ignore

48 Laws of Power

LAW 1

NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your

desire to please or impress them, do not go

too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the

oppositeinspire fear and insecurity. Make

your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will

attain the heights of power.

LAW 2

NEVER PUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS, LEARN HOW

TO USE ENEMIES

Be wary of friendsthey will betray you more quickly, for they are

easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical.

But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend,

because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from

friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to

make them.

LAW 3

CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the

purpose behind your actions. If they have no

clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide

them far enough down the wrong path, envelop

them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your

intentions, it will be too late.

LAW 4

ALWAYS SAY LESS THAN NECESSARY

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you

say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if

you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it

vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and

intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are

to say something foolish.

LAW 5

SO MUCH DEPENDS ON REPUTATIONGUARD IT WITH YOUR

LIFE

Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone

you can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are

vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation

unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them

before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by

opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let

public opinion hang them.

LAW 6

COURT ATTENTION AT ALL COST

Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts

for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the

crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at

all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention

by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the

bland and timid masses.

LAW 7

GET OTHERS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU, BUT ALWAYS

TAKE THE CREDIT

Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to

further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you

valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency

and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be

remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.

LAW 8

MAKE OTHER PEOPLE COME TO YOUUSE BAIT IF

NECESSARY

When you force the other person to act, you are the one in

control. It is always better to make your opponent

come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him

with fabulous gainsthen attack. You hold

the cards.

LAW 9

WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER THROUGH

ARGUMENT Any momentary triumph you think you have gained

through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill

will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary

change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree

with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate,

do not explicate.

LAW 10

INFECTION: AVOID THE UNHAPPY AND UNLUCKY

You can die from someone else's miseryemotional states are as

infectious as diseases. You may feel you are

helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own

disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw

misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate

with the happy and fortunate instead.

LAW 11

LEARN TO KEEP PEOPLE DEPENDENT ON YOU

To maintain your independence you must always be needed and

wanted. The more you are relied on, the more

freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their

happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear.

Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.

LAW 12

USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND GENEROSITY TO DISARM

YOUR VICTIM

One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of

dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity

bringdown the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your

selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and

manipulate them at will. A timely gifta Trojan horsewill serve the

same purpose.

LAW 13

WHEN ASKING FOR HELP, APPEAL TO PEOPLE'S SELFINTEREST, NEVER TO THEIR MERCY OR GRATITUDE If you

need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your

past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you.

Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with

him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He

will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained

for himself.

LAW 14

POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY

Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable

information that will keep you a step ahead.

Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters,

learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people

to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion

that is not an opportunity for artful spying.

LAW 15

CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY

All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy

must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the

hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it

smolders, afire will eventually break out. More is lost through

stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will

recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in

spirit.

LAW 16

USE ABSENCE TO INCREASE RESPECT AND HONOR

Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are

seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are

already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will

make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn

when to leave. Create value through scarcity.

LAW 17

KEEP OTHERS IN SUSPENDED TERROR: CULTIVATE AN AIR

OF UNPREDICTABILITY

Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see

familiarity in other people's actions. Your predictability gives them a

sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable.

Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep

them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain

your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and

terrorize.

LAW 18

DO NOT BUILD FORTRESSES TO PROTECT

YOURSELFISOLATION IS DANGEROUS

The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhereeveryone

has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation

exposes you to more dangers than it protects you fromit cuts you off

from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy

target. Better to circulate among people, find allies, mingle. You are

shielded from your enemies by the crowd.

LAW 19

KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITHDO NOT OFFEND THE

WRONG PERSON

There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you

can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the

same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will

spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in

lambs' clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then

never offend or deceive the wrong person.

LAW 20

DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE

It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to

any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining

your independence, you become the master of othersplaying

people against one another, making them pursue

you.

LAW 21

PLAY A SUCKER TO CATCH A SUCKERSEEM DUMBER THAN

YOUR MARK

No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick,

then, is to make your victims feel smartand not just smart, but

smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect

that you may have ulterior motives.

LAW 22

USE THE SURRENDER TACTIC: TRANSFORM WEAKNESS

INTO POWER When you are weaker, never fight for honor's sake;

choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time

to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to

wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating

yousurrender first. By turning the other cheek you infuriate and

unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.

LAW 23

CONCENTRATE YOUR FORCES Conserve your forces and

energies by keeping them concentrated at theirstrongest point. You

gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting

from one shallow mine to anotherintensity defeats ex-tensity every

time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one

key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to

come.

LAW 24

PLAY THE PERFECT COURTIER

The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves

around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of

indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over

others in the most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the

laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise

in the court.

LAW 2 5

RE-CREATE YOURSELF

Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create

yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and

never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather

than letting others define it for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into

your public gestures and actionsyour power will be enhanced and

your character will seem larger than life.

LAW 26

KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN

You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands

are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a

spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat's-paws

to disguise your involvement.

LAW 2 7

PLAY ON PEOPLE'S NEED TO BELIEVE TO CREATE A

CULTLIKE FOLLOWING

People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something.

Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a

new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise;

emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your

new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your

behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your

new belief system will bring you untold power.

ENTER ACTION WITH BOLDNESS

If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your

doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is

dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit

through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone

admires the bold; no one honors the timid.

LAW 29

PLAN ALL THE WAY TO THE END

The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into

account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of

fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to

others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by

circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune

and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.

LAW 30

MAKE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS SEEM EFFORTLESS

Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the

toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must

be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much

more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you workit only

raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used

against you.

LAW 31

CONTROL THE OPTIONS: GET OTHERS TO PLAY WITH THE

CARDS YOU DEAL

The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other

person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually

your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor

whichever one they choose. Forte them to make choices between

the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them

on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.

LAW 32

PLAY TO PEOPLE'S FANTASIES

The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant.

Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the

anger that comes from disenchantment. Life is so harsh and

distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up

fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There

is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.

LAW 3 3

DISCOVER EACH MAN'S THUMBSCREW

Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That

weakness is usually an insecurity, an uncontrollable

emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either

way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn

to your advantage.

LAW 34

BE ROYAL IN YOUR OWN FASHION: ACT LIKE A KING TO BE

TREATED LIKE ONE

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are

treated: In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make

people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the

same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your

powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

LAW 35

MASTER THE ART OF TIMING

Never seem to be in a hurryhurrying betrays a lack of control over

yourself and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that

everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the

right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry

you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and

to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.

LAW 36

DISDAIN THINGS YOU CANNOT HAVE: IGNORING THEM IS

THE BEST REVENGE

By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and

credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you

make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible

when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If

there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it.

The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.

LAW 37

CREATE COMPELLING SPECTACLES

Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of

powereveryone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those

around you, then, full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that

heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice

what you are really doing.

LAW 38

THINK AS YOU LIKE BUT BEHAVE LIKE OTHERS

If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your

unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that

you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will

find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to

blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only

with tolerant friends and those who an sure to appreciate your

uniqueness.

LAW 39

STIR UP WATERS TO CATCH FISH

Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must

always stay calm and objective. But if you

can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you

gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies

off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can

rattle them and you hold the strings.

LAW 40

DESPISE THE FREE LUNCH

What is offered for free is dangerousit usually involves either a

trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By

paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It

is also often wise to pay the full pricethere is no cutting corners with

excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for

generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

LAW 41

AVOID STEPPING INTO A GREAT MAN'S SHOES

What happens first always appears better and more original than

what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous

parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to

outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not

of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by

changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy,

and gain power by shining in your own way.

LAW 42

STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP WILL SCATTER

Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individualthe stirrer,

the arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill. If you allow such

people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do

not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate

with themthey are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by

isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and

the sheep will scatter.

LAW 43

WORK ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF OTHERS

Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you.

You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A

person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to

seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and

weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions,

playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts

and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.

LAW 44

DISARM AND INFURIATE WITH THE MIRROR EFFECT

The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for

deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do,

they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and

humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to

their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their

values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a

lesson. Few can resist the power of the Mirror Effect.

LAW 45

PREACH THE NEED FOR CHANGE, BUT NEVER REFORM

TOO MUCH AT ONCE Everyone understands the need for change

in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of

habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you

are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power

base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If

change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the

past.

LAW 46

NEVER APPEAR TOO PERFECT

Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most

dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy

creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects,

and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear

more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem

perfect with impunity.

LAW 47

DO NOT GO PAST THE MARK YOU AIMED FOR; IN VICTORY,

LEARN WHEN TO STOP

The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In

the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfi-dence can push you

past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make

more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your

head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a

goal, and when you reach it, stop.

LAW 48

ASSUME FORMLESSNESS

By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to

attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep

yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is

certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be

as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order.

Everything changes.

48 Laws of Power

PREFACE

The feeling of having no power over people and events is

generally unbearable to uswhen we feel helpless we feel miserable.

No one wants less power; everyone wants more. In the world today,

however, it is dangerous to seem too power hungry, to be overt with

your power moves. We have to seem fair and decent. So we need to

be subdecongenial yet cunning, democratic yet devious.

This game of constant duplicity most resembles the power

dynamic that existed in the scheming world of the old aristocratic

court. Throughout history, a court has always formed itself around

the person in powerking, queen, emperor, leader. The courtiers who

filled this court were in an especially delicate position: They had to

serve their masters, but if they seemed to fawn, if they curried favor

too obviously, the other courtiers around them would notice and

would act against them. Attempts to win the master's favor, then, had

to be subde. And even skilled courtiers capable of such subdety still

had to protect themselves from their fellow courtiers, who at all

moments were scheming to push them aside.

Meanwhile the court was supposed to represent the height of

civilization and refinement. Violent or overt power moves were

frowned upon; courtiers would work silendy and secredy against any

among them who used force. This was die courtier's dilemma: While

appearing the very paragon of elegance, tiiey had to outwit and

diwart their own opponents in the subdest of ways. The successful

courtier learned over time to make all of his moves indirect; if he

stabbed an opponent in the back, it was widi a velvet glove on his

hand and the sweetest of smiles on his face. Instead of using

coercion or outright treachery, the perfect courtier got his way

through seduction, charm, deception, and subde strategy, always

planning several moves ahead. Life in die court was a never-ending

game tfiat required constant vigilance and tactical thinking. It was

civilized war.

Today we face a peculiarly similar paradox to diat of the courtier:

Everything must appear civilized, decent, democratic, and fair. But if

we play by those rules too stricdy, if we take them too literally, we are

crushed by tiiose around us who are not so foolish. As the great

Renaissance diplomat and courtier Niccolo Machiavelli wrote, "Any

man who tries to be good all die time is bound to come to ruin

among die great number who are not good." The court imagined

itself die pinnacle of refinement, but underneath its glittering surface

a cauldron of dark emotionsgreed, envy, lust, hatredboiled and

simmered. Our world today similarly imagines itself the pinnacle of

fairness, yet the same ugly emotions still stir within us, as they have

forever. The game is the same. Outwardly, you must seem to respect

the niceties, but inwardly, unless you are a fool, you learn quickly to

be prudent, and to do as Napoleon advised: Place your iron hand

inside a velvet glove. If, like the courtier of times gone by, you can

master the arts of indirection, learning to seduce, charm, deceive,

and subtiy outmaneuver your opponents, you will attain the heights

of power. You will be able to make people bend to your will without

their realizing what you have done. And if they do not realize what

you have done, they will neitfier resent nor resist you.

To some people the notion of consciously playing power

gamesno matter how indirectseems evil, asocial, a relic of the past.

They believe they can opt out of the game by behaving in ways that

have nothing to do with power. You must beware of such people, for

while diey express such opinions outwardly, they are often among

the most adept players at power. They utilize strategies that cleverly

disguise the nature of the manipulation involved. These types, for

example, will often display their weakness and lack of power as a

kind of moral virtue. But true powerlessness, without any motive of

self-interest, would not publicize its weakness to gain sympathy or

respect. Making a show of one's weakness is actually a very

effective strategy, subtle and deceptive, in the game of power (see

Law 22, the Surrender Tactic).

Another strategy of the supposed nonplayer is to demand

equality in every area of life. Everyone must be treated alike,

whatever tiieir status and strength. But if, to avoid die taint of power,

you attempt to treat everyone equally and fairly, you will confront the

problem diat some people do certain things better than others.

Treating everyone equally means ignoring their differences, elevating

the less skillful and suppressing those who excel. Again, many of

diose who behave this way are actually deploying another power

strategy, redistributing people's rewards in a way that they

determine.

Yet another way of avoiding the game would be perfect honesty

and straightforwardness, since one of the main techniques of those

who seek power is deceit and secrecy. But being perfectly honest

will inevitably hurt and insult a great many people, some of whom will

choose to injure you in return. No one will see your honest statement

as completely objective and free of some personal motivation. And

they will be right: In truth, the use of honesty is indeed a power

strategy, intended to convince people of one's noble, good-hearted,

selfless character. It is a form of persuasion, even a subde form of

coercion.

Finally, those who claim to be nonplayers may affect an air of

naivete, to protect them from the accusation that they are after

power. Beware again, however, for die appearance of naivete can be

an effective means of

deceit (see Law 21, Seem Dumber Than Your Mark). And even

genuine naivete is not free of the snares of power. Children may be

naive in many ways, but they often act from an elemental need to

gain control over those around them. Children suffer greatiy from

feeling powerless in the adult world, and they use any means

available to get their way. Genuinely innocent people may still be

playing for power, and are often horribly effective at the game, since

they are not hindered by reflection. Once again, those who make a

show or display of innocence are the least innocent of all.

You can recognize these supposed nonplayers by the way they

flaunt their moral qualities, their piety, their exquisite sense of justice.

But since all of us hunger for power, and almost all of our actions are

aimed at gaining it, the nonplayers are merely throwing dust in our

eyes, distracting us from their power plays with their air of moral

superiority. If you observe them closely, you will see in fact that they

are often the ones most skillful at indirect manipulation, even if some

of them practice it unconsciously. And they greatly resent any

publicizing of the tactics they use every day.

If the world is like a giant scheming court and we are trapped

inside it, there is no use in trying to opt out of the game. That will

only render you powerless, and powerlessness will make you

miserable. Instead of struggling against the inevitable, instead of

arguing and whining and feeling guilty, it is far better to excel at

power. In fact, the better you are at dealing with power, the better

friend, lover, husband, wife, and person you become. By following

the route of the perfect courtier (see Law 24) you learn to make

others feel better about themselves, becoming a source of pleasure

to them. They will grow dependent on your abilities and desirous of

your presence. By mastering the 48 laws in this book, you spare

others the pain that comes from bungling with powerby playing with

fire without knowing its properties. If the game of power is

inescapable, better to be an artist than a denier or a bungler.

The only means to gain one's ends with people are force and

cunning. Love also, they say; but that is to wait for sunshine, and life

needs every moment.

Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at

the world, a shifting of perspective. It takes effort and years of

practice, for much of the game may not come naturally. Certain basic

skills are required, and once you master these skills you will be able

to apply the laws of power more easily.

The most important of these skills, and power's crucial

foundation, the ability to master your emotions. An emotional

response to a situation the single greatest barrier to power, a

mistake that will cost you a lot more than any temporary satisfaction

you might gain by expressing your feelings. Emotions cloud reason,

and if you cannot see the situation clearly, you cannot prepare for

and respond to it with any degree of control.

Anger is the most destructive of emotional responses, for it

clouds your vision the most. It also has a ripple effect that invariably

makes situations less controllable and heightens your enemy's

resolve. If you are trying to destroy an enemy who has hurt you, far

better to keep him off-guard by feigning friendliness than showing

your anger.

I thought to myself

with what means, with

what deceptions, with

how many varied arts,

with what industry a

man sharpens his wits

to deceive another,

and through these

variations the world is

made more beautiful

Francesco Vettori,

contemporary and

friend of

Machiavelli,

early sixteenth

CENTURY

There are no principles; there are only events. There is no good

and bad, there are only circumstances. The superior man espouses

events and circumstances in order to guide them. If there were

principles and fixed laws, nations would not change them as we

change our shirts and a man can not be expected to be wiser than

an entire nation.

Honore de Balzac, 1799-1850

Love and affection are also potentially destructive, in that they

blind you to die often self-serving interests of those whom you least

suspect of playing a power game. You cannot repress anger or love,

or avoid feeling them, and you should not try. But you should be

careful about how you express them, and most important, they

should never influence your plans and strategies in any way.

Related to mastering your emotions is the ability to distance

yourself from the present moment and think objectively about the

past and future. Like Janus, the double-faced Roman deity and

guardian of all gates and doorways, you must be able to look in bodi

directions at once, the better to handle danger from wherever it

comes. Such is the face you must create for yourselfone face looking

continuously to the future and die odier to the past.

For the future, die motto is, "No days unalert." Nothing should

catch you by surprise because you are constandy imagining

problems before they arise. Instead of spending your time dreaming

of your plan's happy ending, you must work on calculating every

possible permutation and pitfall that might emerge in it. The further

you see, the more steps ahead you plan, die more powerful you

become.

The other face of Janus looks constandy to the pastdiough not to

remember past hurts or bear grudges. That would only curb your

power. Half of die game is learning how to forget those events in die

past that eat away at you and cloud your reason. The real purpose of

the backward-glancing eye is to educate yourself constantlyyou look

at the past to learn from those who came before you. (The many

historical examples in this book will gready help that process.) Then,

having looked to die past, you look closer at hand, to your own

actions and diose of your friends. This is die most vital school you

can learn from, because it comes from personal experience.

You begin by examining the mistakes you have made in die past,

die ones diat have most grievously held you back. You analyze diem

in terms of the 48 laws of power, and you extract from them a lesson

and an oath: "I shall never repeat such a mistake; I shall never fall

into such a trap again." If you can evaluate and observe yourself in

this way, you can learn to break the patterns of the pastan

immensely valuable skill.

Power requires the ability to play with appearances. To this end

you must learn to wear many masks and keep a bag full of deceptive

tricks. Deception and masquerade should not be seen as ugly or

immoral. All human interaction requires deception on many levels,

and in some ways what separates humans from animals is our ability

to lie and deceive. In Greek myths, in India's Mahabharata cycle, in

the Middle Eastern epic of Gilga-mesh, it is the privilege of the gods

to use deceptive arts; a great man, Odysseus for instance, was

judged by his ability to rival the craftiness of the gods, stealing some

of dieir divine power by matching them in wits and deception.

Deception is a developed art of civilization and die most potent

weapon in the game of power.

You cannot succeed at deception unless you take a somewhat

distanced approach to yourselfunless you can be many different

people, wearing the mask that the day and the moment require. With

such a flexible approach to all appearances, including your own, you

lose a lot of the inward heaviness that holds people down. Make

your face as malleable as the actor's, work to conceal your intentions

from others, practice luring people into traps. Playing with

appearances and mastering arts of deception are among the

aesthetic pleasures of life. They are also key components in die

acquisition of power.

If deception is the most potent weapon in your arsenal, then

patience in all things is your crucial shield. Patience will protect you

from making moronic blunders. Like mastering your emotions,

patience is a skillit does not come naturally. But nothing about power

is natural; power is more godlike than anything in the natural world.

And patience is the supreme virtue of the gods, who have nothing

but time. Everything good will happenthe grass will grow again, if you

give it time and see several steps into the future. Impatience, on the

other hand, only makes you look weak. It is a principal impediment to

power.

Power is essentially amoral and one of the most important skills

to acquire is the ability to see circumstances rather than good or evil.

Power is a gamethis cannot be repeated too oftenand in games you

do not judge your opponents by dieir intentions but by the effect of

dieir actions. You measure their strategy and their power by what

you can see and feel. How often are someone's intentions made the

issue only to cloud and deceive! What does it matter if another

player, your friend or rival, intended good things and had only your

interests at heart, if the effects of his action lead to so much ruin and

confusion It is only natural for people to cover up their actions with all

kinds of justifications, always assuming that they have acted out of

goodness. You must learn to inwardly laugh each time you hear this

and never get caught up in gauging someone's intentions and

actions through a set of moral judgments that are really an excuse

for the accumulation of power.

It is a game. Your opponent sits opposite you. Both of you

behave as gendemen or ladies, observing the rules of the game and

taking nodiing personally. You play with a strategy and you observe

your opponent's moves with as much calmness as you can muster.

In die end, you will appreciate the politeness of those you are playing

with more than their good and sweet intentions. Train your eye to

follow the results of dieir moves, the outward circumstances, and do

not be distracted by anything else.

Half of your mastery of power comes from what you do not do,

what you do not allow yourself to get dragged into. For this skill you

must learn to judge all mings by what diey cost you. As Nietzsche

wrote, "The value of a thing sometimes lies not in what one attains

with it, but in what one pays for itwhat it costs us." Perhaps you will

attain your goal, and a worthy goal at that, but at what price Apply

this standard to everydiing, including wheuier to collaborate wim

other people or come to their aid. In die end,

life is short, opportunities are few, and you have only so much

energy to draw on. And in this sense time is as important a

consideration as any other. Never waste valuable time, or mental

peace of mind, on the affairs of othersthat is too high a price to pay.

Power is a social game. To learn and master it, you must develop

die ability to study and understand people. As the great seventeenthcentury thinker and courtier Baltasar Gracian wrote: "Many people

spend time studying die properties of animals or herbs; how much

more important it would be to study those of people, with whom we

must live or die!" To be a master player you must also be a master

psychologist. You must recognize motivations and see through the

cloud of dust with which people surround their actions. An

understanding of people's hidden motives is die single greatest piece

of knowledge you can have in acquiring power. It opens up endless

possibilities of deception, seduction, and manipulation.

People are of infinite complexity and you can spend a lifetime

watching them without ever fully understanding them. So it is all the

more important, dien, to begin your education now. In doing so you

must also keep one principle in mind: Never discriminate as to whom

you study and whom you trust. Never trust anyone completely and

study everyone, including friends and loved ones.

Finally, you must learn always to take the indirect route to power.

Disguise your cunning. Like a billiard ball that caroms several times

before it hits its target, your moves must be planned and developed

in the least obvious way. By training yourself to be indirect, you can

thrive in the modern court, appearing die paragon of decency while

being the consummate manipulator.

Consider The 48 Laws of Power a kind of handbook on the arts

of indirection. The laws are based on die writings of men and women

who have studied and mastered the game of power. These writings

span a period of more dian three diousand years and were created

in civilizations as disparate as ancient China and Renaissance Italy;

yet they share common threads and themes, together hinting at an

essence of power diat has yet to be fully articulated. The 48 laws of

power are the distillation of this accumulated wisdom, gadiered from

the writings of the most illustrious strategists (Sun-tzu, Clausewitz),

statesmen (Bismarck, Talleyrand), courtiers (Castiglione, Gracian),

seducers (Ninon de Lenclos, Casanova), and con artists ("Yellow

Kid" Weil) in history.

The laws have a simple premise: Certain actions almost always

increase one's power (the observance of the law), while otfiers

decrease it and even ruin us (the transgression of die law). These

transgressions and observances are illustrated by historical

examples. The laws are timeless and definitive.

The 48 Laws of Power can be used in several ways. By reading

die book straight through you can learn about power in general.

Although several of the laws may seem not to pertain direcdy to your

life, in time you will

probably find that all of them have some application, and that in

fact they are interrelated. By getting an overview of the entire subject

you will best be able to evaluate your own past actions and gain a

greater degree of control over your immediate affairs. A thorough

reading of the book will inspire thinking and reevaluation long after

you finish it.

The book has also been designed for browsing and for examining

the law that seems at mat particular moment most pertinent to you.

Say you are experiencing problems with a superior and cannot

understand why your efforts have not lead to more gratitude or a

promotion. Several laws specifically address the master-underling

relationship, and you are almost certainly transgressing one of them.

By browsing the initial paragraphs for the 48 laws in the table of

contents, you can identify the pertinent law.

Finally, the book can be browsed through and picked apart for

entertainment, for an enjoyable ride through the foibles and great

deeds of our predecessors in power. A warning, however, to those

who use the book for this purpose: It might be better to turn back.

Power is endlessly seductive and deceptive in its own way. It is a

labyrinthyour mind becomes consumed widi solving its infinite

problems, and you soon realize how pleas-andy lost you have

become. In other words, it becomes most amusing by taking it

seriously. Do not be frivolous with such a critical matter. The gods of

power frown on the frivolous; they give ultimate satisfaction only to

those who study and reflect, and punish tiiose who skim the surfaces

looking for a good time.

Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to

ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who

wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use

that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.

The Prince, Niccolb Machiavelli, 1469-1527

48 Laws of Power

LAW 1

NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER

JUDGMENT

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your

desire to please and impress them, do not go too far in displaying

your talents or you might accomplish the oppositeinspire fear and

insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are

and you will attain the heights of power.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's finance minister in the first years of

his reign, was a generous man who loved lavish parties, pretty

women, and poetry. He also loved money, for he led an extravagant

lifestyle. Fouquet was clever and very much indispensable to the

king, so when the prime minister, Jules Mazarin, died, in 1661, the

finance minister expected to be named the successor. Instead, the

king decided to abolish the position. This and other signs made

Fouquet suspect that he was falling out of favor, and so he decided

to ingratiate himself with the king by staging the most spectacular

party the world had ever seen. The party's ostensible purpose would

be to commemorate the completion of Fouquet's chateau, Vaux-leVicomte, but its real function was to pay tribute to the king, the guest

of honor.

The most brilliant nobility of Europe and some of the greatest

minds of the timeLa Fontaine, La Rochefoucauld, Madame de

Sevigne attended the party. Moliere wrote a play for the occasion, in

which he himself was to perform at the evening's conclusion. The

party began with a lavish seven-course dinner, featuring foods from

the Orient never before tasted in France, as well as new dishes

created especially for the night. The meal was accompanied with

music commissioned by Fouquet to honor the king.

After dinner there was a promenade through the chateau's

gardens. The grounds and fountains of Vaux-le-Vicomte were to be

the inspiration for Versailles.

Fouquet personally accompanied the young king through the

geometrically aligned arrangements of shrubbery and flower beds.

Arriving at the gardens' canals, they witnessed a fireworks display,

which was followed by the performance of Moliere's play. The party

ran well into the night and everyone agreed it was the most amazing

affair they had ever attended.

The next day, Fouquet was arrested by the king's head

musketeer, D'Artagnan. Three months later he went on trial for

stealing from the country's treasury. (Actually, most of the stealing he

was accused of he had done on the king's behalf and with the king's

permission.) Fouquet was found guilty and sent to the most isolated

prison in France, high in the Pyrenees Mountains, where he spent

die last twenty years of his life in solitary confinement.

Interpretation

Louis XIV, the Sun King, was a proud and arrogant man who

wanted to be the center of attention at all times; he could not

countenance being outdone in lavishness by anyone, and certainly

not his finance minister. To succeed Fouquet, Louis chose JeanBaptiste Colbert, a man famous for his parsimony and for giving the

dullest parties in Paris. Colbert made sure that any money liberated

from the treasury went straight into Louis's hands. With the money,

Louis built a palace even more magnificent than Fouquet'sthe

glorious palace of Versailles. He used the same architects,

decorators, and garden designer. And at Versailles, Louis hosted

parties even more extravagant uian the one that cost Fouquet his

freedom.

Let us examine the situation. The evening of the party, as

Fouquet presented spectacle on spectacle to Louis, each more

magnificent than the one before, he imagined the affair as

demonstrating his loyalty and devotion to the king. Not only did he

think the party would put him back in die king's favor, he thought it

would show his good taste, his connections, and his popularity,

making him indispensable to die king and demonstrating that he

would make an excellent prime minister. Instead, however, each new

spectacle, each appreciative smile bestowed by the guests on

Fouquet, made it seem to Louis that his own friends and subjects

were more charmed by the finance minister dian by the king himself,

and that Fouquet was actually flaunting his wealth and power. Rather

than flattering Louis XIV, Fouquet's elaborate party offended the

king's vanity. Louis would not admit this to anyone, of courseinstead,

he found a convenient excuse to rid himself of a man who had

inadvertently made him feel insecure.

Such is the fate, in some form or other, of all those who

unbalance the master's sense of self, poke holes in his vanity, or

make him doubt his preeminence.

When the evening began, Fouquet was at the top of the world. By

the time it had ended, he was at the bottom.

Voltaire, 1694-1778

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In the early 1600s, the Italian astronomer and mathematician

Galileo found himself in a precarious position. He depended on the

generosity of great rulers to support his research, and so, like all

Renaissance scientists, he would sometimes make gifts of his

inventions and discoveries to the leading patrons of the time. Once,

for instance, he presented a military compass he had invented to the

Duke of Gonzaga. Then he dedicated a book explaining the use of

the compass to the Medicis. Both rulers were grateful, and dirough

them Galileo was able to find more students to teach. No matter how

great the discovery, however, his patrons usually paid him with gifts,

not cash. This made for a life of constant insecurity and dependence.

There must be an easier way, he thought.

Galileo hit on a new strategy in 1610, when he discovered the

moons of Jupiter. Instead of dividing the discovery among his

patronsgiving one the telescope he had used, dedicating a book to

another, and so onas he had done in the past, he decided to focus

exclusively on the Medicis. He chose the Medicis for one reason:

Shortly after Cosimo I had established the Medici dynasty, in 1540,

he had made Jupiter, the mightiest of the gods, the Medici symbola

symbol of a power that went beyond politics and banking, one linked

to ancient Rome and its divinities.

Galileo turned his discovery of Jupiter's moons into a cosmic

event

honoring the Medicis' greatness. Shortly after the discovery, he

announced that "the bright stars [the moons of Jupiter] offered

themselves in the heavens" to his telescope at the same time as

Cosimo IPs enthronement. He said that the number of the

moonsfourharmonized with the number of the Medicis (Cosimo II

had three brothers) and that the moons orbited Jupiter as these four

sons revolved around Cosimo I, the dynasty's founder. More than

coincidence, this showed that the heavens themselves reflected the

ascendancy of the Medici family. After he dedicated the discovery to

the Medicis, Galileo commissioned an emblem representing Jupiter

sitting on a cloud with the four stars circling about him, and

presented this to Cosimo II as a symbol of his link to the stars.

In 1610 Cosimo II made Galileo his official court philosopher and

mathematician, with a full salary. For a scientist this was the coup of

a lifetime. The days of begging for patronage were over.

Interpretation

In one stroke, Galileo gained more with his new strategy than he

had in years of begging. The reason is simple: All masters want to

appear more brilliant than other people.

They do not care about science or empirical trutii or the latest

invention; they care about their name and their glory. Galileo gave

the Medicis infinitely more glory by linking their name with cosmic

forces than he had by making them the patrons of some new

scientific gadget or discovery.

Scientists are not spared the vagaries of court life and patronage.

They too must serve masters who hold the purse strings. And their

great intellectual powers can make the master feel insecure, as if he

were only there to supply the fundsan ugly, ignoble job. The

producer of a great work wants to feel he is more than just the

provider of the financing. He wants to appear creative and powerful,

and also more important than the work produced in his name.

Instead of insecurity you must give him glory. Galileo did not

challenge the intellectual authority of the Medicis with his discovery,

or make them feel inferior in any way; by literally aligning them with

the stars, he made them shine brilliantly among the courts of Italy.

He did not outshine the master, he made the master outshine all

others.

KEYS TO POWER

Everyone has insecurities. When you show yourself in the world

and display your talents, you naturally stir up all kinds of resentment,

envy, and other manifestations of insecurity. This is to be expected.

You cannot spend your life worrying about the petty feelings of

others. With those above you, however, you must take a different

approach: When it comes to power, outshining the master is perhaps

the worst mistake of all.

Do not fool yourself into thinking that life has changed much

since the days of Louis XIV and the Medicis. Those who attain high

standing in life are like kings and queens: They want to feel secure in

their positions, and

superior to those around them in intelligence, wit, and charm. It is

a deadly but common misperception to believe that by displaying

and vaunting your gifts and talents, you are winning die master's

affection. He may feign appreciation, but at his first opportunity he

will replace you with someone less intelligent, less attractive, less

threatening, just as Louis XIV replaced the sparkling Fouquet with

the bland Colbert. And as with Louis, he will not admit the truth, but

will find an excuse to rid himself of your presence.

This Law involves two rules that you must realize. First, you can

inadvertently outshine a master simply by being yourself. There are

masters who are more insecure than others, monstrously insecure;

you may naturally outshine them by your charm and grace.

No one had more natural talents than Astorre Manfredi, prince of

Faenza. The most handsome of all the young princes of Italy, he

captivated his subjects with his generosity and open spirit.

In the year 1500, Cesare Borgia laid siege to Faenza. When the

city surrendered, the citizens expected the worst from the cruel

Borgia, who, however, decided to spare the town: He simply

occupied its fortress, executed none of its citizens, and allowed

Prince Manfredi, eighteen at the time, to remain with his court, in

complete freedom.

A few weeks later, though, soldiers hauled Astorre Manfredi away

to a Roman prison. A year after that, his body was fished out of the

River Tiber, a stone tied around his neck. Borgia justified the horrible

deed with some sort of trumped-up charge of treason and

conspiracy, but the real problem was that he was notoriously vain

and insecure. The young man was outshining him without even

trying. Given Manfredi's natural talents, the prince's mere presence

made Borgia seem less attractive and charismatic. The lesson is

simple: If you cannot help being charming and superior, you must

learn to avoid such monsters of vanity. Either that, or find a way to

mute your good qualities when in the company of a Cesare Borgia.

Second, never imagine that because the master loves you, you

can do anything you want. Entire books could be written about

favorites who fell out of favor by taking their status for granted, for

daring to outshine. In late-sixteenth-century Japan, the favorite of

Emperor Hideyoshi was a man called Sen no Rikyu. The premier

artist of the tea ceremony, which had become an obsession with the

nobility, he was one of Hideyoshi's most trusted advisers, had his

own apartment in the palace, and was honored throughout Japan.

Yet in 1591, Hideyoshi had him arrested and sentenced to death.

Rikyu took his own life, instead. The cause for his sudden change of

fortune was discovered later: It seems that Rikyu, former peasant

and later court favorite, had had a wooden statue made of himself

wearing sandals (a sign of nobility) and posing loftily. He had had

this statue placed in the most important temple inside the palace

gates, in clear sight of the royalty who often would pass by. To

Hideyoshi this signified that Rikyu had no sense of limits. Presuming

that he had the same rights as those of the highest nobility, he had

forgotten that his position depended on the emperor, and had come

to believe that he had earned it on his own. This was

an unforgivable miscalculation of his own importance and he paid

for it with his life. Remember the following: Never take your position

for granted and never let any favors you receive go to your head.

Knowing the dangers of outshining your master, you can turn tiiis

Law to your advantage. First you must flatter and puff up your

master. Overt flattery can be effective but has its limits; it is too direct

and obvious, and looks bad to other courtiers. Discreet flattery is

much more powerful. If you are more intelligent than your master, for

example, seem the opposite: Make him appear more intelligent than

you. Act naive. Make it seem that you need his expertise. Commit

harmless mistakes that will not hurt you in the long run but will give

you die chance to ask for his help. Masters adore such requests. A

master who cannot bestow on you the gifts of his experience may

direct rancor and ill will at you instead.

If your ideas are more creative dian your master's, ascribe them

to him, in as public a manner as possible. Make it clear that your

advice is merely an echo of his advice.

If you surpass your master in wit, it is okay to play the role of the

court jester, but do not make him appear cold and surly by

comparison. Tone down your humor if necessary, and find ways to

make him seem the dispenser of amusement and good cheer. If you

are naturally more sociable and generous than your master, be

careful not to be the cloud that blocks his radiance from odiers. He

must appear as the sun around which everyone revolves, radiating

power and brilliance, die center of attention. If you are dirust into the

position of entertaining him, a display of your limited means may win

you his sympathy. Any attempt to impress him with your grace and

generosity can prove fatal: Learn from Fouquet or pay die price.

In all of diese cases it is not a weakness to disguise your

strengdis if in die end they lead to power. By letting others outshine

you, you remain in control, instead of being a victim of tiieir

insecurity. This will all come in handy the day you decide to rise

above your inferior status. If, like Galileo, you can make your master

shine even more in the eyes of odiers, then you are a godsend and

you will be instantiy promoted.

Image:

The Stars in the

Sky. There can be only

one sun at a time. Never

obscure the sunlight, or

rival the sun's brilliance;

rather, fade into the sky and

find ways to heighten

the master star's

intensity.

Authority: Avoid outshining the master. All superiority is odious,

but the superiority of a subject over his prince is not only stupid, it is

fatal. This is a lesson that the stars in the sky teach usthey may be

related to the sun, and just as brilliant, but they never appear in her

company. (Baltasar Gracian, 1601-1658)

REVERSAL

You cannot worry about upsetting every person you come across,

but you must be selectively cruel. If your superior is a falling star,

there is nothing to fear from outshining him. Do not be mercifulyour

master had no such scruples in his own cold-blooded climb to the

top. Gauge his strength. If he is weak, discreetly hasten his downfall:

Outdo, outcharm, outsmart him at key moments. If he is very weak

and ready to fall, let nature take its course. Do not risk outshining a

feeble superiorit might appear cruel or spiteful. But if your master is

firm in his position, yet you know yourself to be the more capable,

bide your time and be patient. It is the natural course of things that

power eventually fades and weakens. Your master will fall someday,

and if you play it right, you will oudive and someday outshine him.

48 Laws of Power

LAW 2

NEVER PUT TOO MUCH

TRUST IN FRIENDS, LEARN

HOW TO USE ENEMIES

JUDGMENT

Be wary of friendsthey will betray you more quickly, for they are

easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical.

But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend,

because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from

friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to

make them.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In the mid-ninth century A.D., a young man named Michael III

assumed the dirone of the Byzantine Empire. His mother, the

Empress Theodora, had been banished to a nunnery, and her lover,

Theoctistus, had been murdered; at the head of the conspiracy to

depose Theodora and enthrone Michael had been Michael's uncle,

Bardas, a man of intelligence and ambition. Michael was now a

young, inexperienced ruler, surrounded by intriguers, murderers, and

profligates. In this time of peril he needed someone he could trust as

his councillor, and his tiioughts turned to Basilius, his best friend.

Basilius had no experience whatsoever in government and politicsin

fact, he was the head of the royal stablesbut he had proven his love

and gratitude time and again.

They had met a few years before, when Michael had been

visiting the stables just as a wild horse got loose. Basilius, a young

groom from peasant Macedonian stock, had saved Michael's life.

The groom's strength and courage had impressed Michael, who

immediately raised Basilius from die obscurity of being a horse

trainer to die position of head of die stables. He loaded his friend

with gifts and favors and tiiey became inseparable. Basilius was sent

to the finest school in Byzantium, and the crude peasant became a

cultured and sophisticated courtier.

Now Michael was emperor, and in need of someone loyal. Who

could he better trust with the post of chamberlain and chief councillor

than a young man who owed him everything

Basilius could be trained for the job and Michael loved him like a

brother. Ignoring die advice of those who recommended die much

more qualified Bardas, Michael chose his friend.

Basilius learned well and was soon advising the emperor on all

matters of state. The only problem seemed to be moneyBasilius

never had enough. Exposure to the splendor of Byzantine court life

made him avaricious for the perks of power. Michael doubled, then

tripled his salary, ennobled him, and married him off to his own

mistress, Eudoxia Ingerina. Keeping such a trusted friend and

adviser satisfied was worth any price. But more trouble was to come.

Bardas was now head of die army, and Basilius convinced Michael

diat die man was hopelessly ambitious. Under die illusion diat he

could control his nephew, Bardas had conspired to put him on the

dirone, and he could conspire again, diis time to get rid of Michael

and assume die crown himself. Basilius poured poison into Michael's

ear until the emperor agreed to have his uncle murdered. During a

great horse race, Basilius closed in on Bardas in the crowd and

stabbed him to death. Soon after, Basilius asked that he replace

Bardas as head of the army, where he could keep control of die

realm and quell rebellion. This was granted.

Now Basilius's power and wealdi only grew, and a few years later

Michael, in financial straits from his own extravagance, asked him to

pay back some of die money he had borrowed over the years. To

Michael's shock and astonishment, Basilius refused, wiui a look of

such impudence

To have a good enemy, choose a friend: He knows where to

strike.

Diane de Poitiers, 1499-1566, mistress of Henri II of France

Every time I bestow a

vacant office I make a

hundred discontented

persons and one

ingrate.

Louis XIV, 1638-1715

Thus for my own part I have more than once been deceived by

the person I loved most and of whose love, above everyone else's, I

have been most confident. So that I believe that it rnay be right to

love and serve one person above all others, according to merit and

worth, but never to trust so much in this tempting trap of friendship

as to have cause to repent of it later on.

Baldassare

Castiglione,

1478-1529

I'l II',

SNAKK. TIIK I ARMKR. AM) TIIK IIKIiON A snake chased by

hunters asked a farmer to save its life. To hide it from its pursuers,

the farmer squatted and let the snake crawl into his belly. But when

the danger had passed and the farmer asked the snake to come out,

the snake refused. It was warm and safe inside. On his way home,

the man saw a heron and went up to him and whispered what had

happened. The heron told him to squat and strain to eject the snake.

When the snake snuck its head out, the heron caught it, pulled it out,

and killed it. The farmer was worried that the snake's poison might

still be inside him, and the heron told him that the cure for snake

poison was to cook and eat six white fowl. " You 're a white fo w I, "

said the farmer. "You'll do for a start." He grabbed the heron, put it in

a bag, and carried it home, where he hung it up while he told his wife

what had happened. "I'm surprised at you," said the wife. "The bird

does you a kindness, rids you of the evil in your belly, saves your life

in fact, yet you catch it and talk of killing it. " She immediately

released the heron, and it flew away. But on its way, it gouged out

her eyes. Moral: When you see water flo wing uphill, it

means that someone

that me emperor suddenly realized his predicament: The former

stable boy had more money, more allies in the army and senate, and

in the end more power than the emperor himself. A few weeks later,

after a night of heavy drinking, Michael awoke to find himself

surrounded by soldiers. Basilius watched as they stabbed the

emperor to death. Then, after proclaiming himself emperor, he rode

his horse through the streets of Byzantium, brandishing the head of

his former benefactor and best friend at die end of a long pike.

Interpretation

Michael III staked his future on the sense of gratitude he thought

Basilius must feel for him. Surely Basilius would serve him best; he

owed die emperor his wealtii, his education, and his position. Then,

once Basilius was in power, anything he needed it was best to give

to him, strengdiening the bonds between the two men. It was only on

the fateful day when the emperor saw that impudent smile on

Basilius's face diat he realized his deadly mistake.

He had created a monster. He had allowed a man to see power

up closea man who tiien wanted more, who asked for anything and

got it, who felt encumbered by the charity he had received and

simply did what many people do in such a situation: They forget the

favors they have received and imagine they have earned dieir

success by their own merits.

At Michael's moment of realization, he could still have saved his

own life, but friendship and love blind every man to their interests.

Nobody believes a friend can betray. And Michael went on

disbelieving until the day his head ended up on a pike.

Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.

Voltaire, 1694-1778

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

For several centuries after the fall of the Han Dynasty (a.D. 222),

Chinese history followed the same pattern of violent and bloody

coups, one after the other. Army men would plot to kill a weak

emperor, dien would replace him on the Dragon Throne with a strong

general. The general would start a new dynasty and crown himself

emperor; to ensure his own survival he would kill off his fellow

generals. A few years later, however, die pattern would resume: New

generals would rise up and assassinate him or his sons in their turn.

To be emperor of China was to be alone, surrounded by a pack of

enemiesit was die least powerful, least secure position in the realm.

In A.D. 959, General Chao K'uang-yin became Emperor Sung.

He knew die odds, die probability diat witiiin a year or two he would

be murdered; how could he break the pattern Soon after becoming

emperor, Sung ordered a banquet to celebrate the new dynasty, an