The 48 Laws Of Power

after
years

of

learning

thehard

way.

If

you

havethekind

of

intelligence

and
instinctthatwill
pointyou

in

the

right

direction,

playing

therebelwill

notbe

dangerous.

Butif

you

are

mediocre,

as_]0sepl’1

IIwasin

comparison

tohis
mother,
you

arebetteroi?

learning

from

yourpredecessor’s

knowl-

edge

and

experience,

whicharebasedon

something

real.

Finally,

itisoftenwiseto

keep

an

eye

onthe

young,your

futurerivals

in
power.just

as

youtry

torid

yourself

of

your

father,

they

will

soon

play

thesametrickon

you,clenigratingeverythingyou

have

accornplished._]ust

as
you

rise

byrebellingagainst

the

past,keep

an

eye

onthose

rising

from

below,

andnever

give

themthechancetodothesameto

you.

The

greatBaroque

artistandarchitectPietroBeminiwasamasterat

sniffing

out

youngerpotential

rivals

and

keeping

them

in

his

shadow.

One

day

a

young

stonemasonnamedFrancescoBoirominishowedBernini

his

architectural sketches.

Recognizing

histalent

immediately,

Bernini in-

stantly

hiredBorrominiashis

assistant,

which

delighted

the

young

manbut

was

actuallyonly

atacticto

keep

himcloseat

hand,

sothathecould

play

psychologicalgames

onhimandcreateinhimakind

of

inferiority

com~

plex.

And

indeed,

despite

Borromini’s

brilliance,

Berninihasthe

greater

fame.His
strategy

withBoirorninihemadea

lifelongpractice:Fearing

that

the

greatsculptor

Alessandro

Algardi,

for

example,

would

eclipse

himin

fame,

he

arranged

itsothat

Algardi

could

only

findworkashisassistant.

And

any

assistantwhorebelled

against

Bernini

andtriedtostrikeouton

hisownwouldfindhiscareerruined.

LAW«ll

V 357