The 48 Laws Of Power

PREFACE

The

feeling

of

having

no

power

over

people

andeventsis

generally

un-

bearabletous«—-whenwefeel

helpless

wefeel

miserable.Noonewantsless

power;everyone

wantsmore.Intheworld

today,

however,

itis

dangerous

toseemtoo

powerhungry,

tobeovertwith

yourpower

moves.Wehave

toseemfairanddecent.Soweneedtobe

subtle~—congenialyetcunning,

democratic
yet

devious.

This

game

ofconstant

duplicity

most

resembles

the

powerdynamic

that
existed
inthe

scheming

world

of

theoldaristocraticcourt.

Throughout

history,

acourthas

always

formeditselfaroundthe

person

in

power—king,

queen,emperor,

leader.Thecourtierswhofilledthiscourtwereinan

espe-

cially

delicate

position:They

hadtoservetheir

masters,

butif

they

seemed

to
fawn,

if

they

curriedfavortoo

obviously,

theothercourtiersaround

themwouldnoticeandwouldact

against

them.

Attempts

towinthemas-

ter’s
favor,then,
hadtobesubtle.Andevenskilledcourtiers

capable

of

such

subtlety

stillhadto

protect

themselvesfromtheirfellow

courtiers,

whoatallmomentswere

scheming

to

push

themaside.

Meanwhilethecourt

was

supposed

to

represent

the

height

ofciviliza-

tionandrefinement.Violentorovert
power

moveswerefrowned

upon;

counierswouldwork

silently

and

secretly

against

anyamong

themwho

usedforce.Thiswasthecouxtier’sdilemma:While

appearing

the

very

paragon

of

elegance,

they

hadtooutwitandthwarttheirown

opponents

in

the

subtlestof

ways.

Thesuccessfulcomtierlearnedovertimetomakeall

ofhismoves

indirect;

ifhestabbedan

opponent

inthe

back,

itwaswitha

velvet

glove

onhishandandthesweetestofsmilesonhisface.Insteadof

using

coercion or

outrighttreachery,

the

perfect

courtier

got

his

way

through

seduction,charm,

deception,

and

subtle

strategy,alwaysplanning

severalmovesahead.Lifeinthecourtwasa

never-endinggame

thatre-

quired

constant

vigilance

andtactical

thinking.

Itwascivilizedwar.

Today

wefacea

peculiarly

similar

paradox

tothatofthecourtier:

Everything

must

appear

civilized,

decent,democratic,

andfair.Butifwe

playby

thoserulestoo

strictly,

ifwetakethemtoo

literally,

we

are

crushed

by

thosearounduswhoarenotsofoolish.Asthe

great

Renaissance

diplo-

matandcourtierNiccoloMachiavelli

wrote,

“Any

manwhotriestobe

good

allthetimeisboundtocometoruin

among

the

great

numberwho

arenot

good.”

Thecourt

imagined

itselfthe

pinnacle

of

refinement,

butun-

PREFACE .1’1:{z'