The 48 Laws Of Power

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with 41

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brain.

worthyafmy

trust.Iknow

money

andIknowmen.

Moneyoften

makesa

man

small,

but 11 mm

like

himmakes

big

mormy.

Iam

onlyglad

tohave

helped

:1

big

mando

big

business."

nr.mNnrm?Sl‘l-/N}‘:S

OFRUYALPALACES

IN

KOREA,

HA

TAh—Hu~L;,

1983

Fear.which

alvmyx

magnifiesobjects,give:

a

body

to

all

their

flznries.

whichmks:

for

its

form

whatever

they

conceivetoexistm

theirmemiey
tlmughm

sothat

fearful

persons

selrlnrvz

fail

in

fall

into

realinmn

veniertzres,

occasioned

byimagi-

narydangers.

.

. .And

thee

duke.

whose

pnrdnminum

character

wasInbe

alwuysfultof

fear

and

tJfdiS!rI1.s‘t,

was.

of

allmenIhave

ever

reen,

themost

capableoffalling

into

falwstepsby

thedread

hehad

nffailing

inlo

Ihcm;

hr,-ing

inthatlike

tmmhares.

CAKi’)l.‘«'AL

DERu

2.,

l613-1:379

LAW 28

compromise

becomesthetoeholdheneedstotear

youapart.

Thesudden

bold

move,

withoutdiscussionor

warning,

obliteratesthese

toeholds,

and

builds

yourauthority,

You

terrify

doubters

and

despisers

and

gain

the

con-

fidenceofthe

many

whoadmireand

glorify

thosewhoact

boldly.

Observancelll

In

1514 the

twenty—two-year-old

PietroAretino

was

working

asa

lowly

as-

sistantscullion

to

a

wealthy

Roman

family.

He

hadambitionsof

greatness

asa

writer,

toenflametheworldwithhis

name,

buthowcouldamere

lackeyhope

torealizesuchdreams?

That

yearPope

LeoX

receivedfrom

the

king

of

Portugal

an

embassy

thatincluded

manygifts,

most

prominentamong

them

a

greatelephant,

the

firstin

Romesince

imperial

times.The

ponhff

adoredthis

elephant

and

showereditwithattentionand

gifts.

But

despite

hislove

and

care,

theele

pliant,

whichwascalled

Hanna,

became

deathly

ill.The

pope

summoned

doctors,

who

administered

a

five—hundred-poundpurgative

to theele

pliant,

butallto

no

avail.The

animaldiedandthe

pope

wentinto

mourn-

ing.

To console himselfhesummoned the

greatpainterRaphael

and

orderedhimtocreatealife-sized

painting

ofHannoabovetheanimals

tomb,

bearing

the

inscription,

“Whatnaturetook

away,Raphael

haswith

hisartrestored.”

Overthenextfew

days,

a

pamphlet

circulated

throughout

Romethat

caused

great

niernmentand

laughter.

Entitled“TheLastWillandTesta-

mentofthe

Elephant

Hanna,”

it

read,

in

part,

“To

my

heirtheCardinal

Santa

Croce,

I

givemy

knees,

sothathecanimitate

mygenuilections.

...

To

my

heir

Cardinal

Santi

Quattro,

I

givemyjaws,

sothathe

can

more

readily

devourallofChrist’srevenues..

..

To

my

heir

Cardinal

Medici,

I

givemy

ears,

sothathecanhear

everyone’sdoings.

.. .”ToCardinal

Grassi,

whohada

reputation

for

lechery,

the

elephant

bequeathed

the

ap

propriate,

oversized

part

ofhisown

anatomy.

Onandon

the

anonymouspamphlet

went,

sparing

noneofthe

great

in

Rome,

noteventhe

pope.

Witheachone

it

took

aimat

theirbest—known

weakness.The

pamphlet

endedwith

verse,

“SeetoitthatAretinois

your

friend/Forheisabad

enemy

tohave.IHiswordsalonecouldruinthe

highpope

/SoGod

guardeveryone

fromhis

tongue.”

Interpretation

Withoneshort

pamphlet,

Aretino,

sonofa

poor

shoemaker

anda

servant

himself,

hurledhimselftofame.

Everyone

inRomerushedtofindoutwho

this

daringyoung

manwas.

Even

the

pope,

amused

by

his

audacity,sought

himoutandended

upgiving

hima

job

inthe

papal

service.Overthe

years

hecametobe

known

asthe

“Scourge

of

Princes,”

andhis

bitingtongue

earnedhimthe

respect

andfearofthe

great,

fromthe

king

ofFrancetothe

Hapsburgemperor.

The

Aretino

strategy

is

simple:

When

you

areassmallandobscureas

David

was,

you

mustfindaGoliathtoattack.The

larger

the

target,

the

moreattention

yougain.

Thebolderthe

attack,

the

more

you

standout