The 48 Laws Of Power

Ifymt

wanttotelllies

thatwillbehelilaved,

dun’!tell

the

truth

thatwont

EMPLRORTUKU19/\wA

lF\i;\Sl;orJ/‘P/\Y\u

S1-‘.\'l-‘NTF1N'I’ll(‘ENFURY

266 LAW 32

pic

ofhisalchemicskill.His

sumptuouspalace,

his

opulentgarments,

the

clink

of

gold

inhis

hands,

all

these

provided

a

superiorargument

to

any-

thing

rational.And

these

establishedthe

cycle

that

kept

him

going:

Hisob~

viouswealthconfirmedhis

reputation

asan

alchemist,

sothat

patrons

like

theDukeofMantua

gave

him

money,

whichallowedhimtolivein

wealth,

whichreinforcedhis

reputation

asan

alchemist,

andsoon.

Only

oncethis

reputation

was

established,

and

dukesandsenators

were

fighting

over

him,

didheresort

to

the

triflingnecessity

ofademonstration.

By

then,however,

people

were

easy

todeceive:

They

wantedtobelieve.TheVenetiansena-

torswhowatchedhim

multiply

gold

wantedtobelieveso

badly

that

they

failedtonoticethe

glasspipeup

his

sleeve,

fromwhich

he

slippedgold

dustinto

his

pinches

of

minerals.Brilliantand

capricious,

hewasthe

al

chemistoftheirfantasies—-andoncehehadcreatedanauralike

this,

no

onenoticedhis

simple

deceptions.

Suchisthe

power

ofthefantasiesthattakerootin

us,

especially

in

timesof

scarcity

and

decline.

Peoplerarely

believethattheir

problems

arisefromtheirown

misdeedsand

stupidity.

Someone

or

something

out

thereistoblame—-the

other,

the

world,

the

gods—and

sosalvationcomes

fromtheoutsideaswell.Had

Bragadino

arrivedinVenicearmedwitha

detailed

analysis

ofthereasonsbehindthe

city’s

economic

decline,

andof

thehardcnosed

steps

thatitcouldtaketoturn

things

around,

hewould

havebeen

scorned.The

reality

wastoo

ugly

andthesolutiontoo

painful-—

mostly

thekindofhardworkthatthecitizens‘ancestors

had

musteredto

createan

empire.

Fantasy,

ontheotherhand——inthiscasetheromanceof

alchemy--waseasy

tounderstandand

infinitely

more

palatable.

To

gainpower,you

mustbeasourceof

pleasure

forthosearound

you--and pleasure

comes from

playing

to

people’s

fantasies. Never

promise

a

gradualimprovementthrough

hard

work;rather,

promise

the

moon,

the

great

andsudden

transformation,

the

pot

of

gold.

Nomanneed

despairofgainiug

convertstothemost

extravagant

hypothesis

whohasan

enough

to

represent

it£1;

favomable

colors.

DavidHium’,I71.1-J 776

KEYSTOPOWER

Fantasy

can

never

operate

alone.It

requires

the

backdrop

ofthehuxndrum

andthemundane.It

is

the

oppressiveness

of

reality

that

allows

fantasy

to

takerootandbloom.In

sixteenth-century

Venice,

the

reality

wasoneofde

clirreandlossof

prestige.

The

correspondingfantasy

describedasudden

recovery

of

pastgloriesthrough

themiracleof

alchemy.

Whilethe

reality

onlygot

worse,

theVenetians

inhabited

a

happy

dreamworldin

which

their

city

restoreditsfabulouswealthand

powerovernight,turning

dust

into

gold.

The

person

whocan

spin

a

fantasy

outofan

oppressivereality

hasac-

cesstountold

power.

As

you

searchforthe

fantasy

thatwilltakeholdofthe