The 48 Laws Of Power

enemy

heads.He

thought

hehadshownhis

fiery

enthusiasm,

butWuCh’i

was

unimpressed.

“Atalented

officer,”

the

general

saidwitha

sigh

asheor-

deredtheman

beheaded,

“butadisobedientone.”

Anothermomentwhen 3.smallsuccesscan

spoil

thechancesfora

larger

one

may

come

ifa

masteror

superiorgrantsyou

afavor:Itisadan-

gerous

mistaketoaskformore.Youwillseem

insecur%perhapsyou

feel

you

didnotdeservethis

favor,

andhaveto

grab

asmuchas

you

canwhen

you

havethe

chance,

which

may

notcome

again.

The

properresponse

is

to
accept

thefavor

graciously

andwithdraw.

Anysubsequent

favors

you

shouldearnwithout

having

toaskforthem.

Finally,

themomentwhen

youstop

has

great

dramatic

import.

What

comes
laststicksinthemindasakindof
exclamation
point.

There

isno

better
timeto

stop

andwalk

away

thanaftera

victory.Keepgoing

and

you

risk

lessening

the

effect,

even

endingup

defeated.As

lawyers

say

ofcross-

examination,

“Alwaysstop

witha

victory.”

Image:

Icarus

Falling

fromthe

Sky.

Hisfather

Daedalusfashions

wings

of

waxthatallowthe

twomento

fly

outof

the

labyrinth

and

escape

theMinotaur.

Elated

by

the tri-

umphant escape

and the

feeling

of

flight,

Icarussoars

higher

and

high-

er.until

the

sun

meltsthe

wings

and hehurtles

to his death.

Authority:

Princesand

republics

shouldcontentthemselveswith

victory,

forwhen

they

aimat

more,

theygenerally

lose.

Theuseof

insulting

lan-

guage

towardan

enemy

arises

fromthe

insolence

of

victory,

or

fromthe

false

hope

of

victory,

whichlattermisleadsmenasoftenintheiractions

asintheir

words;

forwhenthisfalse

hope

takes

possession

ofthe

mind,

itmakesmen

gobeyond

the

mark,

andcausesthemtosacrificea.cer-

tain

good

foranuncertainbetter.

{NiccoloMachiavelli,14694527)

LAW 47

‘

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