“The feeling of having no power over people and events is hard to bear: powerlessness makes you unhappy. No one wants less power, everyone wants more.” — Robert Greene.
Law 1: Never outshine the master.
Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talent: or you might accomplish the opposite—inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.
“Avoid outshining the master. All superiority is odious, but the superiority of a subject over his prince is not only stupid, it is fatal. This is a lesson that the stars in the sky teach us - they may be related to the sun, and just as brilliant, but they never appear in her company.” — Baltasar Gracián.
Law 2: Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies.
Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.
“Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.” — Voltaire.
Law 3: Conceal your intentions.
Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.
“Do not be held a cheat, even though it is impossible to live today without being one. Let your greatest cunning lie in covering up what looks like cunning.” — Baltasar Gracián.
Law 4: Always say less than necessary.
When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.
“I learned that you actually have more power when you shut up.” — Andy Warhol.
Law 5: So much depends on reputation—Guard it with your life.
Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are vulnerable and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.
“According to whether you’re powerful or weak, the court’s judgments will see you as white or black.” — Jean de la Fontaine.
Law 6: Court attention at all costs.
As everything is judged by appearance, you must stand out. Make yourself appear larger, more interesting, and more mysterious than the masses. One way to do this is to surround your name with sensation and scandal. Bear in mind that notoriety of any sort brings power. It’s preferable to be slandered than to be ignored. A solid counterbalance to this approach is to create an air of mystery around yourself. Keep your cards close to your chest. People are drawn to those who seem enigmatic. An air of mystery increases your presence and creates anticipation — everyone will be glued to your next move.
“Even when I'm railed at, I get my quota of renown.” — Pietro Aretino.
Law 7: Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit.
Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end, your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.
“Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I’ve stolen a lot, myself. But I know how to steal!” — Thomas Edison.
Law 8: Make others come to you— Use bait if necessary.
When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains — then attack. You hold the cards.
“When I have laid bait for deer, I don't shoot at the first doe that comes to sniff, but wait until the whole herd has gathered round.” — Otto von Bismarck.
Law 9: Win through actions, never through arguments.
Any momentary triumph you think you have gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.
“Never argue. In society nothing must be discussed; give only results.” — Benjamin Disraeli.
Law 10 : Infection: Avoid the unhappy and the unlucky.
You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.
“Recognize the fortunate so that you may choose their company and the unfortunate so that you may avoid them. Misfortune is usually the crime of folly, and among those who suffer from it there is no malady more contagious: Never open your door to the least of misfortunes, for, if you do, many others will follow in its train… Do not die of another's misery.” — Baltasar Gracián.
Law 11: Learn to keep people dependent on you.
To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.
“Thus a wise prince will think of ways to keep his citizens of every sort and under every circumstance dependent on the state and on him; and then they will always be trustworthy” ― Niccolò Machiavelli.
Law 12: Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your enemy.
One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift—a Trojan horse—will serve the same purpose.
“Everything turns gray when I don't have at least one mark on the horizon. Life seems empty and depressing. I cannot understand honest men. They lead desperate lives, full of boredom.” ― Count Victor Lustig.
Law 13: When asking for help appeal to people's self-interest—Never to their mercy or gratitude.
If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.
“The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interest to promote yours.” — Jean de La Bruyère.
Law 14: Pose as a friend, work as a spy.
Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.
“Rulers see through spies, as cows through smell, Brahmins through scriptures and the rest of the people through their normal eyes.” — Kautilya.
Law 15: Crush your enemy totally.
All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.
“...And when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.” — Deuteronomy 7:2
Law 16: Use absence to increase respect and honor.
Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.
“Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires.” — François de La Rochefoucauld.
Law 17: Keep others in suspended terror: Cultivate an air of unpredictability.
Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people's actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off- balance and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.
“Life at court is a serious, melancholy game of chess, which requires us to draw up our pieces and batteries, form a plan, pursue it, parry that of our adversary.” — Jean de La Bruyère.
Unpredictability can work against you sometimes, especially if you are in a subordinate position. There are times when it is better to let people feel comfortable and settled around you than to disturb them. Too much unpredictability will be seen as a sign of indecisiveness, or even of some more serious psychic problem. Such power should only be used judiciously.
Law 18: Do not build fortresses to protect yourself—Isolation is dangerous.
The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere— everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from—it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people, find allies and mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd
“Solitude is dangerous to reason, without being favourable to virtue. Remember that the solitary mind is certainly luxurious, probably superstitious, and possibly mad.” — Samuel Johnson.
Law 19: Know who you're dealing with—Do not offend the wrong person.
There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs' clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully. Never offend or deceive the wrong person!
“Be convinced, that there are no persons so insignificant and inconsiderable, but may, some time or other, have it in their power to be of use to you; which they certainly will not, if you have once shown them contempt. Wrongs are often forgiven, but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it for ever.” — Lord Chesterfield.
Law 20: Do not commit to anyone.
It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others— playing people against one another, making them pursue you.
“When the snipe and the mussel struggle, the fisherman gets the benefit.” — Ancient chinese saying.
Law 21: Play a sucker to catch a sucker—Seem dumber than your mark.
No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, then, is to make your victims feel smart—and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.
“Regard it as more courageous not to become involved in an engagement than to win in battle, and where there is already one interfering fool, take care that there shall not be two.” — Baltasar Gracián.
Law 22: Use the surrender tactic: Transform weakness into power.
When you are weak, never fight for honor’s sake; instead, choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you—surrender first. By turning the other cheek, you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.
“When the great lord passes, the wise peasant bows deeply and silently farts,” — Ethiopian proverb.
Law 23: Concentrate your forces.
Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another—intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.
“The best strategy is always to be very strong; first in general, and then at the decisive point. . . . There is no higher and simpler law of strategy than that of keeping one's forces concentrated.” — Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz.
Law 24: Play the perfect courtier.
The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtier-ship and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.
Avoid ostentation
Practice nonchalance
Be frugal with flattery
Arrange to be noticed
Alter your style and language according to the person you’re dealing with
Never be the bearer of bad news
Never affect friendliness and intimacy with your master
Never criticize those above you directly
Be frugal in asking those above you for favours
Never joke about appearances or taste
Do not be the court cynic
Be self-observant
Master your emotions
Fit the spirit of the times
Be a source of pleasure.
“A man who knows the court is master of his gestures, of his eyes and of his face; he is profound, impenetratable; he dissimulates bad offices, smiles at his enemies, controls his irritation, disguises his passions, belies his heartm speaks and acts against his feelings.” — Jean de La Bruyère.
Law 25: Re-create yourself.
Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions—your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.
“Do not people talk in society of a man being a great actor? They do not mean by that that he feets, but that he excels in simulating, though he feets nothing.” — Denis Diderot.
Law 26: Keep your hands clean.
You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat's-paws to disguise your involvement.
“I would rather betray the whole world than let the world betray me.” — Général Cao Cao.
Law 27: Play on people’s need to believe to create a cult-like following.
People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.
“Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.” — Niccolò Machiavelli.
Law 28: Enter cations with boldness.
If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.
“Fear of failure in the mind of a performer is, for an onlooker, already evidence of failure… Actions are dangerious when there is doubt as to their wisdom; it would be safer to do nothing.” — Baltasar Gracián.
Law 29: Plan all the way to the end.
The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.
“Never begin anything until you have rejteeted what will be the end of it” — Idries Shah.
Law 30: Make your accomplishments seem effortless.
Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work—it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.
“A line will take us hours maybe; Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought, our stitching and unstitching has been naught.” — William Butler Yeats.
Law 31: Control the options: Get others to play with the cards you deal.
The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.
“For the wounds and every other evil that men inflict upon themselves spontaneously, and of their own choice, are in the long run less painful than those inflicted by others.” — Niccolò Machiavelli.
Law 32: Play to people's fantasies.
The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes from disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.
“he most detested person in the world is the one who always tells the truth, who never romances…. I found it far more interesting and profitable to romance than to tell the truth.” — Joseph Weil.
Law 33: Discover each man's thumbscrew.
Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.
Pay attention to gestures and unconscious signals,
Find the helpless child,
Look for contrasts,
Find the weak link,
Fill the void,
Feed on uncontrollable emotions.
“He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.” — Sigmund Freud.
Law 34: Be royal in your own fashion—Act like a king.
The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated: In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.
“Everyone should be royal after his own fashion. Let all your actions, even though they are not those of a king, be, in their own sphere, worthy of one. Be sublime in your deeds, lofty in your thoughts; and all in your doings show that you deserve to be king even though you are not one in reality.” — Baltasar Gracián.
Law 35: Master the art of timing.
Never seem to be in a hurry—hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.
“Space we can recover, time never.” — Napoleon Bonaparte.
Law 36: Disdain things you cannot have, Ignoring them is the best revenge.
By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.
“Remember: The powerful responses to nagging, petty annoyances and irritations are contempt and disdain. Never show that something has affected you, or that you are offended—that only shows you have acknowledged a problem. Contempt is a dish that is best served cold and without affectation.” — Robert Greene.
Law 37: Create compelling spectacles.
Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power—everyone responds to them. Stage the spectacles for those around you, full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.
“Because of the light it shines on the other stars which make up a kind of court around it, because of the just and equal distribution of its rays to all alike, because of the good it brings to all places, producing life, joy and action, because of its constancy from which it never varies, I chose the sun as the most magnificent image to represent a great leader.” — Louis XIV.
Law 38: Think as you like, but behave like others.
If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.
“For a long time I have not said what I believed, nor do I ever believe what I say, and if indeed sometimes I do happen to tell the truth, I hide it among so many lies that it is hard to find.” — Niccolò Machiavelli.
Law 39: Stir up waters to catch fish.
Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.
“A sovereign should never launch an army out of anger, a leader should never start a war out of wrath.” — Sun Tzu.
Law 40: Despise the free lunch.
What is offered for free is dangerous—it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What is worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price—there are no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.
“Money is never spent to so much advantage as when you have been cheated out of it; for at one stroke you have purchased prudence.” — Arthur Schopenhauer.
Law 41: Avoid stepping into a great man’s shoes.
What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.
“Beware of stepping into a great man’s shoes—you will have to accomplish twice as much to surpass him.” — Baltasar Gracián.
Law 42: Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.
Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual—the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them—they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.
“Cancer begins with a single cell; excise it before it spreads beyond cure.” — Robert Greene.
Law 43: Work on the heart and mind of others.
Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.
“The difficulties in the way of persuasion lie in my knowing the heart of the persuaded in order thereby to fit my wording into it. . . . For this reason, whoever attempts persuasion before the throne, must carefully observe the sovereign's feelings of love and hate, his secret wishes and fears, before he can conquer his heart.” — Han Feizi.
Law 44: Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect.
The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of the Mirror Effect.
“When I wish to find out how wise, or how stupid, or how good, or how wicked is any one, or what are his thoughts at the moment, I fashion the expression of my face, as accurately as possible, in accordance with the expression of his, and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise in my mind or heart, as if to match or correspond with the expression.” — Egdar Allan Poe.
Law 45: Preach the need for change but never reform too much at once.
Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level, people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.
“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” — Niccolò Machiavelli.
Law 46: Never appear too perfect.
Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.
“Of all the disorders of the soul, envy is the only one no one confesses to.” — Plutarch.
Law 47: Do not go past the mark you aimed for, in victory learn when to stop.
The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.
“The greatest danger occurs at the moment of victory.” — Napoleon Bonaparte.
Law 48: Assume formelessness.
By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.
“So a military force has no constant formation, water has no constant shape: the ability to gain victory by changing and adapting according to the opponent is called genius.” — Sun Tzu.
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