The 48 Laws Of Power

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LAW12

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAW

Sometimein

1926,

a

tall,

dapperly

dressed

man

paid

avisittoAl

Capone,

the

mostfeared

gangster

ofhis

time.

Speaking

withan

elegant

Continental

accent,

themanintroducedhimselfasCountVictor

Lustig.

He

promised

thatif

Caponegave

him

$50,000

hecoulddoubleit.

Capone

hadmore

than

enough

fundstocoverthe

“investment,”

buthewasn’tinthe

habit

of

entrustinglarge

sumstototal

strangers.

He

lookedthecountover:Same-

thing

about

theman

was

different-—-his

classystyle,

hismanna-r—andso

Capone

decidedto

play

along.

Hecountedout{hebills

personally

and

handedthemto

Lustig.“Okay,

Count,”

said

Capone.

“Doubleitin

sixty

days

like

you

said.”

Lustig

leftwiththe

money,put

itina

safe—deposit

box

in

Chicago,

then

headedtoNew

York,

wherehehadseveralother

money-

making

schemesin

progress.

The

$50,000

remainedinthebankboxuntouched.

Lustig

madenoef-

forttodoubleit.Twomonthslaterheretumedto

Chicago,

tookthe

money

fromthe

box,

and

paidCapone

anothervisit.Helookedatthe

gangstefs

stony~facedbodyguards,

smiled

apologetically,

and

said,

“Please

acceptmy

profoundregrets,

Mr.

Capone.

I’m

sorry

to

report

thatthe

plan

failed. ..I

failed.”

Caponeslowly

stood

up.

He

glowered

at

Lustig,debating

which

part

oftherivertothrowhimin.Butthecountreachedintohiscoat

pocket,

withdrewthe

$50,000,

and

placed

itonthe

desk.

“Here,sir,

is

yourmoney,

to

the

penny.Again,my

sincere

apologies.

Thisismost

embarrassing.

Things

didn’tworkout

the

way

I

thoughtthey

would.Iwouldhaveloved

tohavedoubled

yourmoney

for

you

andfor

myself»-—Lord

knowsIneed

it--butthe

planjust

didn’tmaterialize.”

Caponesagged

backintohis

chair,

confused.“Iknow

you’re

acon

man,Count,”

said

Capone.

“Iknew

itthemoment

you

walkedinhere.

I

expected

either

one

hundredthousanddollarsor

nothing.

Butthis

.

..

get-

ting

my

money

back..

.

well.”

“Againmyapologies,

ML

Capone,”

said

Lustig,

ashe

pickedup

hishatand

began

toleave.

“My

God!You’rehon-

est!”

yelledCapone.

“If

you’re

on

the

spot,

here’s

fiveto

helpyoualong.”

He

countedoutfiveone—thousand~dollarbillsoutofthe

$50,000.

The

countseemed

stunned,

bowed

deeply,

mumbledhis

thanks,

and

left,

tak-

ing

the

money.

The

$5,000

waswhat

Lustig

hadbeenafterall

along.

Interpretation

CountVictor

Lustig,

amanwho

spoke

several

languages

and

prided

him-

selfonhisrefinementand

culture,

wasoneofthe

great

conarfistsofmod-

erntimes. Hewasknown forhis

audacity,

his

fearlessness,

and,

most

important,

his

knowledge

ofhuman

psychology.

Hecouldsize

up

amanin

minutes,

discovering

his

weaknesses,

andhehadradarfor

suckers.

Lustig

knewthat

most

menbuild

up

defenses

against

crooksandothertrouble-

makers.Theconartists

job

isto

bring

thosedefensesdown.

Onesure

way

todothisis

through

anactof

apparentsincerity

and

honesty.

Whowilldistrusta

personliterallycaught

inthe

actof

being

hon-