The 48 Laws Of Power

artatthe

time,

an

astoundingpurchase

fora.

family

that

previously

had

shownlittleinterestin

collecting.

Interpretation

joseph

Duveen

instantly

understoodArabella

Huntington

andwhatmade

hertick:

Shewanted

tofeel

important,

at

home

in

society.lntensely

inse-

cureaboutherlowerclass

background,

sheneededconfirmationofher

newsocialsmtus.Duveenwaited.lnsteadof

rushing

into

trying

to

per-

suadeherto collect

art,

he

subtly

wenttoworkonherweaknesses. He

madeherfeelthatshedeservedhisattentionnotbecauseshewasthewife

of

one

ofthewealthiestmeninthe

world

but

because

ofherown

special

character--andthis

completely

meltedher.Duveennevercondescended

to

Arabella;

ratherthan

lecturing

to

her,

heinstilledhisideasinherindi-

rectly.

Theresultwasoneofhisbestandmostdevoted

clients,

andalsothe

saleofTheBhze

Bay.

People’s

needforvalidationand

recognition,

theirneedtofeel

impor~

tant,

isthe

bestkindof

weakness

to

exploit.

First,

itisalmost

universal;

sec-

ond,

exploiting

itisso

veryeasy.

All

you

havetodoisfind

ways

tomake

people

feelbetterabouttheir

taste,

theirsocial

standing,

their

intelligence.

Oncethefish are

hooked,

you

canreelthemin

again

and

again,

for

yea.rs——you

are

filling

a

positive

role,

giving

themwhat

they

cannot

get

on

their

own.

Theymay

never

suspect

that

you

are

turning

themlikeathumb«

screw,

andif

they

do

they

may

not

care,

because

you

are

making

themfeel

betterabout

themselves,

andthatisworth

anyprice.

Observance

V

In 1862

King

William

ofPrussia

namedOtto

VonBismarck

premier

and

ministerfor

foreign

affairs.Bismarckwasknownforhis

boldness,

his

a.rnbi~

tion—~andhisinterestin

strengthening

the

military.

SinceWflliamwassur-

rounded

by

liberalsinhis

ghvemment

and

cabinet,politicians

who

already

wantedtolimithis

powers,

itwas

quitedangerous

forhimto

put

Bismarck

inthissensitive

position.

His

wife,

QueenAugusta,

had

triedtodissuade

him,

but

although

she

usuallygot

her

way

with

him,

this

timeWilliam

stucktohis

guns.

Only

aweekafter

becomingprime

minister,

Bismarckmadeanim-

promptuspeech

toafewdozen

ministerstoconvince

them

of

the

need

to

enlarge

the

army.

Heended

bysaying,

“The

greatquestions

ofthetime

willbe

decided,

not

byspeeches

andresolutionsof

majorities,

but

by

iron

andblood.”His

speech

was

immediately

disseminated

throughout

Ger-

many.

The

queen

screamedatherhusbandthatBismarckwasabarbaric

militar-istwhowasout to

usurp

controlof

Prussia,

andthatWilliamhadto

fire

him.

Theliberalsin

the

governmentagreed

with

her.The

outcry

was

sovehementthatWilliarn

began

tobeafraidhewouldend

up

onascaf-

fold,

likeLouisXVIof

France,

ifhe

kept

Bismarckonas

prime

minister.

Bismarckknewhehadto

get

tothe

king

beforeitwastoolate.Healso

knewhehad

blundered,

andshouldhave

tempered

his

fiery

words.Yetas

he

contemplated

his

strategy,

hedecided

notto

apologize

buttodo

the

exact

opposite,

Bismarckknewthe

king

well.

(Yzciarhadin;trloczirri

them,

in

ltoper

rim:

younggentlemen,

who

hurlnotknownmuch

c‘/flzutrlnr

and

wounds,

butcame

wearing

their

hair

long.

in

zhzvflower

nfrheir

age

and

height

of

thllll’

beauty,

would

bemore

uppre/1t’r1.s'ive

afiuchblows,

andnot

am:

forlmzurding

hmh

a

dangrlr

II!

pr:-smu

cum’

1:bleniish

far

the

future,

Andso

itpmved,for

they

were

.m_/nrfrom

l.Vc'rzr‘11-xg

thextmke

of

rlw

javclins,

that

Iizey

couldnotSlundthe

sightoft/rem.

but

turnedabout,and

coveredtheir

1224,-es

to

xc-curerhem.()nmin

rlimrdm;

pr:-xemlythey

ruinedubomIa

/iy;

and

somost

shamcfully

ruilwdall.For(hm?

whohm]hm!then:

backatonce

nmfimzkeri

the

infamry.

and

falling

ontheir

rear,

cu!then:(0

pieces

Pompey,

who

commandedthe

r)Ihr=r

wingof

the

army,

whorl

hrSawhis

raw:/ry

rims

broken

llfldflfiflg.

was

no

longerlzimself;

nor

didhenowI'eI11ember

thathewas

Pompey

the

Gmzt,

bur,likpone

whomsome

god

/(ml

tlepriwdof/Iii‘s'em'e.i',

rt/IiredInhismuwith-

out

speaking

/1

word,

andtheremlto

(’,.\:]7(’(’I

theevent.til!thewhole

army

wasrouted.

THELIFEorl\)!.lUS

<‘A(=.SAl<.

P:

v

-\!<(H.

cA.n.~1o—-12!)

LAW 33 279