The 48 Laws Of Power

PARTII:USESMOKESCREENSTO

DISGUISEYOURACTIONS

Deception

is

always

thebest

strategy,

butthebest

deceptionsrequire

ascreen

of

smoketodistract

peoples

attention

fromyour

real

purpose.

Thebland

exterior—liketheunreadable

pokerface——isoften

the

perfect

smoke

screen,

hidingyour

intentionsbehindthe

comfortableandfamiliarIf

you

leadthe

suckerdowna

familiar

path,

hewon’tcatchonwhen

you

leadhimintoa

trap.

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAWI

In

1910,

aMr.SamGeezilof

Chicago

soldhiswarehousebusinessforclose

to

$1

million.Hesettleddowntosemiretirementand the

managing

ofhis

manyproperties,

but

deep

insideheitchedfortheold

days

of

deal-making.

One

day

a

young

mannamed

Joseph

Weilvisitedhis

office,

wanting

to

buy

an

apartment

hehad

up

for

sale.Geezil

explained

theterms:The

price

was

$8,000,

buthe

onlyrequired

adown

payment

of

$2,000.

Weilsaidhe

would

sleep

on

it,

buthecamebackthe

followingday

andofferedto

pay

thefull

$8,000

in

cash,

ifGeezilcouldwaita

couple

of

days,

untiladeal

Weilwas

working

oncame

through.

Evenin

semiretirement,

a

cleverbusi-

nessmanlikeGeezilwascuriousastohowWeilwouldbeabletocome
up

withsomuchcash

(roughly

$150,000

today)

so

quickly.

Wei]seemedreluc-

tantto

say,

and

quicklychanged

the

subject,

butGeezilwas

persistent.

Fi-

nally,

afterassurancesof

confidentiality,

WeiltoldGeezilthe

following

story.

Weil’s uncle wasthe

secretary

toacoterie ofmultimillionaire fi-

nanciers. These

wealthy

gentlemen

had

purchased

a

huntinglodge

in

Michigan

ten

years

ago,

ata

cheapprice.They

hadnotusedthe

lodge

fora

few
years,

so

they

haddecidedtosellitandhadaskedWeil’suncleto

get

whateverhecouldforit.For

reasons——-good

reasons—ofhis

own,

theuncle

had been
nursing

a

grudgeagainst

themillionairesfor

years;

thiswashis

chanceto

get

backatthem.Hewouldsellthe

property

for

$35,000

toaset-

up

man

(whom

itwasWeil’s

job

to

find).

Thefinanciersweretoo

wealthy

to

worry

aboutthislow

price.

The

set-up

manwouldthenturn

aroundand

sellthe

propertyagain

foritsreal

price,

around

$155,000.

The

uncle,Weil,

andthethirdmanwould

split

the

profits

fromthissecondsale.Itwasall

legal

andfora

good

cause—theuncle’s

just

retribution.

Geezilhadheard

enough:

Hewantedtobe the

set-upbuyer.

Weilwas

reluctanttoinvolve
him,

butGeezilwouldnotbackdovmzTheideaofa

largeprofit,plus

alittle

adventure,

hadhim

champing

atthebit.Weilex-

plained

thatGeezilwouldhaveto

putup

the

$35,000

incashto

bring

the

dealoff.

Geezil,

a

millionaire,

saidhecould

get

the

money

witha

snap

of

his

fingers.

Weil

finally

relentedand

agreed

to

arrange

a

meeting

between

the
uncle,
Geezil,
and the
financiers,

inthetownof

Galesburg,

Illinois.

Onthetrainrideto

Galesburg,

Geezilmettheuncle—a.n

impressive

.||'Jlll.KIM?HI‘lHIt.v|"|,.

Fl-'_l(l\.'*\l()RHll||’(ll~

'|'l|I}ll)()l.liN\I.

ThenJehuassembled

allthe

people,

andsaid

(0

them,“Ahab.\'erw¢a'

Ba‘tilalittle:bm.lelzu

willservehimmuch

nwre.

Now

therefore

calltomeallthe

prophets0fBa’al,

all

his

wars/rippers

willall

his

pri:?s1.\;

letmmehe

mis.ring,f0r1

havea

greatmcrrifice

to

offer

/0

Ba’ul;

whoeveris

missing

shallnotlive.

"

Bu!Jehudiditwith

rmming

inunlerto

destroy

the

worship-

persof

Ba'al.

Am]Jehuorderell.

“Sanctify

asolemn

as'seml>lyfor

Ba’al. So

theyprocluinzerl

it.And

Jehusen!

throughout

all

Israel:

andallthe

worshippers0fBzI

"al

mine,

sothattherewas

notamore

left

who(llll

notcome.Ami

they

enteredthehouse

of

Ba’al.

andthelmusc

of

Ba'41!was

filledfrom

oneendtotheotlmr....

ThenJehuwentinto

Ihehouse

ofBa'al.

..

andheStlitlmthe

worshippersof

8u’al,

“Search,

andsee

thatthereisnoservant

uftlze

LORDhere

LAW:4 23