The 48 Laws Of Power

fellinto

min,

andthe

army

hadno

recruits

forits

European

wars.

By

the

endofthe

seventeenth

century,

theentire

country

hadshrunk

by

more

thanhalfofits

population;

the

city

of

Madridhad

gone

from

a

population

of

400,000

to

150,000.

With

diminishing

returnsfromitseffortsoverso

many

years,

Spain

fellintoadeclinefromwhichitneverrecovered.

Power

requiresselfidiscipline.

The

prospect

of

wealth,

particularly

easy,

sudden

wealth,

plays

havocwiththeemotions.The

suddenly

richbe

lievethatmoreis

alwayspossible.

Thefree

lunch,

the

money

thatwillfall

into

yourlap,

is

just

aroundthecorner.

Inthisdelusionthe

greedyneglecteverythingpowerreallydepends

on:

self-control,

the

goodwill

of

others,

and

so

on.Understand:Withone

exception—death--nolastingchange

infortunecomes

quickly.

Sudden

wealth

rarely

lasts,

foritisbuilton

nothing

solid.Neverletlustfor

money

lure

you

outofthe

protective

and

enduring

fortressofreal

power.

Make

poweryourgoal

and

money

willfindits

way

to

you.

LeaveElDoradofor

suckers

andfools.

Transgression

ll

Inthe

earlyeighteenthcentury,

no onestood

higher

in

Englishsociety

thantheDukeandDuchessof

Marlborough.

The

duke,

having

led

sue»

cessful

campaignsagainst

the

French,

wasconsidered

Europe’spremier

general

and

strategist.

Andhis

wife,

the

duchess,

aftermuch

maneuvering,

hadestablishedherselfasthefavoriteof

Queen

Anne,

whobecameruler

of

England

in1702.In 1704 theduke’s

triumph

attheBattleofBlenheim

madehimthetoastof

England,

andtohonorhim

the

queen

awardedhim

a

largeplot

of

land

inthetownof

Woodstock,

andthefundstocreatea

greatpalace

there.

Calling

his

planned

homethePalaceof

Blenheim,

the

dukechoseashisarchitectthe

youngjohnVanbrugh,

akindofRenais-

sancemanwhowrote

plays

aswellas

designedbuildings.

Andsocon—

struction

began,

inthesummerof

1705,

withmuch fanfare and

great

hopes.

Vanbrugh

hadadramatist’ssenseofarchitecture.His

palace

wastobe

amonumentto

Mar1borough’s

brillianceand

power,

andwastoinclude

artificial

lakes,

enormous

bridges,

elaborate

gardens,

and

otherfantastical

touches.From

day

one,however,

theduchesscouldnotbe

pleased:

She

thoughtVanbrugh

was

wastingmoney

on

yet

anotherstandof

trees;

she

wantedthe

palace

finishedassoonas

possible.

TheduchesstorturedVan~

brugh

andhisworkmenon

every

detail.Shewasconsumedwith

petty

matters;

although

the

government

was

paying

for

Blenheim,

shecounted

everypenny.Eventually

her

grumbling,

aboutBlenheimandother

things

too,

createdan

irreparable

riftbetweenherand

Queen

Anne,

who,

in

1711,

dismissedherfromthe

court,

ordering

hertovacateher

apartments

atthe

royalpalace.

Whentheduchessleft

(fuming

overthelossofher

position,

andalsoofher

royalsalary),

she

emptied

the

apartment

of

every

fixture

downtothebrassdoorknobs.

Overthenextten

years,

workonBlenheimwould

stop

and

start,

as

thefundsbecameharderto

procure

fromthe

government.

Theduchess

suspicion

ofrubbing

the

discipleof

his

soul.

People

who

say,

’Itake

Imtliing,’may

be

found

lotake

away

thevol!»

tion.

of

theirvictim.

"

Tl-HiI)I<RMlS

Pl{()Bli,

IDRIES

SHAH,

I970

'I‘llliW/\,’\\Xll()

l.U\’l‘\l)5/lll\l§\l‘ll7["l‘l7.ll

TIMTVl.Il"lz

Inancienttiinzrstlmre

wasanold

wondculter

whowonttothemoun-

Iuin(IlII1()SY

ewry

day

to

cmwood.

ItwL1.s‘.\'1/zirlthatthisold

manwasamiserwho

hoarderlhissilveruntil

it

changed

to

gold.

and

thatllf!carter/I

rnorefor

gold

than

anything

«Ire

inallthe

world.

One

day

(1wilderrw5.\‘

tigersprang

orhimand

Ilzough

herunhemultl

not

escape,

andthe

tiger

carriedhim

0/fin

itsmouth.

T/m

wor>rl¢'urtz-,r'smu.

Saw

lziyfatheris’(lunger,

andrantosavehim

if

pox.s'zl)le.

Hecanriala

longkmfe,

and

as

he

(‘OIll(lrun

fu.s'Irr

than

the

tiger.

whohad 11

man 442

mrry,

hewon

overtookthem.

Hr";

father

wasnot

nmrhhurt,

/or

the

Iiger

heldhim

by

hisclothes;

Whentheoldwm)1l<'uI—

terrawlmyouaboutIn

rmbthe

tiger

he('allr2(1

outm

great

alarm:

"Donot

spoil

the

/igcriv

skin!Donot

.\'[I0il

the

rigmfr

skin!

If

you

cankillhimwith-

out

cutting

holesinhis

LAW 40 337