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The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers |
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
opposite – inspire 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 friends-they
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, envelope 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 Reputation – Guard it with your Life
Reputation is the
cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate
and win; once you slip, 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 you – use 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 gains – then attack. You hold the cards.
Law
9
Win through your Actions, Never through Argument
Any momentary triumph
you think 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 misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease. 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 bring down 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 gift – a Trojan
horse – will serve the same purpose.
Law
13
When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest,
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, a fire 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 Yourself – Isolation is
Dangerous
The world is dangerous
and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves. A
fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it
protects you from – it 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 with – Do 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
others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.
Law 21
Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark
No one likes feeling
stupider than the next persons. The trick, is to make your victims
feel smart – and 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 you – surrender first. By turning the other
check 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 their strongest point. You
gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from
one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity 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 mot 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 25
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 if for
you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions
– your 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 27
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.
Law 28
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 work – it 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. Force 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 for
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 33
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
hurry – hurrying 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 power – everyone 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 are 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 dangerous – it 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 price – there 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 individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the
poisoned 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 them – they 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 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 overconfidence 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.
