The 48 Laws Of Power

respect

forhim

gradually

turnedintoaformof

worship:

Hewasnota

mere

mortal,

they

believed,

butthesonofa

god.

Interpretation

Deioceswasamanof
great

ambition.Hedetermined

early

onthatthe

country

neededa

strongruler,

andthathewasthemanforthe

job.

lnaland

plagued

with

anarchy,

the

most

powerful

manisthe

judge

andarbiter.
So
Deioces

began

hiscareer

bymaking

his

reputation

asaman

of

impeccable

fairness.

Atthe

height

ofhis

power

asa

judge,

however,

Deiocesrealizedthe

truthofthelawofabsenceand

presence:Byserving

so

many

clients,

he

had
becometoo
noticeable,

too

available,andhadlost

the

respect

he

had

earlier

enjoyed.People

were

taking

hisservicesfor

granted.

The

onlyway

to

regain

thevenerationand

power

hewantedwas towithdrawcom-

pletely,

andlettheMedestastewhatlifewaslikewithouthim.Asheex-

pected,they

came

begging

forhimtorule.

OnceDeioceshaddiscoveredthetruthofthis

law,

hecarriedittoits

ultimaterealization.Inthe

palace

his

people

hadbuiltfor

him,

nonecould

seehim

except

a

few

courtiers,

andthose

onlyrarely.

AsHerodotus

wrote,

“Therewasariskthatif

they

sawhim

habitually,

it

might

leadto

jealousy

and
resentment,
and

plots

would

follow;

butif

nobody

saw

him,

the

legend

would
grow

thathewasa

being

ofadifferentorderfrommoremen.”

A

man

saidtoaDervish.‘

“Why

doI

notsee

you

mm

ofim?"

The

Dervish

replied,

“Becausethewords

‘Why

have

you

notbeentoseeme?’are

sweeterto

my

earthanthewords

‘Why

have

you

come

again

.9’

”

Mnlllofami.quoted

in[driesS./uzh'5(Jaravanof

I)remns_.

1.968

KEYSTOPOWER

Everything

intheworld

depends

onabsenceand

presence.

A

strongpres-

encewilldraw
power

andattentionto

you—you

shinemore

brightly

than

thosearound

you.

Buta

point

is

inevitably

reached

where

too

much

pres-

ence

createsthe

opposite

effect:Themore

you

areseenandheard

from,

themore

your

value

degrades.

Youbecomeahabit.Nomatterhowhard

youtry

tobe

different,

subtly,

without

your

knowing

why.peoplerespect

you

lessandless.Atthe

right

moment

you

mustleamtowithdraw

yourself

before

theyunconsciouslypushyouaway.

It

isa

game

of

hide—and~seek.

Thetruth

ofthis

law

canmost

easily

be

appreciated

inmattersoflove

andseduction.Inthe

beginningstages

ofan

affair,

the1over‘sabsencestim-

ulates
your
imagination,forming

asortofauraaroundhimorher.Butthis

aurafadeswhen

you

knowtoomuch--~when

yourimagination

no

longer

hasroomtoroam.Thelovedonebecomesa

person

like

anyone

else,

a

person

whose

presence

istakenfor

granted.

Thisis

why

theseventeenth-

century

FrenchcourtesanNinondeLenclosadvisedconstantfeintsatwith

drawalfromone’slover.“Loveneverdiesof

starvation,”

she

wrote,

“but

oftenof

indigestion.”

LAW 16

.

119