The 48 Laws Of Power

I

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with

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dtf(?P,‘[}!l0Il.\',

with

how

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arts,

withwhat!

induxzry

a

man

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hiswits

tozleceive

another.

and

lhrough

these

variationstheworldis

madcmore

beautiful.

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eventsand

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In

guide

them.

If

there

were

principlm

and

fixed

laws,

nations

wouldnot

change

them

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change

ourshirrs

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PREFACE

Loveandaffectionarealso

potentially

destructive,

inthat

they

blind

you

totheoften

self-serving

interestsofthosewhom

you

least

suspect

of

playing

a

powergame.

You

cannot

repressanger

or

love,

oravoid

feeling

them,

and

you

shouldnot

try.

But

you

shouldbecareful

about

how

you

ex-

press

them,

and

most

important,they

shouldneverinfluence

yourplans

and

strategies

in

anyway.

Relatedto

mastering

your

emotionsisthe

ability

todistance

yourself

fromthe

present

momentandthink

objectively

aboutthe

past

andfuture.

Like

Janus,

thedouble—facedRoman

deity

and

guardian

ofall

gates

and

doorways,

you

mustbeabletolookinbothdirectionsat

once,

thebetterto

handle

danger

fromwhereveritcomes.Suchistheface

you

mustcreatefor

yourself-one

face

lookingcontinuously

tothefutureandtheothertothe

ast.

P

Forthe

future,

themotto

is,

“No

days

unalert.”

Nothing

shouldcatch

youbysurprise

because

you

are

constantlyimaginingproblems

before

they

arise.Insteadof

spendingyour

time

dreaming

of

your

plan’s

happy

ending,you

mustworkon

calculatingeverypossiblepermutation

and

pit-

fallthat

mightemerge

init.Thefurther

you

see,

themore

steps

ahead

you

plan,

themore

powerfulyou

become.

Theother

face

of

Janus

looks

constantly

tothe

past—though

nottore-

member

past

hurtsorbear

grudges.

Thatwould

only

curb

yourpower.

Halfofthe

game

is

learning

howto

forget

thoseeventsinthe

past

that

eat

away

at

you

and

cloud

your

reason.

The

real

purpose

ofthebackward-

glancingeye

istoeducate

yourselfconstantly—you

lookatthe

past

tolearn

fromthosewhocamebefore

you. (Themany

historical

examples

inthis

bookwill

greatly

help

that

process.)

Then,

having

lookedtothe

past,you

lookcloserat

hand,

to

your

ownactionsandthoseof

your

friends.Thisis

themostvitalschool

you

canlearn

from,

becauseitcomesfrom

personal

experience.

You

beginbyexamining

themistakes

you

havemadeinthe

past,

the

onesthathavemost

grievously

held

you

back.You

analyze

theminterms

ofthe 48 lawsof

power,

and

you

extractfromthemalessonandanoath:

“Ishallnever

repeat

sucha

mistake;

Ishall neverfall

intosuch

a

trap

again.”

If

you

can

evaluate

andobserve

yourself

in

this

way,you

canlearn

tobreakthe

patterns

ofthe

past—animmensely

valuableskill.

Power

requires

the

ability

to

play

with

appearances.

Tothisend

you

mustlearntowear

many

masks

and

keep

a

bag

full

of

deceptive

tricks.De-

ception

and

masquerade

shouldnotbeseenas

ugly

orimmoral.Allhuman

interaction

requiresdeception

on

many

levels,

andinsome

ways

what

sep—

arateshumansfromanimalsisour

ability

tolieanddeceive.InGreek

myths,

inIndia’sMahabharata

cycle,

intheMiddleEastern

epic

of

Gilga~

mesh,

itisthe

privilege

ofthe

gods

touse

deceptive

arts;

a

great

man,

Odysseus

for

instance,

was

judgedby

his

ability

torivalthe

craftiness

of

the

gods,stealing

someoftheirdivine

powerbymatching

theminwitsandde-

ception.Deception

isa

developed

artofcivilizationandthemost

potent

weapon

inthe

game

of

power.