The 48 Laws Of Power

books.We

got

them

upespecially

for

you,

toshow

you

the

pictures.

These

booksarea

present

to

you.”

Fordseemed

puzzled.

“Gentlemen,”

he

said,

“itis

extremely

niceof

you,

but

I

really

don’tseehowIcan

accept

abeau-

tiful,

expensivepresent

likethisfrom

strangers.”

Duveen

explained

toFord

thatthe

reproductions

inthebooksshowed

paintingsthey

had

hoped

to

selltohim.Ford

finally

understood.“But

gentlemen,”

he

exclaimed,

“what

would

I

wantwiththe

originalpictures

whentheones

right

hereinthese

books

areso

beautiful?”

Interpretation

Joseph

Duveen

prided

himselfon

studying

hisvictimsandclientsinad

Vance,

figuring

outtheirweaknessesandthe

peculiarities

oftheirtastesbe

foreheevermetthem.Hewasdriven

bydesperation

to

drop

thistactic

just

once,

inhisassaulton

Henry

Ford.Ittookhimmonthstorecoverfromhis

misjudgrnent,

both

mentally

and

monetarily.

Fordwasthe

unassuming

plain—ma.ntype

who

just

isn’tworththebother.Hewastheincarnationof

thoseliteral-mindedfolkwhodonot

possessenoughimagination

tobede

ceived.Fromthen

on,

Duveensavedhis

energies

forthe

MellonsandMor-

gans

oftheworld——men

craftyenough

forhimto

entrap

inhissnares.

KEYST()POWER

The

ability

tomeasure

people

andtoknow

who

you’redealing

withisthe

most

important

skillof

all

in

gathering

and

conservingpower.

Withoutit

you

areblind:Not

only

will

you

offendthe

wrongpeople,you

willchoose

the

Wrongtypes

towork

on,

andwillthink

you

are

flatteringpeople

when

you

are

actually

insulting

them.Before

embarking

on

any

move,

takethe

measureof

your

markor

potentialopponent.

Otherwise

you

willwaste

timeandmakemistakes.

Studypeople's

weaknesses,

thechinksintheir

armor,

theirareasofboth

pride

and

insecurity.

Knowtheirinsandoutsbe-

fore

you

evendecidewhetherornottodealwiththem.

Twofinal

words

of

caution:

First,

in

judging

and

measuringyouroppo~

nent,

never

rely

on

your

instincts.Youwillmakethe

greatest

mistakesofall

if

yourely

onsuchinexactindicators.

Nothing

cansubstitutefor

gathering

concrete

knowledge.Study

and

spy

on

youropponent

forhowever

long

it

takes;

thiswill

pay

offinthe

long

run.

Second,

nevertrust

appearances.Anyone

witha

serpent’s

heartcan

useashowofkindnesstocloak

it;

a

person

whois

blustery

ontheoutsideis

often

really

a

coward.Learntosee

throughappearances

andtheircontra-

dictions.Nevertrusttheversionthat

people

give

ofthemselves——itisut-

terly

unreliable.

LAW

19

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