Always
setinwork
without
rnisgivrngs
on
the
.cmreu/’i1npru-
dcncc.Fear
affailure
inthemind
ufu
pcrfnrrmar
is,
for
an
onlimkrrr,
alrmriy
evidemse
of/kzilure.
...
Actions’are
dangerous
whenthereisdoubtas
totheirwi.\'zlorn.,'
itwouldbe
safer
to
do
rzotliirzg.
llAi:rA$AR
(‘vRAL‘1A,~‘.
l60l 1658
‘IHI-ZS‘l(>I{\M-
|ll»|IEz\l.\l.
Ina
lowly
thatched
outrage
in(heNorman
Valley
lll(’r(’lived(1
[marL:nu[rle_
Mr.and
Mrs.lluh
Sacng.
Thehmhaml
mm,/inn!
/1iI?1.§¢’l/ft)?’
.s‘r:v(‘.n
years
and
nnly
rmdImnkxin
Ills
cold
room.
...
Um’
duv
his
wife,
allin
tears,
Mildtohim:
“look
lwre,mygoml
man!Whatis(heuse
of
all
your
book
reading?
lhnvo
spentmyyouth
in
washing
and
sewing
for
other
people
and
yet
Ihaveno
.\'pan*
jackrrr
orxkirttowear
andIImvehadno
fowl
tocut
duringllzepusl
Ihrec11m/5.
Ium
hungry
and
cold,
Icanstand
itnomonhl"
..
.1IearingIhese
wants,
the
ntiddln-aged
xclzolurcloser]his
Imuk...raveIn
hixfeel
and.
.
.witlwur
suyirzg
urmrlwr
wrml,
hr’wrnl
(mt
oftlmms:
..../lrriv-
/rig
inthe
heart
Ufihe
230 LAW 23
Suddenly,
however,
herealizedthatthedirectorhad
changed
histone.
Insteadof
talking
aboutthe
tower,
hewas
complaining
about hislow
salary,
about
his
wife’sdesire
forafur
coat,
about
how
galling
it
wasto
workhardandbe
unappreciated.
ItdawnedonMonsieurP.thatthis
high
government
officialwas
asking
forabribe.Theeffecton
him,
though,
was
not
outrage
butrelief.Nowhewassurethat
Lustig
wasfor
real,
sinceinall
ofhis
previous
encounterswithFrench
bureaucrats,
they
had
inevitably
asked
foralittle
greasing
of
the
palm.
His
confidence
restored,
Monsieur
P.
slipped
thedirectorseveralthousandfrancsin
bills,
thenhandedhimthe
certifiedcheck.Inreturnhereceivedthe
documentation,
including
anim-
pressive—looking
billofsale.Heleftthe
hotel,
dreaming
ofthe
profits
and
fametocome.
Overthenextfew
days,
however,
as
MonsieurP.waitedforcorre-
spondence
fromthe
government,
he
began
torealizethat
something
was
amiss.Afew
telephone
callsmadeitclearthattherewasno
deputy
direc-
tor
general
Lustig,
andtherewereno
plans
to
destroy
theEiffelTower:He
hadbeenbilkedofover
250,000
francs!
MonsieurP.neverwenttothe
police.
Heknewwhatkindof
reputa-
tion
hewould
get
ifword
got
outthat
he
had
fallen
foroneofthemostab
surdly
audaciouscons
in
history.
Besidesthe
public
humiliation,
it
would
havebeenbusinesssuicide.
Interpretation
HadCountVictor
Lustig,
conartist
extraordinaire,
triedtoselltheArcde
Triomphe,
a
bridge
overthe
Seine,
a
statue
of
Balzac,
noone
wouldhave
believedhim.ButtheEiffelTowerwas
just
too
large,
too
improbable
tobe
part
ofacon
job.
Infactitwasso
improbable
that
Lustig
wasabletoreturn
toParissixmonthslaterand“resell”theEiffelTowertoadifferent
scrap-
iron
dealer,
andfora
higherprice-—a
suminfrancs
equivalenttoday
to
over
$1,500,000!
Largeness
ofscaledeceivesthehuman
eye.
Itdistractsandawes
us,
andissoself-evidentthatwecarmot
imagine
thereis
any
illusionor
decep-
tionafoot.Arm
yourself
with
bigness
andboldness—stretch
yourdecep-
tionsasfaras
they
will
go
andthen
go
further.If
you
sensethatthesucker
has
suspicions,
doasthe
intrepidLustig
did:Insteadof
backing
down,
or
lowering
his
price,
he
simply
raisedhis
price
higher,
by
asking
forand
get-
ting
abribe.
Asking
formore
puts
theother
person
onthe
defensive,
cuts
outthe
nibbling
effectof
compromise
and
doubt,
andoverwhelmswithits
boldness.
ObservanceII
Onhisdeathbedin
1533,
Vasily
III,
theGrandDukeofMoscowandruler
ofasemi-united
Russia,
proclaimed
his
three-year-old
son,
Ivan
IV,
ashis
successor.
He
appointed
his
young
wife, Helena,
as
regent
until Ivan
reachedhis
majority
andcouldruleonhisown.
The
aristocracy—the
bo-
yars—secretlyrejoiced:
For
years
thedukesofMoscowhadbeen
trying
to
extendtheir
authority
overthe
boyars’
turf.With
Vasily
dead,
hisheira
merethree
years
old,
anda
young
womanin
charge
ofthe
dukedom,
the