The 48 Laws Of Power

backs,

butwho

laughed

loudestintheend?In

general,

then,

always

make

people

believe

they

aresmarterand

more

sophisticated

than

you

are.

They

will

keepyou

aroundbecause

you

makethemfeelbetterabout

themselves,

andthe

longeryou

are

around,

themore

opportunitiesyou

willhavetodo

ceivethem.

Ima.

g

e 2

The

Opossum.

In

playing

dead,

the

opossumplaysstupid.

Many

a

predator

hasthereforeleftit

alone. Who couldbelieve thatsuchan

ugly, unintelligent,

nervous little creature

could be

capable

of such

deception?

Authority:

Knowhowtomakeuseof

stupidity:

The

wisest

man

plays

thiscardat

times.Thereareoccasionswhenthe

highest

wisdomconsistsin

appearing

notto

know—you

mustnotbe

ign0—

rantbut

capable

of

playing

it. Itisnotmuch

goodbeing

wise

among

foolsandsane

among

lunatics.Hewho

poses

asafoolisnot

afool.Thebest

way

tobewell

received

by

allistoclothe

yourself

intheskin

of

the

dumbestofbrutes.

(BaltasarGracién,

1601-1658)

REVERSA14

Toreveal

thetruenatureof

yourintelligencerarelypays;you

should

get

in

thehabitof

downplaying

itatalltimes.If

people

inadvertently

learnthe

truth—-that

you

are

actually

muchsmarterthan

youlook--«they

willadmire

you

morefor

being

discreetthanfor

makingyour

brilliance

show.

Atthe

startof

your

climbtothe

top,

of

course,

you

cannot

play

too

stupid:

You

may

want

tolet

your

bosses

know,

inasubtle

way,

that

you

aresmarter

thanthe

competition

around

you.

As

you

climbthe

ladder,

however,

you

shouldtosome

degreetry

to

dampenyour

brilliance.

There

is,however,

onesituation

where

it

pays

todothe

opposite-

when

you

cancover

up

a

deception

withashow

of

intelligence.

Inmatters

ofsmartsasinmost

things,appearances

arewhatcount.If

you

seemto

have

authority

and

knowledge,

people

willbelievewhat

yousay.

Thiscan

be

very

usefulin

getting

you

outofa

scrape.

Theartdealer

Joseph

Duveenwasonce

attending

a

soiréeattheNew

Yorkhomeofa

tycoon

towhom

hehad

recently

soldaDiirer

painting

for

LAW 21

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