The 48 Laws Of Power

REVERS/\L

Boldnessshouldnever
be
the
strategy

behind

allof

your

actions.It

isa

tac-

tical
instrument,

tobeusedatthe

right

moment.Planandthink

ahead,

and

makethefinalelementtheboldmovethatwill

bringyou

success.Inother

words,

since

boldnessisalearned

response,

itisalsoonethat

you

leamto

controlandutilizeatwill.To

gothrough

lifearmed

only

with

audacity

wouldbe
tiring

andalsofatal.Youwouldoffendtoo

manypeople,

asis

provenby

thosewhocannotcontroltheirboldness,Onesuch

person

was

Lola
Montez;

her

audacitybrought

her

triumphs

andledtoherseduction

ofthe

king

ofBaxfatia.Butsinceshecouldneverreininher

boldness,

it

alsoled
toher
downfall—-in
Bavaria,
in

England,

wherevershe

turned.It

crossedtheborderbetweenboldnessandthe
appearance

of

cruelty,

even

insanity.

IvantheTerriblesufferedthesamefate:Whenthe

power

ofbold-

ness

brought

him

success,

hestuckto

it,

tothe

point

whereitbecamealife

longpattern

ofviolenceand sadism.He lostthe

ability

totell when

boldnesswas
appropriate

andwhenitwasnot.

Timidity

hasno

place

intherealmof

power;you

willoften

benefit,

however,

bybeing

ableto

feign

it.Atthat

point,

of

course,

itisno

longer

iimidity

butanoffensive

weapon:

Youare

luringpeople

inwith

your

show

of

shyness,

allthebetterto

pounce

onthem

boldly

later.

LAW 2 B 235