The 48 Laws Of Power

est?

Lustig

usedselective

honestymany

times,

butwith

Capone

hewenta

step

further.Nonormalconmanwouldhavedaredsucha

con;

hewould

havechosenhissuckersfortheir

meekness,

forthatlookaboutthemthat

saysthey

willtaketheir

medicinewithout

complaint.

Con

Capone

and

you

would

spend

the

restof

your

life

(whatever

remained of

it)

afraid.But

Lustig

understoodthatamanlike

Caponespends

hislife

rrfistrusting

oth-

ers.Noonearoundhimishonestor
generous,

and

being

somuchinthe

company

ofwolvesis

exhausting,

even

depressing.

Amanlike

Capone

yearns

tobethe

recipient

of

anhonestor

generousgesture,

tofeelthat

not

everyone

has

an

angle

orisouttorobhim.

Lusiig’s

actofselective

honesty

disarmed

Capone

becauseitwasso

unexpected.

Aconartistloves

conflicting

emotionslike

these,

sincethe

person

caughtup

inthemisso

easily

distracted

and

deceived.

Donot

shyaway

from

practicing

this

law

onthe

Capones

of

theworld.

Withawell-timed

gesture

of

honesty

or

generosity,you

will

havethemost

brutaland

cynical

beastinthe

kingdomeating

outof

your

hand.

Everything

turns

gray

whenIdon’thaveatleastonemarkanthehorizon.

Life

thenseems

empty

and

depressing.

Icannotunderstandhonestmm.

They

lead

desperate

lives,

fullofbaredom.

(mm:‘.1110:

Lu.«u,«;,

ISO!) :94?

KEYS’l‘(.) P()\/\"l:lR

The
essence
of

deception

isdistraction.

Distracting

the

peopleyou

want

to

deceive

givesyou

thetimeand

space

todo

somethingthey

won’:notice.

Anactof

kindness,

generosity,

or

honesty

isoftenthemost

powerful

form

ofdistractionbecauseitdisannsother

people’ssuspicions.

Ittumsthem

into
children,

eagerlylappingupany

kindofa.ft'ectiona.te

gesture.

InancientChinathiswascalled

“giving

before

you

take”--the

giving

makesithardforthe
other
person

tonotice

the

taldng.

It

is

a

devicewith

infinite

practical

uses.

Brazenly

taking

something

fromsomeoneis

danger-

ous,

evenforthe

powerful.

Thevictimwill

plotrevenge.

Itisalso

danger-

ous

simply

toaskforwhat

you

need,

nomatterhow

politely:

Unless

the

other

person

seessome

gain

for

themselves,

theymay

cometoresent

your

neediness.Learnto
give

before

you

take.Itsoftensthe

ground,

takesthe

biteoutofafuture

request,

or

simply

createsadistraction.Andthe

giving

cantake

many

forms:anactual

gift,

at

generousact,

akind

favor,

an“l1on~

est”admission-—whateverittakes.

Selective

honesty

isbest

employed

on

your

firstencounterwith

some

one.Weareallcreaturesof

habit,

andourfirst

impressions

lasta

long

time.

Ifsomeonebelieves

you

arehonestatthestartof

yourrelationship

ittakes

alottoconvincethemotherwise.This

gives

you

roomtomaneuver.

jay

Gould,

like Al

Capone,

was

a

man

who

distrusted

everyone.

By

the

time

he

was

thirty—three

he

was

already

a

multimillionaire,

mostlythroughdeception

and

strong-arming.

Inthelate

1860s,

Gouldin-

vested

heavily

intheErie

Railroad,

thendiscoveredthatthemarkethad

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