The 48 Laws Of Power

old

Illa!

ratslove

in»:

extmm

srly;

Ihave

sufferer]lay

them

many

tirnm

hr-fnrv

m

the

mmv

rmmrzer,

and

!hc'r0j'ore

camrlwhatterhem

my

p

rrnwznl

affliction.

"

‘fills’answer

extremely

pl£?u.$‘(:(l

Ilzr

fnenri,

who

was

glad

tohearthe

mwclmmsowell

irzciizwd

tobrlicvcrim!

11 mthadeatenhis
iron;

andInremuwall

suspicions.

desiredhim

todz’/uiwill:himthe

next

day.

Themrrciumt

prcrmised
he
would,
but

inthemvanlimehemet

inthemiddle
ufrho
City

one

oflH'.\'friemfs

chil-

:1rm;rhe

rhilzihe

carried

home.

and

iortkml

up

in 11 mrmz.

Thenext
clay

hewentto

his

frimrl.

whosecnmzl

tobein

greataf]Iir:1im1..

whichheaskedhimthe

<:ml.\‘t’

of

as

ifhe

fwd

been

perfr¢¢rtl_vigrmnmr

of

whm/Md

lmppeneri.

“O,

my

dmr

frimd,

"

mrswzrmlthe

other,

‘'I

begyou
toexcuseme.
if

you

donotset’meso

cheerful

asotherwise

Iwouldbe;Ihavelost

one

ofmy

zzlzildrrm;

Ihavehurlhimcried

by

.murz(I

oftmmprez,

but

Iknowmuwhatis

l7(’(‘1'IIll£’

ufhim.

"

"0f"mplir,'dIl1zr

rmrclmnl.“Iam

gricvczl

mlwar

thir;_/hr

yesterday

in(lav

evmxlrzg,

asI

pm'n3(l

from

henure,Isawan

owlin1/10airwitha

childinhis

claws;

[Jul

\&'lll(’flt(H‘itwere

your.»

1 ("armor

It-Ii.

"

"Why,you

most

foolish

andtIl)b‘llI’£lcrwrure."

ntplivrl

(hr

fricml,

"are

you

notaxlianzedtoml!

suchan

eg:‘¢»gi0a.s'

lie?

Anom’.thul

weighs

in

.777‘?
A

LAW 44

shadow

youropponents’every

movewithouttheir

seeingyou.

Usethe

Shadowto

gather

informationthatwill

neutralize

their

strategy

later

on,

when

you

will

be

able

tothwarttheir

every

move.

TheShadowiseffective

becausetofollowthemovementsofothersisto

gain

valuable

insights

into

theirhabitsandroutines.TheShadowisthe

preeminent

devicefordetec-

tivesand

spies.

TheNarcissus

Eflect.

Gazing

atan

image

in

thewaters

ofa

pond,

the

Greek

youth

Narcissusfellinlovewithit.Andwhenhefoundoutthatthe

image

washisown

reflection,

andthathethereforecouldnotconsummate

his

love,

he

despaired

anddrowned

himself.

Allofushaveasimilar

prob-

lem:

We

are

profoundly

inlove

with

ourselves,

butsincethisloveexcludes

alove

object

outside

ourselves,

it

remains

continuously

unsatisfiedandun-

fulfilled.TheNarcissusEffect

plays

onthisuniversalnarcissism:Youlook

deep

intothesoulsofother

people;

fathomtheirinmost

desires,

theirval-

ues,

their

tastes,

their

spirit;

and

you

reflectitbackto

them,

makingyour-

selfintoakindofmirror

image.

Your

ability

to

reflect

their

psychegives

yougreatpower

over

them;

theymay

evenfeela

tinge

oflove.

Thisis

simply

the

ability

tomimicanother

person

not

physically,

but

psychologically,

anditis

immenselypowerful

becauseit

playsupon

the

unsatisfiedse1f—loveofachild.

Normally,people

bombarduswiththeirex-

periences,

theirtastes.

Theyhardly

evermaketheefforttosee

things

through

our

eyes.

Thisis

annoying,

butitalsocreates

greatopportunity:

If

you

canshow

you

understandanother

personbyreflecting

theirinmost

feelings,they

willbeentrancedand

disarmed,

allthemoresobecauseit

happens

so

rarely.

Noone

can

resistthis

feeling

of

beingharmoniously

re-

flected

in

theoutside

world,

even

thoughyoumight

wellbe

manufacturing

itfor their

benefit,

and

for

deceptivepurposes

of

your

own.

TheNarcissusEffectworkswondersinbothsociallifeand

business;

it

gives

usboththeSeducer’sandtheCoum'er’sMirror.

The MoralEffect.

The

power

ofverbal

argument

is

extremely

limited,

andoften

accomplishes

the

opposite

ofwhatisintended.AsGraciénre-

marks,

“Thetruthis

generallyseen,

rarely

heard.”TheMoralEffectisa

perfectway

todemonstrate

your

ideas

through

action.

Quitesimply,you

teachothersalesson

bygiving

them

a

tasteoftheirownmedicine.

IntheMoral

Effect,

you

mirrorwhatother

people

havedoneto

you,

anddosoina

way

thatmakesthemrealize

you

are

doing

tothem

exactly

what

they

didto

you.

Youmakethem

feel

thattheirbehaviorhasbeenun-

pleasant,

as

opposed

to

hearingyoucomplain

andwhineabout

it,

which

onlygets

theirdefenses

up.

Andas

they

feeltheresultoftheiractionsmir~

rored

back

at

them,

they

realizeinthe

profoundest

sense

how

they

hurtor

punish

otherswiththeirunsocialbehavior.You

objectify

the

qualifiesyou

wantthemtofeelashamedofandcreateamirrorinwhich

they

can

gaze

at

theirfolliesandlearnalessonaboutthemselves.This

technique

isoften

used

by

educators,

psychologists,

and

anyone

whohastodealwithun-