The 48 Laws Of Power

asked
him
forinsideinformationonNixonand
he

supplied

it.

“Look,”

Kissinger

told

Hurnphrey’speople,

“I’vehatedNixonfor

years.”

Infacthe

hadnointerestineitherside.Whathe

really

wantedwaswhathe

got:

the

promise

ofa

high-level

cabinet

post

frombothNixonand

Humphrey.

Whichevermanwonthe
election,
Kissingefs

careerwassecure.

The

winner,

of

course,

was

Nixon,

and

Kissingerduly

wentontohis

cabinet

post.

Even

so,

hewascarefulneverto

appear

toomuchofaNixon

man.WhenNixonwasreelectedin
1972,

menmuchmore

loyal

tohim

than

Kissinger

werefired.

Kissinger

wasalsothe

only

Nixon

high

officialto

survive

Watergate

andserveunderthenext

president,

GeraldFord.

By

maintaining

alittledistancehethrivedin

turbulenttimes.

Thosewho use this

strategy

oftennotice a

strangephenomenon:

People

whorushtothe

support

ofotherstendto

gain

little

respect

inthe

process,

fortheir

help

isso

easily

obtained,

whilethosewhostandback

findthemselves

besieged

with

supplicants.

Theiraloofnessis

powerful,

and

everyone

wantsthemontheirside.

When

Picasso,

after

earlyyears

of

poverty,

hadbecomethemostsuc-

cessfulaitistinthe
world,
hedidnotcommithimselftothisdealerorthat

dealer,although

they

now

besieged

himfromallsideswithattractiveoffers

and

grandpromises.

Instead,

he

appeared

tohave

nointerest

intheir

ser-

vices;

this

technique

drovethem

wild,

andas

theyfought

overhimhis

pricesonly

rose.When

HenryKissinger,

asU.S.

secretary

of

state,

wanted

toreachdétentewiththeSoviet
Union,

hemadenoconcessionsorconcil-

iatorygestures,

butcourtedChinainstead.Thisinfuriatedandalsoscared

the
Soviets——-they

were

alreadypolitically

isolatedandfearedfurtherisola

tion
if
theUnitedStates and
China,
,ca.me

together. Kissinger’s

move

pushed

themtothe

negotiating

table.Thetactichasa

parallel

inseduction:

When
you

wanttoseducea

woman,

Stendhal

advises,

courthersisterfirst.

Stay

aloofand

people

willcometo

you.

Itwillbecomea

challenge

for

them
towin
your

affections.

As

long

as

you

imitatethe

wise

VirginQueen

andstimulatetheir

hopes,you

willremaina

magnet

ofattentionanddesire.

Image:

The

VirginQueen.

Thecenterof

attention,

desire,

and

worship.

Never

succumbing

toonesuitororthe

other,

the

VirginQueenkeeps

themall

revolving

around

her

like

planets,

unableto

leaveherorbitbutnever

gettingany

closer

toher.

Authority:

Do

not

commit

yourself

to

anybody

or

any

thing,

forthatistobea

slave,

a

slaveto

every

man....Above

all,

keepyourself

freeofcom-

mitments and

obligations——

they

arethedeviceofanother

to

get

you

intohis

power.

...

(Baltasar

Gracian,

1601-1658)

LAW 20 149