The 48 Laws Of Power

30 LAW 3

REVERSAL

Nosmoke

screen,

red

herring,

false

sincerity,

or

any

other

diversionary

de-

vicewillsucceedin

concealingyour

intentionsif

youalready

haveanes-

tablished

reputation

for

deception.

Andas

you get

olderand achieve

success,

itoftenbecomes

increasingly

difficultto

disguiseyourcunning.

Everyone

knows

youpracticedeception;persist

in

playing

naiveand

you

run

therisk

of

seeming

therankest

hypocrite,

whichwill

severely

limit

your

roomtomaneuver.Insuchcasesitisbettertoown

up,

to

appear

the

honest

rogue,

or,better,

the

repentant

rogue.

Not

only

will

you

beadmired

for

your

frankness,but,

mostwonderfuland

strange

of

all,

you

willbeable

tocontinue

yourstratagems.

AsP.T.

Barnum,

the

nineteenth-centuryking

of

humbuggery,grew

older,

helearnedtoembracehis

reputation

as

a

grand

deceiver.Atone

point

he

organized

abuffalohuntinNew

jersey,complete

withIndians

andafew

imported

buffalo.He

publicized

thehuntas

genuine,

butitcame

offasso

completely

fakethatthe

crowd,

insteadof

gettingangry

andask-

ing

fortheir

money

back,

was

greatly

amused.

They

knewBarnum

pulled

t:ricks

allthe

time;

thatwasthesecretofhis

success,

and

they

lovedhimfor

it.

Learning

alessonfromthis

affair,

Barnum

stoppedconcealing

allofhis

devices,

even

revealing

his

deceptions

inatell—all

autobiography.

As

Kierkegaard

wrote,

“Theworldwantstobedeceived.”

Finally,although

itiswiserto

divert

attentionfrom

yourpurposesby

presenting

a

bland,

familiar

exterior,

thereare

times

whenthe

colorful,

conspicuousgesture

isthe

rightdiversionary

tactic.The

great

charlatan

mountebanksofseventeenth-and

eighteenth-centuryEurope

usedhumor

andentertainmenttodeceivetheiraudiences.Dazzled

by

a

great

show,

the

public

wouldnotnoticethecharlatans’realintentions.Thusthestarcharla-

tan

himselfwould

appear

intownina

night-black

coach

drawn

by

black

horses.

Clowns,

tightrope

walkers,

andstarentertainerswould

accompany

him,

pullingpeople

intohisdemonstrationsofelixirsand

quackpotions.

Thecharlatanmadeentertainmentseemlikethebusinessofthe

day;

the

businessofthe

day

was

actually

thesaleoftheelixirsand

quackpotions.

Spectacle

and

entertainment,

clearly,

areexcellentdevicestoconceal

your

intentions,

but

they

cannotbeused

indefinitely.

The

publicgrows

tiredand

suspicious,

and

eventually

catchesontothetrick.Andindeedthe

charlatanshadtomove

quickly

fromtownto

town,

beforeword

spread

thatthe

potions

were

useless

andtheentertainmentatrick.Powerful

peo-

ple

withbland

exteriors,

ontheotherhand—the

Talleyrands,

theRoth-

schilds,

theSelassies—can

practice

their

deceptions

in the same

place

throughout

theirlifetimes.Theiractneverwears

thin,

and

rarely

causes

suspicion.

Thecolorfulsmokescreenshouldbeused

cautiously,

then,

and

only

whentheoccasionis

right.