The 48 Laws Of Power

pleasant

andunconsciousbehavior.ThisistheTeacher’sMirror.Vifhether

ornotthereis

actuallyanything

wrong

withthe

way

people

havetreated

you,
however,

itcanoftenbeto

your

advantage

toreflectitbacktothemin

a

way

thatmakesthem

feel

guilty

about

it.

The
Hallucinatory

Effect. Mirrorsare

tremendouslydeceptive,

for

they

createasensethat

you

are

looking

attherealworld.

Actually,though,you

are

onlystaring

ata

piece

of

glass,

which,

as

everyone

knows,

cannotshow

theworld

exactly

asitis:

Everything

inamirrorisreversed.WhenAlice

goesthrough

the

lookingglass

inLewisCa.rroll’s

book,

she

enters

aworld

thatis

back~to—front,

andmorethan

just

visually.

The

Hallucinatory

Effectcomesfrom

creating

a

perfectcopy

ofanob-

ject,

a

place,

a

person.

This

copy

actsasakindof

dummy—-people

takeit

forthereal

thing,

becauseithasthe

physicalappearance

ofthereal

thing.

This

isthe

preeminenttechnique

of

con

artists,

who

strategically

mimicthe

realworldtodeceive

you.

It

also

has

applications

in

any

arenathatre

quirescamouflage.

ThisistheDeceiver’sMirror.

OBSERVANCESOFMIRROR

EFFECTS

ObservanceI

In

February

of

1815,

the

emperorNapoleonescaped

fromtheislandof

Elba,

wherehehadbeen

imprisonedby

thealliedforcesof

Europe,

andre-

turnedto

ParisinamatchthatstirredtheFrench

nation,

rallyingtroops

andcitizensofallclassestohissideand

chasing

his

successor,

King

Louis

XVIII,

offthethrone‘

By

March,

however,

having

reestablishedhimselfin

power,

hehadtofacethefactthatFrance’ssituationhad

gravelychanged.

The

country

was

devastated,

he

hadnoallies

among

theother

European

nations,

andhismost

loyal

and

important

ministers

haddesertedhimor

leftthe

country.Only

onemanremained

fromtheold

regin-ie—joseph

Fouché,

hisformerministerof

police.

Napoleon

hadreliedonFouchétodohis

dirty

work

throughout

his

previousreign,

buthehadneverbeenableto

figure

hisministerout.He

kept

a

corps

of

agents

to

spy

onallofhis

ministers,

so

thathe

would

always

havean

edge

on

them,

butnoonehad

gottenanything

onFouché.Ifsus~

pected

ofsome

miscleed,

theministerwouldnot

getangry

ortaketheaccu-

sation

personally—he

would

submit, nod, smile,

and

change

colors

chameleonlike,

adapting

to

the

requirements

ofthemoment.Atfirstthis

hadseemedsomewhat

pleasant

and

charming,

but

afterawhileit

frus-

trated

Napoleon,

whofeltoutdone

by

this

slippery

man.Atonetimeoran

otherhehadfiredallofhismost

important

ministers,

includingTalleyrand,

buthenevertouchedFouché.And

so,

in

1815,

backin

power

andinneed

of

help,

hefelthehadnochoicebutto

reappoint

Fouchéashisministerof

police.

Severalweeksintohisnew

reign,Napoleorfsspies

toldhim

they

be-

IVNIAII101GPJOVE[H50 97

rhree

pow:/ls,

canhe

curry

abuy(hm

weighs

above

fifty?

"

"Why."replied

thy

men;/zant,

“do

you

makesuchawonderm

Ihw?As

ifin

a

rnuntry

|4«"'H’V(‘Dill?7/1!(‘(1/1(‘IIIII

hundrmltum"

weigh]

ofirim,

itweresucha

wonder

for

anuwlto

carry

:2childthat

weiglix

not

ovcrjijly‘

pounds

inall!"The

frieml,upon

this.

foam!

thatthemnrcimrxtwas

nosuch

foot

ashetook

himtobe,

begged

his

pardon

for

theclient

wlzirhhe

dtzrigrzed

to

have

putupon

him.

I’€Sl(}I‘e‘d

himthevalue

of

his

Iran,

andivhad

his

‘

11

again.

I'All(,l-ES,

l’l|.l‘.-\Y,

1.~u>m,

mmrm(‘t~‘.N'mRY

Whm

yzm

haveform:

to

grips

andarestriv—

mg

together

withthe

enemy.

and

you

realize

Ihal

you

mnnot

advance,

you

“.rm1kin"

andbecomeonewith

the

erzemy.

Youcan

win

byapplying

asuitable

mtlznique

while

you

are

mutuallyentangled.

.

..

Youcan

win

u/ken

decisively

withthe

advantageofknowing

howto

"soak

"

intothe

enemy,

whereas‘.were

you

todraw

apart,you

would{me11::cimnce

towin.

Asoonor-'1-weRINGS,

MIYAMOTO

M1:sAsm,

JAPAN,

SF,‘/FNTF,F.NTH(‘FNTURY

LAW 44 379