The 48 Laws Of Power

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258
LAW 31

atediftheir

partner

istoo

interested

in

their

money.

Asthe

courtesan

aged,

then,

shefaced

amost

difficultfate.

NinondeLencloshadahorrorof

any

kindof

dependence.

She

early

ontastedakindof

equality

withher

lovers,

andshewouldnotsettleintoa

system

thatlefthersuchdistasteful

options.Strangelyenough,

the

system

shedevisedinits

place

seemedto

satisfy

hersuitorsasmuchasitdid

her.

The

payeur:may

havehad

to

pay,

butthe

factthatNinon

would

onlysleep

withthemwhenshewantedto

gave

them

a

thrillunavailablewith

every

othercourtesan:Shewas

yielding

outofherowndesire.The

martyrs’

avoidanceofthetaintof

having

to

paygave

themasenseof

superiority;

as

membersofNinon’s

fraternity

of

admirers,

they

also

might

some

dayexpe

riencetheultimate

pleasure

of

being

her

favari.Finally,

Ninondidnot

forceher

suitorsintoeither

category.They

could“choose”whichside

they

prefer:-ed—a

freedomflintleftthema

vestige

ofmasculine

pride.

Suchisthe

power

of

giving

people

a

choice,

orrathertheillusionof

one,

for

they

are

playing

withcards

you

havedealtthem.Wherethe

alter-

nativesset

upby

IvantheTerrible

involved

acertain

risk—-one

option

would

haveledtohis

losing

his

power——Ninon

createda.situationinwhich

everyoption

redoundedtoherfavor.Fromthe

payeurs

shereceivedthe

money

sheneededtorunhersalon.Andfromthe

martyrs

she

gained

the

ultimatein

power:

Shecouldsurroundherselfwitha.

bevy

of

admirers,

a

haremfromwhichtochooseherlovers.

The

system,though,depended

ononecriticalfactor:the

possibility,

however

remote,

that

a

martyr

couldbecomea

fawn".

Theillusionthat

riches,

glory,

orsensualsatisfaction

maysomeday

fallinto

your

victim's

lap

isanirresistiblecarrottoincludein

your

listofchoices.That

hope,

how-

ever

slim,

willmakemen

accept

themostridiculous

situations,

becauseit

leavesthemthe

allimportantoption

of

adream.Theillusionof

choice,

marriedto

the

possibility

offuture

good

fortune,

willlurethemoststub

bornsuckerinto

yourglittering

web.

KEYSTOPOWER

Wordslike

“freedom,”

“options,”

and“choice”evokea

power

of

possibility

far

beyond

the

reality

ofthebenefits

they

entail.Whenexamined

closely,

thechoiceswehave——inthe

marketplace,

in

elections,

inour

jobs»-tend

to

havenoticeablelimitations:

They

areoftenamatterofa

choice

simply

be-

tweenAand

B,

withtherest

ofthe

alphabet

out

ofthe

picture.

Yetas

long

as

thefaintest

mirage

ofchoiceflickers

on,

we

rarely

focusonthe

missing

options.

We“choose”tobelievethatthe

game

is

fair,

andthatwehaveour

freedom.We

prefer

nottothinktoomuchaboutthe

depth

ofour

liberty

to

choose.

This

unwillingness

to

probe

thesmallness

of

ourchoicesstemsfrom

the

factthattoomuchfreedomcreatesakindof

amdety.

The

phrase

“un-

limited

options”

sounds

infinitelypromising,

butunlimited

options

would

actuallyparalyze

usandcloudour

ability

tochoose.Ourlimited

range

of

choicescomfortsus.