The 48 Laws Of Power

VIlllil.lt)'\,|'lll*',

(‘ll\.\1l)l>.\\l)IVIII.l-OX

Alionwas

(‘lmsing

a

Chamois

along

a

valley.

llehad

allbut

caught

it,

andwith

lzmgirzg

(£)'€.\‘

was

umicipuiirig

1:

certain

anda

.w:i'.v_fying

repuss.

I!serrnnlas

if

:1

won:

ulrerlyr’mp:;ssibl('

for
mevmémto
escape;

for

at

llwp

ravine

uppnawd

tobarthe

wayfor

bath

thehunter

andflu’hunted.Burthe

nimbleChamois:

galli-

ormgrzzgwher

allits

smrngth,

slml

like

an

arrow

from

abow

acrossIke

Irh/um,

and

xtnmlstillonIlm

rocky

c:'if]'tm

theotherside.

()u(1£rm

pulledup

short.

Hmatthat!

moment

11

[riez-:1!of

hit

luappened

tobenearat

hand.Thu:

frieml

wus

the

fox.

“WhaI."'suidl1e.“with

yourstmngtlt

and

agility,

1 ‘X

possible

that

you

will

yield

toa

feeble

L'lwmc-is?You

have

only

toWill.and

you

willbeahle

10

workwm2zl:.'r.«:.

Tlinuglx

the

ab}-xss

be

deep,yet.if

you

are

tmly

in

earnest,

Iumcertain

you

will

clearit.

Surely

you

can

C:7uf?dP

in

my

disinter-

eslczl

friendship.

I

wouldnot

expose

_Vour

life

In

dangerlfl

wen’

not.\'(Iwellawure

of

ynurstrength

and

dexmrity.

"

Thelions

bloodwaxed

hot,

and

begun,

inboil

inhisveins.Hr

flung

izt'rm‘r?if

withallhis

might

irzm

.€[7x2C!.’.

But

hecouldnotclearIllfi

cl1(mn.'iodownhe

lunLlJlczl

headlong,

and

waskilled

by

the

full.

272 LAW 33

FINDINGTHETHUMBSCREW:A

Strategic

PlanofAction

Weallhaveresistances.Welivewitha

perpetual

armoraroundourselves

todefend

againstchange

andtheintrusiveactionsoffriendsandrivals.We

wouldlike

nothing

morethantobelefitodo

things

ourown

way.

Con-

stantlybuttingupagainst

these

resistanceswillcost

you

a

lot

of

energy.

Oneofthemost

importantthings

torealizeabout

people,though,

isthat

they

allhavea

weakness,

some

part.

oftheir

psychological

armorthatwill

not

resist,

thatwillbendto

your

willif

you

finditand

push

onit.Some

pee»

ple

weartheirweaknesses

openly,

others

disguise

them.Thosewhodis

guise

themareoften

the

onesmost

effectively

undone

through

thatone

chinkintheirarmor.

In

planningyour

assault,

keep

these

principles

inmind:

Pay

Attentionto Gestures and Unconscious

Signals.

As

Sigmund

Freud

remarked,

“No

mortalcan

keep

at

secret.

Ifhis

lips

are

silent,

hechat-

terswithhis

fingertips;betrayal

oozesoutofhim

at

everypore.”

This

isa

critical

concept

inthesearchfora

person’s

weakness-—itisrevealed

by

seeminglyunimportantgestures

and

passing

words.

The

key

isnot

only

what

you

lookforbutwhereandhow

you

look.

Everyday

conversaiion

supplies

therichestmineof

weaknesses,

sotrain

yourself

tolisten.Start

by

always

seeming

interested——~the

appearance

ofa

sympathetic

earwill

spur

anyone

totalk.Aclever

trick,

oftenused

by

the

nineteenth-century

Frenchstatesman

Talleyrand,

isto

appear

to

openup

to

the

other

person,

tosharea

secret

withthem.Itcanbe

completely

made

up,

or

itcanberealbutofno

greatimportance

to

you——-theimportant

thing

isthatitshouldseemtocomefromthe

heart.Thiswill

usually

elicit

at

response

thatisnot

only

asfrankas

yours

butmore

genuine»-aresponse

thatrevealsaweakness.

If

yoususpect

that

someone

hasa.

particular

soft

spot,probe

foritindi»

rectly.

If,

for

instance,

you

sensethat

a

manhas

a

need

tobe

loved,

openly

flatter

him.Ifhe

lapsupyourcompliments,

no

matterhow

obvious,

you

areonthe

right

track.Train

your

eye

fordetails——howsomeone

tips

a

waiter,

what

delights

a

person,

thehidden

messages

inclothes.Find

peo-

ple-.’s

idols,

the

thingstheyworship

andwilldo

anything

to

get“-perhaps

you

canbethe

supplier

oftheirfantasies.Remember:Sinceweall

my

to

hideour

weaknesses,

thereislittletobeleamedfromourconsciousbehav-

ior.Whatoozesout

in

thelittle

things

outsideourconsciouscontroliswhat

you

wanttoknow.

Findthe

Helpless

Child.Most

weaknesses

begin

in

childhood,

before

theselfbuilds

up

compensatory

defenses.

Perhaps

thechildwas

pampered

or

indulged

ina

particular

area,

or

perhaps

acertainemotionalneedwent

unfulfilled;

asheorshe

grows

older,

the

indulgence

orthe

deficiencymay

beburiedbutnever

disappears.Knowing

aboutachildhoodneed

gives

you

a

powerfulkey

toa

person’s

weakness.

One

sign

ofthisweaknessisthatwhen

you

touchon

it

the

person

will

oftenactlikeachild.Beonthe

lookout,

then,

for

any

behaviorthatshould