The 48 Laws Of Power

Harry

Cohnwasno

bleeding—heart

liberal;

in

fact,

hehad

always

been

adiehard

Republican.

Hisfavorite

politician

wasBenito

Mussolini,

whomhehadoncevis-

ited,

and

whoseframed

photohung

on

his

wall.If

there

was

someone

he

hatedCohnwouldcall

hima

“Communistbastard.”Buttotheexecutives’

amazementCohntoldthemhewouldnotfireLawson.Hedidnot

keep

the

screenwriteronbecausehewasa

good

Writer—therewere

manygood

writersin

Hollywood.

He

kept

himbecauseofachainof

dependence:

Lawsonwas

HumphreyBogart’s

writer

and

Bogart

wasColumbia’sstar.

If

CohnmessedwithLawsonhewouldruinan

immenselyprofitable

rela-

tionship.

Thatwasworthmorethantheterrible

publicitybrought

tohim

by

hisdefianceofthecommittee.

HenryKissingermanaged

tosurvivethe

manybloodlettings

thatwent

onintheNixon

White

Housenot

becausehe

was

thebest

diplomat

Nixon

couldfind—therewereotherfine

negotiators»--and

notbecausethetwo

men

gotalong

sowell:

They

didnot.Nordid

they

sharetheirbeliefsand

politics.Kissinger

survivedbecausehe entrenchedhimselfinso

many

areasofthe

political

structurethattodo

away

withhimwouldleadto

chaos.

Michelangeldspower

was

intensive,

depending

on

one

skill,

hisabil-

ity

asan

artist;

Kissinger’s

wasextensive.He

got

himselfinvolvedinso

manyaspects

and

departments

oftheadministrationthathisinvolvement

becameacardinhishand.Italsomadehim

many

allies.If

you

can

arrange

such a

position

for

yourself, getting

rid of

you

becomes

dangerous—all

sorts

of

interdependencies

willunravel.

Still,

the

intensive

formof

powerprovides

morefreedomthanthe

extensive,

becausethose

who haveit

depend

onno

particular

master,

or

particular

position

of

power,

fortheir

security.

Tomakeothers

dependent

on

you,

oneroutetotakeisthesecret-

intelligence

tactic.

Byknowing

other

people’s

secrets,

byholding

informa-

tionthat

they

wouldn’twant

broadcast,

you

seal

your

fatewiththeirs.You

areuntouchable.Ministersofsecret

police

haveheldthis

position

through»

outthe

ages:They

canmakeorbreaka

king,

or,

asinthecase

ofEdgar

Hoover,

a

president.

Butthe

role

issofullofinsecuritiesand

paranoia

that

the

power

it

provides

almostcancels

itself

out.

You

cannotrestat

ease,

and

what

good

is

power

ifit

brings

you

no

peace?

Onelast

warning:

Donot

imagine

that

your

master’s

dependence

on

you

willmakehimlove

you.

In

fact,

he

may

resentandfear

you.

But,

as

Machiavelli

said,

itisbettertobefearedthanloved.Fear

you

can

control;

love,

never.

Depending

onan

emotion

assubtleand

changeable

aslove

or

friendship

will

only

make

you

insecure.Bettertohaveothers

depend

on

you

outoffearofthe

consequences

of

losingyou

thanoutofloveof

your

company.

LAWII

187