The 48 Laws Of Power

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58 LAW 7

In

1917,

during

hislater

impoverishedyears,

Teslawastoldhewasto

receivetheEdisonMedaloftheAmericanInstituteofElectrical

Engineers.

Heturnedthemedaldown.“You

propose,”

he

said,

“tohonormewitha

medalwhichIcould

pinuponmy

coatandstrutforavainhourbeforethe

membersof

your

Institute.Youwoulddecorate

mybody

and

continueto

let

starve,

forfailureto

supplyrecognition,my

mindanditscreative

prod

ucts,

whichhave

supplied

thefoundation

upon

whichthe

majorportion

of

your

Instituteexists.”

Interpretation

Many

harbortheillusionthat

science,

dealing

withfactsasit

does,

isbe

yond

the

petty

rivalries

that

troubletherestoftheworld.NikolaTeslawas

oneofthose.Hebelievedsciencehad

nothing

todowith

politics,

and

claimednottocareforfameandriches.Ashe

grew

older,

though,

thisru-

inedhisscientificwork.Notassociatedwith

anyparticulardiscovery,

he

couldattractnoinvestorstohis

many

ideas.Whilehe

ponderedgreat

in-

ventionsforthe

future,

othersstolethe

patents

hehad

alreadydeveloped

and

got

the

glory

forthemselves.

Hewantedtodo

everything

onhis

own,

but

merely

exhaustedandim-

poverished

himselfinthe

process.

Edisonwas

Tesla’s

polaropposite.

Hewasn’t

actually

muchofascien~

tificthinkeror

inventor;

he

oncesaid

that

hehadnoneedtobeamathe-

matician because hecould

always

hire one. Thatwas Fdisoifsmain

method.Hewas

really

abusinessmanand

publicist,spotting

thetrendsand

the

opportunities

thatwereout

there,

then

hiring

the

best

in

thefieldtodo

theworkforhim.Ifhehadtohewouldstealfromhis

competitors.

Yethis

nameismuchbetterknownthan

Tesla’s,

andisassociatedwithmorein-

ventions.

Thelessonistwofold:

First,

thecreditforaninventionorcreationisas

important,

ifnotmore

important,

thantheinventionitself.Youmustsecure

thecreditfor

yourself

and

keep

othersfrom

stealing

it

away,

orfrom

piggy—

backing

on

your

hardwork.To

accomplish

this

you

must

always

be

vigilant

and

ruthless,

keeping

your

creation

quiet

until

you

canbesurethereareno

vultures

circling

overhead.

Second,

learntotake

advantage

ofother

peo-

ple’s

worktoFurther

your

owncause.Timeis

precious

andlifeis

short.If

youtry

todoitallon

your

own,

you

run

yourselfragged,

waste

energy,

and

burn

yourself

out.Itisfarbettertoconserve

your

forces,

pounce

onthe

workothershave

done,

andfinda

way

tomakeit

your

own.

Everybody

stealsincommerceand

industry.

I

‘mastolenalot

myself

ButIknow

how

to

steal.

'l‘horn/Ls‘

I1’//lisrm,

I847’I931