The 48 Laws Of Power

148 LAW 20

of

respect.

You

instantly

seem

powerful

because

you

make

yourself

un-

graspable,

ratherthan

succumbing

tothe

group,

ortothe

relationship,

as

most

people

do.Thisauraof

poweronlygrows

withtime:As

yourreputa-

tionfor

independencegrows,

moreandmore

people

willcometodesire

you,wanting

tobetheonewho

getsyou

tocommit.Desireislikeavirus:If

weseethatsomeoneisdesired

by

other

people,

wetendtofindthis

person

desirabletoo.

Themoment

you

commit,

the

magic

is

gone.

Youbecomelike

every-

oneelse.

People

will

try

allkindsof

underhandedmethodsto

getyou

to

commit.

They

will

giveyougifts,

shower

you

with

favors,

all

to

putyou

under

obligation.Encourage

the

attention,

stimulatetheir

interest,

butdo

notcommitat

any

cost.

Accept

the

gifts

andfavorsif

you

so

desire,

butbe

carefultomaintain

your

inneraloofness,Youcannot

inadvertently

allow

yourself

tofeel

obligated

to

anyone.

Remember,

though:

The

goal

isnotto

putpeople

off,

ortomakeitseem

that

you

are

incapable

ofcommitment.Likethe

VirginQueen,you

needto

stirthe

pot,

excite

interest,

lure

people

withthe

possibility

of

havingyou.

Youhavetobendtotheirattention

occasionally,

then——butnevertoofar:

TheGreeksoldierandstatesmanAlcibiades

played

this

game

to

per-

fection.ItwasAlcibiadeswho

inspired

andledthemassiveAthenianat-

madathatinvaded

Sicily

in 414 BC.WhenenviousAtheniansbackhome

triedto

bring

himdown

by

accusing

himof

trumpedupcharges,

hede-

fectedtothe

enemy,

the

Spartans,

insteadof

facing

atrialbackhome.

Then,

aftertheAtheniansweredefeatedat

Syracuse,

heleft

Sparta

for

Persia,

even

though

the

power

of

Sparta

was

nowonthe

rise.

Now,however,

boththe

Atheniansandthe

Spartans

courtedAlcibiadesbecauseofhis

influence

withthe

Persians;

andthePentansshoweredhimwithhonorsbecauseof

his

power

overtheAtheniansandthe

Spartans.

Hemade

promises

to

every

sidebutcommittedto

none,

andintheendheheldallthecards.

If

youaspire

to

power

and

influence,

try

theAlcibiadestactic:Put

yourself

inthemiddlebetween

competingpowers.

Lureonesidewiththe

promise

of

yourhelp;

theother

side,

alwayswanting

tooutdoits

enemy,

will

pursueyou

aswell.Aseachsideviesfor

your

attention,

you

willim-

mediately

seema

person

of

great

influenceand

desirability.

More

power

willaccrueto

you

thanif

you

had

rashly

committedtooneside.To

perfect

thistactic

you

needto

keepyourselfinwardly

freefromemotionalentan-

glements,

andtoviewallthosearound

you

as

pawns

in

your

risetothe

top.

Youcannotlet

yourself

becomethe

lackey

for

any

cause.

Inthemidstofthe 1968 U.S.

presidential

election,

HenryKissinger

made

a

phone

calltoRichardNixon’steam.

Kissinger

hadbeenallied

with

Nelson

Rockefeller,

who

had

unsuccessfullysought

the

Republican

nomina-

tion.Now

Kissinger

offeredto

supply

theNixon

camp

withvaluableinside

informationonthe

negotiations

for

peace

inVietnamthatwerethen

going

oninParis.Hehadamanonthe

negotiating

team

keeping

himinformedof

thelatest

developments.

TheNixonteam

gladlyaccepted

hisoffer.

Atthesame

time,however,

Kissinger

also

approached

theDemocratic

nominee,

Hubert

Humphrey,

andofferedhisaid.The

Humphreypeople