The 48 Laws Of Power

When

you

rneeta

swordsman,

draw

your

rwnrd:Donotrecita

poetry

10 onewhois

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Fuom/\CH‘/\N

Bcnmusi

CLASSIC.

OU(7TF]')

IN

‘lHllNl)l—iRINTHE;

sou’,

TR.-\:~sL.r\TEoBY

THOMAS

(l/I,F,ARY.

1993

TIII:ll|",\l,\(.l'I)!‘

I.()|‘|‘,l>I:\(;lIHKIC

[Ln]/edc]Agltirreir

riharactcr1'’

amply

illustrate‘/1

in

im

urirc»

dour

from

(ht?chronicle

uf(}¢Ir(7il11.rlI

de‘la

Vega.

whorelatedthat

in 1548

Aguirre

wasa

member
ofaplatoonof

wliliers

excortirig

Indianslaves

from

the

mine:atPaton’

[Bolivia]

toa

royal

treasury11512111.

The

Indianswere

illegally

lmrtlrmezlwith

great

quantitiesofstlver,

and

II[oral

0/flrriul

urrevteil

Aguirre.senwricing

himtoreceivetwo

hundredlashesinlieu

oft:fineforappraising

theIndians.“The

soldier

Aguirre,lutving

rrrcmvrerla

notificatitm

nflhe

verztertce,

hesuughl

thealcalde

that,

iris‘t1'ml

of/lugging

him

hewould

put

him

Indeath,

for

thathe‘

wasa

gentlemanby

birth... .Allthishad

no
effect
onthe
alcalde,

whoorderedtheexecu-

tionerto

bring

a

beast,

andeiemtethe

.\'(mteI1(‘e.The1-,xer:u—

tionrrcametothe

138 LAW 19

OPPON

ENTS,SUCKERS,

ANDVICTIMS:

PreliminaryTypology

In

your

riseto

poweryou

willcomeacross

many

breeds

of

opponent,

sucker,

andvictim.The

highest

formoftheartof

power

isthe

ability

todis-

tinguish

thewolvesfromthe

lambs,

thefoxesfromthe

hares,

thehawks

fromthevultures.If

you

makethisdistinction

well,

you

willsucceedwith»

out

needing

tocoerce

anyone

toomuch. Butif

you

deal

blindly

with

whomevercrosses

yourpath,you

willhavealifeofconstant

sorrow,

if

you

evenlivethat

long.Being

ableto

recognizetypes

of

people,

andtoactac-

cordingly,

iscritical.The

following

arethefivemost

dangerous

anddiffi-

cult

types

ofmark in the

jungle,

as identified

by

artists—con and

othetwise——ofthe

past

The

Arrogant

andProud Man.

Although

he

mayinitiallydisguise

it,

this man’s

touchypride

makeshim

very dangerous.Anyperceived

slight

willleadtoa

vengeance

of

overwhelming

violence.You

maysay

to

yourself,

“ButI

only

saidsuch-and-suchata

party,

where

everyone

was

drunk....”Itdoesnotmatter.Thereisno

sanity

behindhis

over-reaction,

sodonotwastetime

trying

to

figure

himout.Ifat

anypoint

in

your

deal

ings

witha

personyou

senseanoversensitiveandoveractive

pride,

flee.

Whatever

you

are

hoping

forfromhimisn'tworthit.

The

Hopelessly

InsecureMan.Thismanis

relatedtothe

proud

andar-

roganttype,

butislessviolentandharderto

spot.

His

ego

is

fragile,

his

senseofself

insecure,

andifhefeelshimselfdeceivedor

attacked,

thehurt

willsimmer.Hewillattack

you

inbitesthatwilltakeforeverto

getbig

enough

for

you

tonotice.If

you

find

you

havedeceivedorharmedsucha

man,

disappear

fora

long

time.Donot

stay

aroundhimorhewillnibble

you

todeath.

Mr.

Suspicion.

Anothervariantonthebreeds

above,

thisisafuture

_]oe

Stalin.Heseeswhathewantsto

see—usually

theworst—inother

people,

and

imagines

that

everyone

isafterhim.Mr.

Suspicion

isinfacttheleast

dangerous

ofthethree:

Genuinely

unbalanced,

heis

easy

to

deceive,

just

as

Stalinhimselfwas

constantly

deceived.

Play

onhis

suspicious

natureto

get

himtoturn

against

other

people.

Butif

you

dobecomethe

target

ofhissus-

picions,

watchout.

The

Serpent

witha

LongMemory.

If

hurtor

deceived,

thismanwill

showno

anger

onthe

surface;

hewillcalculateandwait.

Then,

whenheis

ina

position

toturnthe

tables,

hewillexacta

revenge

marked

by

acold-

bloodedshrewdness.

Recognize

thisman

by

hiscalculationand

cunning

in

thedifferentareasofhislife.Heis

usually

coldandunaffectionate.Bedou-

bly

carefulofthis

snake,

andif

you

have

somehow

injured

him,

either

crushhim

completely

or

get

himoutof

yoursight.

The

Plain,

Unassuming,

andOften

Unintelligent

Man.

Ah,

your

ears

prickup

when

you

findsucha

tempting

victim.Butthismanisa

lotharder