The 48 Laws Of Power

ministerandFrance’smostable

diplomat.

Hehadshownhertoolittlere-

spect.

Astimewent

by,

swindlersandCharlatansmadetheirnests

in

Ver-

sailles,
andenticedLouis’sinterestin

astrology,

the

occult,

andfraudulent

businessdeals.The
young

and

pampered

teenager

whohadtakenover

France
years

beforehad

onlygrown

worsewith

age.

Themotto thatbecameattachedto

Louis’s

reign

was

‘.'Apré.r

moi,

It

de’lugz"——“After

methe

flood,”or,

LetFrancerotafterIam

gone.

Andin

deedwhenLouisdid
go,

in

1774,

wornout

by

debauchery,

his

country

and

hisownfinanceswereinhorrible

disarray.

His

grandson

LouisXVIinher-

ited
arealmin

desperate

needofreformanda

strong

leader.ButLouis

XVIwasevenweakerthanhis

grandfather,

andcould

only

watchasthe

country

descendedintorevolution.In 1792 the

republic

introduced

by

the

FrenchRevolutiondeclaredtheendofthe

monarchy,

and

gave

the

king

a

new
name,

“LouistheLast”Afewmonthslaterhekneeledonthe

guillo-

tine,
hisabout—to—be—severed
head

stripped

ofalltheradianceand

power

thattheSun
King

hadinvestedinthecrown.

Interpretation

Froma
country

thathaddescendedintocivilwarinthelate

1640s,

Louis

XIV

forged

the

mightiest

realmin

Europe.

Great

generals

wouldtremble

inhis
presence.

Acookoncemadeamistakein

prepaiing

a

dish

andcom-

mittedsuicideratherthanfacethe

king’

5 wrath.LouisXIV

had

many

mis—

tresses,

buttheir

power

endedinthebedroom.Hefilledhiscourtwiththe

most
brilliantmindsofthe
age.

The

symbol

ofhis

power

wasVersailles:

Refusing

to

accept

the

palace

ofhis

forefathers,

the

Louvre,

hebuilthis

own

palace

inwhatwasthenthemiddleof

nowhere,

symbolizing

thatthis

wasa.neworderhehad
founded,

onewithout

precedent

HemadeVer-

saillesthe

centerpiece

ofhis

reign,

a

place

thatallthe

powerful

of

Europe

enviedand visitedwithasenseofawe.In

essence,

Louistooka

great

void—the

decayingmonarchy

ofFrance—-and

filleditwithhisown

sym~

hols

and

radiant

power.

Louis

XV,

ontheother

hand,

symbolizes

thefateofallthosewhoin»

herit

somethinglarge

orwhofollowina

great

man’s

footsteps.

Itwould

seem

easy

forasonorsuccessortobuildonthe

grand

foundationlefifor

them,

butin

the

realmof

power

the

opposite

istrue.

The

pampered,

in-

dulged

sonalmost

alwayssquanders

the

inheritance,

forhedoesnotstart

withthefather’sneedtofillavoid.AsMachiavelli

states,

necessity

is

what

impels

mentotake

action,

andoncethe

necessity

is

gone,

only

rotand

decay

are

left.

Having

noneed

toincreasehisstoreof

power,

LouisXVin—

evitably

succumbedto

inertia.Under

him,Versailles,

the

symbol

ofthe

Sun

K.ing’sauthority,

becamea

pleasurepalace

of

incomparablebanality,

akindofLas

Vegas

oftheBourbon

monarchy.

Itcameto

represent

allthat

the

oppressedpeasantry

ofFrancehated abouttheir

king,

and

during

the

Revolution

they

looted

itwith

glee.

LouisXVhad

only

one

way

outofthe

trapawaiting

thesonorsucces-

sorofamanliketheSun

King:

to

psychologicallybegin

from

nothing,

to

l.ll-‘F.OFl‘F,R|(.l.F.:~,

As:4

young

manPen‘-

cleswasinclinedto

Shrink

fromfaring

the

people.

Onereason

for

Ihlrwasthathewas

consirleredtohearn

distinctresernblanceto

the

tyrant

Pisiszrmus,

andwhenmenwho

werewellonin

years-

remarkedonthecharm

of

Pericles’voiceand

Ike.wnoolhne.rsand

fluencyof

his

speech.

they

wereastonishedat

therescmblanre

betweenthetwo.The

fact

thathewasrich

and thathecame

oft:

dirzingxrisimdfamily

and

possessed

exceed»

inglypowerfulfriends

madethe

fearof

asrrucixm

very

realto

him,

andatthe

begin-

ningoflulr

careerhe

tookno

part

in

palilics

bu!devoted

himself

to

soldierm

g,

inwhichhe

showed

greatdaring

and

enzerprise.

However,the

timeCame

whenAristideswas

dead,

Themisloclesin

exile,

AmdCimon

frequently

absenton

distant

campaigns.

Thenatlast}’erlcfes‘

decidedtoattach

himself

:0the

peoples

party

andtotake

up

thecause

of

the

poor

andthe

many

instead

ofrhatofllze

richand

the

few,

in

spite

ofihe

fact

thatthiswas

quite

contrary

tohisown

temperament,

which

was

thoroughly

aristo-

rratic.Hewas

afraid,

appammly,ofbeing

suspectedofaiming

at

a

rlictamrslxip;

sorlmt

whenhesawthat

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