### Book:belittle it, playing on the timeless antagonism between the generations,


### Book:stirring up the young against the old. For this you need a convenient


### Book:older figure to pillory. Mao Tse-tung, confronting a culture that fiercelyresisted change, played on the suppressed resentment against the


### Book:overbearing presence of the venerable Confucius in Chinese culture.


### Book:John F. Kennedy knew the dangers of getting lost in the past; he radically


### Book:distinguished his presidency from that of his predecessor, Dwight D.


### Book:Eisenhower, and also from the preceding decade, the 1950s, which


### Book:Eisenhower personified. Kennedy, for instance, would not play the dull


### Book:and fatherly game of golf—a symbol of retirement and privilege, and


### Book:Eisenhower’s passion. Instead he played football on the White House


### Book:lawn. In every aspect his administration represented vigor and youth, as


### Book:opposed to the stodgy Eisenhower. Kennedy had discovered an old truth:


### Book:The young are easily set against the old, since they yearn to make their


### Book:own place in the world and resent the shadow of their fathers.


### Book:The distance you establish from your predecessor often demands some


### Book:symbolism, a way of advertising itself publicly. Louis XIV, for example,


### Book:created such symbolism when he rejected the traditional palace of the


### Book:French kings and built his own palace of Versailles. King Philip II of


### Book:Spain did the same when he created his center of power, the palace of El


### Book:Escorial, in what was then the middle of nowhere. But Louis carried the


### Book:game further: He would not be a king like his father or earlier ancestors,


### Book:he would not wear a crown or carry a scepter or sit on a throne, he would


### Book:establish a new kind of imposing authority with symbols and rituals of


### Book:its own. Louis made his ancestors’ rituals into laughable relics of the


### Book:past. Follow his example: Never let yourself be seen as following your


### Book:predecessor’s path. If you do you will never surpass him. You must


### Book:physically demonstrate your difference, by establishing a style and


### Book:symbolism that sets you apart.


### Book:The Roman emperor Augustus, successor to Julius Caesar, understood


### Book:this thoroughly. Caesar had been a great general, a theatrical figure


### Book:whose spectacles kept the Romans entertained, an international emissary


### Book:seduced by the charms of Cleopatra—a larger-than-life figure. So


### Book:Augustus, despite his own theatrical tendencies, competed with Caesar


### Book:not by trying to outdo him but by differentiating himself from him: He


### Book:based his power on a return to Roman simplicity, an austerity of both


### Book:style and substance. Against the memory of Caesar’s sweeping presence


### Book:Augustus posed a quiet and manly dignity.


### Book:The problem with the overbearing predecessor is that he fills the vistas


### Book:before you with symbols of the past. You have no room to create your


### Book:own name. To deal with this situation you need to hunt out the vacuums


### Book:—those areas in culture that have been left vacant and in which you can


### Book:become the first and principal figure to shine.When Pericles of Athens was about to launch a career as a statesman,


### Book:he looked for the one thing that was missing in Athenian politics. Most


### Book:of the great politicians of his time had allied themselves with the


### Book:aristocracy; indeed Pericles himself had aristocratic tendencies. Yet he


### Book:decided to throw in his hat with the city’s democratic elements. The


### Book:choice had nothing to do with his personal beliefs, but it launched him on


### Book:a brilliant career. Out of necessity he became a man of the people.


### Book:Instead of competing in an arena filled with great leaders both past and


### Book:present, he would make a name for himself where no shadows could


### Book:obscure his presence.


### Book:When the painter Diego de Velázquez began his career, he knew he


### Book:could not compete in refinement and technique with the great


### Book:Renaissance painters who had come before him. Instead he chose to


### Book:work in a style that by the standards of the time seemed coarse and


### Book:rough, in a way that had never been seen before. And in this style he


### Book:excelled. There were members of the Spanish court who wanted to


### Book:demonstrate their own break with the past; the newness of Velázquez’s


### Book:style thrilled them. Most people are afraid to break so boldly with


### Book:tradition, but they secretly admire those who can break up the old forms


### Book:and reinvigorate the culture. This is why there is so much power to be


### Book:gained from entering vacuums and voids.


### Book:There is a kind of stubborn stupidity that recurs throughout history,


### Book:and is a strong impediment to power: The superstitious belief that if the


### Book:person before you succeeded by doing A, B, and C, you can re-create


### Book:their success by doing the same thing. This cookie-cutter approach will


### Book:seduce the uncreative, for it is easy, and appeals to their timidity and


### Book:their laziness. But circumstances never repeat themselves exactly.


### Book:When General Douglas MacArthur assumed command of American


### Book:forces in the Philippines during World War II, an assistant handed him a


### Book:book containing the various precedents established by the commanders


### Book:before him, the methods that had been successful for them. MacArthur


### Book:asked the assistant how many copies there were of this book. Six, the


### Book:assistant answered. “Well,” the general replied, “you get all those six


### Book:copies together and burn them—every one of them. I’ll not be bound by


### Book:precedents. Any time a problem comes up, I’ll make the decision at once


### Book:—immediately.” Adopt this ruthless strategy toward the past: Burn all


### Book:the books, and train yourself to react to circumstances as they happen.


### Book:You may believe that you have separated yourself from the


### Book:predecessor or father figure, but as you grow older you must be eternally


### Book:vigilant lest you become the father you had rebelled against. As a youngman, Mao Tse-tung disliked his father and in the struggle against him


### Book:found his own identity and a new set of values. But as he aged, his


### Book:father’s ways crept back in. Mao’s father had valued manual work over


### Book:intellect; Mao had scoffed at this as a young man, but as he grew older


### Book:he unconsciously returned to his father’s views and echoed such outdated


### Book:ideas by forcing a whole generation of Chinese intellectuals into manual


### Book:labor, a nightmarish mistake that cost his regime dearly. Remember: You


### Book:are your own father. Do not let yourself spend years creating yourself


### Book:only to let your guard down and allow the ghost of the past—father,


### Book:habit, history—to sneak back in.


### Book:Finally, as noted in the story of Louis XV, plenitude and prosperity


### Book:tend to make us lazy and inactive: When our power is secure we have no


### Book:need to act. This is a serious danger, especially for those who achieve


### Book:success and power at an early age. The playwright Tennessee Williams,


### Book:for instance, found himself skyrocketed from obscurity to fame by the


### Book:success of The Glass Menagerie. “The sort of life which I had had


### Book:previous to this popular success,” he later wrote, “was one that required


### Book:endurance, a life of clawing and scratching, but it was a good life


### Book:because it was the sort of life for which the human organism is created. I


### Book:was not aware of how much vital energy had gone into this struggle until


### Book:the struggle was removed. This was security at last. I sat down and


### Book:looked about me and was suddenly very depressed.” Williams had a


### Book:nervous breakdown, which may in fact have been necessary for him:


### Book:Pushed to the psychological edge, he could start writing with the old


### Book:vitality again, and he produced A Streetcar Named Desire. Fyodor


### Book:Dostoyevsky, similarly, whenever he wrote a successful novel, would


### Book:feel that the financial security he had gained made the act of creation


### Book:unnecessary. He would take his entire savings to the casino and would


### Book:not leave until he had gambled away his last penny. Once reduced to


### Book:poverty he could write again.


### Book:It is not necessary to go to such extremes, but you must be prepared to


### Book:return to square one psychologically rather than growing fat and lazy


### Book:with prosperity. Pablo Picasso could deal with success, but only by


### Book:constantly changing the style of his painting, often breaking completely


### Book:with what had made him successful before. How often our early


### Book:triumphs turn us into a kind of caricature of ourselves. Powerful people


### Book:recognize these traps; like Alexander the Great, they struggle constantly


### Book:to re-create themselves. The father must not be allowed to return; he


### Book:must be slain at every step of the way.Image: The Father. He casts a giant shadow over his children, keeping


### Book:them in thrall long after he is gone by tying them to the past, squashing


### Book:their youthful spirit, and forcing them down the same tired path he


### Book:followed himself. His tricks are many. At every crossroads you must slay


### Book:the father and step out of his shadow.


### Book:Authority: Beware of stepping into a great man’s shoes—you will have


### Book:to accomplish twice as much to surpass him. Those who follow are taken


### Book:for imitators. No matter how much they sweat, they will never shed that


### Book:burden. It is an uncommon skill to find a new path for excellence, a


### Book:modern route to celebrity. There are many roads to singularity, not all of


### Book:them well traveled. The newest ones can be arduous, but they are often


### Book:shortcuts to greatness. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:The shadow of a great predecessor could be used to advantage if it is


### Book:chosen as a trick, a tactic that can be discarded once it has brought you


### Book:power. Napoleon III used the name and legend of his illustrious grand-


### Book:uncle Napoleon Bonaparte to help him become first president and then


### Book:emperor of France. Once on the throne, however, he did not stay tied to


### Book:the past; he quickly showed how different his reign would be, and was


### Book:careful to keep the public from expecting him to attain the heights that


### Book:Bonaparte had attained.


### Book:The past often has elements worth appropriating, qualities that would


### Book:be foolish to reject out of a need to distinguish yourself. Even Alexander


### Book:the Great recognized and was influenced by his father’s skill in


### Book:organizing an army. Making a display of doing things differently from


### Book:your predecessor can make you seem childish and in fact out of control,


### Book:unless your actions have a logic of their own.


### Book:Joseph II, son of the Austrian empress Maria Theresa, made a show of


### Book:doing the exact opposite of his mother—dressing like an ordinary


### Book:citizen, staying in inns instead of palaces, appearing as the “people’s


### Book:emperor.” Maria Theresa, on the other hand, had been regal and


### Book:aristocratic. The problem was that she had also been beloved, an empress


### Book:who ruled wisely after years of learning the hard way. If you have the


### Book:kind of intelligence and instinct that will point you in the right direction,


### Book:playing the rebel will not be dangerous. But if you are mediocre, asJoseph II was in comparison to his mother, you are better off learning


### Book:from your predecessor’s knowledge and experience, which are based on


### Book:something real.


### Book:Finally, it is often wise to keep an eye on the young, your future rivals


### Book:in power. Just as you try to rid yourself of your father, they will soon


### Book:play the same trick on you, denigrating everything you have


### Book:accomplished. Just as you rise by rebelling against the past, keep an eye


### Book:on those rising from below, and never give them the chance to do the


### Book:same to you.


### Book:The great Baroque artist and architect Pietro Bernini was a master at


### Book:sniffing out younger potential rivals and keeping them in his shadow.


### Book:One day a young stonemason named Francesco Borromini showed


### Book:Bernini his architectural sketches. Recognizing his talent immediately,


### Book:Bernini instantly hired Borromini as his assistant, which delighted the


### Book:young man but was actually only a tactic to keep him close at hand, so


### Book:that he could play psychological games on him and create in him a kind


### Book:of inferiority complex. And indeed, despite Borromini’s brilliance,


### Book:Bernini has the greater fame. His strategy with Borromini he made a


### Book:lifelong practice: Fearing that the great sculptor Alessandro Algardi, for


### Book:example, would eclipse him in fame, he arranged it so that Algardi could


### Book:only find work as his assistant. And any assistant who rebelled against


### Book:Bernini and tried to strike out on his own would find his career ruined.LAW 42


### Book:STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP


### Book:WILL SCATTER


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual —the stirrer, the


### Book:arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill. If you allow such people


### Book:room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for


### Book:the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them—


### Book:they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or


### Book:banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will


### Book:scatter.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I


### Book:Near the end of the sixth century B.C., the city-state of Athens overthrew


### Book:the series of petty tyrants who had dominated its politics for decades. It


### Book:established instead a democracy that was to last over a century, a


### Book:democracy that became the source of its power and its proudest


### Book:achievement. But as the democracy evolved, so did a problem the


### Book:Athenians had never faced: How to deal with those who did not concern


### Book:themselves with the cohesion of a small city surrounded by enemies,


### Book:who did not work for its greater glory, but thought of only themselves


### Book:and their own ambitions and petty intrigues? The Athenians understood


### Book:that these people, if left alone, would sow dissension, divide the city into


### Book:factions, and stir up anxieties, all of which could lead to the ruin of their


### Book:democracy.


### Book:Violent punishment no longer suited the new, civilized order that


### Book:Athens had created. Instead the citizens found another, more satisfying,and less brutal way to deal with the chronically selfish: Every year they


### Book:would gather in the marketplace and write on a piece of earthenware, an


### Book:ostrakon, the name of an individual they wanted to see banished from the


### Book:city for ten years. If a particular name appeared on six thousand ballots,


### Book:that person would instantly be exiled. If no one received six thousand


### Book:votes, the person with the most ostraka recording his name would suffer


### Book:the ten-year “ostracism.” This ritual expulsion became a kind of festival


### Book:—what a joy to be able to banish those irritating, anxiety-inducing


### Book:individuals who wanted to rise above the group they should have served.


### Book:In 490 B.C., Aristides, one of the great generals of Athenian history,


### Book:helped defeat the Persians at the battle of Marathon. Meanwhile, off the


### Book:battlefield, his fairness as a judge had earned him the nickname “The


### Book:Just.” But as the years went by the Athenians came to dislike him. He


### Book:made such a show of his righteousness, and this, they believed, disguised


### Book:his feelings of superiority and scorn for the common folk. His


### Book:omnipresence in Athenian politics became obnoxious; the citizens grew


### Book:tired of hearing him called “The Just.” They feared that this was just the


### Book:type of man—judgmental, haughty—who would eventually stir up fierce


### Book:divisions among them. In 482 B.C., despite Aristides’ invaluable


### Book:expertise in the continuing war with the Persians, they collected the


### Book:ostraka and had him banished.


### Book:After Aristides’ ostracism, the great general Themistocles emerged as


### Book:the city’s premier leader. But his many honors and victories went to his


### Book:head, and he too became arrogant and overbearing, constantly reminding


### Book:the Athenians of his triumphs in battle, the temples he had built, the


### Book:dangers he had fended off. He seemed to be saying that without him the


### Book:city would come to ruin. And so, in 472 B.C., Themistocles’ name was


### Book:filled in on the ostraka and the city was rid of his poisonous presence.


### Book:THE, CONQUEST OF PER


### Book:The struggle now became fiercer than ever around the royal litter [of A


### Book:tahualpa, king of the Incan empire]. It reeled more and more, and at


### Book:length, several of the nobles who supported it having been slain, it was


### Book:overturned, and the Indian prince would have come with violence to the


### Book:ground, had not his fall been broken bv the efforts of Pizarro and some


### Book:other of the cavaliers, who caught him in their arms. The imperial borla


### Book:was instantly snatched from his temples by a soldier. and the unhappy


### Book:monarch, strongly secured, was removed to a neighboring building


### Book:where he was carefully guarded.All attempt at resistance now ceased. The fate of the Inca [Atahualpa]


### Book:soon spread over town and country. The charm that might have held the


### Book:Peruvians together was dissolved. Every man thought only of his own


### Book:safety. Even the [Incan] soldiery encamped on the adjacent fields took


### Book:the alarm, and, learning the fatal tidings, were seen flying in every


### Book:direction before their pursuers, who in the heat of triumph showed no


### Book:touch of mercy. At length night, more pitiful than man, threw her friendly


### Book:mantle over the fugitives, and the scattered troops of Pizarro rallied once


### Book:more at the sound of the trumpet in the bloody square of Cajamarca….


### Book:[Atahualpa] was reverenced as more than a human. He was not merely


### Book:the head of the state, but the point to which all its institutions converged


### Book:as to a common center—the keystone of the political fabric which must


### Book:fall to pieces by its own weight when that was withdrawn. So it fared on


### Book:the [execution] of Atahualpa. His death not only left the throne vacant,


### Book:without any certain successor, but the manner of it announced to the


### Book:Peruvian people that a hand stronger than that of their Incas had now


### Book:seized the scepter, and that the dynasty of the Children of the Sun had


### Book:passed away forever.


### Book:THE CONQUEST OF PERU, WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, 1847


### Book:The greatest political figure in fifth-century Athens was undoubtedly


### Book:Pericles. Although several times threatened with ostracism, he avoided


### Book:that fate by maintaining close ties with the people. Perhaps he had


### Book:learned a lesson as a child from his favorite tutor, the incomparable


### Book:Damon, who excelled above all other Athenians in his intelligence, his


### Book:musical skills, and his rhetorical abilities. It was Damon who had trained


### Book:Pericles in the arts of ruling. But he, too, suffered ostracism, for his


### Book:superior airs and his insulting manner toward the commoners stirred up


### Book:too much resentment.


### Book:Toward the end of the century there lived a man named Hyperbolus.


### Book:Most writers of the time describe him as the city’s most worthless


### Book:citizen: He did not care what anyone thought of him, and slandered


### Book:whomever he disliked. He amused some, but irritated many more. In 417


### Book:B.C., Hyperbolus saw an opportunity to stir up anger against the two


### Book:leading politicians of the time, Alcibiades and Nicias. He hoped that one


### Book:of the two would be ostracized and that he would rise in that man’s


### Book:place. His campaign seemed likely to succeed: The Athenians disliked


### Book:Alcibiades’ flamboyant and carefree lifestyle, and were wary of Nicias’


### Book:wealth and aloofness. They seemed certain to ostracize one or the other.


### Book:But Alcibiades and Nicias, although they were otherwise enemies,


### Book:pooled their resources and managed to turn the ostracism on Hyperbolusinstead. His obnoxiousness, they argued, could only be terminated by


### Book:banishment.


### Book:Earlier sufferers of ostracism had been formidable, powerful men.


### Book:Hyperbolus, however, was a low buffoon, and with his banishment the


### Book:Athenians felt that ostracism had been degraded. And so they ended the


### Book:practice that for nearly a hundred years had been one of the keys to


### Book:keeping the peace within Athens.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:The ancient Athenians had social instincts unknown today—the passage


### Book:of centuries has blunted them. Citizens in the true sense of the word, the


### Book:Athenians sensed the dangers posed by asocial behavior, and saw how


### Book:such behavior often disguises itself in other forms: the holier-than-thou


### Book:attitude that silently seeks to impose its standards on others; overweening


### Book:ambition at the expense of the common good; the flaunting of


### Book:superiority; quiet scheming; terminal obnoxiousness. Some of these


### Book:behaviors would eat away at the city’s cohesion by creating factions and


### Book:sowing dissension, others would ruin the democratic spirit by making the


### Book:common citizen feel inferior and envious. The Athenians did not try to


### Book:reeducate people who acted in these ways, or to absorb them somehow


### Book:into the group, or to impose a violent punishment that would only create


### Book:other problems. The solution was quick and effective: Get rid of them.


### Book:Within any group, trouble can most often be traced to a single source,


### Book:the unhappy, chronically dissatisfied one who will always stir up


### Book:dissension and infect the group with his or her ill ease. Before you know


### Book:what hit you the dissatisfaction spreads. Act before it becomes


### Book:impossible to disentangle one strand of misery from another, or to see


### Book:how the whole thing started. First, recognize troublemakers by their


### Book:overbearing presence, or by their complaining nature. Once you spot


### Book:them do not try to reform them or appease them—that will only make


### Book:things worse. Do not attack them, whether directly or indirectly, for they


### Book:are poisonous in nature and will work underground to destroy you. Do as


### Book:the Athenians did: Banish them before it is too late. Separate them from


### Book:the group before they become the eye of a whirlpool. Do not give them


### Book:time to stir up anxieties and sow discontent; do not give them room to


### Book:move. Let one person suffer so that the rest can live in peace.


### Book:When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.


### Book:Chinese sayingOBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II


### Book:In 1296 the cardinals of the Catholic Church met in Rome to select a new


### Book:pope. They chose Cardinal Gaetani, for he was incomparably shrewd;


### Book:such a man would make the Vatican a great power. Taking the name


### Book:Boniface VIII, Gaetani soon proved he deserved the cardinals’high


### Book:opinion of him: He plotted his moves carefully in advance, and stopped


### Book:at nothing to get his way. Once in power, Boniface quickly crushed his


### Book:rivals and unified the Papal States. The European powers began to fear


### Book:him, and sent delegates to negotiate with him. The German King


### Book:Albrecht of Austria even yielded some territory to Boniface. All was


### Book:proceeding according to the pope’s plan.


### Book:One piece did not fall into place, however, and that was Tuscany, the


### Book:richest part of Italy. If Boniface could conquer Florence, Tuscany’s most


### Book:powerful city, the region would be his. But Florence was a proud


### Book:republic, and would be hard to defeat. The pope had to play his cards


### Book:skillfully.


### Book:Florence was divided by two rival factions, the Blacks and the Whites.


### Book:The Whites were the merchant families that had recently and quickly


### Book:risen to power and wealth; the Blacks were the older money. Because of


### Book:their popularity with the people, the Whites retained control of the city,


### Book:to the Blacks’ increasing resentment. The feud between the two grew


### Book:steadily more bitter.


### Book:THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP


### Book:Once apon a time, the wolves sent an embassy to the sheep, desiring that


### Book:there might be peace between them for the time to come. “Why,” said


### Book:they, “should we be for ever waging this deadly strife? Those wicked


### Book:dogs are the cause of all; they are incessantly barking at us, and


### Book:provoking us. Send them away, and there will be no longer any obstacle


### Book:to our eternal friendship and peace.” The silly sheep listened, the dogs


### Book:were dismissed, and the flock, thus deprived of their best protectors,


### Book:became an easy prey to their treacherous enemy.


### Book:FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.


### Book:Here Boniface saw his chance: He would plot to help the Blacks take


### Book:over the city, and Florence would be in his pocket. And as he studied the


### Book:situation he began to focus on one man, Dante Alighieri, the celebratedwriter, poet, and ardent supporter of the Whites. Dante had always been


### Book:interested in politics. He believed passionately in the republic, and often


### Book:chastised his fellow citizens for their lack of spine. He also happened to


### Book:be the city’s most eloquent public speaker. In 1300, the year Boniface


### Book:began plotting to take over Tuscany, Dante’s fellow citizens had voted


### Book:him in to Florence’s highest elected position, making him one of the


### Book:city’s six priors. During his six-month term in the post, he had stood


### Book:firmly against the Blacks and against all of the pope’s attempts to sow


### Book:disorder.


### Book:By 1301, however, Boniface had a new plan: He called in Charles de


### Book:Valois, powerful brother of the king of France, to help bring order to


### Book:Tuscany. As Charles marched through northern Italy, and Florence


### Book:seethed with anxiety and fear, Dante quickly emerged as the man who


### Book:could rally the people, arguing vehemently against appeasement and


### Book:working desperately to arm the citizens and to organize resistance


### Book:against the pope and his puppet French prince. By hook or by crook,


### Book:Boniface had to neutralize Dante. And so, even as on the one hand he


### Book:threatened Florence with Charles de Valois, on the other he held out the


### Book:olive branch, the possibility of negotiations, hoping Dante would take the


### Book:bait. And indeed the Florentines decided to send a delegation to Rome


### Book:and try to negotiate a peace. To head the mission, predictably, they chose


### Book:Dante.


### Book:Some warned the poet that the wily pope was setting up a trap to lure


### Book:him away, but Dante went to Rome anyway, arriving as the French army


### Book:stood before the gates of Florence. He felt sure that his eloquence and


### Book:reason would win the pope over and save the city. Yet when the pope met


### Book:the poet and the Florentine delegates, he instantly intimidated them, as


### Book:he did so many. “Fall on your knees before me!” he bellowed at their


### Book:first meeting. “Submit to me! I tell you that in all truth I have nothing in


### Book:my heart but to promote your peace.” Succumbing to his powerful


### Book:presence, the Florentines listened as the pope promised to look after their


### Book:interests. He then advised them to return home, leaving one of their


### Book:members behind to continue the talks. Boniface signaled that the man to


### Book:stay was to be Dante. He spoke with the utmost politeness, but in essence


### Book:it was an order.


### Book:And so Dante remained in Rome. And while he and the pope


### Book:continued their dialogue, Florence fell apart. With no one to rally the


### Book:Whites, and with Charles de Valois using the pope’s money to bribe and


### Book:sow dissension, the Whites disintegrated, some arguing for negotiations,


### Book:others switching sides. Facing an enemy now divided and unsure ofitself, the Blacks easily destroyed them within weeks, exacting violent


### Book:revenge on them. And once the Blacks stood firmly in power, the pope


### Book:finally dismissed Dante from Rome.


### Book:The Blacks ordered Dante to return home to face accusations and


### Book:stand trial. When the poet refused, the Blacks condemned him to be


### Book:burned to death if he ever set foot in Florence again. And so Dante began


### Book:a miserable life of exile, wandering through Italy, disgraced in the city


### Book:that he loved, never to return to Florence, even after his death.


### Book:THE LIFE OF THEMISTOCLES


### Book:[Themistocles‘s] fellow citizens reached the point at which their jealousy


### Book:made them listen to any slander at his expense, and so [he] was forced to


### Book:remind the assembly of his achievements until they could bear this no


### Book:longer. He once said to those who were complaining of him: “Why are


### Book:you tired of receiving benefits so often from the same men?” Besides this


### Book:he gave offense to the people when he built the temple of Artemis, for not


### Book:only did he style the goddess Artemis Aristoboule, or Artemis wisest in


### Book:counsel —with the hint that it was he who had given the best counsel to


### Book:the Athenians and the Greeks-but he chose a site for it near his own


### Book:house at Melite… So at last the Athenians banished him. They made use


### Book:of the ostracism to humble his great reputation and his authority, as


### Book:indeed was their habit with any whose power they regarded as


### Book:oppressive, or who had risen to an eminence which they considered out


### Book:of keeping with the equality of a democracy.


### Book:THE LIFE OF THEMISTOCLES, PLUTARCH, C. A.D. 46-120


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Boniface knew that if he only had a pretext to lure Dante away, Florence


### Book:would crumble. He played the oldest card in the book—threatening with


### Book:one hand while holding out the olive branch with the other—and Dante


### Book:fell for it. Once the poet was in Rome, the pope kept him there for as


### Book:long as it took. For Boniface understood one of the principal precepts in


### Book:the game of power: One resolute person, one disobedient spirit, can turn


### Book:a flock of sheep into a den of lions. So he isolated the troublemaker.


### Book:Without the backbone of the city to keep them together, the sheep


### Book:quickly scattered.


### Book:Learn the lesson: Do not waste your time lashing out in all directions


### Book:at what seems to be a many-headed enemy. Find the one head thatmatters—the person with willpower, or smarts, or, most important of all,


### Book:charisma. Whatever it costs you, lure this person away, for once he is


### Book:absent his powers will lose their effect. His isolation can be physical


### Book:(banishment or absence from the court), political (narrowing his base of


### Book:support), or psychological (alienating him from the group through


### Book:slander and insinuation). Cancer begins with a single cell; excise it


### Book:before it spreads beyond cure.


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:In the past, an entire nation would be ruled by a king and his handful of


### Book:ministers. Only the elite had any power to play with. Over the centuries,


### Book:power has gradually become more and more diffused and democratized.


### Book:This has created, however, a common misperception that groups no


### Book:longer have centers of power—that power is spread out and scattered


### Book:among many people. Actually, however, power has changed in its


### Book:numbers but not in its essence. There may be fewer mighty tyrants


### Book:commanding the power of life and death over millions, but there remain


### Book:thousands of petty tyrants ruling smaller realms, and enforcing their will


### Book:through indirect power games, charisma, and so on. In every group,


### Book:power is concentrated in the hands of one or two people, for this is one


### Book:area in which human nature will never change: People will congregate


### Book:around a single strong personality like planets orbiting a sun.


### Book:To labor under the illusion that this kind of power center no longer


### Book:exists is to make endless mistakes, waste energy and time, and never hit


### Book:the target. Powerful people never waste time. Outwardly they may play


### Book:along with the game—pretending that power is shared among many—


### Book:but inwardly they keep their eyes on the inevitable few in the group who


### Book:hold the cards. These are the ones they work on. When troubles arise,


### Book:they look for the underlying cause, the single strong character who


### Book:started the stirring and whose isolation or banishment will settle the


### Book:waters again.


### Book:In his family-therapy practice, Dr. Milton H. Erickson found that if the


### Book:family dynamic was unsettled and dysfunctional there was inevitably one


### Book:person who was the stirrer, the troublemaker. In his sessions he would


### Book:symbolically isolate this rotten apple by seating him or her apart from the


### Book:others, if only by a few feet. Slowly the other family members would seethe physically separate person as the source of their difficulty. Once you


### Book:recognize who the stirrer is, pointing it out to other people will


### Book:accomplish a great deal. Understanding who controls the group dynamic


### Book:is a critical realization. Remember: Stirrers thrive by hiding in the group,


### Book:disguising their actions among the reactions of others. Render their


### Book:actions visible and they lose their power to upset.


### Book:A key element in games of strategy is isolating the enemy’s power. In


### Book:chess you try to corner the king. In the Chinese game of go you try to


### Book:isolate the enemy’s forces in small pockets, rendering them immobile


### Book:and ineffectual. It is often better to isolate your enemies than to destroy


### Book:them—you seem less brutal. The result, though, is the same, for in the


### Book:game of power, isolation spells death.


### Book:The most effective form of isolation is somehow to separate your


### Book:victims from their power base. When Mao Tse-tung wanted to eliminate


### Book:an enemy in the ruling elite, he did not confront the person directly; he


### Book:silently and stealthily worked to isolate the man, divide his allies and


### Book:turn them away from him, shrink his support. Soon the man would


### Book:vanish on his own.


### Book:Presence and appearance have great import in the game of power. To


### Book:seduce, particularly in the beginning stages, you need to be constantly


### Book:present, or create the feeling that you are; if you are often out of sight,


### Book:the charm will wear off. Queen Elizabeth’s prime minister, Robert Cecil,


### Book:had two main rivals: the queen’s favorite, the Earl of Essex, and her


### Book:former favorite, Sir Walter Raleigh. He contrived to send them both on a


### Book:mission against Spain; with them away from the court he managed to


### Book:wrap his tentacles around the queen, secure his position as her top


### Book:adviser and weaken her affection for Raleigh and the earl. The lesson


### Book:here is twofold: First, your absence from the court spells danger for you,


### Book:and you should never leave the scene in a time of turmoil, for your


### Book:absence can both symbolize and induce a loss of power; second, and on


### Book:the other hand, luring your enemies away from the court at critical


### Book:moments is a great ploy.


### Book:Isolation has other strategic uses. When trying to seduce people, it is


### Book:often wise to isolate them from their usual social context. Once isolated


### Book:they are vulnerable to you, and your presence becomes magnified.


### Book:Similarly, con artists often look for ways to isolate their marks from their


### Book:normal social milieux, steering them into new environments in which


### Book:they are no longer comfortable. Here they feel weak, and succumb to


### Book:deception more easily. Isolation, then, can prove a powerful way of


### Book:bringing people under your spell to seduce or swindle them.You will often find powerful people who have alienated themselves


### Book:from the group. Perhaps their power has gone to their heads, and they


### Book:consider themselves superior; perhaps they have lost the knack of


### Book:communicating with ordinary folk. Remember: This makes them


### Book:vulnerable. Powerful though they be, people like this can be turned to


### Book:use.


### Book:The monk Rasputin gained his power over Czar Nicholas and Czarina


### Book:Alexandra of Russia through their tremendous isolation from the people.


### Book:Alexandra in particular was a foreigner, and especially alienated from


### Book:everyday Russians; Rasputin used his peasant origins to insinuate


### Book:himself into her good graces, for she desperately wanted to communicate


### Book:with her subjects. Once in the court’s inner circle, Rasputin made himself


### Book:indispensable and attained great power. Heading straight for the center,


### Book:he aimed for the one figure in Russia who commanded power (the


### Book:czarina dominated her husband), and found he had no need to isolate her


### Book:for the work was already done. The Rasputin strategy can bring you


### Book:great power: Always search out people who hold high positions yet who


### Book:find themselves isolated on the board. They are like apples falling into


### Book:your lap, easily seduced, and able to catapult you into power yourself.


### Book:Finally, the reason you strike at the shepherd is because such an action


### Book:will dishearten the sheep beyond any rational measure. When Hernando


### Book:Cortés and Francisco Pizarro led their tiny forces against the Aztec and


### Book:Incan empires, they did not make the mistake of fighting on several


### Book:fronts, nor were they intimidated by the numbers arrayed against them;


### Book:they captured the kings, Moctezuma and Atahualpa. Vast empires fell


### Book:into their hands. With the leader gone the center of gravity is gone; there


### Book:is nothing to revolve around and everything falls apart. Aim at the


### Book:leaders, bring them down, and look for the endless opportunities in the


### Book:confusion that will ensue.


### Book:Image: A Flock of Fatted


### Book:Sheep. Do not waste precious


### Book:time trying to steal a sheep or two; do


### Book:not risk life and limb by setting upon


### Book:the dogs that guard the flock. Aim at the


### Book:shepherd. Lure him away and the dogs


### Book:will follow. Strike him down and the flock will


### Book:scatter—you can pick them off one by one.Authority: If you draw a bow, draw the strongest. If you use an arrow,


### Book:use the longest. To shoot a rider, first shoot his horse. To catch a gang of


### Book:bandits, first capture its leader. Just as a country has its border, so the


### Book:killing of men has its limits. If the enemy’s attack can be stopped [with a


### Book:blow to the head], why have any more dead and wounded than


### Book:necessary? (Chinese poet Tu Fu, Tang dynasty, eighth century)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:“Any harm you do to a man should be done in such a way that you need


### Book:not fear his revenge,” writes Machiavelli. If you act to isolate your


### Book:enemy, make sure he lacks the means to repay the favor. If you apply this


### Book:Law, in other words, apply it from a position of superiority, so that you


### Book:have nothing to fear from his resentment.


### Book:Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln’s successor as U.S. president, saw


### Book:Ulysses S. Grant as a troublesome member of his government. So he


### Book:isolated Grant, as a prelude to forcing him out. This only enraged the


### Book:great general, however, who responded by forming a support base in the


### Book:Republican party and going on to become the next president. It would


### Book:have been far wiser to keep a man like Grant in the fold, where he could


### Book:do less harm, than to make him revengeful. And so you may often find it


### Book:better to keep people on your side, where you can watch them, than to


### Book:risk creating an angry enemy. Keeping them close, you can secretly


### Book:whittle away at their support base, so that when the time comes to cut


### Book:them loose they will fall fast and hard without knowing what hit them.LAW 43


### Book:WORK ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF


### Book:OTHERS


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You


### Book:must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you


### Book:have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is


### Book:to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up


### Book:the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold


### Book:dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they


### Book:will grow to hate you.


### Book:CYRUS’S RUSE


### Book:Thinking of the means by which he could most effectively persuade the


### Book:Persians to revolt, [Cyrus’s] deliberations led him to adopt the following


### Book:plan, which he found best suited to his purpose. He wrote on a roll of


### Book:parchment that Astyages had appointed him to command the Persian


### Book:army; then he summoned an assembly of the Persians, opened the roll in


### Book:their presence and read out what he had written. “And now, he added, I


### Book:have an order for you: every man is to appear on parade with a


### Book:billhook….” The order was obeyed. All the men assembled with their


### Book:billhooks, and Cyrus’s next command was that before the day was out


### Book:they should clear a certain piece of rough land full of thorn-bushes,


### Book:about eighteen or twenty furlongs square. This too was done, whereupon


### Book:Cyrus issued the further order that they should present themselves again


### Book:on the following day, after having taken a bath. Meanwhile, Cyrus


### Book:collected and slaughtered all his father’s goats, sheep, and oxen in


### Book:preparation for entertaining the whole Persian army at a banquet,


### Book:together with the best wine and bread he could procure. The next day the


### Book:guests assembled, and were told to sit down on the grass and enjoythemselves. After the meal Cyrus asked them which they preferred—


### Book:yesterday’s work or today’s amusement; and they replied that it was


### Book:indeed a far cry from the previous day’s misery to their present


### Book:pleasures. This was the answer which Cyrus wanted; he seized upon it at


### Book:once and proceeded to lay bare what he had in mind. “Men of Persia,”


### Book:he said, “listen to me: obey my orders, and you will be able to enjoy a


### Book:thousand pleasures as good as this without ever turning your hands to


### Book:menial labor; but, if you disobey, yesterday’s task will be the pattern of


### Book:innumerable others you will be forced to perform. Take my advice and


### Book:win your freedom. I am the man destined to undertake your liberation,


### Book:and it is my belief that you are a match for the Medes in war as in


### Book:everything else. It is the truth I tell you. Do not delay, but fling off the


### Book:yoke of Astyages at once.”


### Book:The Persians had long resented their subjection to the Medes. At last


### Book:they had found a leader, and welcomed with enthusiasm the prospect of


### Book:liberty…. On the present occasion the Persians under Cyrus rose against


### Book:the Medes and from then onwards were masters of Asia.


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


### Book:TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW


### Book:Near the end of the reign of Louis XV, all of France seemed desperate


### Book:for change. When the king’s grandson and chosen successor, the future


### Book:Louis XVI, married the fifteen-year-old daughter of the empress of


### Book:Austria, the French caught a glimpse of the future that seemed hopeful.


### Book:The young bride, Marie-Antoinette, was beautiful and full of life. She


### Book:instantly changed the mood of the court, which was rank with Louis


### Book:XV’s de baucheries; even the common people, who had yet to see her,


### Book:talked excitedly of Marie-Antoinette. The French had grown disgusted


### Book:with the series of mistresses who had dominated Louis XV, and they


### Book:looked forward to serving their new queen. In 1773, when Marie-


### Book:Antoinette publicly rode through the streets of Paris for the first time,


### Book:applauding crowds swarmed around her carriage. “How fortunate,” she


### Book:wrote her mother, “to be in a position in which one can gain widespread


### Book:affection at so little cost.”


### Book:In 1774 Louis XV died and Louis XVI took the throne. As soon as


### Book:Marie-Antoinette became queen she abandoned herself to the pleasuresshe loved the most—ordering and wearing the most expensive gowns


### Book:and jewelry in the realm; sporting the most elaborate hair in history, her


### Book:sculpted coiffures rising as much as three feet above her head; and


### Book:throwing a constant succession of masked balls and fêtes. All of these


### Book:whims she paid for on credit, never concerning herself with the cost or


### Book:who paid the bills.


### Book:Marie-Antoinette’s greatest pleasure was the creation and designing of


### Book:a private Garden of Eden at the Petit Trianon, a château on the grounds


### Book:of Versailles with its own woods. The gardens at the Petit Trianon were


### Book:to be as “natural” as possible, including moss applied by hand to the


### Book:trees and rocks. To heighten the pastoral effect, the queen employed


### Book:peasant milkmaids to milk the finest-looking cows in the realm;


### Book:launderers and cheese-makers in special peasant outfits she helped


### Book:design; shepherds to tend sheep with silk ribbons around their necks.


### Book:When she inspected the barns, she would watch her milkmaids squeezing


### Book:milk into porcelain vases made at the royal ceramic works. To pass the


### Book:time, Marie-Antoinette would gather flowers in the woods around the


### Book:Petit Trianon, or watch her “good peasants” doing their “chores.” The


### Book:place became a separate world, its community limited to her chosen


### Book:favorites.


### Book:With each new whim, the cost of maintaining the Petit Trianon soared.


### Book:Meanwhile, France itself was deteriorating: There was famine and


### Book:widespread discontent. Even socially insulated courtiers seethed with


### Book:resentment—the queen treated them like children. Only her favorites


### Book:mattered, and these were becoming fewer and fewer. But Marie-


### Book:Antoinette did not concern herself with this. Not once throughout her


### Book:reign did she read a minister’s report. Not once did she tour the


### Book:provinces and rally the people to her side. Not once did she mingle


### Book:among the Parisians, or receive a delegation from them. She did none of


### Book:these things because as queen she felt the people owed her their


### Book:affection, and she was not required to love them in return.


### Book:In 1784 the queen became embroiled in a scandal. As part of an


### Book:elaborate swindle, the most expensive diamond necklace in Europe had


### Book:been purchased under her name, and during the swindlers’ trial her lavish


### Book:lifestyle became public: People heard about the money she spent on


### Book:jewels and dresses and masked dances. They gave her the nickname


### Book:“Madame Deficit,” and from then on she became the focus of the


### Book:people’s growing resentment. When she appeared in her box at the opera


### Book:the audience greeted her with hisses. Even the court turned against her.For while she had been running up her huge expenditures, the country


### Book:was headed for ruin.


### Book:Five years later, in 1789, an unprecedented event took place: the


### Book:beginning of the French Revolution. The queen did not worry—let the


### Book:people have their little rebellion, she seemed to think; it would soon


### Book:quiet down and she would be able to resume her life of pleasure. That


### Book:year the people marched on Versailles, forcing the royal family to quit


### Book:the palace and take residence in Paris. This was a triumph for the rebels,


### Book:but it offered the queen an opportunity to heal the wounds she had


### Book:opened and establish contact with the people. The queen, however, had


### Book:not learned her lesson: Not once would she leave the palace during her


### Book:stay in Paris. Her subjects could rot in hell for all she cared.


### Book:In 1792 the royal couple was moved from the palace to a prison, as the


### Book:revolution officially declared the end of the monarchy. The following


### Book:year Louis XVI was tried, found guilty, and guillotined. As Marie-


### Book:Antoinette awaited the same fate, hardly a soul came to her defense—not


### Book:one of her former friends in the court, not one of Europe’s other


### Book:monarchs (who, as members of their own countries’ royal families, had


### Book:all the reason in the world to show that revolution did not pay), not even


### Book:her own family in Austria, including her brother, who now sat on the


### Book:throne. She had become the world’s pariah. In October of 1793, she


### Book:finally knelt at the guillotine, unrepentant and defiant to the bitter end.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:From early on, Marie-Antoinette acquired the most dangerous of


### Book:attitudes: As a young princess in Austria she was endlessly flattered and


### Book:cajoled. As the future queen of the French court she was the center of


### Book:everyone’s attention. She never learned to charm or please other people,


### Book:to become attuned to their individual psychologies. She never had to


### Book:work to get her way, to use calculation or cunning or the arts of


### Book:persuasion. And like everyone who is indulged from an early age, she


### Book:evolved into a monster of insensitivity.


### Book:Marie-Antoinette became the focus of an entire country’s


### Book:dissatisfaction because it is so infuriating to meet with a person who


### Book:makes no effort to seduce you or attempt to persuade you, even if only


### Book:for the purpose of deception. And do not imagine that she represents a


### Book:bygone era, or that she is even rare. Her type is today more common than


### Book:ever. Such types live in their own bubble—they seem to feel they areborn kings and queens, and that attention is owed them. They do not


### Book:consider anyone else’s nature, but bulldoze over people with the self-


### Book:righteous arrogance of a Marie-Antoinette. Pampered and indulged as


### Book:children, as adults they still believe that everything must come to them;


### Book:convinced of their own charm, they make no effort to charm, seduce, or


### Book:gently persuade.


### Book:In the realm of power, such attitudes are disastrous. At all times you


### Book:must attend to those around you, gauging their particular psychology,


### Book:tailoring your words to what you know will entice and seduce them. This


### Book:requires energy and art. The higher your station, the greater the need to


### Book:remain attuned to the hearts and minds of those below you, creating a


### Book:base of support to maintain you at the pinnacle. Without that base, your


### Book:power will teeter, and at the slightest change of fortune those below will


### Book:gladly assist in your fall from grace.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:In A.D. 225, Chuko Liang, master strategist and chief minister to the


### Book:ruler of Shu in ancient China, confronted a dangerous situation. The


### Book:kingdom of Wei had mounted an all-out attack on Shu from the north.


### Book:More dangerous still, Wei had formed an alliance with the barbarous


### Book:states to the south of Shu, led by King Menghuo. Chuko Liang had to


### Book:deal with this second menace from the south before he could hope to


### Book:fend off Wei in the north.


### Book:As Chuko Liang prepared to march south against the barbarians, a


### Book:wise man in his camp offered him advice. It would be impossible, this


### Book:man said, to pacify the region by force. Liang would probably beat


### Book:Menghuo, but as soon as he headed north again to deal with Wei,


### Book:Menghuo would reinvade. “It is better to win hearts,” said the wise man,


### Book:“than cities; better to battle with hearts than with weapons. I hope you


### Book:will succeed in winning the hearts of these people.” “You read my


### Book:thoughts,” responded Chuko Liang.


### Book:THE GENTLE ART OF PERSUASION


### Book:The north wind and the sun were disputing which was the stronger, and


### Book:agreed to acknowledge as the victor whichever of them could strip atraveler of his clothing. The wind tried first. But its violent gusts only


### Book:made the man hold his clothes tightly around him, and when it blew


### Book:harder still the cold made him so uncomfortable that he put on an extra


### Book:wrap. Eventually the wind got tired of it and handed him over to the sun.


### Book:The sun shone first with a moderate warmth, which made the man take


### Book:off his topcoat. Then it blazed fiercely, till, unable to stand the heat, he


### Book:stripped and went off to bathe in a nearby river. Persuasion is more


### Book:effective than force.


### Book:FABLES, AESOP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.


### Book:As Liang expected, Menghuo launched a powerful attack. But Liang


### Book:laid a trap and managed to capture a large part of Menghuo’s army,


### Book:including the king himself. Instead of punishing or executing his


### Book:prisoners, however, he separated the soldiers from their king, had their


### Book:shackles removed, regaled them with food and wine, and then addressed


### Book:them. “You are all upright men,” he said. “I believe you all have parents,


### Book:wives, and children waiting for you at home. They are doubtless


### Book:shedding bitter tears at your fate. I am going to release you, so that you


### Book:can return home to your loved ones and comfort them.” The men


### Book:thanked Liang with tears in their eyes; then he sent for Menghuo. “If I


### Book:release you,” asked Liang, “what will you do?” “I will pull my army


### Book:together again,” answered the king, “and lead it against you to a decisive


### Book:battle. But if you capture me a second time, I will bow to your


### Book:superiority.” Not only did Liang order Menghuo released, he gave him a


### Book:gift of a horse and saddle. When angry lieutenants wondered why he did


### Book:this, Liang told them, “I can capture that man as easily as I can take


### Book:something out of my pocket. I am trying to win his heart. When I do,


### Book:peace will come of itself here in the south.”


### Book:As Menghuo had said he would, he attacked again. But his own


### Book:officers, whom Liang had treated so well, rebelled against him, captured


### Book:him, and turned him over to Liang, who asked him again the same


### Book:question as before. Menghuo replied that he had not been beaten fairly,


### Book:but merely betrayed by his own officers; he would fight again, but if


### Book:captured a third time he would bow to Liang’s superiority.


### Book:Over the following months Liang outwitted Menghuo again and again,


### Book:capturing him a third, a fourth, and a fifth time. On each occasion


### Book:Menghuo’s troops grew more dissatisfied. Liang had treated them with


### Book:respect; they had lost their heart for fighting. But every time Chuko


### Book:Liang asked Menghuo to yield, the great king would come up with


### Book:another excuse: You tricked me, I lost through bad luck, on and on. Ifyou capture me again, he would promise, I swear I will not betray you.


### Book:And so Liang would let him go.


### Book:When he captured Menghuo for the sixth time, he asked the king the


### Book:same question again. “If you capture me a seventh time,” the king


### Book:replied, “I shall give you my loyalty and never rebel again.” “Very well,”


### Book:said Liang. “But if I capture you again, I will not release you.”


### Book:Now Menghuo and his soldiers fled to a far corner of their kingdom,


### Book:the region of Wuge. Defeated so many times, Menghuo had only one


### Book:hope left: He would ask the help of King Wutugu of Wuge, who had an


### Book:immense and ferocious army. Wutugu’s warriors wore an armor of


### Book:tightly woven vines soaked in oil, then dried to an impenetrable


### Book:hardness. With Menghuo at his side, Wutugu marched this mighty army


### Book:against Liang, and this time the great strategist seemed frightened,


### Book:leading his men in a hurried retreat. But he was merely leading Wutugu


### Book:into a trap: He cornered the king’s men in a narrow valley, then lit fires


### Book:set all around them. When the fires reached the soldiers Wutugu’s whole


### Book:army burst into flame—the oil in their armor, of course, being highly


### Book:flammable. All of them perished.


### Book:Liang had managed to separate Menghuo and his entourage from the


### Book:carnage in the valley, and the king found himself a captive for the


### Book:seventh time. After this slaughter Liang could not bear to face his


### Book:prisoner again. He sent a messenger to the captured king: “He has


### Book:commissioned me to release you. Mobilize another army against him, if


### Book:you can, and try once more to defeat him.” Sobbing, the king fell to the


### Book:ground, crawled to Liang on his hands and knees, and prostrated himself


### Book:at his feet. “Oh great minister,” cried Menghuo, “yours is the majesty of


### Book:Heaven. We men of the south will never again offer resistance to your


### Book:rule.” “Do you now yield?” asked Liang. “I, my sons, and my grandsons


### Book:are deeply moved by Your Honor’s boundless, life-giving mercy. How


### Book:could we not yield?”


### Book:Liang honored Menghuo with a great banquet, reestablished him on


### Book:the throne, restored his conquered lands to his rule, then returned north


### Book:with his army, leaving no occupying force. Liang never came back—he


### Book:had no need to: Menghuo had become his most devoted and unshakable


### Book:ally.


### Book:The men who have changed the universe have never gotten there by


### Book:working on leaders, but rather by moving the masses. Working on


### Book:leaders is the method of intrigue and only leads to secondary results.


### Book:Working on the masses, however, is the stroke of genius that changes the


### Book:face of the world.NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821


### Book:LIFE OF ABBENDER THE GREAT


### Book:This long and painful pursuit of Darius—for in eleven days he marched


### Book:33 hundred furlongs—harassed his soldiers so that most of them were


### Book:ready to give it up, chiefly for want of water. While they were in this


### Book:distress, it happened that some Macedonians who had fetched water in


### Book:skins upon their mules from a river they had found out came about noon


### Book:to the place where Alexander was, and seeing him almost choked with


### Book:thirst, presently filled a helmet and offered it him…. Then he took the


### Book:helmet into his hands, and looking round about, when he saw all those


### Book:who were near him stretching their heads out and looking earnestly after


### Book:the drink, he returned it again with thanks without tasting a drop of it.


### Book:“For,” said he, “if I alone should drink, the rest will be out of heart.”


### Book:The soldiers no sooner took notice of his temperance and magnanimity


### Book:upon this occasion, but they one and all cried out to him to lead them


### Book:forward boldly, and began whipping on their horses. For whilst they had


### Book:such a king they said they defied both weariness and thirst, and looked


### Book:upon themselves to be little less than immortal.


### Book:THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, PLUTARCH, C. A.D. 46-


### Book:120


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Chuko Liang had two options: Try to defeat the barbarians in the south


### Book:with one crushing blow, or patiently and slowly win them to his side over


### Book:time. Most people more powerful than their enemy grab the first option


### Book:and never consider the second, but the truly powerful think far ahead:


### Book:The first option may be quick and easy, but over time it brews ugly


### Book:emotions in the hearts of the vanquished. Their resentment turns to


### Book:hatred; such animosity keeps you on edge—you spend your energy


### Book:protecting what you have gained, growing paranoid and defensive. The


### Book:second option, though more difficult, not only brings you peace of mind,


### Book:it converts a potential enemy into a pillar of support.


### Book:In all your encounters, take a step back—take the time to calculate and


### Book:attune yourself to your targets’ emotional makeup and psychological


### Book:weaknesses. Force will only strengthen their resistance. With most


### Book:people the heart is the key: They are like children, ruled by theiremotions. To soften them up, alternate harshness with mercy. Play on


### Book:their basic fears, and also their loves—freedom, family, etc. Once you


### Book:break them down, you will have a lifelong friend and fiercely loyal ally.


### Book:Governments saw men only in mass; but our men, being irregulars, were


### Book:not


### Book:formations, but individuals…. Our kingdoms lay in each man’s mind.


### Book:Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence, 1888-1935


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:In the game of power, you are surrounded by people who have absolutely


### Book:no reason to help you unless it is in their interest to do so. And if you


### Book:have nothing to offer their self-interest, you are likely to make them


### Book:hostile, for they will see in you just one more competitor, one more


### Book:waster of their time. Those that overcome this prevailing coldness are the


### Book:ones who find the key that unlocks the stranger’s heart and mind,


### Book:seducing him into their comer, if necessary softening him up for a punch.


### Book:But most people never learn this side of the game. When they meet


### Book:someone new, rather than stepping back and probing to see what makes


### Book:this person unique, they talk about themselves, eager to impose their own


### Book:willpower and prejudices. They argue, boast, and make a show of their


### Book:power. They may not know it but they are secretly creating an enemy, a


### Book:resister, because there is no more infuriating feeling than having your


### Book:individuality ignored, your own psychology unacknowledged. It makes


### Book:you feel lifeless and resentful.


### Book:Remember: The key to persuasion is softening people up and breaking


### Book:them down, gently. Seduce them with a two-pronged approach: Work on


### Book:their emotions and play on their intellectual weaknesses. Be alert to both


### Book:what separates them from everyone else (their individual psychology)


### Book:and what they share with everyone else (their basic emotional


### Book:responses). Aim at the primary emotions—love, hate, jealousy. Once you


### Book:move their emotions you have reduced their control, making them more


### Book:vulnerable to persuasion.


### Book:When Chuko Liang wanted to dissuade an important general of a rival


### Book:kingdom from entering into an alliance with Ts‘ao Ts’ao, Liang’s


### Book:dreaded enemy, he did not detail Ts‘ao Ts’ao’s cruelty, or attack him on


### Book:moral grounds. Instead Liang suggested that Ts‘ao Ts’ao was really afterthe general’s beautiful young wife. This hit the general in the gut, and


### Book:won him over. Mao Tse-tung similarly always appealed to popular


### Book:emotions, and spoke in the simplest terms. Educated and well-read


### Book:himself, in his speeches he used visceral metaphors, voicing the public’s


### Book:deepest anxieties and encouraging them to vent their frustrations in


### Book:public meetings. Rather than arguing the practical aspects of a particular


### Book:program, he would describe how it would affect them on the most


### Book:primitive, down-to-earth level. Do not believe that this approach works


### Book:only with the illiterate and unschooled—it works on one and all. All of


### Book:us are mortal and face the same dreadful fate, and all of us share the


### Book:desire for attachment and belonging. Stir up these emotions and you


### Book:captivate our hearts.


### Book:The best way to do this is with a dramatic jolt, of the kind that Chuko


### Book:Liang created when he fed and released prisoners who expected only the


### Book:worst from him. Shaking them to the core, he softened their hearts. Play


### Book:on contrasts like this: Push people to despair, then give them relief. If


### Book:they expect pain and you give them pleasure, you win their hearts.


### Book:Creating pleasure of any kind, in fact, will usually bring you success, as


### Book:will allaying fears and providing or promising security.


### Book:Symbolic gestures are often enough to win sympathy and goodwill. A


### Book:gesture of self-sacrifice, for example—a show that you suffer as those


### Book:around you do—will make people identify with you, even if your


### Book:suffering is symbolic or minor and theirs is real. When you enter a


### Book:group, make a gesture of goodwill; soften the group up for the harsher


### Book:actions that will follow later.


### Book:When T. E. Lawrence was fighting the Turks in the deserts of the


### Book:Middle East during World War I, he had an epiphany: It seemed to him


### Book:that conventional warfare had lost its value. The old-fashioned soldier


### Book:was lost in the enormous armies of the time, in which he was ordered


### Book:about like a lifeless pawn. Lawrence wanted to turn this around. For him,


### Book:every soldier’s mind was a kingdom he had to conquer. A committed,


### Book:psychologically motivated soldier would fight harder and more


### Book:creatively than a puppet.


### Book:Lawrence’s perception is still more true in the world today, where so


### Book:many of us feel alienated, anonymous, and suspicious of authority, all of


### Book:which makes overt power plays and force even more counterproductive


### Book:and dangerous. Instead of manipulating lifeless pawns, make those on


### Book:your side convinced and excited by the cause you have enlisted them in;


### Book:this will not only make your work easier but it will also give you more


### Book:leeway to deceive them later on. And to accomplish this you need to dealwith their individual psychologies. Never clumsily assume that the tactic


### Book:that worked on one person will necessarily work on another. To find the


### Book:key that will motivate them, first get them to open up. The more they


### Book:talk, the more they reveal about their likes and dislikes—the handles and


### Book:levers to move them with.


### Book:The quickest way to secure people’s minds is by demonstrating, as


### Book:simply as possible, how an action will benefit them. Self-interest is the


### Book:strongest motive of all: A great cause may capture minds, but once the


### Book:first flush of excitement is over, interest will flag—unless there is


### Book:something to be gained. Self-interest is the solider foundation. The


### Book:causes that work best use a noble veneer to cover a blatant appeal to self-


### Book:interest; the cause seduces but the self-interest secures the deal.


### Book:The people who are best at appealing to people’s minds are often


### Book:artists, intellectuals, and those of a more poetic nature. This is because


### Book:ideas are most easily communicated through metaphors and imagery. It


### Book:is always good policy, then, to have in your pocket at least one artist or


### Book:intellectual who can appeal concretely to people’s minds. Kings have


### Book:always kept a stable of writers in their barn: Frederick the Great had his


### Book:Voltaire (until they quarreled and separated), Napoleon won over


### Book:Goethe. Conversely, Napoleon III’s alienation of writers such as Victor


### Book:Hugo, whom he exiled from France, contributed to his growing


### Book:unpopularity and eventual downfall. It is dangerous, then, to alienate


### Book:those who have powers of expression, and useful to pacify and exploit


### Book:them.


### Book:Finally, learn to play the numbers game. The wider your support base


### Book:the stronger your power. Understanding that one alienated, disaffected


### Book:soul can spark a blaze of discontent, Louis XIV made sure to endear


### Book:himself to the lowest members of his staff. You too must constantly win


### Book:over more allies on all levels—a time will inevitably come when you


### Book:will need them.


### Book:Image:


### Book:The Keyhole.


### Book:People build


### Book:walls to keep you


### Book:out; never force


### Book:your way in—you


### Book:will find only more


### Book:walls within walls.


### Book:There are doors in


### Book:these walls, doors tothe heart and mind, and


### Book:they have tiny key


### Book:holes. Peer through the


### Book:keyhole, find the key


### Book:that opens the door,


### Book:and you have access


### Book:to their will with


### Book:no ugly signs


### Book:of forced


### Book:entry.


### Book:Authority: The difficulties in the way of persuasion lie in my knowing


### Book:the heart of the persuaded in order thereby to fit my wording into it….


### Book:For this reason, whoever attempts persuasion before the throne, must


### Book:carefully observe the sovereign’s feelings of love and hate, his secret


### Book:wishes and fears, before he can conquer his heart. (Han-fei-tzu, Chinese


### Book:philosopher, third century B.C.)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:There is no possible reversal to this Law.LAW 44


### Book:DISARM AND INFURIATE WITH THE


### Book:MIRROR EFFECT


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception:


### Book:When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot


### Book:figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them,


### Book:making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you


### Book:seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a


### Book:mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the


### Book:power of the Mirror Effect.


### Book:MIRROR EFFECTS: Preliminary Typology


### Book:Mirrors have the power to disturb us. Gazing at our reflection in the


### Book:mirror, we most often see what we want to see—the image of ourselves


### Book:with which we are most comfortable. We tend not to look too closely,


### Book:ignoring the wrinkles and blemishes. But if we do look hard at the


### Book:reflected image, we sometimes feel that we are seeing ourselves as others


### Book:see us, as a person among other people, an object rather than a subject.


### Book:That feeling makes us shudder—we see ourselves, but from the outside,


### Book:minus the thoughts, spirit, and soul that fill our consciousness. We are a


### Book:thing.


### Book:In using Mirror Effects we symbolically re-create this disturbing


### Book:power by mirroring the actions of other people, mimicking their


### Book:movements to unsettle and infuriate them. Made to feel mocked, cloned,


### Book:objectlike, an image without a soul, they get angry. Or do the same thing


### Book:slightly differently and they might feel disarmed—you have perfectlyreflected their wishes and desires. This is the narcissistic power of


### Book:mirrors. In either case, the Mirror Effect unsettles your targets, whether


### Book:angering or entrancing them, and in that instant you have the power to


### Book:manipulate or seduce them. The Effect contains great power because it


### Book:operates on the most primitive emotions.


### Book:There are four main Mirror Effects in the realm of power:


### Book:The Neutralizing Effect. In ancient Greek mythology, the Gorgon


### Book:Medusa had serpents for hair, protruding tongue, massive teeth, and a


### Book:face so ugly that anyone who gazed at her was turned into stone, out of


### Book:fright. But the hero Perseus managed to slay Medusa by polishing his


### Book:bronze shield into a mirror, then using the reflection in the mirror to


### Book:guide him as he crept up and cut off her head without looking at her


### Book:directly. If the shield in this instance was a mirror, the mirror also was a


### Book:kind of shield: Medusa could not see Perseus, she saw only her own


### Book:reflected actions, and behind this screen the hero stole up and destroyed


### Book:her.


### Book:This is the essence of the Neutralizing Effect: Do what your enemies


### Book:do, following their actions as best you can, and they cannot see what you


### Book:are up to—they are blinded by your mirror. Their strategy for dealing


### Book:with you depends on your reacting to them in a way characteristic of


### Book:you; neutralize it by playing a game of mimicry with them. The tactic


### Book:has a mocking, even infuriating effect. Most of us remember the


### Book:childhood experience of someone teasing us by repeating our words


### Book:exactly—after a while, usually not long, we wanted to punch them in the


### Book:face. Working more subtly as an adult, you can still unsettle your


### Book:opponents this way; shielding your own strategy with the mirror, you lay


### Book:invisible traps, or push your opponents into the trap they planned for


### Book:you.


### Book:This powerful technique has been used in military strategy since the


### Book:days of Sun-tzu; in our own time it often appears in political


### Book:campaigning. It is also useful for disguising those situations in which


### Book:you have no particular strategy yourself. This is the Warrior’s Mirror.


### Book:THE MERCHANT AND HIS


### Book:A certain merchant once had a great desire to make a long journey. Now


### Book:in regard that he was not very wealthy, “It is requisite, ”said he to


### Book:himself, “that before my departure I should leave some part of my estate


### Book:in the city, to the end that if I meet with ill luck in my travels, I may havewherewithal to keep me at my return.”To this purpose he delivered a


### Book:great number of bars of iron, which were a principal part of his wealth,


### Book:in trust to one of his friends, desiring him to keep them during his


### Book:absence; and then, taking his leave, away he went. Some time after,


### Book:having had but ill luck in his travels, he returned home; and the first


### Book:thing he did was to go to his friend, and demand his iron: but his friend,


### Book:who owed several sums of money, having sold the iron to pay his own


### Book:debts, made him this answer: “Truly, friend,”said he, “I put your iron


### Book:into a room that was close locked, imagining it would have been there as


### Book:secure as my own gold; but an accident has happened which no one


### Book:could have suspected, for there was a rat in the room which ate it all


### Book:up.” The merchant, pretending ignorance, replied, “It is a terrible


### Book:misfortune to me indeed; but I know of old that rats love iron extremely;


### Book:I have suffered by them many times before in the same manner, and


### Book:therefore can the better bear my present affliction.” This answer


### Book:extremely pleased the friend, who was glad to hear the merchant so well


### Book:inclined to believe that a rat had eaten his iron; and to remove all


### Book:suspicions, desired him to dine with him the next day. The merchant


### Book:promised he would, but in the meantime he met in the middle of the city


### Book:one of his friend’s children; the child he carried home, and locked up in


### Book:a room. The next day he went to his friend, who seemed to be in great


### Book:affliction, which he asked him the cause of, as if he had been perfectly


### Book:ignorant of what had happened. ”O, my dear friend,” answered the


### Book:other, ”I beg you to excuse me, if you do not see me so cheerful as


### Book:otherwise I would be; I have lost one of my children; I have had him


### Book:cried by sound of trumpet, but I know not what is become of him.” “O!”


### Book:replied the merchant, ”I am grieved to hear this; for yesterday in the


### Book:evening, as I parted from hence, I saw an owl in the air with a child in


### Book:his claws; but whether it were yours I cannot tell.” “Why, you most


### Book:foolish and absurd creature!” replied the friend, ”are you not ashamed


### Book:to tell such an egregious lie? An owl, that weighs at most not above two


### Book:or three pounds, can he carry a boy that weighs above fifty?” ”Why,”


### Book:replied the merchant, ”do you make such a wonder at that? As if in a


### Book:country where one rat can eat a hundred tons’ weight of iron, it were


### Book:such a wonder for an owl to carry a child that weighs not over fifty


### Book:pounds in all!” The friend, upon this, found that the merchant was no


### Book:such fool as he took him to be, begged his pardon for the cheat which he


### Book:designed to have put apon him, restored him the value of his iron, and so


### Book:had his son again.


### Book:FABLES, PILPAY. INDIA. FOURTH CENTURYA reverse version of the Neutralizing Effect is the Shadow: You


### Book:shadow your opponents’ every move without their seeing you. Use the


### Book:Shadow to gather information that will neutralize their strategy later on,


### Book:when you will be able to thwart their every move. The Shadow is


### Book:effective because to follow the movements of others is to gain valuable


### Book:insights into their habits and routines. The Shadow is the preeminent


### Book:device for detectives and spies.


### Book:The Narcissus Effect. Gazing at an image in the waters of a pond, the


### Book:Greek youth Narcissus fell in love with it. And when he found out that


### Book:the image was his own reflection, and that he therefore could not


### Book:consummate his love, he despaired and drowned himself. All of us have


### Book:a similar problem: We are profoundly in love with ourselves, but since


### Book:this love excludes a love object outside ourselves, it remains


### Book:continuously unsatisfied and unfulfilled. The Narcissus Effect plays on


### Book:this universal narcissism: You look deep into the souls of other people;


### Book:fathom their inmost desires, their values, their tastes, their spirit; and you


### Book:reflect it back to them, making yourself into a kind of mirror image. Your


### Book:ability to reflect their psyche gives you great power over them; they may


### Book:even feel a tinge of love.


### Book:This is simply the ability to mimic another person not physically, but


### Book:psychologically, and it is immensely powerful because it plays upon the


### Book:unsatisfied self-love of a child. Normally, people bombard us with their


### Book:experiences, their tastes. They hardly ever make the effort to see things


### Book:through our eyes. This is annoying, but it also creates great opportunity:


### Book:If you can show you understand another person by reflecting their inmost


### Book:feelings, they will be entranced and disarmed, all the more so because it


### Book:happens so rarely. No one can resist this feeling of being harmoniously


### Book:reflected in the outside world, even though you might well be


### Book:manufacturing it for their benefit, and for deceptive purposes of your


### Book:own.


### Book:The Narcissus Effect works wonders in both social life and business; it


### Book:gives us both the Seducer’s and the Courtier’s Mirror.


### Book:The Moral Effect The power of verbal argument is extremely limited,


### Book:and often accomplishes the opposite of what is intended. As Gracián


### Book:remarks, “The truth is generally seen, rarely heard.” The Moral Effect is


### Book:a perfect way to demonstrate your ideas through action. Quite simply,


### Book:you teach others a lesson by giving them a taste of their own medicine.


### Book:In the Moral Effect, you mirror what other people have done to you,


### Book:and do so in a way that makes them realize you are doing to them exactlywhat they did to you. You make them feel that their behavior has been


### Book:unpleasant, as opposed to hearing you complain and whine about it,


### Book:which only gets their defenses up. And as they feel the result of their


### Book:actions mirrored back at them, they realize in the profoundest sense how


### Book:they hurt or punish others with their unsocial behavior. You objectify the


### Book:qualities you want them to feel ashamed of and create a mirror in which


### Book:they can gaze at their follies and learn a lesson about themselves. This


### Book:technique is often used by educators, psychologists, and anyone who has


### Book:to deal with unpleasant and unconscious behavior. This is the Teacher’s


### Book:Mirror. Whether or not there is actually anything wrong with the way


### Book:people have treated you, however, it can often be to your advantage to


### Book:reflect it back to them in a way that makes them feel guilty about it.


### Book:The Hallucinatory Effect. Mirrors are tremendously deceptive, for they


### Book:create a sense that you are looking at the real world. Actually, though,


### Book:you are only staring at a piece of glass, which, as everyone knows,


### Book:cannot show the world exactly as it is: Everything in a mirror is reversed.


### Book:When Alice goes through the looking glass in Lewis Carroll’s book, she


### Book:enters a world that is back-to-front, and more than just visually.


### Book:The Hallucinatory Effect comes from creating a perfect copy of an


### Book:object, a place, a person. This copy acts as a kind of dummy—people


### Book:take it for the real thing, because it has the physical appearance of the


### Book:real thing. This is the preeminent technique of con artists, who


### Book:strategically mimic the real world to deceive you. It also has applications


### Book:in any arena that requires camouflage. This is the Deceiver’s Mirror.


### Book:OBSERVANCES OF MIRROR EFFECTS


### Book:Observance I


### Book:In February of 1815, the emperor Napoleon escaped from the island of


### Book:Elba, where he had been imprisoned by the allied forces of Europe, and


### Book:returned to Paris in a march that stirred the French nation, rallying troops


### Book:and citizens of all classes to his side and chasing his successor, King


### Book:Louis XVIII, off the throne. By March, however, having reestablished


### Book:himself in power, he had to face the fact that France’s situation had


### Book:gravely changed. The country was devastated, he had no allies amongthe other European nations, and his most loyal and important ministers


### Book:had deserted him or left the country. Only one man remained from the


### Book:old regime—Joseph Fouche, his former minister of police.


### Book:Napoleon had relied on Fouché to do his dirty work throughout his


### Book:previous reign, but he had never been able to figure his minister out. He


### Book:kept a corps of agents to spy on all of his ministers, so that he would


### Book:always have an edge on them, but no one had gotten anything on Fouché.


### Book:If suspected of some misdeed, the minister would not get angry or take


### Book:the accusation personally—he would submit, nod, smile, and change


### Book:colors chameleonlike, adapting to the requirements of the moment. At


### Book:first this had seemed somewhat pleasant and charming, but after a while


### Book:it frustrated Napoleon, who felt outdone by this slippery man. At one


### Book:time or another he had fired all of his most important ministers,


### Book:including Talleyrand, but he never touched Fouché. And so, in 1815,


### Book:back in power and in need of help, he felt he had no choice but to


### Book:reappoint Fouché as his minister of police.


### Book:When you have come to grips and are striving together with the enemy,


### Book:and you realize that you cannot advance, you “soak in” and become one


### Book:with the enemy. You can win by applying a suitable technique while you


### Book:are mutually entangled. … You can win often decisively with the


### Book:advantage of knowing how to “soak” into the enemy, whereas, were you


### Book:to draw apart, you would lose the chance to win.


### Book:A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS, MIYAMOTO MUSASHI, JAPAN,


### Book:SEVENTEENTH CENTURY


### Book:Several weeks into his new reign, Napoleon’s spies told him they


### Book:believed Fouché was in secret contact with ministers of foreign


### Book:countries, including Metternich of Austria. Afraid that his most valuable


### Book:minister was betraying him to his enemies, Napoleon had to find out the


### Book:truth before it was too late. He could not confront Fouché directly—in


### Book:person the man was as slippery as an eel. He needed hard proof.


### Book:This seemed to come in April, when the emperor’s private police


### Book:captured a Viennese gentleman who had come to Paris to pass


### Book:information on to Fouché. Ordering the man brought before him,


### Book:Napoleon threatened to shoot him then and there unless he confessed; the


### Book:man broke down and admitted he had given Fouché a letter from


### Book:Metternich, written in invisible ink, arranging for a secret meeting of


### Book:special agents in Basel. Napoleon accordingly ordered one of his ownagents to infiltrate this meeting. If Fouché was indeed planning to betray


### Book:him, he would finally be caught red-handed and would hang.


### Book:Napoleon waited impatiently for the agent’s return, but to his


### Book:bewilderment the agent showed up days later reporting that he had heard


### Book:nothing that would implicate Fouché in a conspiracy. In fact it seemed


### Book:that the other agents present suspected Fouché of double-crossing them,


### Book:as if he were working for Napoleon all along. Napoleon did not believe


### Book:this for an instant—Fouché had somehow outwitted him again.


### Book:The following morning Fouché visited Napoleon, and remarked, “By


### Book:the way, sire, I never told you that I had a letter from Metternich a few


### Book:days ago; my mind was so full of things of greater moment. Besides, his


### Book:emissary omitted to give me the powder needed to make the writing


### Book:legible…. Here at length is the letter.” Sure that Fouché was toying with


### Book:him, Napoleon exploded, “You are a traitor, Fouché! I ought to have you


### Book:hanged.” He continued to harangue Fouché, but could not fire him


### Book:without proof. Fouché only expressed amazement at the emperor’s


### Book:words, but inwardly he smiled, for all along he had been playing a


### Book:mirroring game. Interpretation


### Book:Fouché had known for years that Napoleon kept on top of those around


### Book:him by spying on them day and night. The minister had survived this


### Book:game by having his own spies spy on Napoleon’s spies, thus neutralizing


### Book:any action Napoleon might take against him. In the case of the meeting


### Book:in Basel, he even turned the tables: Knowing about Napoleon’s double


### Book:agent, he set it up so that it would appear as if Fouché were a loyal


### Book:double agent too.


### Book:Fouché gained power and flourished in a period of great tumult by


### Book:mirroring those around him. During the French Revolution he was a


### Book:radical Jacobin; after the Terror he became a moderate republican; and


### Book:under Napoleon he became a committed imperialist whom Napoleon


### Book:ennobled and made the duke of Otranto. If Napoleon took up the weapon


### Book:of digging up dirt on people, Fouché made sure he had the dirt on


### Book:Napoleon, as well as on everyone else. This also allowed him to predict


### Book:the emperor’s plans and desires, so that he could echo his boss’s


### Book:sentiments before he had even uttered them. Shielding his actions with a


### Book:mirror strategy, Fouché could also plot offensive moves without being


### Book:caught in the act.


### Book:THE FOX AND THE STORKOne day Mr. Fox decided to fork out And invite old Mrs. Stork out. The


### Book:dinner wasn’t elaborate—Being habitually mean, He didn’t go in for


### Book:haute cuisine-In fact it consisted of a shallow plate Of thin gruel. Within


### Book:a minute Our joker had lapped his plate clean; Meanwhile his guest,


### Book:fishing away with her beak, Got not a morsel in it. To pay him back for


### Book:this cruel Practical joke, the stork invited The fox to dinner the following


### Book:week. “I should be delighted,” He replied; “When it comes to friends I


### Book:never stand upon pride.” Punctually on the day he ran To his hostess’s


### Book:house and at once began Praising everything: “What taste! What chic!


### Book:And the food—done just to a turn!” Then sat down with a hearty


### Book:appetite (Foxes are always ready to eat) And savored the delicious smell


### Book:of meat. It was minced meat and served—to serve him right!—In a long-


### Book:necked, narrow-mouthed urn. The stork, easily stooping, Enjoyed her fill


### Book:With her long bill; His snout, though, being the wrong shape and size,


### Book:He had to return to his den Empty-bellied, tail dragging, ears drooping,


### Book:As red in the face as a fox who’s been caught by a hen.


### Book:SELECTED FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695


### Book:This is the power of mirroring those around you. First, you give


### Book:people the feeling that you share their thoughts and goals. Second, if they


### Book:suspect you have ulterior motives, the mirror shields you from them,


### Book:preventing them from figuring out your strategy. Eventually this will


### Book:infuriate and unsettle them. By playing the double, you steal their


### Book:thunder, suck away their initiative, make them feel helpless. You also


### Book:gain the ability to choose when and how to unsettle them—another


### Book:avenue to power. And the mirror saves you mental energy: simply


### Book:echoing the moves of others gives you the space you need to develop a


### Book:strategy of your own.


### Book:Observance II


### Book:Early on in his career, the ambitious statesman and general Alcibiades of


### Book:Athens (450-404 B.C.) fashioned a formidable weapon that became the


### Book:source of his power. In every encounter with others, he would sense their


### Book:moods and tastes, then carefully tailor his words and actions to mirror


### Book:their inmost desires. He would seduce them with the idea that their


### Book:values were superior to everyone else’s, and that his goal was to model


### Book:himself on them or help them realize their dreams. Few could resist his


### Book:charm.The first man to fall under his spell was the philosopher Socrates.


### Book:Alcibiades represented the opposite of the Socratic ideal of simplicity


### Book:and uprightness: He lived lavishly and was completely unprincipled.


### Book:Whenever he met Socrates, however, he mirrored the older man’s


### Book:sobriety, eating simply, accompanying Socrates on long walks, and


### Book:talking only of philosophy and virtue. Socrates was not completely


### Book:fooled—he was not unaware of Alcibiades’ other life. But that only


### Book:made him vulnerable to a logic that flattered him: Only in my presence,


### Book:he felt, does this man submit to a virtuous influence; only I have such


### Book:power over him. This feeling intoxicated Socrates, who became


### Book:Alcibiades’ fervent admirer and supporter, one day even risking his own


### Book:life to rescue the young man in battle.


### Book:The Athenians considered Alcibiades their greatest orator, for he had


### Book:an uncanny ability to tune in to his audience’s aspirations, and mirror


### Book:their desires. He made his greatest speeches in support of the invasion of


### Book:Sicily, which he thought would bring great wealth to Athens and


### Book:limitless glory to himself. The speeches gave expression to young


### Book:Athenians’ thirst to conquer lands for themselves, rather than living off


### Book:the victories of their ancestors. But he also tailored his words to reflect


### Book:older men’s nostalgia for the glory years when Athens led the Greeks


### Book:against Persia, and then went on to create an empire. All Athens now


### Book:dreamed of conquering Sicily; Alcibiades’ plan was approved, and he


### Book:was made the expedition’s commander.


### Book:THE PU RI.OINED LLTTER


### Book:When I wish to find out how wise, or how stupid, or how good, or how


### Book:wicked is any one, or what are his thoughts at the moment, I fashion the


### Book:expression of my face, as accurately as possible, in accordance with the


### Book:expression of his, and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise


### Book:in my mind or heart, as if to match or correspond with the expression.


### Book:EDGAR ALLAN POE, 1809-1849


### Book:While Alcibiades was leading the invasion of Sicily, however, certain


### Book:Athenians fabricated charges against him of profaning sacred statues. He


### Book:knew his enemies would have him executed if he returned home, so at


### Book:the last minute he deserted the Athenian fleet and defected to Athens’s


### Book:bitter enemy, Sparta. The Spartans welcomed this great man to their side,


### Book:but they knew his reputation and were wary of him. Alcibiades loved


### Book:luxury; the Spartans were a warrior people who worshipped austerity,


### Book:and they were afraid he would corrupt their youth. But much to theirrelief, the Alcibiades who arrived in Sparta was not at all what they


### Book:expected: He wore his hair untrimmed (as they did), took cold baths, ate


### Book:coarse bread and black broth, and wore simple clothes. To the Spartans


### Book:this signified that he had come to see their way of life as superior to the


### Book:Athenian; greater than they were, he had chosen to be a Spartan rather


### Book:than being born one, and should thus be honored above all others. They


### Book:fell under his spell and gave him great powers. Unfortunately Alcibiades


### Book:rarely knew how to rein in his charm—he managed to seduce the king of


### Book:Sparta’s wife and make her pregnant. When this became public he once


### Book:more had to flee for his life.


### Book:This time Alcibiades defected to Persia, where he suddenly went from


### Book:Spartan simplicity to embracing the lavish Persian lifestyle down to the


### Book:last detail. It was of course immensely flattering to the Persians to see a


### Book:Greek of Alcibiades’ stature prefer their culture over his own, and they


### Book:showered him with honors, land, and power. Once seduced by the mirror,


### Book:they failed to notice that behind this shield Alcibiades was playing a


### Book:double game, secretly helping the Athenians in their war with Sparta and


### Book:thus reingratiat ing himself with the city to which he desperately wanted


### Book:to return, and which welcomed him back with open arms in 408 B.C.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Early in his political career, Alcibiades made a discovery that changed


### Book:his whole approach to power: He had a colorful and forceful personality,


### Book:but when he argued his ideas strongly with other people he would win


### Book:over a few while at the same time alienating many more. The secret to


### Book:gaining ascendancy over large numbers, he came to believe, was not to


### Book:impose his colors but to absorb the colors of those around him, like a


### Book:chameleon. Once people fell for the trick, the deceptions he went on to


### Book:practice would be invisible to them.