The 48 Laws Of Power

REVE
RSAL

Onereasontocreatea

following

isthata

group

isofteneasiertodeceive

thanan
individual,
andturnsoverto
you

thatmuchmore

power.

This

comes,however,
witha

danger:

Ifat

any

momentthe

group

sees

through

you,you

willfind

yourself

facing

notonedeceivedSoulbutan

angry

crowd

thatwilltear
you

to

pieces

as

avidly

asit

oncefollowed

you.

The

Charlatans

constantly

facedthis

danger,

andwere

alwaysready

tomoveoutoftownas

it

inevitably

becameclearthattheirelixirsdidnotworkandtheirideas

weresham.Tooslowand

they

paid

withtheirlives.In

playing

withthe

crowd,

you

are

playing

with

fire,

andmust

constantlykeep

an

eye

outfor

anysparks

of

doubt,

any

enemieswhowillturnthecrowd

againstyou.

When

youplay

with

theemotions

ofa

crowd,

you

have

to

knowhow

to

adapt,attuningyourselfinstantaneously

toallofthemoodsanddesiresthat

a

group

will

produce.

Use

spies,

beon

top

of

everything,

and

keepyour

bagspacked.

Forthisreason

youmay

often

prefer

todealwith

people

one

by

one.

Isolating

themfrom

their

normal

milieu

canhavethesameeffectas

putting

them

in

a

group—it

makesthemmore

prone

to

suggestion

andintimida-

tion.Choosethe

right

suckerandifhe

eventually

sees

throughyou

he

may

prove

easierto

escape

thanacrowd.