The 48 Laws Of Power

to

beguile

thecommittee

with

well—crafted

responses

that

were

ambiguous,

funny,

and

double—edged.

Insteadofan

angry,

heartfelt

tirade,

herancir-

clesaroundthemwitha

stagedproduction,

and

they

lethimoffscot-free.

Otherdramaticeffectsfor

yourrepertoire

includethebeau

geste,

an

actionataclimacticmomentthat

symbolizesyourtriumph

or

your

bold-

ness.Caesar’sdramatic

crossing

oftheRubiconwasabeau

geste——a

move

thatdazzledthesoldiersand

gave

himheroic

proportions.

Youmustalso

appreciate

the

importance

of

stage

entrancesandexits.When

Cleopatra

firstmetCaesarin

Egypt,

shearrivedrolled

up

ina

carpet,

whichshe

arranged

tohaveunfurledathisfeet.

GeorgeWashington

twiceleft

power

withflourishandfanfare

(first

asa

general,

thenasa

president

whorefused

tositfor

a

third

term),

showing

heknewhowtomakethemoment

count,

dramatically

and

symbolically.

Yourownentrancesandexitsshouldbe

crafiedand

planned

as

carefully.

Rememberthat

overacting

canbe

counte1productive—it

isanother

way

of

spending

toomucheffort

trying

toattractattention. Theactor

Richard

Burtondiscovered

early

inhiscareerthat

bystandingtotally

still

onstage,

hedrewattentiontohimselfand

away

fromtheotheractors.Itis

lesswhat

you

dothat

matters,

clearly,

than

how

you

do

it—yourgraceful-

nessand

imposing

stillnessonthesocial

stage

countformorethanoverdo»

ingyourpart

and

moving

aroundtoomuch.

Finally:

Learnto

playmany

roles,

tobewhateverthemomentre»

quires.Adaptyour

masktothesituation-be

protean

inthefaces

you

wear.

Bismarck

played

this

game

to

perfection:

To

a

liberalhewas

a

liberal,

to

a

hawkhewasahawk.Hecould notbe

grasped,

andwhatcannotbe

grasped

cannotbeconsumed.

I m a

g

e :

TheGreek Sea—God Proteus.

His

power

camefromhis

ability

to

changeshape

at

will,

tobewhateverthe

moment

required.

When

Menelaus,

brother

of

Agarnemnon,

tried to seize

him,

Proteus

transformedhimself

intoa

lion,

thena

serpent,

a

panther,

a

boar,

running

water,

and

finally

a

leafy

tree.

Authority:

Knowhowtobeall

things

toallmen.AdiscreetProteus—a

scholar

among

scholars,

asaint

among

saints.

Thatistheartof

winning

over

everyone,

forlikeattractslike.Takenoteof

temperaments

and

adaptyour

selftothatofeach

personyou

meet—followtheleadoftheseriousand

jovial

in

turn,

changingyour

mood

discreetly.

(Baltasar

Gracian,

1601-1658)

198 LAW 25