The 48 Laws Of Power

owneda

pricelessantique

teahowlthatallthecoui-tiers

envied.One

day

a

guest,

Dainagon

Tsunehiro.

askedifhecould

carry

theteabowlintothe

light,

toexamineitmore

closely.

Thebowl

rarely

leftthe

table,

buttheem-

peror

wasin

goodspirits

andheconsented.As

Dainagori

carriedthebowl

tothe

railing

ofthe

verandah,however,

andheldit

up

tothe

light,

it

slipped

fromhis

hands

and

fellon

a

rock

in

the

garden

below,

smashing

into

tinyfragments.

The

emperor

ofcoursewasfurious.“Itwasindeedmost

clumsy

ofme

toletit

drop

inthis

way,”

said

Dainagon,

witha

deep

how,

“but

really

thereisnotmuchharmdone.

This

ldotea~bowlisa

very

oldoneand

itis

impossible

to

say

howmuch

longer

itwould

have

lasted,

but

anyhow

itis

not

a

thing

of

anypublic

use,

soIthinkitratherfortunatethatithasbroken

thus.”This

surprisingresponse

hadanimmediateeffect: The

emperor

calmed

down.

Dainagon

neithersnivelednor

overapologized,

but

signaled

hisownworthand

powerbytreating

hismistakewithatouch

ofdisdain.

The

emperor

hadto

respond

with

a

similararistocratic

indifference;

his

anger

hadmadehimseemlowand

petty——animageDainagon

wasableto

manipulate.

Among

equals

thistactic

might

bacldire:Yourindifferencecouldmake

you

seemcallous.Butwitha

master,

if

you

act

quickly

andwithout

great

fuss,

it

canworkto

great

effect:You

bypass

his

angryresponse,

savehim

thetimeand

energy

hewouldwaste

bybrooding

over

it,

andallowhimthe

opportunity

to

display

hisownlackof

pettinesspublicly.

Ifwemakeexcuses

and

denialswhenweare

caught

ina

mistake

ora

deception,

westirthewatersandmakethesituationworse.Itis

ofien

wiser

to

playthings

the

oppositeway.

TheRenaissancewriterPietroAretino

oftenboastedofhisaristocratic

lineage,

which

was,

of

course,

a

fiction,

sincehewas

actually

thesonofashoemaker.Whenan

enemy

ofhis

finally

revealedthe

embarrassing

truth,

word

quiddyspread,

andsoon allof

Venice

(where

he

livedatthe

time)

was

aghast

atAretino’slies.Hadhe

tried

todefend

himself,

he

would

have

onlydragged

himselfdown.Hisre-

sponse

wasmasterful:Heannouncedthathewasindeedthesonofashoe-

maker,

butthis

onlyproved

his

greatness,

sincehehadrisenfromthe

lowest

stratum

of

society

toits

verypinnacle.

Fromthenonhenever

men-

tioned

his

previous

lie,

trumpeting

instead

hisnew

position

onthematter

ofhis

ancestry.

Remember:The

powerfulresponses

to

niggling,pettyannoyances

and

irritationsare

contempt

anddisdain.Nevershowthat

something

hasaf-

fected

you,

orthat

you

areoffended——that

only

shows

you

haveacknowl-

edged

a

problem.Contempt

isadishthatisbestservedcoldandwithout

affectarion.

LAW 36 307