The 48 Laws Of Power

seetherethemanwhois
preparing

to

pass

from

Europe

toAsia.Hecannot

pass

fromonetabletoanotherwithout

falling.”

When Alexander was

eighteen,

a

disgruntled

courtier murdered

Philip.

Aswordofthe

regicidespreadthrough

Greece,

city

after

city

rose

up

inrebellion

against

theirMacedonianrulers.

Philip’s

adviserscounseled

Alexander,

nowthe

king,

to

proceed

cautiously,

todoas

Philip

had

done

and

conquerthroughcunning.

But

Alexanderwoulddo

things

his

way:

He

marchedtothefurthest
reachesof
the

kingdom,suppressed

therebellious

towns,
andreunitedthe
empire

withbrutal

efficiency.

Asa

young

rebel

grows

older,

his

struggle

against

thefatheroften

wanes,

andhe

gradually

comestoresemblethe

very

manhe

hadwantedto

defy.

ButAlexandefs

loathing

ofhisfatherdidnotendwith

Phi.lip’s

death.

Once
he
hadconsolidated

Greece,

hesethis

eyes

on

Persia,

the

prize

that

hadeludedhis
father,
whohaddreamedof

conquering

Asia.Ifhedefeated

the
Persians,
Alexanderwould

finally

surpassPhilip

in

glory

andfame.

AlexandercrossedintoAsiawithan

army

of

35,000

toface3.Persian

force

numbering

overamillion.Before

engaging

thePersiansinbattlehe

passedthrough

thetownofGordium.

Here,

inthe

town’smain

temple,

therestoodanancientchariottiedwithcordsmadeoftherindofthecor-

neltree.

Legend

haditthat

any

manwhocouldundothesecords——the

Gordianknot—~wouldruletheworld.
Many

hadtriedtountietheenor

mousand
intricate
knot,

butnonehad

succeeded.

Alexander,

seeing

he

couldnot

possibly

untie

the

knotwithhisbare

hands,

tookouthissword

and
withoneslash
cutitin
half.This

symbolicgesture

showedtheworld

thathewouldnotdoas
others,
butwouldblazehisown

path.

Againstastounding

odds,

Alexander

conquered

thePersians.Mostex-

pected

himto

stop

there--itwasa

greattriumph,enough

tosecurehis

famefor

eternity.

ButAlexanderhadthesame

relationship

tohisown

deedsashehadtohisfather:His
conquest

ofPersia

represented

the

past,

andhewantednevertoreston

pasttriumphs,

ortoallowthe

past

toout-

shinethe
present.

Hemovedonto

India,

extending

his

empirebeyond

all

knownlimits.
Only

his

disgruntled

and

weary

soldiers

prevented

himfrom

going

farther.

Interpretation

Alexander
represents

an

extremely

uncommon

type

in

history:

the

son

of

a
famous
and
successful
manwho
manages

to

surpass

thefatherin

glory

and
power.

Thereasonthis

type

isuncommonis

simple:

Thefathermost

often
manages

toamasshis

fortune,

his

kingdom,

becausehe

begins

with

littleor

nothing.

A

desperate

urge

irnpels

himtosucceed»-hehas

nothing

tolose

bycunning

and

impetuousness,

and

has

nofamousfather

ofhis

own to

competeagainst.

This kindofmanhas

reason

to

believe

in

himself-—-tobelieve
thathis
way

of

doingthings

isthe

best,because,

after

all,

itworkedforhim.

Whenamanlikethishasa

son,

hebecomes

domineering

and

oppres

sive,

imposing

hislessonsonthe

son,

whois

starting

offlifein

circums

stances

totally

differentfrom thoseinwhich thefather himself

began.

the

szzttly(>Hzz.s','zrnfe.s'~

slim.

/l_fn’rpainzlrxg

hart’

})t?{'()I)'l€SL’l't')IIdmfiure

tohim.Pietrols’

mil)’

plcmitre

was

alway.s'

to

be

working

inhis

craft

and

c(m,_s'IunIl_v

tobl"

painting.

Ana’

he’r:4m.nv

he

always‘

hadthe

drmzl

nfpuvt’r1ybefore

his

eym,

hedid

things

tomake

money

wlziclr

he

probably

wouldnot

havebolhered 10 do

hadhenotbeen

fora/4/

to

supporthimself.

Perhaps

wealthwould

haveclosedtohimand

hisIulemthe

path

to

arcellencc

}'u.\'t

as

poverty

luzcl

opener!

it

up

to

him.butneed

.5p£lt’((:’l.l

I/rirnonsincehe

rlesireu’ 10 rise

from

such:1rrziscmblcand

lowlyposit.imt—if/1m‘

pcrlzaps

tothesummit

and

.s'uprr'nu*iwiglsxof

ex(cllcnu',

thanatleast

toL!

point

wherehe

couldhave

(,‘f1()u,I,'l2

to

liveon.Forthis

train»,

helooknormlirre

of

Cold.

hunger,

dist‘(N11-

fnrt,

im'mzvmir'r:rz>,rail

orrhamv

iflw

could

only

liveour

zlny

in

rzaxr-.and

repose;

and

he

would

(1lways.s'(1y—-um]

as

if

itwerea

pmwrb—

that

after

badweather.

good

weathermust

follow,

andthat

(luring

the

good

weculrer

houses

muxl

be

built

for

shelterintimes

ofnccd.

Ll‘/!—,SorTHE4R't‘!S‘l.\'.

Glt)R(}lOVas.

RE.

l5!l—l574

LAW 41 351