The 48 Laws Of Power

REVF.RSAL

Inthe

beginning

of

your

risetothe

top,you

must

attractattention

atall

cost,

butas

you

rise

higheryou

must

constantlyadapt.

Neverwearthe

pub-

licoutwiththesametactic.Anairof
mystery

workswondersforthosewho

needto

develop

anauraof

power

and

get

themselves

noticed,

butitmust

seemmeasuredandundercontrol.MataHariwenttoofarwithherfabri-

cations;

although

theaccusationthatshewasa

spy

was

false,

atthetimeit

wasareasonable
presumption

because

all

her

lies

madeherseem

suspi-

ciousandnefarious.Donotlet

your

airof

mystery

be

slowly

transformed

intoa
reputation

fordeceit.The

mystery

you

createmustseema

game,

playful

and

unthreatening.Recognize

whenit

goes

too

far,

and

pull

back.

Therearetimeswhenthe needforattentionmust

be

deferred,

and

whenscandaland
notoriety

arethelast

thingsyou

wanttocreate.Theat-

tention
you

attractmustneveroffendor

challenge

the

reputation

ofthose

above
you—not,

at

any

rate,

if

they

aresecure.Youwillseemnot

only

pal-

try

but

desperatebycomparison.

Thereisanartto

knowing

whentodraw

noticeandwhentowithdraw.

LolaMontezwasoneofthe

greatpractitioners

ofthe

artof

attracting

attention.She

managed

torisefromamiddle—classIrish

background

to

being

theloverofFranzLisztandthenthemistressand

political

adviserof

KingLudwig

ofBavaria.Inherlater

years,

though,

shelosthersenseof

proportion.

InLondon

in

1850 therewastobe

a

performance

of

Shakespeare’s

Macbeth

featuring

the

greatest

actorofthe

time,

Charles

john

Kean.

Every-

oneof

consequence

in

Englishsociety

wastobe

there;

itwasrumoredthat

even

Queen

VictoriaandPrinceAlbertweretomakea

publicappearance.

Thecustomofthe

period

demandedthat

everyone

beseatedbeforethe

queen

anived.Sotheaudience

got

therealittle

early,

andwhenthe

queen

enteredher

royal

box,

they

observedtheconventionof

standingup

and

applauding

her.The

royalcouple

waited,

thenbowed.

Everyone

satdown

andthe

lights

weredimmed.

Then,

suddenly,

all

eyes

turnedtoabox

op-

positeQueen

Victoria’s:Awoman

appeared

fromthe

shadows,

taking

her

seatlaterthanthe

queen.

ItwasLolaMontez.Sheworea

diamond

tiaraon

herdarkhairanda

long

furcoatoverhershoulders.

Peoplewhispered

in

amazementastheerminecloakwas

dropped

torevealalow-necked

gown

ofcrimsonvelvet.

By

turning

their

heads,

theaudiencecouldseethatthe

royalcoupledeliberately

avoided

looking

atLola’sbox.

They

followed

Victoria’s

example,

andfortherestofthe

evening

LolaMontezwas

ig-

nored.

After

that

evening

no

oneinfashionable

society

daredtobeseen

withher.Allher

magneticpowers

werereversed.

People

wouldfleeher

sight.

Herfuturein

England

wasfinished.

Never

appearoverlygreedy

for

attention,then,

forit

signalsinsecurity,

and

insecurity

drives

poweraway.

Understandthattherearetimeswhenit

isnotin

your

interestto

be

thecenter

of

attention.Wheninthe

presence

of

a

king

or

queen,

for

instance,

orthe

equivalent

thereof,

bowandretreatto

the

shadows;

never

compete.

LAW 6

I

55