### Book:influence over the person superficially on top. These behind-the-scenes


### Book:powerbrokers are the group’s weak link: Win their favor and you


### Book:indirectly influence the king. Alternatively, even in a group of people


### Book:acting with the appearance of one will—as when a group under attack


### Book:closes ranks to resist an outsider—there is always a weak link in the


### Book:chain. Find the one person who will bend under pressure.Fill the Void. The two main emotional voids to fill are insecurity and


### Book:unhappiness. The insecure are suckers for any kind of social validation;


### Book:as for the chronically unhappy, look for the roots of their unhappiness.


### Book:The insecure and the unhappy are the people least able to disguise their


### Book:weaknesses. The ability to fill their emotional voids is a great source of


### Book:power, and an indefinitely prolongable one.


### Book:Feed on Uncontrollable Emotions. The uncontrollable emotion can be


### Book:a paranoid fear—a fear disproportionate to the situation—or any base


### Book:motive such as lust, greed, vanity, or hatred. People in the grip of these


### Book:emotions often cannot control themselves, and you can do the controlling


### Book:for them.


### Book:IRING IZAR


### Book:[Hollywood super-agent] Irving Paul Lazar was once anxious to sell


### Book:[studio mogul] Jack L. Warner a play. “I had a long meeting with him


### Book:today,” Lazar explained [to screenwriter Garson Kanin], “but I didn’t


### Book:mention it, I didn’t even bring it up.” “Why not?” I asked. “Because I’m


### Book:going to wait until the weekend after next, when I go to Palm Springs.”


### Book:“I don’t understand.” “You don’t? I go to Palm Springs every weekend,


### Book:but Warner isn’t going this weekend. He’s got a preview or something. So


### Book:he’s not coming down till the next weekend, so that’s when I’m going to


### Book:bring it up. ” “Irving, I’m more and more confused.” “Look,” said


### Book:Irving impatiently, ”I know what I’m doing. I know how to sell Warner.


### Book:This is a type of material that he’s uneasy with, so I have to hit him with


### Book:it hard and suddenly to get an okay.” ”But why Palm Springs?”


### Book:”Because in Palm Springs, every day he goes to the baths at The Spa.


### Book:And that’s where I’m going to be when he’s there. Now there’s a thing


### Book:about Jack: He’s eighty and he’s very vain, and he doesn’t like people to


### Book:see him naked. So when I walk up to him naked at The Spa—I mean he’s


### Book:naked—well, I’m naked too, but I don’t care who sees me. He does. And


### Book:I walk up to him naked, and I start to talk to him about this thing, he’ll


### Book:be very embarrassed.And he’ll want to get away from me, and the easiest


### Book:way is to say ‘Yes,’ because he knows if he says ‘No,’ then I’m going to


### Book:stick with him, and stay right on it, and not give up. So to get rid of me,


### Book:he’ll probably say, ‘Yes.’” Two weeks later, I read of the acquisition of


### Book:this particular property by Warner Brothers. I phoned Lazar and asked


### Book:how it had been accomplished. ”How do you think?” he asked. ”In the


### Book:buff, that’s how… just the way I told you it was going to work.”HOLLYWOOD, GARSON KANIN, 1974


### Book:OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW


### Book:Observance I


### Book:In 1615 the thirty-year-old bishop of Luçon, later known as Cardinal


### Book:Richelieu, gave a speech before representatives of the three estates of


### Book:France—clergy, nobility, and commoners. Richelieu had been chosen to


### Book:serve as the mouthpiece for the clergy—an immense responsibility for a


### Book:man still young and not particularly well known. On all of the important


### Book:issues of the day, the speech followed the Church line. But near the end


### Book:of it Richelieu did something that had nothing to do with the Church and


### Book:everything to do with his career. He turned to the throne of the fifteen-


### Book:year-old King Louis XIII, and to the Queen Mother Marie de’ Médicis,


### Book:who sat beside Louis, as the regent ruling France until her son reached


### Book:his majority. Everyone expected Richelieu to say the usual kind words to


### Book:the young king. Instead, however, he looked directly at and only at the


### Book:queen mother. Indeed his speech ended in long and fulsome praise of her,


### Book:praise so glowing that it actually offended some in the Church. But the


### Book:smile on the queen’s face as she lapped up Richelieu’s compliments was


### Book:unforgettable.


### Book:A year later the queen mother appointed Richelieu secretary of state


### Book:for foreign affairs, an incredible coup for the young bishop. He had now


### Book:entered the inner circle of power, and he studied the workings of the


### Book:court as if it were the machinery of a watch. An Italian, Concino


### Book:Concini, was the queen mother’s favorite, or rather her lover, a role that


### Book:made him perhaps the most powerful man in France. Concini was vain


### Book:and foppish, and Richelieu played him perfectly—attending to him as if


### Book:he were the king. Within months Richelieu had become one of Concini’s


### Book:favorites. But something happened in 1617 that turned everything upside


### Book:down: the young king, who up until then had shown every sign of being


### Book:an idiot, had Concini murdered and his most important associates


### Book:imprisoned. In so doing Louis took command of the country with one


### Book:blow, sweeping the queen mother aside.


### Book:Had Richelieu played it wrong? He had been close to both Concini


### Book:and Marie de Médicis, whose advisers and ministers were now all out offavor, some even arrested. The queen mother herself was shut up in the


### Book:Louvre, a virtual prisoner. Richelieu wasted no time. If everyone was


### Book:deserting Marie de Médicis, he would stand by her. He knew Louis could


### Book:not get rid of her, for the king was still very young, and had in any case


### Book:always been inordinately attached to her. As Marie’s only remaining


### Book:powerful friend, Richelieu filled the valuable function of liaison between


### Book:the king and his mother. In return he received her protection, and was


### Book:able to survive the palace coup, even to thrive. Over the next few years


### Book:the queen mother grew still more dependent on him, and in 1622 she


### Book:repaid him for his loyalty: Through the intercession of her allies in


### Book:Rome, Richelieu was elevated to the powerful rank of cardinal.


### Book:By 1623 King Louis was in trouble. He had no one he could trust to


### Book:advise him, and although he was now a young man instead of a boy, he


### Book:remained childish in spirit, and affairs of state came hard to him. Now


### Book:that he had taken the throne, Marie was no longer the regent and


### Book:theoretically had no power, but she still had her son’s ear, and she kept


### Book:telling him that Richelieu was his only possible savior. At first Louis


### Book:would have none of it—he hated the cardinal with a passion, only


### Book:tolerating him out of love for Marie. In the end, however, isolated in the


### Book:court and crippled by his own indecisiveness, he yielded to his mother


### Book:and made Richelieu first his chief councilor and later prime minister.


### Book:Now Richelieu no longer needed Marie de Médicis. He stopped


### Book:visiting and courting her, stopped listening to her opinions, even argued


### Book:with her and opposed her wishes. Instead he concentrated on the king,


### Book:making himself indispensable to his new master. All the previous


### Book:premiers, understanding the king’s childishness, had tried to keep him


### Book:out of trouble; the shrewd Richelieu played him differently, deliberately


### Book:pushing him into one ambitious project after another, such as a crusade


### Book:against the Huguenots and finally an extended war with Spain. The


### Book:immensity of these projects only made the king more dependent on his


### Book:powerful premier, the only man able to keep order in the realm. And so,


### Book:for the next eighteen years, Richelieu, exploiting the king’s weaknesses,


### Book:governed and molded France according to his own vision, unifying the


### Book:country and making it a strong European power for centuries to come.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Richelieu saw everything as a military campaign, and no strategic move


### Book:was more important to him than discovering his enemy’s weaknesses andapplying pressure to them. As early as his speech in 1615, he was


### Book:looking for the weak link in the chain of power, and he saw that it was


### Book:the queen mother. Not that Marie was obviously weak—she governed


### Book:both France and her son; but Richelieu saw that she was really an


### Book:insecure woman who needed constant masculine attention. He showered


### Book:her with affection and respect, even toadying up to her favorite, Concini.


### Book:He knew the day would come when the king would take over, but he also


### Book:recognized that Louis loved his mother dearly and would always remain


### Book:a child in relation to her. The way to control Louis, then, was not by


### Book:gaining his favor, which could change overnight, but by gaining sway


### Book:over his mother, for whom his affection would never change.


### Book:Once Richelieu had the position he desired—prime minister—he


### Book:discarded the queen mother, moving on to the next weak link in the


### Book:chain: the king’s own character. There was a part of him that would


### Book:always be a helpless child in need of higher authority. It was on the


### Book:foundation of the king’s weakness that Richelieu established his own


### Book:power and fame.


### Book:Remember: When entering the court, find the weak link. The person in


### Book:control is often not the king or queen; it is someone behind the scenes—


### Book:the favorite, the husband or wife, even the court fool. This person may


### Book:have more weaknesses than the king himself, because his power depends


### Book:on all kinds of capricious factors outside his control.


### Book:Finally, when dealing with helpless children who cannot make


### Book:decisions, play on their weakness and push them into bold ventures.


### Book:They will have to depend on you even more, for you will become the


### Book:adult figure whom they rely on to get them out of scrapes and to safety.


### Book:THE THINGS ON


### Book:As time went on I came to look for the little weaknesses…. It’s the little


### Book:things that count. On one occasion, I worked on the president of a large


### Book:bank in Omaha. The [phony] deal involved the purchase of the street


### Book:railway system of Omaha, including a bridge across the Mississippi


### Book:River. My principals were supposedly German and I had to negotiate


### Book:with Berlin. While awaiting word from them I introduced my fake


### Book:mining-stock proposition. Since this man was rich, I decided to play for


### Book:high stakes…. Meanwhile, I played golf with the banker, visited his


### Book:home, and went to the theater with him and his wife. Though he showed


### Book:some interest in my stock deal, he still wasn’t convinced. I had built it up


### Book:to the point that an investment of $1,250,000 was required. Of this I wasto put up $900,000, the banker $350,000. But still he hesitated. One


### Book:evening when I was at his home for dinner I wore some perfume-Coty’s


### Book:“April Violets.” It was not then considered effeminate for a man to use a


### Book:dash of perfume. The banker’s wife thought it very lovely. “Where did


### Book:you get it?” “It is a rare blend,” I told her, “especially made for me by a


### Book:French perfumer. Do you like it?” ”l love it,” she replied. The following


### Book:day I went through my effects and found two empty bottles. Both had


### Book:come from France, but were empty. I went to a downtown department


### Book:store and purchased ten ounces of Coty’s ”April Violets.” I poured this


### Book:into the two French bottles, carefully sealed them, wrapped them in


### Book:tissue paper. That evening I dropped by the banker’s home and presented


### Book:the two bottles to his wife. ”They were especially put up for me in


### Book:Cologne,” I told her. The next day the banker called at my hotel. His wife


### Book:was enraptured by the perfume. She considered it the most wonderful,


### Book:the most exotic fragrance she had ever used. I did not tell the banker he


### Book:could get all he wanted right in Omaha. ”She said,” the banker added,


### Book:”that I was fortunate to be associated with a man like you.” From then


### Book:on his attitude was changed, for he had complete faith in his wife’s


### Book:judgment …. He parted with $350,000. This, incidentally was my biggest


### Book:[con] score.


### Book:“YELLOW KID” WEIL, 1875-1976


### Book:Observance II


### Book:In December of 1925, guests at the swankiest hotel in Palm Beach,


### Book:Florida, watched with interest as a mysterious man arrived in a Rolls-


### Book:Royce driven by a Japanese chauffeur. Over the next few days they


### Book:studied this handsome man, who walked with an elegant cane, received


### Book:telegrams at all hours, and only engaged in the briefest of conversations.


### Book:He was a count, they heard, Count Victor Lustig, and he came from one


### Book:of the wealthiest families in Europe—but this was all they could find out.


### Book:Imagine their amazement, then, when Lustig one day walked up to one


### Book:of the least distinguished guests in the hotel, a Mr. Herman Loller, head


### Book:of an engineering company, and entered into conversation with him.


### Book:Loller had made his fortune only recently, and forging social connections


### Book:was very important to him. He felt honored and somewhat intimidated by


### Book:this sophisticated man, who spoke perfect English with a hint of a


### Book:foreign accent. Over the days to come, the two became friends.Loller of course did most of the talking, and one night he confessed


### Book:that his business was doing poorly, with more troubles ahead. In return,


### Book:Lustig confided in his new friend that he too had serious money


### Book:problems—Communists had seized his family estate and all its assets.


### Book:He was too old to learn a trade and go to work. Luckily he had found an


### Book:answer—“ a money-making machine.” “You counterfeit?” Loller


### Book:whispered in half-shock. No, Lustig replied, explaining that through a


### Book:secret chemical process, his machine could duplicate any paper currency


### Book:with complete accuracy. Put in a dollar bill and six hours later you had


### Book:two, both perfect. He proceeded to explain how the machine had been


### Book:smuggled out of Europe, how the Germans had developed it to


### Book:undermine the British, how it had supported the count for several years,


### Book:and on and on. When Loller insisted on a demonstration, the two men


### Book:went to Lustig’s room, where the count produced a magnificent


### Book:mahogany box fitted with slots, cranks, and dials. Loller watched as


### Book:Lustig inserted a dollar bill in the box. Sure enough, early the following


### Book:morning Lustig pulled out two bills, still wet from the chemicals.


### Book:Lustig gave the notes to Loller, who immediately took the bills to a


### Book:local bank—which accepted them as genuine. Now the businessman


### Book:feverishly begged Lustig to sell him a machine. The count explained that


### Book:there was only one in existence, so Loller made him a high offer:


### Book:$25,000, then a considerable amount (more than $400,000 in today’s


### Book:terms). Even so, Lustig seemed reluctant: He did not feel right about


### Book:making his friend pay so much. Yet finally he agreed to the sale. After


### Book:all, he said, “I suppose it matters little what you pay me. You are, after


### Book:all, going to recover the amount within a few days by duplicating your


### Book:own bills.” Making Loller swear never to reveal the machine’s existence


### Book:to other people, Lustig accepted the money. Later the same day he


### Book:checked out of the hotel. A year later, after many futile attempts at


### Book:duplicating bills, Loller finally went to the police with the story of how


### Book:Count Lustig had conned him with a pair of dollar bills, some chemicals,


### Book:and a worthless mahogany box. Interpretation


### Book:Count Lustig had an eagle eye for other people’s weaknesses. He saw


### Book:them in the smallest gesture. Loller, for instance, overtipped waiters,


### Book:seemed nervous in conversation with the concierge, talked loudly about


### Book:his business. His weakness, Lustig knew, was his need for social


### Book:validation and for the respect that he thought his wealth had earned him.


### Book:He was also chronically insecure. Lustig had come to the hotel to hunt


### Book:for prey. In Loller he homed in on the perfect sucker—a man hungering


### Book:for someone to fill his psychic voids.In offering Loller his friendship, then, Lustig knew he was offering


### Book:him the immediate respect of the other guests. As a count, Lustig was


### Book:also offering the newly rich businessman access to the glittering world of


### Book:old wealth. And for the coup de grace, he apparently owned a machine


### Book:that would rescue Loller from his worries. It would even put him on a


### Book:par with Lustig himself, who had also used the machine to maintain his


### Book:status. No wonder Loller took the bait.


### Book:Remember: When searching for suckers, always look for the


### Book:dissatisfied, the unhappy, the insecure. Such people are riddled with


### Book:weaknesses and have needs that you can fill. Their neediness is the


### Book:groove in which you place your thumbnail and turn them at will.


### Book:Observance III


### Book:In the year 1559, the French king Henri II died in a jousting exhibition.


### Book:His son assumed the throne, becoming Francis II, but in the background


### Book:stood Henri’s wife and queen, Catherine de’ Médicis, a woman who had


### Book:long ago proven her skill in affairs of state. When Francis died the next


### Book:year, Catherine took control of the country as regent to her next son in


### Book:line of succession, the future Charles IX, a mere ten years old at the time.


### Book:The main threats to the queen’s power were Antoine de Bourbon, king


### Book:of Navarre, and his brother, Louis, the powerful prince of Condé, both of


### Book:whom could claim the right to serve as regent instead of Catherine, who,


### Book:after all, was Italian—a foreigner. Catherine quickly appointed Antoine


### Book:lieutenant general of the kingdom, a title that seemed to satisfy his


### Book:ambition. It also meant that he had to remain in court, where Catherine


### Book:could keep an eye on him. Her next move proved smarter still: Antoine


### Book:had a notorious weakness for young women, so she assigned one of her


### Book:most attractive maids of honor, Louise de Rouet, to seduce him. Now


### Book:Antoine’s intimate, Louise reported all of his actions to Catherine. The


### Book:move worked so brilliantly that Catherine assigned another of her maids


### Book:to Prince Condé, and thus was formed her escadron volant—“flying


### Book:squadron”—of young girls whom she used to keep the unsuspecting


### Book:males in the court under her control.


### Book:In 1572 Catherine married off her daughter, Marguerite de Valois, to


### Book:Henri, the son of Antoine and the new king of Navarre. To put a family


### Book:that had always struggled against her so close to power was a dangerous


### Book:move, so to make sure of Henri’s loyalty she unleashed on him the


### Book:loveliest member of her “flying squadron,” Charlotte de BeauneSemblançay, baroness of Sauves. Catherine did this even though Henri


### Book:was married to her daughter. Within weeks, Marguerite de Valois wrote


### Book:in her memoirs, “Mme. de Sauves so completely ensnared my husband


### Book:that we no longer slept together, nor even conversed.”


### Book:And while I am on the subject, there is another fact that deserves


### Book:mention. It is this. A man shows his character just in the way in which he


### Book:deals with trifles-for then he is off his guard. This will often afford a


### Book:good opportunity of observing the boundless egoism of a man’s nature,


### Book:and his total lack of consideration for others; and if these defects show


### Book:themselves in small things, or merely in his general demeanour, you will


### Book:find that they also underlie his action in matters of importance, although


### Book:he may disguise the fact. This is an opportunity which should not be


### Book:missed. If in the little affairs of every day—the trifles of life…—a man is


### Book:inconsiderate and seeks only what is advantageous or convenient to


### Book:himself, to the prejudice of others’ rights; if he appropriates to himself


### Book:that which belongs to all alike, you may be sure there is no justice in his


### Book:heart, and that he would be a scoundrel on a wholesale scale, only that


### Book:law and compulsion bind his hands.


### Book:Arthur SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860


### Book:The baroness was an excellent spy and helped to keep Henri under


### Book:Catherine’s thumb. When the queen’s youngest son, the Duke of


### Book:Alençon, grew so close to Henri that she feared the two might plot


### Book:against her, she assigned the baroness to him as well. This most


### Book:infamous member of the flying squadron quickly seduced Alençon, and


### Book:soon the two young men fought over her and their friendship quickly


### Book:ended, along with any danger of a conspiracy.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Catherine had seen very early on the sway that a mistress has over a man


### Book:of power: Her own husband, Henri II, had kept one of the most infamous


### Book:mistresses of them all, Diane de Poitiers. What Catherine learned from


### Book:the experience was that a man like her husband wanted to feel he could


### Book:win a woman over without having to rely on his status, which he had


### Book:inherited rather than earned. And such a need contained a huge blind


### Book:spot: As long as the woman began the affair by acting as if she had been


### Book:conquered, the man would fail to notice that as time passed the mistress


### Book:had come to hold power over him, as Diane de Poitiers did over Henri. Itwas Catherine’s strategy to turn this weakness to her advantage, using it


### Book:as a way to conquer and control men. All she had to do was unleash the


### Book:loveliest women in the court, her “flying squadron,” on men whom she


### Book:knew shared her husband’s vulnerability.


### Book:Remember: Always look for passions and obsessions that cannot be


### Book:controlled. The stronger the passion, the more vulnerable the person.


### Book:This may seem surprising, for passionate people look strong. In fact,


### Book:however, they are simply filling the stage with their theatricality,


### Book:distracting people from how weak and helpless they really are. A man’s


### Book:need to conquer women actually reveals a tremendous helplessness that


### Book:has made suckers out of them for thousands of years. Look at the part of


### Book:a person that is most visible—their greed, their lust, their intense fear.


### Book:These are the emotions they cannot conceal, and over which they have


### Book:the least control. And what people cannot control, you can control for


### Book:them.


### Book:THE BATTLE AT PHARSALIA


### Book:When the two armies [Julius Caesar’s and Pompey‘s] were come into


### Book:Pharsalia, and both encamped there, Pompey’s thoughts ran the same


### Book:way as they had done before, against fighting…. But those who were


### Book:about him were greatly confident of success … as if they had already


### Book:conquered…. The cavalry especially were obstinate for fighting, being


### Book:splendidly armed and bravely mounted, and valuing themselves upon the


### Book:fine horses they kept, and upon their own handsome persons; as also


### Book:upon the advantage of their numbers, for they were five thousand against


### Book:one thousand of Caesar’s. Nor were the numbers of the infantry less


### Book:disproportionate, there being forty-five thousand of Pompey’s against


### Book:twenty-two thousand of the enemy. [The next day] whilst the infantry was


### Book:thus sharply engaged in the main battle, on the flank Pompey’s horse


### Book:rode up confidently, and opened [his cavalry’s] ranks very wide, that


### Book:they might surround the right wing of Caesar. But before they engaged,


### Book:Caesar’s cohorts rushed out and attacked them, and did not dart their


### Book:javelins at a distance, nor strike at the thighs and legs, as they usually


### Book:did in close battle, but aimed at their faces. For thus Caesar had


### Book:instructed them, in hopes that young gentlemen, who had nol known


### Book:much of battles and wounds, but came wearing their hair long, in the


### Book:flower of their age and height of their beauty, would be more


### Book:apprehensive of such blows, and not care for hazarding both a danger at


### Book:present and a blemish for the future.And so it proved, for they were so far from bearing the stroke of the


### Book:javelins, that they could not stand the sight of them, but turned about,


### Book:and covered their faces to secure them. Once in disorder, presently they


### Book:turned about to fly; and so most shamefully ruined all. For those who


### Book:had beat them back at once outflanked the infantry, and falling on their


### Book:rear, cut them to pieces. Pompey, who commanded the other wing of the


### Book:army, when he saw his cavalry thus broken and flying, was no longer


### Book:himself, nor did he now remember that he was Pompey the Great, but,


### Book:like one whom some god had deprived of his senses, retired to his tent


### Book:without speaking a word, and there sat to expect the event, till the whole


### Book:army was routed.


### Book:THE LIFE OF JULIUS CAESAR. PLUIARCH, c. A.D. 46-120


### Book:Observance IV


### Book:Arabella Huntington, wife of the great late-nineteenth-century railroad


### Book:magnate Collis P. Huntington, came from humble origins and always


### Book:struggled for social recognition among her wealthy peers. When she


### Book:gave a party in her San Francisco mansion, few of the social elite would


### Book:show up; most of them took her for a gold digger, not their kind. Because


### Book:of her husband’s fabulous wealth, art dealers courted her, but with such


### Book:condescension they obviously saw her as an upstart. Only one man of


### Book:consequence treated her differently: the dealer Joseph Duveen.


### Book:For the first few years of Duveen’s relationship with Arabella, he


### Book:made no effort to sell expensive art to her. Instead he accompanied her to


### Book:fine stores, chatted endlessly about queens and princesses he knew, on


### Book:and on. At last, she thought, a man who treated her as an equal, even a


### Book:superior, in high society. Meanwhile, if Duveen did not try to sell art to


### Book:her, he did subtly educate her in his aesthetic ideas—namely, that the


### Book:best art was the most expensive art. And after Arabella had soaked up his


### Book:way of seeing things, Duveen would act as if she always had exquisite


### Book:taste, even though before she met him her aesthetics had been abysmal.


### Book:When Collis Huntington died, in 1900, Arabella came into a fortune.


### Book:She suddenly started to buy expensive paintings, by Rembrandt and


### Book:Velázquez, for example—and only from Duveen. Years later Duveen


### Book:sold her Gainsborough’s Blue Boy for the highest price ever paid for a


### Book:work of art at the time, an astounding purchase for a family that


### Book:previously had shown little interest in collecting.Interpretation


### Book:Joseph Duveen instantly understood Arabella Huntington and what made


### Book:her tick: She wanted to feel important, at home in society. Intensely


### Book:insecure about her lower-class background, she needed confirmation of


### Book:her new social status. Duveen waited. Instead of rushing into trying to


### Book:persuade her to collect art, he subtly went to work on her weaknesses. He


### Book:made her feel that she deserved his attention not because she was the


### Book:wife of one of the wealthiest men in the world but because of her own


### Book:special character—and this completely melted her. Duveen never


### Book:condescended to Arabella; rather than lecturing to her, he instilled his


### Book:ideas in her indirectly. The result was one of his best and most devoted


### Book:clients, and also the sale of The Blue Boy.


### Book:People’s need for validation and recognition, their need to feel


### Book:important, is the best kind of weakness to exploit. First, it is almost


### Book:universal; second, exploiting it is so very easy. All you have to do is find


### Book:ways to make people feel better about their taste, their social standing,


### Book:their intelligence. Once the fish are hooked, you can reel them in again


### Book:and again, for years—you are filling a positive role, giving them what


### Book:they cannot get on their own. They may never suspect that you are


### Book:turning them like a thumbscrew, and if they do they may not care,


### Book:because you are making them feel better about themselves, and that is


### Book:worth any price.


### Book:Observance V


### Book:In 1862 King William of Prussia named Otto von Bismarck premier and


### Book:minister for foreign affairs. Bismarck was known for his boldness, his


### Book:ambition—and his interest in strengthening the military. Since William


### Book:was surrounded by liberals in his government and cabinet, politicians


### Book:who already wanted to limit his powers, it was quite dangerous for him


### Book:to put Bismarck in this sensitive position. His wife, Queen Augusta, had


### Book:tried to dissuade him, but although she usually got her way with him, this


### Book:time William stuck to his guns.


### Book:Only a week after becoming prime minister, Bismarck made an


### Book:impromptu speech to a few dozen ministers to convince them of the need


### Book:to enlarge the army. He ended by saying, “The great questions of the


### Book:time will be decided, not by speeches and resolutions of majorities, but


### Book:by iron and blood.” His speech was immediately disseminatedthroughout Germany. The queen screamed at her husband that Bismarck


### Book:was a barbaric militarist who was out to usurp control of Prussia, and


### Book:that William had to fire him. The liberals in the government agreed with


### Book:her. The outcry was so vehement that William began to be afraid he


### Book:would end up on a scaffold, like Louis XVI of France, if he kept


### Book:Bismarck on as prime minister.


### Book:Bismarck knew he had to get to the king before it was too late. He also


### Book:knew he had blundered, and should have tempered his fiery words. Yet


### Book:as he contemplated his strategy, he decided not to apologize but to do the


### Book:exact opposite. Bismarck knew the king well.


### Book:When the two men met, William, predictably, had been worked into a


### Book:tizzy by the queen. He reiterated his fear of being guillotined. But


### Book:Bismarck only replied, “Yes, then we shall be dead! We must die sooner


### Book:or later, and could there be a more respectable way of dying? I should die


### Book:fighting for the cause of my king and master. Your Majesty would die


### Book:sealing with your own blood your royal rights granted by God’s grace.


### Book:Whether upon the scaffold or upon the battlefield makes no difference to


### Book:the glorious staking of body and life on behalf of rights granted by God’s


### Book:grace!” On he went, appealing to William’s sense of honor and the


### Book:majesty of his position as head of the army. How could the king allow


### Book:people to push him around? Wasn’t the honor of Germany more


### Book:important than quibbling over words? Not only did the prime minister


### Book:convince the king to stand up to both his wife and his parliament, he


### Book:persuaded him to build up the army—Bismarck’s goal all along.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Bismarck knew the king felt bullied by those around him. He knew that


### Book:William had a military background and a deep sense of honor, and that


### Book:he felt ashamed at his cravenness before his wife and his government.


### Book:William secretly yearned to be a great and mighty king, but he dared not


### Book:express this ambition because he was afraid of ending up like Louis XVI.


### Book:Where a show of courage often conceals a man’s timidity, William’s


### Book:timidity concealed his need to show courage and thump his chest.


### Book:Bismarck sensed the longing for glory beneath William’s pacifist


### Book:front, so he played to the king’s insecurity about his manhood, finally


### Book:pushing him into three wars and the creation of a German empire.


### Book:Timidity is a potent weakness to exploit. Timid souls often yearn to be


### Book:their opposite—to be Napoleons. Yet they lack the inner strength. You, inessence, can become their Napoleon, pushing them into bold actions that


### Book:serve your needs while also making them dependent on you. Remember:


### Book:Look to the opposites and never take appearances at face value.


### Book:Image: The


### Book:Thumbscrew.


### Book:Your enemy


### Book:has secrets that


### Book:he guards, thinks


### Book:thoughts he will


### Book:not reveal. But


### Book:they come out in


### Book:ways he cannot


### Book:help. It is there some


### Book:where, a groove of


### Book:weakness on his head,


### Book:at his heart, over his


### Book:belly. Once you find the


### Book:groove, put your thumb in


### Book:it and turn him at will.


### Book:Authority: Find out each man’s thumbscrew. ’Tis the art of setting their


### Book:wills in action. It needs more skill than resolution. You must know where


### Book:to get at anyone. Every volition has a special motive which varies


### Book:according to taste. All men are idolaters, some of fame, others of self-


### Book:interest, most of pleasure. Skill consists in knowing these idols in order


### Book:to bring them into play. Knowing any man’s mainspring of motive you


### Book:have as it were the key to his will. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:Playing on people’s weakness has one significant danger: You may stir


### Book:up an action you cannot control.


### Book:In your games of power you always look several steps ahead and plan


### Book:accordingly. And you exploit the fact that other people are more


### Book:emotional and incapable of such foresight. But when you play on their


### Book:vulnerabilities, the areas over which they have least control, you can


### Book:unleash emotions that will upset your plans. Push timid people into bold


### Book:action and they may go too far; answer their need for attention orrecognition and they may need more than you want to give them. The


### Book:helpless, childish element you are playing on can turn against you.


### Book:The more emotional the weakness, the greater the potential danger.


### Book:Know the limits to this game, then, and never get carried away by your


### Book:control over your victims. You are after power, not the thrill of control.LAW 34


### Book:BE ROYAL IN YOUR OWN FASHION: ACT


### Book:LIKE A KING TO BE TREATED LIKE ONE


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated: In


### Book:the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect


### Book:you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in


### Book:others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make


### Book:yourself seem destined to wear a crown.


### Book:TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW


### Book:In July of 1830, a revolution broke out in Paris that forced the king,


### Book:Charles X, to abdicate. A commission of the highest authorities in the


### Book:land gathered to choose a successor, and the man they picked was Louis-


### Book:Philippe, the Duke of Orléans.


### Book:From the beginning it was clear that Louis-Philippe would be a


### Book:different kind of king, and not just because he came from a different


### Book:branch of the royal family, or because he had not inherited the crown but


### Book:had been given it, by a commission, putting his legitimacy in question.


### Book:Rather it was that he disliked ceremony and the trappings of royalty; he


### Book:had more friends among the bankers than among the nobility; and his


### Book:style was not to create a new kind of royal rule, as Napoleon had done,


### Book:but to downplay his status, the better to mix with the businessmen and


### Book:middle-class folk who had called him to lead. Thus the symbols that


### Book:came to be associated with Louis-Philippe were neither the scepter nor


### Book:the crown, but the gray hat and umbrella with which he would proudly


### Book:walk the streets of Paris, as if he were a bourgeois out for a stroll. WhenLouis-Philippe invited James Rothschild, the most important banker in


### Book:France, to his palace, he treated him as an equal. And unlike any king


### Book:before him, not only did he talk business with Monsieur Rothschild but


### Book:that was literally all he talked, for he loved money and had amassed a


### Book:huge fortune.


### Book:As the reign of the “bourgeois king” plodded on, people came to


### Book:despise him. The aristocracy could not endure the sight of an unkingly


### Book:king, and within a few years they turned on him. Meanwhile the growing


### Book:class of the poor, including the radicals who had chased out Charles X,


### Book:found no satisfaction in a ruler who neither acted as a king nor governed


### Book:as a man of the people. The bankers to whom Louis-Philippe was the


### Book:most beholden soon realized that it was they who controlled the country,


### Book:not he, and they treated him with growing contempt. One day, at the start


### Book:of a train trip organized for the royal family, James Rothschild actually


### Book:berated him—and in public—for being late. Once the king had made


### Book:news by treating the banker as an equal; now the banker treated the king


### Book:as an inferior.


### Book:Eventually the workers’ insurrections that had brought down Louis-


### Book:Philippe’s predecessor began to reemerge, and the king put them down


### Book:with force. But what was he defending so brutally? Not the institution of


### Book:the monarchy, which he disdained, nor a democratic republic, which his


### Book:rule prevented. What he was really defending, it seemed, was his own


### Book:fortune, and the fortunes of the bankers—not a way to inspire loyalty


### Book:among the citizenry.


### Book:Never lose your self-respect, nor be too familiar with yoetrself when you


### Book:are alone. Let your integrity itself be your own standard of rectitude, and


### Book:be more indebted to the severity of your own judgment of yourself than to


### Book:all external precepts. Desist from unseemly conduct, rather out of respect


### Book:for your own virtue than for the strictures of external authority. Come to


### Book:hold yourself in awe, and you will have no need of Seneca’s imaginary


### Book:tittor.


### Book:BALIASAR GRACIAN. 1601-1658


### Book:In early 1848, Frenchmen of all classes began to demonstrate for


### Book:electoral reforms that would make the country truly democratic. By


### Book:February the demonstrations had turned violent. To assuage the


### Book:populace, Louis-Philippe fired his prime minister and appointed a liberal


### Book:as a replacement. But this created the opposite of the desired effect: The


### Book:people sensed they could push the king around. The demonstrationsturned into a full-fledged revolution, with gunfire and barricades in the


### Book:streets.


### Book:On the night of February 23, a crowd of Parisians surrounded the


### Book:palace. With a suddenness that caught everyone by surprise, Louis-


### Book:Philippe abdicated that very evening and fled to England. He left no


### Book:successor, nor even the suggestion of one—his whole government folded


### Book:up and dissolved like a traveling circus leaving town.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Louis-Philippe consciously dissolved the aura that naturally pertains to


### Book:kings and leaders. Scoffing at the symbolism of grandeur, he believed a


### Book:new world was dawning, where rulers should act and be like ordinary


### Book:citizens. He was right: A new world, without kings and queens, was


### Book:certainly on its way. He was profoundly wrong, however, in predicting a


### Book:change in the dynamics of power.


### Book:The bourgeois king’s hat and umbrella amused the French at first, but


### Book:soon grew irritating. People knew that Louis-Philippe was not really like


### Book:them at all—that the hat and umbrella were essentially a kind of trick to


### Book:encourage them in the fantasy that the country had suddenly grown more


### Book:equal. Actually, though, the divisions of wealth had never been greater.


### Book:The French expected their ruler to be a bit of a showman, to have some


### Book:presence. Even a radical like Robespierre, who had briefly come to


### Book:power during the French Revolution fifty years earlier, had understood


### Book:this, and certainly Napoleon, who had turned the revolutionary republic


### Book:into an imperial regime, had known it in his bones. Indeed as soon as


### Book:Louis-Philippe fled the stage, the French revealed their true desire: They


### Book:elected Napoleon’s grand-nephew president. He was a virtual unknown,


### Book:but they hoped he would re-create the great general’s powerful aura,


### Book:erasing the awkward memory of the “bourgeois king.”


### Book:Powerful people may be tempted to affect a common-man aura, trying


### Book:to create the illusion that they and their subjects or underlings are


### Book:basically the same. But the people whom this false gesture is intended to


### Book:impress will quickly see through it. They understand that they are not


### Book:being given more power—that it only appears as if they shared in the


### Book:powerful person’s fate. The only kind of common touch that works is the


### Book:kind affected by Franklin Roosevelt, a style that said the president shared


### Book:values and goals with the common people even while he remained apatrician at heart. He never pretended to erase his distance from the


### Book:crowd.


### Book:Leaders who try to dissolve that distance through a false chumminess


### Book:gradually lose the ability to inspire loyalty, fear, or love. Instead they


### Book:elicit contempt. Like Louis-Philippe, they are too uninspiring even to be


### Book:worth the guillotine—the best they can do is simply vanish in the night,


### Book:as if they were never there.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:When Christopher Columbus was trying to find funding for his


### Book:legendary voyages, many around him believed he came from the Italian


### Book:aristocracy. This view was passed into history through a biography


### Book:written after the explorer’s death by his son, which describes him as a


### Book:descendant of a Count Colombo of the Castle of Cuccaro in Montferrat.


### Book:Colombo in turn was said to be descended from the legendary Roman


### Book:general Colonius, and two of his first cousins were supposedly direct


### Book:descendants of an emperor of Con stantinople. An illustrious background


### Book:indeed. But it was nothing more than illustrious fantasy, for Columbus


### Book:was actually the son of Domenico Colombo, a humble weaver who had


### Book:opened a wine shop when Christopher was a young man, and who then


### Book:made his living by selling cheese.


### Book:Columbus himself had created the myth of his noble background,


### Book:because from early on he felt that destiny had singled him out for great


### Book:things, and that he had a kind of royalty in his blood. Accordingly he


### Book:acted as if he were indeed descended from noble stock. After an


### Book:uneventful career as a merchant on a commercial vessel, Columbus,


### Book:originally from Genoa, settled in Lisbon. Using the fabricated story of


### Book:his noble background, he married into an established Lisbon family that


### Book:had excellent connections with Portuguese royalty.


### Book:Through his in-laws, Columbus finagled a meeting with the king of


### Book:Portugal, Joao II, whom he petitioned to finance a westward voyage


### Book:aimed at discovering a shorter route to Asia. In return for announcing


### Book:that any discoveries he achieved would be made in the king’s name,


### Book:Columbus wanted a series of rights: the title Grand Admiral of the


### Book:Oceanic Sea; the office of viceroy over any lands he found; and 10


### Book:percent of the future commerce with such lands. All of these rights wereto be hereditary and for all time. Columbus made these demands even


### Book:though he had previously been a mere merchant, he knew almost nothing


### Book:about navigation, he could not work a quadrant, and he had never led a


### Book:group of men. In short he had absolutely no qualifications for the journey


### Book:he proposed. Furthermore, his petition included no details as to how he


### Book:would accomplish his plans, just vague promises.


### Book:When Columbus finished his pitch, João II smiled: He politely


### Book:declined the offer, but left the door open for the future. Here Columbus


### Book:must have noticed something he would never forget: Even as the king


### Book:turned down the sailor’s demands, he treated them as legitimate. He


### Book:neither laughed at Columbus nor questioned his background and


### Book:credentials. In fact the king was impressed by the boldness of


### Book:Columbus’s requests, and clearly felt comfortable in the company of a


### Book:man who acted so confidently. The meeting must have convinced


### Book:Columbus that his instincts were correct: By asking for the moon, he had


### Book:instantly raised his own status, for the king assumed that unless a man


### Book:who set such a high price on himself were mad, which Columbus did not


### Book:appear to be, he must somehow be worth it.


### Book:HIPPOFIDES IT SI


### Book:In the next generation the family became much more famous than before


### Book:through the distinction conferred upon it by Cleisthenes the master of


### Book:Sicyon. Cleisthenes… had a daughter, Agarista, whom he wished to


### Book:marry to the best man in all Greece. So during the Olympic games, in


### Book:which he had himself won the chariot race, he had a public


### Book:announcement made, to the effect that any Greek who thought himself


### Book:good enough to become Cleisthenes’ son-in-law should present himself


### Book:in Sicyon within sixty days—or sooner if he wished—because he


### Book:intended, within the year following the sixtieth day, to betroth his


### Book:daughter to her future husband. Cleisthenes had had a race-track and a


### Book:wrestling-ring specially made for his purpose, and presently the suitors


### Book:began to arrive—every man of Greek nationality who had something to


### Book:be proud of either in his country or in himself…. Cleisthenes began by


### Book:asking each [of the numerous suitors] in turn to name his country and


### Book:parentage; then he kept them in his house for a year, to get to know them


### Book:well, entering into conversation with them sometimes singly, sometimes


### Book:all together, and testing each of them for his manly qualities and temper,


### Book:education and manners…. But the most important test of all was their


### Book:behaviour at the dinner-table. All this went on throughout their stay inSicyon, and all the time he entertained them handsomely. For one reason


### Book:or another it was the two Athenians who impressed Cleisthenes most


### Book:favourably, and of the two Tisander’s son Hippocleides came to be


### Book:preferred…. At last the day came which had been fixed for the betrothal,


### Book:and Cleisthenes had to declare his choice. He nzarked the day by the


### Book:sacrifice of a hundred oxen, and then gave a great banquet, to which not


### Book:only the suitors but everyone of note in Sicyon was invited. When dinner


### Book:was over, the suitors began to compete with each other in music and in


### Book:talking in company. In both these accomplishments it was Hippocleides


### Book:who proved by far the doughtiest champion, until at last, as more and


### Book:more wine was drunk, he asked the flute-player to play him a tune and


### Book:began to dance to it. Now it may well be that he danced to his own


### Book:satisfaction; Cleisthenes, however, who was watching the performance,


### Book:began to have serious doubts about the whole business. Presently, after a


### Book:brief pause, Hippocleides sent for a table; the table was brought, and


### Book:Hippocleides, climbing on to it, danced first some Laconian dances, next


### Book:some Attic ones, and ended by standing on his head and beating time


### Book:with his legs in the air The Laconian and Attic dances were bad enough;


### Book:but Cleisthenes, though he already loathed the thought of having a son-


### Book:in-law like that, nevertheless restrained himself and managed to avoid an


### Book:outburst; but when he saw Hippocleides beating time with his legs, he


### Book:could bear it no longer. “Son of Tisander, ”he cried, “you have danced


### Book:away your marriage. ”


### Book:THE HISTORIES, Herodotus, FIFTH CENTURY B.C.


### Book:A few years later Columbus moved to Spain. Using his Portuguese


### Book:connections, he moved in elevated circles at the Spanish court, receiving


### Book:subsidies from illustrious financiers and sharing tables with dukes and


### Book:princes. To all these men he repeated his request for financing for a


### Book:voyage to the west—and also for the rights he had demanded from João


### Book:II. Some, such as the powerful duke of Medina, wanted to help, but


### Book:could not, since they lacked the power to grant him the titles and rights


### Book:he wanted. But Columbus would not back down. He soon realized that


### Book:only one person could meet his demands: Queen Isabella. In 1487 he


### Book:finally managed a meeting with the queen, and although he could not


### Book:convince her to finance the voyage, he completely charmed her, and


### Book:became a frequent guest in the palace.


### Book:In 1492 the Spanish finally expelled the Moorish invaders who


### Book:centuries earlier had seized parts of the country. With the wartime burden


### Book:on her treasury lifted, Isabella felt she could finally respond to the


### Book:demands of her explorer friend, and she decided to pay for three ships,equipment, the salaries of the crews, and a modest stipend for Columbus.


### Book:More important, she had a contract drawn up that granted Columbus the


### Book:titles and rights on which he had insisted. The only one she denied—and


### Book:only in the contract’s fine print—was the 10 percent of all revenues from


### Book:any lands discovered: an absurd demand, since he wanted no time limit


### Book:on it. (Had the clause been left in, it would eventually have made


### Book:Columbus and his heirs the wealthiest family on the planet. Columbus


### Book:never read the fine print.)


### Book:Satisfied that his demands had been met, Columbus set sail that same


### Book:year in search of the passage to Asia. (Before he left he was careful to


### Book:hire the best navigator he could find to help him get there.) The mission


### Book:failed to find such a passage, yet when Columbus petitioned the queen to


### Book:finance an even more ambitious voyage the following year, she agreed.


### Book:By then she had come to see Columbus as destined for great things.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:As an explorer Columbus was mediocre at best. He knew less about the


### Book:sea than did the average sailor on his ships, could never determine the


### Book:latitude and longitude of his discoveries, mistook islands for vast


### Book:continents, and treated his crew badly. But in one area he was a genius:


### Book:He knew how to sell himsel£ How else to explain how the son of a


### Book:cheese vendor, a low-level sea merchant, managed to ingratiate himself


### Book:with the highest royal and aristocratic families?


### Book:Columbus had an amazing power to charm the nobility, and it all came


### Book:from the way he carried himself. He projected a sense of confidence that


### Book:was completely out of proportion to his means. Nor was his confidence


### Book:the aggressive, ugly self-promotion of an upstart—it was a quiet and


### Book:calm self-assurance. In fact it was the same confidence usually shown by


### Book:the nobility themselves. The powerful in the old-style aristocracies felt


### Book:no need to prove or assert themselves; being noble, they knew they


### Book:always deserved more, and asked for it. With Columbus, then, they felt


### Book:an instant affinity, for he carried himself just the way they did—elevated


### Book:above the crowd, destined for greatness.


### Book:Understand: It is within your power to set your own price. How you


### Book:carry yourself reflects what you think of yourself. If you ask for little,


### Book:shuffle your feet and lower your head, people will assume this reflects


### Book:your character. But this behavior is not you—it is only how you have


### Book:chosen to present yourself to other people. You can just as easily presentthe Columbus front: buoyancy, confidence, and the feeling that you were


### Book:born to wear a crown.


### Book:With all great deceivers there is a noteworthy occurrence to which


### Book:they owe their power. In the actual act of deception they are overcome by


### Book:belief in themselves: it is this which then speaks so miraculously and


### Book:compellingly to those around them.


### Book:Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:As children, we start our lives with great exuberance, expecting and


### Book:demanding everything from the world. This generally carries over into


### Book:our first forays into society, as we begin our careers. But as we grow


### Book:older the rebuffs and failures we experience set up boundaries that only


### Book:get firmer with time. Coming to expect less from the world, we accept


### Book:limitations that are really self-imposed. We start to bow and scrape and


### Book:apologize for even the simplest of requests. The solution to such a


### Book:shrinking of horizons is to deliberately force ourselves in the opposite


### Book:direction—to downplay the failures and ignore the limitations, to make


### Book:ourselves demand and expect as much as the child. To accomplish this,


### Book:we must use a particular strategy upon ourselves. Call it the Strategy of


### Book:the Crown.


### Book:The Strategy of the Crown is based on a simple chain of cause and


### Book:effect: If we believe we are destined for great things, our belief will


### Book:radiate outward, just as a crown creates an aura around a king. This


### Book:outward radiance will infect the people around us, who will think we


### Book:must have reasons to feel so confident. People who wear crowns seem to


### Book:feel no inner sense of the limits to what they can ask for or what they can


### Book:accomplish. This too radiates outward. Limits and boundaries disappear.


### Book:Use the Strategy of the Crown and you will be surprised how often it


### Book:bears fruit. Take as an example those happy children who ask for


### Book:whatever they want, and get it. Their high expectations are their charm.


### Book:Adults enjoy granting their wishes—just as Isabella enjoyed granting the


### Book:wishes of Columbus.


### Book:Throughout history, people of undistinguished birth—the Theodoras


### Book:of Byzantium, the Columbuses, the Beethovens, the Disraelis—have


### Book:managed to work the Strategy of the Crown, believing so firmly in theirown greatness that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The trick is


### Book:simple: Be overcome by your self-belief. Even while you know you are


### Book:practicing a kind of deception on yourself, act like a king. You are likely


### Book:to be treated as one.


### Book:The crown may separate you from other people, but it is up to you to


### Book:make that separation real: You have to act differently, demonstrating


### Book:your distance from those around you. One way to emphasize your


### Book:difference is to always act with dignity, no matter the circumstance.


### Book:Louis-Philippe gave no sense of being different from other people—he


### Book:was the banker king. And the moment his subjects threatened him, he


### Book:caved in. Everyone sensed this and pounced. Lacking regal dignity and


### Book:firmness of purpose, Louis-Philippe seemed an impostor, and the crown


### Book:was easily toppled from his head.


### Book:Regal bearing should not be confused with arrogance. Arrogance may


### Book:seem the king’s entitlement, but in fact it betrays insecurity. It is the very


### Book:opposite of a royal demeanor.


### Book:Haile Selassie, ruler of Ethiopia for forty or so years beginning in


### Book:1930, was once a young man named Lij Tafari. He came from a noble


### Book:family, but there was no real chance of him coming to power, for he was


### Book:far down the line of succession from the king then on the throne,


### Book:Menelik II. Nevertheless, from an early age he exhibited a self-


### Book:confidence and a royal bearing that surprised everyone around him.


### Book:At the age of fourteen, Tafari went to live at the court, where he


### Book:immediately impressed Menelik and became his favorite. Tafari’s grace


### Book:under fire, his patience, and his calm self-assurance fascinated the king.


### Book:The other young nobles, arrogant, blustery, and envious, would push this


### Book:slight, bookish teenager around. But he never got angry—that would


### Book:have been a sign of insecurity, to which he would not stoop. There were


### Book:already people around him who felt he would someday rise to the top, for


### Book:he acted as if he were already there.


### Book:Years later, in 1936, when the Italian Fascists had taken over Ethiopia


### Book:and Tafari, now called Haile Selassie, was in exile, he addressed the


### Book:League of Nations to plead his country’s case. The Italians in the


### Book:audience heckled him with vulgar abuse, but he maintained his dignified


### Book:pose, as if completely unaffected. This elevated him while making his


### Book:opponents look even uglier. Dignity, in fact, is invariably the mask to


### Book:assume under difficult circumstances: It is as if nothing can affect you,


### Book:and you have all the time in the world to respond. This is an extremely


### Book:powerful pose.A royal demeanor has other uses. Con artists have long known the


### Book:value of an aristocratic front; it either disarms people and makes them


### Book:less suspicious, or else it intimidates them and puts them on the


### Book:defensive—and as Count Victor Lustig knew, once you put a sucker on


### Book:the defensive he is doomed. The con man Yellow Kid Weil, too, would


### Book:often assume the trappings of a man of wealth, along with the


### Book:nonchalance that goes with them. Alluding to some magical method of


### Book:making money, he would stand aloof, like a king, exuding confidence as


### Book:if he really were fabulously rich. The suckers would beg to be in on the


### Book:con, to have a chance at the wealth that he so clearly displayed.


### Book:Finally, to reinforce the inner psychological tricks involved in


### Book:projecting a royal demeanor, there are outward strategies to help you


### Book:create the effect. First, the Columbus Strategy: Always make a bold


### Book:demand. Set your price high and do not waver. Second, in a dignified


### Book:way, go after the highest person in the building. This immediately puts


### Book:you on the same plane as the chief executive you are attacking. It is the


### Book:David and Goliath Strategy: By choosing a great opponent, you create


### Book:the appearance of greatness.


### Book:Third, give a gift of some sort to those above you. This is the strategy


### Book:of those who have a patron: By giving your patron a gift, you are


### Book:essentially saying that the two of you are equal. It is the old con game of


### Book:giving so that you can take. When the Renaissance writer Pietro Aretino


### Book:wanted the Duke of Mantua as his next patron, he knew that if he was


### Book:slavish and sycophantic, the duke would think him unworthy; so he


### Book:approached the duke with gifts, in this case paintings by the writer’s


### Book:good friend Titian. Accepting the gifts created a kind of equality between


### Book:duke and writer: The duke was put at ease by the feeling that he was


### Book:dealing with a man of his own aristocratic stamp. He funded Aretino


### Book:generously. The gift strategy is subtle and brilliant because you do not


### Book:beg: You ask for help in a dignified way that implies equality between


### Book:two people, one of whom just happens to have more money.


### Book:Remember: It is up to you to set your own price. Ask for less and that


### Book:is just what you will get. Ask for more, however, and you send a signal


### Book:that you are worth a king’s ransom. Even those who turn you down


### Book:respect you for your confidence, and that respect will eventually pay off


### Book:in ways you cannot imagine.


### Book:Image: The Crown. Place it upon your head


### Book:and you assume a different pose—tranquil


### Book:yet radiating assurance. Never show


### Book:doubt, never lose your dignity beneaththe crown, or it will not fit. It will seem


### Book:to be destined for one more worthy. Do


### Book:not wait for a coronation; the great


### Book:est emperors crown themselves.


### Book:Authority: Everyone should be royal after his own fashion. Let all your


### Book:actions, even though they are not those of a king, be, in their own sphere,


### Book:worthy of one. Be sublime in your deeds, lofty in your thoughts; and in


### Book:all your doings show that you deserve to be a king even though you are


### Book:not one in reality. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:The idea behind the assumption of regal confidence is to set yourself


### Book:apart from other people, but if you take this too far it will be your


### Book:undoing. Never make the mistake of thinking that you elevate yourself


### Book:by humiliating people. Also, it is never a good idea to loom too high


### Book:above the crowd—you make an easy target. And there are times when an


### Book:aristocratic pose is eminently dangerous.


### Book:Charles I, king of England during the 1640s, faced a profound public


### Book:disenchantment with the institution of monarchy. Revolts erupted


### Book:throughout the country, led by Oliver Cromwell. Had Charles reacted to


### Book:the times with insight, supporting reforms and making a show of


### Book:sacrificing some of his power, history might have been different. Instead


### Book:he reverted to an even more regal pose, seeming outraged by the assault


### Book:on his power and on the divine institution of monarchy. His stiff


### Book:kingliness offended people and spurred on their revolts. And eventuallyCharles lost his head, literally. Understand: You are radiating confidence,


### Book:not arrogance or disdain.


### Book:Finally, it is true that you can sometimes find some power through


### Book:affecting a kind of earthy vulgarity, which will prove amusing by its


### Book:extreme-ness. But to the extent that you win this game by going beyond


### Book:the limits, separating yourself from other people by appearing even more


### Book:vulgar than they are, the game is dangerous: There will always be people


### Book:more vulgar than you, and you will easily be replaced the following


### Book:season by someone younger and worse.LAW 35


### Book:MASTER THE ART OF TIMING


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:Never seem to be in a hurry-hurrying betrays a lack of control over


### Book:yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that


### Book:everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right


### Book:moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to


### Book:power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike


### Book:fiercely when it has reached fruition.


### Book:SERTORIUS’S LESSON


### Book:Sertorius’s strength was now rapidly increasing, for all the tribes


### Book:between the Ebro and the Pyrenees came over to his side, and troops


### Book:came flocking daily to join him from every quarter. At the same time he


### Book:was troubled by the lack of discipline and the overconfidence of these


### Book:newly arrived barbarians, who would shout at him to attack the enemy


### Book:and had no patience with his delaying tactics, and he therefore tried to


### Book:win them over by argument. them over by argument. But when he saw


### Book:that they were discontented and persisted in pressing their demands


### Book:regardless of the circumstances, he let them have their way and allowed


### Book:them to engage the enemy; he hoped that they would suffer a severe


### Book:defeat without being completely crushed, and that this would make them


### Book:better disposed to obey his orders in future. The event turned out as he


### Book:expected and Sertorius came to their rescue, provided a rallying point


### Book:for the fugitives, and led them safely back to his camp. His next step was


### Book:to revive their dejected spirits, and so a few days later he summoned a


### Book:general assembly. Before it he produced two horses, one of them old and


### Book:enfeebled, the other large and lusty and possessing a flowing tail, which


### Book:was remarkable for the thickness and beauty of its hair. By the side of the


### Book:weak horse stood a tall strong man, and by the side of the powerful horse


### Book:a short man of mean physique. At a signal the strong man seized the tailof his horse and tried with all his strength to pull it towards him, as if to


### Book:tear it off, while the weak man began to pull the hairs one by one from


### Book:the tail of the strong horse.


### Book:The strong man, after tugging with all his might to no purpose and


### Book:causing the spectators a great deal of amusement in the process, finally


### Book:gave up the attempt, while the weak man quickly and with very little


### Book:trouble stripped his horse’s tail completely bare. Then Sertorius rose to


### Book:his feet and said, “Now you can see, my friends and allies, that


### Book:perseverance is more effective than brute strength and that there are


### Book:many difficulties that cannot be overcome if you try to do everything at


### Book:once, but which will yield if you master them little by little. The truth is


### Book:that a steady continuous effort is irresistible, for this is the way in which


### Book:Time captures and subdues the greatest powers on earth. Now Time, you


### Book:should remember, is a good friend and ally to those who use their


### Book:intelligence to choose the right moment, but a most dangerous enemy to


### Book:those who rush into action at the wrong one.”


### Book:LIFE OF SERTORIUS, PLUTARCH, C.A.D. 46-120


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:Starting out in life as a nondescript French seminary-school teacher,


### Book:Joseph Fouché wandered from town to town for most of the decade of


### Book:the 1780s, teaching mathematics to young boys. Yet he never completely


### Book:committed himself to the church, never took his vows as a priest—he


### Book:had bigger plans. Patiently waiting for his chance, he kept his options


### Book:open. And when the French Revolution broke out, in 1789, Fouché


### Book:waited no longer: He got rid of his cassock, grew his hair long, and


### Book:became a revolutionary. For this was the spirit of the times. To miss the


### Book:boat at this critical moment could have spelt disaster. Fouché did not


### Book:miss the boat: Befriending the revolutionary leader Robespierre, he


### Book:quickly rose in the rebel ranks. In 1792 the town of Nantes elected


### Book:Fouche to be its representative to the National Convention (created that


### Book:year to frame a new constitution for a French republic).


### Book:When Fouché arrived in Paris to take his seat at the convention, a


### Book:violent rift had broken out between the moderates and the radical


### Book:Jacobins. Fouché sensed that in the long run neither side would emergevictorious. Power rarely ends up in the hands of those who start a


### Book:revolution, or even of those who further it; power sticks to those who


### Book:bring it to a conclusion. That was the side Fouche wanted to be on.


### Book:His sense of timing was uncanny. He started as a moderate, for


### Book:moderates were in the majority. When the time came to decide on


### Book:whether or not to execute Louis XVI, however, he saw that the people


### Book:were clamoring for the king’s head, so he cast the deciding vote—for the


### Book:guillotine. Now he had become a radical. Yet as tensions came to the boil


### Book:in Paris, he foresaw the danger of being too closely associated with any


### Book:one faction, so he accepted a position in the provinces, where he could


### Book:lie low for a while. A few months later he was assigned to the post of


### Book:proconsul in Lyons, where he oversaw the execution of dozens of


### Book:aristocrats. At a certain moment, however, he called a halt to the killings,


### Book:sensing that the mood of the country was turning-and despite the blood


### Book:already on his hands, the citizens of Lyons hailed him as a savior from


### Book:what had become known as the Terror.


### Book:So far Fouché had played his cards brilliantly, but in 1794 his old


### Book:friend Robespierre recalled him to Paris to account for his actions in


### Book:Lyons. Robespierre had been the driving force behind the Terror. He had


### Book:sent heads on both the right and the left rolling, and Fouché, whom he no


### Book:longer trusted, seemed destined to provide the next head. Over the next


### Book:few weeks, a tense struggle ensued: While Robespierre railed openly


### Book:against Fouché, accusing of him dangerous ambitions and calling for his


### Book:arrest, the crafty Fouché worked more indirectly, quietly gaining support


### Book:among those who were beginning to tire of Robespierre’s dictatorial


### Book:control. Fouche was playing for time. He knew that the longer he


### Book:survived, the more disaffected citizens he could rally against


### Book:Robespierre. He had to have broad support before he moved against the


### Book:powerful leader. He rallied support among both the moderates and the


### Book:Jacobins, playing on the widespread fear of Robespierre-everyone was


### Book:afraid of being the next to go to the guillotine. It all came to fruition on


### Book:July 27: The convention turned against Robespierre, shouting down his


### Book:usual lengthy speech. He was quickly arrested, and a few days later it


### Book:was Robespierre’s head, not Fouché’s, that fell into the basket.


### Book:When Fouché returned to the convention after Robespierre’s death, he


### Book:played his most unexpected move: Having led the conspiracy against


### Book:Robespierre, he was expected to sit with the moderates, but lo and


### Book:behold, he once again changed sides, joining the radical Jacobins. For


### Book:perhaps the first time in his life he aligned himself with the minority.


### Book:Clearly he sensed a reaction stirring: He knew that the moderate factionthat had executed Robespierre, and was now about to take power, would


### Book:initiate a new round of the Terror, this time against the radicals. In siding


### Book:with the Jacobins, then, Fouché was sitting with the martyrs of the days


### Book:to come—the people who would be considered blameless in the troubles


### Book:that were on their way. Taking sides with what was about to become the


### Book:losing team was a risky gambit, of course, but Fouché must have


### Book:calculated he could keep his head long enough to quietly stir up the


### Book:populace against the moderates and watch them fall from power. And


### Book:indeed, although the moderates did call for his arrest in December of


### Book:1795, and would have sent him to the guillotine, too much time had


### Book:passed. The executions had become unpopular with the people, and


### Book:Fouché survived the swing of the pendulum one more time.


### Book:A new government took over, the Directoire. It was not, however, a


### Book:Jacobin government, but a moderate one—more moderate than the


### Book:government that had reimposed the Terror. Fouché, the radical, had kept


### Book:his head, but now he had to keep a low profile. He waited patiently on


### Book:the sidelines for several years, allowing time to soften any bitter feelings


### Book:against him, then he approached the Directoire and convinced them he


### Book:had a new passion: intelligence-gathering. He became a paid spy for the


### Book:government, excelled at the job, and in 1799 was rewarded by being


### Book:made minister of police. Now he was not just empowered but required to


### Book:extend his spying to every corner of France—a responsibility that would


### Book:greatly reinforce his natural ability to sniff out where the wind was


### Book:blowing. One of the first social trends he detected, in fact, came in the


### Book:person of Napoleon, a brash young general whose destiny he right away


### Book:saw was entwined with the future of France. When Napoleon unleashed


### Book:a coup d‘etat, on November 9, 1799, Fouche pretended to be asleep.


### Book:Indeed he slept the whole day. For this indirect assistance—it might have


### Book:been thought his job, after all, to prevent a military coup—Napoleon


### Book:kept him on as minister of police in the new regime.


### Book:Over the next few years, Napoleon came to rely on Fouché more and


### Book:more. He even gave this former revolutionary a title, duke of Otranto,


### Book:and rewarded him with great wealth. By 1808, however, Fouché, always


### Book:attuned to the times, sensed that Napoleon was on the downswing. His


### Book:futile war with Spain, a country that posed no threat to France, was a


### Book:sign that he was losing a sense of proportion. Never one to be caught on


### Book:a sinking ship, Fouché conspired with Talleyrand to bring about


### Book:Napoleon’s downfall. Although the conspiracy failed—Talleyrand was


### Book:fired; Fouché stayed, but was kept on a tight leash—it publicized a


### Book:growing discontent with the emperor, who seemed to be losing control.By 1814 Napoleon’s power had crumbled and allied forces finally


### Book:conquered him.


### Book:The next government was a restoration of the monarchy, in the form of


### Book:King Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI. Fouché, his nose always


### Book:sniffing the air for the next social shift, knew Louis would not last long


### Book:—he had none of Napoleon’s flair. Fouché once again played his waiting


### Book:game, lying low, staying away from the spotlight. Sure enough, in


### Book:February of 1815, Napoleon escaped from the island of Elba, where he


### Book:had been imprisoned. Louis XVIII panicked: His policies had alienated


### Book:the citizenry, who were clamoring for Napoleon’s return. So Louis turned


### Book:to the one man who could maybe have saved his hide, Fouché, the


### Book:former radical who had sent his brother, Louis XVI, to the guillotine, but


### Book:was now one of the most popular and widely admired politicians in


### Book:France. Fouché, however, would not side with a loser: He refused


### Book:Louis’s request for help by pretending that his help was unnecessary—by


### Book:swearing that Napoleon would never return to power (although he knew


### Book:otherwise). A short time later, of course, Napoleon and his new citizen


### Book:army were closing in on Paris.


### Book:Seeing his reign about to collapse, feeling that Fouché had betrayed


### Book:him, and certain that he did not want this powerful and able man on


### Book:Napoleon’s team, King Louis ordered the minister’s arrest and execution.


### Book:On March 16, 1815, policemen surrounded Fouché’s coach on a Paris


### Book:boulevard. Was this finally his end? Perhaps, but not immediately:


### Book:Fouché told the police that an ex-member of government could not be


### Book:arrested on the street. They fell for the story and allowed him to return


### Book:home. Later that day, though, they came to his house and once again


### Book:declared him under arrest. Fouché nodded—but would the officers be so


### Book:kind as allow a gentleman to wash and to change his clothes before


### Book:leaving his house for the last time? They gave their permission, Fouché


### Book:left the room, and the minutes went by. Fouché did not return. Finally the


### Book:policemen went into the next room—where they saw a ladder against an


### Book:open window, leading down to the garden below.


### Book:That day and the next the police combed Paris for Fouche, but by then


### Book:Napoleon’s cannons were audible in the distance and the king and all the


### Book:king’s men had to flee the city. As soon as Napoleon entered Paris,


### Book:Fouché came out of hiding. He had cheated the executioner once again.


### Book:Napoleon greeted his former minister of police and gladly restored him


### Book:to his old post. During the 100 days that Napoleon remained in power,


### Book:until Waterloo, it was essentially Fouché who governed France. After


### Book:Napoleon fell, Louis XVIII returned to the throne, and like a cat withnine lives, Fouche stayed on to serve in yet another government—by


### Book:then his power and influence had grown so great that not even the king


### Book:dared challenge him.


### Book:Mr. Shih had two sons: one loved learning; the other war. The first


### Book:expounded his moral teachings at the admiring court of Ch‘i and was


### Book:made a tutor, while the second talked strategy at the bellicose court of


### Book:Ch’u and was made a general. The impecunious Mr. Meng, hearing of


### Book:these successes, sent his own two sons out to follow the example of the


### Book:Shih boys. The first expounded his moral teachings at the court ofCh‘in,


### Book:but the King of Ch’in said: “At present the states are quarreling violently


### Book:and every prince is busy arming his troops to the teeth. If I followed this


### Book:prig’s pratings we should soon be annihilated.” So he had the fellow


### Book:castrated. Meanwhile, the second brother displayed his military genius


### Book:at the court of Wei. But the King of Wei said: “Mine is a weak state. If I


### Book:relied on force instead of diplomacy, we should soon be wiped out. If, on


### Book:the other hand, I let this fire-eater go, he will offer his services to


### Book:another state and then we shall be in trouble.” So he had the fellow’s feet


### Book:cut off Both.families did exactly the same thing, but one timed it right,


### Book:the other wrong. Thtts success depends not on ratiocination but on


### Book:rhythm.


### Book:LlEH TZU. QUOTED IN THE CHINESE LOOKING GLASS. DENNIS


### Book:BLOODWORTH, 1967


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:In a period of unprecedented turmoil, Joseph Fouché thrived through his


### Book:mastery of the art of timing. He teaches us a number of key lessons.


### Book:First, it is critical to recognize the spirit of the times. Fouché always


### Book:looked two steps ahead, found the wave that would carry him to power,


### Book:and rode it. You must always work with the times, anticipate twists and


### Book:turns, and never miss the boat. Sometimes the spirit of the times is


### Book:obscure: Recognize it not by what is loudest and most obvious in it, but


### Book:by what lies hidden and dormant. Look forward to the Napoleons of the


### Book:future rather than holding on to the ruins of the past.


### Book:Second, recognizing the prevailing winds does not necessarily mean


### Book:running with them. Any potent social movement creates a powerful


### Book:reaction, and it is wise to anticipate what that reaction will be, as Fouché


### Book:did after the execution of Robespierre. Rather than ride the cresting wave


### Book:of the moment, wait for the tide’s ebb to carry you back to power. Uponoccasion bet on the reaction that is brewing, and place yourself in the


### Book:vanguard of it.


### Book:Finally, Fouché had remarkable patience. Without patience as your


### Book:sword and shield, your timing will fail and you will inevitably find


### Book:yourself a loser. When the times were against Fouché, he did not


### Book:struggle, get emotional, or strike out rashly. He kept his cool and


### Book:maintained a low profile, patiently building support among the citizenry,


### Book:the bulwark in his next rise to power. Whenever he found himself in the


### Book:weaker position, he played for time, which he knew would always be his


### Book:ally if he was patient. Recognize the moment, then, to hide in the grass


### Book:or slither under a rock, as well as the moment to bare your fangs and


### Book:attack.


### Book:Space we can recover, time never.


### Book:Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:Time is an artificial concept that we ourselves have created to make the


### Book:limitlessness of eternity and the universe more bearable, more human.


### Book:Since we have constructed the concept of time, we are also able to mold


### Book:it to some degree, to play tricks with it. The time of a child is long and


### Book:slow, with vast expanses; the time of an adult whizzes by frighteningly


### Book:fast. Time, then, depends on perception, which, we know, can be


### Book:willfully altered. This is the first thing to understand in mastering the art


### Book:of timing. If the inner turmoil caused by our emotions tends to make time


### Book:move faster, it follows that once we control our emotional responses to


### Book:events, time will move much more slowly. This altered way of dealing


### Book:with things tends to lengthen our perception of future time, opens up


### Book:possibilities that fear and anger close off, and allows us the patience that


### Book:is the principal requirement in the art of timing.


### Book:The sultan [of Persia] had sentenced two men to death. One of them,


### Book:knowing how much the sultan loved his stallion, offered to teach the


### Book:horse to fly within a year in return for his life. The sultan, fancying


### Book:himself as the rider of the only flying horse in the world, agreed. The


### Book:other prisoner looked at his friend in disbelief “You know horses don’t


### Book:fly. What made you come up with a crazv idea like that? You’re onlypostponing the inevitable.” “Not so, ” said the (first prisoner]. “I have


### Book:actuallv given myself four chances for freedom. First, the sultan might


### Book:die during the year. Second, I might die. Third, the horse might die. And


### Book:fourth … I might teach the horse to fly!”


### Book:THE CRAFT OF POWER, R.G.H. SIU, 1979


### Book:There are three kinds of time for us to deal with; each presents


### Book:problems that can be solved with skill and practice. First there is long


### Book:time: the drawn-out, years-long kind of time that must be managed with


### Book:patience and gentle guidance. Our handling of long time should be


### Book:mostly defensive—this is the art of not reacting impulsively, of waiting


### Book:for opportunity.


### Book:Next there is forced time: the short-term time that we can manipulate as


### Book:an offensive weapon, upsetting the timing of our opponents. Finally there


### Book:is end time, when a plan must be executed with speed and force. We have


### Book:waited, found the moment, and must not hesitate.


### Book:Long Time. The famous seventeenth-century Ming painter Chou Yung


### Book:relates a story that altered his behavior forever. Late one winter afternoon


### Book:he set out to visit a town that lay across the river from his own town. He


### Book:was bringing some important books and papers with him and had


### Book:commissioned a young boy to help him carry them. As the ferry neared


### Book:the other side of the river, Chou Yung asked the boatman if they would


### Book:have time to get to the town before its gates closed, since it was a mile


### Book:away and night was approaching. The boatman glanced at the boy, and at


### Book:the bundle of loosely tied papers and books—“Yes,” he replied, “if you


### Book:do not walk too fast.”


### Book:As they started out, however, the sun was setting. Afraid of being


### Book:locked out of the town at night, prey to local bandits, Chou and the boy


### Book:walked faster and faster, finally breaking into a run. Suddenly the string


### Book:around the papers broke and the documents scattered on the ground. It


### Book:took them many minutes to put the packet together again, and by the


### Book:time they had reached the city gates, it was too late.


### Book:When you force the pace out of fear and impatience, you create a nest


### Book:of problems that require fixing, and you end up taking much longer than


### Book:if you had taken your time. Hurriers may occasionally get there quicker,


### Book:but papers fly everywhere, new dangers arise, and they find themselves


### Book:in constant crisis mode, fixing the problems that they themselves have


### Book:created. Sometimes not acting in the face of danger is your best move—you wait, you deliberately slow down. As time passes it will eventually


### Book:present opportunities you had not imagined.


### Book:Waiting involves controlling not only your own emotions but those of


### Book:your colleagues, who, mistaking action for power, may try to push you


### Book:into making rash moves. In your rivals, on the other hand, you can


### Book:encourage this same mistake: If you let them rush headlong into trouble


### Book:while you stand back and wait, you will soon find ripe moments to


### Book:intervene and pick up the pieces. This wise policy was the principal


### Book:strategy of the great early-seventeenth-century emperor Tokugawa


### Book:Ieyasu of Japan. When his predecessor, the headstrong Hideyoshi, whom


### Book:he served as a general, staged a rash invasion of Korea, Ieyasu did not


### Book:involve himself. He knew the invasion would be a disaster and would


### Book:lead to Hideyoshi’s downfall. Better to stand patiently on the sidelines,


### Book:even for many years, and then be in position to seize power when the


### Book:time is right—exactly what Ieyasu did, with great artistry.


### Book:THE TROUT AND THE GUDGEON


### Book:A fisherman in the month of May stood angling on the bank of the


### Book:Thames with an artificial fly. He threw his bait with so much art, that a


### Book:young trout was rushing toward it, when she was prevented by her


### Book:mother. “Never,” said she, “my child, be too precipitate, where there is a


### Book:possibility of danger. Take due time to consider, before you risk an action


### Book:that may be fatal. How know you whether yon appearance be indeed a


### Book:fly, or the snare of an enemy? Let someone else make the experiment


### Book:before you. If it be a fly, he will very probably elude the first attack: and


### Book:the second may be made, if not with success, at least with safety.” She


### Book:had no sooner spoken, than a gudgeon seized the pretended fly, and


### Book:became an example to the giddy daughter of the importance of her


### Book:mother’s counsel.


### Book:FABLES, ROBERT DODSLEY, 1703-1764


### Book:You do not deliberately slow time down to live longer, or to take more


### Book:pleasure in the moment, but the better to play the game of power. First,


### Book:when your mind is uncluttered by constant emergencies you will see


### Book:further into the future. Second, you will be able to resist the baits that


### Book:people dangle in front of you, and will keep yourself from becoming


### Book:another impatient sucker. Third, you will have more room to be flexible.


### Book:Opportunities will inevitably arise that you had not expected and would


### Book:have missed had you forced the pace. Fourth, you will not move fromone deal to the next without completing the first one. To build your


### Book:power’s foundation can take years; make sure that foundation is secure.


### Book:Do not be a flash in the pan—success that is built up slowly and surely is


### Book:the only kind that lasts.


### Book:Finally, slowing time down will give you a perspective on the times


### Book:you live in, letting you take a certain distance and putting you in a less


### Book:emotionally charged position to see the shapes of things to come.


### Book:Hurriers will often mistake surface phenomena for a real trend, seeing


### Book:only what they want to see. How much better to see what is really


### Book:happening, even if it is unpleasant or makes your task harder.


### Book:Forced Time. The trick in forcing time is to upset the timing of others—


### Book:to make them hurry, to make them wait, to make them abandon their own


### Book:pace, to distort their perception of time. By upsetting the timing of your


### Book:opponent while you stay patient, you open up time for yourself, which is


### Book:half the game.


### Book:In 1473 the great Turkish sultan Mehmed the Conqueror invited


### Book:negotiations with Hungary to end the off-and-on war the two countries


### Book:had waged for years. When the Hungarian emissary arrived in Turkey to


### Book:start the talks, Turkish officials humbly apologized—Mehmed had just


### Book:left Istanbul, the capital, to battle his longtime foe, Uzun Hasan. But he


### Book:urgently wanted peace with Hungary, and had asked that the emissary


### Book:join him at the front.


### Book:When the emissary arrived at the site of the fighting, Mehmed had


### Book:already left it, moving eastward in pursuit of his swift foe. This happened


### Book:several times. Wherever the emissary stopped, the Turks lavished gifts


### Book:and banquets on him, in pleasurable but time-consuming ceremonies.


### Book:Finally Mehmed defeated Uzun and met with the emissary. Yet his terms


### Book:for peace with Hungary were excessively harsh. After a few days, the


### Book:negotiations ended, and the usual stalemate remained in place. But this


### Book:was fine with Mehmed. In fact he had planned it that way all along:


### Book:Plotting his campaign against Uzun, he had seen that diverting his armies


### Book:to the east would leave his western flank vulnerable. To prevent Hungary


### Book:from taking advantage of his weakness and his preoccupation elsewhere,


### Book:he first dangled the lure of peace before his enemy, then made them wait


### Book:—all on his own terms.


### Book:Making people wait is a powerful way of forcing time, as long as they


### Book:do not figure out what you are up to. You control the clock, they linger in


### Book:limbo—and rapidly come unglued, opening up opportunities for you to


### Book:strike. The opposite effect is equally powerful: You make youropponents hurry. Start off your dealings with them slowly, then suddenly


### Book:apply pressure, making them feel that everything is happening at once.


### Book:People who lack the time to think will make mistakes—so set their


### Book:deadlines for them. This was the technique Machiavelli admired in


### Book:Cesare Borgia, who, during negotiations, would suddenly press


### Book:vehemently for a decision, upsetting his opponent’s timing and patience.


### Book:For who would dare make Cesare wait?


### Book:Joseph Duveen, the famous art dealer, knew that if he gave an


### Book:indecisive buyer like John D. Rockefeller a deadline—the painting had


### Book:to leave the country, another tycoon was interested in it—the client


### Book:would buy just in time. Freud noticed that patients who had spent years


### Book:in psychoanalysis without improvement would miraculously recover just


### Book:in time if he fixed a definite date for the end of the therapy. Jacques


### Book:Lacan, the famous French psychoanalyst, used a variation on this tactic


### Book:—he would sometimes end the customary hour session of therapy after


### Book:only ten minutes, without warning. After this happened several times, the


### Book:patient would realize that he had better make maximum use of the time,


### Book:rather than wasting much of the hour with a lot of talk that meant


### Book:nothing. The deadline, then, is a powerful tool. Close off the vistas of


### Book:indecision and force people to make up their damn minds or get to the


### Book:point never let them make you play on their excruciating terms. Never


### Book:give them time.


### Book:Magicians and showmen are experts in forcing time. Houdini could


### Book:often wriggle free of handcuffs in minutes, but he would draw the escape


### Book:out to an hour, making the audience sweat, as time came to an apparent


### Book:standstill. Magicians have always known that the best way to alter our


### Book:perception of time is often to slow down the pace. Creating suspense


### Book:brings time to a terrifying pause: The slower the magician’s hands move,


### Book:the easier it is to create the illusion of speed, making people think the


### Book:rabbit has appeared instantaneously. The great nineteenth-century


### Book:magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin took explicit notice of this effect:


### Book:“The more slowly a story is told,” he said, “the shorter it seems.”


### Book:Going slower also makes what you are doing more interesting—the


### Book:audience yields to your pace, becomes entranced. It is a state in which


### Book:time whizzes delightfully by. You must practice such illusions, which


### Book:share in the hypnotist’s power to alter perceptions of time.


### Book:End Time. You can play the game with the utmost artistry—waiting


### Book:patiently for the right moment to act, putting your competitors off their


### Book:form by messing with their timing—but it won’t mean a thing unless youknow how to finish. Do not be one of those people who look like


### Book:paragons of patience but are actually just afraid to bring things to a close:


### Book:Patience is worthless unless combined with a willingness to fall


### Book:ruthlessly on your opponent at the right moment. You can wait as long as


### Book:necessary for the conclusion to come, but when it comes it must come


### Book:quickly. Use speed to paralyze your opponent, cover up any mistakes


### Book:you might make, and impress people with your aura of authority and


### Book:finality.


### Book:With the patience of a snake charmer, you draw the snake out with


### Book:calm and steady rhythms. Once the snake is out, though, would you


### Book:dangle your foot above its deadly head? There is never a good reason to


### Book:allow the slightest hitch in your endgame. Your mastery of timing can


### Book:really only be judged by how you work with end time—how you quickly


### Book:change the pace and bring things to a swift and definitive conclusion.


### Book:Image: The Hawk. Patiently and silently it circles the sky, high


### Book:above, all-seeing with its powerful eyes. Those below have


### Book:no awareness that they are being tracked. Suddenly,


### Book:when the moment arrives, the hawk swoops


### Book:down with a speed that cannot be de


### Book:fended against; before its prey


### Book:knows what has happened,


### Book:the bird’s viselike talons


### Book:have carried it


### Book:up into the


### Book:sky.


### Book:Authority: There is a tide in the affairs of men, / Which, taken at the


### Book:flood, leads on to fortune; / Omitted, all the voyage of their life / Is


### Book:bound in shallows and in miseries. (Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare,


### Book:1564-1616)REVERSAL


### Book:There is no power to be gained in letting go of the reins and adapting to


### Book:whatever time brings. To some degree you must guide time or you will


### Book:be its merciless victim. There is accordingly no reversal to this law.LAW 36


### Book:DISDAIN THINGS YOU CANNOT HAVE:


### Book:IGNORING THEM IS THE BEST REVENGE


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility.


### Book:The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a