The 48 Laws Of Power

skinWecan

gelmany

piecesofsilver

for

it

Kill

him,

butdonu!ma!

his

body.

Whilethemmwas

listening

(0Iiir

fallizeris‘

imrrucrtiorwthe

tiger

.mr1d(mly

dmvhed

0/]

intothe

forest,carrying

theoldmunwhere

the

.\“(mcouldnot

reach

him,

(milhewassoon

killed.

“Cnwr-‘st;mete."

vmuousi-ABLEX

FROMV/\Kl()l.SPLACES.

Dome

Di

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E963

TIIICl~"I(ll€VHI‘\«1H.\|is

'\.\|)I’ll‘\Itr\UlI

Itiswrimminthe

hl.S‘I()fi¢.\'u

f

the

proplzcxs

iizalMoses

was

sent

to

Plturuoh

with

manynziraciex,

wondersandiionorsz

Nowthe

daily

ration

for

Plumzm'z3'rafrlewas

4,000sheep.

400

rows,

200

annrlr.

am?(1

mrmsponding

amount

0/‘rlzic/cm.\‘.

firk.

hover‘

(1g<’.V‘.fI'i(‘([

m(:at.\‘,

.‘1'W('L"I.)‘,andother

I/tings.

Allthe

people

of

lf,i,'_Vpl

andallhis

army

user!toeatathis(able

everyday.

For 400

yerlrs

lwhailrt/ainurd

divinity

andnewrr

L‘eu.\‘ad

providing

this‘

food.

WhenMtmw

praycd.

.w1}'izxg.

“OLorri.

zlesiroyI’/zararziz,

"

Goo‘

tltimverezlhis

prayer

tmrlmid.

“I

mail

a‘€_s'tr¢)y

himin

warez.

andIshallbexmwail

hiswealtham!

that

of

hissoldiers‘on

you

and

yourprllp/c’,\‘.

"

Szrwrul

33%‘ LAW4 o

thoughtVanbrugh

wasouttoruinher.She

quibbled

over

every

carloadof

stoneandbushelof

lime,

counted

every

extra

yard

ofiron

railing

orfootof

wainscot,

hurling

abuse

atthewasteful

workmen,contractors,

and

survey-

ors.

Marlborough,

oldand

weaiy,

wanted

nothing

morethanto

settleinto

the

palace

inhislast

years,

butthe

project

became

bogged

downina

swamp

of

litigation,

theworkmen

suing

theduchessfor

wages,

theduchess

suing

thearchitect

right

back.Inthemidstofthisinterminable

wrangling,

thedukedied.Hehadnever

spent

a

night

inhisbelovedBlenheim.

After

Ma.rlborough’s

death,

it

becameclearthathehad

a

vast

estate,

worthover£2million—-morethan

enough

to

pay

for

finishing

the

palace.

Buttheduchesswouldnotrelent:Sheheldback

Vanbrugh’swages

aswell

asthe

workmerfs,

and

finally

hadthearchitectdismissed.Themanwho

tookhis

place

finished

Blenheiminafew

years,followingVanbruglfs

de-

signs

tothe

letter.

Vanbrugh

diedin

1726,

locked

outofthe

palaceby

the

duchess,

unabletosetfootinhis

greatest

creation.

Foreshadowing

thero-

mantic

movement,

Blenheimhadstartedawholenewtrendinarchitec-

ture,

buthad

given

itscreatora

twenty—yearnightmare.

Interpretation

FortheDuchessof

Marlborough,money

wasa

way

to

play

sadistic

power

games.

Shesawthelossof

money

asa

symbolic

lossof

power.

WithVan-

brugh

hercontortionswent

deeper

still:Hewasa

great

artist,

andsheen~

viedhis

power

to

create,

toattainafameoutsideherreach.She

may

not

havehadhis

gifts,

butshedid

have

the

money

to

tortureand

abuse

him

overthe

pettiest

details—to

ruinhislife.

Thiskindof

sadism,however,

bearsanawful

price.

Itmadeconstrue»

tionthatshouldhavelastedten

years

take

twenty.

It

poisonedmany

arela-

tionship,

alienatedtheduchessfromthe

court.

deeplypained

theduke

(who

wanted

only

tolive

peacefully

in

Blenheim),

createdendless

lawsuits,

andtook

years

off

Vanbruglfs

life.

Finally,

too,

posterity

hadthelastword:

Vanbrugh

is

recognized

as

a

genius

while

theduchessisforeverremem«

beredforherconsummate

cheapness.

The

powerful

musthave

grandeur

of

spirit»-they

canneverreveal

any

petfiness.

And

money

isthemost

visiblearena

in

whichto

display

either

grandeur

or

pettiness.

Best

spendfreely,

then,

andcreate

a

reputation

for

generosity,

whichintheendwill

paygreat

dividends.Neverletfinancial

detailsblind

you

tothe

biggerpicture

ofhow

peopleperceiveyou.

Their

resentmentwillcost

you

inthe

long

run.Andif

you

wanttomeddleinthe

workofcreative

people

under

your

hire,

atleast

pay

themwell.Your

money

will

buy

theirsubmission

better

than

yourdisplays

of

power.

OBSERVANCESOFTHELAW

Observance

I

Pietro

Aretino,

sonofa

lowly

shoemaker,

had

catapulted

himselfintofame

asawriterof

biting

satires.Butlike

every

Renaissance

artist,

heneededto

finda

patron

whowould

give

hima

comfortable

lifestyle

whilenotinter