The 48 Laws Of Power

l),\\'lDXVI)Il.\'l‘|l*1llV,|i\

.4!{hetum

oftheyear,

what;

kmgx

takethe

fluid,

Davidscm,/oab

outwithhisother

offi-

wrsandalltheLwaeliu'

forces,

and

they

rxtvtzged

Ammanand

laid

.V'i(‘gl'

In

Rubhah,

whileDavidnzmuinetl

inJerm-alum.Om’

evening

David

gotup

front

hismud:

and,

as

hewaikrdabouton{he

ruofof

the

pulaw,

he

saw

from

thFri—'a

wmmm

bathéng

am!

xhewas

verybeautiful.

Hevmrrn

inquire

who

slit‘
was:
andtheanswer

came,

“Itmuse‘he

Ihztlzx/zeba.

daughterof

Eliumand

wifeof

UriahtheHirriw,.

Davidwrotealetterto

JoubandsentUriah

withit.HPwmmin(11?

lrtrnr:“PutUriah

opposite

the

enemy

wherethe

fighléng

is

fiercest

ant?than

fit}!

buck,andlcswehim:0

meet

hisdeath."...

Joab...xfmitzned

Uriah:1:or

point

where

heknew

Ilzry

would

putup

a

xtouljighi.

The

men

oflhe

(fly

ta/lied

amand

or|g1zgr,’rl.h)uh.

andsome

of

David‘:-

guardsfell;

UriahI/ze

Hzlmewaszzlvokilled.

JouhsemDavid

a

dis';m1Ch

wirhallthe

news

ofrhe

battle.. .,

WhenI_:’rwh'.\‘

wife

hoard{hmherhusband

was‘

clvsad,

sizemrmrnezt

forhim;

andwhenthe

periodofmrzuming

M15oval:

Davidset»:

for

herand

brought

her

intohmhouse.She

becamehis

wife

and

borehimaSOIL.

oron waxru.

2 5AM1.r.L.ll--I2

212 LAW

26

butshoweredthemwitharrowsfromthebank.As

Liang’s

boatsinched

closer,

they

redoubledtherainof

arrows,

which

stuckin

the

thick

straw.

Afterseveral

hours,

themen

hiding

on

board

sailedthevessels

quickly

downstream,

where Chuko

Liang

met

themandcollected

his

100,000

arrows.

Chuko

Liang

wouldneverdoworkthatotherscoulddoforlu‘m—-he

was

alwaysthinkingup

trickslikethisone.

The

key

to

planning

such

a

strategy

isthe

ability

tothink

far

ahead,

to

imagineways

inwhichother

people

canbebaitedinto

doing

the

job

for

you.

Anessentialelementin

making

this

strategy

workisto

disguiseyour

goal,shrouding

itin

mystery,

likethe

strangeenemy

boats

appearing

dimly

inthemist.When

your

rivalscannotbesurewhat

you

are

after,

they

willreaxztin

ways

thatoften

work

against

theminthe

long

run.Infact

they

willbecome

your

ca3.’s-paws.

If

youdisguiseyour

intentions,

itismucheas-

ierto

guide

themintomovesthat

accomplishexactly

what

you

want

done,

but

prefer

nottodo

yourself.

This

mayrequireplanning

severalmovesin

advance,

likeabilliardballthat

bouncesoff

the

sides

afewtimesbefore

heading

intothe

rightpocket;

The

early-twentieth-century

American con artistYellow Kid Weil

knewthatnomatterhow

skillfully

hehornedinonthe

perfectwealthy

sucker,

if

he,

a

stranger,approached

thisman

directly,

thesucker

might

be-

come

suspicious.

SoWeilwould

find

someonethesucker

already

knewto

serveasa

cat‘s—paw——-someone

loweronthetotem

pole

whowashimself

an

unlikely

target,

andwouldthereforebeless

suspicious.

Weilwouldin-

terestthismaninascheme

promising

incrediblewealth.Convincedthe

scheme

wasfor

real,

the

cat’s—paw

would

often

suggest,

without

prompting,

thathisbossor

wealthy

friendshould

get

involved:

Having

more

cash

to

invest,

thismanwouldincreasethesizeofthe

pot.

makingbigger

bucksfor

allconcerned.The

cat‘s-paw

wouldtheninvolvethe

wealthy

suckerwho

hadbeenWeil’-s

target

all

along,

butwhowouldnot

suspect

a

trap,

sinceit

washis

trusty

subordinatewhohad

roped

himin.Deviceslikethis

are

oftenthebest

way

to

approach

a

person

of

power:

Useanassociateorsub

ordinatetohook

youup

with

yourprimary

target.

The

cat’s-paw

estalr

lishes

yourcredibility

andshields

you

fromthe

unsavoryappearance

of

being

too

pushy

in

yourcourtship.

Theeasiestandmosteffective

way

touse

a

cat’s-paw

isoftento

plant

informationwithhimthathe

willthen

spread

to

yourprimarytarget.

False

or

planted

informationisa

powerful

tool,

especially

if

spreadby

a

dupe

whomnoone

suspects.

Youwillfindit

veryeasy

to

play

innocentanddis-

guiseyourself

asthesource.

The

strategictherapist

Dr.

MiltonH.

Erickson

wouldoften

encounter

among

his

patients

amarried

couple

inwhichthewifeWantedthe

therapy

butthehusband

absolutely

refuseditRatherthan

wastingenergy

trying

to

dealwiththeman

directly,

Dr.Ericksonwouldseethewife

alone,

andas

shetalkedhewould

interjectinterpretations

of

thehusband’sbehavior

that

heknewwouldrilethehusband

up

ifheheardthem.Sure

enough,

the

wife

wouldtellherhusbandwhatthedoctorhadsaid.Afterafewweeksthe