The 48 Laws Of Power

Youcannotsucceedat deception unless you takeasomewhatdis- tanced approach to yourself——-unlessyou canbe many different people, w ...

xxii PREFACE r“'"“”‘fi lifeis short, opportunities are few, and you have only somuch energy to drawon.Andinthissensetimeisas imp ...

probably findthatallofthemhavesome application, andthatinfact they areinterrelated. Bygetting anoverviewoftheentire subject you ...

LAW I¢E\/EI{()[TTSI{IDJE 'TIIE B4AiYFEI{ JUDGMENT Always makethoseshave yaufeelcomfartablysuperior In your desimto ptease and im ...

9 LAW 1 TRANSCRESSIONOFTHELAW Nicolas Fouquet, LouisXIV’sfinanceminister in thefirst years ofhis reign, wasa generous manwholove ...

decorators, and gardendesigner. Andat Versailles, Louishosted parties even more extravagant thantheonethatcost Fouquet his freed ...

-1’ , LAW] honoring theMedicis’ greatness. Shortly afterthe discovery, heannounced that“the bright stars [the moonsof jupiterl o ...

superior tothosearoundthemin intelligence, wit, andcharm.Itisa. deadly butcommon misperception to believethat bydisplaying and v ...

6 LAW 1 an unforgivable miscalculationofhisown importance andhe paid forit with hislife. Remember the following: Never take your ...

Authority: Avoid outsliining themaster.All superiority is odious, butthe superiority ofa subject overhis prince isnot onlystupid ...

LAW NEVERPUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS, LEARN HOWTO USE ENEMIES JU DGMENT Be waryzyffn'emds-they will betrayyou more quickly,for ...

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHELAW Inthe mid—ninth century A.l.)., a young man namedMichaelIII assumed thethroneofthe ByzantineEmpire. His mo ...

rt |'|Ha >.\,\|\l2 |‘lll-. \l{Mlxlt.»\\l)‘l‘Hl“ é€|<1R()\ /\ makechased by Imnterisas/(eda furrrwr Inlaveifs life. Tohidei ...

dismissedthe guards and everybody else except the generals, whonow fearedhewouldmurdertheminonefell swoop. Instead, headdressed ...

brave.An,Old friim/I-— whoneedshim?Itis twomen ofeqnal wealthand equal birth who rmi1racrfrier1d- ship and marriage, not (1 rich ...

for so many centuries, thatitis trulyamazing that people continuetoun derestimatethem.Bettertobe wary. If you never expect grati ...

14 LAW 2 then, to use enemiesasenemiesrather than transforming themintofriends orallies. Mao Tse-tung sawconflictas key in his a ...

Image: The jaws of Ingrzttitude. Knowing whatwould happen if youput a finger in themouthofa lion, you would stay clear of it. VV ...

16 LAW CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS JUD GMENT Keeppeopleojfbalancc andinthedark by neverreveal- ing the purpose behind your actions. ...

PARTI:USEDECOYED OBJECTS OFDESIREANDRED HERRINGSTOTHROWPEOPLEOFFTHESCENT If at any point inthe deceptionyoupracticepeople haveth ...