The 48 Laws Of Power

see,

and

probably

if

she

hadbeenmadetowait

longenough,

whathewas

up

towouldnothavemattered.

Themomentthe

marquis

utteredthatfatalword

“love,”however,

all

was

changed.

Thiswasno

longer

a

game

with

moves,

itwasanartlessshow

of

passion.

Hisintentionwasrevealed: He was

seducing

her.This

put

everything

hehaddone

in

anew

light.

Allthatbeforehadbeen

charming

nowseemed

ugly

and

conniving;

thecountessfeltembarrassedandused.

Adoorclosedthatwouldnever

openagain.

Donotbehelda

cheat,

even

though

2'!is

impossible

tolive

today

without

being

one.

Let

yourgreatestcunning

lie

in

coveringup

whatlookslike

cunning.

l:ia.lm.s'm

(}rzu‘iz1u.,

I 6 /)1 I6 58

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAW

In 1850 the

young

Ottovon

Bismarck,

thena

thirty—five—yearvolddeputy

in

thePrussian

parliament,

wasat

a

turningpoint

inhiscareer.Theissuesof

the

day

weretheunificationofthe

many

states

(includingPrussia)

into

which

Germany

wasthen

divided,

andawar

againstAustria,

the

powerful

neighbor

tothesouththat

hoped

to

keep

theGermansweakandat

odds,

even

threatening

tointervene

if

they

triedtounite.Prince

William,

next

in

linetobeP:ussia’s

king,

wasinfavorof

going

to

war,

andthe

parliament

ralliedtothe

cause,

prepared

toback

any

mobilizationof

troops.

The

only

onesto

oppose

warwerethe

presentking,

FrederickWilliam

IV,

andhis

ministers,

who

preferred

to

appease

the

powerful

Austrians.

Throughout

his

career,

Bismarck

had

beena

loyal,

even

passionate

supporter

ofPrussian

might

and

power.

HedreamedofGermanunifica-

tion,

of

going

towar

against

Austriaand

humiliating

the

country

thatforso

long

had

keptGermany

divided.Aformer

soldier,

hesawwarfareasa

glo-

riousbusiness.

This,

after

all,

wasthemanwho

years

laterwould

say,

“The

great

questions

ofthetimewillbe

decided,

not

byspeeches

and

resolutions,

but

by

ironandblood.”

Passionate

patriot

andloverof

militaryglory,

Bismarcknevertheless

gave

a

speech

in

parliament

atthe

height

ofthewarfeverthatastonished

allwhoheardit“Woeuntothe

statesman,”

he

said,

“whomakes

war

with-

outareasonthatwillstillbevalidwhenthewarisover!Afterthe

war,

you

willalllook

differently

atthese

questions.

Will

you

thenhavethe

courage

toturntothe

peasantcontemplating

theashesofhis

farm,

tothemanwho

has

been

crippled,

to

thefatherwhohaslosthischildren?”Not

only

did

Bismarck

go

ontotalkofthemadnessofthis

war,but,

strangest

of

all,

he

praised

Austriaanddefendedheractions.Thiswent

againsteverything

he

hadstoodfor.The

consequences

wereimmediate.Bismarckwas

against

thewa.r——whatcouldthis

possibly

mean?Other

deputies

were

confused,

andseveral

of

them

changed

theirvotes.

Eventually

the

king

and

hisminis-

terswon

out,

andwarwasaverted.

AfewweeksafterBisma.rck’sinfamous

speech,

the

king,

grateful

that

LAW 3

19