The 48 Laws Of Power

xxii PREFACE

r“'"“”‘fi

lifeis

short,

opportunities

are

few,

and

you

have

only

somuch

energy

to

drawon.Andinthissensetimeisas

important

aconsiderationas

any

other.Neverwastevaluable

time,

ormental

peace

of

mind,

ontheaffairsof

others—thatistoo

high

a

price

to

pay.

Powerisasocial

game.

Tolearnandmaster

it,

you

must

develop

the

ability

to

study

andunderstand

people.

Asthe

greatseventeenth-century

thinkerandcourtierBaltasarGraciénwrote:

“Manypeoplespend

time

studying

the

properties

ofanimalsor

herbs;

howmuchmore

important

it

wouldbeto

study

thoseof

people,

withwhomwemustliveordie!”Tobea

master

playeryou

mustalsobe

a

master

psychologist.

Youmust

recognize

motivationsandsee

through

thecloudofdustwithwhich

people

surround

theiractions.An

understanding

of

people’s

hiddenmotivesisthe

single

greatestpiece

of

knowledgeyou

canhavein

acquiringpower.

It

opensup

endless

possibilities

of

deception,

seduction,

and

manipulation.

People

areofinfinite

complexity

and

you

can

spend

a

lifetimewatch-

ing

themwithoutever

fullyunderstanding

them.Soitisallthemoreim-

portant,

then,

to

begin

your

educationnow.In

doing

so

you

mustalso

keep

one

principle

inmind:Neverdiscriminate astowhom

you study

and

whom

you

trust.Nevertrust

anyonecompletely

and

studyeveryone,

in-

cluding

friendsandlovedones.

Finally,you

mustlearn

always

totaketheindirectrouteto

power.

Dis-

guise

your

cunning.

Likeabilliardballthatcaromsseveraltimesbeforeit

hitsits

target,your

movesmustbe

planned

and

developed

intheleastob

vious

way.Bytrainingyourself

to

be

indirect,

you

canthriveinthe

modern

court,

appearing

the

paragon

of

decency

while

being

theconsummatema-

nipulator.

ConsiderThe 48 Laws

of

Powerakindofhandbookontheartsofindirec»

tion.Thelawsarebasedonthe

writings

ofmenandwomenwhohave

studiedandmasteredthe

game

of

power.

These

writingsspan

a

period

of

morethanthreethousand

years

andwerecreated

in

civilizationsasdis»

parate

asancientChinaandRenaissance

Italy;

yetthey

sharecommon

threadsand

themes,

togetherhinting

atanessenceof

power

thathas

yet

to

be

fully

articulated.The 48 lawsof

power

arethedistillationofthisaccu-

mulated

wisdom,

gathered

from

the

writings

of

the

most

illustriousstrate

gists (Sun-tzu, Clausewitz),

statesmen

(Bismarck, Talleyrand),

courtiers

(Castiglione,

Gracién),

seducers

(Ninon

de

Lenclos,

Casanova),

andcon

artists

(“Yellow

Kid”

Weil)

in

history.

Thelawshavea

simplepremise:

Certainactionsalmost

always

in-

creaseone’s

power

(the

observance

of

the

law),

while

othersdecrease

it

andevenruinus

(the

transgression

ofthe

law).

These

transgressions

and

observancesareillustrated

by

historical

examples.

Thelawsaretimeless

anddefinitive.

T7ze 48 Laws

ofPower

canbeused

in

several

ways.Byreading

the

book

straightthroughyou

canlearnabout

power

in

general.Although

severalof

thelaws

may

seemnotto

pertain

directly

to

your

life,

intime

you

will