunged Ludwig II’s",
"text": "grandfather into a crisis that had forced him to abdicate. Warned that he",
"text": "could be infected by this association, Wagner only scoffed—“I am no",
"text": "Lola Montez,” he said. Soon enough, however, the citizens of Munich",
"text": "began to resent the favors and money showered on Wagner, and dubbed",
"text": "him “the second Lola,” or “Lolotte.” He unconsciously began to tread in",
"text": "Lola’s footsteps—spending money extravagantly, meddling in matters",
"text": "beyond music, even dabbling in politics and advising the king on cabinet",
"text": "appointments. Meanwhile Ludwig’s affection for Wagner seemed intense",
"text": "and undignified for a king—just like his grandfather’s love for Lola",
"text": "Montez.Eventually Ludwig’s ministers wrote him a letter: “Your Majesty now",
"text": "stands at a fateful parting of the ways: you have to choose between the",
"text": "love and respect of your faithful people and the ‘friendship’ of Richard",
"text": "Wagner.” In December of 1865, Ludwig politely asked his friend to leave",
"text": "and never return. Wagner had inadvertently placed himself in Lola",
"text": "Montez’s reflection. Once there, everything he did reminded the stolid",
"text": "Bavarians of that dread woman, and there was nothing he could do about",
"text": "it.",
"text": "Avoid such association-effects like the plague. In a mirrored situation",
"text": "you have little or no control over the reflections and recollections that",
"text": "will be connected to you, and any situation beyond your control is",
"text": "dangerous. Even if the person or event has positive associations, you will",
"text": "suffer from not being able to live up to them, since the past generally",
"text": "appears greater than the present. If you ever notice people associating",
"text": "you with some past event or person, do everything you can to separate",
"text": "yourself from that memory and to shatter the reflection.LAW 45",
"text": "PREACH THE NEED FOR CHANGE, BUT",
"text": "NEVER REFORM TOO MUCH AT ONCE",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the",
"text": "day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is",
"text": "traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power,",
"text": "or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting",
"text": "the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a",
"text": "gentle improvement on the past.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Sometime in the early 1520s, King Henry VIII of England decided to",
"text": "divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, because she had failed to bear",
"text": "him a son, and because he had fallen in love with the young and comely",
"text": "Anne Boleyn. The pope, Clement VII, opposed the divorce, and",
"text": "threatened the king with excommunication. The king’s most powerful",
"text": "minister, Cardinal Wolsey, also saw no need for divorce—and his",
"text": "halfhearted support of the king cost him his position and soon his life.",
"text": "One man in Henry’s cabinet, Thomas Cromwell, not only supported",
"text": "him in his desire for a divorce but had an idea for realizing it: a complete",
"text": "break with the past. He convinced the king that by severing ties with",
"text": "Rome and making himself the head of a newly formed English church,",
"text": "he could divorce Catherine and marry Anne. By 1531 Henry saw this as",
"text": "the only solution. To reward Cromwell for his simple but brilliant idea,",
"text": "he elevated this son of a blacksmith to the post of royal councillor.By 1534 Cromwell had been named the king’s secretary, and as the",
"text": "power behind the throne he had become the most powerful man in",
"text": "England. But for him the break with Rome went beyond the satisfaction",
"text": "of the king’s carnal desires: He envisioned a new Protestant order in",
"text": "England, with the power of the Catholic Church smashed and its vast",
"text": "wealth in the hands of the king and the government. In that same year he",
"text": "initiated a complete survey of the churches and monasteries of England.",
"text": "And as it turned out, the treasures and moneys that the churches had",
"text": "accumulated over the centuries were far more than he had imagined; his",
"text": "spies and agents came back with astonishing figures.",
"text": "To justify his schemes, Cromwell circulated stories about the",
"text": "corruption in the English monasteries, their abuse of power, their",
"text": "exploitation of the people they supposedly served. Having won",
"text": "Parliament’s support for breaking up the monasteries, he began to seize",
"text": "their holdings and to put them out of existence one by one. At the same",
"text": "time, he began to impose Protestantism, introducing reforms in religious",
"text": "ritual and punishing those who stuck to Catholicism, and who now were",
"text": "called heretics. Virtually overnight, England was converted to a new",
"text": "official religion.",
"text": "A terror fell on the country. Some people had suffered under the",
"text": "Catholic Church, which before the reforms had been immensely",
"text": "powerful, but most Britons had strong ties to Catholicism and to its",
"text": "comforting rituals. They watched in horror as churches were demolished,",
"text": "images of the Madonna and saints were broken in pieces, stained-glass",
"text": "windows were smashed, and the churches’ treasures were confiscated.",
"text": "With monasteries that had succored the poor suddenly gone, the poor",
"text": "now flooded the streets. The growing ranks of the beggar class were",
"text": "further swelled by former monks. On top of all this, Cromwell levied",
"text": "high taxes to pay for his ecclesiastical reforms.",
"text": "Celebrating the turn of the year is an ancient custom. The Romans",
"text": "celebrated the Saturnalia, the festival of Saturn, god of the harvest,",
"text": "between December 17 and 23. It was the most cheerful festival of the",
"text": "year. All work and commerce stopped, and the streets were filled with",
"text": "crowds and a carnival atmosphere. Slaves were temporarily freed, and",
"text": "the houses were decorated with laurel branches. People visited one",
"text": "another, bringing gifts of wax candles and little clay figurines.",
"text": "Long before the birth of Christ, the Jews celebrated an eight-day",
"text": "Festival of Lights [at the same season], and it is believed that the",
"text": "Germanic peoples held a great festival not only at midsummer but also",
"text": "at the winter solstice, when they celebrated the rebirth of the sun andhonored the great fertility gods Wotan and Freyja, Donar (Thor) and",
"text": "Freyr. Even after the Emperor Constantine (A.D. 306-337) declared",
"text": "Christianity to be Rome’s official imperial religion, the evocation of light",
"text": "and fertility as an important component of pre-Christian midwinter",
"text": "celebrations could nor be entirely suppressed. In the year 274 the Roman",
"text": "Emperor Aurelian (A.D. 214-275) had established an official cult of the",
"text": "sun-god Mithras, declaring his birthday, December 25, a national",
"text": "holiday. The cult of Mithras, the Aryan god of light, had spread from",
"text": "Persia through Asia Minor to Greece, Rome, and as far as the Germanic",
"text": "lands and Britain. Numerous ruins of his shrines still testify to the high",
"text": "regard in which this god was held, especially by the Roman legions, as a",
"text": "bringer of fertility, peace, and victory. So it was a clever move when, in",
"text": "the year A.D. 354, the Christian church under Pope Liberius (352-366)",
"text": "co-opted the birthday of Mithras and declared December 25 to be the",
"text": "birthday of Jesus Christ.",
"text": "NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG, ANNE-SUSANNE RISCHKE,",
"text": "DECEMBER 25, 1983",
"text": "In 1535 powerful revolts in the North of England threatened to topple",
"text": "Henry from his throne. By the following year he had suppressed the",
"text": "rebellions, but he had also begun to see the costs of Cromwell’s reforms.",
"text": "The king himself had never wanted to go this far—he had only wanted a",
"text": "divorce. It was now Cromwell’s turn to watch uneasily as the king began",
"text": "slowly to undo his reforms, reinstating Catholic sacraments and other",
"text": "rituals that Cromwell had outlawed.",
"text": "Sensing his fall from grace, in 1540 Cromwell decided to regain",
"text": "Henry’s favor with one throw of the dice: He would find the king a new",
"text": "wife. Henry’s third wife, Jane Seymour, had died a few years before, and",
"text": "he had been pining for a new young queen. It was Cromwell who found",
"text": "him one: Anne of Cleves, a German princess and, most important to",
"text": "Cromwell, a Protestant. On Cromwell’s commission, the painter Holbein",
"text": "produced a flattering portrait of Anne; when Henry saw it, he fell in love,",
"text": "and agreed to marry her. Cromwell seemed back in favor.",
"text": "Unfortunately, however, Holbein’s painting was highly idealized, and",
"text": "when the king finally met the princess she did not please him in the least.",
"text": "His anger against Cromwell—first for the ill-conceived reforms, now for",
"text": "saddling him with an unattractive and Protestant wife—could no longer",
"text": "be contained. In June of that year, Cromwell was arrested, charged as a",
"text": "Protestant extremist and a heretic, and sent to the Tower. Six weeks later,",
"text": "before a large and enthusiastic crowd, the public executioner cut off his",
"text": "head.Interpretation",
"text": "Thomas Cromwell had a simple idea: He would break up the power and",
"text": "wealth of the Church and lay the foundation for Protestantism in",
"text": "England. And he would do this in a mercilessly short time. He knew his",
"text": "speedy reforms would cause pain and resentment, but he thought these",
"text": "feelings would fade in a few years. More important, by identifying",
"text": "himself with change, he would become the leader of the new order,",
"text": "making the king dependent on him. But there was a problem in his",
"text": "strategy: Like a billiard ball hit too hard against the cushion, his reforms",
"text": "had reactions and caroms he did not envision and could not control.",
"text": "The man who initiates strong reforms often becomes the scapegoat for",
"text": "any kind of dissatisfaction. And eventually the reaction to his reforms",
"text": "may consume him, for change is upsetting to the human animal, even",
"text": "when it is for the good. Because the world is and always has been full of",
"text": "insecurity and threat, we latch on to familiar faces and create habits and",
"text": "rituals to make the world more comfortable. Change can be pleasant and",
"text": "even sometimes desirable in the abstract, but too much of it creates an",
"text": "anxiety that will stir and boil beneath the surface and then eventually",
"text": "erupt.",
"text": "Never underestimate the hidden conservatism of those around you. It",
"text": "is powerful and entrenched. Never let the seductive charm of an idea",
"text": "cloud your reason: Just as you cannot make people see the world your",
"text": "way, you cannot wrench them into the future with painful changes. They",
"text": "will rebel. If reform is necessary, anticipate the reaction against it and",
"text": "find ways to disguise the change and sweeten the poison.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "As a young Communist in the 1920s, Mao Tse-tung understood better",
"text": "than any of his colleagues the incredible odds against a Communist",
"text": "victory in China. With their small numbers, limited funds, lack of",
"text": "military experience, and small arsenal of weapons, the Party had no hope",
"text": "of success unless it won over China’s immense peasant population. But",
"text": "who in the world was more conservative, more rooted in tradition, than",
"text": "the Chinese peasantry? The oldest civilization on the planet had a history",
"text": "that would never loosen its power, no matter how violent the revolution.The ideas of Confucius remained as alive in the 1920s as they had been",
"text": "in the sixth century B.C., when the philosopher was alive. Despite the",
"text": "oppressions of the current system, would the peasantry ever give up the",
"text": "deep-rooted values of the past for the great unknown of Communism?",
"text": "The solution, as Mao saw it, involved a simple deception: Cloak the",
"text": "revolution in the clothing of the past, making it comforting and",
"text": "legitimate in people’s eyes. One of Mao’s favorite books was the very",
"text": "popular medieval Chinese novel The Water Margin, which recounts the",
"text": "exploits of a Chinese Robin Hood and his robber band as they struggle",
"text": "against a corrupt and evil monarch. In China in Mao’s time, family ties",
"text": "dominated over any other kind, for the Confucian hierarchy of father and",
"text": "oldest son remained firmly in place; but The Water Margin preached a",
"text": "superior value—the fraternal ties of the band of robbers, the nobility of",
"text": "the cause that unites people beyond blood. The novel had great",
"text": "emotional resonance for Chinese people, who love to root for the",
"text": "underdog. Time and again, then, Mao would present his revolutionary",
"text": "army as an extension of the robber band in The Water Margin, likening",
"text": "his struggle to the timeless conflict between the oppressed peasantry and",
"text": "an evil emperor. He made the past seem to envelop and legitimize the",
"text": "Communist cause; the peasantry could feel comfortable with and even",
"text": "support a group with such roots in the past.",
"text": "Even once the Party came to power, Mao continued to associate it with",
"text": "the past. He presented himself to the masses not as a Chinese Lenin but",
"text": "as a modern Chuko Liang, the real-life third-century strategist who",
"text": "figures prominently in the popular historical novel The Romance of the",
"text": "Three Kingdoms. Liang was more than a great general—he was a poet, a",
"text": "philosopher, and a figure of stern moral rectitude. So Mao represented",
"text": "himself as a poet-warrior like Liang, a man who mixed strategy with",
"text": "philosophy and preached a new ethics. He made himself appear like a",
"text": "hero from the great Chinese tradition of warrior statesmen.",
"text": "Soon, everything in Mao’s speeches and writings had a reference to an",
"text": "earlier period in Chinese history. He recalled, for example, the great",
"text": "Emperor Ch‘in, who had unified the country in the third century B.C.",
"text": "Ch’in had burned the works of Confucius, consolidated and completed",
"text": "the building of the Great Wall, and given his name to China. Like Ch‘in,",
"text": "Mao also had brought the country together, and had sought bold reforms",
"text": "against an oppressive past. Ch’in had traditionally been seen as a violent",
"text": "dictator whose reign was short; the brilliance of Mao’s strategy was to",
"text": "turn this around, simultaneously reinterpreting Ch’in, justifying his rulein the eyes of present-day Chinese, and using him to justify the violence",
"text": "of the new order that Mao himself was creating.",
"text": "After the failed Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s, a power struggle",
"text": "emerged in the Communist Party in which Mao’s main foe was Lin Piao,",
"text": "once a close friend of his. To make clear to the masses the difference",
"text": "between his philosophy and Lin’s, Mao once again exploited the past: He",
"text": "cast his opponent as representing Confucius, a philosopher Lin in fact",
"text": "would constantly quote. And Confucius signified the conservatism of the",
"text": "past. Mao associated himself, on the other hand, with the ancient",
"text": "philosophical movement known as Legalism, exemplified by the",
"text": "writings of Han-fei-tzu. The Legalists disdained Confucian ethics; they",
"text": "believed in the need for violence to create a new order. They worshiped",
"text": "power. To give himself weight in the struggle, Mao unleashed a",
"text": "nationwide propaganda campaign against Confucius, using the issues of",
"text": "Confucianism versus Legalism to whip the young into a kind of frenzied",
"text": "revolt against the older generation. This grand context enveloped a rather",
"text": "banal power struggle, and Mao once again won over the masses and",
"text": "triumphed over his enemies.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "No people had a more profound attachment to the past than the Chinese.",
"text": "In the face of this enormous obstacle to reform, Mao’s strategy was",
"text": "simple: Instead of struggling against the past, he turned it to his",
"text": "advantage, associating his radical Communists with the romantic figures",
"text": "of Chinese history. Weaving the story of the War of the Three Kingdoms",
"text": "into the struggle between the United States, the Soviet Union, and China,",
"text": "he cast himself as Chuko Liang. As the emperors had, he welcomed the",
"text": "cultlike adoration of the masses, understanding that the Chinese could",
"text": "not function without some kind of father figure to admire. And after he",
"text": "made a terrible blunder with the Great Leap Forward, trying to force",
"text": "modernization on the country and failing miserably, he never repeated",
"text": "his mistake: From then on, radical change had to be cloaked in the",
"text": "comfortable clothes of the past.",
"text": "The lesson is simple: The past is powerful. What has happened before",
"text": "seems greater; habit and history give any act weight. Use this to your",
"text": "advantage. When you destroy the familiar you create a void or vacuum;",
"text": "people fear the chaos that will flood in to fill it. You must avoid stirring",
"text": "up such fears at all cost. Borrow the weight and legitimacy from the past,however remote, to create a comforting and familiar presence. This will",
"text": "give your actions romantic associations, add to your presence, and cloak",
"text": "the nature of the changes you are attempting.",
"text": "It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out,",
"text": "nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle,",
"text": "than to initiate a new order of things.",
"text": "Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Human psychology contains many dualities, one of them being that even",
"text": "while people understand the need for change, knowing how important it",
"text": "is for institutions and individuals to be occasionally renewed, they are",
"text": "also irritated and upset by changes that affect them personally. They",
"text": "know that change is necessary, and that novelty provides relief from",
"text": "boredom, but deep inside they cling to the past. Change in the abstract,",
"text": "or superficial change, they desire, but a change that upsets core habits",
"text": "and routines is deeply disturbing to them.",
"text": "No revolution has gone without a powerful later reaction against it, for",
"text": "in the long run the void it creates proves too unsettling to the human",
"text": "animal, who unconsciously associates such voids with death and chaos.",
"text": "The opportunity for change and renewal seduces people to the side of the",
"text": "revolution, but once their enthusiasm fades, which it will, they are left",
"text": "with a certain emptiness. Yearning for the past, they create an opening",
"text": "for it to creep back in.",
"text": "For Machiavelli, the prophet who preaches and brings change can only",
"text": "survive by taking up arms: When the masses inevitably yearn for the",
"text": "past, he must be ready to use force. But the armed prophet cannot last",
"text": "long unless he quickly creates a new set of values and rituals to replace",
"text": "the old ones, and to soothe the anxieties of those who dread change. It is",
"text": "far easier, and less bloody, to play a kind of con game. Preach change as",
"text": "much as you like, and even enact your reforms, but give them the",
"text": "comforting appearance of older events and traditions.",
"text": "Reigning from A.D. 8 to A.D. 23, the Chinese emperor Wang Mang",
"text": "emerged from a period of great historical turbulence in which the people",
"text": "yearned for order, an order represented for them by Confucius. Some two",
"text": "hundred years earlier, however, Emperor Ch’in had ordered the writingsof Confucius burned. A few years later, word had spread that certain",
"text": "texts had miraculously survived, hidden under the scholar’s house. These",
"text": "texts may not have been genuine, but they gave Wang his opportunity:",
"text": "He first confiscated them, then had his scribes insert passages into them",
"text": "that seemed to support the changes he had been imposing on the country.",
"text": "When he released the texts, it seemed that Confucius sanctioned Wang’s",
"text": "reforms, and the people felt comforted and accepted them more easily.",
"text": "Understand: The fact that the past is dead and buried gives you the",
"text": "freedom to reinterpret it. To support your cause, tinker with the facts.",
"text": "The past is a text in which you can safely insert your own lines.",
"text": "A simple gesture like using an old title, or keeping the same number",
"text": "for a group, will tie you to the past and support you with the authority of",
"text": "history. As Machiavelli himself observed, the Romans used this device",
"text": "when they transformed their monarchy into a republic. They may have",
"text": "installed two consuls in place of the king, but since the king had been",
"text": "served by twelve lictors, they retained the same number to serve under",
"text": "the consuls. The king had personally performed an annual sacrifice, in a",
"text": "great spectacle that stirred the public; the republic retained this practice,",
"text": "only transferring it to a special “chief of the ceremony, whom they called",
"text": "the King of the sacrifice.” These and similar gestures satisfied the people",
"text": "and kept them from clamoring for the monarchy’s return.",
"text": "Another strategy to disguise change is to make a loud and public",
"text": "display of support for the values of the past. Seem to be a zealot for",
"text": "tradition and few will notice how unconventional you really are.",
"text": "Renaissance Florence had a centuries-old republic, and was suspicious of",
"text": "anyone who flouted its traditions. Cosimo de’ Medici made a show of",
"text": "enthusiastic support for the republic, while in reality he worked to bring",
"text": "the city under the control of his wealthy family. In form, the Medicis",
"text": "retained the appearance of a republic; in substance, they rendered it",
"text": "powerless. They quietly enacted a radical change, while appearing to",
"text": "safeguard tradition.",
"text": "Science claims a search for truth that would seem to protect it from",
"text": "conservatism and the irrationality of habit: It is a culture of innovation.",
"text": "Yet when Charles Darwin published his ideas of evolution, he faced",
"text": "fiercer opposition from his fellow scientists than from religious",
"text": "authorities. His theories challenged too many fixed ideas. Jonas Salk ran",
"text": "into the same wall with his radical innovations in immunology, as did",
"text": "Max Planck with his revolutionizing of physics. Planck later wrote of the",
"text": "scientific opposition he faced, “A new scientific truth does not triumph",
"text": "by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but ratherbecause its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that",
"text": "is familiar with it.”",
"text": "The answer to this innate conservatism is to play the courtier’s game.",
"text": "Galileo did this at the beginning of his scientific career; he later became",
"text": "more confrontational, and paid for it. So pay lip service to tradition.",
"text": "Identify the elements in your revolution that can be made to seem to",
"text": "build on the past. Say the right things, make a show of conformity, and",
"text": "meanwhile let your theories do their radical work. Play with appearances",
"text": "and respect past protocol. This is true in every arena—science being no",
"text": "exception.",
"text": "Finally, powerful people pay attention to the zeitgeist. If their reform",
"text": "is too far ahead of its time, few will understand it, and it will stir up",
"text": "anxiety and be hopelessly misinterpreted. The changes you make must",
"text": "seem less innovative than they are. England did eventually become a",
"text": "Protestant nation, as Cromwell wished, but it took over a century of",
"text": "gradual evolution.",
"text": "Watch the zeitgeist. If you work in a tumultuous time, there is power",
"text": "to be gained by preaching a return to the past, to comfort, tradition, and",
"text": "ritual. During a period of stagnation, on the other hand, play the card of",
"text": "reform and revolution—but beware of what you stir up. Those who",
"text": "finish a revolution are rarely those who start it. You will not succeed at",
"text": "this dangerous game unless you are willing to forestall the inevitable",
"text": "reaction against it by playing with appearances and building on the past.",
"text": "Authority: He who desires or attempts to reform the government of a",
"text": "state, and wishes to have it accepted, must at least retain the semblance",
"text": "of the old forms; so that it may seem to the people that there has been no",
"text": "change in the institutions, even though in fact they are entirely different",
"text": "from the old ones. For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with",
"text": "appearances, as though they were realities. (Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-",
"text": "1527)",
"text": "Image: The Cat.",
"text": "Creature of habit, it loves the",
"text": "warmth of the familiar. Upset its",
"text": "routines, disrupt its space, and it will",
"text": "grow unmanageable and psychotic.Placate it by supporting its rituals. If",
"text": "change is necessary, deceive the cat by",
"text": "keeping the smell of the past alive;",
"text": "place objects familiar to it in",
"text": "strategic locations.",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "The past is a corpse to be used as you see fit. If what happened in the",
"text": "recent past was painful and harsh, it is self-destructive to associate",
"text": "yourself with it. When Napoleon came to power, the French Revolution",
"text": "was fresh in everyone’s minds. If the court that he established had borne",
"text": "any resemblance to the lavish court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette,",
"text": "his courtiers would have spent all their time worrying about their own",
"text": "necks. Instead, Napoleon established a court remarkable for its sobriety",
"text": "and lack of ostentation. It was the court of a man who valued work and",
"text": "military virtues. This new form seemed appropriate and reassuring.",
"text": "In other words, pay attention to the times. But understand: If you make",
"text": "a bold change from the past, you must avoid at all costs the appearance",
"text": "of a void or vacuum, or you will create terror. Even an ugly recent",
"text": "history will seem preferable to an empty space. Fill that space",
"text": "immediately with new rituals and forms. Soothing and growing familiar,",
"text": "these will secure your position among the masses.",
"text": "Finally, the arts, fashion, and technology would seem to be areas in",
"text": "which power would come from creating a radical rupture with the past",
"text": "and appearing cutting edge. Indeed, such a strategy can bring great",
"text": "power, but it has many dangers. It is inevitable that your innovations will",
"text": "be outdone by someone else. You have little control—someone younger",
"text": "and fresher moves in a sudden new direction, making your bold",
"text": "innovation of yesterday seem tiresome and tame today. You are forever",
"text": "playing catch-up; your power is tenuous and short-lived. You want a",
"text": "power built on something more solid. Using the past, tinkering with",
"text": "tradition, playing with convention to subvert it will give your creations",
"text": "something more than a momentary appeal. Periods of dizzying change",
"text": "disguise the fact that a yearning for the past will inevitably creep back in.",
"text": "In the end, using the past for your own purposes will bring you morepower than trying to cut it out completely—a futile and self-destructive",
"text": "endeavor.LAW 46",
"text": "NEVER APPEAR TOO PERFECT",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of",
"text": "all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent",
"text": "enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to",
"text": "harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and",
"text": "approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "Joe Orton met Kenneth Halliwell at the Royal Academy of Dramatic",
"text": "Arts, London, in 1953, where both had enrolled as acting students. They",
"text": "soon became lovers and moved in together. Halliwell, twenty-five at the",
"text": "time, was seven years older than Orton, and seemed the more confident",
"text": "of the two; but neither had much talent as actors, and after graduating,",
"text": "having settled down together in a dank London apartment, they decided",
"text": "to give up acting and collaborate as writers instead. Halliwell’s",
"text": "inheritance was enough to keep them from having to find work for a few",
"text": "years, and in the beginning, he was also the driving force behind the",
"text": "stories and novels they wrote; he would dictate to Orton, who would type",
"text": "the manuscripts, occasionally interjecting his own lines and ideas. Their",
"text": "first efforts attracted some interest from literary agents, but it sputtered.",
"text": "The promise they had shown was leading nowhere.",
"text": "Eventually the inheritance money ran out, and the pair had to look for",
"text": "work. Their collaborations were less enthusiastic and less frequent. The",
"text": "future looked bleak.",
"text": "In 1957 Orton began to write on his own, but it wasn’t until five years",
"text": "later, when the lovers were jailed for six months for defacing dozens oflibrary books, that he began to find his voice (perhaps not by chance:",
"text": "This was the first time he and Halliwell had been separated in nine",
"text": "years). He came out of prison determined to express his contempt for",
"text": "English society in the form of theatrical farces. He and Halliwell moved",
"text": "back in together, but now the roles were reversed: Orton did the writing",
"text": "while Halliwell put in comments and ideas.",
"text": "In 1964 Joe Orton completed his first full-length play, Entertaining",
"text": "Mr. Sloane. The play made it to London’s West End, where it received",
"text": "brilliant reviews: A great new writer had emerged from nowhere. Now",
"text": "success followed success, at a dizzying pace. In 1966 Orton had a hit",
"text": "with his play Loot, and his popularity soared. Soon commissions came in",
"text": "from all sides, including from the Beatles, who paid Orton handsomely",
"text": "to write them a film script.",
"text": "Everything was pointing upwards, everything except Orton’s",
"text": "relationship with Kenneth Halliwell. The pair still lived together, but as",
"text": "Orton grew successful, Halliwell began to deteriorate. Watching his lover",
"text": "become the center of attention, he suffered the humiliation of becoming a",
"text": "kind of personal assistant to the playwright, his role in what had once",
"text": "been a collaboration growing smaller and smaller. In the 1950s he had",
"text": "supported Orton with his inheritance; now Orton supported him. At a",
"text": "party or among friends, people would naturally gravitate towards Orton",
"text": "—he was charming, and his mood was almost always buoyant. Unlike",
"text": "the handsome Orton, Halliwell was bald and awkward; his defensiveness",
"text": "made people want to avoid him.",
"text": "A greedy man and an envious man met a king. The king said to them,",
"text": "“One of you may ask something of me and I will give it to him, provided",
"text": "I give twice as much to the other. ” The envious person did not want to",
"text": "ask first for he was envious of his companion who would receive twice as",
"text": "much, and the greedy man did not want to ask first since he wanted",
"text": "everything that was to be had. Finally the greedy one pressed the envious",
"text": "one to be the first to make the request. So the envious person asked the",
"text": "king to pluck out one of his eyes.",
"text": "JEWISH PARABLE, THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, SOLOMON",
"text": "SCHIMMEL, 1992",
"text": "An admirer who feels that he cannot be happy by surrendering himself",
"text": "elects to become envious of that which he admires. So he speaks another",
"text": "language—the thing which he really admires is called a stupid, insipid",
"text": "and queer sort of thing. Admiration is happy self-surrender; envy is",
"text": "unhappy self-assertion.SφREN KIERKEGAARD, 1813-1855",
"text": "With Orton’s success the couple’s problems only worsened.",
"text": "Halliwell’s moods made their life together impossible. Orton claimed to",
"text": "want to leave him, and had numerous affairs, but would always end up",
"text": "returning to his old friend and lover. He tried to help Halliwell launch a",
"text": "career as an artist, even arranging for a gallery to show his work, but the",
"text": "show was a flop, and this only heightened Halliwell’s sense of",
"text": "inferiority. In May of 1967, the pair went on a brief holiday together in",
"text": "Tangier, Morocco. During the trip, Orton wrote in his diary, “We sat",
"text": "talking of how happy we felt. And how it couldn’t, surely, last. We’d",
"text": "have to pay for it. Or we’d be struck down from afar by disaster because",
"text": "we were, perhaps, too happy. To be young, good-looking, healthy,",
"text": "famous, comparatively rich and happy is surely going against nature.”",
"text": "Halliwell outwardly seemed as happy as Orton. Inwardly, though, he",
"text": "was seething. And two months later, in the early morning of August 10,",
"text": "1967, just days after helping Orton put the finishing touches to the",
"text": "wicked farce What the Butler Saw (undoubtedly his masterpiece),",
"text": "Kenneth Halliwell bludgeoned Joe Orton to death with repeated blows of",
"text": "a hammer to the head. He then took twenty-one sleeping pills and died",
"text": "himself, leaving behind a note that read, “If you read Orton’s diary all",
"text": "will be explained.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Kenneth Halliwell had tried to cast his deterioration as mental illness, but",
"text": "what Joe Orton’s diaries revealed to him was the truth: It was envy, pure",
"text": "and simple, that lay at the heart of his sickness. The diaries, which",
"text": "Halliwell read on the sly, recounted the couple’s days as equals and their",
"text": "struggle for recognition. After Orton found success, the diaries began to",
"text": "describe Halliwell’s brooding, his rude comments at parties, his growing",
"text": "sense of inferiority. All of this Orton narrated with a distance that",
"text": "bordered on contempt.",
"text": "The diaries made clear Halliwell’s bitterness over Orton’s success.",
"text": "Eventually the only thing that would have satisfied him would have been",
"text": "for Orton to have a failure of his own, an unsuccessful play perhaps, so",
"text": "that they could have commiserated in their failure, as they had done",
"text": "years before. When the opposite happened—as Orton grew only more",
"text": "successful and popular—Halliwell did the only thing that would makethem equals again: He made them equals in death. With Orton’s murder,",
"text": "he became almost as famous as his friend—posthumously.",
"text": "Joe Orton only partly understood his lover’s deterioration. His attempt",
"text": "to help Halliwell launch a career in art registered for what it was: charity",
"text": "and guilt. Orton basically had two possible solutions to the problem. He",
"text": "could have downplayed his own success, displaying some faults,",
"text": "deflecting Halliwell’s envy; or, once he realized the nature of the",
"text": "problem, he could have fled as if Halliwell were a viper, as in fact he was",
"text": "—a viper of envy. Once envy eats away at someone, everything you do",
"text": "only makes it grow, and day by day it festers inside him. Eventually he",
"text": "will attack.",
"text": "It takes great talent and skill to conceal one’s talent and skill",
"text": "LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, 1613-1680",
"text": "ENVY TORMENTS AGLAUROS",
"text": "The goddess Minerva made her way to the house of Envy, a house filthy",
"text": "with dark and noisome slime. It is hidden away in the depths of the",
"text": "valleys, where the sun never penetrates, where no wind blows through; a",
"text": "gloomy dwelling, permeated by numbing chill, ever fireless, ever",
"text": "shrouded in thick darkness. When Minerva reached this spot she stopped",
"text": "in front of the house … and struck the doors with the tip of her spear, and",
"text": "at the blow they flew open and revealed Envy within, busy at a meal of",
"text": "snake’s flesh, the food on which she nourished her wickedness. At the",
"text": "sight, Minerva turned her eyes away. But the other rose heavily from the",
"text": "ground, leaving the half-eaten corpses, and came out with dragging",
"text": "steps. When she saw the goddess in all the brilliance of her beauty, in her",
"text": "flashing armor, she groaned…. Envy’s face was sickly pale, her whole",
"text": "body lean and wasted, and she squinted horribly; her teeth were",
"text": "discoloretl and decayed, her poisonous breast of a greenish hue, and her",
"text": "tongue dripped venom. Only the sight of suffering could bring a smile to",
"text": "her lips. She never knew the comfort of sleep, but was kept constantly",
"text": "awake by care and anxiety, looked with dismay on men’s good fortune,",
"text": "and grew thin at the sight. Gnawing at others, and being gnawed, she",
"text": "was herself her own torment. Minerva, in spite of her loathing, yet",
"text": "addressed her briefly: “Instill your poison into one of Cecrop’s",
"text": "daughters—her name is Aglauros. This is what I require of you. ”",
"text": "Without another word she pushed against the ground with her spear, left",
"text": "the earth, and soared upwards.From the corner of her eye the other watched the goddess out of sight,",
"text": "muttering and angry that Minerva’s plan should be successful. Then she",
"text": "took her staff, all encircled with thorny briars, wrapped herself in dark",
"text": "clouds, and set forth. Wherever she went she trampled down the flowery",
"text": "fields, withered up the grass, seared the treetops, and with her breath",
"text": "tainted the peoples, their cities and their homes, until at length she came",
"text": "to Athens, the home of wit and wealth, peaceful and prosperous. She",
"text": "could scarcely refrain from weeping when she saw no cause for tears.",
"text": "Then entering the chamber of Cecrop’s daughter, she carried out",
"text": "Minerva’s orders. She touched the girl’s breast with a hand dipped in",
"text": "malice, filled her heart with spiky thorns, and breathing in a black and",
"text": "evil poison dispersed it through her very bones, instilling the venom deep",
"text": "in her heart. That the reason for her distress might not be far to seek, she",
"text": "set before Aglauros’ eyes a vision of her sister, of that sister’s fortunate",
"text": "marriage [with the god Mercury], and of the god in all his",
"text": "handsomeness; and she exaggerated the glory of it all. So Aglauros was",
"text": "tormented by such thoughts, and the jealous anger she concealed ate into",
"text": "her heart. Day and night she sighed, unceasingly wretched, and in her",
"text": "utter misery wasted away in a slow decline, as when ice is melted by the",
"text": "fitful sun. The fire that was kindled within her at the thought of her",
"text": "sister’s luck and good fortune was like the burning of weeds which do not",
"text": "burst into flames, but are none the less consumed by smoldering fire.",
"text": "METAMORPHOSES, OVID, 43 B.C.-C. A.D. 18",
"text": "Only a minority can succeed at the game of life, and that minority",
"text": "inevitably arouses the envy of those around them. Once success happens",
"text": "your way, however, the people to fear the most are those in your own",
"text": "circle, the friends and acquaintances you have left behind. Feelings of",
"text": "inferiority gnaw at them; the thought of your success only heightens their",
"text": "feelings of stagnation. Envy, which the philosopher Kierkegaard calls",
"text": "“unhappy admiration,” takes hold. You may not see it but you will feel it",
"text": "someday—unless, that is, you learn strategies of deflection, little",
"text": "sacrifices to the gods of success. Either dampen your brilliance",
"text": "occasionally, purposefully revealing a defect, weakness, or anxiety, or",
"text": "attributing your success to luck; or simply find yourself new friends.",
"text": "Never underestimate the power of envy.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAWThe merchant class and the craft guilds to which medieval Florence",
"text": "owed its prosperity had created a republic that protected them from",
"text": "oppression by the nobility. Since high office could only be held for a few",
"text": "months, no one could gain lasting dominance, and although this meant",
"text": "that the political factions struggled constantly for control, the system",
"text": "kept out tyrants and petty dictators. The Medici family lived for several",
"text": "centuries under this system without making much of a mark. They had",
"text": "modest origins as apothecaries, and were typical middle-class citizens.",
"text": "Not until the late fourteenth century, when Giovanni de’ Medici made a",
"text": "modest fortune in banking, did they emerge as a force to be reckoned",
"text": "with.",
"text": "Upon Giovanni’s death, his son Cosimo took over the family business,",
"text": "and quickly demonstrated his talent for it. The business prospered under",
"text": "his control and the Medicis emerged as one of the preeminent banking",
"text": "families of Europe. But they had a rival in Florence: Despite the city’s",
"text": "republican system, one family, the Albizzis, had managed over the years",
"text": "to monopolize control of the government, forging alliances that allowed",
"text": "them to constantly fill important offices with their own men. Cosimo did",
"text": "not fight this, and in fact gave the Albizzis his tacit support. At the same",
"text": "time, while the Albizzis were beginning to flaunt their power, Cosimo",
"text": "made a point of staying in the background.",
"text": "Eventually, however, the Medici wealth could not be ignored, and in",
"text": "1433, feeling threatened by the family, the Albizzis used their",
"text": "government muscle to have Cosimo arrested on charges of conspiring to",
"text": "overthrow the republic. Some in the Albizzi faction wanted Cosimo",
"text": "executed, others feared this would spark a civil war. In the end they",
"text": "exiled him from Florence. Cosimo did not fight the sentence; he left",
"text": "quietly. Sometimes, he knew, it is wiser to bide one’s time and keep a",
"text": "low profile.",
"text": "Over the next year, the Albizzis began to stir up fears that they were",
"text": "setting up a dictatorship. Meanwhile, Cosimo, using his wealth to",
"text": "advantage, continued to exert influence on Florentine affairs, even from",
"text": "exile. A civil war broke out in the city, and in September of 1434 the",
"text": "Albizzis were toppled from power and sent into exile. Cosimo",
"text": "immediately returned to Florence, his position restored. But he saw that",
"text": "he now faced a delicate situation: If he seemed ambitious, as the Albizzis",
"text": "had, he would stir up opposition and envy that would ultimately threaten",
"text": "his business. If he stayed on the sidelines, on the other hand, he would",
"text": "leave an opening for another faction to rise up as the Albizzis had, and to",
"text": "punish the Medicis for their success.Cosimo solved the problem in two ways: He secretly used his wealth",
"text": "to buy influence among key citizens, and he placed his own allies, all",
"text": "cleverly enlisted from the middle classes to disguise their allegiance to",
"text": "him, in top government positions. Those who complained of his growing",
"text": "political clout were taxed into submission, or their properties were",
"text": "bought out from under them by Cosimo’s banker allies. The republic",
"text": "survived in name only. Cosimo held the strings.",
"text": "While he worked behind the scenes to gain control, however, publicly",
"text": "Cosimo presented another picture. When he walked through the streets",
"text": "of Florence, he dressed modestly, was attended by no more than one",
"text": "servant, and bowed deferentially to magistrates and elder citizens. He",
"text": "rode a mule instead of a horse. He never spoke out on matters of public",
"text": "import, even though he controlled Florence’s foreign affairs for over",
"text": "thirty years. He gave money to charities and maintained his ties to",
"text": "Florence’s merchant class. He financed all kinds of public buildings that",
"text": "fed the Florentines’ pride in their city. When he built a palace for himself",
"text": "and his family in nearby Fiesole, he turned down the ornate designs that",
"text": "Brunelleschi had drawn up for him and instead chose a modest structure",
"text": "designed by Michelozzo, a man of humble Florentine origins. The palace",
"text": "was a symbol of Cosimo’s strategy—all simplicity on the outside, all",
"text": "elegance and opulence within.",
"text": "Cosimo finally died in 1464, after ruling for thirty years. The citizens",
"text": "of Florence wanted to build him a great tomb, and to celebrate his",
"text": "memory with elaborate funeral ceremonies, but on his deathbed he had",
"text": "asked to be buried without “any pomp or demonstration.” Some sixty",
"text": "years later, Machiavelli hailed Cosimo as the wisest of all princes, “for",
"text": "he knew how extraordinary things that are seen and appear every hour",
"text": "make men much more envied than those that are done in deed and are",
"text": "covered over with decency.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "A close friend of Cosimo’s, the bookseller Vespasiano da Bisticci, once",
"text": "wrote of him, “And whenever he wished to achieve something, he saw to",
"text": "it, in order to escape envy as much as possible, that the initiative",
"text": "appeared to come from others, and not from him.” One of Cosimo’s",
"text": "favorite expressions was, “Envy is a weed that should not be watered.”",
"text": "Understanding the power envy has in a democratic environment, Cosimo",
"text": "avoided the appearance of greatness. This does not mean that greatnessshould be suffocated, or that only the mediocre should survive; only that",
"text": "a game of appearances must be played. The insidious envy of the masses",
"text": "can actually be deflected quite easily: Appear as one of them in style and",
"text": "values. Make alliances with those below you, and elevate them to",
"text": "positions of power to secure their support in times of need. Never flaunt",
"text": "your wealth, and carefully conceal the degree to which it has bought",
"text": "influence. Make a display of deferring to others, as if they were more",
"text": "powerful than you. Cosimo de’ Medici perfected this game; he was a",
"text": "consummate con artist of appearances. No one could gauge the extent of",
"text": "his power—his modest exterior hid the truth.",
"text": "Never be so foolish as to believe that you are stirring up admiration by",
"text": "flaunting the qualities that raise you above others. By making others",
"text": "aware of their inferior position, you are only stirring up “unhappy",
"text": "admiration,” or envy, which will gnaw away at them until they",
"text": "undermine you in ways you cannot foresee. The fool dares the gods of",
"text": "envy by flaunting his victories. The master of power understands that the",
"text": "appearance of superiority over others is inconsequential next to the",
"text": "reality of it.",
"text": "Of all the disorders of the soul, envy is the only one no one confesses to.",
"text": "Plutarch, c. A.D 46-120",
"text": "The envious hides as carefully as the secret, lustful sinner and becomes",
"text": "the endless inventor of tricks and stratagems to hide and mask himself",
"text": "Thus he is able to pretend to ignore the superiority of others which eats",
"text": "up his heart, as ifhe did not see them, nor hear them, nor were aware of",
"text": "them, nor had ever heard of them. He is a master simulator. On the other",
"text": "hand he tries with all his power to connive and thus prevent any form of",
"text": "superiority from appearing in any situation. And if they do, he casts on",
"text": "them obscurity, hypercriticism, sarcasm and calumny like the toad that",
"text": "spits poison from its hole. On the other hand he will raise endlessly",
"text": "insignificant men, mediocre people, and even the inferior in the same",
"text": "type of activities.",
"text": "ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860",
"text": "For not many men, the proverb says, can love a friend who fortune",
"text": "prospers without feeling envy; and about the envious brain, cold poison",
"text": "clings and doubles all the pain life brings him. His own woundings he",
"text": "must nurse, and feels another’s gladness like a curse.",
"text": "AESCHYLUS, c. 525-456 B.C.KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "The human animal has a hard time dealing with feelings of inferiority. In",
"text": "the face of superior skill, talent, or power, we are often disturbed and ill",
"text": "at ease; this is because most of us have an inflated sense of ourselves,",
"text": "and when we meet people who surpass us they make it clear to us that",
"text": "we are in fact mediocre, or at least not as brilliant as we had thought.",
"text": "This disturbance in our self-image cannot last long without stirring up",
"text": "ugly emotions. At first we feel envy: If only we had the quality or skill of",
"text": "the superior person, we would be happy. But envy brings us neither",
"text": "comfort nor any closer to equality. Nor can we admit to feeling it, for it",
"text": "is frowned upon socially—to show envy is to admit to feeling inferior.",
"text": "To close friends, we may confess our secret unrealized desires, but we",
"text": "will never confess to feeling envy. So it goes underground. We disguise",
"text": "it in many ways, like finding grounds to criticize the person who makes",
"text": "us feel it: He may be smarter than I am, we say, but he has no morals or",
"text": "conscience. Or he may have more power, but that’s because he cheats. If",
"text": "we do not slander him, perhaps we praise him excessively—another of",
"text": "envy’s disguises.",
"text": "There are several strategies for dealing with the insidious, destructive",
"text": "emotion of envy. First, accept the fact that there will be people who will",
"text": "surpass you in some way, and also the fact that you may envy them. But",
"text": "make that feeling a way of pushing yourself to equal or surpass them",
"text": "someday. Let envy turn inward and it poisons the soul; expel it outward",
"text": "and it can move you to greater heights.",
"text": "Second, understand that as you gain power, those below you will feel",
"text": "envious of you. They may not show it but it is inevitable. Do not naively",
"text": "accept the facade they show you—read between the lines of their",
"text": "criticisms, their little sarcastic remarks, the signs of backstabbing, the",
"text": "excessive praise that is preparing you for a fall, the resentful look in the",
"text": "eye. Half the problem with envy comes when we do not recognize it until",
"text": "it is too late.",
"text": "Finally, expect that when people envy you they will work against you",
"text": "insidiously. They will put obstacles in your path that you will not",
"text": "foresee, or that you cannot trace to their source. It is hard to defend",
"text": "yourself against this kind of attack. And by the time you realize that envy",
"text": "is at the root of a person’s feelings about you, it is often too late: Your",
"text": "excuses, your false humility, your defensive actions, only exacerbate the",
"text": "problem. Since it is far easier to avoid creating envy in the first placethan to get rid of it once it is there, you should strategize to forestall it",
"text": "before it grows. It is often your own actions that stir up envy, your own",
"text": "unawareness. By becoming conscious of those actions and qualities that",
"text": "create envy, you can take the teeth out of it before it nibbles you to death.",
"text": "Kierkegaard believed that there are types of people who create envy,",
"text": "and are as guilty when it arises as those who feel it. The most obvious",
"text": "type we all know: The moment something good happens to them,",
"text": "whether by luck or design, they crow about it. In fact they get pleasure",
"text": "out of making people feel inferior. This type is obvious and beyond hope.",
"text": "There are others, however, who stir up envy in more subtle and",
"text": "unconscious ways, and are partly to blame for their troubles. Envy is",
"text": "often a problem, for example, for people with great natural talent.",
"text": "Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the most brilliant men at the court of",
"text": "Queen Elizabeth of England. He had skills as a scientist, wrote poetry",
"text": "still recognized as among the most beautiful writing of the time, was a",
"text": "proven leader of men, an enterprising entrepreneur, a great sea captain,",
"text": "and on top of all this was a handsome, dashing courtier who charmed his",
"text": "way into becoming one of the queen’s favorites. Wherever he went,",
"text": "however, people blocked his path. Eventually he suffered a terrific fall",
"text": "from grace, leading even to prison and finally the executioner’s axe.",
"text": "Raleigh could not understand the stubborn opposition he faced from",
"text": "the other courtiers. He did not see that he had not only made no attempt",
"text": "to disguise the degree of his skills and qualities, he had imposed them on",
"text": "one and all, making a show of his versatility, thinking it impressed",
"text": "people and won him friends. In fact it made him silent enemies, people",
"text": "who felt inferior to him and did all they could to ruin him the moment he",
"text": "tripped up or made the slightest mistake. In the end, the reason he was",
"text": "executed was treason, but envy will use any cover it finds to mask its",
"text": "destructiveness.",
"text": "The envy elicited by Sir Walter Raleigh is the worst kind: It was",
"text": "inspired by his natural talent and grace, which he felt was best displayed",
"text": "in its full flower. Money others can attain; power as well. But superior",
"text": "intelligence, good looks, charm—these are qualities no one can acquire.",
"text": "The naturally perfect have to work the most to disguise their brilliance,",
"text": "displaying a defect or two to deflect envy before it takes root. It is a",
"text": "common and naive mistake to think you are charming people with your",
"text": "natural talents when in fact they are coming to hate you.",
"text": "JOSEPH AND HIS COATNow Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was",
"text": "the son of his old age; and he made him a coat of many colors…. And his",
"text": "brothers envied him…. And when they saw him afar off, they conspired",
"text": "against him to slay him. And now they said to one another, “Behold, this",
"text": "dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him",
"text": "into some pit, and we shall say, some evil beast hath devoured him; and",
"text": "we shall see what will become of his dreams”",
"text": "OLD TESTAMENT, GENESIS 37:3—20",
"text": "THE TRAGEDY OF THE TOMB",
"text": "[When Pope Julius first saw Michelangelo’s design for his tomb] it",
"text": "pleased him so much that he at once sent him to Carrara to quarry the",
"text": "necessary marbles, instructing Alamanno Salviati, of Florence, to pay",
"text": "him a thousand ducats for this purpose. Michelangelo stayed in these",
"text": "mountains more than eight months with two workmen and his horse, and",
"text": "without any other provision except food…. Enough marbles quarried and",
"text": "chosen, he took them to the sea-coast, and left one of his men to have",
"text": "them embarked. He himself returned to Rome.",
"text": "… The quantity of marbles was immense, so that, spread over the piazza,",
"text": "they were the admiration of all and a joy to the pope, who heaped",
"text": "immeasurable favors upon Michelangelo: and when he began to work",
"text": "upon them again and again went to see him at his house, and talked to",
"text": "him about the tomb and other things as with his own brother. And in",
"text": "order that he might more easily go to him, the pope ordered that a",
"text": "drawbridge should be thrown across from the Corridore to the rooms of",
"text": "Michelangelo, by which he might visit him in private.",
"text": "These many and frequent favors were the cause (as often is the case at",
"text": "court) of much envy, and, after the envy, of endless persecution, since",
"text": "Bramante, the architect, who was loved by the pope, made him change",
"text": "his mind as to the monument by telling him, as is said by the vulgar, that",
"text": "it is unlucky to build one’s tomb in one’s lifetime, and other tales. Fear as",
"text": "well as envy stimulated Bramante, for the judgment of Michelangelo had",
"text": "exposed many of his errors…. Now because he had no doubt that",
"text": "Michelangelo knew these errors of his, he always sought to remove him",
"text": "from Rome, or, at least, to deprive him of the favor of the pope, and of",
"text": "the glory and usefulness that he might have acquired by his industry. He",
"text": "succeeded in the matter of the tomb. There is no doubt that if",
"text": "Michelangelo had been allowed to finish it, according to his first design,having so large a field in which to show his worth, no other artist,",
"text": "however celebrated (be it said without envy) could have wrested from",
"text": "him the high place he would have held.",
"text": "VITA DI MICHELANGELO, ASCANIO CONDIVI, 1553",
"text": "A great danger in the realm of power is the sudden improvement in",
"text": "fortune—an unexpected promotion, a victory or success that seems to",
"text": "come out of nowhere. This is sure to stir up envy among your former",
"text": "peers.",
"text": "When Archbishop de Retz was promoted to the rank of cardinal, in",
"text": "1651, he knew full well that many of his former colleagues envied him.",
"text": "Understanding the foolishness of alienating those below him, de Retz did",
"text": "everything he could to downplay his merit and emphasize the role of",
"text": "luck in his success. To put people at ease, he acted humbly and",
"text": "deferentially, as if nothing had changed. (In reality, of course, he now",
"text": "had much more power than before.) He wrote that these wise policies",
"text": "“produced a good effect, by lessening the envy which was conceived",
"text": "against me, which is the greatest of all secrets.” Follow de Retz’s",
"text": "example. Subtly emphasize how lucky you have been, to make your",
"text": "happiness seem more attainable to other people, and the need for envy",
"text": "less acute. But be careful not to affect a false modesty that people can",
"text": "easily see through. This will only make them more envious. The act has",
"text": "to be good; your humility, and your openness to those you have left",
"text": "behind, have to seem genuine. Any hint of insincerity will only make",
"text": "your new status more oppressive. Remember: Despite your elevated",
"text": "position, it will do you no good to alienate your former peers. Power",
"text": "requires a wide and solid support base, which envy can silently destroy.",
"text": "Political power of any kind creates envy, and one of the best ways to",
"text": "deflect it before it takes root is to seem unambitious. When Ivan the",
"text": "Terrible died, Boris Godunov knew he was the only one on the scene",
"text": "who could lead Russia. But if he sought the position eagerly, he would",
"text": "stir up envy and suspicion among the boyars, so he refused the crown,",
"text": "not once but several times. He made people insist that he take the throne.",
"text": "George Washington used the same strategy to great effect, first in",
"text": "refusing to keep the position of Commander in Chief of the American",
"text": "army, second in resisting the presidency. In both cases he made himself",
"text": "more popular than ever. People cannot envy the power that they",
"text": "themselves have given a person who does not seem to desire it.",
"text": "According to the Elizabethan statesman and writer Sir Francis Bacon,",
"text": "the wisest policy of the powerful is to create a kind of pity forthemselves, as if their responsibilities were a burden and a sacrifice.",
"text": "How can one envy a man who has taken on a heavy load for the public",
"text": "interest? Disguise your power as a kind of self-sacrifice rather than a",
"text": "source of happiness and you make it seem less enviable. Emphasize your",
"text": "troubles and you turn a potential danger (envy) into a source of moral",
"text": "support (pity). A similar ploy is to hint that your good fortune will",
"text": "benefit those around you. To do this you may need to open your purse",
"text": "strings, like Cimon, a wealthy general in ancient Athens who gave",
"text": "lavishly in all kinds of ways to prevent people from resenting the",
"text": "influence he had bought in Athenian politics. He paid a high price to",
"text": "deflect their envy, but in the end it saved him from ostracism and",
"text": "banishment from the city.",
"text": "The painter J. M. W. Turner devised another way of giving to deflect",
"text": "the envy of his fellow artists, which he recognized as his greatest",
"text": "obstacle to his success. Noticing that his incomparable color skills made",
"text": "them afraid to hang their paintings next to his in exhibitions, he realized",
"text": "that their fear would turn to envy, and would eventually make it harder",
"text": "for him to find galleries to show in. On occasion, then, Turner is known",
"text": "to have temporarily dampened the colors in his paintings with soot to",
"text": "earn him the goodwill of his colleagues.",
"text": "To deflect envy, Gracian recommends that the powerful display a",
"text": "weakness, a minor social indiscretion, a harmless vice. Give those who",
"text": "envy you something to feed on, distracting them from your more",
"text": "important sins. Remember: It is the reality that matters. You may have to",
"text": "play games with appearances, but in the end you will have what counts:",
"text": "true power. In some Arab countries, a man will avoid arousing envy by",
"text": "doing as Cosimo de Medici did by showing his wealth only on the inside",
"text": "of his house. Apply this wisdom to your own character.",
"text": "Beware of some of envy’s disguises. Excessive praise is an almost",
"text": "sure sign that the person praising you envies you; they are either setting",
"text": "you up for a fall—it will be impossible for you to live up to their praise",
"text": "—or they are sharpening their blades behind your back. At the same",
"text": "time, those who are hypercritical of you, or who slander you publicly,",
"text": "probably envy you as well. Recognize their behavior as disguised envy",
"text": "and you keep out of the trap of mutual mud-slinging, or of taking their",
"text": "criticisms to heart. Win your revenge by ignoring their measly presence.",
"text": "Do not try to help or do favors for those who envy you; they will think",
"text": "you are condescending to them. Joe Orton’s attempt to help Halliwell",
"text": "find a gallery for his work only intensified his lover’s feelings of",
"text": "inferiority and envy. Once envy reveals itself for what it is, the onlysolution is often to flee the presence of the enviers, leaving them to stew",
"text": "in a hell of their own creation.",
"text": "Finally, be aware that some environments are more conducive to envy",
"text": "than others. The effects of envy are more serious among colleagues and",
"text": "peers, where there is a veneer of equality. Envy is also destructive in",
"text": "democratic environments where overt displays of power are looked",
"text": "down upon. Be extrasensitive in such environments. The filmmaker",
"text": "Ingmar Bergman was hounded by Swedish tax authorities because he",
"text": "stood out in a country where standing out from the crowd is frowned on.",
"text": "It is almost impossible to avoid envy in such cases, and there is little you",
"text": "can do but accept it graciously and take none of it personally. As",
"text": "Thoreau once said, “Envy is the tax which all distinction must pay.”",
"text": "Did ever anybody seriously confess to envy? Something there is in it",
"text": "universally felt to be more shameful than even felonious crime. And not",
"text": "only does everybody disown it, but the better sort are inclined to",
"text": "incredulity when it is in earnest imputed to an intelligent man. But since",
"text": "lodgment is in the heart not the brain, no degree of intellect supplies a",
"text": "guarantee against it.",
"text": "BILLY BUDD, HERMAN MELVILLE, 1819-1891",
"text": "Image: A Garden of Weeds. You may not",
"text": "feed them but they spread as you water",
"text": "the garden. You may not see how, but",
"text": "they take over, tall and ugly, pre",
"text": "venting anything beautiful from",
"text": "flourishing. Before it is too late,",
"text": "do not water indiscrimi",
"text": "nately. Destroy the weeds",
"text": "of envy by giving them",
"text": "nothing to feed on.",
"text": "Authority: Upon occasion, reveal a harmless defect in your character. For",
"text": "the envious accuse the most perfect of sinning by having no sins. They",
"text": "become an Argus, all eyes for finding fault with excellence—it is their",
"text": "only consolation. Do not let envy burst with its own venom—affect some",
"text": "lapse in valor or intellect, so as to disarm it beforehand. You thus wave",
"text": "your red cape before the Horns of Envy, in order to save your",
"text": "immortality. (Baltasar Gracian, 1601-1658)",
"text": "Know how to triumph over envy and malice. Here contempt, although",
"text": "prudent, counts, indeed, for little; magnanimity is better. A good word",
"text": "concerning one who speaks evil of you cannot be praised too highly:there is no revenge more heroic than that brought about by those merits",
"text": "and attainments which frustrate and torment the envious. Every stroke of",
"text": "good fortune is a further twist of the rope round the neck of the ill-",
"text": "disposed and the heaven of the envied is hell for the envious. To convert",
"text": "your good fortune into poison for your enemies is held to be the most",
"text": "severe punishment you can inflict on them. The envious man dies not",
"text": "only once but as many times as the person he envies lives to hear the",
"text": "voice of praise; the eternity of the latter’s fame is the measure of the",
"text": "former’s punishment: the one is immortal in his glory, the latter in his",
"text": "misery. The trumpet of fame which sounds immortality for the one",
"text": "heralds death for the other, who is sentenced to be choked to death on his",
"text": "own envy.",
"text": "BALTASAR GRACIÁN, 1601-1658",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "The reason for being careful with the envious is that they are so indirect,",
"text": "and will find innumerable ways to undermine you. But treading carefully",
"text": "around them will often only make their envy worse. They sense that you",
"text": "are being cautious, and it registers as yet another sign of your superiority.",
"text": "That is why you must act before envy takes root.",
"text": "Once envy is there, however, whether through your fault or not, it is",
"text": "sometimes best to affect the opposite approach: Display the utmost",
"text": "disdain for those who envy you. Instead of hiding your perfection, make",
"text": "it obvious. Make every new triumph an opportunity to make the envious",
"text": "squirm. Your good fortune and power become their living hell. If you",
"text": "attain a position of unimpeachable power, their envy will have no effect",
"text": "on you, and you will have the best revenge of all: They are trapped in",
"text": "envy while you are free in your power.",
"text": "This is how Michelangelo triumphed over the venomous architect",
"text": "Bramante, who turned Pope Julius against Michelangelo’s design for his",
"text": "tomb. Bramante envied Michelangelo’s godlike skills, and to this one",
"text": "triumph—the aborted tomb project—he thought to add another, by",
"text": "pushing the pope to commission Michelangelo to paint the murals in the",
"text": "Sistine Chapel. The project would take years, during which",
"text": "Michelangelo would accomplish no more of his brilliant sculptures.Furthermore, Bramante considered Michelangelo not nearly as skilled in",
"text": "painting as in sculpture. The chapel would spoil his image as the perfect",
"text": "artist.",
"text": "Michelangelo saw the trap and wanted to turn down the commission,",
"text": "but he could not refuse the pope, so he accepted it without complaint.",
"text": "Then, however, he used Bramante’s envy to spur him to greater heights,",
"text": "making the Sistine Chapel his most perfect work of all. Every time",
"text": "Bramante heard of it or saw it, he felt more oppressed by his own envy—",
"text": "the sweetest and most lasting revenge you can exact on the envious.LAW 47",
"text": "DO NOT GO PAST THE MARK YOU AIMED",
"text": "FOR; IN VICTORY, LEARN WHEN TO STOP",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat",
"text": "of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you",
"text": "had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you",
"text": "defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute",
"text": "for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it,",
"text": "stop.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "In 559 B.C., a young man named Cyrus gathered an immense army from",
"text": "the scattered tribes of Persia and marched against his grandfather",
"text": "Astyages, king of the Medes. He defeated Astyages with ease, had",
"text": "himself crowned king of Medea and Persia, and began to forge the",
"text": "Persian Empire. Victory followed victory in quick succession. Cyrus",
"text": "defeated Croesus, ruler of Lydia, then conquered the Ionian islands and",
"text": "other smaller kingdoms; he marched on Babylon and crushed it. Now he",
"text": "was known as Cyrus the Great, King of the World.",
"text": "After capturing the riches of Babylon, Cyrus set his sights on the east,",
"text": "on the half-barbaric tribes of the Massagetai, a vast realm on the Caspian",
"text": "Sea. A fierce warrior race led by Queen Tomyris, the Massagetai lacked",
"text": "the riches of Babylon, but Cyrus decided to attack them anyway,",
"text": "believing himself superhuman and incapable of defeat. The Massagetai",
"text": "would fall easily to his vast armies, making his empire immense.In 529 B.C., then, Cyrus marched to the wide river Araxes, gateway to",
"text": "the kingdom of the Massagetai. As he set up camp on the western bank,",
"text": "he received a message from Queen Tomyris: “King of the Medes,” she",
"text": "told him, “I advise you to abandon this enterprise, for you cannot know",
"text": "if in the end it will do you any good. Rule your own people, and try to",
"text": "bear the sight of me ruling mine. But of course you will refuse my",
"text": "advice, as the last thing you wish for is to live in peace.” Tomyris,",
"text": "confident of her army’s strength and not wishing to delay the inevitable",
"text": "battle, offered to withdraw the troops on her side of the river, allowing",
"text": "Cyrus to cross its waters safely and fight her army on the eastern side, if",
"text": "that was his desire.",
"text": "Cyrus agreed, but instead of engaging the enemy directly he decided",
"text": "to play a trick. The Massagetai knew few luxuries. Once Cyrus had",
"text": "crossed the river and made his camp on the eastern side, he set the table",
"text": "for an elaborate banquet, full of meat, delicacies, and strong wine. Then",
"text": "he left his weakest troops in the camp and withdrew the rest of the army",
"text": "to the river. A large Massagetai detachment soon attacked the camp and",
"text": "killed all of the Persian soldiers in a fierce battle. Then, overwhelmed by",
"text": "the fabulous feast that had been left behind, they ate and drank to their",
"text": "hearts’ content. Later, inevitably, they fell asleep. The Persian army",
"text": "returned to the camp that night, killing many of the sleeping soldiers and",
"text": "capturing the rest. Among the prisoners was their general, a youth named",
"text": "Spargapises, son of Queen Tomyris.",
"text": "When the queen learned what had happened, she sent a message to",
"text": "Cyrus, chiding him for using tricks to defeat her army. “Now listen to",
"text": "me,” she wrote, “and I will advise you for your own good: Give me back",
"text": "my son and leave my country with your forces intact, and be content",
"text": "with your triumph over a third part of the Massagetai. If you refuse, I",
"text": "swear by the sun our master to give you more blood than you can drink,",
"text": "for all your gluttony.” Cyrus scoffed at her: He would not release her",
"text": "son. He would crush these barbarians.",
"text": "HELL CO",
"text": "Two cockerels fought on a dungheap. One cockerel was the stronger: he",
"text": "vanquished the other and drove him from the dungheap. All the hens",
"text": "gathered around the cockerel, and began to laud him. The cockerel",
"text": "wanted his strength and glory to be known in the next yard. He flew on",
"text": "top of the barn, flapped his wings, and crowed in a load voice: “Look at",
"text": "me, all of you. I am a victorious cockerel. No other cockerel in the worldhas such strength as I. ” The cockerel had not finished, when an eagle",
"text": "killed him, seized him in his claws, and carried him to his nest.",
"text": "FABLES. LEO TOLSIOY. 1828-1910",
"text": "The queen’s son, seeing he would not be released, could not stand the",
"text": "humiliation, and so he killed himself. The news of her son’s death",
"text": "overwhelmed Tomyris. She gathered all the forces that she could muster",
"text": "in her kingdom, and whipping them into a vengeful frenzy, engaged",
"text": "Cyrus’s troops in a violent and bloody battle. Finally, the Massagetai",
"text": "prevailed. In their anger they decimated the Persian army, killing Cyrus",
"text": "himself.",
"text": "After the battle, Tomyris and her soldiers searched the battlefield for",
"text": "Cyrus’s corpse. When she found it she cut off his head and shoved it into",
"text": "a wineskin full of human blood, crying out, “Though I have conquered",
"text": "you and live, yet you have ruined me by treacherously taking my son.",
"text": "See now—I fulfill my threat: You have your fill of blood.” After Cyrus’s",
"text": "death, the Persian Empire quickly unraveled. One act of arrogance undid",
"text": "all of Cyrus’s good work.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "There is nothing more intoxicating than victory, and nothing more",
"text": "dangerous.",
"text": "Cyrus had built his great empire on the ruins of a previous one. A",
"text": "hundred years earlier, the powerful Assyrian Empire had been totally",
"text": "destroyed, its once splendid capital of Nineveh but ruins in the sand. The",
"text": "Assyrians had suffered this fate because they had pushed too far,",
"text": "destroying one city-state after another until they lost sight of the",
"text": "purposes of their victories, and also of the costs. They overextended",
"text": "themselves and made many enemies who were finally able to band",
"text": "together and destroy them.",
"text": "Cyrus ignored the lesson of Assyria. He paid no heed to the warnings",
"text": "of oracles and advisers. He did not worry about offending a queen. His",
"text": "many victories had gone to his head, clouding his reason. Instead of",
"text": "consolidating his already vast empire, he pushed forward. Instead of",
"text": "recognizing each situation as different, he thought each new war would",
"text": "bring the same result as the one before as long as he used the methods he",
"text": "knew: ruthless force and cunning.Understand: In the realm of power, you must be guided by reason. To",
"text": "let a momentary thrill or an emotional victory influence or guide your",
"text": "moves will prove fatal. When you attain success, step back. Be cautious.",
"text": "When you gain victory, understand the part played by the particular",
"text": "circumstances of a situation, and never simply repeat the same actions",
"text": "again and again. History is littered with the ruins of victorious empires",
"text": "and the corpses of leaders who could not learn to stop and consolidate",
"text": "their gains.",
"text": "THE SEQUENCE OF CROSS-EXAMINATION",
"text": "In all your cross-examinations …, most important of all, let me repeat",
"text": "the injunction to be ever on the alert for a good place to stop. Nothing",
"text": "can be more important than to close your examination with a triumph. So",
"text": "many lawyers succeed in catching a witness in a serious contradiction;",
"text": "but, not satisfied with this, go on asking questions, and taper off their",
"text": "examination until the effect upon the jury of their former advantage is",
"text": "lost altogether.",
"text": "THE ART OF CROSS-EXAMINATION, FRANCIS L. WELLMAN,",
"text": "1913",
"text": "THE OVERREACHING GENERAL",
"text": "We read of many instances of this kind; for the general who by his valor",
"text": "has conquered a state for his master, and won great glory for himself by",
"text": "his victory over the enemy, and has loaded his soldiers with rich booty,",
"text": "acquires necessarily with his own soldiers, as well as with those of the",
"text": "enemy and with the subjects of the prince, so high a reputation, that his",
"text": "very victory may become distasteful, and a cause for apprehension to his",
"text": "prince. For as the nature of men is ambitious as well as suspicious, and",
"text": "puts no limits to one’s good fortune, it is not impossible that the",
"text": "suspicion that may suddenly be aroused in the mind of the prince by the",
"text": "victory of the general may have been aggravated by some haughty",
"text": "expressions or insolent acts on his part; so that the prince will naturally",
"text": "be made to think of securing himself against the ambition of his general.",
"text": "And to do this, the means that suggest themselves to him are either to",
"text": "have the general killed, or to deprive him of that reputation which he has",
"text": "acquired with the prince’s army and the people, by using every means to",
"text": "prove that the general’s victory was not due to his skill and courage, butto chance and the cowardice of the enemy, or to the sagacity of the other",
"text": "captains who were with him in that action.",
"text": "NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI, 1469-1527",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "No single person in history has occupied a more delicate and precarious",
"text": "position than the king’s mistress. She had no real or legitimate power",
"text": "base to fall back on in times of trouble; she was surrounded by packs of",
"text": "envious courtiers eagerly anticipating her fall from grace; and finally,",
"text": "since the source of her power was usually her physical beauty, for most",
"text": "royal mistresses that fall was inevitable and unpleasant.",
"text": "King Louis XV of France began to keep official mistresses in the early",
"text": "days of his reign, each woman’s good fortune rarely lasting more than a",
"text": "few years. But then came Madame de Pompadour, who, when she was a",
"text": "middle-class child of nine named Jeanne Poisson, had been told by a",
"text": "fortune-teller that she would someday be the king’s favorite. This",
"text": "seemed an absurd dream, since the royal mistress almost always came",
"text": "from the aristocracy. Jeanne nevertheless believed herself destined to",
"text": "seduce the king, and doing so became her obsession. She applied herself",
"text": "to the talents the king’s favorite had to have—music, dancing, acting,",
"text": "horseback riding—and she excelled in every one of them. As a young",
"text": "woman, she married a man of the lower nobility, which gave her an",
"text": "entrée to the best salons in Paris. Word quickly spread of her beauty,",
"text": "talent, charm, and intelligence.",
"text": "Jeanne Poisson became close friends with Voltaire, Montesquieu, and",
"text": "other great minds of the time, but she never lost sight of the goal she had",
"text": "set herself as a girl: to capture the heart of the king. Her husband had a",
"text": "chateau in a forest where the king would often go hunting, and she began",
"text": "to spend a lot of time there. Studying his movements like a hawk, she",
"text": "would make sure he would “happen” to come upon her while she was",
"text": "out walking in her most alluring dress, or riding in her splendid coach.",
"text": "The king began to take note of her, making her gifts of the game he",
"text": "caught in the hunt.",
"text": "In 1744 Louis’s current mistress, the Duchesse de Chateauroux, died.",
"text": "Jeanne went on the offensive. She placed herself everywhere he wouldbe: at masked balls at Versailles, at the opera, wherever their paths would",
"text": "cross, and wherever she could display her many talents: dancing,",
"text": "singing, riding, coquetry. The king finally succumbed to her charms, and",
"text": "in a ceremony at Versailles in September of 1745, this twenty-four-year-",
"text": "old daughter of a middle-class banking agent was officially inaugurated",
"text": "as the king’s mistress. She was given her own room in the palace, a room",
"text": "the king could enter at any time via a hidden stairway and back door.",
"text": "And because some of the courtiers were angry that he had chosen a",
"text": "woman of low origins, he made her a marquise. From now on she would",
"text": "be known as Madame de Pompadour.",
"text": "The king was a man whom the slightest feeling of boredom would",
"text": "oppress out of proportion. Madame de Pompadour knew that keeping",
"text": "him under her spell meant keeping him amused. To that end she put on",
"text": "constant theatrical productions at Versailles, in which she starred. She",
"text": "organized elaborate hunting parties, masked balls, and whatever else it",
"text": "would take to keep him diverted outside the bedroom. She became a",
"text": "patroness of the arts, and the arbiter of taste and fashion for all of France.",
"text": "Her enemies at the court only grew in number with each new success,",
"text": "but Madame de Pompadour thwarted them in a totally novel way for a",
"text": "king’s mistress: with extreme politeness. Snobs who resented her for her",
"text": "low birth she won over with charm and grace. Most unusual of all, she",
"text": "befriended the queen, and insisted that Louis XV pay more attention to",
"text": "his wife, and treat her more kindly. Even the royal family begrudgingly",
"text": "gave her their support. To crown her glory, the king made her a duchess.",
"text": "Her sway was felt even in politics: Indeed she became the untitled",
"text": "minister of foreign affairs.",
"text": "In 1751, when Madame de Pompadour was at the height of her power,",
"text": "she experienced her worst crisis. Physically weakened by the",
"text": "responsibilities of her position, she found it increasingly difficult to meet",
"text": "the king’s demands in bed. This was usually the point at which the",
"text": "mistress would meet her end, struggling to maintain her position as her",
"text": "beauty faded. But Madame de Pompadour had a strategy: She",
"text": "encouraged the king to set up a kind of brothel, Pare aux Cerfs, on the",
"text": "grounds of Versailles. There the middle-aged king could have liaisons",
"text": "with the most beautiful young girls in the realm.",
"text": "Madame de Pompadour knew that her charm and her political acumen",
"text": "had made her indispensable to the king. What did she have to fear from a",
"text": "sixteen-year-old who had none of her power and presence? What did it",
"text": "matter if she lost her position in the bedroom, as long as she remainedthe most powerful woman in France? To secure that position she became",
"text": "still closer friends with the queen, with whom she started attending",
"text": "church. Although her enemies at the court conspired to have her toppled",
"text": "from her official position as king’s mistress, the king kept her on, for he",
"text": "needed her calming effect. It was only when her part in the disastrous",
"text": "Seven Years’ War drew much criticism on her that she slowly withdrew",
"text": "from public affairs.",
"text": "Madame de Pompadour’s health had always been delicate, and she",
"text": "died at the age of forty-three, in 1764. Her reign as mistress had lasted an",
"text": "unprecedented twenty years. “She was regretted by all,” wrote the Duc",
"text": "de Croy, “for she was kindly and helpful to everyone who approached",
"text": "her.”",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "Aware of the temporariness of her power, the king’s mistress would often",
"text": "go into a kind of frenzy after capturing the king: She would try to",
"text": "accumulate as much money as possible to protect her after her inevitable",
"text": "fall. And to extend her reign as long as possible, she would be ruthless",
"text": "with her enemies in the court. Her situation, in other words, seemed to",
"text": "demand from her a greed and vindictiveness that would often be her",
"text": "undoing. Madame de Pompadour succeeded where all others had failed",
"text": "because she never pressed her good fortune. Instead of bullying the",
"text": "courtiers from her powerful position as the king’s mistress, she tried to",
"text": "win their support. She never revealed the slightest hint of greed or",
"text": "arrogance. When she could no longer perform her physical duties as",
"text": "mistress, she did not fret at the thought of someone replacing her in bed.",
"text": "She simply applied some strategy—she encouraged the king to take",
"text": "young lovers, knowing that the younger and prettier they were, the less",
"text": "of a threat they posed, since they could not compare to her in charm and",
"text": "sophistication and would soon bore the monarch.",
"text": "A man who was famous as a tree climber was guiding someone in",
"text": "climbing a tall tree. He ordered the man to cut the top branches, and,",
"text": "during this time, when the man seemed to be in great danger, the expert",
"text": "said nothing. Only when the man was coming down and had reached the",
"text": "height of the eaves did the expert call out, “Be careful! Watch your step",
"text": "coming down!” I asked him, “Why did you say that? At that height hecould jump the rest of the way if he chose.” “That’s the point, ”said the",
"text": "expert. “As long as the man was up at a dizzy height and the branches",
"text": "were threaening to break, he himself was so afraid I said nothing.",
"text": "Mistakes are always made when people get to the easy places.” This",
"text": "man belonged to the lowest class, but his words were in perfect accord",
"text": "with the precepts of the sages. In football too, they say that after you",
"text": "have kicked out of a difficult place and you think the next one will be",
"text": "easier you are sure to miss the ball.",
"text": "ESSAYS IN IDLENESS, KENKO, JAPAN, FOURTEENTH CENTURY",
"text": "Success plays strange tricks on the mind. It makes you feel",
"text": "invulnerable, while also making you more hostile and emotional when",
"text": "people challenge your power. It makes you less able to adapt to",
"text": "circumstance. You come to believe your character is more responsible",
"text": "for your success than your strategizing and planning. Like Madame de",
"text": "Pompadour, you need to realize that your moment of triumph is also a",
"text": "moment when you have to rely on cunning and strategy all the more,",
"text": "consolidating your power base, recognizing the role of luck and",
"text": "circumstance in your success, and remaining vigilant against changes in",
"text": "your good fortune. It is the moment of victory when you need to play the",
"text": "courtier’s game and pay more attention than ever to the laws of power.",
"text": "The greatest danger occurs at the moment of victory.",
"text": "Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "Power has its own rhythms and patterns. Those who succeed at the game",
"text": "are the ones who control the patterns and vary them at will, keeping",
"text": "people off balance while they set the tempo. The essence of strategy is",
"text": "controlling what comes next, and the elation of victory can upset your",
"text": "ability to control what comes next in two ways. First, you owe your",
"text": "success to a pattern that you are apt to try to repeat. You will try to keep",
"text": "moving in the same direction without stopping to see whether this is still",
"text": "the direction that is best for you. Second, success tends to go to your",
"text": "head and make you emotional. Feeling invulnerable, you make",
"text": "aggressive moves that ultimately undo the victory you have gained.The lesson is simple: The powerful vary their rhythms and patterns,",
"text": "change course, adapt to circumstance, and learn to improvise. Rather",
"text": "than letting their dancing feet impel them forward, they step back and",
"text": "look where they are going. It is as if their bloodstream bore a kind of",
"text": "antidote to the intoxication of victory, letting them control their emotions",
"text": "and come to a kind of mental halt when they have attained success. They",
"text": "steady themselves, give themselves the space to reflect on what has",
"text": "happened, examine the role of circumstance and luck in their success. As",
"text": "they say in riding school, you have to be able to control yourself before",
"text": "you can control the horse.",
"text": "Luck and circumstance always play a role in power. This is inevitable,",
"text": "and actually makes the game more interesting. But despite what you may",
"text": "think, good luck is more dangerous than bad luck. Bad luck teaches",
"text": "valuable lessons about patience, timing, and the need to be prepared for",
"text": "the worst; good luck deludes you into the opposite lesson, making you",
"text": "think your brillliance will carry you through. Your fortune will inevitably",
"text": "turn, and when it does you will be completely unprepared.",
"text": "According to Machiavelli, this is what undid Cesare Borgia. He had",
"text": "many triumphs, was actually a clever strategist, but had the bad luck to",
"text": "have good luck: He had a pope for a father. Then, when he had bad luck",
"text": "for real—his father’s death—he was unprepared for it, and the many",
"text": "enemies he had made devoured him. The good luck that elevates you or",
"text": "seals your success brings the moment for you to open your eyes: The",
"text": "wheel of fortune will hurtle you down as easily as up. If you prepare for",
"text": "the fall, it is less likely to ruin you when it happens.",
"text": "People who have a run of success can catch a kind of fever, and even",
"text": "when they themselves try to stay calm, the people below them often",
"text": "pressure them to go past their mark and into dangerous waters. You have",
"text": "to have a strategy for dealing with these people. Simply preaching",
"text": "moderation will make you look weak and small-minded; seeming to fail",
"text": "to follow up on a victory can lessen your power.",
"text": "When the Athenian general and statesman Pericles led a series of",
"text": "naval campaigns around the Black Sea in 436 B.C., his easy triumphs en-",
"text": "flamed the Athenians’ desire for more. They dreamed of conquering",
"text": "Egypt, overrunning Persia, sailing for Sicily. On the one hand Pericles",
"text": "reined in these dangerous emotions by warning of the perils of hubris.",
"text": "On the other hand he fed them by fighting small battles that he knew he",
"text": "could win, creating the appearance that he was preserving the",
"text": "momentum of success. The skill with which Pericles played this game is",
"text": "revealed by what happened when he died: The demagogues took over,pushed Athens into invading Sicily, and in one rash move destroyed an",
"text": "empire.",
"text": "The rhythm of power often requires an alternation of force and",
"text": "cunning. Too much force creates a counterreaction; too much cunning,",
"text": "no matter how cunning it is, becomes predictable. Working on behalf of",
"text": "his master, the shogun Oda Nobunaga, the great sixteenth-century",
"text": "Japanese general (and future emperor) Hideyoshi once engineered a",
"text": "stunning victory over the army of the formidable General Yoshimoto.",
"text": "The shogun wanted to go further, to take on and crush yet another",
"text": "powerful enemy, but Hideyoshi reminded him of the old Japanese",
"text": "saying: “When you have won a victory, tighten the strings of your",
"text": "helmet.” For Hideyoshi this was the moment for the shogun to switch",
"text": "from force to cunning and indirection, setting his enemies against one",
"text": "another through a series of deceptive alliances. In this way he would",
"text": "avoid stirring up needless opposition by appearing overly aggressive.",
"text": "When you are victorious, then, lie low, and lull the enemy into inaction.",
"text": "These changes of rhythm are immensely powerful.",
"text": "People who go past the mark are often motivated by a desire to please",
"text": "a master by proving their dedication. But an excess of effort exposes you",
"text": "to the risk of making the master suspicious of you. On several occasions,",
"text": "generals under Philip of Macedon were disgraced and demoted",
"text": "immediately after leading their troops to a great victory; one more such",
"text": "victory, Philip thought, and the man might become a rival instead of an",
"text": "underling. When you serve a master, it is often wise to measure your",
"text": "victories carefully, let ting him get the glory and never making him",
"text": "uneasy. It is also wise to establish a pattern of strict obedience to earn his",
"text": "trust. In the fourth century B.C., a captain under the notoriously severe",
"text": "Chinese general Wu Ch‘i charged ahead before a battle had begun and",
"text": "came back with several enemy heads. He thought he had shown his fiery",
"text": "enthusiasm, but Wu Ch’i was unimpressed. “A talented officer,” the",
"text": "general said with a sigh as he ordered the man beheaded, “but a",
"text": "disobedient one.”",
"text": "Another moment when a small success can spoil the chances for a",
"text": "larger one may come if a master or superior grants you a favor: It is a",
"text": "dangerous mistake to ask for more. You will seem insecure—perhaps",
"text": "you feel you did not deserve this favor, and have to grab as much as you",
"text": "can when you have the chance, which may not come again. The proper",
"text": "response is to accept the favor graciously and withdraw. Any subsequent",
"text": "favors you should earn without having to ask for them.Finally, the moment when you stop has great dramatic import. What",
"text": "comes last sticks in the mind as a kind of exclamation point. There is no",
"text": "better time to stop and walk away than after a victory. Keep going and",
"text": "you risk lessening the effect, even ending up defeated. As lawyers say of",
"text": "cross-examination, “Always stop with a victory.”",
"text": "Image: Icarus Falling",
"text": "from the Sky. His father",
"text": "Daedalus fashions wings",
"text": "of wax that allow the",
"text": "two men to fly out of",
"text": "the labyrinth and",
"text": "escape the Minotaur.",
"text": "Elated by the tri",
"text": "umphant escape",
"text": "and the feeling of",
"text": "flight, Icarus soars",
"text": "higher and high",
"text": "er, until the sun",
"text": "melts the wings",
"text": "and he hurtles",
"text": "to his death.",
"text": "Authority: Princes and republics should content themselves with victory,",
"text": "for when they aim at more, they generally lose. The use of insulting",
"text": "language toward an enemy arises from the insolence of victory, or from",
"text": "the false hope of victory, which latter misleads men as often in their",
"text": "actions as in their words; for when this false hope takes possession of the",
"text": "mind, it makes men go beyond the mark, and causes them to sacrifice a",
"text": "certain good for an uncertain better. (Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "As Machiavelli says, either destroy a man or leave him alone entirely.",
"text": "Inflicting half punishment or mild injury will only create an enemy",
"text": "whose bitterness will grow with time, and who will take revenge. When",
"text": "you beat an enemy, then, make your victory complete. Crush him into",
"text": "nonexis tence. In the moment of victory, you do not restrain yourselffrom crushing the enemy you have defeated, but rather from needlessly",
"text": "advancing against others. Be merciless with your enemy, but do not",
"text": "create new enemies by overreaching.",
"text": "There are some who become more cautious than ever after a victory,",
"text": "which they see as just giving them more possessions to worry about and",
"text": "protect. Your caution after victory should never make you hesitate, or",
"text": "lose momentum, but rather act as a safeguard against rash action. On the",
"text": "other hand, momentum as a phenomenon is greatly overrated. You create",
"text": "your own successes, and if they follow one upon the other, it is your own",
"text": "doing. Belief in momentum will only make you emotional, less prone to",
"text": "act strategically, and more apt to repeat the same methods. Leave",
"text": "momentum for those who have nothing better to rely upon.LAW 48",
"text": "ASSUME FORMLESSNESS",
"text": "JUDGMENT",
"text": "By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack.",
"text": "Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself",
"text": "adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no",
"text": "law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and",
"text": "formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything",
"text": "changes.",
"text": "In martial arts, it is important that strategy be unfathomable, that form",
"text": "be concealed, and that movements be unexpected, so that preparedness",
"text": "against them be impossible. What enables a good general to win without",
"text": "fail is always having unfathomable wisdom and a modus operandi that",
"text": "leaves no tracks. Only the formless cannot be affected. Sages hide in",
"text": "unfathomability, so their feelings cannot be observed; they operate in",
"text": "formlessness, so their lines cannot be crossed.",
"text": "THE BOOK OF THE HUAINAN MASTERS, CHINA, SECOND",
"text": "CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW",
"text": "By the eighth century B.C., the city-states of Greece had grown so large",
"text": "and prosperous that they had run out of land to support their expanding",
"text": "populations. So they turned to the sea, establishing colonies in Asia",
"text": "Minor, Sicily, the Italian peninsula, even Africa. The city-state of Sparta,",
"text": "however, was landlocked and surrounded by mountains. Lacking access",
"text": "to the Mediterranean, the Spartans never became a seafaring people;",
"text": "instead they turned on the cities around them, and, in a series of brutal,violent conflicts lasting more than a hundred years, managed to conquer",
"text": "an immense area that would provide enough land for their citizens. This",
"text": "solution to their problem, however, brought a new, more formidable one:",
"text": "How could they maintain and police their conquered territories? The",
"text": "subordinate peoples they ruled now outnumbered them ten to one. Surely",
"text": "this horde would take a horrible revenge on them.",
"text": "Sparta’s solution was to create a society dedicated to the art of war.",
"text": "Spartans would be tougher, stronger, and fiercer than their neighbors.",
"text": "This was the only way they could ensure their stability and survival.",
"text": "When a Spartan boy reached the age of seven, he was taken from his",
"text": "mother and placed in a military club where he was trained to fight and",
"text": "underwent the strictest discipline. The boys slept on beds of reeds; they",
"text": "were allotted only one outer garment to wear for an entire year. They",
"text": "studied none of the arts; indeed, the Spartans banned music, and",
"text": "permitted only slaves to practice the crafts that were necessary to sustain",
"text": "them. The only skills the Spartans taught were those of warfare. Children",
"text": "seen as weaklings were left to die in a cavern in the mountains. No",
"text": "system of money or trading was allowed in Sparta; acquired wealth, they",
"text": "believed, would sow selfishness and dissension, weakening their warrior",
"text": "discipline. The only way a Spartan could earn a living was through",
"text": "agriculture, mostly on state-owned lands, which slaves, called helots,",
"text": "would work for him.",
"text": "The Spartans’ single-mindedness allowed them to forge the most",
"text": "powerful infantry in the world. They marched in perfect order and fought",
"text": "with incomparable bravery. Their tight-knit phalanxes could vanquish an",
"text": "army ten times their size, as they proved in defeating the Persians at",
"text": "Thermopylae. A Spartan column on the march would strike terror in the",
"text": "enemy; it seemed to have no weaknesses. Yet although the Spartans",
"text": "proved themselves mighty warriors, they had no interest in creating an",
"text": "empire. They only wanted to keep what they had already conquered and",
"text": "to defend it against invaders. Decades would pass without a single",
"text": "change in the system that had succeeded so well in preserving Sparta’s",
"text": "status quo.",
"text": "THE DOC WITH THE CROPPED EARS",
"text": "“What crime have I committed that I should be thus mutilated by my own",
"text": "master?” pensively exclaimed Jowler, a young mastiff. “Here’s a pretty",
"text": "condition for a dog of my pretentions! How can I show my face among",
"text": "my friends? Oh! king of beasts, or rather their tyrant, who would dare totreat you thus?” His complaints were not unfounded, for that very",
"text": "morning his master, despite the piercing shrieks of our young friend, had",
"text": "barbarously cut off his long pendent ears. Jowler expected nothing less",
"text": "than to give up the ghost. As he advanced in years, he perceived that he",
"text": "gained more than he had lost by his mutilation; for, being naturally",
"text": "inclined to fight with others, he would often have returned home with this",
"text": "part disfigured in a hundred places. A quarrelsome dog always has his",
"text": "ears lacerated. The less we leave others to lay hold of the better. When",
"text": "one has but one point to defend, it should be protected for fear of",
"text": "accident. Take for example Master Jowler, who, being armed with a",
"text": "spiked collar, and having about as much ear as a bird, a wolf would be",
"text": "puzzled to know where to tackle him.",
"text": "FABLES. JEAN DE LA FOMTAINE, 1621-1695",
"text": "At the same time that the Spartans were evolving their warlike culture,",
"text": "another city-state was rising to equal prominence: Athens. Unlike Sparta,",
"text": "Athens had taken to the sea, not so much to create colonies as for",
"text": "purposes of trade. The Athenians became great merchants; their",
"text": "currency, the famous “owl coins,” spread throughout the Mediterranean.",
"text": "Unlike the rigid Spartans, the Athenians responded to every problem",
"text": "with consummate creativity, adapting to the occasion and creating new",
"text": "social forms and new arts at an incredible pace. Their society was in",
"text": "constant flux. And as their power grew, they came to pose a threat to the",
"text": "defense-minded Spartans.",
"text": "In 431 B.C., the war that had been brewing between Athens and",
"text": "Sparta for so long finally erupted. It lasted twenty-seven years, but after",
"text": "many twists of fortune, the Spartan war machine finally emerged",
"text": "victorious. The Spartans now commanded an empire, and this time they",
"text": "could not stay in their shell. If they gave up what they had gained, the",
"text": "beaten Athenians would regroup and rise against them, and the long war",
"text": "would have been fought for naught.",
"text": "After the war, Athenian money poured into Sparta. The Spartans had",
"text": "been trained in warfare, not politics or economics; because they were so",
"text": "unaccustomed to it, wealth and its accompanying ways of life seduced",
"text": "and overwhelmed them. Spartan governors were sent to rule what had",
"text": "been Athenian lands; far from home, they succumbed to the worst forms",
"text": "of corruption. Sparta had defeated Athens, but the fluid Athenian way of",
"text": "life was slowly breaking down its discipline and loosening its rigid order.",
"text": "And Athens, meanwhile, was adapting to losing its empire, managing to",
"text": "thrive as a cultural and economic center.Confused by a change in its status quo, Sparta grew weaker and",
"text": "weaker. Some thirty years after defeating Athens, it lost an important",
"text": "battle with the city-state of Thebes. Almost overnight, this once mighty",
"text": "nation collapsed, never to recover.",
"text": "Interpretation",
"text": "In the evolution of species, protective armor has almost always spelled",
"text": "disaster. Although there are a few exceptions, the shell most often",
"text": "becomes a dead end for the animal encased in it; it slows the creature",
"text": "down, making it hard for it to forage for food and making it a target for",
"text": "fast-moving predators. Animals that take to the sea or sky, and that move",
"text": "swiftly and unpredictably, are infinitely more powerful and secure.",
"text": "In facing a serious problem—controlling superior numbers—Sparta",
"text": "reacted like an animal that develops a shell to protect itself from the",
"text": "environment. But like a turtle, the Spartans sacrificed mobility for safety.",
"text": "They managed to preserve stability for three hundred years, but at what",
"text": "cost? They had no culture beyond warfare, no arts to relieve the tension,",
"text": "a constant anxiety about the status quo. While their neighbors took to the",
"text": "sea, learning to adapt to a world of constant motion, the Spartans",
"text": "entombed themselves in their own system. Victory would mean new",
"text": "lands to govern, which they did not want; defeat would mean the end of",
"text": "their military machine, which they did not want, either. Only stasis",
"text": "allowed them to survive. But nothing in the world can remain stable",
"text": "forever, and the shell or system you evolve for your protection will",
"text": "someday prove your undoing.",
"text": "In the case of Sparta, it was not the armies of Athens that defeated it,",
"text": "but the Athenian money. Money flows everywhere it has the opportunity",
"text": "to go; it cannot be controlled, or made to fit a prescribed pattern. It is",
"text": "inherently chaotic. And in the long run, money made Athens the",
"text": "conqueror, by infiltrating the Spartan system and corroding its protective",
"text": "armor. In the battle between the two systems, Athens was fluid and",
"text": "creative enough to take new forms, while Sparta could grow only more",
"text": "rigid until it cracked.",
"text": "This is the way the world works, whether for animals, cultures, or",
"text": "individuals. In the face of the world’s harshness and danger, organisms",
"text": "of any kind develop protection—a coat of armor, a rigid system, a",
"text": "comforting ritual. For the short term it may work, but for the long term it",
"text": "spells disaster. People weighed down by a system and inflexible ways ofdoing things cannot move fast, cannot sense or adapt to change. They",
"text": "lumber around more and more slowly until they go the way of the",
"text": "brontosaurus. Learn to move fast and adapt or you will be eaten.",
"text": "The best way to avoid this fate is to assume formlessness. No predator",
"text": "alive can attack what it cannot see.",
"text": "OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW",
"text": "When World War II ended and the Japanese, who had invaded China in",
"text": "1937, had finally been thrown out, the Chinese Nationalists, lead by",
"text": "Chiang Kai-shek, decided the time had come to annihilate the Chinese",
"text": "Communists, their hated rivals, once and for all. They had almost",
"text": "succeeded in 1935, forcing the Communists into the Long March, the",
"text": "grueling retreat that had greatly diminished their numbers. Although the",
"text": "Communists had recovered somewhat during the war against Japan, it",
"text": "would not be difficult to defeat them now. They controlled only isolated",
"text": "areas in the countryside, had unsophisticated weaponry, lacked any",
"text": "military experience or training beyond mountain fighting, and controlled",
"text": "no important parts of China, except areas of Manchuria, which they had",
"text": "managed to take after the Japanese retreat. Chiang decided to commit his",
"text": "best forces in Manchuria. He would take over its major cities and from",
"text": "those bases would spread through this northern industrial region,",
"text": "sweeping the Communists away. Once Manchuria had fallen the",
"text": "Communists would collapse.",
"text": "In 1945 and ’46 the plan worked perfectly: The Nationalists easily",
"text": "took the major Manchurian cities. Puzzlingly, though, in the face of this",
"text": "critical campaign, the Communist strategy made no sense. When the",
"text": "Nationalists began their push, the Communists dispersed to Manchuria’s",
"text": "most out-of-the-way comers. Their small units harassed the Nationalist",
"text": "armies, ambushing them here, retreating unexpectedly there, but these",
"text": "dispersed units never linked up, making them hard to attack. They would",
"text": "seize a town only to give it up a few weeks later. Forming neither rear",
"text": "guards nor vanguards, they moved like mercury, never staying in one",
"text": "place, elusive and formless.",
"text": "One seductive and ultimately always fatal path has been the development",
"text": "of protective armor. An organism can protect itself by concealment, by",
"text": "swiftness in flight, by effective counterattack, by uniting for attack anddefense with other individuals of its species and also by encasing itself",
"text": "within bony plates and spines…. Almost always the experiment of armor",
"text": "failed. Creatures adopiing it tended to become unwieldy. They had to",
"text": "move relatively slowly. Hence they were forced to live mainly on",
"text": "vegetable food; and thus in general they were at a disadvantage as",
"text": "compared with foes living on more rapidly “profitable” animal food:",
"text": "The repeated failure of protective armor shows that, even at a somewhat",
"text": "low evolutionary level, mind triumphed over mere matter. It is this sort of",
"text": "triumph which has been supremely exemplified in Man.",
"text": "SCIENI IFIC THEORY AND RELIGION, E. W. BARNES, 1933",
"text": "The Nationalists ascribed this to two things: cowardice in the face of",
"text": "superior forces and inexperience in strategy. Mao Tse-tung, the",
"text": "Communist leader, was more a poet and philosopher than a general,",
"text": "whereas Chiang had studied warfare in the West and was a follower of",
"text": "the German military writer Carl von Clausewitz, among others.",
"text": "Yet a pattern did eventually emerge in Mao’s attacks. After the",
"text": "Nationalists had taken the cities, leaving the Communists to occupy what",
"text": "was generally considered Manchuria’s useless space, the Communists",
"text": "started using that large space to surround the cities. If Chiang sent an",
"text": "army from one city to reinforce another, the Communists would encircle",
"text": "the rescuing army. Chiang’s forces were slowly broken into smaller and",
"text": "smaller units, isolated from one another, their lines of supply and",
"text": "communication cut. The Nationalists still had superior firepower, but if",
"text": "they could not move, what good was it?",
"text": "A kind of terror overcame the Nationalist soldiers. Commanders",
"text": "comfortably remote from the front lines might laugh at Mao, but the",
"text": "soldiers had fought the Communists in the mountains, and had come to",
"text": "fear their elusiveness. Now these soldiers sat in their cities and watched",
"text": "as their fast-moving enemies, as fluid as water, poured in on them from",
"text": "all sides. There seemed to be millions of them. The Communists also",
"text": "encircled the soldiers’ spirits, bombarding them with propaganda to",
"text": "lower their morale and pressure them to desert.",
"text": "The Nationalists began to surrender in their minds. Their encircled and",
"text": "isolated cities started collapsing even before being directly attacked; one",
"text": "after another fell in quick succession. In November of 1948, the",
"text": "Nationalists surrendered Manchuria to the Communists—a humiliating",
"text": "blow to the technically superior Nationalist army, and one that proved",
"text": "decisive in the war. By the following year the Communists controlled all",
"text": "of China.Interpretation",
"text": "The two board games that best approximate the strategies of war are",
"text": "chess and the Asian game of go. In chess the board is small. In",
"text": "comparison to go, the attack comes relatively quickly, forcing a decisive",
"text": "battle. It rarely pays to withdraw, or to sacrifice your pieces, which must",
"text": "be concentrated at key areas. Go is much less formal. It is played on a",
"text": "large grid, with 361 intersections—nearly six times as many positions as",
"text": "in chess. Black and white stones (one color for each side) are placed on",
"text": "the board’s intersections, one at a time, wherever you like. Once all your",
"text": "stones (52 for each side) are on the board, the object is to isolate the",
"text": "stones of your opponent by encircling them.",
"text": "The sage neither seeks to follow the ways of the ancients nor estahlishes",
"text": "any fixed standard for all times but examines the things of his age and",
"text": "then prepares to deal with them. There was in Sung a man, who tilled a",
"text": "field in which there stood the trunk of a tree. Once a hare, while running",
"text": "fast, rushed against the trunk, broke its neck, and died. Thereupon the",
"text": "man cast his plough aside and watched that tree, hoping that he would",
"text": "get another hare. Yet he never caught another hare and was himself",
"text": "ridiculed by the people of Sung. Now supposing somebody wanted to",
"text": "govern the people of the present age with the policies of the early kings,",
"text": "he would be doing exactly the same thing as that man who watched the",
"text": "tree.",
"text": "HAN-FEI-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHFR, THIRD CENTURY B.C.",
"text": "A game of go—called wei-chi in China—can last up to three hundred",
"text": "moves. The strategy is more subtle and fluid than chess, developing",
"text": "slowly; the more complex the pattern your stones initially create on the",
"text": "board, the harder it is for your opponent to understand your strategy.",
"text": "Fighting to control a particular area is not worth the trouble: You have to",
"text": "think in larger terms, to be prepared to sacrifice an area in order",
"text": "eventually to dominate the board. What you are after is not an",
"text": "entrenched position but mobility. With mobility you can isolate the",
"text": "opponent in small areas and then encircle them. The aim is not to kill off",
"text": "the opponent’s pieces directly, as in chess, but to induce a kind of",
"text": "paralysis and collapse. Chess is linear, position oriented, and aggressive;",
"text": "go is nonlinear and fluid. Aggression is indirect until the end of the",
"text": "game, when the winner can surround the opponent’s stones at an",
"text": "accelerated pace.Chinese military strategists have been influenced by go for centuries.",
"text": "Its proverbs have been applied to war time and again; Mao Tse-tung was",
"text": "an addict of wei-chi, and its precepts were ingrained in his strategies. A",
"text": "key wei-chi concept, for example, is to use the size of the board to your",
"text": "advantage, spreading out in every direction so that your opponent cannot",
"text": "fathom your movements in a simple linear way.",
"text": "“Every Chinese,” Mao once wrote, “should consciously throw himself",
"text": "into this war of a jigsaw pattern” against the Nationalists. Place your",
"text": "men in a jigsaw pattern in go, and your opponent loses himself trying to",
"text": "figure out what you are up to. Either he wastes time pursuing you or, like",
"text": "Chiang Kai-shek, he assumes you are incompetent and fails to protect",
"text": "himself. And if he concentrates on single areas, as Western strategy",
"text": "advises, he becomes a sitting duck for encirclement. In the wei-chi way",
"text": "of war, you encircle the enemy’s brain, using mind games, propaganda,",
"text": "and irritation tactics to confuse and dishearten. This was the strategy of",
"text": "the Communists—an apparent formlessness that disoriented and terrified",
"text": "their enemy.",
"text": "Where chess is linear and direct, the ancient game of go is closer to",
"text": "the kind of strategy that will prove relevant in a world where battles are",
"text": "fought indirectly, in vast, loosely connected areas. Its strategies are",
"text": "abstract and multidimensional, inhabiting a plane beyond time and space:",
"text": "the strategist’s mind. In this fluid form of warfare, you value movement",
"text": "over position. Your speed and mobility make it impossible to predict",
"text": "your moves; unable to understand you, your enemy can form no strategy",
"text": "to defeat you. Instead of fixing on particular spots, this indirect form of",
"text": "warfare spreads out, just as you can use the large and disconnected",
"text": "nature of the real world to your advantage. Be like a vapor. Do not give",
"text": "your opponents anything solid to attack; watch as they exhaust",
"text": "themselves pursuing you, trying to cope with your elusiveness. Only",
"text": "formlessness allows you to truly surprise your enemies—by the time",
"text": "they figure out where you are and what you are up to, it is too late.",
"text": "When you want to fight us, we don’t let you and you can’t find us. But",
"text": "when",
"text": "we want to fight you, we make sure that you can’t get away and we hit",
"text": "you",
"text": "squarely … and wipe you out…. The enemy advances, we retreat; the",
"text": "enemy",
"text": "camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we",
"text": "pursue.",
"text": "Mao Tse-tung, 1893-1976General Rommel surpassed Patton as a creative intellect…. Rommel",
"text": "shunned military formalism. He made no fixed plans beyond those",
"text": "intended for the initial clash; thereafter, he tailored his tactics to meet",
"text": "specific situations as they arose. He was a lightning-fast decision-maker,",
"text": "physically maintaining a pace that matched his active mentality. In a",
"text": "forbidding sea of sand, he operated in a free environment. Once Rommel",
"text": "ruptured the British lines in Africa, he had the whole northern part of the",
"text": "continent opened to him. Comparatively free from the hamstringing",
"text": "authority of Berlin, disregarding orders even from Hitler himself on",
"text": "occasion, Rommel implemented one successful operation after another",
"text": "until he had most of North Africa under his control and Cairo trembling",
"text": "at his feet.",
"text": "THE ART OF WINNING WARS, JAMES MRAZEK, 1968",
"text": "KEYS TO POWER",
"text": "The human animal is distinguished by its constant creation of forms.",
"text": "Rarely expressing its emotions directly, it gives them form through",
"text": "language, or through socially acceptable rituals. We cannot communicate",
"text": "our emotions without a form.",
"text": "The forms that we create, however, change constantly—in fashion, in",
"text": "style, in all those human phenomena representing the mood of the",
"text": "moment. We are constantly altering the forms we have inherited from",
"text": "previous generations, and these changes are signs of life and vitality.",
"text": "Indeed, the things that don’t change, the forms that rigidify, come to look",
"text": "to us like death, and we destroy them. The young show this most clearly:",
"text": "Uncomfortable with the forms that society imposes upon them, having",
"text": "no set identity, they play with their own characters, trying on a variety of",
"text": "masks and poses to express themselves. This is the vitality that drives the",
"text": "motor of form, creating constant changes in style.",
"text": "The powerful are often people who in their youth have shown",
"text": "immense creativity in expressing something new through a new form.",
"text": "Society grants them power because it hungers for and rewards this sort of",
"text": "newness. The problem comes later, when they often grow conservative",
"text": "and possessive. They no longer dream of creating new forms; their",
"text": "identities are set, their habits congeal, and their rigidity makes them easy",
"text": "targets. Everyone knows their next move. Instead of demanding respectthey elicit boredom: Get off the stage! we say, let someone else, someone",
"text": "younger, entertain us. When locked in the past, the powerful look",
"text": "comical—they are overripe fruit, waiting to fall from the tree.",
"text": "Power can only thrive if it is flexible in its forms. To be formless is not",
"text": "to be amorphous; everything has a form—it is impossible to avoid. The",
"text": "formlessness of power is more like that of water, or mercury, taking the",
"text": "form of whatever is around it. Changing constantly, it is never",
"text": "predictable. The powerful are constantly creating form, and their power",
"text": "comes from the rapidity with which they can change. Their formlessness",
"text": "is in the eye of the enemy who cannot see what they are up to and so has",
"text": "nothing solid to attack. This is the premier pose of power: ungraspable,",
"text": "as elusive and swift as the god Mercury, who could take any form he",
"text": "pleased and used this ability to wreak havoc on Mount Olympus.",
"text": "Human creations evolve toward abstraction, toward being more",
"text": "mental and less material. This evolution is clear in art, which, in this",
"text": "century, made the great discovery of abstraction and conceptualism; it",
"text": "can also be seen in politics, which over time have become less overtly",
"text": "violent, more complicated, indirect and cerebral. Warfare and strategy",
"text": "too have followed this pattern. Strategy began in the manipulation of",
"text": "armies on land, positioning them in ordered formations; on land, strategy",
"text": "is relatively two dimensional, and controlled by topography. But all the",
"text": "great powers have eventually taken to the sea, for commerce and",
"text": "colonization. And to protect their trading lanes they have had to learn",
"text": "how to fight at sea. Maritime warfare requires tremendous creativity and",
"text": "abstract thinking, since the lines are constantly shifting. Naval captains",
"text": "distinguish themselves by their ability to adapt to the literal fluidity of",
"text": "the terrain and to confuse the enemy with an abstract, hard-to-anticipate",
"text": "form. They are operating in a third dimension: the mind.",
"text": "CHARACTER ARMOR",
"text": "To carry out the instinctual inhibition demanded by the modern world",
"text": "and to be able to cope with the energy stasis which results from this",
"text": "inhibition, the ego has to undergo a change. The ego, i.e., that part of the",
"text": "person that is exposed to danger, becomes rigid, as we say, when it is",
"text": "continually subjected to the same or similar conflicts between need and a",
"text": "fear-inducing outer world. It acquires in this process a chronic,",
"text": "automatically functioning mode of reaction, i.e., its “character.” It is as",
"text": "if the affective personality armored itself, as if the hard shell it develops",
"text": "were intended to deflect and weaken the blows of the outer world as wellas the clamoring of the inner needs. This armoring makes the person less",
"text": "sensitive to unpleasure, but also restricts his libidinal and aggressive",
"text": "motility and thus reduces his capacity for achievement and pleasure. We",
"text": "say the ego has become less flexible and more rigid, and that the abiliry",
"text": "to regulate the energy economy depends on the extent of the armoring.",
"text": "WILHELM REICH, 1897-1957",
"text": "Back on land, guerrilla warfare too demonstrates this evolution toward",
"text": "abstraction. T. E. Lawrence was perhaps the first modern strategist to",
"text": "develop the theory behind this kind of warfare, and to put it into practice.",
"text": "His ideas influenced Mao, who found in his writings an uncanny Western",
"text": "equivalent to wei-chi. Lawrence was working with Arabs fighting for",
"text": "their territory against the Turks. His idea was to make the Arabs blend",
"text": "into the vast desert, never providing a target, never collecting together in",
"text": "one place. As the Turks scrambled to fight this vaporous army, they",
"text": "spread themselves thin, wasting energy in moving from place to place.",
"text": "They had the superior firepower but the Arabs kept the initiative by",
"text": "playing cat and mouse, giving the Turks nothing to hold on to,",
"text": "destroying their morale. “Most wars were wars of contact…. Ours should",
"text": "be a war of detachment,” Lawrence wrote. “We were to contain the",
"text": "enemy by the silent threat of a vast unknown desert, not disclosing",
"text": "ourselves till we attacked.”",
"text": "This is the ultimate form of strategy. The war of engagement has",
"text": "become far too dangerous and costly; indirection and elusiveness yield",
"text": "far better results at a much lower cost. The main cost, in fact, is mental—",
"text": "the thinking it takes to align your forces in scattered patterns, and to",
"text": "undermine the minds and psychology of your opponents. And nothing",
"text": "will infuriate and disorient them more than formlessness. In a world",
"text": "where wars of detachment are the order of the day, formlessness is",
"text": "crucial.",
"text": "The first psychological requirement of formlessness is to train yourself",
"text": "to take nothing personally. Never show any defensiveness. When you act",
"text": "defensive, you show your emotions, revealing a clear form. Your",
"text": "opponents will realize they have hit a nerve, an Achilles’ heel. And they",
"text": "will hit it again and again. So train yourself to take nothing personally.",
"text": "Never let anyone get your back up. Be like a slippery ball that cannot be",
"text": "held: Let no one know what gets to you, or where your weaknesses lie.",
"text": "Make your face a formless mask and you will infuriate and disorient",
"text": "your scheming colleagues and opponents.",
"text": "One man who used this technique was Baron James Rothschild. A",
"text": "German Jew in Paris, in a culture decidedly unfriendly to foreigners,Rothschild never took any attack on him personally or showed he had",
"text": "been hurt in any way. He furthermore adapted himself to the political",
"text": "climate, whatever it was—the stiffly formal Restoration monarchy of",
"text": "Louis XVIII, the bourgeois reign of Louis-Philippe, the democratic",
"text": "revolution of 1848, the upstart Louis-Napoleon crowned emperor in",
"text": "1852. Rothschild accepted them one and all, and blended in. He could",
"text": "afford to appear hypocritical or opportunistic because he was valued for",
"text": "his money, not his politics; his money was the currency of power. While",
"text": "he adapted and thrived, outwardly never showing a form, all the other",
"text": "great families that had begun the century immensely wealthy were ruined",
"text": "in the period’s complicated shifts and turns of fortune. Attaching",
"text": "themselves to the past, they revealed their embrace of a form.",
"text": "Throughout history, the formless style of ruling has been most adeptly",
"text": "practiced by the queen who reigns alone. A queen is in a radically",
"text": "different position from a king; because she is a woman, her subjects and",
"text": "courtiers are likely to doubt her ability to rule, her strength of character.",
"text": "If she favors one side in some ideological struggle, she is said to be",
"text": "acting out of emotional attachment. Yet if she represses her emotions and",
"text": "plays the authoritarian, in the male fashion, she arouses worse criticism",
"text": "still. Either by nature or by experience, then, queens tend to adopt a",
"text": "flexible style of governing that in the end often proves more powerful",
"text": "than the more direct, male form.",
"text": "Two female leaders exemplifying the formless style of rule are Queen",
"text": "Elizabeth of England and Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. In the",
"text": "violent wars between Catholics and Protestants, Elizabeth steered a",
"text": "middle course. She avoided alliances that would commit her to one side,",
"text": "and that over time would harm the country. She managed to keep her",
"text": "country at peace until it was strong enough for war. Her reign was one of",
"text": "the most glorious in history because of her incredible capacity to adapt",
"text": "and her flexible ideology.",
"text": "Catherine the Great too evolved an improvisatory style of governing.",
"text": "After she deposed her husband, Emperor Peter II, taking sole control of",
"text": "Russia in 1762, no one thought she would survive. But she had no",
"text": "preconceived ideas, no philosophy or theory to dictate her policies.",
"text": "Although a foreigner (she came from Germany), she understood Russia’s",
"text": "moods, and how it was changing over the years. “One must govern in",
"text": "such a way that one’s people think they themselves want to do what one",
"text": "commands them to do,” she said, and to do this she had to be always a",
"text": "step ahead of their desires and to adapt to their resistance. By neverforcing the issue, she reformed Russia in a strikingly short period of",
"text": "time.",
"text": "This feminine, formless style of ruling may have emerged as a way of",
"text": "prospering under difficult circumstances, but it has proved immensely",
"text": "seductive to those who have served under it. Being fluid, it is relatively",
"text": "easy for its subjects to obey, for they feel less coerced, less bent to their",
"text": "ruler’s ideology. It also opens up options where an adherence to a",
"text": "doctrine closes them off. Without committing to one side, it allows the",
"text": "ruler to play one enemy off another. Rigid rulers may seem strong, but",
"text": "with time their inflexibility wears on the nerves, and their subjects find",
"text": "ways to push them from the stage. Flexible, formless rulers will be much",
"text": "criticized, but they will endure, and people will eventually come to",
"text": "identify with them, since they are as their subjects are—changing with",
"text": "the wind, open to circumstance.",
"text": "Despite upsets and delays, the permeable style of power generally",
"text": "triumphs in the end, just as Athens eventually won victory over Sparta",
"text": "through its money and its culture. When you find yourself in conflict",
"text": "with someone stronger and more rigid, allow them a momentary victory.",
"text": "Seem to bow to their superiority. Then, by being formless and adaptable,",
"text": "slowly insinuate yourself into their soul. This way you will catch them",
"text": "off guard, for rigid people are always ready to ward off direct blows but",
"text": "are helpless against the subtle and insinuating. To succeed at such a",
"text": "strategy you must play the chameleon—conform on the surface, while",
"text": "breaking down your enemy from the inside.",
"text": "For centuries the Japanese would accept foreigners graciously, and",
"text": "appeared susceptible to foreign cultures and influences. Joao Rodriguez,",
"text": "a Portuguese priest who arrived in Japan in 1577 and lived there for",
"text": "many years, wrote, “I am flabbergasted by the Japanese willingness to",
"text": "try and accept everything Portuguese.” He saw Japanese in the streets",
"text": "wearing Portuguese clothing, with rosary beads at their necks and",
"text": "crosses at their hips. This might seem like a weak, mutable culture, but",
"text": "Japan’s adaptability actually protected the country from having an alien",
"text": "culture imposed by military invasion. It seduced the Portuguese and",
"text": "other Westerners into believing the Japanese were yielding to a superior",
"text": "culture when actually the foreign culture’s ways were merely a fashion to",
"text": "be donned and doffed. Under the surface, Japanese culture thrived. Had",
"text": "the Japanese been rigid about foreign influences and tried to fight them",
"text": "off, they might have suffered the injuries that the West inflicted on",
"text": "China. That is the power of formlessness—it gives the aggressor nothing",
"text": "to react against, nothing to hit.In evolution, largeness is often the first step toward extinction. What is",
"text": "immense and bloated has no mobility, but must constantly feed itself.",
"text": "The unintelligent are often seduced into believing that size connotes",
"text": "power, the bigger the better.",
"text": "In 483 B.C., King Xerxes of Persia invaded Greece, believing he",
"text": "could conquer the country in one easy campaign. After all, he had the",
"text": "largest army ever assembled for one invasion—the historian Herodotus",
"text": "estimated it at over more than five million. The Persians planned to build",
"text": "a bridge across the Hellespont to overrun Greece from the land, while",
"text": "their equally immense navy would pin the Greek ships in harbor,",
"text": "preventing their forces from escaping to sea. The plan seemed sure, yet",
"text": "as Xerxes prepared the invasion, his adviser Artabanus warned his",
"text": "master of grave misgivings: “The two mightiest powers in the world are",
"text": "against you,” he said. Xerxes laughed—what powers could match his",
"text": "gigantic army? “I will tell you what they are,” answered Artabanus. “The",
"text": "land and the sea.” There were no safe harbors large enough to receive",
"text": "Xerxes’ fleet. And the more land the Persians conquered, and the longer",
"text": "their supply lines stretched, the more ruinous the cost of feeding this",
"text": "immense army would prove.",
"text": "Thinking his adviser a coward, Xerxes proceeded with the invasion.",
"text": "Yet as Artabanus predicted, bad weather at sea decimated the Persian",
"text": "fleet, which was too large to take shelter in any harbor. On land,",
"text": "meanwhile, the Persian army destroyed everything in its path, which",
"text": "only made it impossible to feed, since the destruction included crops and",
"text": "stores of food. It was also an easy and slow-moving target. The Greeks",
"text": "practiced all kinds of deceptive maneuvers to disorient the Persians.",
"text": "Xerxes’ eventual defeat at the hands of the Greek allies was an immense",
"text": "disaster. The story is emblematic of all those who sacrifice mobility for",
"text": "size: The flexible and fleet of foot will almost always win, for they have",
"text": "more strategic options. The more gigantic the enemy, the easier it is to",
"text": "induce collapse.",
"text": "The need for formlessness becomes greater the older we get, as we",
"text": "grow more likely to become set in our ways and assume too rigid a form.",
"text": "We become predictable, always the first sign of decrepitude. And",
"text": "predictability makes us appear comical. Although ridicule and disdain",
"text": "might seem mild forms of attack, they are actually potent weapons, and",
"text": "will eventually erode a foundation of power. An enemy who does not",
"text": "respect you will grow bold, and boldness makes even the smallest animal",
"text": "dangerous.The late-eighteenth-century court of France, as exemplified by Marie-",
"text": "Antoinette, had become so hopelessly tied to a rigid formality that the",
"text": "average Frenchman thought it a silly relic. This depreciation of a",
"text": "centuries-old institution was the first sign of a terminal disease, for it",
"text": "represented a symbolic loosening of the people’s ties to monarchy. As",
"text": "the situation worsened, Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI grew only",
"text": "more rigid in their adherence to the past—and quickened their path to the",
"text": "guillotine. King Charles I of England reacted similarly to the tide of",
"text": "democratic change brewing in England in the 1630s: He disbanded",
"text": "Parliament, and his court rituals grew increasingly formal and distant. He",
"text": "wanted to return to an older style of ruling, with adherence to all kinds of",
"text": "petty protocol. His rigidity only heightened the desire for change. Soon,",
"text": "of course, he was swept up in a devastating civil war, and eventually he",
"text": "lost his head to the executioner’s axe.",
"text": "As you get older, you must rely even less on the past. Be vigilant lest",
"text": "the form your character has taken makes you seem a relic. It is not a",
"text": "matter of mimicking the fashions of youth—that is equally worthy of",
"text": "laughter. Rather your mind must constantly adapt to each circumstance,",
"text": "even the inevitable change that the time has come to move over and let",
"text": "those of younger age prepare for their ascendancy. Rigidity will only",
"text": "make you look uncannily like a cadaver.",
"text": "Never forget, though, that formlessness is a strategic pose. It gives you",
"text": "room to create tactical surprises; as your enemies struggle to guess your",
"text": "next move, they reveal their own strategy, putting them at a decided",
"text": "disadvantage. It keeps the initiative on your side, putting your enemies in",
"text": "the position of never acting, constantly reacting. It foils their spying and",
"text": "intelligence. Remember: Formlessness is a tool. Never confuse it with a",
"text": "go-with-the-flow style, or with a religious resignation to the twists of",
"text": "fortune. You use formlessness, not because it creates inner harmony and",
"text": "peace, but because it will increase your power.",
"text": "Finally, learning to adapt to each new circumstance means seeing",
"text": "events through your own eyes, and often ignoring the advice that people",
"text": "constantly peddle your way. It means that ultimately you must throw out",
"text": "the laws that others preach, and the books they write to tell you what to",
"text": "do, and the sage advice of the elder. “The laws that govern circumstances",
"text": "are abolished by new circumstances,” Napoleon wrote, which means that",
"text": "it is up to you to gauge each new situation. Rely too much on other",
"text": "people’s ideas and you end up taking a form not of your own making.",
"text": "Too much respect for other people’s wisdom will make you depreciateyour own. Be brutal with the past, especially your own, and have no",
"text": "respect for the philosophies that are foisted on you from outside.",
"text": "Image: Mercury. The winged messenger,",
"text": "god of commerce, patron saint of thieves,",
"text": "gamblers, and all those who deceive through",
"text": "swiftness. The day Mercury was born he invented",
"text": "the lyre; by that evening he had stolen the cattle of",
"text": "Apollo. He would scour the world, assuming",
"text": "whatever form he desired. Like the liquid metal",
"text": "named after him, he embodies the elusive,",
"text": "the ungraspable—the power of formlessness.",
"text": "Authority: Therefore the consummation of forming an army is to arrive",
"text": "at formlessness. Victory in war is not repetitious, but adapts its form",
"text": "endlessly…. A military force has no constant formation, water has no",
"text": "constant shape: The ability to gain victory by changing and adapting",
"text": "according to the opponent is called genius. (Sun-tzu, fourth century B.C.)",
"text": "REVERSAL",
"text": "Using space to disperse and create an abstract pattern should not mean",
"text": "forsaking the concentration of your power when it is valuable to you.",
"text": "Formlessness makes your enemies hunt all over for you, scattering their",
"text": "own forces, mental as well as physical. When you finally engage them,",
"text": "though, hit them with a powerful, concentrated blow. That is how Mao",
"text": "succeeded against the Nationalists: He broke their forces into small,",
"text": "isolated units, which he then could easily overwhelm with a strong",
"text": "attack. The law of concentration prevailed.",
"text": "When you play with formlessness, keep on top of the process, and",
"text": "keep your long-term strategy in mind. When you assume a form and goon the attack, use concentration, speed, and power. As Mao said, When",
"text": "we fight you, we make sure you can’t get away."
"text": ]