The 48 Laws Of Power

probably

findthatallofthemhavesome

application,

andthatinfact

they

areinterrelated.

Bygetting

anoverviewoftheentire

subject

you

willbest

beabletoevaluate

your

own

past

actionsand

gain

a

greaterdegree

ofcon-

trolover

your

immediateaffairs.A

thoroughreading

ofthebookwillin»

spirethinking

andreevaluation

long

after

you

finishit.

Thebookhasalsobeen

designed

for

browsing

andfor

examining

the

lawthatseemsatthat

particular

momentmost

pertinent

to

you.

Sayyou

are

experiencingproblems

witha

superior

andcannotunderstand

why

your

effortshavenotleadtomore

gratitude

ora

promotion.

Severallaws

specifically

address

the

master-underlingrelationship,

and

you

are

almost

certainlytransgressing

oneofthem.

Bybrowsing

theinitial

paragraphs

for

the 48 lawsinthetableof

contents,

you

can

identify

the

pertinent

law.

Finally,

the

bookcanbe

browsed

through

and

pickedapart

forenter-

tainrnent.

foran

enjoyable

ride

through

thefoiblesand

great

deedsofour

predecessors

in

power.

A

warning,

however,

tothosewhouse

the

bookfor

this

purpose:

It

might

bebettertotumback.Poweris

endlessly

seductive

and

deceptive

initsown

way.

Itisa

1abyrinth—your

mindbecomescon-

sumedwith

solving

ifsinfinite

problems,

and

you

soonrealizehow

pleas-

antly

lost

you

havebecome.Inother

words,

itbecomesmost

amusingby

taking

it

seriously.

Donotbefrivolouswithsuchacriticalmatter.The

gods

of

power

frownonthe

frivolous;

theygive

ultimatesatisfaction

only

to

thosewho

study

and

reflect,

and

punish

thosewhoskimthesurfaceslook-

ing

fora

good

time.

Any

manwhotriestobe

good

allthe

time

isboundto

cometoruin

among

the

great

number

whoarenot

good.

Hence:2

prince

whowants

to

keep

his

authority

must[mmhownot tobe

good,

andusethat

knowledge,

or

rgfiain wing

it,

as

necessityrequires.

THE

PRINCE,

Niu.-011)

Machiavelli,

7469- 7527

PREFACE cmciii