The 48 Laws Of Power

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1694-1713’

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birds

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holding

it

against

large

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that

rluzy

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among

Iheniselvex,

“

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to

Say

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good.‘’'‘

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Wil/Irut-I:

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l 8444900

;1miii PREFACE

derneathits

glittering

surfaceacauldronofdark

emotions--greed,

envy,

lust,

hatred-—boi1edandsimmered.Ourworld

todaysimilarly

imagines

it-

selfthe

pinnacle

of

fairness,

yet

thesame

ugly

emotionsstillstirwithin

us,

as

they

haveforever.The

game

isthesame.

Outwardly,you

mustseemto

respect

the

niceties,

but

inwardly,

unless

you

are

a

fool,

you

learn

quickly

to

be

prudent,

andtodo

as

Napoleon

advised:Place

your

ironhandinside

a.velvet

glove.

If,

likethecourtieroftimes

goneby,

you

canmasterthearts

of

indirection,

learning

to

seduce,

charm,deceive,

and

subtly

outmaneuver

youropponents,you

willattainthe

heights

of

power.

Youwillbeableto

make

people

bendto

your

willwithouttheir

realizing

what

you

have

done.

Andif

they

donotrealizewhat

you

have

done,

they

willneitherresentnot

resist

you.

Tosome

people

thenotionof

consciouslyplayingpowergames—no

mat-

terhowindii-ect—seems

evil,asocial,

arelic

ofthe

past.They

believe

they

can

opt

outofthe

gamebybehaving

in

ways

thathave

nothing

todowith

power.

Youmustbewareofsuch

people,

forwhile

theyexpress

such

opin~

ions

outwardly,they

areoften

among

themost

adeptplayers

at

power.

They

utilize

strategies

that

cleverly

disguise

thenatureofthe

manipulation

involved.

These

types,

for

example,

willoften

display

theirweaknessand

lackof

power

as

akind

ofmoralvirtue.Buttrue

powerlessness,

without

any

motiveof

selfiinterest,

wouldnot

publicize

itsweaknessto

gainsympa-

thy

or

respect.

Making

ashowofone’sweaknessis

actually

a

very

effective

strategy,

subtleand

deceptive,

inthe

game

of

power

(see

Law

22,

theSur—

render

Tactic).

Another

strategy

of

the

supposednonplayer

istodemand

equality

in

every

areaoflife.

Everyone

mustbetreated

alike,

whatevertheirstatusand

strength.

But toavoidthetaintof

power,you

attempt

totreat

everyone

equally

and

fairly,you

willconfrontthe

problem

thatsome

people

docer-

tain

things

betterthanothers.

Treatingeveryoneequally

means

ignoring

their

differences,

elevating

theless skillful

and

suppressing

those

who

excel.

Again,many

of

thosewhobehave

this

way

are

actually

deploying

another

power

strategy,redistributingpeople’s

rewardsina

way

that

they

determine.

Yetanother

way

of

avoiding

the

game

wouldbe

perfecthonesty

and

straightforwardness,

sinceone

ofthemain

techniques

ofthosewhoseek

power

isdeceitand

secrecy.

But

beingperfectly

honestwill

inevitably

hurt

andinsulta

great

many

people,

someofwhomwillchooseto

injureyou

in

return.Noonewillsee

your

honeststatementas

completelyobjective

and

freeofsome

personal

motivation.And

they

will

be

right:

In

truth,

theuse

of

honesty

isindeeda

powerstrategy,

intendedtoconvince

people

of

one’s

noble,

goodehearted,

selflesscharacter.

Itis

aformof

persuasion,

evena

subtleformofcoercion.

Finally,

thosewhoclaimtobe

nonplayersmay

affectanairof

naiveté,

to

protect

themfromtheaccusationthat

they

areafter

power.

Beware

again,

however,

for

the

appearance

ofnaiveté

canbeaneffectivemeansof