The 48 Laws Of Power

Am]in thisViewitis

advimhleto
let
everyone

ofyaur(lL‘(.,'ulItIl1(1IlL‘t‘4

whethermanor

wornan—frrel

nowand

thanthat

you

could

very

well

(lisprznse

Wlill

zlmir

company.

This

will

consolidate

friena'ship.Nuy.

with

most

people

therewill

be

no

harm

in

occa-

sionallymixing

at

grain

ofdisdaln

with

your

rmatmem

of

tliomgthat

willmakethemvalue

yourfriendship

allthe

mom.Chinonstima

vieu

stimato,

asa

subtleItalian

proverb

hasit— 10

(lismgard

is

/0

win

regard.

But

if

we

really

xhmk

veryhighly

ofaperson,

weshould

contractI!

from

him

like

A:Crime.This

is

not

a

verygratifyingthing

to

do,

butitis

right.

Why.

u

(lug

Will

not

bear

being

treated(00

kindly,

[(51alrmrellnmn!

ARTHUR

S(‘HL)|’l€‘~lllAlVI4R.

17884860

'l||l‘\1(l’\K|l\’.v\?\l)

‘rm-3vr.\.<

A

monkey

was

ctm‘_V-

ing

two

handfulsul

peas.

Our’little

pea

dropped

out.Hetried

to

pick

it

up,

and

spill

twenty.

Hetriedto

pick

up

the

twmty.

and

spilt

themull.ThenheIurt

his

!<’Nl]7£'t‘,

smtmredrim

peas

inalldirections.

andran

Away.

mores.

Ll.-‘UTo1,s'roY.

l8Z8—l9l0

304 LAW 36

Dowager

of

Wales,

hertitleasA.rthur’swidow.

Finally,

in

1531,

heban-

ishedherfromcourtand

shipped

herofftoadistantcastle.The

pope

or»

daredhimtoreturnherto

court,

on

pain

of

excommunication,

the

most

severe

penalty

aCatholiccould

suffer.

Henry

not

onlyignored

this

threat,

heinsistedthathis

marriage

toCatherinehadbeen

dissolved,

andin 1533

hemarriedAnne

Boleyn.

Clementrefusedto

recognize

the

marriage,

but

Henry

didnotcare.

Heno

longerrecognized

the

pope‘sauthority,

and

proceeded

to

break

withtheRomanCatholic

Church,

establishing

theChurchof

England

in

its

stead,

withthe

king

astheheadofthenewchurch.And

so,

not

surpris-

ingly,

the

newly

formedChurchof

Englandproclaimed

Anne

BoleynEng-

land’s

rightfulqueen.

The

pope

tried

every

threat

in

the

book,

but

nothing

worked.

Henry

simplyignored

him.Clementfumed—noonehadevertreatedhimsocon-

temptuously.Henry

hadhumiliatedhimandhehadno

power

ofrecourse.

Evenexcommunication

(which

he

constantly

threatenedbutnevercamed

out)

wouldno

longer

matter.

Catherinetoofeltthe

devastatingsting

of

Henry’s

disdain.Shetriedto

fight

back,

butin

appealing

to

Henry

her

words

fell

on

deaf

ears,

andsoon

they

fellonnoone’s.Isolatedfromthe

court,

ignored

by

the

king,

mad

with

anger

and

frustration,

Catherine

slowly

deteriorated,

and

finally

died

in

January

of

1536,

fromacanceroustumoroftheheart.

Interpretation

Vllhen

you

pay

attentiontoa

person,

thetwoof

you

become

partners

of

sorts,

each

moving

in

step

totheactionsandreactionsoftheother.Inthe

processyou

lose

your

initiative.Itisa

dynamic

ofallinteractions:

By

ac-

knowledging

other

people,

evenif

only

to

fight

with

them,

youopenyour-

self

to

theirinfluence.Had

Henry

lockedhornswith

Catherine,

hewould

havefoundhimselfmiredinendless

arguments

thatwouldhaveweakened

hisresolveand

eventually

wornhimdown.

(Catherine

wasa

strong,

stub-

bom

woman.)

HadhesetouttoconvinceClementto

change

hisverdicton

the

marriagesvalidity,

ortried

to

compromise

and

negotiate

with

him,

he

wouldhave

gottenbogged

down

in

Clement’sfavoritetactic:

playing

for

time,

promisingflexibility,

but

actuallygetting

what

popesalways

got-

their

way.

Henry

would have noneofthis.He

played

a

devastatingpower

game——tota.l

disdain.

Byignoringpeopleyou

cancel

them

out.Thisunset

tlesandinfuriatesthem—butsince

they

haveno

dealings

with

you,

thereis

nothingthey

cando.

Thisistheoffensive

aspect

ofthelaw.

Playing

thecardof

contempt

is

immenselypowerful,

foritlets

you

determinetheconditionsoftheconflict.

The

war

is

waged

on

your

terms.Thisis

theultimate

powerpose:

You

are

the

king,

and

you

ignore

whatoffends

you.

Watchhowthistacticinfuriates

people-—half

ofwhat

they

doisto

get

your

attention,

andwhen

you

with-

holditfrom

them,

they

flounderinfmstralzion.