The 48 Laws Of Power

superior

tothosearoundthemin

intelligence,

wit,

andcharm.Itisa.

deadly

butcommon

misperception

to

believethat

bydisplaying

and

vaunting

yourgifts

and

talents,

you

are

winning

themaster’saffection.He

mayfeign

appreciation,

butathisfirst

opportunity

hewill

replaceyou

withsomeone

less

intelligent,

less

attractive,

less

threatening,

just

asLouisXIV

replaced

the

sparklingFouquet

withtheblandColbert.Andaswith

Louis,

hewill

notadmitthe

tmth,

butwillfindanexcusetorid

himselfof

yourpresence.

ThisLaw

involvestworules

that

you

mustrealize,

First,

you

can

inad-

vertently

outshineamaster

simplybybeingyourself.

Therearemasters

whoaremoreinsecurethan
others,

nronstrously

insecure;

youmay

natu-

rally

outshinethem

byyour

charmand

grace.

Noonehad

morenaturaltalents

than

Astorre

Manfredi,

prince

of

Faenza.Themosthandsomeofallthe

youngprinces

of

Italy,

he

captivated

his

subjects

withhis

generosity

and

openspirit.

Inthe

year

1500,

Cesare

Borgia

laid

siege

toFaenza.Whenthe

city

surrendered,

thecitizens

expected

theworstfromthecruel

Borgia,

who,

however,

decidedto

spare

thetown:

He

simplyoccupied

its

fortress,

exe-

cutednoneofits

citizens,

andallowedPrince

Manfredi,

eighteen

atthe

time,

toremainwithhis

court,

in

complete

freedom.

Afewweeks

later,though,

soldiershauledAstorreManfredi

away

toa

Roman

prison.

A

year

after

that,

his

body

wasfishedoutoftheRiver

Tiber,

a

stonetiedaroundhisneck.

Borgiajustified

thehorribledeed

with

somesortof

tmmped~up

charge

oftreasonand

conspiracy,

butthereal

problem

wasthathewas

notoriously

vainandinsecure.The

young

man

was

outshining

himwithouteven

trying.

GivenManfredi’snatural

talents,

the

prince’s

mere

presence

made

Borgia

seemlessattractiveandcharis-

matic.Thelessonis

simple:

If

you

cannot

helpbeingcharming

and

supe~

not,

you

mustlearntoavoidsud:monstersof

vanity.

Either

that,

orfinda

way

tomute

yourgoodqualities

wheninthe

company

ofaCesare

Borgia.

Second,

never

imagine

thatbecausethemasterloves

you,

you

cando

anythingyou

want.Entirebookscouldbewrittenaboutfavoriteswhofell

outoffavor

bytaking

theirstatus

for

granted,

for

daring

tooutshine.In

late-sixteentbcenturyjapan,

thefavoriteof

EmperorHideyoshi

wasaman

calledSenno

Rikyu.

The

premier

artistofthetea

ceremony,

whichhadbe-

comeanobsessionwith the

nobility,

hewasone of

Hideyoshi’s

most

trusted

advisers,

hadhisown

apartment

inthe

palace,

andwashonored

throughoutjapan.

Yetin

1591,

Hideyoshi

hadhimarrestedandsentenced

todeath.

Rikyu

tookhisown

life,

instead.Thecauseforhissudden

change

offortunewasdiscoveredlater:Itseemsthat

Rikyu,

former

peasant

and

latercourt

favorite,

hadhadawoodenstatuemadeofhimself

wearing

san-

dals

(a

Sign

of

nobility)

and

posingloftily.

Hehadhadthisstatue

placed

in

themost

importanttemple

insidethe

palacegates,

inclear

sight

ofthe

roy-

alty

whooften

would

passby.

To

Hidcyoshi

this

signified

that

Rikyu

had

nosenseoflimits.

Presurning

thathehadthesame

rights

asthoseofthe

highestnobility,

hehad

forgotten

thathis

positiondepended

ontheem»

peror,

andhadcometobelievethathehadearneditonhisown.Thiswas

LAW 1