The 48 Laws Of Power

MIRROREFFECTS:

Preliminary

Typology

Mirrorshavethe
power

todisturbus.

Gazing

atourreflectioninthemir~

rot,

wemostoftenseewhatwewanttosee—the

image

ofourselveswith

which
wearemostcomfortable.Wetendnottolooktoo

closely,ignoring

thewrinklesandblemishes.
But
ifwedolookhardatthe
reflected

image,

wesometimesfeelthatweare

seeing

ourselvesasotherssee

us,

as

a

person

among

other

people,

an

object

ratherthana

subject.

That

feeling

makesus

shudder—we see

ourselves,

butfrom the

outside,

minusthe

thoughts,

spirit,

andsoulthatfillour

consciousness.

Wearea

thing.

In

using

MirrorEfiects

we

symbolically

re—createthis

disturbingpower

by

mirroring

theactionsofother

people,

mimicking

theirmovementsto

unsettleandinfuriatethem.Madetofeel

mocked,cloned,

objectlike,

an

image

withouta

soul,

theygetangry.

Ordothesame

thingslightly

differ’

ently

and

theymight

feel

disarmed—you

have

perfectly

reflectedtheir

wishesanddesires.Thisis
the
narcissism:
power

ofmirrors.

Ineither

case,

theMirrorEfiectunsettles

yourtargets,

whether

angering

or

entrancing

them,

andinthatinstant

you

have the

power

to

manipulate

orseduce

them.TheEffectcontains
greatpower

becauseit

operates

onthemost

primitive

emotions.

Therearefourmain

Mirror

Effectsintherealmof

power:

The
Neutralizing

Eflect.In ancient Greek

mythology,

the

Gorgon

Medusahad

serpents

for

hair,

protrudingtongue,

massive

teeth,

andaface

so

ugly

that

anyone

who

gazed

ather

wasturned

into

stone,

outof

fright.

ButtheheroPerseus

managed

to

slay

Medusa

by

polishing

his

bronze

shieldintoa
mirror,
then

using

thereflectioninthemirrorto

guide

himas

he
creptup

andcutoffherheadwithout

looking

ather

directly.

Ifthe

shieldinthisinstancewasa
mirror,

themirroralsowasakindofshield:

Medusa
couldnotsee
Perseus,
shesaw

only

herownreflected

actions,

and

behindthisscreentheherostole
up

and

destroyed

her.

Thisistheessenceofthe

Neutralizing

Eifect:Dowhat

your

enemies

do,
following

theiractionsasbest

you

can,

and

they

cannotseewhat

you

are

upto—they

are

blinded

byyour

mirror.Their

strategy

for

dealing

with

you

depends

on

yourreacting

tothemin

a

way

characteristic

of

you;

new

tralizeit

by

playing

a

game

of

mimicry

withthem.Thetactichasamock—

ing,

even

infuriating

effect.Mostofusrememberthechildhood

experience

ofsomeone

teasing

us

byrepeating

ourwords

exactly-—after

a

while,

usu-

ally

not

long,

we

wanted

to

punch

themintheface.

Working

more

subtly

asan
adult,
you

canstillunsettle

youropponents

this

way;shieldingyour

own

strategy

withthe

mirror,

you

lay

invisible

traps,

or

pushyour

oppo-

nentsintothe

traptheyplanned

for

you.

This

powerfultechnique

hasbeenusedin

militarystrategy

sincethe

days

of

Sun-tzu;

inour

owntimeitoften

appears

in

politicalcampaigning.

Itisalsousefulfor

disguising

thosesituations

in

which

you

haveno

particu-

lar

strategy

yourself.

ThisistheWa.rn‘or’sMirror.

A reverseversion ofthe

Neutralizing

Effect is theShadow: You

T!HEMl;‘R(1lHl\X‘A I)

llIS .\I)

Acerminmerclmm

once

hada

great

desire

tomakea

longjourney.

Nowin

regard

/hathe

wasnot

very

weal/hy.

“I!Ls‘

rsquisi1e,"sai:1‘

he

to

Fzimselfi

“that

before

mydeparture

1 should

leavexonzre

partafmy

chute

inthe

city,

10

the

andthat

if

Imeetwith

illluckin

myIruverls,

I

may

have

wherewithal

to

keep

mein

my

return.

"

Tothis

purpose

hedelivereda

great

number

0/"barsofiron,

whichwerea

principal

partofhis

wealth,in

trust

toone

ofhis

friends,desiring

himto

keep

them

during

Ins:

absence;andthen,

mking

his

leave,

away

hewent.Sometime

after,

having

hadbutlll

luckinhis

travels,

he

remnled

lzom«,'

andthe

firs:thing

hedidwasto

go

to

his

friend,

and

demand

his

iron:but

his

friend,

whoowed

severalsums

vfmonev,

having

soldtheironto

pay

hisown

debts,

madehim(inkanswer.‘

“Tmly,friend,

"

saidhe,

"'1

putyour

ironinto(1

momthatwas(‘last

locked,

imagining

it

wouldhave

been

there

(ISS€[.'LiH:‘03'

WE)’

(7WI1

gold;

butanaccident

has

itappened

wlnirh

noonecouldhawe

suspected,for

themwas

arat

in

theroomwlzich

arei1all

up.

”

Themerclzam.

pretendingzgnorarwe,

replied,

"I!isaterrible

misfmnme

I0me

indem';buI1know

of

LAW 44 377