The 48 Laws Of Power

I'll}.l’R()l£|,l-I\I{W

|’.\|l,\1URl'l|V

The

xlightesz

(I(.'I]£laiIt-

twicewithc .S‘I1(>w'.\‘

onethatitisa

play

rubstttutc

for

thoart

uf

warandindeedithas

been

a

fmmrite

recto-

ation

ofxomeofthe

grerztest

ntilitnry

[mt]-

ers,

from

Wt'Iliamthe

Cfnnqmrror

to

Napoleon.

Inthecrmte.\‘1hem-teen

the

opposing

txrmius‘

thesamv

prinripltzvof

bat}:

strategy

andMexico‘

are

</is/7la_‘\=s'r1

asin.

actual

war,

thesutitc

foresiglzt

and

powersof

miculutimz

are

necc»:s~

sary.

thesame

capacity

/orrlivi/iirtg

the

_1)lart.s'

of

the

apprme-nt,

and

the

rigor

withwhich

rferixiririsarr

followetl

by

their

Ct)/1.$'t.’ql4L’l1C(.’S

is,

if'(trt_vthin;:.

Wm

moreruthless:More

(him

that,

isit

plain

that

theunconsciottsmotive

actuating

the

p[(lyk'r.)‘

is

notthemerelove

of

pugtzaciry

t‘Iramcteris‘tic

of

all

C0f7lpx'.‘f$l1W’

games,

butIhr

grirrtmer

tme

ofl'uthcr—murder.

Itismicthatthe

origi-

nal

goal

ofcapturing

the

king

Imrbeen

given

up,

butfrmn

the

(min!

of

vmw

of

motivethaw,’

is,

except

in

respectof

cmdity,

not

0[J])f(’Ci((ll’l’

change

inthe

pV€St’t11

goal

ofstertlizing

him

in

immobility,

...

“Checkmate

"

I7(€[i'I!.\'

Iircm/ty

"tho

king

is

(lead.

”

. ..Om
krzrwlvdgeof

the

uru'rm.<cim1.s'moti-

vation

oft:/1r>.v.v-7:1/tytrtgg

tells‘usthatwhatit

rupt'e,\'m1Iv(l

could

only

havebeenthewishto

uw'rx:mmthe

falher

in

an

zlcceptctblt’wuy.

. ..

[Iisnodrmht

signifi-

352

LAW

41

Instead

of

allowing

theson

to

go

in

a

new

direction,

thefatherwill

try

to

put

himinhisown

shoes,

perhapssecretlywishing

the

boy

will

fail,

as

Philip

halfwantedtoseeAlexanderthrownfrom

Bucephalus.

Fathers

envy

theirsons’

youth

and

vigor,

after

all,

andtheirdesireistocontrolanddom-

inate.Thesonsofsuchmentendtobecomecowed

and

cautious,

terrified

of

losing

what

theirfathershave

gained.

Thesonwillnever

step

outofhisfather’sshadowunlesshe

adopts

the

ruthless

strategy

ofAlexander:

disparage

the

past,

create

your

own

king-

dom,

put

thefatherintheshadowsinsteadof

letting

himdothesameto

you.

If

you

cannot

materially

start

from

ground

zero—--itwouldbefoolish

to

renouncean

inheritance-—you

can

at

least

begin

from

ground

zero

psy-

chologically,by

throwing

offthe

weight

ofthe

past

and

charting

anewdi—

rection. Alexander

instinctivelyrecognized

that

privileges

ofbirthare

impediments

to

power.

Bemercilesswiththe

past,

then——not

only

with

your

fatherandhisfatherbutwith

your

ownearlier

achievements.

Only

the

weak

rest

on

their

laurelsanddoteon

pasttriumphs;

inthe

game

of

power

thereisnevertimetorest

KEYSTO

POWER

In

many

ancient

kingdoms,

for

exampleBengal

and

Sumatra,

afterthe

king

hadruledforseveral

years

his

subjects

wouldexecutehim.Thiswas

done

partly

asaritualof

renewal,

butalsoto

prevent

himfrom

growing

too

powerful—for

the

king

would

generallytry

toestablisha

permanent

order,

atthe

expense

of

other

familiesandofhisownsons.Insteadof

protecting

the

tribe

and

leading

itin

timesof

war,

hewould

attempt

todominateit.

Andsohewouldbebeatento

death,

orexecutedinanelaborateritual.

Nowthathewasno

longer

aroundforhish0l101‘Sto

go

tohis

head,

he

couldbe

worshipped

asa

god.

Meanwhilethefield

hadbeen

cleared

fora

newand

youthful

order

toestablishitself.

The

ambivalent,

hostileattitudetowardsthe

king

orfather

figure

also

finds

expression

in

legends

ofheroeswhodonotknowtheirfather.

Moses,

the

archetypal

manof

power,

wasfoundabandoned

among

thebulrushes

andneverknewhis

parents;

withouta.fatherto

compete

with

himorlimit

him,

hecould

attainthe

heights

of

power.

Herculeshadno

earthly

father——

hewasthesonofthe

god

Zeus.LaterinhislifeAlexandertheGreat

spread

the

story

thatthe

god

Jupiter

Ammonhadsired

him,

not

Philip

ofMace-

don.

Legends

andritualsliketheseeliminatethehumanfatherbecausehe

symbolizes

thedestructive

power

ofthe

past.

The

pastprevents

the

young

herofrom

creating

hisownworld--he

mustdo

as

hisfather

did,

evenafterthatfatherisdeador

powerless.

The

heromusthowand

scrape

beforehis

predecessor

and

yield

totradition

and

precedent.

Whathadsuccessinthe

past

mustbecarried

over

to

the

present,

even

though

circumstanceshave

greatlychanged.

The

past

also

weighs

the

hero

downwithan

inheritance

that

heisterrifiedof

losing,

making

himtimidandcautious.

Power

depends

onthe

ability

tofilla

void,

to

occupy

afieldthathas