The 48 Laws Of Power

to

destroy

Paris’s

city,Troy.

The

siege

lastedten

years,many

heroes

died,

yet

neithersidehadcomecloseto

victory.

One

day,

the

prophet

Calchas

assembledtheGreeks.

“Stopbatteringaway

at

thesewalls!”hetoldthem.“Youmustfind

some other
way,

some ruse.Wecannottake

Troyby

forcealone.We mustfindsome

cunning

stratagem.”

The cun—

ning

Greek leader

Odysseus

thencame

up

withtheideaof

building

a
giant

wooden

horse,

hiding

soldiersinside

it,

then
offering

itto the

Trojans

as a

gift.

Neoptolemus,

son of

Achilles,

was

disgusted

with this
idea;
it was
unmanly.

Better for

thousandstodieonthe battlefieldthan
to
gain

victory

so

deceitfully.

Butthe

soldiers,

faced

with
achoicebetween anotherten
years

of

manliness,honor,
and
death,
ontheonehand

anda

quickvictory

on the

other,

chosethe

horse,
whichwas
promptly

built.Thetrickwassuccessfuland

Troy

fell.

One

gift

didmorefortheGreekcausethanten

years

of

fighting.

Selectivekindnessshouldalsobe

part

of

your

arsenalof

deception.

For

years

theancientRomanshad

besieged

the

city

ofthe

Faliscans,

always

un~

successfully.

One

day,

however,

whentheRoman

general

Camilluswas

encamped

outsidethe

city,

he

suddenly

sawaman

leading

somechildren

towardhim.ThemanwasaFaliscan

teacher,

andthe

children,

itturned

out,

werethesonsand

daughters

ofthe

noblest

and

wealthiestcitizensof

thetown.Onthe
pretense

of

taking

thesechildrenoutfora

walk,

hehad

ledthem

straight

tothe

Romans,

offering

themas

hostages

in

hopes

ofin-

gratiating

himselfwith

Camillus,

the

city’senemy.

Camillusdidnottakethechildren

hostage.

He

stripped

the

teadier,

tiedhishandsbehindhis
back,
gave

eachchilda

rod,

andletthem

whip

himall
the
way

backtothe

city.

The

gesture

hadanimmediateeffecton

theFaliscans.HadCamillususedthechildrenas

hostages,

someinthe

city

wouldhavevotedtosurrender.AndeveniftheFaliscanshad
gone

on

fighting,

theirresistancewouldhavebeenhalfhearted.Camillus’srefusalto

take

advantage

ofthe

situationbrokedowntheFaliscans’

resistance,

and

they

surrendered.The

general

hadcalculated

correctly.

Andin

any

casehe

hadhad

nothing

tolose:Heknewthatthe

hostageploy

wouldnothave

endedthe
war,

atleastnot

rightaway.Byturning

thesituation

around,

he

earnedhis

enemy’s

trustand

respecgdisarming

them.Selectivekindness

willoftenbreakdowneventhemoststubbornfoe:
Aimingright

forthe

heart,

it

corrodesthe

will

to

fight

back.

Remember:

By

playing

on

people’s

emotions,

calculatedactsofkind-

nesscanturna

Capone

intoa

gullible

child.Aswith

any

emotional

ap-

proach,

thetacticmustbe

practiced

withcaution:If

people

see

through

it,

their

disappointedfeelings

of

gratitude

andwarmthwill

becomethemost

violenthatredanddistrustUnless
you

canmakethe

gesture

seemsincere

and

heartfelt,

donot

play

withfire.

Ima

g

e: The

Trojan

Horse.

Your

guile

is

hiddeninside

a

magnificent

gift

that

proves

irresistibleto

youropponent.

Thewalls

open.

Once

inside,

wreak havoc.

LAW 12

1

93