The 48 Laws Of Power

favorofzhepope.

and

ofthe

glory

and

useful-

Hess/Imthe

might

have

(I('ql¢in’a'Ivy

hisinclus-

try.
Hesucceeded‘inthe

matter 0

f

thetomb.

Thereisnodouh:that

ifMiclwlangelo

had

been

allowedto

finish

it,

acconl/‘rig

to

/xirfirst

design,having

so

large

a
field
inwhichtoshow

his

warm,no

other

artisr,

howeverCele»

brated

(be

lvraldwith-

out

envy)

couldhave

wrartetl

/rom

hm:the

Mg]:place

hewould

haveheld

VITAm
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1553

Butover

anybody

seri-

auslycon_fe.\‘.s'

Io

envy?

Something

thereisinit

universallyfell

Iohe

more

shameful

than

even

felonimu‘

crime.

Andrwl

only

does‘

evcryl>or1_y

disuwn

it,

buttheIn-(tarsortare

inc/ineclto

irzcrredulity

whenitisinearnest

impuaerl

toanintelli-

gent

man.But.sim'e

(odgmrem

isinthehour!

notthebrain.no
degree

afimellec!supplies

a

guamnlee

against

it.

BILLY

sumo,

HERMAN‘MFLVII1.1;‘,

18194891

408 LAW$6

To deflect

envy,

Gracieinrecommends

that

the

powerfuldisplay

a

weakness,

at

minor

social

indiscretion,

aharmlessvice.Givethosewho

envyyousomething

tofeed

on,

distracting

themfrom

your

more

impor-

tantsins.Remember:Itisthe

reality

thatmatters.You

may

haveto

play

games

with

appearances,

butintheend

you

willhavewhatcounts:true

power.

InsomeArab

countries,

amanwillavoid

arousingenvybydoing

asCosimode

Medici

did

byshowing

hiswealth

only

on

theinside

of

his

house.

Apply

thiswisdomto

your

owncharacter.

Bewareofsomeof

envy’s

disguises.

Excessive

praise

isanalmostsure

sign

thatthe

personpraisingyou

envies

you;they

areeither

settingyouup

fora.fall—-itwillbe

impossible

for

you

tolive

up

totheir

prajse——orthey

are

sharpening

theirbladesbehind

your

back.

At

thesame

time,

thosewho

are

hypercrifical

of

you,

orwhoslander

youpublicly,probablyenvyyou

aswell.

Recognize

theirbehavioras

disguisedenvy

and

youkeep

outof

the

trap

ofmutual

mud-slinging,

orof

taking

theircriticismstoheart.Win

yourrevengebyignoring

their

measlypresence.

Donot

try

to

help

or

dofavorsforthose

who

envyyou;they

willthink

you

are

condescending

tothem.

joe

Orton’s

attempt

to

help

Halliwellfind

a

gallery

forhiswork

only

intensifiedhislover‘s

feelings

of

inferiority

and

envy.

Once

envy

revealsitselfforwhatit

is,

the

only

solutionisoftento

fleethe

presence

ofthe

enviers,

leaving

themtostewinahellof

their

own

creation.

Finally,

beawarethatsomeemrimnmentsaremoreconduciveto

envy

thanothers.Theeffectsof

envy

aremoreserious

among

colleagues

and

peers,

wherethereisaveneerof

equality.Envy

isalsodestructiveindemo~

craticenvironmentswhere

overt

displays

of

power

arelookeddown

upon.

Beextrasensitive

in

suchenvironments.Thefilmmaker

IngmarBergman

washounded

by

Swedishtaxauthoritiesbecausehestoodoutina

county

where

standing

outfromthecrowdisfrownedon.Itisalmost

impossible

toavoid

envy

insuch

cases,

andthereislittle

you

candobut

accept

it

gm»

ciously

andtakenoneofit

personally.

AsThoreauonce

said,

“Envy

isthe

taxwhichall

distinctionmust

pay.”

Image:

AGardenofWeeds.You

may

not

feedthembut

theyspread

as

you

water

the

garden.

You

may

notsee

how,

but

they

take

over,

talland

ugly,pre-

ventinganything

beautifulfrom

flourishing.

Beforeitistoo

late,

do notwater indiscrimis

nately.Destroy

theweeds

of

envybygiving

them

nothing

tofeedon.