The 48 Laws Of Power

“Jam!look.’

Myport

3*

.\'ma[l4'rnoun‘

"

The

foxagain

put

on

his

\pm‘/m,'It'.\'

um!

looked

jutliciously

41!

thecalis‘.8/luff.

“Rightyou

are/"mid

(hv

fox.

“./last(0

/Iumzmt,

andI’llmake

it

ng/tr.

“

Andhewentandbit

0/fa])l('('i",from

{hr

dog’;

vlzeevv

’I7'Ii.\‘wen!mi\'1;

long,

withthefox

nibbling

;‘5r.\‘.t

asthe

(logic

and

thenat/hecat}:simre.

that

1ie*fEna:’!_v

are

up

(hewhalecheese
brforc’

their

ey<'.s'.

A'lKEASUi<Y

or

.lF.WL\H

F()i,,KL<)Rl:.

NA'l'iI»\N

Atr<\:1;H.1‘r)..

1948

154 LAW 20

Hence.

Thisis

risky

business.

First,

itisoftendifficulttoforeseewhichside

will

prevail

inthe

long

run.

But

even

if

youguessright

and

allyyourself

withthe

stronger

party,you

may

find

yourself

swallowed

up

and

lost,

or

convenientlyforgotten,

when

they

becomevictors.Sidewiththe

weaker,

ontheother

hand,

and

you

aredoomed.But

play

a

waitinggame

and

you

cannotlose.

InFrances

July

Revolution

of

1830,

afterthree

days

of

riots,

thestates-

man

Talleyrand,

now

elderly,

sat

by

hisParis

window,

listening

tothe

peel-

ing

bellsthat

signaled

theriotswereover.

Turning

toan

assistant,

he

said,

“Ah,

thebells! We’re

winning.”

“Who’s

‘we,’

man

puma?”

theassistant

asked.

Gesturing

forthemanto

keepquiet,Talleyrandreplied,

“Not

a

word!I’lltell

you

whowearetomorrow.”Hewellknewthat

only

fools

rushintoasitualion—tl1a.t

bycommitting

too

quicklyyou

lose

your

ma~

neuverability.People

also

respectyou

less:

Perhapstomorrow,theythink,

you

willcommitto

another,

dilferent

cause,

since

yougaveyourself

soeas

ily

tothisone.Goodfortuneisafickle

god

andwilloften

pass

fromone

sidetotheother.Commitment

toone

side

deprivesyou

ofthe

advantage

of

timeandthe

luxury

of

waiting.

Letothersfallinlovewiththis

group

or

that;

for

your

part

don’trush

in,

don’tlose

your

head.

Finally,

thereareoccasionswhenitiswisestto

drop

all

pretence

of

ap-

pearingsupportive

andinsteadto

trumpetyourindependence

andself»

reliance.Thearistocratic

pose

of

independence

is

particularlyimportant

forthosewhoneedto

gainrespect.GeorgeWashingtonrecognized

thisin

hisworktoestablishthe

young

American

republic

onfirm

ground

As

president,Washington

avoidedthe

temptation

of

making

analliancewith

Franceor

England,despite

the

pressure

onhimtodoso.Hewantedthe

country

toearntheworld’s

respectthrough

its

independence.Although

a

treaty

withFrance

mighthavehelped

in

theshort

toxin,

in

the

long

runhe

knewitwouldbemoreeffectivetoestablishthenation’s

autonomy.

Eu-

rope

wouldhavetoseetheUnitedStatesasan

equalpower.

Remember:Youhave

only

somuch

energy

andsomuchtime.

Every

momentwastedontheaffairsofotherssubtractsfrom

yourstrength.

You

may

beafraidthat

people

will

condemn

you

as

heartless,

but

in

the

end,

maintainingyourindependence

andselfvreliancewill

gain

you

morere

spect

and

placeyou

ina

position

of

power

fromwhich

you

canchooseto

help

otherson

your

owninitiative.