The 48 Laws Of Power

."1'.‘.’-? LAW 38

Image:

'

TheBlack

The herd shuns the

Sheep

black

sheep,

uncertain

whetheror

not

it

belongs

with them. So it

stragles

be-

hind,

or wanders

away

from

the

herd,

whereitis cornered

by

wolves

and

promptly

de-

voured.

Stay

with the

herd—

thereis

safety

innumbers,

Keep

your

differences in

your

thoughts

andnotin

your

fleece.

REVE

RSAL

The

only

timeitisworth

standing

outiswhen

youalready

standout-

when

you

have

achievedanunshakable

position

of

power,

andcan

display

your

differencefromothersasa

sign

ofthedistancebetween

you.

As

pres—

identoftheUnited

States,

LyndonJohnson

wouldsometimesholdmeet-

ings

while

he

saton

thetoilet.Sincenooneelseeithercouldorwould

claimsucha

“privilege,”Johnson

was

showingpeople

thathedidnothave

to observe the

protocols

andnicefiesofothers.The Roman

emperor

Caligulaplayed

thesame

game:

Hewouldwearawoman’s

negligee,

or

a

bathrobe,

toreceive

important

visitors.He

even

went

so

far

astohavehis

horseelectedconsul.Butit

backfired,

forthe

people

hated

Caligula,

and

his

gestureseventuallybrought

hisoverthrow.Thetruthisthateventhose

whoattainthe

heights

of

power

wouldbebetteroffatleast

affecting

the

common

touch,

foratsome

pointtheymay

need

popularsupport.

Finally,

thereis

always

a

place

forthe

gadfly,

the

person

whosuccess-

fully

defiescustom

and

mockswhathas

grown

lifelessinaculture.Oscar

Wilde,

for

example,

achievedconsiderablesocial

power

onthisfounda-

tion:Hemadeitclearthathedisdainedtheusual

ways

of

doingthings,

and

whenhe

gavepublicreadings

his

audiencesnot

onlyexpected

himtoin-

sultthem

but

welcomedit We

notice,however,

thathiseccentricrole

eventuallydestroyed

him.

Evenhadhecometoabetter

end,

remember

thathe

possessed

anunusual

genius:

Withouthis

gift

toamuseand

delight,

hisbarbswould

simply

haveoffended

people.