The 48 Laws Of Power

416 LAW 47

mieshehadmadedevouredhim.The

good

luckthatelevates

you

orseals

your

success

brings

themomentfor

you

to

openyoureyes:

Thewheelof

fortunewillhurtle

you

downas

easily

as

up.

If

youprepare

forthe

fall,

itis

less

likely

toruin

you

whenit

happens.

People

whohavea

run

of

successcancatch

a

kindof

fever,

andeven

when

they

themselves

try

to

stay

calm,

the

people

belowthemoften

pres—

surethemto

go

past

theirmarkandinto

dangerous

waters.Youhaveto

havea

strategy

for

dealing

withthese

people.Simplypreaching

moderar

tionwillmake

you

lookweakand

small-minded;

seeming

tofailtofollow

up

ona

victory

canlessen

yourpower.

WhentheAthenian

general

andstatesman Periclesledaseriesof

naval

campaigns

aroundtheBlackSeain 436

u.(:.,

his

easytriumphs

en-

flamed theAthenians’ desire formore.

They

dreamed of

conquering

Egypt,overrunning

Persia,

sailing

for

Sicily.

Onthe onehand

Pericles

reined

in

these

dangerous

emotions

bywarning

ofthe

perils

ofhubris.On

the

otherhandhefedthem

byfighting

smallbattlesthatheknewhecould

win,

creating

the

appearance

thathewas

preserving

themomentumofsuc»

cess.TheskillwithwhichPericles

played

this

game

isrevealed

by

what

happened

whenhedied:The

demagogues

Cook

over,

pushed

Athensinto

invadingSicily,

andinonerashmove

destroyed

an

empire.

The

rhythm

of

power

often

requires

analternationofforceandcun-

ning.

Toomuchforcecreatesa

counterreaction;

toomuch

cunning,

no

matterhow

cunning

it

is,

becomes

predictable.Working

onbehalfofhis

master,

the

shogun

Oda

Nobunaga,

the

greatsixteenth-centuryjapanese

general

(and

future

emperor)Hideyoshi

once

engineered

a

stunning

vic-

tory

overthe

army

oftheformidableGeneralYoshimoto.The

shogun

wantedto

go

further,

totakeonandcrush

yet

another

powerfulenemy,

but

Hideyoshi

remindedhimoftheold

Japanesesaying:

“When

you

have

wona

victory,tighten

the

strings

of

your

helmet.”For

Hideyoshi

thiswas

the

moment

forthe

shogun

toswitchfromforceto

cunning

andindirec-

tion,

setting

hisenemies

against

oneanother

through

a.seriesof

deceptive

alliances.Inthis

way

hewouldavoid

stirringup

needless

oppositionby

appearingoverlyaggressive.

When

you

are

victorious,then,

lie

low,

and

lullthe

enemy

intoinaction.These

changes

of

rhythm

are

immensely

powerful.

People

who

go

past

themarkareoftenmotivated

by

adesireto

please

amaster

byproving

theirdedication.Butanexcessofeffort

exposesyou

to

theriskof

making

the

master

suspicious

of

you.

Onseveral

occasions,

gen-

eralsunder

Philip

ofMacedonwere

disgraced

anddemoted

immediately

after

leading

their

troops

toa

greatvictory;

onemoresuch

victory,Philip

thought,

andtheman

might

becomearivalinsteadofan

underling.

When

you

servea

master,

itisoftenwisetomeasure

your

victories

carefully,

let-

ting

him

get

the

glory

andnever

making

him

uneasy.

Itisalsowisetoes-

tablisha

pattern

ofstrictobediencetoearnhistrust.Inthefourth

century

B.C.,

a.

captain

underthe

notoriously

severe Chinese

general

WuCh’i

charged

aheadbeforeabattlehad

begun

and camebackwithseveral