The 48 Laws Of Power

280 LAW 33

Whenthetwomen

met,William,

predictably,

hadbeenworkedintoa

tizzyby

the

queen.

Hereiteratedhisfearof

beingguillotined.

ButBismarck

onlyreplied,

“Yes,

thenweshallbedead!Wemustdiesooneror

later,

and

couldtherebeamore

respectableway

of

dying?

Ishoulddie

lighting

for

the

causeof

myking

andmaster.Your

Majesty

woulddie

sealing

with

your

ownblood

yourroyalrightsgrantedby

God’s

graze.

Whether

upon

the

scafioldor

upon

thebattlefieldmakesnodifferencetothe

gloriousstaking

of

body

andlifeonbehalfof

rightsgrantedby

God’s

grace!“

Onhe

went,

appealing

toWilliam’ssenseofhonorandthe

majesty

ofhis

position

as

headofthe

army.

Howcould

the

king

allow

people

to

push

himaround?

Wasn’tthehonorof

Germany

more

important

than

quibbling

over

words?

Not

only

didthe

prime

ministerconvincethe

king

tostand

up

tobothhis

wifeandhis

parliament,

he

persuaded

himtobuild

up

the

am1y—Bis-

matclwfs

goal

all

along.

Interpretation

Bismarckknewthe

king

felt

bullied

by

thosearound

him.Heknewthat

Williamhada

militarybackground

anda

deep

senseof

honor,

and

thathe

feltashamedathiscravennessbeforehiswifeandhis

government.

Wdliam

secretlyyearned

tobea

great

and

mightyking,

buthedarednot

express

thisambitionbecausehewasafraidof

endingup

likeLouisXVI.Wherea

showof

courage

oftenconceals

aman’s

timidity,

William’s

timidity

con-

cealedhisneedtoshow

courage

and

thump

his

chest.

Bismarcksensedthe

longing

for

glory

beneathWilliam’s

pacifist

front,

sohe

played

tothe

king’sinsecurity

abouthis

manhood,

finallypushing

him

intothreewarsandthecreationof

aGerman

empire.Timidity

isa.

po-

tent

weaknessto

exploit.

Timidsouls

often

yearn

tobetheir

opposite——to

be

Napoleons.

Yet

they

lacktheinner

strength.

You,

in

essence,

can

be-

cometheir

Napoleon,pushing

themintoboldactionsthatserve

your

needswhilealso

making

them

dependent

on

you.

Remember:Looktothe

opposites

andnevertake

appearances

atfacevalue.

Image:

The

Thumbscrew.

Your

enemy

hassecretsthat

he

guards,

thinks

thoughts

hewill

not reveal. But

they

comeoutin

ways

he cannot

help.

Itisthere

some

where,

a

groove

of

weakness on his

head,

athis

heart,

overhis

belly.

Once

you

findthe

groove,putyour

thumbin

it and turn him at

will.