The 48 Laws Of Power

398 LAW 45

andfewwillnotice

howunconventional

youreally

are.

RenaissanceFlo-

rencehadacenturies—old

republic,

andwas

suspicious

of

anyone

who

floateditstraditions.Cosimode’MedicimadeaShowofenthusiastic

sup

port

forthe

republic,

whilein

reality

heworkedto

bring

the

city

underthe

controlofhis

wealthyfamily.

In

form,

theMedicisretainedthe

appearance

ofa

republic;

in

substance,

they

renderedit

powerless.Theyquietly

en~

acted

a

radical

change,

while

appearing

to

safeguard

tradition.

Scienceclaimsasearchfortruththatwouldseemto

protect

itfrom

conservatismandthe

irrationality

ofhabit:Itisacultureofinnovation.Yet

whenCharlesDarwin

published

hisideasof

evolution,

hefacedfiercer

ope

position

fromhis

fellowscientiststhanfrom

religious

authorities.Histheo-

ries

challenged

too

many

fixedideas.

Jonas

Salkranintothesamewall

withhisradicalinnovationsin

immunology,

asdidMaxPlanckwithhis

revolutionizing

of

physics.

Plancklaterwroteofthescientific

opposition

he

faced,

“Anewscientifictruthdoesnot

triumphbyconvincing

its

opponents

and

making

themsee

the

light.

butratherbecauseits

opponentseventually

die,

and

a

new

generationgrowsup

thatisfamiliarwithit.”

Theanswertothisinnateconservatismisto

play

thecourtier’s

game.

Galileodidthisatthe

beginning

ofhisscientific

career;

helaxerbecame

more

confrontational,

and

paid

foritSo

paylip

servicetotradition.Idem»

tify

theelementsin

your

revolutionthat

canbemadetoseemtobuildon

the

past.Say

the

rightthings,

makeashowof

conformity,

andmeanwhile

let

your

theoriesdotheirradicalwork.

Play

with

appearances

and

respect

past

protocol.

Thisistruein

every

arenae-science

being

no

exception.

Finally,powerfulpeoplepay

attentiontothe

zeitgeist

Iftheirreformis

toofaraheadofits

time,

fewwillunderstand

it,

and

it

will

stir

upanxiety

andbe

hopelesslymisinterpreted.

The

changesyou

makemustseemless

innovativethan

they

are.

England

did

eventually

becomeaProtestantna~

tion,

asCromwell

wished,

butittookovera

century

of

gradual

evolution.

Watchthe

zeitgeist.

If

you

workina

tumultuous

time,

thereis

power

to

be

gainedbypreaching

a

returntothe

past,

to

comfort,tradition,

andrit-

ual.

During

a

period

of

stagnation,

ontheother

hand,

play

thecardofre-

formandrevo1ution—butbewareofwhat

you

stir

up.

Thosewhofinisha

revolutionare

rarely

thosewhostartit.Youwillnotsucceedatthis

danger-

ous

game

unless

you

are

willing

toforestalltheinevitable

reaction

against

it

by playing

with

appearances

and

building

onthe

past.

Authority:

Hewhodesiresor

attempts

to

reform

the

government

ofa

stale,

andwishestohaveit

accepted,

mustatleastretainthesemblanceof

theold

forms;

sothatit

may

seemtothe

people

thattherehasbeenno

change

inthe

institutions,

even

though

infact

they

are

entirely

different

fromtheoldones.Forthe

greatmajority

ofmankindaresatisfiedwith

ap-

pearances,

as

thoughthey

wererealities.

(Niccolo

Machiavelli,1469-1527)