The 48 Laws Of Power

94 LAW 12

Authority:

WhenDukeHsien

ofChinwasabouttoraid

Yii,

he

presented

to thema

jade

anda team ofhorses. When

EarlChih wasaboutto

raid

Cl1’ou~yu,

he

presented

to

them

grand

chariots. Hence

the

saying:

“When

you

are

about

to take.

you

should

give." (Han-feivtzn,

Chinese

philosopher,

third

century

B.C.}

REVERSAL

When

you

havea

history

ofdeceitbehind

you,

noamountof

honesty,gen-

erosity,

orkindnesswillfool

people.

Infactitwill

only

callattentiontoit-

self.Once

people

havecometosee

you

as

deceitful,

toacthonestallofa

suddenis

simplysuspicious.

Inthesecasesitisbetterto

play

the

rogue.

Count

Lustig,pulling

the

biggest

canofhis

career,

was

about

tosell

the

EiffelTowerto

an

unsuspecting

indusixialistwhobelievedthe

govern-

mentwas

auctioning

itofffor

scrap

metal.Theindustrialistwas

prepared

tohandovera

huge

sumof

money

to

Lustig,

whohad

successfullyimper-

sonateda

government

official.Atthelast

minute,however,

themarkwas

suspicious.Something

about

Lustig

botheredhim.At

the

meeting

in

which

hewas

tohandoverthe

money,Lustig

sensedhissuddendistrust.

Leaning

overtothe

industrialist,Lustigexplained,

inalow

whisper,

howlowhis

salary

was,

howdifficulthisfinances

were,

onandon.Aftera

fewminutesof

this,

theindustlialistrealizedthat

Lustig

was

asking

fora

bribe.Forthefirsttime

he

relaxed.Nowheknewhe

couldtrust

Lustig:

Since

all

government

officialswere

dishonest,

Lustig

hadtobereal.The

manforkedoverthe

money.Byacting

dishonest,

Lustig

seemedthereal

McCoy.

Inthiscaseselective

honesty

wouldhavehadthe

opposite

effect.

AstheFrench

diplomatTalleyrandgrew

older,

his

reputation

asamas-

terliarand

deceiver

spread.

At

the

Congress

ofVienna

(1814-1815),

he

would

spin

fabulousstoriesandmake

impossible

remarlmto

people

who

knewhehadtobe

lying.

His

dishonesty

hadno

purpose

except

tocloak

themomentswhenhe

really

was

deceiving

them.One

day,

for

example,

amongfriends,

Talleyrand

saidwith

apparentsincerity,

“Inbusinessone

ought

toshow

one’shand.”

No

one

who

heardhimcouldbelievetheir

ears:

A

manwhoneveronceinhislifehadshownhiscardswas

telling

other

people

toshowtheirs.Tacticslikethismadeit

impossible

todistin-

guish

Talleyi-and’s

real

decepfions

fromhisfakeones.

By

embracing

his

reputation

for

dishonesty,

he

preserved

his

ability

todeceive.

Nothing

intherealmof

power

issetinstone.Overt

deceptiveness

will

sometimescover

your

tracks,

even

makingyou

admiredforthe

honesty

of

yourdishonesty.