The 48 Laws Of Power

masses,then,

keepyour

eye

onthebanaltruthsthat

weighheavily

onus

all.Neverbedistracted

bypeop1e’sglamorous

portraits

ofthemselvesand

their

lives;

searchand

dig

forwhat

really

imprisons

them.Once

you

find

that,
you

havethe

magicalkey

thatwill

putgreatpower

in

your

hands.

Although

times

and

peoplechange,

letus

examine

a

fewof

the

oppres~

siverealitiesthat
endure,
andthe
opportunities

for

powertheyprovide:

The

Reality:Change

isslowand

gradual.

It

requires

ham’

work,

abit

of

luck,

a

fair

amount

of

rel

—sacrg'fice,

andalot

pfpatience.

The

Fantasy:

A

sudden

tmmfarmation

will

bring

a

total

change

in

aneivfiirtunes,

bypassing

work,luck,

self-sacrifice,

andtimeinone

fantastic

make.

Thisisofcoursethe

fantasypar

excellenceofthecharlatanswho

prowl among

ustothis

day,

andwasthe

key

to

B1'agadin0’s

success.

Promisea
great

andtotal

change-—~frompoor

to

rich,

sickness

to

health,

misery

to

ecstasy—and

you

willhavefollowers.

How did the

great sixteenth-century

German

quack

Leonhard

Thumeisserbecomethecourt

physician

fortheElectorof

Brandenburg

withoutever

studying

medicine?Insteadof

offeringamputations,

leeches,

and

foul~tastingpurgatives

(the

medicaments

ofthe

time),

Thurneisser

ofv

fared
sweevtasting

elixirs and

promised

instant

recovery.

Fashionable

courtiers

especially

wantedhissolutionof“drinkable

gold,”

whichcosta

fortune.Ifsome

inexplicable

illnessassailed

you,

Thur-neisserwouldcon-

sulta

horoscope

and

prescribe

atalisman. Who couldresist such a

fantasy-—-health

and

well-being

withoutsacrifice

and

pain!

The

Reality:

Thesocialrealmhaslzard~setcodesandboundaries.Weunderstand

timelimitsandknowthatwehavetomovewithinthesame

familiar

circles,

ziay

in

and

ritzy

out.

Tim

Fantagv.“

WE’canenter

:1

totally

newworld

with

a':fi"m'ent

codes

and

ihepmmzke

of

adventure.

Inthe

early

1700s,

allLondonwasabuzzwithtalkofa

mysterious

stranger,

a

young

man

named

George

Psalmanazar.

Hehadarrivedfrom

whatwastomost

Englishmen

afantastical

land:

theislandofFormosa

(now Taiwan),

off the coast of China. Oxford

University

engaged

Psalmauazartoteachtheisland’s

language;

afew

years

laterhetranslated

theBibleinto

Formosan,

thenwroteabool<—ar:immediatebestseller--on

Formosa’s

history

and

geography.Englishroyalty

winedanddinedthe

young

man,

and

everywhere

hewentheentertainedhishostswith

won-

drousstoriesofhis

homeland,

anditsbizarrecustoms.

AfterPsalmanazar

died,however,

hiswillrevealedthathewasinfact

merely

aFrenchmanwitharich

imagination.Everything

hehadsaidabout

Formosa——-its

alphabet,

its

language,

its

literature,

itsentireculture-—hehad

invented.Hehadbuiltonthe

Englishpuhlic’signorance

of

the

place

to

concoctanelaborate

story

thatfulfilledtheirdesirefortheexoticand

LAW 32

‘.767