The 48 Laws Of Power

1.516 LAW 24

SceneVI

Pope

UrbanVIIIwantedto

berememberedforhisskillsin

writing

poetry,

which

unfortunately

weremediocre atbest. In 1629 Duke Francesco

d’Este,

knowing

the

pope’s

literarypretensions,

sentthe

poet

FulvioTesti

ashis

ambassador

totheVatican.Oneof

Tes|i’s

letterstotheduke

reveals

why

hewaschosen:“Onceourdiscussionwas

over,

I

kneeledto

depart,

butHis

Holinessmadea

signal

andwalkedtoanotherroomwherehe

sleeps,

andafter

reaching

a

small

table,

he

grabbed

atbundleof

papers

and

thus,

turning

tomewitha

smiling

face,

hesaid:‘WewantYour

Lordship

to

listentosomeofour

compositions.’

And,

in

fact,

hereadmetwo

verylong

Pindaric

poems,

onein

praise

ofthemost

hoiyVirgin,

andtheotherone

aboutCountessMatilde.”

Wedonotknow

exactly

whatTesti

thought

ofthese

verylongpoems,

sinceitwouldhavebeen

dangerous

forhimtostatehis

opinionfreely,

eveninaletter.Buthewentonto

write,“I,

following

the

mood,

com-

mentedoneachlinewiththeneeded

praise,

and,

after

having

kissedHis

Holiness’s

footfor

suchanunusual

sign

ofbenevolence

[thereading

ofthe

poetry],

Ileft.”

Weeks

later,

whenthedukehimselfvisitedthe

pope,

he

managed

toreciteentireversesofthe

pope’spoetry

and

praised

it

enough

tomakethe

pope

“so

jubilant

heseemedtolosehismind.”

Interpretation

Inmattersoftaste

you

can

neverbetoo

obsequious

with

your

master.Taste

isoneofthe

ego’spxickliestparts;

never

impugn

or

question

themaster’s

taste-——his

poetry

is

sublime,

hisdress

impeccable,

andhismannerthe

modelforall.

_

SceneVII

One

afternoon

in

ancient

China,Chao,

rulerofHanfrom 358 to 333

B.C.,

got

drunkandfell

asleep

inthe

palacegardens.

Thecourt

crown-keeper,

whosesoletaskwastolookaftertheruler’shead

apparel,passedthrough

the

gardens

andsawhismaster

sleeping

withoutacoat.

Since

it

was

getting

cold,

the

crowrrkeeperplaced

his

owncoatoverthe

ruler,

andleft.

WhenChanawokeandsawthecoat

upon

him,

heaskedhisaxten»

‘

dants,

“Who

put

moreclotheson

my

body?”

“The

crowmkeeper,”they

replied.

Theruler

immediately

called

for

hisofiicial

coat—keeper

andhad

him

punished

for

neglecting

hisduties.

He

also

calledforthecrown-

keeper,

whomhehadbeheaded.

Interpretation

Donot

overstepyour

bounds.Dowhat

you

are

assigned

to

do,

tothebest

of

your

abilities,

andneverdomore.Tothinkthat

bydoing

more

you

are

doing

betterisacommonblunder.Itisnever

good

toseemtobe

trying

too

ha.rd——-itisasif

you

were

coveringup

some

deficiency.Fulfilling

ataskthat

hasnotbeenaskedof

youjust

makes

peoplesuspicious.

If

you

areacrown-

keeper,

be

a

crowmkeeper.

Save

your

excess

energy

forwhen

you

arenot

inthecourt.