The 48 Laws Of Power

power

of

reputation.

It

can

put

a

vast

army

onthe

defensive,

evenforce

theminto

retreat,

without

a

single

arrow

being

fired.

F07;

asCicero

says,

eventhosewho

argueagainstfame

stillwantthebooks

they

write

against

it

tobeartheirname

in

thetitleand

hope

to

becamefamousfor

despising

it.

Everything

elseis

subject

tobarter:

we

will

let

our

friends

have

our

goods

andourlives

if

need

be;

butacase

ofsharingauvfame

and

making

someoneelsethe

giftof

our

reputation

is

hardly

tobe

found.

ll/Ior1Io7'g74.e,

1533-1 592

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAWII

In 1841 the
young

P.T.

Barnum,

trying

toestablishhis

reputation

asAmer-

ica's
premier

showman,

decidedto

purchase

theAmericanMuseumin

Manhattanandturn
it
into
a
collectionofcuriositiesthatwouldsecurehis

fame.The

problem

wasthathehadno

money.

Themuseum’s

askingprice

was

$15,000,

butBarnumwasableto

puttogether

a

proposal

that

appealed

totheinstitution’s owners even

though

it

replaced

cash

up

frontwith

dozensof
guarantees

andreferences.Theownerscametoaverbal

agree

mentwith

Barnum,

butatthelast

minute,

the

principalpartnerchanged

his
mind,
andthemuseumanditscollectionweresoldtothedirectorsof

Peale’sMuseum.Barnumwas

infuriated,

butthe

partnerexplained

that

businesswas business——themuseumhad beensoldtoPea1e’s because

Peale’shada

reputation

andBarnumhadnone.

Barnum

immediately

decided

thatif

he

hadno

reputation

to

bank

on,

his

only

recoursewastominthe

reputation

ofPeale’s.

Accordingly

he

launcheda

letter-writingcampaign

inthe

newspapers,calling

theownersa

bunchof“broken-downbankdirectors”whohadnoideahowtorunamu-

seumorentertain

people.

Hewarnedthe

publicagainstbuying

Peale’s

stock,

sincethebusiness’s

purchase

ofanothermuseumwould

invariably

spread

itsresources thin.The

campaign

was

effective,

thestock

plum-

meted,

andwithnomoreconfidenceinPea.le’strackrecordand

reputa-

tion,

theownersoftheAmericanMuseum

reneged

ontheirdealandsold

thewhole

thing

toBarnum.

It

took

years

forPea.le’sto

recover,

and

they

never

forgot

whatBar-

numhaddone.Mr.PealehimselfdecidedtoattackBarnum

bybuilding

a

reputation

for

“highbrowentertainment,”promoting

hismuseum’s

pro

grams

asmorescientificthanthoseofhis

vulgar

competitor.

Mesmerism

(hypnotism)

wasoneofPea.le’s“scientific”

attractions,

andforawhileit

drew

big

crowds

andwas

quite

successful.

To

fight

back,

Barnum

decided

toattackPeale’s

reputationyetagain.

Barnum

organized

arivalmesmeric

performance

inwhichhehimself

apparentlyput

alittle

girl

intoatrance.Oncesheseemedtohavefallen

deeply

under,

hetriedto

hypnotize

membersoftheaudience~—butnomat-

terhowhardhe

tried,

noneofthe

spectators

fellunderhis

spell,

and

many

ofthem

began

to

laugh.

AfrustratedBarnum

finally

announcedthatto

prove

thelittle

girl’s

trancewas

real,

hewouldcutoffoneofher

fingers

many

a

sheep

Who’d

in/ured

mein

no

rH.\’])4’Cl.

Andevenin

my

time

beenknownto

rry

Shepherdpie.

I/‘needhe,then.

I’lldie.

YetI

SIISPECI

That

othersalso

cough!

(0owntheirfilm‘.

1119

only

fair

tho!all

shoulddotheirbest

To

single

outthe

guilllesl.

"

“Sire,

you're

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a

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"

theFor

hcgmv;

"Sucli

scruples’

aretoo

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lilyword,

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Nay.

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Slltllticrew

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While

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11 saint,

lhey

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agrecrl.

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Ass,

In

my:

"1dorecall

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LAW

5 39