The 48 Laws Of Power

Youcannotsucceedat

deception

unless

you

takeasomewhatdis-

tanced

approach

to

yourself——-unlessyou

canbe

many

different

people,

wearing

themaskthatthe

day

andthemoment

require.

Withsuchaflexi«

ble

approach

toall

appearances,includingyour

own,

you

losealotofthe

inwardheavinessthatholds

people

down.Make

your

faceasmalleableas

the
actor’s,
worktoconceal
your

intentionsfrom

others,

practiceluring

people

into

traps.Playing

with

appearances

and

mastering

artsof

decep

tionare

among

theaesthetic

pleasures

oflife.

They

arealso

keycompo«

nentsinthe

acquisition

of

power.

If

deception

isthemost

potentweapon

in

your

arsenal,

then

patience

inall

things

is

your

crucial

shield.

Patience

will

protectyou

from

making

moronicblunders, Like

masteringyour

emotions,

patience

is:1skill-—it

doesnotcome

naturally.

But

nothing

about

power

is

natural;

power

is

more

godlike

than

anything

inthenaturalworld. And

patience

is the

supreme

virtueofthe

gods,

whohave

nothing

buttime.

Everythinggood

will

happen——-thegrass

will

growagain,

if

yougive

it

timeandseeseveral

steps

intothefuture.

Impatience,

ontheother

hand,

only

makes

you

look

weak.Itisa.

principalimpediment

to

power.

Poweris

essentially

amoralandoneofthemost

important

skillstoac~

quire

isthe

ability

toseecircumstancesratherthan

good

orevil.Powerisa

game—-this

cannot

be

repeated

toooften—andin

gamesyou

donot

judge

youropponentsby

theirintentionsbut

by

theeffectoftheiractions.You

measuretheir

strategy

andtheir

powerby

what

you

canseeandfeel.How

oftenaresomeone’sintentionsmadetheissue

only

tocloud

and

deceive!

Whatdoes

itmatterif

another

player,your

friendor

rival,

intended

good

things

andhad

onlyyour

interests

at

heart,

if

theeffectsofhisactionleadto

somuchminandconfusion?Itis

only

naturalfor

people

tocover

up

their

actionswithallkindsof

justifications,alwaysassuming

that

they

haveacted

outof

goodness.

Youmustlearnto

inwardlylaugh

eachtime

you

hearthis

andnever

getcaughtup

in

gauging

someone’sintentionsand actions

through

asetofmoral

judgments

thatare

really

anexcusefortheaccumu-

lationof

power.

Itisa

game.

Your

opponent

sits

oppositeyou.

Bothof

you

behaveas

gentlemen

or

ladies,

observing

therulesofthe

game

and

takingnothing

personally.

You

play

witha

strategy

and

you

observe

youropponent’s

moveswithasmuchcalmnessas

you

canmuster.Inthe

end,

you

will

ap-

preciate

the

politeness

ofthose

you

are

playing

withmorethantheir

good

andsweetintentions.Train

youreye

tofollowtheresultsoftheir

moves,

theoutward

circumstances,

anddonotbedistracted

byanything

else.

Halfof

yourmastery

of

power

comesfromwhat

you

donot

do,

what

you

donotallow

yourself

to

getdragged

into.Forthisskill

you

mustlearn

to

judge

all

things

by

what

they

cost

you.

AsNietzsche

wrote,

“Thevalueof

a

thing

sometimesliesnotinwhatoneattainswith

it,

butinwhatone

pays

l

forit——whatitcostsus.”

Perhapsyou

willattain

yourgoal,

anda

worthygoal

at

that,

but

atwhat

price?Apply

thisstandardto

everything,including

whethertocollaboratewithother

people

orcometotheiraid.Inthe

end,

PREFACE

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