The 48 Laws Of Power

3.56 LAW4!

Authority:

Bewareof

stepping

intoa

great

maifs

shoes—-you

willhaveto

accomplish

twiceasmuchto

surpass

him.Thosewhofollowaretakenfor

imitators.Nomatterhowmuch

they

sweat,

they

willnevershedthatbur—

den.Itisanuncommonskilltofinda

new

path

for

excellence,

a

modern

routeto

celebrity.

Thereare

many

roadsto

singularity,

notallofthem

welltraveled.Thenewestonescanbe

arduous,

but

they

areoftenshortcutsto

greatness.

(BaltasarGracian,1601-1658)

REVERSAL

Theshadowofa

greatpredecessor

couldbeusedto

advantage

ifitischo-

senas

a

trick,

a

tacticthatcanbediscardedonceithas

broughtyoupower

Napoleon

III usedthe nameand

legend

ofhisillustrious

grand-uncle

NapoleonBonaparte

to

help

himbecomefirst

president

andthen

emperor

ofFrance.Onceonthe

throne,however,

hedidnot

stay

tiedtothe

past’,

he

quickly

showedhowdifferenthis

reign

would

be,

andwascarefulto

keep

the

public

from

expecting

himtoattainthe

heights

that

Bonaparte

hadat-

tained.

The

past

oftenhaselementsworth

appropriating,qualities

thatwould

befoolishto

reject

outofaneedto

distinguishyourself.

EvenAlexander

theGreat

recognized

andwasinfluenced

by

hisfather’sskillin

organizing

an

army.Making

a

display

of

doingthings

differently

from

your

predeces-

sorcanmake

you

seemchildishandinfactoutof

control,

unless

your

ac-

tionshavea

logic

oftheirown.

Joseph

II,

sonoftheAustrian

empress

Maria

Theresa,

madeashowof

doing

theexact

opposite

of

his

mother—dressing

likean

ordinary

citizen,

staying

ininnsinsteadof

palaces,

appearing

asthe

“people’semperor”

Maria

Theresa,

ontheother

hand,

hadbeen

regal

andaristocratic.The

problem

wasthatshehadalsobeen

beloved,

an

empress

whoruled

wisely