The 48 Laws Of Power

LAW 14

page

107

POSEASA

FRIEND,

WORKAS

ASPY

Knowing

about

your

rival

is

critical.Use

spies

to

gather

valuable

information

thatwill

keep

you

a

step

ahead.

Betterstill:

Play

the

spyyourself

In

polite

social

encounters,

learnto

probe.

Askindirect

questions

to

getpeople

torevealtheirweaknessesandintentions.Thereisnooccasionthatisnotan

opportunity

finr

artfulspying.

LAWJ

page

107

CRUSHYOURENEMYTOTALLY

All
great

leaderssinceAdoseshaveknownthata

fearedenemy

mustbecrushed

completely.

(Sometimes

they

havelearnedthisthehard

way.)If

oneemberis

leftalight,

nomatterhow

dimly

it

smolders,

a

fire

willeventu-

ally

breakout.Moreislost

throughstoppinghalfway

than

through

totalannihilation:The

enemy

will

recover,

andwillseek

revenge.

Crush

him,

not

only

in

body

butin

spirit.

LAW 16

page

115

USEABSENCETOINCREASERESPECTAND

HONOR

Toomuchcirculationmakesthe

pricego

down:Themore

you

areseenandheard

from,

themorecommon

you

appear

If

you

are

already

establishedina

group,temporary

withdrawal

from

itwillmake

you

moretalked

about,

evenmoreadmired.Youmustlearnwhentoleave.Createvalue

throughscarcity.

LAW 17

page

1:

KEEPOTHERSINSUSPENDEDTERROR:CULTIVATEANAIROFUNPREDICTABILITY

Humans

are

creatures

of

habit

withan

insatiableneedto

see

familiarity

inother

peoples

actions.Your

pre-

dictability

gives

themasense

of

control.Turnthetables:Be

deliberatelyunpredictable.

Behaviorthatseemsto

haveno

consistency

or

purpose

will

keep

them

off—balance,

and

they

willwearthemselvesout

trying

to

explain

your

moves.Taken

toan

extreme,

this

strategy

canintimidateandterrorize.

LAW 18

page

130

DONOTBUILDFORTRESSESTOPROTECTYOURSELF—ISOLATIONISDANGEROUS

Theworldis

dangerous

andmemiesare

everywhere——et/eryone

hasto

protect

themselves.A

fortres.s

seemsthe

safest.

Butisolation

exposesyou

to

more

dangers

thanit

protectsyoufrorn—-—it

cuts

youoffflom

valuablein-

formation,

itmakes

youconspicuous

andan

easy

target.

Bettertocirculate

amongpeople,find

allies,

mingle.

Youareshielded

fromyour

by

thecrowd.

LAWno

page

137

KNOWWHOYOU'REDEALINGWITH—DONOTOFFENDTHEWRONGPERSON

Thereare

manydifferent

kinds

ofpeople

inthe

world,

and

you

canneverassumethat

everyone

willreactto

yourstrategies

inthesame

way.

Deceiveoroutmaneuversome

people

and

they

will

spend

therest

of

theirlives

seekingrevenge.They

arewolvesin

lambs’

clothing.

Choose

your

victimsand

opponentscarefully,

then—

never

offend

ordeceivethe

wrong

person.

CONTENTS xi