The 48 Laws Of Power

366 LAW 42

REVERSAL

“Any

harm

you

dotoamanshouldbedoneinsucha

way

that

you

need

notfearhis

revenge,”

writesMachiavelli.

If

you

act

toisolate

yourenemy,

makesurehe

lacks

themeans

to

repay

thefavor.If

youapply

this

Law,

in

other

words,

apply

itfroma

position

of

superiority,

sothat

you

havenoth-

ing

tofearfromhisresentment.

Andrew

Johnson,

AbrahamLincoln’s successorasU.S.

president,

saw

Ulysses

S.Grant

asa

troublesomememberof

his

government.

Sohe

isolated

Grant,

asa

prelude

to

forcing

himout.This

onlyenraged

the

great

general,

however,

who

responded

byforming

a

support

base

inthe

Republicanparty

and

going

ontobecomethenext

president.

Itwould

have

beenfarwiserto

keep

amanlikeGrantinthe

fold,

wherehecould

doless

harm,

thantomakehim

revengeful.

Andso

youmay

oftenfindit

betterto

keeppeople

on

your

side,

where

you

canwatch

them,

than

to

risk

creating

an

angryenemy.Keeping

them

close,

you

can

secretly

whit-

tle

away

attheir

support

base,

sothatwhenthetimecomestocutthem

loose

they

willfallfastandhardwithout

knowing

whathitthem.