### Book:court. During the Congress of Vienna in 1814, after Napoleon, defeated,


### Book:had been imprisoned on the island of Elba, the participants in these


### Book:meetings, which were to decide the fate of Europe, invited Isabey to


### Book:immortalize the historic events in an epic painting.


### Book:When Isabey arrived in Vienna, Talleyrand, the main negotiator for the


### Book:French, paid the artist a visit. Considering his role in the proceedings, the


### Book:statesman explained, he expected to occupy center stage in the painting.


### Book:Isabey cordially agreed. A few days later the Duke of Wellington, the


### Book:main negotiator for the English, also approached Isabey, and said much


### Book:the same thing that Talleyrand had. The ever polite Isabey agreed that the


### Book:great duke should indeed be the center of attention.


### Book:Back in his studio, Isabey pondered the dilemma. If he gave the


### Book:spotlight to either of the two men, he could create a diplomatic rift,


### Book:stirring up all sorts of resentment at a time when peace and concord werecritical. When the painting was finally unveiled, however, both


### Book:Talleyrand and Wellington felt honored and satisfied. The work depicts a


### Book:large hall filled with diplomats and politicians from all over Europe. On


### Book:one side the Duke of Wellington enters the room, and all eyes are turned


### Book:toward him; he is the “center” of attention. In the very center of the


### Book:painting, meanwhile, sits Talleyrand.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:It is often very difficult to satisfy the master, but to satisfy two masters in


### Book:one stroke takes the genius of a great courtier. Such predicaments are


### Book:common in the life of a courtier: By giving attention to one master, he


### Book:displeases another. You must find a way to navigate this Scylla and


### Book:Charybdis safely. Masters must receive their due; never inadvertently stir


### Book:up the resentment of one in pleasing another.


### Book:Scene V


### Book:George Brummell, also known as Beau Brummell, made his mark in the


### Book:late 1700s by the supreme elegance of his appearance, his popularization


### Book:of shoe buckles (soon imitated by all the dandies), and his clever way


### Book:with words. His London house was the fashionable spot in town, and


### Book:Brummell was the authority on all matters of fashion. If he disliked your


### Book:footwear, you immediately got rid of it and bought whatever he was


### Book:wearing. He perfected the art of tying a cravat; Lord Byron was said to


### Book:spend many a night in front of the mirror trying to figure out the secret


### Book:behind Brummell’s perfect knots.


### Book:One of Brummell’s greatest admirers was the Prince of Wales, who


### Book:fancied himself a fashionable young man. Becoming attached to the


### Book:prince’s court (and provided with a royal pension), Brummell was soon


### Book:so sure of his own authority there that he took to joking about the


### Book:prince’s weight, referring to his host as Big Ben. Since trimness of figure


### Book:was an important quality for a dandy, this was a withering criticism. At


### Book:dinner once, when the service was slow, Brummell said to the prince,


### Book:“Do ring, Big Ben.” The prince rang, but when the valet arrived he


### Book:ordered the man to show Brummell the door and never admit him again.


### Book:Despite falling into the prince’s disfavor, Brummell continued to treat


### Book:everyone around him with the same arrogance. Without the Prince of


### Book:Wales’ patronage to support him, he sank into horrible debt, but hemaintained his insolent manners, and everyone soon abandoned him. He


### Book:died in the most pitiable poverty, alone and deranged.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Beau Brummell’s devastating wit was one of the qualities that endeared


### Book:him to the Prince of Wales. But not even he, the arbiter of taste and


### Book:fashion, could get away with a joke about the prince’s appearance, least


### Book:of all to his face. Never joke about a person’s plumpness, even indirectly


### Book:—and particularly when he is your master. The poorhouses of history are


### Book:filled with people who have made such jokes at their master’s expense.


### Book:Scene VI


### Book:Pope Urban VIII wanted to be remembered for his skills in writing


### Book:poetry, which unfortunately were mediocre at best. In 1629 Duke


### Book:Francesco d‘Este, knowing the pope’s literary pretensions, sent the poet


### Book:Fulvio Testi as his ambassador to the Vatican. One of Testi’s letters to the


### Book:duke reveals why he was chosen: “Once our discussion was over, I


### Book:kneeled to depart, but His Holiness made a signal and walked to another


### Book:room where he sleeps, and after reaching a small table, he grabbed a


### Book:bundle of papers and thus, turning to me with a smiling face, he said:


### Book:‘We want Your Lordship to listen to some of our compositions.’ And, in


### Book:fact, he read me two very long Pindaric poems, one in praise of the most


### Book:holy Virgin, and the other one about Countess Matilde.”


### Book:We do not know exactly what Testi thought of these very long poems,


### Book:since it would have been dangerous for him to state his opinion freely,


### Book:even in a letter. But he went on to write, “I, following the mood,


### Book:commented on each line with the needed praise, and, after having kissed


### Book:His Holiness’s foot for such an unusual sign of benevolence [the reading


### Book:of the poetry], I left.” Weeks later, when the duke himself visited the


### Book:pope, he managed to recite entire verses of the pope’s poetry and praised


### Book:it enough to make the pope “so jubilant he seemed to lose his mind.”


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:In matters of taste you can never be too obsequious with your master.


### Book:Taste is one of the ego’s prickliest parts; never impugn or question the


### Book:master’s taste—his poetry is sublime, his dress impeccable, and his


### Book:manner the model for all.Scene VII


### Book:One afternoon in ancient China, Chao, ruler of Han from 358 to 333


### Book:B.C., got drunk and fell asleep in the palace gardens. The court crown-


### Book:keeper, whose sole task was to look after the ruler’s head apparel, passed


### Book:through the gardens and saw his master sleeping without a coat. Since it


### Book:was getting cold, the crown-keeper placed his own coat over the ruler,


### Book:and left.


### Book:When Chao awoke and saw the coat upon him, he asked his


### Book:attendants, “Who put more clothes on my body?” “The crown-keeper,”


### Book:they replied. The ruler immediately called for his official coat-keeper and


### Book:had him punished for neglecting his duties. He also called for the crown-


### Book:keeper, whom he had beheaded.


### Book:Do not overstep your bounds. Do what you are assigned to do, to the best


### Book:of your abilities, and never do more. To think that by doing more you are


### Book:doing better is a common blunder. It is never good to seem to be trying


### Book:too hard—it is as if you were covering up some deficiency. Fulfilling a


### Book:task that has not been asked of you just makes people suspicious. If you


### Book:are a crown-keeper, be a crown-keeper. Save your excess energy for


### Book:when you are not in the court.


### Book:Scene VIII


### Book:One day, for amusement, the Italian Renaissance painter Fra Filippo


### Book:Lippi (1406-1469) and some friends went sailing in a small boat off


### Book:Ancona. There they were captured by two Moorish galleys, which hauled


### Book:them off in chains to Barbary, where they were sold as slaves. For


### Book:eighteen long months Filippo toiled with no hope of returning to Italy.


### Book:On several occasions Filippo saw the man who had bought him pass


### Book:by, and one day he decided to sketch this man’s portrait, using burnt coal


### Book:—charcoal—from the fire. Still in his chains, he found a white wall,


### Book:where he drew a full-length likeness of his owner in Moorish clothing.


### Book:The owner soon heard about this, for no one had seen such skill in


### Book:drawing before in these parts; it seemed like a miracle, a gift from God.


### Book:The drawing so pleased the owner that he instantly gave Filippo his


### Book:freedom and employed him in his court. All the big men on the Barbarycoast came to see the magnificent color portraits that Fra Filippo then


### Book:proceeded to do, and finally, in gratitude for the honor in this way


### Book:brought upon him, Filippo’s owner returned the artist safely to Italy.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:We who toil for other people have all in some way been captured by


### Book:pirates and sold into slavery. But like Fra Filippo (if to a lesser degree),


### Book:most of us possess some gift, some talent, an ability to do something


### Book:better than other people. Make your master a gift of your talents and you


### Book:will rise above other courtiers. Let him take the credit if necessary, it will


### Book:only be temporary: Use him as a stepping stone, a way of displaying


### Book:your talent and eventually buying your freedom from enslavement.


### Book:Scene IX


### Book:Alfonso I of Aragon once had a servant who told the king that the night


### Book:before he had had a dream: Alfonso had given him a gift of weapons,


### Book:horses, and clothes. Alfonso, a generous, lordly man, decided it would be


### Book:amusing to make this dream come true, and promptly gave the servant


### Book:exactly these gifts.


### Book:A little while later, the same servant announced to Alfonso that he had


### Book:had yet another dream, and in this one Alfonso had given him a


### Book:considerable pile of gold florins. The king smiled and said, “Don’t


### Book:believe in dreams from now on; they lie.”


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:In his treatment of the servant’s first dream, Alfonso remained in control.


### Book:By making a dream come true, he claimed a godlike power for himself,


### Book:if in a mild and humorous way. In the second dream, however, all


### Book:appearance of magic was gone; this was nothing but an ugly con game


### Book:on the servant’s part. Never ask for too much, then, and know when to


### Book:stop. It is the master’s prerogative to give—to give when he wants and


### Book:what he wants, and to do so without prompting. Do not give him the


### Book:chance to reject your requests. Better to win favors by deserving them, so


### Book:that they are bestowed without your asking.Scene X


### Book:The great English landscape painter J. M. W Turner (1775-1851) was


### Book:known for his use of color, which he applied with a brilliance and a


### Book:strange iridescence. The color in his paintings was so striking, in fact,


### Book:that other artists never wanted his work hung next to theirs: It inevitably


### Book:made everything around it seem dull.


### Book:The painter Sir Thomas Lawrence once had the misfortune of seeing


### Book:Turner’s masterpiece Cologne hanging in an exhibition between two


### Book:works of his own. Lawrence complained bitterly to the gallery owner,


### Book:who gave him no satisfaction: After all, someone’s paintings had to hang


### Book:next to Turner’s. But Turner heard of Lawrence’s complaint, and before


### Book:the exhibition opened, he toned down the brilliant golden sky in


### Book:Cologne, making it as dull as the colors in Lawrence’s works. A friend of


### Book:Turner’s who saw the painting approached the artist with a horrified


### Book:look: “What have you done to your picture!” he said. “Well, poor


### Book:Lawrence was so unhappy,” Turner replied, “and it’s only lampblack.


### Book:It’ll wash off after the exhibition.” Interpretation


### Book:Many of a courtier’s anxieties have to do with the master, with whom


### Book:most dangers lie. Yet it is a mistake to imagine that the master is the only


### Book:one to determine your fate. Your equals and subordinates play integral


### Book:parts also. A court is a vast stew of resentments, fears, and powerful


### Book:envy. You have to placate everyone who might someday harm you,


### Book:deflecting their resentment and envy and diverting their hostility onto


### Book:other people.


### Book:Turner, eminent courtier, knew that his good fortune and fame


### Book:depended on his fellow painters as well as on his dealers and patrons.


### Book:How many of the great have been felled by envious colleagues! Better


### Book:temporarily to dull your brilliance than to suffer the slings and arrows of


### Book:envy.


### Book:Scene XI


### Book:Winston Churchill was an amateur artist, and after World War II his


### Book:paintings became collector’s items. The American publisher Henry Luce,


### Book:in fact, creator of Time and Life magazines, kept one of Churchill’s


### Book:landscapes hanging in his private office in New York.


### Book:On a tour through the United States once, Churchill visited Luce in his


### Book:office, and the two men looked at the painting together. The publisherremarked, “It’s a good picture, but I think it needs something in the


### Book:foreground—a sheep, perhaps.” Much to Luce’s horror, Churchill’s


### Book:secretary called the publisher the next day and asked him to have the


### Book:painting sent to England. Luce did so, mortified that he had perhaps


### Book:offended the former prime minister. A few days later, however, the


### Book:painting was shipped back, but slightly altered: a single sheep now


### Book:grazed peacefully in the foreground.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:In stature and fame, Churchill stood head and shoulders above Luce, but


### Book:Luce was certainly a man of power, so let us imagine a slight equality


### Book:between them. Still, what did Churchill have to fear from an American


### Book:publisher? Why bow to the criticism of a dilettante?


### Book:A court—in this case the entire world of diplomats and international


### Book:statesmen, and also of the journalists who court them—is a place of


### Book:mutual dependence. It is unwise to insult or offend the taste of people of


### Book:power, even if they are below or equal to you. If a man like Churchill can


### Book:swallow the criticisms of a man like Luce, he proves himself a courtier


### Book:without peer. (Perhaps his correction of the painting implied a certain


### Book:condescension as well, but he did it so subtly that Luce did not perceive


### Book:any slight.) Imitate Churchill: Put in the sheep. It is always beneficial to


### Book:play the obliging courtier, even when you are not serving a master.


### Book:THE DELICATE GAME OF


### Book:COURTIERSHIP: A Warning


### Book:Talleyrand was the consummate courtier, especially in serving his master


### Book:Napoleon. When the two men were first getting to know each other,


### Book:Napoleon once said in passing, “I shall come to lunch at your house one


### Book:of these days.” Talleyrand had a house at Auteuil, in the suburbs of Paris.


### Book:“I should be delighted, mon général,” the minister replied, “and since


### Book:my house is close to the Bois de Boulogne, you will be able to amuse


### Book:yourself with a bit of shooting in the afternoon.”


### Book:“I do not like shooting,” said Napoleon, “But I love hunting. Are there


### Book:any boars in the Bois de Boulogne?” Napoleon came from Corsica,where boar hunting was a great sport. By asking if there were boars in a


### Book:Paris park, he showed himself still a provincial, almost a rube.


### Book:Talleyrand did not laugh, however, but he could not resist a practical joke


### Book:on the man who was now his master in politics, although not in blood


### Book:and nobility, since Talleyrand came from an old aristocratic family. To


### Book:Napoleon’s question, then, he simply replied, “Very few, mon général,


### Book:but I dare say you will manage to find one.”


### Book:It was arranged that Napoleon would arrive at Talleyrand’s house the


### Book:following day at seven A.M. and would spend the morning there. The


### Book:“boar hunt” would take place in the afternoon. Throughout the morning


### Book:the excited general talked nothing but boar hunting. Meanwhile,


### Book:Talleyrand secretly had his servants go to the market, buy two enormous


### Book:black pigs, and take them to the great park.


### Book:After lunch, the hunters and their hounds set off for the Bois de


### Book:Boulogne. At a secret signal from Talleyrand, the servants loosed one of


### Book:the pigs. “I see a boar,” Napoleon cried joyfully, jumping onto his horse


### Book:to give chase. Talleyrand stayed behind. It took half an hour of galloping


### Book:through the park before the “boar” was finally captured. At the moment


### Book:of triumph, however, Napoleon was approached by one of his aides, who


### Book:knew the creature could not possibly be a boar, and feared the general


### Book:would be ridiculed once the story got out: “Sir,” he told Napoleon, “you


### Book:realize of course that this is not a boar but a pig.”


### Book:Flying into a rage, Napoleon immediately set off at a gallop for


### Book:Talleyrand’s house. He realized along the way that he would now be the


### Book:butt of many a joke, and that exploding at Talleyrand would only make


### Book:him more ridiculous; it would be better to make a show of good humor.


### Book:Still, he did not hide his displeasure well.


### Book:Talleyrand decided to try to soothe the general’s bruised ego. He told


### Book:Napoleon not to go back to Paris yet—he should again go hunting in the


### Book:park. There were many rabbits there, and hunting them had been a


### Book:favorite pastime of Louis XVI. Talleyrand even offered to let Napoleon


### Book:use a set of guns that had once belonged to Louis. With much flattery


### Book:and cajolery, he once again got Napoleon to agree to a hunt.


### Book:The party left for the park in the late afternoon. Along the way,


### Book:Napoleon told Talleyrand, “I’m not Louis XVI, I surely won’t kill even


### Book:one rabbit.” Yet that afternoon, strangely enough, the park was teeming


### Book:with rabbits. Napoleon killed at least fifty of them, and his mood


### Book:changed from anger to satisfaction. At the end of his wild shooting spree,


### Book:however, the same aide approached him and whispered in his ear, “To


### Book:tell the truth, sir, I am beginning to believe these are not wild rabbits. Isuspect that rascal Talleyrand has played another joke on us.” (The aide


### Book:was right: Talleyrand had in fact sent his servants back to the market,


### Book:where they had purchased dozens of rabbits and then had released them


### Book:in the Bois de Boulogne.)


### Book:Napoleon immediately mounted his horse and galloped away, this time


### Book:returning straight to Paris. He later threatened Talleyrand, warned him


### Book:not to tell a soul what had happened; if he became the laughingstock of


### Book:Paris, there would be hell to pay.


### Book:It took months for Napoleon to be able to trust Talleyrand again, and


### Book:he never totally forgave him his humiliation.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Courtiers are like magicians: They deceptively play with appearances,


### Book:only letting those around them see what they want them to see. With so


### Book:much deception and manipulation afoot, it is essential to keep people


### Book:from seeing your tricks and glimpsing your sleight of hand.


### Book:Talleyrand was normally the Grand Wizard of Courtiership, and but


### Book:for Napoleon’s aide, he probably would have gotten away completely


### Book:with both pleasing his master and having a joke at the general’s expense.


### Book:But courtiership is a subtle art, and overlooked traps and inadvertent


### Book:mistakes can ruin your best tricks. Never risk being caught in your


### Book:maneuvers; never let people see your devices. If that happens you


### Book:instantly pass in people’s perceptions from a courtier of great manners to


### Book:a loathsome rogue. It is a delicate game you play; apply the utmost


### Book:attention to covering your tracks, and never let your master unmask you.LAW 25


### Book:RE-CREATE YOURSELF


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by


### Book:forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the


### Book:audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others


### Book:define it for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures


### Book:and actions—your power will be enhanced and your character will seem


### Book:larger than life.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I


### Book:Julius Caesar made his first significant mark on Roman society in 65


### Book:B.C., when he assumed the post of aedile, the official in charge of grain


### Book:distribution and public games. He began his entrance into the public eye


### Book:by organizing a series of carefully crafted and well-timed spectacles—


### Book:wild-beast hunts, extravagant gladiator shows, theatrical contests. On


### Book:several occasions, he paid for these spectacles out of his own pocket. To


### Book:the common man, Julius Caesar became indelibly associated with these


### Book:much-loved events. As he slowly rose to attain the position of consul, his


### Book:popularity among the masses served as the foundation of his power. He


### Book:had created an image of himself as a great public showman.


### Book:The man who intends to make his fortune in this ancient capital of the


### Book:world [Rome] must be a chameleon susceptible of reflecting the colors of


### Book:the atmosphere that surrounds him—a Proteus apt to assume every form,


### Book:every shape. He must be supple, flexible, insinuating, close, inscrutable,


### Book:often base, sometimes sincere, sometimes perfidious, always concealing


### Book:a part of his knowledge, indulging in but one tone of voice, patient, a


### Book:perfect master of his own countenance, as cold as ice when any otherman would be all fire; and if unfortunately he is not religious at heart—a


### Book:very common occurrence for a soul possessing the above requisites-he


### Book:must have religion in his mind, that is to say, on his face, on his lips, in


### Book:his manners; he must suffer quietly, if he be an honest man, the necessity


### Book:of knowing himself an arrant hypocrite. The man whose soul would


### Book:loathe such a life should leave Rome and seek his fortune elsewhere. I do


### Book:not know whether I am praising or excusing myself, but of all those


### Book:qualities I possessed but one—namely, flexibility.


### Book:MEMOIRS, GIOVANNI CASANOVA, 1725-1798


### Book:In 49 B.C., Rome was on the brink of a civil war between rival


### Book:leaders, Caesar and Pompey. At the height of the tension, Caesar, an


### Book:addict of the stage, attended a theatrical performance, and afterward, lost


### Book:in thought, he wandered in the darkness back to his camp at the Rubicon,


### Book:the river that divides Italy from Gaul, where he had been campaigning.


### Book:To march his army back into Italy across the Rubicon would mean the


### Book:beginning of a war with Pompey.


### Book:Before his staff Caesar argued both sides, forming the options like an


### Book:actor on stage, a precursor of Hamlet. Finally, to put his soliloquy to an


### Book:end, he pointed to a seemingly innocent apparition at the edge of the


### Book:river—a very tall soldier blasting a call on a trumpet, then going across a


### Book:bridge over the Rubicon—and pronounced, “Let us accept this as a sign


### Book:from the Gods and follow where they beckon, in vengeance on our


### Book:double-dealing enemies. The die is cast.” All of this he spoke


### Book:portentously and dramatically, gesturing toward the river and looking his


### Book:generals in the eye. He knew that these generals were uncertain in their


### Book:support, but his oratory overwhelmed them with a sense of the drama of


### Book:the moment, and of the need to seize the time. A more prosaic speech


### Book:would never have had the same effect. The generals rallied to his cause;


### Book:Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon and by the following year had


### Book:vanquished Pompey, making Caesar dictator of Rome.


### Book:In warfare, Caesar always played the leading man with gusto. He was


### Book:as skilled a horseman as any of his soldiers, and took pride in outdoing


### Book:them in feats of bravery and endurance. He entered battle astride the


### Book:strongest mount, so that his soldiers would see him in the thick of battle,


### Book:urging them on, always positioning himself in the center, a godlike


### Book:symbol of power and a model for them to follow. Of all the armies in


### Book:Rome, Caesar’s was the most devoted and loyal. His soldiers, like the


### Book:common people who had attended his entertainments, had come to


### Book:identify with him and with his cause.After the defeat of Pompey, the entertainments grew in scale. Nothing


### Book:like them had ever been seen in Rome. The chariot races became more


### Book:spectacular, the gladiator fights more dramatic, as Caesar staged fights to


### Book:the death among the Roman nobility. He organized enormous mock


### Book:naval battles on an artificial lake. Plays were performed in every Roman


### Book:ward. A giant new theater was built that sloped dramatically down the


### Book:Tarpeian Rock. Crowds from all over the empire flocked to these events,


### Book:the roads to Rome lined with visitors’ tents. And in 45 B.C., timing his


### Book:entry into the city for maximum effect and surprise, Caesar brought


### Book:Cleopatra back to Rome after his Egyptian campaign, and staged even


### Book:more extravagant public spectacles.


### Book:These events were more than devices to divert the masses; they


### Book:dramatically enhanced the public’s sense of Caesar’s character, and made


### Book:him seem larger than life. Caesar was the master of his public image, of


### Book:which he was forever aware. When he appeared before crowds he wore


### Book:the most spectacular purple robes. He would be upstaged by no one. He


### Book:was notoriously vain about his appearance—it was said that one reason


### Book:he enjoyed being honored by the Senate and people was that on these


### Book:occasions he could wear a laurel wreath, hiding his baldness. Caesar was


### Book:a masterful orator. He knew how to say a lot by saying a little, intuited


### Book:the moment to end a speech for maximum effect. He never failed to


### Book:incorporate a surprise into his public appearances—a startling


### Book:announcement that would heighten their drama.


### Book:Immensely popular among the Roman people, Caesar was hated and


### Book:feared by his rivals. On the ides of March—March 15—in the year 44


### Book:B.C., a group of conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius surrounded him


### Book:in the senate and stabbed him to death. Even dying, however, he kept his


### Book:sense of drama. Drawing the top of his gown over his face, he let go of


### Book:the cloth’s lower part so that it draped his legs, allowing him to die


### Book:covered and decent. According to the Roman historian Suetonius, his


### Book:final words to his old friend Brutus, who was about to deliver a second


### Book:blow, were in Greek, and as if rehearsed for the end of a play: “You too,


### Book:my child?”


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:The Roman theater was an event for the masses, attended by crowds


### Book:unimaginable today. Packed into enormous auditoriums, the audience


### Book:would be amused by raucous comedy or moved by high tragedy. Theaterseemed to contain the essence of life, in its concentrated, dramatic form.


### Book:Like a religious ritual, it had a powerful, instant appeal to the common


### Book:man.


### Book:Julius Caesar was perhaps the first public figure to understand the vital


### Book:link between power and theater. This was because of his own obsessive


### Book:interest in drama. He sublimated this interest by making himself an actor


### Book:and director on the world stage. He said his lines as if they had been


### Book:scripted; he gestured and moved through a crowd with a constant sense


### Book:of how he appeared to his audience. He incorporated surprise into his


### Book:repertoire, building drama into his speeches, staging into his public


### Book:appearances. His gestures were broad enough for the common man to


### Book:grasp them instantly. He became immensely popular.


### Book:Caesar set the ideal for all leaders and people of power. Like him, you


### Book:must learn to enlarge your actions through dramatic techniques such as


### Book:surprise, suspense, the creation of sympathy, and symbolic identification.


### Book:Also like him, you must be constantly aware of your audience—of what


### Book:will please them and what will bore them. You must arrange to place


### Book:yourself at the center, to command attention, and never to be upstaged at


### Book:any cost.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II


### Book:In the year 1831, a young woman named Aurore Dupin Dudevant left


### Book:her husband and family in the provinces and moved to Paris. She wanted


### Book:to be a writer; marriage, she felt, was worse than prison, for it left her


### Book:neither the time nor the freedom to pursue her passion. In Paris she


### Book:would establish her independence and make her living by writing.


### Book:Soon after Dudevant arrived in the capital, however, she had to


### Book:confront certain harsh realities. To have any degree of freedom in Paris


### Book:you had to have money. For a woman, money could only come through


### Book:marriage or prostitution. No woman had ever come close to making a


### Book:living by writing. Women wrote as a hobby, supported by their husbands,


### Book:or by an inheritance. In fact when Dudevant first showed her writing to


### Book:an editor, he told her, “You should make babies, Madame, not literature.”


### Book:Clearly Dudevant had come to Paris to attempt the impossible. In the


### Book:end, though, she came up with a strategy to do what no woman had ever


### Book:done—a strategy to re-create herself completely, forging a public imageof her own making. Women writers before her had been forced into a


### Book:ready-made role, that of the second-rate artist who wrote mostly for other


### Book:women. Dudevant decided that if she had to play a role, she would turn


### Book:the game around: She would play the part of a man.


### Book:In 1832 a publisher accepted Dudevant’s first major novel, Indiana.


### Book:She had chosen to publish it under a pseudonym, “George Sand,” and all


### Book:of Paris assumed this impressive new writer was male. Dudevant had


### Book:sometimes worn men’s clothes before creating “George Sand” (she had


### Book:always found men’s shirts and riding breeches more comfortable); now,


### Book:as a public figure, she exaggerated the image. She added long men’s


### Book:coats, gray hats, heavy boots, and dandyish cravats to her wardrobe. She


### Book:smoked cigars and in conversation expressed herself like a man, unafraid


### Book:to dominate the conversation or to use a saucy word.


### Book:This strange “male/female” writer fascinated the public. And unlike


### Book:other women writers, Sand found herself accepted into the clique of male


### Book:artists. She drank and smoked with them, even carried on affairs with the


### Book:most famous artists of Europe—Musset, Liszt, Chopin. It was she who


### Book:did the wooing, and also the abandoning—she moved on at her


### Book:discretion.


### Book:Those who knew Sand well understood that her male persona


### Book:protected her from the public’s prying eyes. Out in the world, she


### Book:enjoyed playing the part to the extreme; in private she remained herself.


### Book:She also realized that the character of “George Sand” could grow stale or


### Book:predictable, and to avoid this she would every now and then dramatically


### Book:alter the character she had created; instead of conducting affairs with


### Book:famous men, she would begin meddling in politics, leading


### Book:demonstrations, inspiring student rebellions. No one would dictate to her


### Book:the limits of the character she had created. Long after she died, and after


### Book:most people had stopped reading her novels, the larger-than-life


### Book:theatricality of that character has continued to fascinate and inspire.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Throughout Sand’s public life, acquaintances and other artists who spent


### Book:time in her company had the feeling they were in the presence of a man.


### Book:But in her journals and to her closest friends, such as Gustave Flaubert,


### Book:she confessed that she had no desire to be a man, but was playing a part


### Book:for public consumption. What she really wanted was the power to


### Book:determine her own character. She refused the limits her society wouldhave set on her. She did not attain her power, however, by being herself;


### Book:instead she created a persona that she could constantly adapt to her own


### Book:desires, a persona that attracted attention and gave her presence.


### Book:Understand this: The world wants to assign you a role in life. And


### Book:once you accept that role you are doomed. Your power is limited to the


### Book:tiny amount allotted to the role you have selected or have been forced to


### Book:assume. An actor, on the other hand, plays many roles. Enjoy that


### Book:protean power, and if it is beyond you, at least forge a new identity, one


### Book:of your own making, one that has had no boundaries assigned to it by an


### Book:envious and resentful world. This act of defiance is Promethean: It


### Book:makes you responsible for your own creation.


### Book:Your new identity will protect you from the world precisely because it


### Book:is not “you”; it is a costume you put on and take off. You need not take it


### Book:personally. And your new identity sets you apart, gives you theatrical


### Book:presence. Those in the back rows can see you and hear you. Those in the


### Book:front rows marvel at your audacity.


### Book:Do not people talk in society of a man being a great actor? They do not


### Book:mean by


### Book:that that he feels, but that he excels in simulating, though he feels


### Book:nothing.


### Book:Denis Diderot, 1713-1784


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:The character you seem to have been born with is not necessarily who


### Book:you are; beyond the characteristics you have inherited, your parents, your


### Book:friends, and your peers have helped to shape your personality. The


### Book:Promethean task of the powerful is to take control of the process, to stop


### Book:allowing others that ability to limit and mold them. Remake yourself into


### Book:a character of power. Working on yourself like clay should be one of


### Book:your greatest and most pleasurable life tasks. It makes you in essence an


### Book:artist—an artist creating yourself.


### Book:In fact, the idea of self-creation comes from the world of art. For


### Book:thousands of years, only kings and the highest courtiers had the freedom


### Book:to shape their public image and determine their own identity. Similarly,


### Book:only kings and the wealthiest lords could contemplate their own image inart, and consciously alter it. The rest of mankind played the limited role


### Book:that society demanded of them, and had little self-consciousness.


### Book:A shift in this condition can be detected in Velázquez’s painting Las


### Book:Meninas, made in 1656. The artist appears at the left of the canvas,


### Book:standing before a painting that he is in the process of creating, but that


### Book:has its back to us—we cannot see it. Beside him stands a princess, her


### Book:attendants, and one of the court dwarves, all watching him work. The


### Book:people posing for the painting are not directly visible, but we can see


### Book:them in tiny reflections in a mirror on the back wall—the king and queen


### Book:of Spain, who must be sitting somewhere in the foreground, outside the


### Book:picture.


### Book:The painting represents a dramatic change in the dynamics of power


### Book:and the ability to determine one’s own position in society. For Velázquez,


### Book:the artist, is far more prominently positioned than the king and queen. In


### Book:a sense he is more powerful than they are, since he is clearly the one


### Book:controlling the image—their image. Velázquez no longer saw himself as


### Book:the slavish, dependent artist. He had remade himself into a man of


### Book:power. And indeed the first people other than aristocrats to play openly


### Book:with their image in Western society were artists and writers, and later on


### Book:dandies and bohemians. Today the concept of self-creation has slowly


### Book:filtered down to the rest of society, and has become an ideal to aspire to.


### Book:Like Velazquez, you must demand for yourself the power to determine


### Book:your position in the painting, and to create your own image.


### Book:The first step in the process of self-creation is self-consciousness—


### Book:being aware of yourself as an actor and taking control of your


### Book:appearance and emotions. As Diderot said, the bad actor is the one who


### Book:is always sincere. People who wear their hearts on their sleeves out in


### Book:society are tiresome and embarrassing. Their sincerity notwithstanding, it


### Book:is hard to take them seriously. Those who cry in public may temporarily


### Book:elicit sympathy, but sympathy soon turns to scorn and irritation at their


### Book:self obsessiveness—they are crying to get attention, we feel, and a


### Book:malicious part of us wants to deny them the satisfaction.


### Book:Good actors control themselves better. They can play sincere and


### Book:heartfelt, can affect a tear and a compassionate look at will, but they


### Book:don’t have to feel it. They externalize emotion in a form that others can


### Book:understand. Method acting is fatal in the real world. No ruler or leader


### Book:could possibly play the part if all of the emotions he showed had to be


### Book:real. So learn self-control. Adopt the plasticity of the actor, who can


### Book:mold his or her face to the emotion required.The second step in the process of self-creation is a variation on the


### Book:George Sand strategy: the creation of a memorable character, one that


### Book:compels attention, that stands out above the other players on the stage.


### Book:This was the game Abraham Lincoln played. The homespun, common


### Book:country man, he knew, was a kind of president that America had never


### Book:had but would delight in electing. Although many of these qualities came


### Book:naturally to him, he played them up—the hat and clothes, the beard. (No


### Book:president before him had worn a beard.) Lincoln was also the first


### Book:president to use photographs to spread his image, helping to create the


### Book:icon of the “homespun president.”


### Book:Good drama, however, needs more than an interesting appearance, or a


### Book:single stand-out moment. Drama takes place over time—it is an


### Book:unfolding event. Rhythm and timing are critical. One of the most


### Book:important elements in the rhythm of drama is suspense. Houdini for


### Book:instance, could sometimes complete his escape acts in seconds—but he


### Book:drew them out to minutes, to make the audience sweat.


### Book:The key to keeping the audience on the edge of their seats is letting


### Book:events unfold slowly, then speeding them up at the right moment,


### Book:according to a pattern and tempo that you control. Great rulers from


### Book:Napoleon to Mao Tse-tung have used theatrical timing to surprise and


### Book:divert their public. Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood the importance


### Book:of staging political events in a particular order and rhythm.


### Book:At the time of his 1932 presidential election, the United States was in


### Book:the midst of a dire economic crisis. Banks were failing at an alarming


### Book:rate. Shortly after winning the election, Roosevelt went into a kind of


### Book:retreat. He said nothing about his plans or his cabinet appointments. He


### Book:even refused to meet the sitting president, Herbert Hoover, to discuss the


### Book:transition. By the time of Roosevelt’s inauguration the country was in a


### Book:state of high anxiety.


### Book:In his inaugural address, Roosevelt shifted gears. He made a powerful


### Book:speech, making it clear that he intended to lead the country in a


### Book:completely new direction, sweeping away the timid gestures of his


### Book:predecessors. From then on the pace of his speeches and public decisions


### Book:—cabinet appointments, bold legislation—unfolded at an incredibly


### Book:rapid rate. The period after the inauguration became known as the


### Book:“Hundred Days,” and its success in altering the country’s mood partly


### Book:stemmed from Roosevelt’s clever pacing and use of dramatic contrast.


### Book:He held his audience in suspense, then hit them with a series of bold


### Book:gestures that seemed all the more momentous because they came from


### Book:nowhere. You must learn to orchestrate events in a similar manner, neverrevealing all your cards at once, but unfolding them in a way that


### Book:heightens their dramatic effect.


### Book:Besides covering a multitude of sins, good drama can also confuse and


### Book:deceive your enemy. During World War II, the German playwright


### Book:Bertolt Brecht worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter. After the war he


### Book:was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities for


### Book:his supposed Communist sympathies. Other writers who had been called


### Book:to testify planned to humiliate the committee members with an angry


### Book:emotional stand. Brecht was wiser: He would play the committee like a


### Book:violin, charming them while fooling them as well. He carefully rehearsed


### Book:his responses, and brought along some props, notably a cigar on which


### Book:he puffed away, knowing the head of the committee liked cigars. And


### Book:indeed he proceeded to beguile the committee with well-crafted


### Book:responses that were ambiguous, funny, and double-edged. Instead of an


### Book:angry, heartfelt tirade, he ran circles around them with a staged


### Book:production, and they let him off scot-free.


### Book:Other dramatic effects for your repertoire include the beau geste, an


### Book:action at a climactic moment that symbolizes your triumph or your


### Book:boldness. Caesar’s dramatic crossing of the Rubicon was a beau geste—


### Book:a move that dazzled the soldiers and gave him heroic proportions. You


### Book:must also appreciate the importance of stage entrances and exits. When


### Book:Cleopatra first met Caesar in Egypt, she arrived rolled up in a carpet,


### Book:which she arranged to have unfurled at his feet. George Washington


### Book:twice left power with flourish and fanfare (first as a general, then as a


### Book:president who refused to sit for a third term), showing he knew how to


### Book:make the moment count, dramatically and symbolically. Your own


### Book:entrances and exits should be crafted and planned as carefully.


### Book:Remember that overacting can be counterproductive—it is another


### Book:way of spending too much effort trying to attract attention. The actor


### Book:Richard Burton discovered early in his career that by standing totally still


### Book:onstage, he drew attention to himself and away from the other actors. It


### Book:is less what you do that matters, clearly, than how you do it—your


### Book:gracefulness and imposing stillness on the social stage count for more


### Book:than overdoing your part and moving around too much.


### Book:Finally: Learn to play many roles, to be whatever the moment


### Book:requires. Adapt your mask to the situation—be protean in the faces you


### Book:wear. Bismarck played this game to perfection: To a liberal he was a


### Book:liberal, to a hawk he was a hawk. He could not be grasped, and what


### Book:cannot be grasped cannot be consumed.Image:


### Book:The Greek Sea-God Proteus.


### Book:His power came from his ability to


### Book:change shape at will, to be whatever the


### Book:moment required. When Menelaus, brother


### Book:of Agamemnon, tried to seize him, Proteus


### Book:transformed himself into a lion, then a serpent, a


### Book:panther, a boar, running water, and finally a leafy tree.


### Book:Authority: Know how to be all things to all men. A discreet Proteus—a


### Book:scholar among scholars, a saint among saints. That is the art of winning


### Book:over everyone, for like attracts like. Take note of temperaments and


### Book:adapt yourself to that of each person you meet—follow the lead of the


### Book:serious and jovial in turn, changing your mood discreetly. (Baltasar


### Book:Gracián, 1601-1658)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:There can really be no reversal to this critical law: Bad theater is bad


### Book:theater. Even appearing natural requires art—in other words, acting. Bad


### Book:acting only creates embarrassment. Of course you should not be too


### Book:dramatic—avoid the histrionic gesture. But that is simply bad theater


### Book:anyway, since it violates centuries-old dramatic laws against overacting.


### Book:In essence there is no reversal to this law.LAW 26


### Book:KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never


### Book:soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance


### Book:by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your


### Book:involvement.PART I: CONCEAL YOUR MISTAKES—


### Book:HAVE A SCAPEGOAT AROUND TO TAKE


### Book:THE BLAME


### Book:Our good name and reputation depend more on what we conceal than on


### Book:what we reveal. Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are truly clever


### Book:manage to hide them, and to make sure someone else is blamed. A


### Book:convenient scapegoat should always be kept around for such moments.


### Book:(III 1.\I,il .II ,1”/( F


### Book:A great calamity befell the town of Chelm one day. The town cobbler


### Book:murdered one of his customers. So he was brought before the judge, who


### Book:sentenced him to die by hanging. When the verdict was read a townsman


### Book:arose and cried out, “If your Honor pleases—you have sentenced to


### Book:death the town cobbler! He’s the only one we’ve got. lf you hang him


### Book:who will mend our shoes?” “Who? Who?” cried all the people of Chelm


### Book:with one voice.


### Book:The judge nodded in agreement and reconsidered his verdict. “Good


### Book:people of Chelm,”he said, “what you say is true. Since we have only one


### Book:cobbler it would he a great wrong against the community to let him die.


### Book:As there are two roofers in the town let one of them be hanged instead.”


### Book:A TREASURY OF JEWISH FOLKLORE, NATHAN AUSUBEL, ED..


### Book:1948


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I


### Book:Near the end of the second century A.D., as China’s mighty Han Empire


### Book:slowly collapsed, the great general and imperial minister Ts‘ao Ts’ao


### Book:emerged as the most powerful man in the country. Seeking to extend his


### Book:power base and to rid himself of the last of his rivals, Ts‘ao Ts’ao began


### Book:a campaign to take control of the strategically vital Central Plain. Duringthe siege of a key city, he slightly miscalculated the timing for supplies


### Book:of grain to arrive from the capital. As he waited for the shipment to come


### Book:in, the army ran low on food, and Ts‘ao Ts’ao was forced to order the


### Book:chief of commissariat to reduce its rations.


### Book:Ts‘ao Ts’ao kept a tight rein on the army, and ran a network of


### Book:informers. His spies soon reported that the men were complaining,


### Book:grumbling that he was living well while they themselves had barely


### Book:enough to eat. Perhaps Ts‘ao Ts’ao was keeping the food for himself,


### Book:they murmured. If the grumbling spread, Ts‘ao Ts’ao could have a


### Book:mutiny on his hands. He summoned the chief of commissariat to his tent.


### Book:“I want to ask you to lend me something, and you must not refuse,”


### Book:Ts‘ao Ts’ao told the chief. “What is it?” the chief replied. “I want the


### Book:loan of your head to show to the troops,” said Ts‘ao Ts’ao. “But I’ve


### Book:done nothing wrong!” cried the chief. “I know,” said Ts‘ao Ts’ao with a


### Book:sigh, “but if I do not put you to death, there will be a mutiny. Do not


### Book:grieve—after you’re gone, I’ll look after your family.” Put this way, the


### Book:request left the chief no choice, so he resigned himself to his fate and


### Book:was beheaded that very day. Seeing his head on public display, the


### Book:soldiers stopped grumbling. Some saw through Ts‘ao Ts’ao’s gesture, but


### Book:kept quiet, stunned and intimidated by his violence. And most accepted


### Book:his version of who was to blame, preferring to believe in his wisdom and


### Book:fairness than in his incompetence and cruelty.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Ts‘ao Ts’ao came to power in an extremely tumultuous time. In the


### Book:struggle for supremacy in the crumbling Han Empire, enemies had


### Book:emerged from all sides. The battle for the Central Plain had proven more


### Book:difficult than he imagined, and money and provisions were a constant


### Book:concern. No wonder that under such stress, he had forgotten to order


### Book:supplies in time.


### Book:Once it became clear that the delay was a critical mistake, and that the


### Book:army was seething with mutiny, Ts‘ao Ts’ao had two options: apology


### Book:and excuses, or a scapegoat. Understanding the workings of power and


### Book:the importance of appearances as he did, Ts‘ao Ts’ao did not hesitate for


### Book:a moment: He shopped around for the most convenient head and had it


### Book:served up immediately.


### Book:Occasional mistakes are inevitable—the world is just too


### Book:unpredictable. People of power, however, are undone not by the mistakesthey make, but by the way they deal with them. Like surgeons, they must


### Book:cut away the tumor with speed and finality. Excuses and apologies are


### Book:much too blunt tools for this delicate operation; the powerful avoid them.


### Book:By apologizing you open up all sorts of doubts about your competence,


### Book:your intentions, any other mistakes you may not have confessed. Excuses


### Book:satisfy no one and apologies make everyone uncomfortable. The mistake


### Book:does not vanish with an apology; it deepens and festers. Better to cut it


### Book:off instantly, distract attention from yourself, and focus attention on a


### Book:convenient scapegoat before people have time to ponder your


### Book:responsibility or your possible incompetence.


### Book:I would rather betray the whole world than let the world betray me.


### Book:General Ts‘ao Ts’ao, c. A.D. 155-220


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II


### Book:For several years Cesare Borgia campaigned to gain control of large


### Book:parts of Italy in the name of his father, Pope Alexander. In the year 1500


### Book:he managed to take Romagna, in northern Italy. The region had for years


### Book:been ruled by a series of greedy masters who had plundered its wealth


### Book:for themselves. Without police or any disciplining force, it had


### Book:descended into lawlessness, whole areas being ruled by robbers and


### Book:feuding families. To establish order, Cesare appointed a lieutenant


### Book:general of the region—Remirro de Orco, “a cruel and vigorous man,”


### Book:according to Niccolõ Machiavelli. Cesare gave de Orco absolute powers.


### Book:With energy and violence, de Orco established a severe, brutal justice


### Book:in Romagna, and soon rid it of almost all of its lawless elements. But in


### Book:his zeal he sometimes went too far, and after a couple of years the local


### Book:population resented and even hated him. In December of 1502, Cesare


### Book:took decisive action. He first let it be known that he had not approved of


### Book:de Orco’s cruel and violent deeds, which stemmed from the lieutenant’s


### Book:brutal nature. Then, on December 22, he imprisoned de Orco in the town


### Book:of Cesena, and the day after Christmas the townspeople awoke to find a


### Book:strange spectacle in the middle of the piazza: de Orco’s headless body,


### Book:dressed in a lavish suit with a purple cape, the head impaled beside it on


### Book:a pike, the bloody knife and executioner’s block laid out beside the head.


### Book:As Machiavelli concluded his comments on the affair, “The ferocity of


### Book:this scene left the people at once stunned and satisfied.”Interpretation


### Book:Cesare Borgia was a master player in the game of power. Always


### Book:planning several moves ahead, he set his opponents the cleverest traps.


### Book:For this Machiavelli honored him above all others in The Prince.


### Book:Cesare foresaw the future with amazing clarity in Romagna: Only


### Book:brutal justice would bring order to the region. The process would take


### Book:several years, and at first the people would welcome it. But it would


### Book:soon make many enemies, and the citizens would come to resent the


### Book:imposition of such unforgiving justice, especially by outsiders. Cesare


### Book:himself, then, could not be seen as the agent of this justice—the people’s


### Book:hatred would cause too many problems in the future. And so he chose the


### Book:one man who could do the dirty work, knowing in advance that once the


### Book:task was done he would have to display de Orco’s head on a pike. The


### Book:scapegoat in this case had been planned from the beginning.


### Book:With Ts‘ao Ts’ao, the scapegoat was an entirely innocent man; in the


### Book:Romagna, he was the offensive weapon in Cesare’s arsenal that let him


### Book:get the dirty work done without bloodying his own hands. With this


### Book:second kind of scapegoat it is wise to separate yourself from the hatchet


### Book:man at some point, either leaving him dangling in the wind or, like


### Book:Cesare, even making yourself the one to bring him to justice. Not only


### Book:are you free of involvement in the problem, you can appear as the one


### Book:who cleaned it up.


### Book:The Athenians regularly maintained a number of degraded and useless


### Book:beings at the public expense; and when any calamity, such as plague,


### Book:drought, or famine, befell the city … [these scapegoats] were led about


### Book:…


### Book:and then sacrificed, apparently by being stoned outside the city.


### Book:The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazer, 1854-1941


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:The use of scapegoats is as old as civilization itself, and examples of it


### Book:can be found in cultures around the world. The main idea behind these


### Book:sacrifices is the shifting of guilt and sin to an outside figure—object,


### Book:animal, or man—which is then banished or destroyed. The Hebrews used


### Book:to take a live goat (hence the term “scapegoat”) upon whose head thepriest would lay both hands while confessing the sins of the Children of


### Book:Israel. Having thus had those sins transferred to it, the beast would be led


### Book:away and abandoned in the wilderness. With the Athenians and the


### Book:Aztecs, the scapegoat was human, often a person fed and raised for the


### Book:purpose. Since famine and plague were thought to be visited on humans


### Book:by the gods, in punishment for wrongdoing, the people suffered not only


### Book:from the famine and plague themselves but from blame and guilt. They


### Book:freed themselves of guilt by transferring it to an innocent person, whose


### Book:death was intended to satisfy the divine powers and banish the evil from


### Book:their midst.


### Book:It is an extremely human response to not look inward after a mistake


### Book:or crime, but rather to look outward and to affix blame and guilt on a


### Book:convenient object. When the plague was ravaging Thebes, Oedipus


### Book:looked everywhere for its cause, everywhere except inside himself and


### Book:his own sin of incest, which had so offended the gods and occasioned the


### Book:plague. This profound need to exteriorize one’s guilt, to project it on


### Book:another person or object, has an immense power, which the clever know


### Book:how to harness. Sacrifice is a ritual, perhaps the most ancient ritual of


### Book:all; ritual too is a well-spring of power. In the killing of de Orco, note


### Book:Cesare’s symbolic and ritualistic display of his body. By framing it in


### Book:this dramatic way he focused guilt outward. The citizens of Romagna


### Book:responded instantly. Because it comes so naturally to us to look outward


### Book:rather than inward, we readily accept the scapegoat’s guilt.


### Book:The bloody sacrifice of the scapegoat seems a barbaric relic of the


### Book:past, but the practice lives on to this day, if indirectly and symbolically;


### Book:since power depends on appearances, and those in power must seem


### Book:never to make mistakes, the use of scapegoats is as popular as ever. What


### Book:modem leader will take responsibility for his blunders? He searches out


### Book:others to blame, a scapegoat to sacrifice. When Mao Tse-tung’s Cultural


### Book:Revolution failed miserably, he made no apologies or excuses to the


### Book:Chinese people; instead, like Ts‘ao Ts’ao before him, he offered up


### Book:scapegoats, including his own personal secretary and high-ranking


### Book:member of the Party, Ch’en Po-ta.


### Book:Franklin D. Roosevelt had a reputation for honesty and fairness.


### Book:Throughout his career, however, he faced many situations in which being


### Book:the nice guy would have spelled political disaster—yet he could not be


### Book:seen as the agent of any foul play. For twenty years, then, his secretary,


### Book:Louis Howe, played the role de Orco had. He handled the backroom


### Book:deals, the manipulation of the press, the underhanded campaign


### Book:maneuvers. And whenever a mistake was committed, or a dirty trickcontradicting Roosevelt’s carefully crafted image became public, Howe


### Book:served as the scapegoat, and never complained.


### Book:Besides conveniently shifting blame, a scapegoat can serve as a


### Book:warning to others. In 1631 a plot was hatched to oust France’s Cardinal


### Book:Richelieu from power, a plot that became known as “The Day of the


### Book:Dupes.” It almost succeeded, since it involved the upper echelons of


### Book:government, including the queen mother. But through luck and his own


### Book:connivances, Richelieu survived.


### Book:One of the key conspirators was a man named Marillac, the keeper of


### Book:the seals. Richelieu could not imprison him without implicating the


### Book:queen mother, an extremely dangerous tactic, so he targeted Marillac’s


### Book:brother, a marshal in the army. This man had no involvement in the plot.


### Book:Richelieu, however, afraid that other conspiracies might be in the air,


### Book:especially in the army, decided to set an example. He tried the brother on


### Book:trumped-up charges and had him executed. In this way he indirectly


### Book:punished the real perpetrator, who had thought himself protected, and


### Book:warned any future conspirators that he would not shrink from sacrificing


### Book:the innocent to protect his own power.


### Book:In fact it is often wise to choose the most innocent victim possible as a


### Book:sacrificial goat. Such people will not be powerful enough to fight you,


### Book:and their naive protests may be seen as protesting too much—may be


### Book:seen, in other words, as a sign of their guilt. Be careful, however, not to


### Book:create a martyr. It is important that you remain the victim, the poor leader


### Book:betrayed by the incompetence of those around you. If the scapegoat


### Book:appears too weak and his punishment too cruel, you may end up the


### Book:victim of your own device. Sometimes you should find a more powerful


### Book:scapegoat—one who will elicit less sympathy in the long run.


### Book:In this vein, history has time and again shown the value of using a


### Book:close associate as a scapegoat. This is known as the “fall of the favorite.”


### Book:Most kings had a personal favorite at court, a man whom they singled


### Book:out, sometimes for no apparent reason, and lavished with favors and


### Book:attention. But this court favorite could serve as a convenient scapegoat in


### Book:case of a threat to the king’s reputation. The public would readily believe


### Book:in the scapegoat’s guilt—why would the king sacrifice his favorite unless


### Book:he were guilty? And the other courtiers, resentful of the favorite anyway,


### Book:would rejoice at his downfall. The king, meanwhile, would rid himself of


### Book:a man who by that time had probably learned too much about him,


### Book:perhaps becoming arrogant and even disdainful of him. Choosing a close


### Book:associate as a scapegoat has the same value as the “fall of the favorite.”


### Book:You may lose a friend or aide, but in the long-term scheme of things, it ismore important to hide your mistakes than to hold on to someone who


### Book:one day will probably turn against you. Besides, you can always find a


### Book:new favorite to take his place.


### Book:Image: The Innocent Goat. On


### Book:the Day of Atonement, the high


### Book:priest brings the goat into the


### Book:temple, places his hands on its


### Book:head, and confesses the peo


### Book:ple’s sins, transferring guilt to


### Book:the guiltless beast, which is


### Book:then led to the wilderness and


### Book:abandoned, the people’s sins


### Book:and blame vanishing with him.


### Book:Authority: Folly consists not in committing Folly, but in being incapable


### Book:of concealing it. All men make mistakes, but the wise conceal the


### Book:blunders they have made, while fools make them public. Reputation


### Book:depends more on what is hidden than on what is seen. If you can’t be


### Book:good, be careful. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)PART II: MAKE USE OF THE CAT’S-PAW


### Book:In the fable, the Monkey grabs the paw of his friend, the Cat, and uses it


### Book:to fish chestnuts out of the fire, thus getting the nuts he craves, without


### Book:hurting himself.


### Book:If there is something unpleasant or unpopular that needs to be done, it


### Book:is far too risky for you to do the work yourself. You need a cat‘s-paw-


### Book:someone who does the dirty, dangerous work for you. The cat’s-paw


### Book:grabs what you need, hurts whom you need hurt, and keeps people from


### Book:noticing that you are the one responsible. Let someone else be the


### Book:executioner, or the bearer of bad news, while you bring only joy and glad


### Book:tidings.


### Book:THE MONKEY AND THE CAT


### Book:A monkey and cat, in roguery and fun Sworn brothers twain, both owned


### Book:a common master, Whatever mischief in the house was done By Pug and


### Book:Tom was contrived each disaster…. One winter’s day was seen this


### Book:hopeful pair Close to the kitchen fire, as usual, posted. Amongst the red-


### Book:hot coals the cook with care Had plac’d some nice plump chestnuts to be


### Book:roasted, From whence in smoke a pungent odor rose, Whose oily


### Book:fragrance struck the monkey’s nose. “Tom!” says sly Pug, “pray could


### Book:not you and I Share this dessert the cook is pleased to cater? Had I such


### Book:claws as yours, I’d quickly try: Lend me a hand—’twill be a coup-de-


### Book:maître.” So said, he seized his colleague’s ready paw, Pulled out the


### Book:fruit, and crammed it in his jaw.


### Book:Now came the shining Mistress of the fane. And off in haste the two


### Book:marauders scampered.


### Book:Tom for his share of the plunder had the pain.


### Book:Whilst Pug his palate with the dainties pampered.


### Book:FABLES, JEAN OF LA FONTAINE. 1621-1695


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW IIn 59 B.C., the future queen Cleopatra of Egypt, then ten years old,


### Book:witnessed the overthrow and banishment of her father, Ptolemy XII, at


### Book:the hand of his elder daughters—her own sisters. One of the daughters,


### Book:Berenice, emerged as the leader of the rebellion, and to ensure that she


### Book:would now rule Egypt alone, she imprisoned her other sisters and


### Book:murdered her own husband. This may have been necessary as a practical


### Book:step to secure her rule. But that a member of the royal family, a queen no


### Book:less, would so overtly exact such violence on her own family horrified


### Book:her subjects and stirred up powerful opposition. Four years later this


### Book:opposition was able to return Ptolemy to power, and he promptly had


### Book:Berenice and the other elder sisters beheaded.


### Book:In 51 B.C. Ptolemy died, leaving four remaining children as heirs. As


### Book:was the tradition in Egypt, the eldest son, Ptolemy XIII (only ten at the


### Book:time), married the elder sister, Cleopatra (now eighteen), and the couple


### Book:took the throne together as king and queen. None of the four children felt


### Book:satisfied with this; everyone, including Cleopatra, wanted more power. A


### Book:struggle emerged between Cleopatra and Ptolemy, each trying to push


### Book:the other to the side.


### Book:In 48 B.C., with the help of a government faction that feared


### Book:Cleopatra’s ambitions, Ptolemy was able to force his sister to flee the


### Book:country, leaving himself as sole ruler. In exile, Cleopatra schemed. She


### Book:wanted to rule alone and to restore Egypt to its past glory, a goal she felt


### Book:none of her other siblings could achieve; yet as long as they were alive,


### Book:she could not realize her dream. And the example of Berenice had made


### Book:it clear that no one would serve a queen who was seen murdering her


### Book:own kind. Even Ptolemy XIII had not dared murder Cleopatra, although


### Book:he knew she would plot against him from abroad.


### Book:Within a year after Cleopatra’s banishment, the Roman dictator Julius


### Book:Caesar arrived in Egypt, determined to make the country a Roman


### Book:colony. Cleopatra saw her chance: Reentering Egypt in disguise, she


### Book:traveled hundreds of miles to reach Caesar in Alexandria. Legend has it


### Book:that she had herself smuggled into his presence rolled up inside a carpet,


### Book:which was gracefully unfurled at his feet, revealing the young queen.


### Book:Cleopatra immediately went to work on the Roman. She appealed to his


### Book:love of spectacle and his interest in Egyptian history, and poured on her


### Book:feminine charms. Caesar soon succumbed and restored Cleopatra to the


### Book:throne.


### Book:Cleopatra’s siblings seethed—she had outmaneuvered them. Ptolemy


### Book:XIII would not wait to see what happened next: From his palace in


### Book:Alexandria, he summoned a great army to march on the city and attackCaesar. In response, Caesar immediately put Ptolemy and the rest of the


### Book:family under house arrest. But Cleopatra’s younger sister Arsinoe


### Book:escaped from the palace and placed herself at the head of the


### Book:approaching Egyptian troops, proclaiming herself queen of Egypt. Now


### Book:Cleopatra finally saw her chance: She convinced Caesar to release


### Book:Ptolemy from house arrest, under the agreement that he would broker a


### Book:truce. Of course she knew he would do the opposite—that he would fight


### Book:Arsinoe for control of the Egyptian army. But this was to Cleopatra’s


### Book:benefit, for it would divide the royal family. Better still, it would give


### Book:Caesar the chance to defeat and kill her siblings in battle.


### Book:Reinforced by troops from Rome, Caesar swiftly defeated the rebels.


### Book:In the Egyptians’ retreat, Ptolemy drowned in the Nile. Caesar captured


### Book:Arsinoe and had her sent to Rome as a prisoner. He also executed the


### Book:numerous enemies who had conspired against Cleopatra, and imprisoned


### Book:others who had opposed her. To reinforce her position as uncontested


### Book:queen, Cleopatra now married the only sibling left, Ptolemy XIV—only


### Book:eleven at the time, and the weakest of the lot. Four years later Ptolemy


### Book:mysteriously died, of poison.


### Book:In 41 B.C., Cleopatra employed on a second Roman leader, Marc


### Book:Antony, the same tactics she had used so well on Julius Caesar. After


### Book:seducing him, she hinted to him that her sister Arsinoe, still a prisoner in


### Book:Rome, had conspired to destroy him. Marc Antony believed her and


### Book:promptly had Arsinoe executed, thereby getting rid of the last of the


### Book:siblings who had posed such a threat to Cleopatra.


### Book:IIII ( ROW COBRA AND


### Book:Once upon a time there was a crow and his wife who had built a nest in a


### Book:banyan tree. A big snake crawled into the hollow trunk and ate up the


### Book:chicks as they were hatched. The crow did not want to move, since he


### Book:loved the tree dearly. So he went to his friend the jackal for advice. A


### Book:plan of action was devised. The crow and his wife flew about in


### Book:implementation.


### Book:As the wife approached a pond, she saw the women of the king’s court


### Book:bathing, with pearls, necklaces, gems, garments, and a golden chain


### Book:laying on the shore. The crow-hen seized the golden chain in her beak


### Book:and flew toward the banyan tree with the eunuchs in pursuit. When she


### Book:reached the tree, she dropped the chain into the hole. As the kings’ men


### Book:climbed the tree for the chain, they saw the swelling hood of the cobra.So they killed the snake with their clubs, retrieved the golden chain, and


### Book:went back to the pond. And the crow and his wife lived happily ever after.


### Book:A TALE FROM THE PANCHATANTRA, FOURTH CENTURY,


### Book:RETOLD IN THE CRAFT OF POWER, R. G. H. SIU, 1979


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Legend has it that Cleopatra succeeded through her seductive charms,


### Book:but in reality her power came from an ability to get people to do her


### Book:bidding without realizing they were being manipulated. Caesar and


### Book:Antony not only rid her of her most dangerous siblings—Ptolemy XIII


### Book:and Arsinoe—they decimated all of her enemies, in both the government


### Book:and the military. The two men became her cat’s-paws. They entered the


### Book:fire for her, did the ugly but necessary work, while shielding her from


### Book:appearing as the destroyer of her siblings and fellow Egyptians. And in


### Book:the end, both men acquiesced to her desire to rule Egypt not as a Roman


### Book:colony but as an independent allied kingdom. And they did all this for


### Book:her without realizing how she had manipulated them. This was


### Book:persuasion of the subtlest and most powerful kind.


### Book:A queen must never dirty her hands with ugly tasks, nor can a king


### Book:appear in public with blood on his face. Yet power cannot survive


### Book:without the constant squashing of enemies—there will always be dirty


### Book:little tasks that have to be done to keep you on the throne. Like


### Book:Cleopatra, you need a cat’s-paw.


### Book:This will usually be a person from outside your immediate circle, who


### Book:will therefore be unlikely to realize how he or she is being used. You will


### Book:find these dupes everywhere—people who enjoy doing you favors,


### Book:especially if you throw them a minimal bone or two in exchange. But as


### Book:they accomplish tasks that may seem to them innocent enough, or at least


### Book:completely justified, they are actually clearing the field for you,


### Book:spreading the information you feed them, undermining people they do


### Book:not realize are your rivals, inadvertently furthering your cause, dirtying


### Book:their hands while yours remain spotless.


### Book:HOW TO BROADCAST NEWS


### Book:When Omar, son of al-Khattab, was converted to Islam, he wanted the


### Book:news of his conversion to reach everyone quickly. He went to see Jamil,


### Book:son of Ma’mar al-Jumahi. The latter was renowned for the speed with


### Book:which he passed on secrets. If he was told anything in confidence, he leteveryone know about it immediately. Omar said to him: “I have become


### Book:a Muslim. Do not say anything. Keep it dark. Do not mention it in front


### Book:of anyone.” Jamil went out into the street and began shouting at the top


### Book:of his voice: “Do you believe that Omar, son of al-Khattab, has not


### Book:become a Muslim? Well, do not believe that! I am telling you that he


### Book:has!”


### Book:The news of Omar’s conversion to Islam was spread everywhere. And


### Book:that was just what he intended.


### Book:I HE SUBTLE RUSE: THE BOOK OF ARABIC WISDOM AND


### Book:GUILE, IHIRTEENTH CENTURY


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II


### Book:In the late 1920s, civil war broke out in China as the Nationalist and


### Book:Communist parties battled for control of the country. In 1927 Chiang


### Book:Kai-shek, the Nationalist leader, vowed to kill every last Communist, and


### Book:over the next few years he nearly accomplished his task, pushing his


### Book:enemies hard until, in 1934-1935, he forced them into the Long March, a


### Book:six-thousand-mile retreat from the southeast to the remote northwest,


### Book:through harsh terrain, in which most of their ranks were decimated. In


### Book:late 1936 Chiang planned one last offensive to wipe them out, but he was


### Book:caught in a mutiny: His own soldiers captured him and turned him over


### Book:to the Communists. Now he could only expect the worst.


### Book:Meanwhile, however, the Japanese began an invasion of China, and


### Book:much to Chiang’s surprise, instead of killing him the Communist leader,


### Book:Mao Tse-tung, proposed a deal: The Communists would let him go, and


### Book:would recognize him as commander of their forces as well as his, if he


### Book:would agree to fight alongside them against their common enemy.


### Book:Chiang had expected torture and execution; now he could not believe his


### Book:luck. How soft these Reds had become. Without having to fight a


### Book:rearguard action against the Communists, he knew he could beat the


### Book:Japanese, and then a few years down the line he would turn around and


### Book:destroy the Reds with ease. He had nothing to lose and everything to


### Book:gain by agreeing to their terms.


### Book:The Communists proceeded to fight the Japanese in their usual


### Book:fashion, with hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, while the Nationalists fought amore conventional war. Together, after several years, they succeeded in


### Book:evicting the Japanese. Now, however, Chiang finally understood what


### Book:Mao had really planned. His own army had met the brunt of the Japanese


### Book:artillery, was greatly weakened, and would take a few years to recover.


### Book:The Communists, meanwhile, had not only avoided any direct hits from


### Book:the Japanese, they had used the time to recoup their strength, and to


### Book:spread out and gain pockets of influence all over China. As soon as the


### Book:war against the Japanese ended, the civil war started again—but this time


### Book:the Communists enveloped the weakened Nationalists and slowly beat


### Book:them into submission. The Japanese had served as Mao’s cat’s-paw,


### Book:inadvertently ploughing the fields for the Communists and making


### Book:possible their victory over Chiang Kai-shek.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Most leaders who had taken as powerful an enemy as Chiang Kai-shek


### Book:prisoner would have made sure to kill him. But in doing so they would


### Book:have lost the chance Mao exploited. Without the experienced Chiang as


### Book:leader of the Nationalists, the fight to drive the Japanese out might have


### Book:lasted much longer, with devastating results. Mao was far too clever to


### Book:let anger spoil the chance to kill two birds with one stone. In essence,


### Book:Mao used two cat‘s-paws to help him attain total victory. First, he


### Book:cleverly baited Chiang into taking charge of the war against the


### Book:Japanese. Mao knew the Nationalists led by Chiang would do most of


### Book:the hard fighting and would succeed in pushing the Japanese out of


### Book:China, if they did not have to concern themselves with fighting the


### Book:Communists at the same time. The Nationalists, then, were the first cat’s-


### Book:paw, used to evict the Japanese. But Mao also knew that in the process of


### Book:leading the war against the invaders, the Japanese artillery and air


### Book:support would decimate the conventional forces of the Nationalists,


### Book:doing damage it could take the Communists decades to inflict. Why


### Book:waste time and lives if the Japanese could do the job quickly? It was this


### Book:wise policy of using one cat’s-paw after another that allowed the


### Book:Communists to prevail.


### Book:There are two uses of the cat‘s-paw: to save appearances, as Cleopatra


### Book:did, and to save energy and effort. The latter case in particular demands


### Book:that you plan several moves in advance, realizing that a temporary move


### Book:backward (letting Chiang go, say) can lead to a giant leap forward. If you


### Book:are temporarily weakened and need time to recover, it will often serveyou well to use those around you both as a screen to hide your intentions


### Book:and as a cat’s-paw to do your work for you. Look for a powerful third


### Book:party who shares an enemy with you (if for different reasons), then take


### Book:advantage of their superior power to deal blows which would have cost


### Book:you much more energy, since you are weaker. You can even gently guide


### Book:them into hostilities. Always search out the overly aggressive as


### Book:potential cat’s-paws—they are often more than willing to get into a fight,


### Book:and you can choose just the right fight for your purposes.


### Book:\OOAND


### Book:A wise man, walking alone, Was being bothered by a fool throwing


### Book:stones at his head. Turning to face him, he said: “My dear chap, well


### Book:thrown! Please accept these few francs. You’ve worked hard enough to


### Book:get more than mere thanks. Every effort deserves its reward. But see that


### Book:man over there? He can afford More than I can. Present him with some


### Book:of your stones: they’ll earn a good wage.” Lured by the bait, the stupid


### Book:man Ran off to repeat the outrage On the other worthy citizen. This time


### Book:he wasn’t paid in money for his stones. Up rushed serving-men, And


### Book:seized him and thrashed him and broke all his bones. In the courts of


### Book:kings there are pests like this. devoid of sense: They’ll make their master


### Book:laugh at your expense. To silence their cackle, should you hand out


### Book:rough Punishment? Maybe you’re not strong enough. Better persuade


### Book:them to attack Somebody else, who can more than pay them back.


### Book:SELECTED FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW III


### Book:Kuriyama Daizen was an adept of Cha-no-yu (Hot Water for Tea, the


### Book:Japanese tea ceremony) and a student of the teachings of the great tea


### Book:master Sen no Rikyu. Around 1620 Daizen learned that a friend of his,


### Book:Hoshino Soemon, had borrowed a large sum of money (300 ryo) to help


### Book:a relative who had fallen into debt. But although Soemon had managed


### Book:to bail out his relative, he had simply displaced the burden onto himself.


### Book:Daizen knew Soemon well—he neither cared nor understood much about


### Book:money, and could easily get into trouble through slowness in repayingthe loan, which had been made by a wealthy merchant called Kawachiya


### Book:Sanemon. Yet if Daizen offered to help Soemon pay back the loan, he


### Book:would refuse, out of pride, and might even be offended.


### Book:One day Daizen visited his friend, and after touring the garden and


### Book:looking at Soemon’s prized peonies, they retired to his reception room.


### Book:Here Daizen saw a painting by the master Kano Tennyu. “Ah,” Daizen


### Book:exclaimed, “a splendid piece of painting…. I don’t know when I have


### Book:seen anything I like better.” After several more bouts of praise, Soemon


### Book:had no choice: “Well,” he said, “since you like it so much, I hope you


### Book:will do me the favor of accepting it.”


### Book:At first Daizen refused, but when Soemon insisted he gave in. The


### Book:next day Soemon in turn received a package from Daizen. Inside it was a


### Book:beautiful and delicate vase, which Daizen, in an accompanying note,


### Book:asked his friend to accept as a token of his appreciation for the painting


### Book:that Soemon had so graciously given him the day before. He explained


### Book:that the vase had been made by Sen no Rikyu himself, and bore an


### Book:inscription from Emperor Hideyoshi. If Soemon did not care for the


### Book:vase, Daizen suggested, he might make a gift of it to an adherent of Cha-


### Book:no-yu—perhaps the merchant Kawachiya Sanemon, who had often


### Book:expressed a desire to possess it. “I hear,” Daizen continued, “he has a


### Book:fine piece of fancy paper [the 300-ryo I.O.U.] which you would much


### Book:like. It is possible you might arrange an exchange.”


### Book:Realizing what his gracious friend was up to, Soemon took the vase to


### Book:the wealthy lender. “However did you get this,” exclaimed Sanemon,


### Book:when Soemon showed him the vase. “I have often heard of it, but this is


### Book:the first time I have ever seen it. It is such a treasure that it is never


### Book:allowed outside the gate!” He instantly offered to exchange the debt note


### Book:for the flower vase, and to give Soemon 300 ryo more on top of it. But


### Book:Soemon, who did not care for money, only wanted the debt note back,


### Book:and Sanemon gladly gave it to him. Then Soemon immediately hurried


### Book:to Daizen’s house to thank him for his clever support.


### Book:THE INDIAN BIRD


### Book:A merchant kept a bird in a cage. He was going to India, the land from


### Book:which the bird came, and asked it whether he could bring anything back


### Book:for it. The bird asked for its freedom, but was refused. So he asked the


### Book:merchant to visit a jungle in India and announce his captivity to the free


### Book:birds who were there. The merchant did so, and no sooner had he spoken


### Book:when a wild bird, just like his own, fell senseless out of a tree on to theground. The merchant thought that this must be a relative of his own


### Book:bird, and felt sad that he should have caused this death. When he got


### Book:home, the bird asked him whether he had brought good news from India.


### Book:“No,” said the merchant, “I fear that my news is bad. One of your


### Book:relations collapsed and fell at my feet when I mentioned your captivity.”.


### Book:As soon as these words were spoken the merchant’s bird collapsed and


### Book:fell to the bottom of the cage. “The news of his kins-man’s death has


### Book:killed him, too, ”thotight the merchant. Sorrowfully he picked up the bird


### Book:and put it on the windowsill. At once the bird revived and flew to a


### Book:nearby tree. “Now you know, ”the bird said, “that what you hought was


### Book:disaster was in fact good news for me. And how the message, the


### Book:suggestion of how to behave in order to free myself, was transmitted to


### Book:me through you, my captor.” And he flew away, free at last.


### Book:TALES OF THE DERVISHES. IDRIES SHAH. 1967


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Kuriyama Daizen understood that the granting of a favor is never simple:


### Book:If it is done with fuss and obviousness, its receiver feels burdened by an


### Book:obligation. This may give the doer a certain power, but it is a power that


### Book:will eventually self-destruct, for it will stir up resentment and resistance.


### Book:A favor done indirectly and elegantly has ten times more power. Daizen


### Book:knew a direct approach would only have offended Soemon. By letting


### Book:his friend give him the painting, however, he made Soemon feel that he


### Book:too had pleased his friend with a gift. In the end, all three parties


### Book:emerged from the encounter feeling fulfilled in their own way.


### Book:In essence, Daizen made himself the cat‘s-paw, the tool to take the


### Book:chestnuts out of the fire. He must have felt some pain in losing the vase,


### Book:but he gained not only the painting but, more important, the power of the


### Book:courtier. The courtier uses his gloved hand to soften any blows against


### Book:him, disguise his scars, and make the act of rescue more elegant and


### Book:clean. By helping others, the courtier eventually helps himself. Daizen’s


### Book:example provides the paradigm for every favor done between friends and


### Book:peers: never impose your favors. Search out ways to make yourself the


### Book:cat’s-paw, indirectly extricating your friends from distress without


### Book:imposing yourself or making them feel obligated to you.


### Book:One should not be too straightforward. Go and see the forest.


### Book:The straight trees are cut down, the crooked ones are left standing.


### Book:Kautilya, Indian philosopher, third century B.C.KEYS TO POWER


### Book:As a leader you may imagine that constant diligence, and the appearance


### Book:of working harder than anyone else, signify power. Actually, though,


### Book:they have the opposite effect: They imply weakness. Why are you


### Book:working so hard? Perhaps you are incompetent, and have to put in extra


### Book:effort just to keep up; perhaps you are one of those people who does not


### Book:know how to delegate, and has to meddle in everything. The truly


### Book:powerful, on the other hand, seem never to be in a hurry or


### Book:overburdened. While others work their fingers to the bone, they take


### Book:their leisure. They know how to find the right people to put in the effort


### Book:while they save their energy and keep their hands out of the fire.


### Book:Similarly, you may believe that by taking on the dirty work yourself,


### Book:involving yourself directly in unpleasant actions, you impose your power


### Book:and instill fear. In fact you make yourself look ugly, and abusive of your


### Book:high position. Truly powerful people keep their hands clean. Only good


### Book:things surround them, and the only announcements they make are of


### Book:glorious achievements.


### Book:You will often find it necessary, of course, to expend energy, or to


### Book:effect an evil but necessary action. But you must never appear to be this


### Book:action’s agent. Find a cat‘s-paw. Develop the arts of finding, using, and,


### Book:in time, getting rid of these people when their cat’s-paw role has been


### Book:fulfilled.


### Book:On the eve of an important river battle, the great third-century Chinese


### Book:strategist Chuko Liang found himself falsely accused of secretly working


### Book:for the other side. As proof of his loyalty, his commander ordered him to


### Book:produce 100,000 arrows for the army within three days, or be put to


### Book:death. Instead of trying to manufacture the arrows, an impossible task,


### Book:Liang took a dozen boats and had bundles of straw lashed to their sides.


### Book:In the late afternoon, when mist always blanketed the river, he floated


### Book:the boats toward the enemy camp. Fearing a trap from the wily Chuko


### Book:Liang, the enemy did not attack the barely visible boats with boats of


### Book:their own, but showered them with arrows from the bank. As Liang’s


### Book:boats inched closer, they redoubled the rain of arrows, which stuck in the


### Book:thick straw. After several hours, the men hiding on board sailed the


### Book:vessels quickly downstream, where Chuko Liang met them and collected


### Book:his 100,000 arrows.


### Book:Chuko Liang would never do work that others could do for him—he


### Book:was always thinking up tricks like this one. The key to planning such astrategy is the ability to think far ahead, to imagine ways in which other


### Book:people can be baited into doing the job for you.


### Book:An essential element in making this strategy work is to disguise your


### Book:goal, shrouding it in mystery, like the strange enemy boats appearing


### Book:dimly in the mist. When your rivals cannot be sure what you are after,


### Book:they will react in ways that often work against them in the long run. In


### Book:fact they will become your cat’s-paws. If you disguise your intentions, it


### Book:is much easier to guide them into moves that accomplish exactly what


### Book:you want done, but prefer not to do yourself. This may require planning


### Book:several moves in advance, like a billiard ball that bounces off the sides a


### Book:few times before heading into the right pocket.


### Book:The early-twentieth-century American con artist Yellow Kid Weil


### Book:knew that no matter how skillfully he homed in on the perfect wealthy


### Book:sucker, if he, a stranger, approached this man directly, the sucker might


### Book:become suspicious. So Weil would find someone the sucker already


### Book:knew to serve as a cat‘s-paw—someone lower on the totem pole who


### Book:was himself an unlikely target, and would therefore be less suspicious.


### Book:Weil would interest this man in a scheme promising incredible wealth.


### Book:Convinced the scheme was for real, the cat’s-paw would often suggest,


### Book:without prompting, that his boss or wealthy friend should get involved:


### Book:Having more cash to invest, this man would increase the size of the pot,


### Book:making bigger bucks for all concerned. The cat‘s-paw would then


### Book:involve the wealthy sucker who had been Weil’s target all along, but who


### Book:would not suspect a trap, since it was his trusty subordinate who had


### Book:roped him in. Devices like this are often the best way to approach a


### Book:person of power: Use an associate or subordinate to hook you up with


### Book:your primary target. The cat’s-paw establishes your credibility and


### Book:shields you from the unsavory appearance of being too pushy in your


### Book:courtship.


### Book:The easiest and most effective way to use a cat’s-paw is often to plant


### Book:information with him that he will then spread to your primary target.


### Book:False or planted information is a powerful tool, especially if spread by a


### Book:dupe whom no one suspects. You will find it very easy to play innocent


### Book:and disguise yourself as the source.


### Book:DAVID AND BATHSHEBA


### Book:At the turn of the year, when kings take the field, David sent Joab out


### Book:with his other officers and all the Israelite forces, and they ravaged


### Book:Ammon and laid siege to Rabbah, while David remained in Jerusalem.One evening David got up from his couch and, as he walked about on the


### Book:roof of the palace, he saw from there a woman bathing and she was very


### Book:beautiful. He sent to inquire who she was, and the answer came, “It must


### Book:be Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite….” David


### Book:wrote a letter to Joab and sent Uriah with it. He wrote in the letter: “Put


### Book:Uriah opposite the enemy where the fighting is fiercest and then fall


### Book:back, and leave him to meet his death.”… Joab… stationed Uriah at a


### Book:point where he knew they would put up a stout fight. The men of the city


### Book:sallied out and engaged Joab, and some of David’s guards fell; Uriah the


### Book:Hittite was also killed. Joab sent David a dispatch with all the news of


### Book:the battle…. When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she


### Book:mourned for him; and when the period of mourning was over, David sent


### Book:for her and brought her into his house. She became his wife and bore


### Book:him a son.


### Book:OLD TESTAMENT, 2 SAMUEL,11-12


### Book:The strategic therapist Dr. Milton H. Erickson would often encounter


### Book:among his patients a married couple in which the wife wanted the


### Book:therapy but the husband absolutely refused it. Rather than wasting


### Book:energy trying to deal with the man directly, Dr. Erickson would see the


### Book:wife alone, and as she talked he would interject interpretations of the


### Book:husband’s behavior that he knew would rile the husband up if he heard


### Book:them. Sure enough, the wife would tell her husband what the doctor had


### Book:said. After a few weeks the husband would be so furious he would insist


### Book:on joining his wife in the sessions so he could set the doctor straight.


### Book:Finally, you may well find cases in which deliberately offering


### Book:yourself as the cat’s-paw will ultimately gain you great power. This is the


### Book:ruse of the perfect courtier. Its symbol is Sir Walter Raleigh, who once


### Book:placed his own cloak on the muddy ground so that Queen Elizabeth


### Book:would not sully her shoes. As the instrument that protects a master or


### Book:peer from unpleasantness or danger, you gain immense respect, which


### Book:sooner or later will pay dividends. And remember: If you can make your


### Book:assistance subtle and gracious rather than boastful and burdensome, your


### Book:recompense will be that much the more satisfying and powerful.


### Book:Image: The Cat’s-Paw.


### Book:It has long claws to grab


### Book:things. It is soft and


### Book:padded. Take hold of the cat


### Book:and use its paw to pluckthings out of the fire, to claw


### Book:your enemy, to play with the


### Book:mouse before devouring it.


### Book:Sometimes you hurt the


### Book:cat, but most often it


### Book:doesn’t feel a thing.


### Book:Authority: Do everything pleasant yourself, everything unpleasant


### Book:through third parties. By adopting the first course you win favor, by


### Book:taking the second you deflect ill will. Important affairs often require


### Book:rewards and punishments. Let only the good come from you and the evil


### Book:from others. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:The cat’s-paw and the scapegoat must be used with extreme caution and


### Book:delicacy. They are like screens that hide your own involvement in dirty


### Book:work from the public; if at any moment the screen is lifted and you are


### Book:seen as the manipulator, the puppet master, the whole dynamic turns


### Book:around—your hand will be seen everywhere, and you will be blamed for


### Book:misfortunes you may have had nothing to do with. Once the truth is


### Book:revealed, events will snowball beyond your control.


### Book:In 1572, Queen Catherine de’ Médicis of France conspired to do away


### Book:with Gaspard de Coligny, an admiral in the French navy and a leading


### Book:member of the Huguenot (French Protestant) community. Coligny was


### Book:close to Catherine’s son, Charles IX, and she feared his growing


### Book:influence on the young king. So she arranged for a member of the Guise


### Book:family, one of the most powerful royal clans in France, to assassinate


### Book:him.


### Book:Secretly, however, Catherine had another plan: She wanted the


### Book:Huguenots to blame the Guises for killing one of their leaders, and to


### Book:take revenge. With one blow, she would erase or injure two threateningrivals, Coligny and the Guise family. Yet both plans went awry. The


### Book:assassin missed his target, only wounding Coligny; knowing Catherine


### Book:as his enemy, he strongly suspected it was she who had set up the attack


### Book:on him, and he told the king so. Eventually the failed assassination and


### Book:the arguments that ensued from it set off a chain of events that led to a


### Book:bloody civil war between Catholics and Protestants, culminating in the


### Book:horrifying Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve, in which thousands of


### Book:Protestants were killed.


### Book:If you have to use a cat’s-paw or a scapegoat in an action of great


### Book:consequence, be very careful: Too much can go wrong. It is often wiser


### Book:to use such dupes in more innocent endeavors, where mistakes or


### Book:miscalculations will cause no serious harm.


### Book:Finally, there are moments when it is advantageous to not disguise


### Book:your involvement or responsibility, but rather to take the blame yourself


### Book:for some mistake. If you have power and are secure in it, you should