The 48 Laws Of Power

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Art
eagle

builtaneston

atree,andhatchedout

some

euglets.

Andfl

wildsow

brought

her

litterumierthetree.

T111’

aagfe

used

tofly

off’after

her

prey.

and

bring

itbacktoher

young.

Andthesow

rooted

around

thetree

and

huntedin

the

woods,

andwhen

night

came

she

would

bring

her

youngsomething

toeat.

Andthe

eagle

andthe

sowlivedin

neighborly

fashion.

Anda

grimalkin

laidher

plum‘

to

destroy

the

eaglezs

andthelittle

Sucrkingpigr

Shewent

to

the

eagle,

andsaid:

"Eagle,you

hadbetter

nalflyveryfaraway.

Beware

ofthesow;shc

ix

planning

an

evil

design.

Sheis

going

(0

undemzinetheroots

of

the

tree.Yousee

she

is‘

rooting

ah?thetime."

Thenthe

grmuzlkin

wenttothesowand

mid:

"Saw,

you

have

not 42

goodtteighbor.

Last

Uvfntng

Iheard

the

eaglesaying

toher

eagles‘:

‘M

y

dear(title

eaglels,1

am

going

to

treat

you

toa

nicelittle

pig.

Justassoonasthe

rowis
gone,

Iwill

bring

you

it

little

young

suckingpig.

‘"

Fromthattimethe

eagle

ceased

tojiy

out

afterprey,

madthe

sow

didnot

goany

more

into

thr_fnre.vt.

The

euglets

andthe

young

pigsperished

o

f

.§‘!l1t'\’fl~

tion.mm‘

grimztlkin

fenstrci

onthem.

mnx.r=.s,

1,150ToLSTOY.

[R28-#1010

152' LAW 20

A

great

deal

changed

in

Italy

during

Isabella’s

reign:Popes

cameand

went,

Cesare

Borgia

roseandthen

fell,

Venicelostits

empire,

Milanwasin

vaded,

Florencefellinto

decline,

andRomewassacked

by

the

Hapsburg

Emperor

Charles

V.

Through

all

this,

tiny

Mantuanot

only

survivedbut

thrived,

itscourtthe

envy

of

Italy.

Itswealthand

sovereignty

wouldremain

intactfora

century

afterIsabella’s

death,

in1539.

Interpretation

Isabellad’Esteunderstood

Italy’spolitical

situationwith

amazingclarity:

Once

you

tookthesideof

any

oftheforcesinthe

field,you

weredoomed.

The

powerful

wouldtake

you

over,

theweakwouldwear

you

down.

Any

newalliancewouldleadtoanew

enemy,

andasthis

cycle

stirred

up

more

conflict,

other

forces

would

be

dragged

in,

until

you

couldno

longer

extri-

cate

yourself.Eventuallyyou

would

collapse

fromexhaustion.

Isabella

steered

her

kingdom

onthe

only

coursethatwould

bring

her

safelythrough.

Shewouldnotallowherselftoloseherhead

throughloy~

alty

toadukeora

king.

Norwouldshe

try

to

stop

theconflictthat

raged

aroundher---thatwould

onlydrag

herintoit.Andin

any

casetheconflict

wastoher

advantage.

If

dievarious

parties

were

fighting

tothe

death,

and

exhausting

themselves

in

the

process,they

wereinno

position

to

gobble

up

Mantua.ThesourceofIsabella’s

power

washerclever

ability

toseem

interestedintheaffairsandinterestsofeach

side,

while

actually

commib

ting

tonoonebutherselfandher

kingdom.

Once

youstep

intoa.

fight

thatisnot

of

your

own

choosing,you

loseall

initiative.

Thecombatants’interestsbecome

your

interests;

you

become

theirtool.Learntocontrol

yourself,

torestrain

your

natural

tendency

to

takesidesand

join

the

fight.

Be

friendly

and

charming

toeachofthecom~

batants,

then

step

backas

they

collide.V/Wth

every

battle

theygrow

weaker,

while

yougrowstronger

with

every

battle

you

avoid.

Whenthe

snipe

andthe

mussel

struggle,thefishetmangets

the

benefit.

AncientChinese

saying

KEYSTOPOWER

Tosucceedinthe

game

of

power,

you

havetomaster

your

emotions.But

evenif

you

succeedin

gaining

such

self-control,

you

cannevercontrolthe

temperamentaldispositions

ofthosearound

you.

Andthis

presents

a

great

danger.

Most

peopleoperate

ina

whirlpool

of

emotions,

constantly

react‘

ing,churningupsquabbles

and

conflicts.Yoursell’—contIol

and

autonomy

will

only

botherandinfuriatethem.

They

will

my

todraw

you

intothe

whirlpool,

begging

you

totakesidesintheirendless

battles,

ortomake

peace

forthem.If

you

succumbtotheiremotional

entreaties,

little

by

little

you

willfind

your

mindand

time

occupiedby

their

problems.

Donotallow

whatever

compassion

and

pityyoupossess

tosuck

you

in.Youcannever

wininthis

game;

theconflictscan

only

multiply.

Ontheother

hand,

you

cannot

completely

stand

aside,

forthatwould