The 48 Laws Of Power

oritygnaw

at

them;

the

thought

of

your

success

onlyheightens

theirfeel—

ings

of

stagnation.

Envy,

whichthe

philosopherKierkegaard

calls“on-

happy

admiration,”

takeshold.You

may

notseeitbut

you

willfeelit

someday—unless,

that

is,

you

learn

strategies

of

deflection,

littlesacrifices

tothe

gods

ofsuccess.Either

dampenyour

brilliance

occasionally,pur~

posefullyrevealing

a

defect,

weakness,

or

anxiety,

or

attributingyour

suc~

cessto
luck;
or

simply

find

yourself

newfriends.Neverunderestimatethe

power

of

envy.

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAW

Themerchantclassand thecraft

guilds

towhichmedievalFlorenceowed

its
prosperity

hadcreateda

republic

that

protected

themfrom

oppression

by

the

nobility.

Since

high

officecould

only

beheldforafew

months,

no

onecould

gainlasting

dominance,

and

although

thismeantthatthe

politi

calfactions

struggled

constantly

for

control,

the

systemkept

out

tyrants

and
petty

dictators.TheMedici

family

livedforseveralcenturiesunderthis

system

without

making

muchofamark.

They

had modest

origins

as

apothecaries,

andwere

typical

middle-classcitizens.

Notuntilthelatefour-

teenth
century,

whenGiovanni

de’Medicimade

amodest

fortune

in

bank

ing,

did

theyemerge

asaforcetobereckonedwith.

Upon

Giova.nni’s

death,

hissonCosimotookoverthe

family

business,

and

quickly

demonstratedhistalentforit.Thebusiness

prospered

under

hiscontrolandtheMedicis

emerged

as

one

ofthe

preeminentbanking

familiesof

Europe.

But

they

hadarivalinFlorence:

Despite

the

city’s

re—

puhlicansystem,

one

family,

the

Albizzis,

had

managed

overthe

years

to

monopolize

controlofthe

government,forging

alliancesthatallowedthem

to

constantly

fill

important

officeswiththeirownmen.Cosimodidnot

light

this,

andin

fact

gave

theAlbizzishis

tacit

support.

Atthesame

time,

while

theAlbizzis

were

beginning

toflaunttheir

power,

Cosimomadea

point

of

staying

inthe

background.

Eventually,however,

theMediciwealthcouldnotbe

ignored,

andin

1433,

feeling

threatened

by

the

family,

theAlbizzisusedtheir

government

muscle

tohaveCosimoarrestedon

charges

of

conspiring

tooverthrowthe

republic.

Someinthe AlhizzifactionwantedCosimo

executed,

others

fearedthiswould

spark

acivilwar.Intheend

they

exiledhimfromFlo-

rence.Cosimodidnot

fight

the

sentence;

heleft

quietly.

Sometimes,

he

knew,

itiswisertobideone’stime

and

keep

alow

profile.

Overthenext

year,

theAlhizzis

began

tostir

up

fearsthat

they

were

settingup

a

dictatorship.

Meanwhile,Cosimo,

using

hiswealthtoadvan-

tage,

continuedtoexertinfluenceonFlorentine

affairs,

evenfromexile.A

civilwarbrokeoutinthe

city,

andin

September

of 1434 theAlbizziswere

toppled

from

power

andsentintoexile.Cosimo

immediately

returnedto

Florence,

his

position

restored.But

he

saw

that

henowfacedadelicatesit»

uation:Ifheseemed

ambitious,

astheAlbizzis

had,

hewouldstir

upoppo-

sitionand

envy

thatwould

ultimately

threatenhisbusiness.Ifhe

stayed

on

she

s¢/Ilium’)horribly;

her7("l'.1/IwentIlL<c'ol-

viedand

tlemyell.

her

poi.mmm.r

lzreuir

of

21

g/‘vanish

hue,

andher

tonguedripped

venom.

Only

the

sightof

suffering

could

bring

a

smiletoher

1025‘.

Sh!)

neverknew

the

comfort

afslz-e

,

butwas

kept

conslamly

awake

by

careand

anxiety.

looked

with

rlisrzxay

on

men's

goodforlsme.

um!

grew

thinatthe

siglzl.Gnawirig

at

others,

and

lining

grmwezl,

shewas

herself

herown

torment.

Mmrrvu,

in

spire0_/‘her

lr)(II/ring,yet

addressezl

her

briefly:

“Instill

yrmr

pr.-i,s'r1rz

into

one

of

Cecra/2

’s

daughrerxfi

hernameis

/lglaums.

’l'hi.riswhatI

require

ofyou.

"

Without

armllierwordshe

puxltrtdagaiz/Lt:

the

ground

withher

spear.

Is}?

the

earrh,

and

soared

upwards.

Fromthecomer’

ofhcr

eye

theozherwatched

the

goddess

our

of

Sight.muttering

and

angry

thatMinerva‘X

plan

shouldbe.\'llC('€.8‘S-

ful.

Thenshe

took

her

.s'mff

allencirclerl

with

thorny

briam‘.

wrapped

herselfin

dark

clouds,

andset

forth.

Wherever

shewentshe

tmmplezl

down

llieflower}r_IieI1ls,

withered

up

the

grant,

xrtrrerlthe

Ireetzips,

mm‘

withhmbmzthrainied

the

pe¢)plr.'.i',

theircities‘

andtheir

homes.

mm‘!

a!

length

shecameto

Athens‘,

thehome

of

Wll

and

wealth,

peaceful

and

proxpemus.

She

could

scarcelyrefrain

fromweeping

when

she

Saw

no

cause

for

tears.

LAW 45 403