The 48 Laws Of Power

306

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17684844

LAW3!")

His

speech

indefenseofFalawasoneofthemost

popular

heever

gave.

In

this

case,

theweak

party

involvedwasthe

president’s

dog

andtheattack

backfired-inthe

longrun,

it

only

madethe

president

more

sympathetic,

since

manypeople

will

naturally

sidewiththe

“underdog,”just

asthe

American

public

cameto

sympathize

with

the

wily

but

outnumbered

Pan-

choVilla.

Itis

tempting

towanttofixour

mistakes,

buttheharderwe

try,

the

worseweoftenmakethem.Itissometimesmore

politic

toleavethem

alone.

In

1971,

whentheNewYbrklimes

published

the

PentagonPapers,

a

group

of

government

documentsaboutthe

history

ofUS.involvementin

Indochina,HenryKissinger

erupted

intoavolcanic

rage.

Furiousaboutthe

Nixon administi-ation’s

vulnerability

tothiskindof

damaging

leak,

he

maderecommendations

that

eventually

ledtothe

formation

ofa

group

called

thePlumbersto

plug

theleaks.Thiswastheunitthatlaterbrokeinto

Democratic

Party

officesinthe

Watergate

Hotel,

setting

offthechainof

eventsthatledtoNixon’sdownfall.In

reality

the

publication

ofthePenta-

gonPapers

wasnotaseriousthreattothe

administration,

but

Kissingefs

reaction

madeita

big

deal.In

trying

tofixone

problem,

hecreatedan-

other:a

paranoia

for

security

thatinthe

endwasmuch

moredestructiveto

the

government.

Had

he

ignored

the

PentagonPapers,

thescandal

they

hadcreatedwould

eventually

haveblownover.

Insteadof

inadvertentlyfocusing

attentionona

problem,making

it

seem

worse

bypublicizing

howmuchconcernand

anxiety

itis

causing

you,

it

is

ofien

farwiser

to

play

the

contemptuous

aristocrat,

not

deigning

to

acknowledge

the

problem’s

existence.Thereareseveral

ways

toexecute

this

strategy.

Firstthereisthe

sour-grapesapproach.

Ifthereis

somethingyou

want

butthat

you

realize

you

cannot

have,

theworst

thingyou

candoisdrawat-

tention to

yourdisappointmentbycomplaining

aboutit. An

infinitely

more

powerful

tacticistoactasifitnever

really

interested

you

inthefirst

place.

Whenthewriter

George

Sand’s

supporters

nominatedhertobethe

firstfemalememberoftheAcadémie

Frangaise,

in

1861,

Sand

quickly

saw

thatthe

academy

wouldneveradmither.Insteadof

whining,though,

she

claimedshehadnointerestin

belonging

tothis

group

of

worn—out,

over-

rated,

outAof—touch

windbags.

Herdisdain

was

the

perfectresponse:

Had

sheshownher

anger

ather

exclusion,

shewouldhaverevealedhowmuch

itmeanttoher.Instead

she

brandedthe

academy

aclubofoldmem-and

why

shouldshebe

angry

or

disappointed

atnot

having

to

spend

hertime

withthem?

Crying

“sour

grapes”

is

sometimes

seenasa

reflection

ofthe

weak;

itis

actually

thetacticofthe

powerful.

Second,

when

you

areattacked

by

an

inferior,

deflect

people’s

atten-

tion

bymaking

itclearthattheattackhasnoteven

registered.

Look

away,

oranswer

sweetly,showing

howlittletheattackconcerns

you.

Similarly,

when

youyourself

havecommitteda

blunder,

thebest

response

isoftento

makelessof

your

mistake

bytreating

it

lightly

The

Japanese

emperorGo-Saiin,

a

greatdisciple

ofthetea

ceremony,