The 48 Laws Of Power

cull

of

the

sun-god

Mithms.

declaring

his

birthday.

December25,

llnalionul

holiday.

The

cult

of

Mxthras,

the

Aryangod0/‘light,

had

spreadfrom

Pt,’f’Sl(1

through

AsiaMinorto

Grenv,Rome,

andas

far

astheGermanic

landsandBritain.

Numerousruins

ofhis

shrinesstill

testify

to

the

highregard

in

which[his

god

was

held,especiallyby

the

Roman

legions,

asa

hringcroffcrtility,

peace,

and

victory.

So

itwasa(‘leverrzmve

when.

in 1110

year

A.[).

354.theChristian

churchunder

Pope

l,ibcrius

(352-366)

co-

Uplezl

the

hirlhdayof

Mithrasanddeclared

December 25 tobe

the

bmhriay

oflesus

Christ.

NE!!!-;zuucnmz

7:: mm.

ANNE,-S1/\N\‘li

RIs<'1-mi-1.

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394 LAW
45

vorce.ItwasnowCromwell’sturntowatch

uneasily

asthe

kingbegan

slowly

toundohis

reforms,

reinstating

Catholicsacramentsandotherritu-

alsthatCromwellhadoutlawed.

Sensing

his fall from

grace,

in 1540 Cromwell decidedto

regain

Henry’s

favorwithonethrowofthedice:HewouldEndthe

king

anew

wife.

Henry’s

third

wife,

JaneSeymour,

haddiedafew

years

before,

and

hehadbeen

pining

foranew

youngqueen.

ItwasCromwellwhofound

him one:Anne of

Cleves,

aGerman

princess

and,

most

important

to

Cromwell,

aProtestant.OnCrornwell’s

commission,

the

painter

Holbein

produced

a

flatteringportrait

of

Anne;

when

Henry

saw

it,

hefellin

love,

and

agreed

to

marry

her.Cromwellseemedback

in

favor.

Unfortunately,

however,

Holbein’s

painting

was

highly

idealized,

and

whenthe

king

finally

metthe

princess

shedidnot

please

himintheleast.

His

angeragainst

Cromwell—f1rstfortheill~conceived

reforms,

nowfor

saddling

himwithanunattractiveandProtestantwife-—couldno

longer

be

contained.

In

June

ofthat

year,

Cromwell

was

arrested,

charged

asa

Protes-

tantextremistanda

heretic,

andsenttotheTower.Sixweeks

later,

beforea

large

andenthusiastic

crowd,

the

public

executionercutoffhishead.

Interpretation

ThomasCromwellhada

simple

idea:Hewouldbreak

up

the

power

and

wealthoftheChurchand

lay

thefoundationforProtestantismin

England.

Andhewoulddothisina.

mercilessly

shorttime.Heknewhis

speedy

re-

forms wouldcause

pain

and

resentment,

buthe

thought

these

feelings

would

fadeinafew

years.

More

important,byidentifying

himselfwith

change,

hewouldbecometheleaderofthenew

order,

making

the

king

de

pendent

onhim.Buttherewasa

problem

inhis

strategy:

Likeabilliard

ballhittoohard

against

the

cushion,

hisreformshadreactionsandcaroms

hedidnotenvisionandcouldnotcontrol.

The

man

who

initiates

strong

reformsoftenbecomesthe

scapegoat

for

any

kindofdissatisfaction.And

eventually

thereactiontohisreforms

may

consume

him,

for

change

is

upsetting

tothehuman

animal,

evenwhenitis

forthe

good.

Becausetheworldisand

always

hasbeenfullof

insecurity

and

threat,

welatchontofamiliarfacesandcreatehabitsandritualsto

maketheworldmorecomfortable.

Change

canbe

pleasant

and even

sometimesdesirableinthe

abstract,

buttoomuchofitcreatesan

anxiety

thatwillstirandboilbeneaththesurfaceandthen

eventuallyerupt.

Neverunderestimatethehiddenconservatismofthosearound

you.

It

is

powerful

andentrenched.Neverlettheseductivecharmofanideacloud

your

reason:

just

as

you

cannotmake

people

seetheworld

yourway,you

cannotwrenchthemintothefuturewith

painfulchanges.They

willrebel.

Ifreformis

necessary,anticipate

thereaction

against

itandfind

ways

to

disguise

the

change

andsweetenthe

poison.

OBSERVANCE.OFTHELAW

Asa

young

Communistinthe

19203,

Mao

Tsetung

understoodbetter

than

any

ofhis

colleagues

theincredibleodds

against

aCommunist

victory

in