The 48 Laws Of Power

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meCOh'(‘)Uk;S'I'orPERU.

WILLIAMll.

PR1-_’S(‘0‘I'T,

l 847

360 LAW 42

excelled

above

allotherAtheniansinhis

intelligence,

hismusical

skills,

andhisrhetoricalabilities,ItwasDamonwhohadtrainedPericlesinthe

artsof

ruling.

But

he,too,

suffered

ostracism,

forhis

superior

airsandhis

insulting

mannertowardthecommonersstirred

up

toomuchresentment.

Towardtheendofthe

century

therelivedaman

named

Hyperbolus.

Mostwritersof

the

timedescribehimasthe

city’s

mostworthlesscitizen:

Hedidnotcarewhat

anyonethought

of

him,

andslanderedwhomeverhe

disliked.Heamused

some,

butirritated

many

more.In 417

B.C.,

Hyperbo-

lussawan

opportunity

tostir

upaugeragainst

thetwo

leadingpoliticians

ofthe

time,

AlcibiadesandNicias.He

hoped

thatoneofthe

twowouldbe

ostracizedandthathewouldrise inthatman’s

place.

His

campaign

seemed

likely

tosucceed:TheAtheniansdislikedAlcibiades’

flamboyant

andcarefree

lifestyle,

andwere

wary

ofNicias’wealth andaloofness.

They

seemedcertaintoostracizeoneortheother.ButAlcibiadesand

Nicias,

althoughthey

wereotherwise

enemies,

pooled

theirresourcesand

managed

toturn

the

ostracismon

Hyperbolus

instead. Hisobnoxious-

ness,

theyargued,

could

only

beterminated

by

banishment.

Earlier sufferersofostracismhad

been

formidable,

powerful

men.

Hyperbolus,

however,

wasalow

buffoon,

andwithhis

banishment

the

Athenians

feltthatostracismhadbeen

degraded.

Andso

they

endedthe

practice

thatfor

nearly

ahundred

years

hadbeenoneofthe

keys

to

keep-

ing

the

peace

withinAthens.

Interpretation

TheancientAthenians

hadsocialinstinctsunknown

toclay—thepassage

ofcenturieshasbluntedthem.Citizensinthetruesenseofthe

word,

the

Athenianssensedthe

dangersposed

by

asocial

behavior,

andsawhow

suchbehavioroften

disguises

itselfinotherforms:theholier-tharythouat-

titude

that

silently

seeksto

impose

itsstandardson

others;

overweening

ambitionatthe

expense

ofthecommon

good;

the

flaunting

of

superiority;

quietscheming;

terminalobnoxiousness.Someofthesebehaviorswould

eat

away

atthe

city’s

cohesion

bycreating

factionsand

sowing

dissension,

otherswouldruinthedemocratic

spiritbymaking

thecommoncitizen

feelinferiorand

envious.TheAtheniansdid

not

try

toreeducate

people

whoactedinthese

ways,

ortoabsorbthemsomehowintothe

group,

orto

impose

aviolent

punishment

thatwould

only

createother

problems.

The

solutionwas

quick

andeffective:Getridofthem.

Within

anygroup,

trouble

can

mostoftenbetraced

toa

single

source,

the

unhappy,chronically

dissatisfiedonewhowill

always

stir

up

dissen-

sionandinfectthe

group

withhisorherillease.Before

you

knowwhathit

you

thedissatisfaction

spreads.

Actbeforeitbecomes

impossible

todisen-

tangle

onestrandof

misery

from

another,

ortoseehowthewhole

thing

started.

First,

recognize

troublemakers

by

their

overbearingpresence,

or

by

their

complaining

nature.Once

you

spot

themdonot

try

toreform

themor

appease

them-—thatwill

only

make

things

worse.Donotattack

them,

whether

directly

or

indirectly,

for

they

are

poisonous

innatureand