The 48 Laws Of Power

When

they

embarrassthemselveswitha

temper

tantrum,

you

willhave

gained

several

victories,

oneofthese

being

thatinthefaceoftheirchildish-

ness
you

havemaintained

yourdignity

and

composure.

Image:

ThePondofFish.Thewaters

areclear

and

calm,

and

thefisharewell

belowthesurface.

Stir

thewatersand

theyemerge.

Stiritsomemoreand

theyget

angry,rising

tothe

surface,

biting

whatevercomes

near-

including

a

freshly

baited hook.

Authority:

If

youropponent

isof

a

hot

temper.try

toirritatehim.If

he

is

arrogant,try

to

encourage

his

egotism,

..
.
Onewhoisskilledat

making

the

enemy

movedoesso

bycreating

asituation

according

to

whichthe

enemy

will

act;

he

entices

the

enemy

with

something

he

is

ccxtajn

to

take.

He

keeps

the

enemy

onthemove

byholding

outbait

andthenattackshimwith

pickedtroops.

(Sun—tzu,

fourth

century

15.0.)

REVERSAL

When

playing

with

people’s

emotions

you

havetobecareful.

Study

the

enemy

beforehand:Somefisharebestleftat

thebottom

ofthe

pond.

Theleadersofthe

city

of

Tyre,capital

ofancient

Phoenicia,

feltconfl-

dent

they

couldwithstand

Alexanderthe

Great,

who

had

conquered

the

Oiientbuthadnotattackedtheir

city,

whichstoodwell

protected

onthe

water.

They

sentambassadorstoAlexander

saying

that

although

they

would

recognize

himas

emperorthey

wouldnotallowhimorhisforcesto

enter

Tyre.

Thisof

course

enraged

him,

andhe

immediately

mounted

a

siege.

Forfourmonthsthe

city

withstood

him,

and

finally

hedecidedthat

the

struggle

wasnotworth

it,

andthathewouldcometotermswiththe

Tyrians.

But

they,

feeling

that

they

had

already

baitedAlexanderand

got-

ten

away

with

it,

andconfident

that

they

couldwithstand

him,

refusedto

LAW 39 331