The 48 Laws Of Power

Cimun

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were

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partlyforself-preserva-

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against

hisrival.

Henowmterml

upon

ornewmode

lrflifr.

He

was

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in

any

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1 l—l7:[7—l'»2ll

How

lJ::ne]ii:ial

poverty

may

wmezinzesbeto

thosewithtulcm,and

howii

may

serveasa

powerful

guru!

tomuku

them

perferl

orexcel-

lmlinwhaleveruu‘u'

pamm

//my

mighl

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canbe.\‘€(,’Il

wryClrurly

inthe

actions

of

Pierrn

Pemgino.

Wishing

by

means

u,/hisability

to

attainsome

I‘(3S])(!t'lfll)ll’

rank.

(1/[(.’!’

leaving

1liS‘(1SIl'(1NScu/alnilies

behindin

Perugia

«ml

Cuming

lu

Flurmce,

he

remainedAhere

many

mnmhsin

poverty,

sleeping

inu

('h(€.\‘l»

simtehehadnoother

bed;

he

tumerl

nigh!

into

(luv.

andwiththe

greawrl

zealcominuv

ally

applied

himself

to

350 LAW 41

denigrate

the

past

andhis

inheritance,

andtomoveina

totally

newdirect»

tion,

creating

hisownworld.

Assuming

you

havethe

choice,

itwouldbe

bettertoavoidthesituation

altogether,

to

placeyourself

wherethereisa

vacuumof

power,

where

you

canbetheoneto

bring

orderout

of

chaos

without

having

to

compete

withanotherstarinthe

sky.

Power

depends

on

appearing

larger

thanother

people,

andwhen

you

arelostintheshadowof

the

father,

the

king,

the

greatpredecessor,you

cannot

possiblyproject

such

a

presence.

Butwhen

thzybegan

tomake

sovereigntyhewditary,

thechildren

quickly

degeneratedfrom

their

fathers;

and,

so

farfromtrying

to

equal

theirfathefs

virtues,

they

consideredthata

prince

had

nothing

elsetodothantoexcel

all

the

rest

in

idleness,

indulgence,

and

every

other

varietyofplmmre.

Nicwlfr

llv1(l(’/ll(l‘U!.‘ll2,

1469 I 527

OBSERVANCF.OFTHELAW

AlexandertheGreathadadominant

passion

asa

young

man—~an

intense

dislikeforhis

father,

KingPhilip

ofMacedonia.Hehated

Philip’scunning,

cautious

style

of

ruling,

hisbombastic

speeches,

his

drinking

and

whoring,

andhisloveof

wrestling

andofotherwastesoftime.Alexanderknewhe

hadtomakehimselfthe

veryopposite

ofhis

domineering

father:Hewould

forcehimselftobeboldand

reckless,

hewould

control

his

tongue

and

be

a

man

of

few

words,

andhewouldnotlose

precious

timein

pursuit

of

plea-

suresthat

brought

no

glory.

Alexanderalsoresentedthefactthat

Philip

had

conquered

mostofGreece:

“My

fatherwill

go

on

conquering

tillthere

is

nothing

extraonhnary

leftformeto

do,”

heonce

complained.

Vllhile

othersonsof

powerful

menwerecontent

to

inheritwealthandlivea

life

of

leisure,

Alexanderwanted

only

tooutdohis

father,

toobliterate

Philip’s

namefrom

history

by

surpassing

his

accomplishments.

Alexanderitchedtoshowothershow

superior

hewastohisfather.A

Thessalianh0rse»dealeronce

brought

a

prize

horsenamed

Bucephalus

to

sellto

Philip.

None

of

the

king’sgrooms

could

get

nearthehorse—it

was

fartoo

savage——a.ndPhilip

beratedthemerchantfor

bringing

himsucha

uselessbeast.

Watching

thewhole

affair,

Alexanderscowled andcom-

mented,

“Whatahorse

they

are

losing

forwantofskilland

spirit

toman‘

age

him!”Whenhehadsaid thisseveral

times,

Philip

had

finally

had

enough,

and

challenged

himtotakeonthehorse.Hecalledthemerchant

back,

secretlyhoping

hissonwouldhavea

nasty

fa.llandlearnabitterles-

son.ButAlexanderwastheonetoteachthelesson:Not

only

didhemount

Bucephalus,

he

managed

toridehimatfull

gallop,taming

thehorsethat

wouldlater

carry

himallthe

way

toIndia.Thecourtiers

applaudedwildly,

but

Philip

seethed

inside,

seeing

notasonbutarivaltohis

power.

Alexander’sdefiance

of

hisfather

grew

bolder.One

day

the

twomen

hadaheated

argument

beforetheentire

court,

and

Philip

drewhissword

asiftostrikehis

son;

having

drunktoomuch

wine,however,

the

king

stumbled.

Alexander

pointed

athisfatherand

jeered,

“Men

of

Macedonia,