The 48 Laws Of Power

298 LAW3.1

Thiswasthe

technique

MachiavelliadmiredinCesare

Borgia,

who,

during

negotiations,

would

suddenlypressvehemently

fora

decision,

upsetting

his

opponent’stiming

and

patience.

For

who

would

dare

make Cesare

wait?

Joseph

Duveen,

thefamousart

dealer,

knewthatifhe

gave

anindeci-

sive

buyer

like

John

D.Rockefelleradeadline»-the

painting

hadtoleave

the

country,

another

tycoon

wasinterestedinit—theclientwould

buyjust

intime.

Freud

noticedthat

patients

whohad

spentyears

in

psychoanalysis

without

improvement

would

miraculously

recover

just

intime

if

hefixed

a

definitedatefortheendofthe

therapy.

Jacques

Lacan,

thefamousFrench

psychoanalyst,

usedavariationonthistactic—hewouldsometimesend

the

customary

hoursessionof

therapy

after

only

ten

minutes,

without

warning.

After

this

happened

several

times,

the

patient

wouldrealizethat

he

had

bettermakemaximumuse

of

the

time,

ratherthan

wasting

muchof

thehourwithalotoftalkthatmeant

nothing.

The

deadline,then,

isa

pow-

erfultool.Closeoffthevistasofindecisionandforce

people

tomake

up

theirdamnmindsor

get

tothe

point—never

letthemmake

youplay

on

their

excruciating

terms.Never

give

themtime.

Magicians

andshowmenare

experts

in

forcing

time.Houdinicould

often

wriggle

freeofhandcuffsin

minutes,

buthewoulddrawthe

escape

outtoan

hour,making

theaudience

sweat,

astimecametoan

apparent

standstill.

Magicians

have

always

knownthatthebest

way

toalterour

pet-

ception

of

timeisoftentoslow

downthe

pace.Creatingsuspensebrings

timeto

a

terrifyingpause:

Theslowerthe

magician’s

hands

move,

theeas-

ieritistocreatetheillusionof

speed,makingpeople

thinktherabbithas

appeared

instantaneously.

The

greatnineteenthcentury

magician

_]ean—Eu—

gene

Robert~Houdintook

explicit

noticeofthiseffect:“Themore

slowly

a

story

is

told,”

he

said,

“theshorteritseems.”

Going

sloweralsomakes

wha).

you

are

doing

more

interesting»-the

audience

yields

to

your

pace,

becomesentranced.Itisastateinwhichtime

whizzes

delightfullyby.

Youmust

practice

such

illusions,

whichshareinthe

hypnotisfspower

toalter

perceptions

oftime.

EndTime.Youcan

play

the

game

withtheutmost

artistry—--waitingpa-

tiently

forthe

right

momentto

act,

putting

your

competitors

offtheirform

bymessing

withtheir

timing~—-but

itwon’tmeana

thing

unless

you

know

howtofinish.Donotbeoneofthose

people

wholooklike

paragons

of

pa«

tieuce

butare

actuallyjust

afraidto

bringthings

toa

close:Patience

is

worthlessunlesscombinedwitha

willingness

to

fall

ruthlessly

on

yourop-

ponent

atthe

right

moment.Youcanwaitas

long

as

necessary

forthecon

clusionto

come,

butwhenitcomesitmustcome

quickly.

Use

speed

to

paralyzeyouropponent,

cover

upany

mistakes

youmight

make,

andim-

presspeople

with

your

auraof

authority

and

finality.

Withthe

patience

ofasnake

charmer,

you

drawthesnakeoutwith

calmand

steadyrhythms.

Oncethesnakeis

out,

though,

would

youdangle

your

footaboveits

deadly

head?Thereisnevera

good

reasontoallowthe