The 48 Laws Of Power

create
enemies.Therewillbe

peopleyou

cannotwin

over,

whowillre~

main
your

enemiesnomatterwhat.Butwhateverwound

you

inflictedon

them,

deliberately

or

not,

donottaketheirhatred

personally.

justrecog»

nizethatthereisno

possibility

of

peace

between

you,especially

as

long

as

youstay

in

power.

If

you

letthemstick

around,

they

willseek

revenge,

as

certainly

as

night

follows

day.

To

waitfor

themtoshowtheircardsis

just

silly;

as

Empress

Wu

understood,

by

thenitwillbetoolate.

Berealistic:Withan

enemy

likethis

around,

you

willneverbesecure.

Rememberthelessonsof

history,

andthewisdomofMosesandMao:

Never
go

halfway.

Itis

not,

of

course,

a

question

of

murder,

it

is

a

question

ofbanishment.

Sufficiently

weakenedandthenexiledfrom

your

court

forever,

your

ene-

miesarerenderedharmless.

They

haveno

hope

of

recovering,

insinuating

themselvesand

hurtingyou.

Andif

they

cannotbe

banished,

atleastun-

derstandthat

they

are

plottingagainstyou,

and

pay

noheedtowhatever

friendliness

theyfeign.

Your

onlyweapon

insuchasituation

is

your

own

war-iness.
If
you

cannotbanishthem

immediately,

then

plot

forthebest

timetoact.

Image:

A

Viper

crushed

beneath

your

footbutleft

alive,

willrear

up

andbite

you

withadoubledoseof

venom. An

enemy

thatis

left around

is like ahalf-

deacl

viper

that

you

nurse

backtohealth.Timemakes

the venom

grow stronger.

Authority:

Foritmustbe

noted,

thatmenmusteitherbe

caressedorelse

annihilated;

they

will

revenge

themselves

forsmall

injuries,

butcannot

dosofor

great

ones;

the

injury

thereforethatwedotoaman

mustbesuchthatweneednot

fearhis

vengeance.

{Niccolo

Machiavelli, 1469-1527}

LAW 15

;

113