The 48 Laws Of Power

Ir-4
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LAW 23

Salornon’s

son.Inthe

years

to

come,

thefivebrothers

arrangedeighteen

matches

among

their

cluldren,

sixteen

ofthese

being

contractedbetween

first

cousins.

“Wearelikethemechanismofawatch:Each

part

is

essential,”

said

brotherSalomon.Asina

watch,everypart

ofthebusinessmovedincon-

certwith

every

other,

andtheinner

workings

wereinvisibletothe

world,

which

only

sawthe

movementof

thehands.Whileother

rich

and

powerful

familiessufferedirrecoverabledownturns

during

thetumultonsfirst

halfof

thenineteenth

century,

the

tight-knit

Rothschilds

managed

not

only

to

pre-

servebutto

expand

their

unprecedented

wealth.

Interpretation

TheRothschildswerebornin

strange

times.

They

camefroma

place

that

hadnot

changed

in

centuries,

butlivedinan

age

that

gave

birthtotheIn-

dustrial

Revolution,

theFrench

Revolution,

andanendlessseriesof

up-

heavals. TheRothchilds

kept

the

past

alive,

resisted the

patterns

of

dispersion

oftheireraandforthisareemblematicofthelawofconcentra-

tion.

Noone

represents

thisbetterthan

_]ames

Rothschild,

thesonwhoes-

tablishedhimselfinParis.inhislifetime

james

witnessedthedefeatof

Napoleon,

therestorationoftheBourbon

monarchy,

the

bourgeois

monar-

chy

of

Orleans,

thereturntoa

republic,

and

finally

theenthronementof

Napoleo

1 III.

French

styles

and

fashions

changed

ata

relentless

pace

dur-

ing

allthisturmoil.Without

appearing

tobearelicofthe

past,James

steeredhis

family

asifthe

ghetto

livedonwithinthem.He

kept

alivehis

clan’sinnercohesionand

strength.Onlythrough

suchan

anchoring

inthe

past

wasthe

family

abletothriveamidstsuchchaos.Concentrationwasthe

foundationof

the

Rothschilds’

power,

wealth,

and

stability.

Thebest

stmzngy

is

always

tobe

verystrong;flrst

in

general,

than

atthedecisive

point.

...Thereisno

higher

and

simpler

law

ofstrategy

thanthat

afkeepingones/brces

concentrated... .Inshortthe

firstprinciple

is:

actwiththeutmostconcentration.

011

War,

Carlmm,fllausewitz,1780-1831

KEYSTOPOWER

Theworldis

plaguedbygreater

and

geater

division-——within

countries,

political

groups,

families,

evenindividuals.Weareallinastateoftotaldis-

tractionand

diffusion,

hardly

ableto

keep

ourmindsinonedirectionbe-

foreweare

pulled

in athousandothers.Themodernworld’slevelof

conflictis

higher

than

ever,

andwehaveinternalizeditinourownlives.

Thesolution

is

a

form

of

retreat

inside

ourselves,

tothe

past,

tomore

concentratedformsof

thought

andaction.As

Schopenhauer

wrote,

“Intel-

lectisa

magnitude

of

intensity,

nota

magnitude

of

extensity.”Napoleon

knewthevalueof

concentratingyour

forcesatthe

enemy’s

weakest

spot——