The 48 Laws Of Power

Withall

great

decsivmthereisa

noteworthy

occummre

to

which

they

owetheir

power.

Intheactualact

ofdeceptionthey

areovercome

by

beliefinthemselves:itis

thiswhichthen

speaks

so

miraculously

and

campellingly

tothosemoundthem.

F7“H’(i7”iC}L

Nietzr4‘Iu.>,

I6‘-’r‘4—I 900

KEYSTOPOWER

As

children,

westartourliveswith

great

exuberance,

expecting

andde-

mandingeverything

fromtheworld.This

generally

carriesoverintoour

first

forays

into

society,

aswe

begin

ourcareers.Butaswe

grow

olderthe

rebuffsandfailureswe

experience

set

up

boundaries

that

onlyget

firmer

with

time.

Coming

to

expect

lessfromthe

world,

we

accept

limitations

that

are

really

self-imposed.

‘Westarttobowand

scrape

and

apologize

foreven

the

simplest

of

requests.

ThesolutionLosucha

shrinking

ofhorizonsisto

deliberately

forceourselvesinthe

opposite

direction-——to

downplay

the

failuresand

ignore

the

limitations,

tomake

ourselves

demand

and

expect

asmuchasthechild.To

accomplish

this,

we

mustusea

particularstrategy

upon

ourselves.Call

it

the

Strategy

oftheCrown.

The

Strategy

oftheCrownisbasedona

simple

chainofcauseandef-

fect:Ifwebelievewearedestinedfor

greatthings,

ourbeliefwillradiate

outward,

just

as

a

crowncreatesanauraaround

a

king.

Thisoutwardradi-

ancewill

infectthe

people

around

us,

whowillthinkwemust

have

reasons

tofeelsoconfident.

People

whowearcrownsseemtofeelnoinnersenseof

thelimitstowhat

they

canaskfororwhat

they

can

accomplish.

Thistoo

radiatesoutward.Limitsandboundaries

disappear.

Usethe

Strategy

ofthe

Crownand

you

willbe

surprised

howoftenitbearsfruit.

Take

asanexa.m~

ple

those

happy

childrenwhoaskforwhatever

they

want,

and

get

it.Their

highexpectations

aretheircharm.Adults

enjoygranting

their

wishes-——just

asIsabella

enjoyedgranting

thewishesofColumbus.

Throughouthistory,people

of

undistinguished

birth-—-theTheodora:of

‘

Byzantium,

the

Columbuses,

the

Beethovens,

the

Disraelis-——-have

managed

towork

the

Strategy

ofthe

Crown,

believing

so

firmly

intheirown

greatness

thatitbecomesa

seIf~fulfil1ingprophecy.

Thetrickis

simple:

Beovercome

byyour

selfibelief.Evenwhile

you

know

you

are

practicing

akindofde-

ception

on

yourself,

actlikea

king.

You

are

likely

tobetreatedasone.

The

crown

mayseparateyou

from

other

people,

but

itis

up

to

you

to

makethat

separation

real:Youhavetoact

differently,demonstratingyour

distancefromthosearound

you.

One

way

to

emphasizeyour

differenceis

to

always

actwith

dignity,

nomatterthecircumstance.

Louis~Philippegave

nosenseof

being

differentfromother

people—he

wasthebanker

king.

And

themoment

his

subjects

threatened

him,

he

caved

in.

Everyone

sensedthisand

pounced.Lackingregaldignity

andfirmnessof

purpose,

Louis-Philippe

seemedan

impostor,

andthecrownwas

easilytoppled

fromhishead.

Regalbearing

shouldnotbe

confused

with

arrogance.Arrogancemay

seemthe

king’s

entitlement,

butinfact

it

betraysinsecurity.

Itisthe

very

opposite

ofa

royal

demeanor.

Ilippo('{oir1<<s'.

rlimhing

onto

it,

dancvtrl

first

Mwli’Lucrmmn

zlaazces,

marlsomeAttic

ones,

andendnl

bymzmlilzg

onhis"In-adandImu-

irzg

link‘withhis

legs

in

1/11’air.TheI.z11‘mu'an.

andAttic

rlwzceswere

but!

mough;

bur

Clei.\‘IlLm(e.\‘,I/tough

he

alrmrly

lomlzezlI/11>

I/tough!ofhlwing

R

San-m~1awlike

Ahm.

new/'!l1el¢'&rres-rrairxecl

lzimself

mm’

nzzmogcd

toamidanm,uImr,s.r;

butwin»:he

saw

Hippwleidexboating

timewithhis

legs‘,

he

couldbear

1'!

no

longer.

“Sari

nf

Tiyamler.

"

he

CI‘i.(’d,

“you

have

dancer!

awayyour

nmxriagr.

"

'IIHiHL\"!UR1i-'5.

HY-:li()l)(>1’L'S.

Fll")‘H(T.'\"!mayor.

LAW:54