The 48 Laws Of Power

ing

the

newly

rich

businessmanaccess

to

the

glittering

worldofold

wealth.

Andforthe
coup

de

grace,

he

apparently

owned

a

machinethatwouldres-

cueLollerfromhisworries.Itwouldeven
put

himona

par

with

Lustig

himself,

whohadalsousedthemachinetomaintainhisstatus.Nowonder

Lollertookthebait.

Remember:When

searching

for

suckers,

always

lookforthedissatis-

fled,
the

unhappy,

theinsecure.Such

people

areriddledwithweaknesses

andhaveneedsthat
you

canfill.Theirneedinessisthe

groove

inwhich

youplaceyour

thumbnailandturnthematwill.

Observance
III

Inthe
year
1559,
theFrench

king

Henrilldiedina

jousting

exhibition.His

sonassumedthe
throne,

becoming

Francis

11,

butinthe

background

stood

Henri’swifeand
queen,

Catherinede’

Médjcis,

awomanwhohad

long

agoproven

herskillinaffairsofstate.

When

Francisdiedthenext

year,

Catlierinetookcontrolofthe
country

as

regent

tohernextsonin

line

of

succession,
thefutureCharles
IX,

a

mereten

years

oldatthetime.

Themainthreatstothe

queens

power

wereAntoinede

Bourbon,king

of

Navarre,

andhis

brother,Louis,

the

powerfulprince

of

Condé,

bothof

whomcouldclaimthe

right

toserveas

regent

insteadof

Catherine,who,

after
all,
wasItalian——-a

foreigner.

Catherine

quicklyappointed

Antoine

lieutenant

general

ofthe

kingdom,

atitlethatseemedto

satisfy

hisambi-

tion.Italsomeantthathehadtoremainin
court,
whereCatherinecould

keep

an

eye

onhim.

Hernextmove

proved

smarterstill:Antoinehada

notoriousweaknessfor
young
women,

soshe

assigned

oneofher

mostat-

tractivemaidsof
honor,
Louisede

Rouet,

to

seducehim.NowAntoine’s

intimate,
Louise

reported

allofhisactionstoCatherine.Themoveworked

so
brilliantly

that Catherine

assigned

another ofher maidstoPrince

Condé,

andthuswasformedheratcadron

2mla1Lt——“lly1'ngsquadron”-—of

younggrls

whomsheusedto

keep

the

unsuspecting

malesinthecourt

underhercontrol.

In 1572 Catherinemarried 05

her

daughter,Marguerite

de

Valois,

to

Henri,
thesonofAntoineandthenew
king

ofNavarre.To

put

a

family

that

had

alwaysstruggledagainst

hersocloseto

power

wasa

dangerous

move,

soto

makesureof

Henri’s

loyalty

she

unleashedonhimthe

loveliest

mem-

ber

ofher

“flyingsquadron,”

CharlottedeBeaune

Semblancay,

baroness

ofSauves.Catherinedidthiseven

though

Henriwasmarriedtoher

daugh-

ter.Within

weeks,Marguerite

deValoiswroteinher

memoirs,

“Mme.de

Sauvesso

completely

ensnared

my

husbandthatweno

longerslept

to-

gether,

noreven

conversed.”

Thebaronesswasanexcellent

spy

and

helped

to

keep

Henriunder

Cathei-ine’sthumb.W’henthe

queen’syoungest

son,

theDukeof

Alencon,

grew

soclosetoHenrithatshefearedthetwo

mightplotagainst

her,

she

assigned

thebaronesstohimaswell.Thismostinfamousmemberofthe

flyingsquadronquickly

seduced

Alengon,

andsoonthe

two

young

men

fought

overherandtheir

friendshipquickly

ended,

along

with

anydanger

ofa

conspiracy.

AndwhileIamonthe

subject,

themisartwher

fact

thatd¢'.vvrw’s

mmrimi.Itisthis.A

mansltowshischurat:«

{er

just

inthe

way

in

whichhe

deals‘with

tr1fz‘es—~for

thanheIS

ojfliisguard.

Thiswill

ofzerizzfford

tl

good

opparmni/yofalzserw

ing

theboundless

egnismof

amun‘.5’

nature,and

his

f0!Il/

luck

oirunsidemlitm

fororlzyrs;

and

if

fht'.Yl’

defects

show(Izmi-

selvwinsmall

I/tings,

or

merely

inhis

general

rlz-mmmmr.

you

will

find

(Ital

they

ll/S/J

underliehisuctirmin

matters

ofimportance,

although

he

may

dlS‘gt(i5‘t‘

the

furl.

Tlzisit

an

opportunity

w/Itch

shouldnotbenzmml.

Ifin

the

little

u_/jrmzvof

every

day-«the

tn,’/{erof

life

.

,

.—-amanis

inctzn.vizlcruteandstir!/x'.t

only

whatisadvumw

gmus

ormnvertizmtto

lzimsvlfi

totho

preju-

drcv

olotlicrrs’

riglm;if

he

opprrrprialcs

to

his-n.s-«If

rim!which

bzdorzgs

toall

alilm,

you

may

beAurathereisno

jItsliCL'

in]ti.\‘heart.and

that

he

wouldbe

a

xcnumlrslrmawitch’-

salescale,

only

thatlaw

and

cvnipulsion

bind

Ixishands".

ART]urn

Srtic)Pt:NII/umk.

17881860

LAW

33

277