The 48 Laws Of Power

COURT.‘3(C)ClE'l‘Y

Itisafactofhumannature

that

thestructureofacourt

society

formsitself

around

power.

Inthe

past,‘

thecourt

gathered

aroundthe

ruler,

and had

many

functions:Besides

keeping

theruler

amused,

itwasa

way

to

solidify

the

hierarchy

of

royalty,nobility,

andthe

upper

classes,

andto

keep

the

nobility

bothsubordinateandcloseto

the

ruler,

so

thathe

could

keep

an

eye

onthem.Thecourtserves

power

in

many

ways,

butmostofall

it

glori-

llesthe

ruler,

providing

himwithamicrocosmicworldthatmust

snuggle

to

please

him.

Tobeacourtierwasa

dangerousgame.

A

nineteentl1—century

Arab

travelertothe courtof

Darfur,

inwhat isnow

Sudan,

reported

that

courtierstherehadtodowhateverthesultandid:Ifhewere

injured,they

hadtosufferthesame

injury;

ifhefelloffhishorse

during

a

hunt,

they

fell,

too.

Mimicry

likethis

appeared

incouirsallovertheworld.Moretrouble

some

was

the

danger

of

displeasing

theruler-—-one

wrong

move

spelled

deathorexile.Thesuccessfulcourtierhad

towalka

tightrope,pleasing

but

not

pleasing

too

much,

obeying

butsomehow

distinguishing

himselffrom

theother

courtiers,

whilealsonever

distinguishing

himselfsofarasto

maketherulerinsecure.

Greatcourtiers

throughouthistory

havemasteredthescienceof

ma-

nipulatingpeople.They

makethe

king

feelmore

kingly;they

make

every-

oneelsefeartheir

power.They

are

magicians

of

appearance,knowing

that

most

things

atcourtare

judgedby

how

they

seem.Greatcoui-tiersare

grate

citrusand

polite;

their

aggression

isveiledandindirect,Mastersofthe

word,

they

never

say

morethan

necessary,getting

themostoutofa

corn-

pliment

orhiddeninsult.

They

are

magnets

of

pleasure—people

wanttobe

aroundthembecause

they

knowhowto

please,yetthey

neitherfawnnor

humiliatethemselves.Greatcourtiersbecomethe

king’s

favorites,

enjoying

thebenefitsofthat

position.They

oftenend

up

more

powerful

thanthe

ruler,

for

they

arewizardsintheaccumulationofinfluence.

Manytoday

dismisscourtlifeasarelicofthe

past,

ahistoricalcurios-

ity.They

reason,

according

to

Machiavelli,

“as

though

heaven,

the

sun,

the

elements,

andmenhad

changed

theorderoftheirmotionsand

power,

and

weredifferentfromwhat

they

wereinancientlimes.”There

may

beno

moreSun

Kings

buttherearestill

plenty

of

people

whobelievethesunre-

volvesaroundthem.The

royal

court

may

have

moreorless

disappeared,

oratleastlostits

power,

butcourtsandcourtlersstillexistbecause

power

stillexists.Acourtieris

rarely

askedtofalloffahorse

anymore,

butthe

lawsthat

govern

court

politics

areastimelessasthelawsof

power.

Thereis

much

tobe

leamed,then,

from

great

courtiers

past

and

present.

THELAWSOFCOURTPOLITICS

AvoidOstentation.

Itis

never

prudent

to

prattle

onabout

yourself

orcall

toomuchattentionto

your

actions.Themore

you

talk

about

your

deeds

Till‘:T\\‘(>l3l)(«.«

Barlms-,

the

faithful

yard-dog

whoserves

hisniurrcr

zealously.

Izappmx

to

seehix

old

zzcqimimuncc’

Juiljmc,

the

curlylzapzlzrg,

st'au.'a'

atthewindowona

.vofr

downcurlimlr.

Siclling

_]'umlIyup

it)hm;likeu

child(0u

parczm,

heall

but

weeps

with

cnmmm;andthem

underthew1'mlnw,ha

whim-‘.s',

wags

his

tail.

andbmmdxabout.

"Whatsort

oflife

do

you

lead,

now‘.

loujozuka,

eversince

themaster’took

you

intohismanvlan.’You

remmzl-wr,

nodoubt.

howwe

uflen

usedto

sufferhunger

our

inthe’

yard.

What

is

your

prexmr

servicelike?

"

“I;wouldbeasinin

metomurmur

againvl

mygoodfarm/w.

"

answers

.ll7ujImtku.

"':vl_v

mustercmmol

make

enough0]

max,I

liveanuduriclwsand

plenty,

and

I

an!and

drink

ojfsilver.

I

frolic

withI/1{’

mastrr,and,

if

I

gez

tired,

Itake

my

elm:on

u7rp€lS

orrm(1

sofi

couch.Anz1Iwwdo

youget

em?

"

“I?

"

replica"Burbo.t_letting

hasmil

dangle

like:1

whip,

zmcl

hanging

his

head.“Ilive“as

I

Mel!

todo. 1

sufflarfrom

coldand

hunger;

and

Iwre.wlzilv

gzmrclirzg

my

rrzastcrivIlatdste,

I

haveto

sleep

atme

[our

ofrhowall,

("MII

get

drenchedintherain.

And

iflbark

atthi-

wrong

time,

Iam

whip/)i'd.

Buthowdid

you.Jaujau,

whowere

LAW 24 179