The 48 Laws Of Power

brave.An,Old

friim/I-—

whoneedshim?Itis

twomen

ofeqnal

wealthand

equal

birth

who

rmi1racrfrier1d-

ship

and

marriage,

not

(1

rich

manand(I

pauper.

.../inold

friend—-

whoneeds

him?

‘iHi-,

MAHABH.IxRA’lA,

I".rnumL:«_=N'r1;RYac.

Pick

up

n

beefrom

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andlearn(he

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u/‘kindmzws.

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M(IIIaremun!

remly

ll)

repay

an

injury

thana

bz:ru:j7‘t,

Iwmme

grilli-

tudeis

£1‘

burdenand

revenge

it

pleasme.

T.-ugnus,c.An55-420

1.‘) LAW 2

EmperorSung

wouldhavenotruckwith“friends”—-hebribedhisfellow

generals

with

splendid

estatesand

kept

them

far

away.

Thiswasamuch

better

way

toemasculatethemthan

killing

them,

whichwould

only

have

ledother

generals

toseek

vengeance.

And

Sung

wouldhave

nothing

todo

with

“friendly”

ministers.Moreoftenthan

not,

they

wouldend

updrinking

hisfamous

cup

of

poisoned

wine.

Insteadof

relying

on

friends,

Sung

usedhis

enemies,

oneafterthe

other,

transforming

them

intofar

morereliable

subjects.

While

afriendex-

pects

moreandmore

favors,

andseetheswith

jealousy,

theseformer£:ne~

mies

expectednothing

and

got

everything.

Aman

suddenlyspared

the

guillotine

isa

grateful

man

indeed,

andwill

go

totheendsoftheearthfor

themanwhohas

pardoned

him.In

time,

theseformerenemiesbecame

Sung’

smosttrustedfriends.

And

Sung

was

finally

abletobreakthe

pattern

of

coups,

violence,

and

civilwar—the

Sung

Dynasty

ruledChinaformorethanthreehundred

years.

In

a

speech

AbrahamLincolndelivererl

at

the

height

of

the(Ii:/il

War,

he

referred

totheSouthernersas

_fellow

human

beings

whowere

in

error.An

elderlylady

chastised

himfor

not

calling

themirremncilable

enemieswhomustbe

destroyed.“Why,

madam,”L2'ncoln

replied,

“doInot

destroymy

enemieswhenImakethem

myfr2Tends?”

KEYSTOPOWER

Itisnaturaltowantto

employyour

friendswhen

you

find

yourself

intimes

of

need.Theworldisaharsh

place,

and

your

friendssoftentheharshness.

Besides,

you

knowthem.

‘Whydepend

on a

stronger

when

you

havea

friend

at

hand?

The

problem

isthat

you

oftendonotknow

your

friendsaswellas

you

imagine.

Friendsoften

agree

on

things

inordertoavoidan

argument.

They

cover

up

their

unpleasantqualifies

soastonotoffendeachother.

Theylaugh

extrahard

ateach

other’s

jokes.

Since

honestyrarelystrength-

ens

friendship,youmay

neverknowhowafriend

tmly

feels.

Friendswill

say

that

they

love

yourpoetry,

adore

your

music,

envyyour

tastein

clothes———maybethey

mean

it,

often

they

donot.

When

you

decidetohirea

friend,

yougradually

discoverthe

qualities

heorshehas

kept

hidden.

Strangelyenough,

itis

your

actof

kindnessthat

unbalances

everything.People

want

tofeel

they

deservetheir

good

for-

tune.The

receipt

ofafavorcanbecome

oppressive:

Itmeans

you

have

beenchosenbecause

you

area

friend,

not

necessarily

because

you

aredo

serving.

Thereisalmostatouch ofcondescensionintheactof

hiring

friendsthat

secretly

afflicts

them.

The

injury

will

comeout

slowly:

Alittle

more

honesty,

flashesof

resentment

and

envy

hereand

there,

and

before

you

knowit

yourfriendship

fades.Themorefavorsand

gifts

you

supply

to

revivethe

friendship,

theless

gratitudeyou

receive.

Ingratitude

has

along

and

deephistory.

Ithasdemonstratedits

powers