The 48 Laws Of Power

lengeyourpower.

Itmakes

you

lessable

to

adapt

tocircumstance.You

cometobelieve

your

characterismore

responsible

for

your

successthan

yoursirategizing

and

planning.

LikeMadamede

Pompadour,you

needto

realizethat
your

momentof

triumph

isalsoamomentwhen

you

haveto

rely

on

cunning

and

strategy

allthe

more,

consolidatingyourpower

base,

recognizing

theroleofluck

and

circumstancein

your

success,

andremain-

ingvigilantagainstchanges

in

yourgood

fortune.Itisthemomentofvic-

tory

when

you

needto

play

thecouttier's

game

and

pay

moreattention

thanevertothelawsof
power.

The

greatestdanger

occursatthemoment

afvictory.

Napoleon{i(/nnpawz,

I 76 9»! 82

I

KEYSTOPOWER

Powerhasitsown

rhythms

and

patterns.

Thosewhosucceedatthe

game

aretheoneswhocontrolthe

patterns

and

vary

themat

will,

keepingpeo-

ple

offbalancewhile

they

setthe

tempo.

Theessenceof

strategy

iscontrol-

ling

whatcomes

next,

andtheelationof

victory

can

upsetyour

ability

to

controlwhatcomesnextintwo

ways.

First,

you

owe

your

successtoa

pat»

ternthat

you

are

apt

to

try

to

repeat.

Youwill

try

to

keepmoving

inthe

samedirectionwithout

stopping

tosee

whetherthisisstillthedirectionthat

isbestfor

you.

Second,

successtendsto

go

to

your

headandmake

you

emotional.

Feeling

invulnerable,

you

make

aggressive

movesthatulti-

mately

undothe

victoryyou

have

gained.

The

lesson

is

simple:

The

powerfulvary

their

rhythms

and

patterns,

change

course,

adapt

to

circumstance,

and

learnto

improvise.

Ratherthan

letting

their

dancing

feet

impel

them

forward,

theystep

backandlook

where

they

are

going.

Itisasiftheirbloodstreamboreakindofantidoteto

theintoxicationof

victory,letting

themcontroltheiremotionsandcometo

akindofmentalhaltwhen

they

haveattainedsuccess.

Theysteady

them-

selves,

give

themselvesthe

space

toreflectonwhathas

happened,

examine

theroleofcircumstanceandluckintheirsuccess.As

theysay

in

riding

school,

you

havetobeabletocontrol

yourself

before

you

cancontrolthe

horse.

Luckandcircumstance

alwaysplay

a.rolein

power.

Thisis

inevitable,

and

actually

makesthe

game

more

interesting.

But

despite

what

youmay

think,

good

luckismore

dangerous

thanhadluck.Badluckteachesvalu~

ablelessonsabout

patience,timing,

andtheneedtobe

prepared

forthe

worst;

good

luckdeludes

you

intothe

opposite

lesson,

makingyou

think

your

brillliancewill

canyyouthrough.

Yourfortunewill

inevitably

turn,

andwhenitdoes

you

willbe

completelyunprepared.

According

to

Machiavelli,

thisiswhatundidCesare

Borgia.

Hehad

manytriumphs,

was

actually

aclever

strategist,

buthadthebadluckto

have

good

luck:Hehada.

pope

fora

father.

Then,

whenhehad badluck

forreal—hisfathefsdeath—-hewas

unprepared

for

it,

and the

many

ene~

LAW 47 -I15