The 48 Laws Of Power

l 34 LAW 18

Becausehumansare

social

creatures

by

nature,

powerdepends

onso-

cial

interactionandcirculation.

To

make

yourselfpowerfulyou

must

place

yourself

atthecenterof

things,

asLouisXIVdidatVersailles.All

activity

shouldrevolvearound

you,

and

you

shouldbeawareof

everything

hap-

pening

onthe

street,

andof

anyone

who

might

be

hatchingplotsagainst

you.

The

danger

formost

people

comeswhen

they

feelthreatened.Insuch

times

they

tendtoretreatandclose

ranks,

tofind

security

inakindof

fortress.In

doing

so,however,

they

cometo

rely

forinformationona

smallerandsmaller

circle,

andlose

perspective

oneventsaroundthem.

They

lose

maneuverability

andbecome

easytargets,

andtheirisolation

makes

them

paranoid.

Asin

warfareandmost

games

of

strategy,

isolation

often

precedes

defeat

anddeath.

Inmomentsof

uncertainty

and

danger,you

needto

fight

thisdesireto

turninward.

Instead,

make

yourself

more

accessible,

seekoutoldalliesand

makenew

ones,

force

yourself

intomoreandmoredifferentcircles.This

hasbeenthetrickof

powerfulpeople

forcenturies.

TheRomanstatesmanCicerowasbornintothelower

nobility,

and

had

littlechanceof

power

unlesshe

managed

tomakea

place

forhimself

among

thearistocratswhocontrolledthe

city.

He succeeded

brilliantly,

identifyingeveryone

withinfluenceand

figuring

outhow

they

werecon-

nectedtoone

another.He

mingledeverywhere,

knew

everyone,

andhad

suchavastnetwork

of

connectionsthatan

enemy

herecould

easily

be

counterbalanced

by

an

ally

there,

TheFrenchstatesman

Talleyrand

played

the

game

thesame

way.

Al-

though

hecamefromoneoftheoldestaristocraticfamiliesin

France,

he

madea

point

of

alwaysstaying

intouchwithwhatwas

happening

inthe

streetsof

Paris,

allowing

him

toforeseetrendsandtroubles.He

even

got

a

certain

pleasure

outof

mingling

with

shady

criminal

types,

who

supplied

himwithvaluableinformation.

Every

timetherewasa

crisis,

atransitionof

power--the

endofthe

Directory,

thefallof

Napoleon,

theabdicationof

LouisXVIII-~hewasabletosurviveandeven

thrive,

becausehenever

closedhimself

up

inasmallcirclebut

alwaysforged

connections

withthe

neworder.

Thislaw

pertains

to

kings

and

queens,

andtothoseofthe

highest

power:

Themoment

you

losecontactwith

yourpeople,seekingsecurity

in

isolation,

rebellionis

brewing.

Never

imagineyourself

soelevatedthat

you

canaffordtocut

yourself

offfromeventhelowestechelons.

Byretreating

toa

fortress,

you

make

yourself

an

easytarget

for

yourplottingsubjects,

whoview

your

isolationasaninsultandareasonforrebellion.

Sincehumansaresuchsocial

creatures,

itfollowsthatthesocialarts

thatmakeus

pleasant

tobearoundcanbe

practicedonlyby

constantex-

posure

andcirculation.

Themore

you

areincontactwith

others,

themore

graceful

and

at

ease

you

become.

Isolation,

ontheother

hand,

engenders

anawkwardnessin

yourgestures,

andleadstofurther

isolation,

as

people

start

avoidmgyou.

In 1545 DukeCosimoIde’Medicidecidedthattoensuretheimmor-