The 48 Laws Of Power

bold
draw
attention,and
whatdraws
attentiondraws
power.

Wecannot

keep

our

eyes

offtheaudacious———wecannotwaittoseetheirnextbold

move.

OBSERVANCES
OFTHELAW

Observance
I

In

May

of

1925,

fiveofthemostsuccessfuldealersintheFrench

scrap

metalbusinessfoundthemselvesinvitedtoan“official”but

“highly

confi-

dential”

meeting

withthe

deputy

director

general

ofthe

Ministry

of

Post

and

Telegraphs

atthe

Hotel

Criilon,

thenthemostluxurioushotelinParis.

Whenthebusinessmen
arrived,

it

was

the

director

general

himself,

aMon-

sieur

Lustig,

whomettheminaswanksuiteonthe

top

floor.

Thebusinessmenhadnoidea

whythey

hadbeensummonedtothis

meeting,

and

they

were

bursting

with

curiosity.

After

drinks,

thedirector

explained.

“Gentlemen,”

he

said,

“thisis

an

urgent

matter

that

requires

completesecrecy.

The

government

is

going

tohavetoteardowntheEiffel

Tower.”Thedealerslistenedinstunnedsilenceasthedirector

explained

thatthe

tower,

as

recentlyreported

inthe

news,

desperately

neededre

pairs.

Ithad

originally

beenmeantasa

temporary

structure

(for

the

Expo»

sition

of

1889),

itsmaintenancecosts

had

soared

over

the

years,

and

now,

inatimeofafiscal

crisis,

the

government

wouldhaveto

spend

millionsto

fixit.
Many

ParlsiansconsideredtheEiffelToweran

eyesore

andwouldbe

delighted

toseeit

go.

Over

time,

eventhetouristswould

forget

aboutit—it

wouldliveonin

photographs

and

postcards.

“Gentlemen,”

Lustig

said,

“you

areallinvitedto

make

the

government

anofferfortheEiffel

Tower.”

He

gave

thebusinessmensheetsof

governmentstationery

filledwith

figures,

suchasthe

tonnage

ofthetower’smetal.Their

eyespopped

as

they

calculatedhowmuch

they

couldmakefromthe

scrap.

Then

Lustig

led

themtoa

waiting

limo,

which

brought

themtotheEiffelTower.

Flashing

anofficial

badge,

he

guided

them

through

the

area,

spicing

histourwith

amusing

anecdotes.Attheendofthevisitbethankedthemandasked

themtohavetheiroffersdeliveredtohissuitewithinfour

days.

Several

days

aftertheofferswere

submitted,

oneofthe

five,

aMon-

sieur

P.,

received

notice

thathis

bid

wasthe

winner,

and

thatto

secure

the

saleheshouldcometothesuiteatthehotelwithintwo

days,bearing

acer-

tifiedcheckformorethan

250,000

francs

(the

equivalenttoday

ofabout

$1,000,000)--—a

quarter

ofthetotal

price.

On

delivery

ofthe

check,

he

wouldreceivethedocuments

confirming

his

ownership

oftheEiffelTower.

MonsieurP.wasexcited—-hewould

go

downin

history

asthemanwho

had

bought

and

torn

downtheinfamouslandmark.But

by

thetimehe

ar-

rivedatthe

suite,

checkin

hand,

hewas

beginning

tohavedoubtsabout

thewholeaffair.

Why

meetinahotelinsteadofa

government

building?

Why

hadrftheheardfromotheroffieials?Wasthisa

hoax,

ascam?Ashe

listenedto

Lustig

discussthe

arrangements

forthe

scrapping

ofthe

tower,

he

hesitated,

and

contemplatedbacking

out.

hethe

dwarffigurz?of

an

eIeplmI£I,fi1oIzly

tr)

be

placed

onthe

lapof

a

stick;

and(lienwhat

honor

wouldmorebe

insuchanadvcznurel-"

"There

i$,".vui1}ht’,

“some

decepuion

."/1rlrix

writing.

Itisan

enigma

onlyfit

toamusea

Child,Islmli

(ll?l’P_fl'>f€

leave

you

and

your

elvplzant.

"

Thereasmzerthan

departed:

butthe

(«l(lV€FIf£€7‘0l\‘.S‘

"It'll!

ruslzedwithhis

eyes

closedacrossthewater.‘

neitlwz

depth

nor

I-‘iolencz

prewmted

him,

and

according:

to

the

inscription

hesaw

Ihi?

elephantlying

on

Ilte

opposite

bank.

[Ivtook

it

andcarrier!

it

tothe

tapc>/‘the

hill,

wherehesawatown.A

¥lIr’l(’l<

from

the

elcplmur

uiamzerl

the

peopleufthecity.

wlm

roseinarms.‘butthe

urlventurer,

nothing

dazmtezl,

was(later-

mi.-mi£0die:1llrtru.

‘Flu:

people.however,

wereawed

by

his

pres-

ence,

andhewasavion-

islzetltohearthem;

proclaim

himsuccexsor

torlmlr

king,

who/mzl

rec-emly

died.

Great

enatr//ri.«'e.s

are

only

aciiieveri

by

rzdwrnmrous

spirits.

They

who

azlculurr

withyou

greatniccty

cvz'r_ydifficulry

and

obstaclewhichis

likely

toliein

their

way,

low

thatlimo’inlwsinztirm.

whichthemow

daring

seizeandremleravail-

ableto

the

Ia/ties-I

purposes.

FABLLS,

.lF..-KNmaLA

l"()t~<"lr\l!\i;.

1021-1695

LAW 23 ‘.329