The 48 Laws Of Power

decorators,
and

gardendesigner.

Andat

Versailles,

Louishosted

parties

even
more
extravagant

thantheonethatcost

Fouquet

his

freedom.

Letusexamine

the

situation.The

evening

ofthe

party,

as

Fouquetpre-

sented

spectacle

on

spectacle

to

Louis,

eachmore

magnificent

thantheone

before,

he

imagined

theaffairas

demonstrating

his

loyalty

anddevotionto

the

king.

Not

only

didhethinkthe

party

would

put

him

back

in

the

king’s

favor,
he

thought

it

wouldshow

his

good

taste,

his

connections,

and

his

popularity,making

him

indispensable

to

the

king

and

demonstrating

that

hewouldmakeanexcellent

prime

minister.

Instead,

however,

eachnew

spectacle,

each

appreciative

smilebestowed

by

the

guests

on

Fouquet,

madeitseem to Louisthathis ownfriendsand

subjects

weremore

charmed

by

thefinanceministerthan

by

the

king

himself,

andthat

Fouquet

was

actually

flauming

hiswealthand

power.

Ratherthan

flattering

Louis

XXV,

Fouquet’s

elaborate

party

offendedthe

king’svanity.

Louiswouldnot

admitthisto

anyone,

of

course-—-instead,

hefoundaconvenientexcuseto

ridhimselfofamanwhohad

inadvertently

madehimfeelinsecure.

Suchis

the

fate,

insomeformor

other,

ofallthose

whounbalancethe

master’ssenseof

self,

poke

holesinhis

vanity,

ormakehimdoubthis

pro

eminence.

Whenthe

wming

began,Fouquet

wasatthe

to}:of

theworld.

By

thetimeithad

ended,

hewasatthe

bottom.

Voltaire,

16.944 778

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAW

Inthe

early

1600s,

theItalianastronomerand mathematician Galileo

found

himself

ina

precariousposition.

He

depended

onthe

generosity

of

great

rulersto

support

his

research,

and

so,

likeallRenaissance

scientists,

hewouldsometimesmake

gifts

ofhisinventionsanddiscoveriestothe

leading

patrons

ofthetime.

Once,

for

instance,

he

presented

a

militaiy

compass

hehadinventedtotheDukeof

Gonzaga.

Thenhededicateda

book

explaining

theuseofthe

compass

to

the

Medicis.Bothrulerswere

grateful,

and

through

themGalileowasabletofindmorestudentstoteach.

Nomatterhow

great

the

discovery,

however,

his

patronsusuallypaid

him

with

gifts,

notcash.Thismadeforalifeofconstant

insecurity

and

depen-

dence.There

mustbeaneasier

way,

he

thought.

Galileo

hit

on

anew

strategy

in

l6l0,

whenhe

discovered

themoons

of

Jupiter.

Instead

of

dividing

the

discoveryamong

his

patrons—giving

onethe

telescope

hehad

used,

dedicating

abookto

another,

andsoon—as

hehaddoneinthe

past,

hedecidedtofocus

exclusively

ontheMedicis.He

chosetheMedicisforonereason:

Shortly

after

CosimoIhad

established

theMedici

dynasty,

in

1540,

hehadmade

Jupiter,

the

mightiest

ofthe

gods,

theMedici

symbol—asymbol

ofa.

power

thatwent

beyondpolitics

and

banking,

onelinkedtoancientRomeanditsdivinities.

Galileoturnedhis

discovery

of

_]upiter’s

moonsintoacosmicevent

LAW 1

33