The 48 Laws Of Power

andbecausehecould

artxwer

any

que.s'tt‘on.

“I'llseeabout

that,"

said

a

Secretarybird,

nmrlhecalledonthe

owlone

night

whenit

was

againvery

dark.

“How

tmmy

clawsamI

holdingup?

"

raidthe

secretary

bird.

"Two,"

saitlthe

owl,

and that

was

right.

“Can

you

give

meanother

expressionfor

‘thatl.‘.’

to

say

'

or

’namely."‘

"

askedthe

secretary

bird."To

wit.

"

Saidthe

owl.

“Why

does’alover

callonhislove?"asked

the

secretary

biril.“To

woo,"saidtheowl.

The

secretary

bird

llll.S’l(’I’llitllmtrkInthe

othercreaturesand

reported

thattheowl

wasindeedIltt,’

grerttest

amlwisestanimalin

theworldbecausehe

couldseeinthetlarlt

andbecausehevault!

lUl.\'Wt'f

any(/tie.

ion.

"Cattheseeinthe

zlu_vtt'me,

too?"asked 61

red

for,

“

Yes,

"

echoeda

durrrmureanda

Frertch

poodle.

"Fanhe

seeinthe

ilaytitrte,

too?

"

Alltheother

creatures

laughed

loudly

atthis

sillyques-

tion,

and

they

set

upon

thered

fox

andhis

friends

anddrovethem

out

nftberegion.

Then

they

.l‘l‘I'IIa

rnemtertger

totheowlandasked

himtobetheirleader.

Whentheowl

appeared

among

theuhintalrit

was

high

noonandthe

sunwas

sltining

brightly.

Hewalked

veryslowly,

which

gave

himan

uppearartireof

greatdignity,

andhe

peered

abouthimwith

large,starirzgeyes,

which

gave

him

an

air

Thebest

way

todothisis

through

theater,

orotherdevicesofitskind.

Surround

yourself

with

luxury,

dazzle

your

followerswithvisual

splendor,

filltheir

eyes

with

spectacle.

Not

only

willthis

keep

themfrom

seeing

the

ridiculousnessof

your

ideas,

theholesin

your

belief

system,

itwillalsoat-

tractmore

attention,

morefollowers.

Appeal

toallthe

senses:

Useincense

for

scent,soothing

musicfor

hearing,

colorfulchartsand

graphs

forthe

eye.

You

might

eventicklethe

mind,

perhapsbyusing

new

technological

gadgets

to

giveyour

culta

pseudo-scientific

veneer-—as

long

as

you

donot

make

anyonereally

think.Usetheexotic—-distant

cultures,

strange

cus-

toms—tocreatetheatrical

effects,

and

to

makethemost

banal

and

ordinary

affairsseem

signs

of

something

extraordinary.

Step

3: BorrowtheFormsof

OrganizedReligion

toStructure the

Group.

Your

cultlike

following

is

growing;

itistimeto

organize

it.Finda

way

both

elevating

and

comforting.Organizedreligions

have

long

heldun-

questionedauthority

for

large

numbersof

people,

andcontinuetodosoin

our

supposedly

secular

age.

Andevenifthe

religion

itselfhasfaded

some,

itsformsstillresonatewith

power.

The

lofty

and

holy

associationsof

orga-

nized

religion

can

be

endlesslyexploited.

Createritualsfor

your

followers;

organize

themintoa

hierarchy,ranking

themin

grades

of

sanctity,

and

giv-

ing

themnamesandtitlesthatresoundwith

religious

overtones;

askthem

forsacrificesthatwillfill

your

coffersandincrease

yourpower.

To

empha-

size

yourgathering’squasireligious

nature,

talkand

actlikea

prophet.

You

arenot

a

dictator,

after

all;

you

area

priest,

a

guru,

a

sage,

a

shaman,

or

any

otherwordthathides

your

real

power

inthemistof

religion.

Step

4:

Disguise

YourSourceofIncome.Your

group

has

grown,

and

you

have

structured

itinachurchlikeform.Yourcoffersare

beginning

tofill

with

your

followers’

money.

Yet

you

mustneverbeseenas

hungry

for

money

andthe

power

it

brings.

Itisatthismomentthat

you

must

disguise

thesourceof

your

income.

Yourfollowerswanttobelievethatif

they

follow

you

allsortsof

good

things

willfallintotheir

lap.Bysurroundingyourself

with

luxuryyou

be-

come

livingproof

ofthesoundnessof

your

belief

system.

Never

revealthat

your

wealth

actually

comesfrom

your

followers’

pockets;

instead,

make

it

seemtocomefromthetruthof

your

methods.Followerswill

copyyour

eachand

every

moveinthebeliefthatitwill

bring

themthesame

results,

and

their

imitativeenthusiasm

willblindthemtothecharlatannatureof

your

wealth.

Step

5:Set

Up

anUs-Versus—Them

Dynamic.

The

group

isnew

large

and

thriving,

a

magnetattracting

moreandmore

particles.

If

you

arenot

careful,

though,

inertiawillset

in,

andtime

and

boredomwill

demagnetize

the

group.

To

keepyour

followers

united,

you

mustnow

dowhatallreli-

gions

andbelief

systems

havedone:createanus—versus—thern

dynamic.

First,

makesure

your

followersbelieve

they

are

part

ofanexclusive