The 48 Laws Of Power

LIXW 20

page

14;)’

DONOTCOMMITTOANYONE

Itisthe

fool

who

always

rushestotakesides.Donotcommitto

any

sideorcausebut

yourseh‘.Bymaintaining

yourindependence,you

becomethemaster

of(ufhers—~playingj7eo[1le

against

one

another:

making

them

pursue

you.

LAW 21

page

156

PLAYASUCKERTOCATCHASUCKER—--SEEMDUMBER

THAN

YOURMARK

Noone

likesjeelingsmpider

thanthenext

person.

The

trick,then,

istomake

your

victims

jeel

smart—andnot

just
smart,
outsmarterthan
you

are.Onceconvinced

o/"this,they

willnever

suspect

that

youmay

haveulte-

riormotives‘

LAW 22

page

163

USETHESURRENDERTACTIC:TRANSFORMWEAKNESSINTOPOWER

When

you

are

weaker;

neverfightfor

honor’s

sake;

choosesurrender

instead.

Surrender

givesyou

timetone-

couer,time

totormentandirritate

yourconqueror;

timeto

waitfor

his

power

towane.Donot

give

himthesat»

isfactionof

fighting

and

defeatingyou——surrenderfirst.Byturning

theothercheek

youinfiiriate

andunsettle

him.Makesurrenderatool

ofprmren

LAVV 23

page

171

CONCENTRATE

YOUR

FORCES

Conserve

yourforces

and

energies

by

keeping

themconrentratedattheir

stwngastjsaint.

You

gain

more

byfind~

ing

arichmineand

mining

it

deeper;

than

byflittingfrom

oneshallowmineto

anotherwintensttydefeats

ex-

tensityevery

time.When

lookingfor

sourres

ofpower

toelevate

you,find

theone

keypatron,

the

fat

cowwho

will

give

youmilhjor

a

longtime

to

LAW

24

page

178

PLAYTHEPERFECTCOURTIER

The

perfect

eourtierthrivesinaworldwhere

everything

revolvesaround

power

and

political

dexterity‘

Hehas

masteredtheart

of

indirection;

he

flutters,yields

to

superiors,

andasserts

power

overothersinthemost

oblique

and

graceful

mannerLearnand

apply

thelaws

ofcorurtiership

andtherewillbenolimittohow

faryou

can

riseinthecourt.

LAW 25

page19;/'

RE-CREATE

YOURSELF

Donot

acvept

therolesthat

societyfoists

on

you.

Rmreate

yourselfbyforging

anew

identity,

onethatcom-

mandsattentionandnever

bonesthe

audience.

Be

the

master

ofyour

own

image

ratherthan

letting

othersde-

fine

it

foryou.Ineorporate

dramaticdevicesinto

yourpublicgestures

and

octiom——your

power

willbe

enhancedand

your

characterwillseem

larger

than

life.

LAW 26

page

200

KEEPYOURHANDSCLEAN

Kmmustseema

paragon

of

civility

and Yourhandsareneversoiled

by

mistakesand

nasty

deeds.

Maintainsucha

spotlessafrpearancebyusing

othersas

scapegoats

and

eativpaws

to

disguiseyour

in»

volvement.

xii CONTENTS