The 48 Laws Of Power

114 LAW 13

REVERSAL

Thislawshould

veryrarely

be

ignored,

butitdoessometimes

happen

that

itisbettertolet

your

enemies

destroy

themselves,

ifsucha

thing

is

possi-

ble,

thantomakethemsuffer

by

your

hand.In

warfare,

for

example,

a

goodgeneral

knowsthatifheattacksan

army

whenitis

cornered,

itssol-

dierswill

fight

much

more

fiercely.

Itissometimes

better,then,

toleave

theman

escape

route,

a

way

outAs

they

retreat,

they

wearthemselves

out,

andare

ultimately

moredemoralized

by

the

retreatthan

byany

defeat

he

might

inflictonthebattlefield.When

you

havesomeoneonthe

ropes,

then——-but

only

when

you

aresure

they

havenochanceof

recovery--you

might

letthem

hang

themselves.Letthembethe

agents

oftheirownde-

struction.Theresultwillbethe

same,

and

you

won‘t

feelhalfasbad.

Finally,

sometimes

bycrushing

an

enemy,you

embitterthemsomuch

that

theyspend

years

and

yearsplottingrevenge.

The

Treaty

ofVersailles

hadsuchaneffectontheGermans.Somewould

argue

thatinthe

long

run

itwouldbebettertoshowsome

leniency.

The

problem

is,

yourleniency

involvesanothern'sk—it

may

emboldenthe

enemy,

whichstillharborsa

"

grudge,

butnowhassomeroomto

operate.

Itisalmost

always

wiserto

crush

your

enemy.

If

they

plotrevengeyears

later,

donotlet

yourguard

down,

but

simply

crushthem

again.