Youcannotsucceedat
deception
unless
you
takeasomewhatdis-
tanced
approach
to
yourself——-unlessyou
canbe
many
different
people,
wearing
themaskthatthe
day
andthemoment
require.
Withsuchaflexi«
ble
approach
toall
appearances,includingyour
own,
you
losealotofthe
inwardheavinessthatholds
people
down.Make
your
faceasmalleableas
the
actor’s,
worktoconceal
your
intentionsfrom
others,
practiceluring
people
into
traps.Playing
with
appearances
and
mastering
artsof
decep
tionare
among
theaesthetic
pleasures
oflife.
They
arealso
keycompo«
nentsinthe
acquisition
of
power.
If
deception
isthemost
potentweapon
in
your
arsenal,
then
patience
inall
things
is
your
crucial
shield.
Patience
will
protectyou
from
making
moronicblunders, Like
masteringyour
emotions,
patience
is:1skill-—it
doesnotcome
naturally.
But
nothing
about
power
is
natural;
power
is
more
godlike
than
anything
inthenaturalworld. And
patience
is the
supreme
virtueofthe
gods,
whohave
nothing
buttime.
Everythinggood
will
happen——-thegrass
will
growagain,
if
yougive
it
timeandseeseveral
steps
intothefuture.
Impatience,
ontheother
hand,
only
makes
you
look
weak.Itisa.
principalimpediment
to
power.
Poweris
essentially
amoralandoneofthemost
important
skillstoac~
quire
isthe
ability
toseecircumstancesratherthan
good
orevil.Powerisa
game—-this
cannot
be
repeated
toooften—andin
gamesyou
donot
judge
youropponentsby
theirintentionsbut
by
theeffectoftheiractions.You
measuretheir
strategy
andtheir
powerby
what
you
canseeandfeel.How
oftenaresomeone’sintentionsmadetheissue
only
tocloud
and
deceive!
Whatdoes
itmatterif
another
player,your
friendor
rival,
intended
good
things
andhad
onlyyour
interests
at
heart,
if
theeffectsofhisactionleadto
somuchminandconfusion?Itis
only
naturalfor
people
tocover
up
their
actionswithallkindsof
justifications,alwaysassuming
that
they
haveacted
outof
goodness.
Youmustlearnto
inwardlylaugh
eachtime
you
hearthis
andnever
getcaughtup
in
gauging
someone’sintentionsand actions
through
asetofmoral
judgments
thatare
really
anexcusefortheaccumu-
lationof
power.
Itisa
game.
Your
opponent
sits
oppositeyou.
Bothof
you
behaveas
gentlemen
or
ladies,
observing
therulesofthe
game
and
takingnothing
personally.
You
play
witha
strategy
and
you
observe
youropponent’s
moveswithasmuchcalmnessas
you
canmuster.Inthe
end,
you
will
ap-
preciate
the
politeness
ofthose
you
are
playing
withmorethantheir
good
andsweetintentions.Train
youreye
tofollowtheresultsoftheir
moves,
theoutward
circumstances,
anddonotbedistracted
byanything
else.
Halfof
yourmastery
of
power
comesfromwhat
you
donot
do,
what
you
donotallow
yourself
to
getdragged
into.Forthisskill
you
mustlearn
to
judge
all
things
by
what
they
cost
you.
AsNietzsche
wrote,
“Thevalueof
a
thing
sometimesliesnotinwhatoneattainswith
it,
butinwhatone
pays
l
forit——whatitcostsus.”
Perhapsyou
willattain
yourgoal,
anda
worthygoal
at
that,
but
atwhat
price?Apply
thisstandardto
everything,including
whethertocollaboratewithother
people
orcometotheiraid.Inthe
end,
PREFACE
.
mi