The 48 Laws Of Power

66 LAW
8

oddsandtheirlackof

experience

inmodemnaval

warfare,

the

Japanese

crushedtheRussians.

One

added

benefitof

making

the

opponent

cometo

you,

asthe

_]a.pa—

nesediscoveredwiththe

Russians,

isthatitforceshimto

operate

in

your

territory.Being

onhostile

ground

willmake

him

nervousandoftenhewill

rushhisactionsandmakemistakes.For

negotiations

or

meetings,

itisal-

ways

wisetolureothersinto

your

territory,

orthe

territory

of

your

choice.

Youhave

yourbearings,

while

they

see

nothing

familiarandare

subtly

placed

onthedefensive.

Manipulation

is a

dangerousgame.

Once someone

suspects

heis

beingmanipulated,

itbecomesharder andhardertocontrolhim.But

when

you

make

youropponent

cometo

you,you

createtheillusionthathe

is

controlling

thesituation.Hedoesnotfeelthe

strings

that

pullhirmjust

as

Napoleonimagined

thathe

himself

wasthemasterof

his

daringescape

and

returnto

power.

Everythingdepends

onthesweetness

of

your

bait.If

yourtrap

isat»

tractive

enough,

theturbulenceof

your

enemies’emotionsanddesireswill

blindthemto

reality.

The

greedierthey

become,

themore

they

canheled

around.

The

greatnineteenth-century

robberbaronDanielDrewwasamaster

at

playing

thestockmarket. Whenhewanted a

particular

stocktobe

bought

or

sold,

drivingpricesup

or

down,

he

rarely

resortedtothedirect

approach.

One

ofhistrickswasto

hurrythrough

an

exclusive

clubnear

Wall

Street,

obviously

on

his

way

tothe

stock

exchange,

andto

pull

out

his

customary

redbandannato

wipe

his

perspiring

brow.

A

slip

of

paper

wouldfallfromthisbandannathathewould

pretend

nottonotice.The

club’smemberswere

alwaystrying

toforeseeDrew’s

moves,

and

they

would

pounce

onthe

paper,

which

invariably

seemedtocontainaninside

up

onastock.Wordwould

spread,

andmembers

would

buy

orsellthe

stockin

droves,

playingperfectly

intoDrew’shands.

If

you

can

get

other

people

to

dig

theirown

graves,why

sweat

your-

self?

Pickpockets

workthisto

perfection.

The

key

to

picking

a

pocket

is

knowing

which

pocket

containsthewallet.

Experiencedpickpockets

often

ply

theirtradeintrainstationsandother

places

where

thereisa.

clearly

marked

signreading

BEWAREOFPICKPOCKE’l‘S.

Passersbyseeing

the

sign

in-

variably

feelfortheirwallettomakesureitisstillthere.Forthe

watching

pickpockets,

thisislike

shooting

fishinabarrel.

Pickpockets

haveeven

beenknownto

place

theirownBEWAREOFPICKPOCKETS

signs

toensure

their

success.

V/Vhen

you

are

makingpeople

come

to

you,

it

is

sometimes

bettertolet

themknow

you

are

forcing

theirhand.You

giveupdeception

forovertma-

nipulation.

The

psychological

ramificationsare

profound:

The

person

who

makesotherscometohim

appearspowerful,

anddemands

respect.

Filippo

Brunelleschi,

the

great

Renaissanceartistand

architect,

wasa

great

practitioner

ofthe

art

of

making

otherscometohimas

a

sign

ofhis

power.

Ononeoccasionhehadbeen

engaged

to

repair

thedomeofthe

SantaMariadelFiorecathedralinFlorence.Thecommissionwas

impor-