The 48 Laws Of Power

250. LAW 30

thenbaitedhiminto

choosing

thosecuffs

onstage.

Then,

during

thetwo

men’s

tussle,

thedexterousHoudiniwasableto

change

thecodeto“ER-

AvU-D.”Hehad

spent

weeks

practicing

this

trick,

buttheaudiencesaw

noneofthesweatandtoilbehindthescenes.NorwasHoudinieverner-

vous;

he

inducednervousnessinothers.

(He

deliberatelydragged

outthe

timeitwouldtaketo

escape,

asa

way

of

heightening

the

drama,

andmak-

ing

theaudience

squirm.)

His

escapes

from

death,

alwaysgraceful

and

easy,

madehimlooklikea

superman.

Asa

person

of

power,you

mustresearchand

practiceendlessly

before

appearing

in

public,onstage

or

anywhere

else.Never

expose

thesweatand

laborbehind

yourpoise.

Somethinksuch

exposure

willdemonstratetheir

diligence

and

honesty,

butit

actuallyjust

makes

them

lookweaker-—as

if

anyone

who

practiced

andworkedatitcoulddowhat

they

had

done,

oras

if

they

weren’t

reallyup

tothe

job.Keepyour

effortand

your

tricksto

yourself

and

you

seemtohavethe

grace

andeaseofa.

god.

Oneneversees

the

sourceofa

god’spower

revealed;

one

only

seesitseffects.

Aline

[ofpoetry]

willtakeushours

maybe;

Yet

if

itdoesnotseemammnentis

thought,

Our

stitching

and

unstitciting

hasbeen

naught.

Adam‘s

Curse,

WilliamButler

them,

I865~~l' 939

KEYSTOPOWER

Humanity‘s

firstnotionsof

power

camefrom

primitive

encounterswithna-

ture-—theflashof

lightning

inthe

sky,

asudden

flood,

the

speed

andferoc

ity

ofawildanimal.Theseforces

required

no

thinking,

no

planning—they

awedus

by

theirsudden

appearance,

their

gracefulness,

andtheir

power

overlifeanddeath.Andthisremainsthekindof

power

wehave

always

wantedtoimitate.

Through

scienceand

technology

wehaverecreatedthe

speed

andsublime

power

of

nature,

but

something

is

missing:

Ourma~

chinesare

noisy

and

jerky,they

reveal

theireffort.Eventhe

very

bestcre-

ationsof

technology

cannotrootoutour

admirationfor

things

thatmove

easily

and

effortlessly.

The

power

ofchildrentobendustotheirwillcomes

fromakindofseductivecharmthatwefeelinthe

presence‘

ofacreature

lessreflectiveandmore

graceful

thanweare.Wecannotretumtosucha

state,

but

ifwecancreatethe

appearance

of

thiskindof

ease,

weelicitin

othersthekindof

primitive

awethatnaturehas

always

evoked

inhu-

mankind.

Oneofthefirst

European

writersto

expound

onthis

principle

came

fromthatmostunnaturalof

environments,

theRenaissancecourt.In771:

Book

of

the

Courtier,

published

in

1528,

Baldassare

Castiglione

describesthe

highly

elaborateandcodifiedmannersofthe

perfect

courtcitizen.And

yet,

Castiglione

explains,

thecourtiermustexecutethese

gestures

withwhathe

calls

.r[mzz,zatu1a,

the

capacity

tomakethedifficultseem

easy.

He

urges

the

courtier

to

“practice

inall

things

acertainnonchalancewhichconcealsall