The 48 Laws Of Power

have
been
outgrown.

If

your

victimsor

rivalswentwithout

something

im-

portant,

suchas

parentalsupport,

when

they

were

children,

supply

it,

orits

facsimile.If

they

revealasecret

taste,

ahidden

indulgence,indulge

it.Inei-

thercase

they

willbeunabletoresist

you.

Lookfor Contrasts.Anoverttraitoftenconcealsits

opposite.People

who

thump

theirchests

are

often

big

cowards;

a

prudish

exterior

may

hide

alascivious
soul;
the
uptight

areoften

screaming

for

adventure;

the

shy

are

dying

forattention.

By

probingbeyondappearances,you

willoftenfind

people’s

weaknessesinthe

opposite

ofthe

qualitiesthey

revealto

you.

FindtheWeakLink.Sometimesin
your

searchforweaknesses

itisnot

whatbutwhothatmatters.In

today’s

versionsofthe

court,

there

is

often

someonebehindthesceneswhohasa

great

dealof

power,

atremendous

influenceoverthe

personsuperficially

on

top.

Thesebehind-tliescenes

powerbrokers

arethe

group’s

weaklink:Wintheirfavor

andyouindirectly

influencethe

king.Alternatively,

evenin

a

group

of

peopleacting

withthe

appearance

ofonewill—aswhena

group

underattackclosesrankstoresist

anoutsi-:ler———thereis

always

aweaklinkinthechain.Findtheone

person

whowillbendunder

pressure.

Fillthe

Void.

The

two

main

emotional

voidsto

Killare

insecurity

andum

happiness.

Theinsecurearesuckersfor

any

kindofsocial

validation;

asfor

the

chronically

unhappy,

lookfortherootsoftheir

unhappiness.

Theinse

cureandthe

unhappy

arethe

people

leastableto

disguise

theirweak-

nesses.The

ability

tofilltheiremotionalvoidsisa

great

sourceof

power,

and

an

indefinitelyprolongable

one.

FeedonUncontrollableEmotions.Theuncontrollableemotioncanbe

a

paranoid

fear-wafear

disproportionate

tothesituaIion~—-or

any

basemo-

tivesuchas

lust,

greed,vanity,

orhatred.

People

inthe

grip

oftheseemo-

tions

often

cannotcontrol

themselves,

and

you

cando

the

controlling

for

them.

OBSERVANCESOFTHE

LAW

ObservanceI

In 1615 the

thirty—yeaH3ld

bishop

of

Lugzon,

laterknownasCardinalRiche

lieu,

gave

a

speech

before

representatives

ofthethreeestatesofFrance-

clergy,nobility,

andcommoners.Richelieuhadbeenchosentoserveas

the

mouthpiece

forthe

clergy—an

immense

responsibility

for

a

man

still

young

andnot

particularly

wellknown.On

allof

the

important

issuesof

the

day,

the

speech

followedtheChurchline.ButneartheendofitRiche«

lieudid

something

thathad

nothing

todowiththeChurchand

everything

todowithhiscareer.Heturnedtothethroneofthe

fifteen-year—oldKing

Louis

XIII,

andto

the

Queen

Mother

Mariede’

Médicis,

whosatbeside

Thenwhatdid/ukdear

friend

do?He

czzutiousl

y

madehis

way

downInrim

boumn

nfrhe

ravine.

and

there,

outinthe

openspace

andthe

free

air.

seeing

thatthelion

wantedneither

flaliery

norobedience

now,

he

settoworkto

pay

the

[mtsadrim‘tohis

dead

friend,

andinll

momh

picked

hisbones

c/0.-m.

NABLES,

IVANKtumi-1:

l768--I844

IR\'ll\1,'|..~\'/All

[Hollywoodsuper-

zzgent]Irving

Paul

Lazar

wasonce

anxioustosell

/studio

mogul]

Jack

L.Warner

a

play.

"I/mila

long

rmzeting

Wiihhim

today,”

Lazar

explained[10

scram-

writerGarszm

Kanin],

“hmIdir1n’Imemion

it,

Ididn'teven

bring

it

up.”

“Why

noI?"Iasked.

“BecauseI‘m

going

to

waitunit’! 1119 weekend

afier

next,

when

I

go

to

Palm

Springs."

“Idon’£wzdcrslzmri.

”

“Youdorfr?I

go

to

Palm

Springyevery

wee/«end.

butWarner

rim'1

going

thi.S'week

end.Heb

gal

a

preview

or

sometlxing.

S0

heir

pm!

mm/Ing

dawntill

rimHex!weekeml,so

that‘:when

I’m

going

to

bring

it

up.“

“I

wing,I

‘Inmoreand

LAW 33 273