The 48 Laws Of Power

Extendthelawof

scarcity

to

your

ownskills.Makewhat

you

areoffer-

ing

the

worldrareandhard

to

find,

and

youinstantly

increaseitsvalue.

There

always

comes

a

momentwhenthosein

poweroverstay

their

welcome.Wehave

grown

tiredof

them,

lost

respect

for

them;

we

seethem

asnodifferentfromtherestof

mankind,

whichisto

say

thatweseethemas

rather
worse,

sincewe

inevitablycompare

theircurrentstatusinour

eyes

totheir

formerone.Thereisanartto

knowing

whentoretire.Ifitis

done

right,youregain

the

respectyou

had

lost,

andretain

a

part

of

yourpower.

The

greatest

rulerofthesixteenth

century

wasCharlesV.

King

of

Spain,

Hapsburg

emperor,

he

governed

an

empire

thatatone

point

in-

clucledmuchof

Europe

andtheNewWorld.Yetatthe

height

ofhis

power,

in

1557,

he

retiredtothe

monastery

of

Yuste.

Allof

Europe

was

captivated

by

hissudden

withdrawal;

people

whohadhatedantifearedhim

suddenly

calledhim
great,

andhecametobeseenas

asaint.In

morerecent

times,

thefilmactressGretaGarbowasnevermoreadmiredthanwhenshere

tired,

in1941,Forsomeherabsencecametoosoon—sl1ewasinhermid-

thirties—but

she

wiselypreferred

to

leave

onherown

terms,

ratherthan

waiting

forher

audienceto

grow

tiredofher.

Make

yourself

tooavailableandtheauraof

poweryou

havecreated

around

yourself

willwear

away.

Turnthe

game

around:Make

yourself

less

accessible

and

you

increasethevalueof

yourpresence.

Authority:

Useabsencetocreate

respect

andesteem.

If

presence

diminishes

fame,

absence

augments

it.

Amanwhowhenabsentis

regarded

as

a

lionbecomeswhen

presentsomething

com-

monandridiculous. Talentslosetheir luster

ifwe

becometoofamiliarwith

them,

forthe

outer shell ofthe mind is more

readily

seen

thanitsrichinnerkernel.Eventheoutstand«

ing

genius

makesuseofretirementsothat

men

may

honor him

and so

that the

yearning

aroused

by

his

absence

may

causehimtobeesteemed.

(Baltasar

Grecian,

l60lvl658)

LAW 16 I21