The 48 Laws Of Power

First,

itiscriticalto

recognize

the

spirit

ofthetimes.Fouché

always

lookedtwo

steps

ahead,

foundthewavethatwould

carry

himto

power,

androdeit.Youmust

always

workwiththe

times,

anticipate

twistsand

turns,

andnevermisstheboat.Sometimesthe

spirit

ofthe

times

is

obscure:

Recognize

itnot

by

whatis

loudestandmostobvious

in

it,

but

by

whatlies

hiddenanddormant.Lookforwardtodie

Napoleons

ofthefuturerather

than

holding

ontotheruinsofthe

past.

Second,

recognizing

the

prevailing

windsdoesnot

necessarily

mean

running

withthem.

Anypotent

socialmovement

creates

a

powerful

reac-

tion,

and

itis

wiseto

anticipate

whatthatreactionwill

be,

asFouchédid

aftertheexecutionof

Robespierre.

Ratherthanridethe

cresting

waveof

the

moment,

waitforthetide’sebbto

carry

you

backto

power.Upon

occa~

sionbetonthereactionthatis

brewing,

and

placeyourself

inthe

vanguard

ofit.

Finally,

Fouchéhadremarkable

patience.

Without

patience

as

your

swordand

shield,

yourtiming

willfailand

you

will

inevitably

find

yourself

aloser.Whenthetimeswere

against

Fouché,

hedidnot

struggle,get

emo-

tional,

orstrikeout

rashly.

He

kept

hiscoolandmaintainedalow

profile,

patientlybuildingsupportamong

the

citizenry,

thebulwarkinhis

nextrise

to

power.

Wheneverhefoundhimselfintheweaker

position,

he

played

for

time,

whichheknewwould

always

behis

ally

ifhewas

patient.Recognize

the

moment,then,

tohideinthe

grass

orslitherundera

rock,

aswellasthe

momenttobare

your

fangs

andattack.

Space

wecan

recover,

timenever.

N:1;tmle07:Bomzpanle,

1

769-1821

KEYS
TOPOWER

Timeisanartificial
concept

thatweourselves

havecreatedto

make

the

limitlessnessof

eternity

andtheuniversemore

bearable,

more human.

Sincewehaveconstructedthe
concept

of

time,

wearealsoabletomoldit

tosome

degree,

to

play

trickswithit.Thetimeofachildis

long

and

slow,

withvast

expanses;

the timeofanadultwhizzes

byfrighteningly

fast.

Time,then,

depends

on

perception,

which,

we

know,

canbe

willfully

al-

tered.Thisisthefirst

thing

tounderstandin

mastering

theartof

timing.

If

theinnerturmoilcaused

by

ouremotionstendstomaketimemove

faster,

itfollowsthatoncewecontrolouremotional
responses

to

events,

timewill

movemuchmore

slowly.

Thisaltered

way

of

dealing

with

things

tendsto

lengthen

our

perception

of

future

time,

opensuppossibilities

thatfearand

anger

close

off,

andallowsusthe

patience

thatisthe

principal

requirement

intheartof
timing.

Therearethreekindsoftimeforustodeal

with;

each

presentsprob-

lemsthatcanbesolvedwithskilland

practice.

Firstthereis

long

time:the

drawn»out,
years—long

kindoftimethatmustbe

managed

with

patience

and

gentleguidance.

Our

handling

of

long

timeshouldbe

mostly

defen-

sive—thisistheartofnot

reactingimpulsively,

of

waiting

for

opportunity.

weshallbein

trouble.

”

Sohe’hadthe

fellows

feet

on!

off

B0111

farm‘-

liesdid

exa(‘tl_y

lhc

same

thing,

butone

timer!it

right,

theother

wrong.

Thus,\'uC(:(2.r.s'

depends

on...

rhythm.

Lit}-1T71

rm;cu.

GLASS.

DENNIS

Bi.o0owoR'rH,

1967

ll.0'l‘l—'.l)lN

.LLOOKING

Thesullan

/ofPersia]

hadsentencedtwomen

todeath.One

of/hem,

knowing

howmuchthe

Sltltfllllovedhisrm]-

lizm,offered

toteach

thehome

to

fly

withina

year

inreturn

for

his

life.

The

sulmn,fancy—

mg

/zirn.s*el/‘as

theridcr

of

the

0f1lyfl_YlI1g

horse

inIhe

world,

agreed,

Theother

prisoner

lookedathis

friend

in

disbelief

“You

know

horsesdon

‘rfly.

What

made

you

come

up

with4:

crazy

idealikc

that?You‘re

onlypost—

porting

Ihcinevitable."

“NotSo,"Xllillthe

/first

prisoner].

"Ihaveacm-

allygiven

myselffaur

chances

forfreedom.

First,

the

sultan

might

die

rlurmg

the

year.

Second,

I

might

die.

Third,

thehorse

might

rlie.AnrlfourIh

., .I

might

teachthehorse

Io,/ly!"

[HECRAFI‘or-‘

POWER.

R.G.H.

Sim,

1979

LAW 35 295