The 48 Laws Of Power

M LAW 8

the

country

wouldembracehim

again.

OneofthesevisitorswasAustria’s

General

Keller,

whoconvinced

Napoleon

thatifhe

escaped,

the

European

powers,England

included,

wouldwelcomehimbackinto

power.Napoleon

was

tipped

offthatthe

English

wouldlethim

go,

andindeedhis

escape

oc-

curredinthemiddleofthe

afternoon,

in

fullviewof

Englishspyglasses.

What

Napoleon

didnotknowwasthattherewas

aman

behind

it

all,

pulling

the

strings,

andthatthismanwashisformer

minister,

Talleyrand.

And

Talleyrand

was

doing

allthis

not

to

bring

backthe

glorydays

butto

crush

Napoleon

onceandforall.

Considering

the

emperor’s

ambitionun-

settling

to

Europe’s

stability,

hehadturned

against

him

longago.

When

Napoleon

wasexiledto

Elba,

Talleyrand

had

protested.Napoleon

should

besentfarther

away,

he

argued,

or

Europe

wouldneverhave

peace.

But

nooneListened.

Insteadof

pushing

his

opinion,Talleyrand

bidedhistime.

Working

quietly,

he

eventually

wonover

Castlereagh

and

Metternich,

the

foreign

ministersof

England

andAustria.

Together

thesemenbaited

Napoleon

into

escaping.

EvenKoller’s

visit,

to

whisper

the

promise

of

glory

intheexile’s

ear,

was

part

ofthe

plan.

Like

a

master

cardplayer,Talleyrandfiguredeverything

outinadvance.He

knew

Napoleon

wouldfallintothe

trap

hehadsetHealsoforesawthat

Napoleon

wouldleadthe

country

intoa

war,which,

given

France’swea.k~

ened

condition,

could

only

lastafewmonths.One

diplomat

in

Vienna,

whounderstoodthat

Talleyrand

wasbehindit

all,said,

“Hehassetthe

houseablaze

in

ordertosave

it

from

the

plague.”

WhenIhavzlaidbait

for

deer,

Idon?shoutat

thejirst

doethatcomesto

sniff,

butwaituntilthewholeherdhas

gathered

round.

Ottomm

Bismarck,

IR]5-I898

KEYSTOPOWER

How

many

timeshasthisscenario

played

itselfoutin

history:

An

aggres~

siveleaderinitiatesaseriesofbold

movesthat

beginbybringing

him

much

power.Slowly,

however,

his

power

reaches

a

peak,

andsoon

every-

thing

turns

against

him.Hisnumerousenemiesband

together;trying

to

maintainhis

power,

heexhaustshimself

going

inthisdirection

and

that,

and

inevitably

he

collapses.

Thereasonforthis

pattern

isthatthe

aggres-

sive

person

is

rarely

infullcontrol.

Hecannotseemorethana

couple

of

moves

ahead,

cannotseethe

consequences

of

thisboldmoveorthatone.

Becauseheis

constantlybeing

forcedtoreacttothe

movesofhisever-

growing

hostof

enemies,

andtotheunforeseen

consequences

ofhis

own

rash

actions,

his

aggressiveenergy

isturned

against

him.

Inthe

realmof

power,you

mustask

yourself,

whatisthe

point

ofchas-

ing

hereand

there,

trying

tosolve

problems

anddefeat

my

enemies,

ifI

neverfeelincontrol?

Why

amI

alwayshaving

toreacttoeventsinsteadof

directing

them?Theansweris

simple:

Yourideaof

power

is

wrong.

You