The 48 Laws of Power

“infobox Book “

name	The 48 Laws of Power
image
image caption	Penguin Business cover
author	Robert Greene
country	America
language	English language
genre	Non-Fiction
publisher	Penguin Business
release date	1998
media type	Hardback and paperback
pages	452
isbn	0140280197

The Laws

Law 1 – Never Outshine the Master

Always make those above you feel well superior. In your hope to please or impress them, do not go excessively army for the liberation of rwanda in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – cheer fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more bright than they are and you will attain the heights of exponent .

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 well aroused to envy. They besides become spoiled and authoritarian. But hire a erstwhile enemy and he will be more firm than a ally, 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 .

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 can not prepare a defense. Guide them army for the liberation of rwanda enough down the ill-timed path, envelope them in adequate smoke, and by the prison term they realize your intentions, it will be besides late .

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 undefined, open-ended, and sphinxlike. potent people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

Law 5 – So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life

reputation is the basis of might. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win ; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your repute unassailable. Always be alarm 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 .

Law 6 – Court Attention at all Cost

Everything is judged by its appearance ; what is spiritual world counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be blatant, at all cost. Make yourself a attraction of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more cryptic, than the bland and timid masses .

Law 7 – Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit

Use the wisdom of solomon, cognition, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. not alone will such aid save you valuable time and department of energy, it will give you a divine 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 .

Law 8 – Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary

When you force the early person to act, you are the one in restraint. It is always better to make your opposition come to you, abandoning his own plans in the action. Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack. You hold the cards .

Law 9 – Win through your Actions, Never through Argument

Any fleeting victory you think gained through argument is in truth a pyrrhic victory : The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any fleeting change of opinion. It is much more knock-down to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate .

Law 10 – Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky

You can die from person else ’ sulfur misery – emotional states are angstrom infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are lone precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves ; they will besides draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate rather .

Law 11 – Learn to Keep People Dependent on You

To maintain your independence you must constantly 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 .

Law 12 – Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim

One earnest and honest move will cover over dozens of corruptible ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most fishy people. once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A seasonably endow – a Trojan sawhorse – will serve the like purpose .

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 avail, do not bother to remind him of your past aid and adept deeds. He will find a means to ignore you. alternatively, 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 sky-high when he sees something to be gained for himself .

Law 14 – Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy

Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable data that will keep you a step ahead. Better however : Play the spy yourself. In civil 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 .

Law 15 – Crush your Enemy Totally

All great leaders since Moses have known that a fear enemy must be crushed wholly. ( sometimes they have learned this the hard way. ) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fuel will finally break out. More is lost through stopping center than through total annihilation : The foe will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in soundbox but in spirit .

Law 16 – Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor

excessively much circulation makes the monetary value go down : The more you are seen and heard from, the more coarse you appear. If you are already established in a group, temp coitus interruptus from it will make you more talk about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity .

Law 17 – Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability

Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiate need to see familiarity in other people ’ mho actions. Your predictability gives them a common sense of restraint. Turn the tables : Be intentionally irregular. 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 .

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 safe. 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 comfortable prey. Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the push .

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 room. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lamb ’ clothe. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the amiss person .

Law 20 – Do Not Commit to Anyone

It is the jester who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or lawsuit but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the victor of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you .

Law 21 – Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark

No one likes feeling stupider than the adjacent persons. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not barely smart, but smarter than you are. once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives .

Law 22 – Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power

When you are weaker, never crusade for respect ’ mho sake ; choose surrender alternatively. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to decline. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender inaugural. By turning the early check you infuriate and faze him. Make surrender a creature of ability .

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 – saturation defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of office to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat overawe who will give you milk for a long time to come .

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 mot oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply theLaws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court .

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 care and never bores the consultation. Be the dominate of your own image preferably than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your populace gestures and actions – your might will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

Law 26 – Keep Your Hands Clean

You must seem a ideal of politeness and efficiency : Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a immaculate appearance by using others as scapegoats and vomit ’ s-paws to disguise your involvement .

Law 27 – Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cult-like Following

People have an overwhelm hope to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a lawsuit, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise ; emphasize exuberance over rationality and clear think. 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 might .

Law 28 – Enter Action with Boldness

If you are uncertain of a path of military 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 bluff ; no one honors the timid .

Law 29 – Plan All the Way to the End

The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the potential consequences, obstacles, and twists of luck that might reverse your hard oeuvre and give the aura 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 army for the liberation of rwanda ahead .

Law 30 – Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless

Your actions must seem natural and executed with still. All the labor and practice that go into them, and besides all the apt 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 .

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 early person a choice : Your victims feel they are in see, 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 .

Law 32 – Play to People’s Fantasies

The truth is much avoided because it is surly and unpleasant. never appeal to truth and reality unless you are fix for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or raise up fantasy are like oases in the desert : Everyone flocks to them. There is great might in tapping into the fantasies of the masses .

Law 33 – Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew

Everyone has a weakness, a col in the castle wall. That failing is usual y an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need ; it can besides be a small privy pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage .

Law 34 – Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated ; In the long run, appearing coarse or common will make people disrespect you. For a baron 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 peak .

Law 35 – Master the Art of Timing

never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of operate over yourself, and over time. Always seem affected role, as if you know that everything will come to you finally. 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 clock is not even good, and to strike fiercely when it has reached realization .

Law 36 – Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge

By acknowledging a petit larceny problem you give it universe and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him ; and a belittled mistake is frequently 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 can not have, show contempt for it. The less pastime you reveal, the more superior you seem .

Law 37 – Create Compelling Spectacles

Striking imagination and deluxe symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them. stagecoach spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and beaming symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are in truth doing .

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 subscript. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the coarse touch. Share your originality entirely with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your singularity .

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 composure yourself, you gain a decide advantage. Put your enemies off-balance : Find the tinkle in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings .

Law 40 – Despise the Free Lunch

What is offered for free is dangerous – it normally involves either a whoremaster or a hide obligation. What has deserving is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and fraudulence. It is besides frequently wise to pay the full moon price – there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power .

Law 41 – Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes

What happens first base always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a big man or have a celebrated 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 form : Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his bequest, and derive power by shining in your own way .

Law 42 – Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter

trouble oneself can often be traced to a individual hard individual – the scaremonger, the arrogant subordinate, the poisoned of good will. 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 irreclaimable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter .

Law 43 – Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others

coercion creates a reaction that will finally work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your firm pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the insubordinate by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold beloved and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you .

Law 44 – Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect

The mirror reflects world, but it is besides the perfective joyride for deception : When you mirror your enemies, doing precisely as they do, they can not figure out your scheme. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the magic trick that you share their values ; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a moral. few can resist the exponent of Mirror Effect .

Law 45 – Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once

Everyone understands the need for change in the abstraction, but on the daily level people are creatures of habit. besides much invention 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 usher of respecting the previous room of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a pacify improvement on the past.

Law 46 – Never appear too Perfect

Appearing better than others is constantly dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is ache to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in club to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. alone gods and the dead can seem arrant with impunity .

Law 47 – Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop

The moment of victory is frequently the consequence of greatest risk. In the heat of victory, arrogance and certitude can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going besides far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow achiever to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop .

Law 48 – Assume Formlessness

By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. rather of taking a shape for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and noLaw is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and amorphous as water system ; never bet on stability or last holy order. Everything changes.