The 48 Laws Of Power

PARTI: SURROUNDYOURNAMEWITHTHE

SENSATIONALAND

SCANDALOUS

Drawattentionto

yourselfbycreating

an

unforgettable,

evencontroversial

image.

Courtscandal.Do

anything

tomake

yourself

seem

larger

than

life

andshinemore

brightly

thanthosearound

you.

Makenodistinctionbe-

tweenkinds

ofattention—notorietyofany

sortwill

bringyonpower.

Better

tobeslanderedandattackedthan

ignored.

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAVV

P.T.

Barnum,

America’s

premiernineteenth-century

showman,

startedhis

careerasanassistanttotheowner

of

a

circus,

AaronTurner.In 1836 the

circus

stopped

in

Annapolis,Maryland,

foraseriesof

performances.

On

the

morning

of

opening

day,

Barnumtookastroll

through

town,

wearing

a

newblacksuit.

People

startedtofollowhim.Someoneinthe

gathering

crowdshoutedoutthathewastheReverend

Ephraim

K.

Avery,

infamous

asaman

acquitted

ofthe

charge

ofmurderbutstill

believed

guiltyby

most

Americans.

The

angry

mobtore

off

Bamum’ssuitandwas

ready

to

lynch

him.After

desperate

appeals,

Barnum

finally

convincedthemtofollow

himtothe

circus,

wherehecould

verify

his

identity.

Once

there,

oldTurnerconfirmedthatthiswasalla

practicaljoke-—he

himselfhad

spread

therumorthatBarnumwas

Avery.

Thecrowddis—

persed,

but

Barnum,

whohad

nearly

been

killed,

wasnotamused.He

wantedtoknowwhatcouldhaveinducedhisbossto

play

suchatrick.

“My

dearMr.

Barnum,”

Turner

replied,

“itwasallforour

good.

Remember,

all

weneedtoensuresuccessis

notoriety.”

Andindeed

everyone

intown

was

talking

aboutthe

joke,

andthecircuswas

packed

that

night

and

everynight

it

stayed

in

Annapolis.

Barnumhad

learned

a

lesson

he

wouldnever

forget.

Bamum‘sfirst

big

ventureofhisownwastheAmericanMuseum——a

collection of

curiosities,

located inNewYork. One

day

a

beggar ap-

proached

Bamuminthestreet.Insteadof

giving

him

money,

Bamum

de-

cidedto

employ

him.

Taking

himbacktothe

museum,

he

gave

theman

livebricksandtoldhimtomakeaslowcircuitofseveralblocks.Atcertain

points

hewasto

lay

downabrickonthe

sidewalk,

alwayskeeping

one

brickinhand.Onthereturn

journey

hewasto

replace

eachbrickonthe

streetwiththeoneheheld.Meanwhilehewastoremainseriousofcounte-

nance

andto

answerno

questions.

Oncebackatthe

museum,

hewasto

enter,

walkaround

inside,

thenleave

through

thebackdoorandmakethe

same

bricklaying

circuit

again.

Ontheman’sfirstwalk

through

the

streets,

severalhundred

people

watched his

mysterious

movements.

By

his fourth

circuit,

onlookers

swarmedaround

him,

debating

whathewas

doing.Every

timehe

entered

the

museumhewas

followed

bypeople

who

bought

ticketsto

keep

watch»

ing

him.

Many

ofthemweredistracted

by

themuseum’s

collections,

and

stayed

inside.

By

the endofthefirst

day,

thebrickmanhaddrawnovera

'll|l»\\"AS|'SVI)‘l'|l|".

l*’ltI'\t,.‘li

A

wasp

namedPinTail

was

long

in

questof

some(Icedthatwould

makehim

forever

famous.

Soone

day

he

enteredthe

king's

palace

and

slung

the

little

prince,

whowasin

hell.The

prince

awoke

withloudcries.The

king

andhiscoumers

rushedintoseewhat

had

happened.

The

prince

was

yelling

as

the

warpstung

him

again

and

again.

The

cozmierstriedtocatch

the

warp,

andeachin

turnwas

stung.

The

whole

myalh0u.s'1zhnld

rushed

in,

thenews

soon

spread,

and

peopleflocked

lothe

palace.

The

city

wasin

an

uproar,

alll)m'iue.\'.\‘

Sll.S'[l€N(l(.’d.

Saidthe

wasp

to

itselfbefore

it

expiredfrom

its

efforts.

“Aname

without/J1me

is

like/ire

wilhuul

flame.

Thereis

Iwthirrg

like

attracting

notzceat

any

cost.

"

INDIAN1-ABLE

LAW 6

I

45