The 48 Laws Of Power

KEYSTO

POWER

The
world
of
power

hasflue

dynamics

of

the

jungle:

Therearethosewho

live

byhunting

and

killing,

andtherearealsovastnumbersofcreatures

(hyenas,vultures)

wholive oil"the

hunting

ofothers.These

latter,

less

imaginativetypes

areoften

incapable

of

doing

theworkthatisessentialfor

thecreationof

power.They

understand

early

on,

though,

thatif

they

wait

longenough,they

can

always

findanother

animal

todotheworkforthem.

Donotbenaive:At
this
very
moment,
while
you

are

slaving

away

onsome

project,

therearevultures

circling

above

trying

to

figure

outa

way

tosur-

viveandeventhriveoff

yourcreativity.

Itisuselessto

complain

about

this,

ortowear

yourselfragged

with

bitterness,

asTesla

did.Betterto

protect

yourself

and

join

the

game.

Once

you

haveestablished

a

power

base,

be-

comeavulture

yourself,

andsave

yourself

alotoftimeand

energy.

Ofthetwo

poles

ofthis

game,

onecanbeillustrated

by

the

example

of

the

explorer

VascoNunezdeBalboa.Balboahadanobsessionw-thedis-

covery

ofEl

Dorado,

a

legendarycity

ofvastriches.

Early

in

thesixteenth

century,

aftercountless

hardships

andbrushes

with
death,

he

foundevidenceofa

great

and

wealthy

empire

tothesouth

of

Mexico,

in

present—day

Peru.

By

conquering

this

empire,

the

Incan,

and

seizing

is

gold,

hewouldmakehimselfthenextCortes.The

problem

was

thatevenashemadethis

discovery,

wordofit

spreadamong

hundredsof

other

conquistadors.

Hedidnot

understand

thathalfthe

game

was

keeping

it

quiet,

and

carefiillywatching

thosearoundhim.Afew

years

afterhedis-

coveredthelocationoftheIncan

empire,

asoldierinhisown

army,

Fran-

cisco

Pizarro,

helped

to

get

himbeheadedfortreason.Pizarrowentonto

takewhatBalboahad

spent

so

manyyearstrying

tofind.

Theother

pole

isthatofthe

artist

Peter

Paul

Rubens,who,

lateinhis

career,

found

himself

deluged

with

requests

for

paintings.

He

createda

sys-

tem:Inhis

large

studiohe

employed

dozensof

outstandingpainters,

one

specializing

in

robes,

anotherin

backgrounds,

andsoon.Hecreatedavast

production

lineinwhicha

large

numberofcanvaseswouldbeworkedon

atthesametime. Whenan

important

clientvisitedthe

studio,

Rubens

would

shoo

hishired

painters

outforthe

day.

Whiletheclientwatched

from

a

balcony,

Rubenswouldworkatanincredible

pace,

withunbeliev-

able

energy.

Theclientwouldleaveinaweofthis

prodigious

man,

who

could

paint

so

manymasterpieces

insoshortatime.

ThisistheessenceoftheLaw:Loamto

get

otherstodothe

workfor

you

while

you

take

the

credit,

and

youappear

to

beof

godlikestrength

and

power.

If

you

thinkit

important

todoallthework

yourself,you

willnever

get

far,

and

you

willsufferthefateoftheBalboasandTeslasoftheworld.

Find

people

withtheskillsand

creativityyou

lack.Eitherhire

them,

while

puttingyour

ownnameon

top

of

theirs,

orfinda

way

totaketheirwork

andmakeit

your

own.

Their

creativity

thus

becomes

yours,

and

you

seem

a

genius

totheworld.

Thereisanother

application

ofthislawthatdoesnot

require

the

para-

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yourcontemporaries’

labor:Usethe

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LAW 7 59