The 48 Laws Of Power

dangle

infrontof

you,

andwill

keepyourself

from

becoming

anotherim~

patient

sucker.

Third,

you

willhavemoreroomtobeflexible.

Opportuni-

tieswill
inevitably

arisethat

you

hadnot

expected

andwould

have

missed

had
you

forcedthe

pace.

Fourth,

you

willnotmovefromonedealtothe

nextwithout

completing

the

first

one.Tobuild

yourpower’s

foundation

cantake
years;

makesure

that

foundationissecure.Donotbeaflashinthe

pan—-«success

thatisbuilt

upslowly

and

surely

isthe

only

kindthatlasts.

Finally,

slowing

timedownwill

giveyou

a

perspective

onthetimes

you

live

in,

lettingyou

takea

certaindistanceand

puttingyou

inaless

emotionallychargedposition

toseethe

shapes

of

things

tocome.Hurriers

willoftenmistakesurface

phenomena

forareal

trend,

seeingonly

what

they

wanttosee.Howmuchbettertoseewhatis

reallyhappening,

evenif

itis

unpleasant

ormakes

your

taskharder.

Forced

Time.The

trickin

forcing

time

is

to

upset

the

timing

ofothers-——t0

makethem

hurry,

tomakethem

wait,

tomakethemabandontheirown

pace,

todistorttheir

perception

oftime.

Byupsetting

the

timing

of

yourop~

ponent

while

youstaypatient,youopenup

timefor

yourself,

whichishalf

the

game.

In 1473 the

great

Turkishsultan

Mehmedthe

Conqueror

invited

nego-

tiationswith

Hungary

toendtheelf-andamwarthetwocountrieshad

waged

for

years.

Whenthe

Hungarian

emissary

arrivedin

Turkey

tostart

the

talks,

Turkishofficials

humblyapologized——Mehmed

had

just

leftIstan-

bul,

the

capital,

tobattlehis

longtime

foe,

UzunHasan.But

he

urgently

wanted

peace

with

Hungary,

and hadaskedthatthe

emissaryjoin

himat

thefront.

Whenthe

emissary

anivedatthesiteofthe

fighting,

Mehmedhadal-

ready

left

it,

moving

eastwardin

pursuit

ofhisswift

foe.

This

happened

severaltimes.Wherever

the

emissarystopped,

theThrkslavished

gifts

and

banquets

on

him,

in

pleasurable

but

timeconsuming

ceremonies.

Finally

MehrneddefeatedUzunandmetwiththe

emissary.

Yethistermsfor

peace

with

Hungary

were

excessively

harsh.Afterafew

days,

the

negotiations

ended,

andtheusualstalemateremainedin

place.

Butthis

was

finewith

Mehmecl.

In

fact

he

had

planned

it

that

way

all

along:Plotting

hiscam-

paignagainst

Uzun,

he

had

seenthat

diverting

hisarmiestotheeastwould

leavehiswesternflankvulnerable.To

preventHungary

from

taking

advan»

tage

ofhisweaknessandhis

preoccupation

elsewhere,

heflrst

dangled

the

lureof

peace

beforehis

enemy,

thenmadethemwait»-allonhisown

terms.

Makingpeople

waitisa

powerfulway

of

forcing

time,

as

long

as

they

donot

figure

outwhat

you

are

up

to.Youcontrolthe

clock,

they

linger

in

limbowand

rapidly

come

unglued,openingupopportunities

for

you

to

strike.The

opposite

effectis

equallypowerful:

Youmake

youropponents

hurry.

Startoff

yourdealings

withthem

slowly,

then

suddenly

applypres-

sure,

making

themfeelthat

everything

is

happening

atonce.

People

who

lackthetimetothinkwillmakemistakes-—sosettheirdeadlinesforthem.