The 48 Laws Of Power

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The

pathof/1li?a.rur¢*

neverlA'ad.s'to

glory.’

The

prodigious

achievements

of

llrt'rule,s'werethe

result

ofhigh

mitten-

lure,

and

though

there’

is

little,

eitherin

fable

or

/tis‘It17v,

to.\'lt(1wthat

hehad
anyrivals,
stillit

is

t‘¢’c4)r(lrd

[hata

knight

errant,

in

company

witha

fellow

txdvcnzurcr,sought

his

_/ortima

inaromzmtir

country.

Hehadnot

Irawlr*r1_far

what

his"

mmpiinitm

oliserwrrla

past,

onwhichwas

writtenthe

following

lrl,S'(‘,t’l[)l‘i(’Irt.

“Iiravs

advlmiurcr.

ifyou

have

azleiim(0ilixmverthat

whichhasnever

been

.\c't‘I1

by

anyknigltl

crrram,

you

have

only

I!)

pass’

thisI0rrent_and

thantakein

your

arrns

an

elephant

ofrtmw

and

carry

itinone

breath

to

the

.\untmi(

of

this

mountain,

whose

nohh:head.wi'rru‘

blemlcclwith

the

.»

y.’

"But.

"

mid/ht‘

knight:

L‘()m[)(U1l()n,

“thewater

may

be

deep

aswellas

rapid,

and

though.

riotwithsramling,

we

should

[m.\‘.\'it,why

shottltlwebemaim-

hrzrcrlwiththe

alepli/irit?

What:1

?‘I(ll(‘L<l/Gusimdi=r1ah-

ittgf"

/lml

/ihilosopl2i-

rally

andwithnice

calculation,

he

observedthat

the

£’l('p’lllIllmight

he

carried

foursteps:

but

forcmtveying

itto(hr

mpofthc

mozmtairiin

one

breath,

thatwas

notinlhzr

powerafa

mortal,

mtlersitshould

225 LAW2 3

BOl.l)NF.SSANDHESITATION:ABrief

PsychologicalComparison

Boldnessandhesitationelicit

very

different

psychologicalresponses

intheir

targets:

Hesitalion

puts

obstacles

in

yourpath,

boldnesseliminatesthem.

Once

you

understand

this,

you

willfinditessentialtoovercome

your

nat-

ural

timidity

and

practice

theartof

audacity.

The

following

are

among

the

most

pronouncedpsychological

efiectsofboldnessand

tirnidity.

TheBoldertheLietheBetter. Weallhave

weaknesses,

andourefforts

are

never

perfect.

But

entering

action

with

boldness

has

the

magical

effect

of

hiding

ourdeficiencies.Conartistsknowthatthebolderthe

lie,

the

more

convincing

itbecomes.Thesheer

audacity

ofthe

story

makesitmore

credible,

distracting

attentionfromitsinconsistenciesWhen

putting

to-

gether

aconor

entering

any

kind of

negotiation,go

furtherthan

you

planned.

Askfor

the

moonand

you

willbe

surprised

howoften

youget

it.

LionsCircletheHesitant

Prey.People

haveasixthsensefortheweak-

nessesofothers.

If,

inafirst

encounter,

you

demonstrate

your

willingness

to

compromise,

back

down,

and

retreat,

youbring

outthelionevenin

peo-

ple

who

arenot

necessarilybloodthirsty.Everythingdepends

on

percep-

tion,

andonce

you

areseenasthekindof

person

who

quicklygoes

onthe

defensive,

whois

willing

to

negotiate

andbe

amenable,

you

willbe

pushed

aroundwithout

mercy.

BoldnessStrikes

Fear;

FearCreates

Authority.

The

boldmovemakes

you

seem

larger

andmore

powerful

than

you

are.Ifitcomes

suddenly,

withthestealthandswiftnessofa

snake,

it

inspires

thatmuchmorefear.

By

intimidating

withabold

move,

you

establisha

precedent:

in

every

subse-

quent

encounter,

people

willbeonthe

defensive,

interrorof

your

next

strike.

GoingHalfway

withHalfaHeart

Digs

the

Deeper

Grave. If

you

enteranactionwithlessthantotal

confidence,

you

set

up

obstaclesin

your

own

path.

Whena

problem

arises

you

will

grow

confused,

seeingoptions

wheretherearenoneand

inadvertentlycreating

more

problems

still.Re-

treating

fromthe

hunter,

thetimidharescurriesmore

easily

intohissnares.

HesitationCreates

Gaps,

BoldnessObliteratesThem. When

you

take

timeto

think,

to

hem

and

haw,

you

createa

gap

thatallows

others

timeto

thinkaswell.Your

timidity

infects

people

withawkward

energy,

elicitsem-

barrassment.Doubt

springsup

onallsides.

Boldness

destroys

such

gaps.

Theswiftnessofthemoveandthe

energy

oftheactionleaveothersno

space

todoubtand

worry.

In

seduction,

hesi-

tationisfatal—itmakes

your

victimconscious

of

your

intentions.

Thebold

movecrownsseductionwith

triumph:

Itleavesnotimeforreflection.

Audacity

Separates

YoufromtheHerd. Boldness

gives

youpresence

andmakes

you

seem

larger

thanlife.Thetimidfadeintothe

wallpaper,

the