The 48 Laws Of Power

The

gimmicks

oftheCharlatans

may

seem

quainttoday,

butthereare

thousands
ofcharlatans
among

us

still,

using

thesametried~a:nd—truemeth~

odstheir

predecessors

refined

centuries

ago,onlychanging

thenamesof

their

elixirsand

modernizing

thelookoftheir

cults.Wefindtheselatter»

day

charlatansinallarenasof

life-~business,fashion,

politics,

art.

Many

of

them,

perhaps,

are

following

inthecharlatantraditionwithout

having

any

knowledge

ofits

history,

but

you

canhemore

systematic

anddeliberate.

Simply

followthefive

steps

of

cultmaking

thatour

charlatanancestors

per-

fectedoverthe
years.

Step

1:

Keep

It

Vague;Keep

It

Simple.

Tocreateacult

you

mustfirst

attractattention.This
you

shoulddonot

throughactions,

whicharetoo

clear
and

readable,

but

through

words,

whichare

hazy

and

deceptive.

Your

initial
speeches,
conversations,
andinterviewsmustincludetwoelements:

ontheonehandthe

promise

of

somethinggreat

and

transformative,

and

ontheothera.total
vagueness.

Thiscombinationwillstimulateallkindsof

hazy

dreamsin

your

listeners,

whowillmaketheirownconnectionsand

seewhat

they

wanttosee.

To

make

yourvagueness

attractive,

use

wordsof

great

resonancebut

cloudymeaning,

wordsfullofheatandenthusiasm.

Fancy

titlesfor

simple

things

are

helpful,

asaretheuseofnumbersandthecreationofnewwords

for
vagueconcepts.

Allofthesecreate

the

impression

of

specialized

knowl

edge,givingyou

aveneerof

profunclity.By

thesame

token,

try

tomakethe

subject

of

your

cultnewand

fresh,

sothatfewwillunderstand

it.Done

right,

thecombinationof

vaguepromises,cloudy‘

but

alluringconcepts,

and

fiery

enthusiasmwillstir

people’s

soulsanda

group

willformaround

you.

Talk:00

vaguely

and

you

haveno

credibility.

Butitismore

dangerous

tobe

specific.

If

youexplain

indetailthebenefits

people

will

gainby

fol-

lowingyour

cult,

you

willbe

expected

to

satisfy

them.

Asa

corollary

toits

vaguenessyourappeal

shouldalsobe

simple.

Most

peop1e’sproblems

have

complex

causes:

deep-rooted

neurosis,

inter

connected
social
factors,

rootsthat

goway

backintimeandareexceed-

ingly

hard

tounravel.

Few,however,

havethe

patience

todealwith

this;

most

people

wanttohearthata

simple

solution

will

curetheir

problems.

The

ability

toofferthiskindofsolutionwill

give

yougreatpower

andbuild

you

a

following.

Insteadofthe

complicatedexplanations

ofreal

life,

return

to
the
primitive

solutionsofour

ancestors,

to

good

old

countryremedies,

to

mysteriouspanaceas.

Step

2:

Emphasize

theVisualand theSensualovertheIntellectual.

Once

people

have

begun

to

gather

around

you,

two

dangers

will

present

themselves:boredomand

skepticism.

Boredomwillmake

peoplego

else

where;

skepticism

willallowthemthedistance

to

think

rationally

about

whateveritis
you

are

offering,blowingaway

the

mist

you

have

artfully

cre-

atedand

revealingyour

ideasforwhat

they

are.Youneedtoarousethe

bored,

then,

andwardoffthe

cynics.

encounteredscience

andeducationatsome

time,thong/1briefly

and

un.s'ur¢:e.s-sful/y.

,

..

The

gieut

rnasxr

of

mankindhas

always

been

predisposed

to

marvelatmysteries,

andthil‘was

especially

true!at(terrainIiisrorrk

periurls

whenthe

Secure

foundationsof

life

seemedshakenand

oltfvalues,

ccorzamzcor

spiritual,longaccepted

as

cortairzliea.

couldno

longer

berelied

upon.

The»the

zzumbrmr

of

theclzarlaranis

dupes

mulu'p1iedr—rhe

“self

killers,

"

as:2seven-

ll.'emh~c<mmryEnglish-

mancalledthem.

’l'llEPOWER01-‘rue

t:nA1U.A'I‘AN.

Gkrirr,

or,

Fxaxmsco,

I939

llil"OWLXYHU

\V'AS(41)!)

Onztr

upon

astarlets

mitlriight

therewasrm

owlwhosatonthe

branch

of

anoaktree.

Two

ground

moles

triedto

slip

quietlyby,

tmnoliced."You!"sm'd

theowl,

“

W/m?

"

they

quuvenrd.infear

and

arzvmishrriezzr,

forthey

couldnotbelieve

it

was

possibleforanyone

[0

aretheminthanthick

dnrklwrs.“Youtwo?"

said

theowl.Themoles

hurriedaway

andtold

therathercreatures

of

the

field

and

_forest

that

theowlwasthe

grcalrwl

andWi.YE.S'f

o/‘all

am'mal.sbecausehe

couldsee

inthe

dark