### Book:to you than the faked variety, and it is always within your power to make


### Book:your skill indispensable.


### Book:This is what is meant by the intertwining of fates: Like creeping ivy,


### Book:you have wrapped yourself around the source of power, so that it would


### Book:cause great trauma to cut you away. And you do not necessarily have to


### Book:entwine yourself around the master; another person will do, as long as he


### Book:or she too is indispensable in the chain.


### Book:One day Harry Cohn, president of Columbia Pictures, was visited in


### Book:his office by a gloomy group of his executives. It was 1951, when the


### Book:witch-hunt against Communists in Hollywood, carried on by the U.S.


### Book:Congress’s House Un-American Activities Committee, was at its height.


### Book:The executives had bad news: One of their employees, the screenwriter


### Book:John Howard Lawson, had been singled out as a Communist. They had


### Book:to get rid of him right away or suffer the wrath of the committee.


### Book:Harry Cohn was no bleeding-heart liberal; in fact, he had always been


### Book:a die-hard Republican.


### Book:His favorite politician was Benito Mussolini, whom he had once


### Book:visited, and whose framed photo hung on his wall. If there was someone


### Book:he hated Cohn would call him a “Communist bastard.” But to the


### Book:executives’ amazement Cohn told them he would not fire Lawson. He


### Book:did not keep the screenwriter on because he was a good writer—therewere many good writers in Hollywood. He kept him because of a chain


### Book:of dependence: Lawson was Humphrey Bogart’s writer and Bogart was


### Book:Columbia’s star. If Cohn messed with Lawson he would ruin an


### Book:immensely profitable relationship. That was worth more than the terrible


### Book:publicity brought to him by his defiance of the committee.


### Book:Henry Kissinger managed to survive the many bloodlettings that went


### Book:on in the Nixon White House not because he was the best diplomat


### Book:Nixon could find—there were other fine negotiators—and not because


### Book:the two men got along so well: They did not. Nor did they share their


### Book:beliefs and politics. Kissinger survived because he entrenched himself in


### Book:so many areas of the political structure that to do away with him would


### Book:lead to chaos. Michelangelo’s power was intensive, depending on one


### Book:skill, his ability as an artist; Kissinger’s was extensive. He got himself


### Book:involved in so many aspects and departments of the administration that


### Book:his involvement became a card in his hand. It also made him many allies.


### Book:If you can arrange such a position for yourself, getting rid of you


### Book:becomes dangerous—all sorts of interdependencies will unravel. Still,


### Book:the intensive form of power provides more freedom than the extensive,


### Book:because those who have it depend on no particular master, or particular


### Book:position of power, for their security.


### Book:To make others dependent on you, one route to take is the secret-


### Book:intelligence tactic. By knowing other people’s secrets, by holding


### Book:information that they wouldn’t want broadcast, you seal your fate with


### Book:theirs. You are untouchable. Ministers of secret police have held this


### Book:position throughout the ages: They can make or break a king, or, as in


### Book:the case of J. Edgar Hoover, a president. But the role is so full of


### Book:insecurities and paranoia that the power it provides almost cancels itself


### Book:out. You cannot rest at ease, and what good is power if it brings you no


### Book:peace?


### Book:One last warning: Do not imagine that your master’s dependence on


### Book:you will make him love you. In fact, he may resent and fear you. But, as


### Book:Machiavelli said, it is better to be feared than loved. Fear you can


### Book:control; love, never. Depending on an emotion as subtle and changeable


### Book:as love or friendship will only make you insecure. Better to have others


### Book:depend on you out of fear of the consequences of losing you than out of


### Book:love of your company.


### Book:Image: Vines with Many Thorns. Below, the roots grow deep


### Book:and wide. Above, the vines push through bushes, entwine themselves


### Book:around trees and poles and window ledges. To get rid of them


### Book:would cost such toil and blood, it is easier to let them climb.Authority: Make people depend on you. More is to be gained from such


### Book:dependence than courtesy. He who has slaked his thirst, immediately


### Book:turns his back on the well, no longer needing it. When dependence


### Book:disappears, so does civility and decency, and then respect. The first


### Book:lesson which experience should teach you is to keep hope alive but never


### Book:satisfied, keeping even a royal patron ever in need of you. (Baltasar


### Book:Gracián, 1601-1658)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:The weakness of making others depend on you is that you are in some


### Book:measure dependent on them. But trying to move beyond that point means


### Book:getting rid of those above you—it means standing alone, depending on


### Book:no one. Such is the monopolistic drive of a J. P. Morgan or a John D.


### Book:Rockefeller—to drive out all competition, to be in complete control. If


### Book:you can corner the market, so much the better.


### Book:No such independence comes without a price. You are forced to


### Book:isolate yourself. Monopolies often turn inward and destroy themselves


### Book:from the internal pressure. They also stir up powerful resentment,


### Book:making their enemies bond together to fight them. The drive for


### Book:complete control is often ruinous and fruitless. Interdependence remains


### Book:the law, independence a rare and often fatal exception. Better to place


### Book:yourself in a position of mutual dependence, then, and to follow this


### Book:critical law rather than look for its reversal. You will not have the


### Book:unbearable pressure of being on top, and the master above you will in


### Book:essence be your slave, for he will depend on you.LAW 12


### Book:USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND


### Book:GENEROSITY TO DISARM YOUR VICTIM


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones.


### Book:Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard


### Book:of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a


### Book:hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A


### Book:timely gift—a Trojan horse—will serve the same purpose.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:Sometime in 1926, a tall, dapperly dressed man paid a visit to Al


### Book:Capone, the most feared gangster of his time. Speaking with an elegant


### Book:Continental accent, the man introduced himself as Count Victor Lustig.


### Book:He promised that if Capone gave him $50,000 he could double it.


### Book:Capone had more than enough funds to cover the “investment,” but he


### Book:wasn’t in the habit of entrusting large sums to total strangers. He looked


### Book:the count over: Something about the man was different—his classy style,


### Book:his manner—and so Capone decided to play along. He counted out the


### Book:bills personally and handed them to Lustig. “Okay, Count,” said Capone.


### Book:“Double it in sixty days like you said.” Lustig left with the money, put it


### Book:in a safe-deposit box in Chicago, then headed to New York, where he


### Book:had several other money-making schemes in progress.


### Book:The $50,000 remained in the bank box untouched. Lustig made no


### Book:effort to double it. Two months later he returned to Chicago, took the


### Book:money from the box, and paid Capone another visit. He looked at the


### Book:gangster’s stony-faced bodyguards, smiled apologetically, and said,“Please accept my profound regrets, Mr. Capone. I’m sorry to report that


### Book:the plan failed… I failed.”


### Book:Capone slowly stood up. He glowered at Lustig, debating which part


### Book:of the river to throw him in. But the count reached into his coat pocket,


### Book:withdrew the $50,000, and placed it on the desk. “Here, sir, is your


### Book:money, to the penny. Again, my sincere apologies. This is most


### Book:embarrassing. Things didn’t work out the way I thought they would. I


### Book:would have loved to have doubled your money for you and for myself—


### Book:Lord knows I need it—but the plan just didn’t materialize.”


### Book:Capone sagged back into his chair, confused. “I know you’re a con


### Book:man, Count,” said Capone. “I knew it the moment you walked in here. I


### Book:expected either one hundred thousand dollars or nothing. But this…


### Book:getting my money back … well.” “Again my apologies, Mr. Capone,”


### Book:said Lustig, as he picked up his hat and began to leave. “My God! You’re


### Book:honest!” yelled Capone. “If you’re on the spot, here’s five to help you


### Book:along.” He counted out five one-thousand-dollar bills out of the $50,000.


### Book:The count seemed stunned, bowed deeply, mumbled his thanks, and left,


### Book:taking the money.


### Book:The $5,000 was what Lustig had been after all along.


### Book:FRANCESCO BORRI. COURTIER


### Book:CHARLATAN


### Book:Francesco Giuseppe Borri of Milan, whose death in 1695 fell just within


### Book:the seventeenth century … was a forerunner of that special type of


### Book:charlatanical adventurer, the courtier or “cavalier” impostor…. His real


### Book:period of glory began after he moved to Amsterdam. There he assumed


### Book:the title of Medico Universale, maintained a great retinue, and drove


### Book:about in a coach with six horses…. Patients streamed to him, and some


### Book:invalids had themselves carried in sedan chairs all the way from Paris to


### Book:his place in Amsterdam. Borri took no payment for his consultations: He


### Book:distributed great sums among the poor and was never known to receive


### Book:any money through the post or bills of exchange. As he continued to live


### Book:with such splendor, nevertheless, it was presumed that he possessed the


### Book:philosophers’ stone. Suddenly this benefactor disappeared from


### Book:Amsterdam. Then it was discovered that he had taken with him money


### Book:and diamonds that had been placed in his charge.


### Book:THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO, 1939Interpretation


### Book:Count Victor Lustig, a man who spoke several languages and prided


### Book:himself on his refinement and culture, was one of the great con artists of


### Book:modem times. He was known for his audacity, his fearlessness, and, most


### Book:important, his knowledge of human psychology. He could size up a man


### Book:in minutes, discovering his weaknesses, and he had radar for suckers.


### Book:Lustig knew that most men build up defenses against crooks and other


### Book:troublemakers. The con artist’s job is to bring those defenses down.


### Book:One sure way to do this is through an act of apparent sincerity and


### Book:honesty. Who will distrust a person literally caught in the act of being


### Book:honest? Lustig used selective honesty many times, but with Capone he


### Book:went a step further. No normal con man would have dared such a con; he


### Book:would have chosen his suckers for their meekness, for that look about


### Book:them that says they will take their medicine without complaint. Con


### Book:Capone and you would spend the rest of your life (whatever remained of


### Book:it) afraid. But Lustig understood that a man like Capone spends his life


### Book:mistrusting others. No one around him is honest or generous, and being


### Book:so much in the company of wolves is exhausting, even depressing. A


### Book:man like Capone yearns to be the recipient of an honest or generous


### Book:gesture, to feel that not everyone has an angle or is out to rob him.


### Book:Lustig’s act of selective honesty disarmed Capone because it was so


### Book:unexpected. A con artist loves conflicting emotions like these, since the


### Book:person caught up in them is so easily distracted and deceived.


### Book:Do not shy away from practicing this law on the Capones of the world.


### Book:With a well-timed gesture of honesty or generosity, you will have the


### Book:most brutal and cynical beast in the kingdom eating out of your hand.


### Book:Everything turns gray when I don’t have at least one mark on the


### Book:horizon.


### Book:Life then seems empty and depressing. I cannot understand honest men.


### Book:They lead desperate lives, full of boredom.


### Book:Count Victor Lustig, 1890-1947


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:The essence of deception is distraction. Distracting the people you want


### Book:to deceive gives you the time and space to do something they won’tnotice. An act of kindness, generosity, or honesty is often the most


### Book:powerful form of distraction because it disarms other people’s


### Book:suspicions. It turns them into children, eagerly lapping up any kind of


### Book:affectionate gesture.


### Book:In ancient China this was called “giving before you take”—the giving


### Book:makes it hard for the other person to notice the taking. It is a device with


### Book:infinite practical uses. Brazenly taking something from someone is


### Book:dangerous, even for the powerful. The victim will plot revenge. It is also


### Book:dangerous simply to ask for what you need, no matter how politely:


### Book:Unless the other person sees some gain for themselves, they may come


### Book:to resent your neediness. Learn to give before you take. It softens the


### Book:ground, takes the bite out of a future request, or simply creates a


### Book:distraction. And the giving can take many forms: an actual gift, a


### Book:generous act, a kind favor, an “honest” admission—whatever it takes.


### Book:Selective honesty is best employed on your first encounter with


### Book:someone. We are all creatures of habit, and our first impressions last a


### Book:long time. If someone believes you are honest at the start of your


### Book:relationship it takes a lot to convince them otherwise. This gives you


### Book:room to maneuver.


### Book:Jay Gould, like Al Capone, was a man who distrusted everyone. By


### Book:the time he was thirty-three he was already a multimillionaire, mostly


### Book:through deception and strong-arming. In the late 1860s, Gould invested


### Book:heavily in the Erie Railroad, then discovered that the market had been


### Book:flooded with a vast amount of phony stock certificates for the company.


### Book:He stood to lose a fortune and to suffer a lot of embarrassment.


### Book:In the midst of this crisis, a man named Lord John Gordon-Gordon


### Book:offered to help. Gordon-Gordon, a Scottish lord, had apparently made a


### Book:small fortune investing in railroads.


### Book:By hiring some handwriting experts Gordon-Gordon was able to prove


### Book:to Gould that the culprits for the phony stock certificates were actually


### Book:several top executives with the Erie Railroad itself. Gould was grateful.


### Book:Gordon-Gordon then proposed that he and Gould join forces to buy up a


### Book:controlling interest in Erie. Gould agreed. For a while the venture


### Book:appeared to prosper. The two men were now good friends, and every


### Book:time Gordon-Gordon came to Gould asking for money to buy more


### Book:stock, Gould gave it to him. In 1873, however, Gordon-Gordon suddenly


### Book:dumped all of his stock, making a fortune but drastically lowering the


### Book:value of Gould’s own holdings. Then he disappeared from sight.


### Book:Upon investigation, Gould found out that Gordon-Gordon’s real name


### Book:was John Crowningsfield, and that he was the bastard son of a merchantseaman and a London barmaid. There had been many clues before then


### Book:that Gordon-Gordon was a con man, but his initial act of honesty and


### Book:support had so blinded Gould that it took the loss of millions for him to


### Book:see through the scheme.


### Book:A single act of honesty is often not enough. What is required is a


### Book:reputation for honesty, built on a series of acts—but these can be quite


### Book:inconsequential. Once this reputation is established, as with first


### Book:impressions, it is hard to shake.


### Book:In ancient China, Duke Wu of Chêng decided it was time to take over


### Book:the increasingly powerful kingdom of Hu. Telling no one of his plan, he


### Book:married his daughter to Hu’s ruler. He then called a council and asked his


### Book:ministers, “I am considering a military campaign. Which country should


### Book:we invade?” As he had expected, one of his ministers replied, “Hu


### Book:should be invaded.” The duke seemed angry, and said, “Hu is a sister


### Book:state now. Why do you suggest invading her?” He had the minister


### Book:executed for his impolitic remark. The ruler of Hu heard about this, and


### Book:considering other tokens ofWu’s honesty and the marriage with his


### Book:daughter, he took no precautions to defend himself from Cheng. A few


### Book:weeks later, Chêng forces swept through Hu and took the country, never


### Book:to relinquish it.


### Book:Honesty is one of the best ways to disarm the wary, but it is not the


### Book:only one. Any kind of noble, apparently selfless act will serve. Perhaps


### Book:the best such act, though, is one of generosity. Few people can resist a


### Book:gift, even from the most hardened enemy, which is why it is often the


### Book:perfect way to disarm people. A gift brings out the child in us, instantly


### Book:lowering our defenses. Although we often view other people’s actions in


### Book:the most cynical light, we rarely see the Machiavellian element of a gift,


### Book:which quite often hides ulterior motives. A gift is the perfect object in


### Book:which to hide a deceptive move.


### Book:Over three thousand years ago the ancient Greeks traveled across the


### Book:sea to recapture the beautiful Helen, stolen away from them by Paris, and


### Book:to destroy Paris’s city, Troy. The siege lasted ten years, many heroes


### Book:died, yet neither side had come close to victory. One day, the prophet


### Book:Calchas assembled the Greeks.


### Book:Image: The Trojan Horse. Your guile is hidden inside a magnificent gift


### Book:that proves irresistible to your opponent. The walls open. Once inside,


### Book:wreak havoc.


### Book:“Stop battering away at these walls!” he told them. “You must find


### Book:some other way, some ruse. We cannot take Troy by force alone. Wemust find some cunning stratagem.” The cunning Greek leader Odysseus


### Book:then came up with the idea of building a giant wooden horse, hiding


### Book:soldiers inside it, then offering it to the Trojans as a gift. Neoptolemus,


### Book:son of Achilles, was disgusted with this idea; it was unmanly. Better for


### Book:thousands to die on the battlefield than to gain victory so deceitfully. But


### Book:the soldiers, faced with a choice between another ten years of manliness,


### Book:honor, and death, on the one hand and a quick victory on the other, chose


### Book:the horse, which was promptly built. The trick was successful and Troy


### Book:fell. One gift did more for the Greek cause than ten years of fighting.


### Book:Selective kindness should also be part of your arsenal of deception.


### Book:For years the ancient Romans had besieged the city of the Faliscans,


### Book:always unsuccessfully. One day, however, when the Roman general


### Book:Camillus was encamped outside the city, he suddenly saw a man leading


### Book:some children toward him. The man was a Faliscan teacher, and the


### Book:children, it turned out, were the sons and daughters of the noblest and


### Book:wealthiest citizens of the town. On the pretense of taking these children


### Book:out for a walk, he had led them straight to the Romans, offering them as


### Book:hostages in hopes of ingratiating himself with Camillus, the city’s enemy.


### Book:Camillus did not take the children hostage. He stripped the teacher,


### Book:tied his hands behind his back, gave each child a rod, and let them whip


### Book:him all the way back to the city. The gesture had an immediate effect on


### Book:the Faliscans. Had Camillus used the children as hostages, some in the


### Book:city would have voted to surrender. And even if the Faliscans had gone


### Book:on fighting, their resistance would have been halfhearted. Camillus’s


### Book:refusal to take advantage of the situation broke down the Faliscans’


### Book:resistance, and they surrendered. The general had calculated correctly.


### Book:And in any case he had had nothing to lose: He knew that the hostage


### Book:ploy would not have ended the war, at least not right away. By turning


### Book:the situation around, he earned his enemy’s trust and respect, disarming


### Book:them. Selective kindness will often break down even the most stubborn


### Book:foe: Aiming right for the heart, it corrodes the will to fight back.


### Book:Remember: By playing on people’s emotions, calculated acts of


### Book:kindness can turn a Capone into a gullible child. As with any emotional


### Book:approach, the tactic must be practiced with caution: If people see through


### Book:it, their disappointed feelings of gratitude and warmth will become the


### Book:most violent hatred and distrust. Unless you can make the gesture seem


### Book:sincere and heartfelt, do not play with fire.


### Book:Authority: When Duke Hsien of Chin was about to raid Yü, he presented


### Book:to them a jade and a team of horses. When Earl Chih was about to raid


### Book:Ch’ou-yu, he presented to them grand chariots. Hence the saying: “Whenyou are about to take, you should give.” (Han-fei-tzu, Chinese


### Book:philosopher, third century B.C.)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:When you have a history of deceit behind you, no amount of honesty,


### Book:generosity, or kindness will fool people. In fact it will only call attention


### Book:to itself. Once people have come to see you as deceitful, to act honest all


### Book:of a sudden is simply suspicious. In these cases it is better to play the


### Book:rogue.


### Book:Count Lustig, pulling the biggest con of his career, was about to sell


### Book:the Eiffel Tower to an unsuspecting industrialist who believed the


### Book:government was auctioning it off for scrap metal. The industrialist was


### Book:prepared to hand over a huge sum of money to Lustig, who had


### Book:successfully impersonated a government official. At the last minute,


### Book:however, the mark was suspicious. Something about Lustig bothered


### Book:him. At the meeting in which he was to hand over the money, Lustig


### Book:sensed his sudden distrust.


### Book:Leaning over to the industrialist, Lustig explained, in a low whisper,


### Book:how low his salary was, how difficult his finances were, on and on. After


### Book:a few minutes of this, the industrialist realized that Lustig was asking for


### Book:a bribe. For the first time he relaxed. Now he knew he could trust Lustig:


### Book:Since all government officials were dishonest, Lustig had to be real. The


### Book:man forked over the money. By acting dishonest, Lustig seemed the real


### Book:McCoy. In this case selective honesty would have had the opposite


### Book:effect.


### Book:As the French diplomat Talleyrand grew older, his reputation as a


### Book:master liar and deceiver spread. At the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815),


### Book:he would spin fabulous stories and make impossible remarks to people


### Book:who knew he had to be lying. His dishonesty had no purpose except to


### Book:cloak the moments when he really was deceiving them. One day, for


### Book:example, among friends, Talleyrand said with apparent sincerity, “In


### Book:business one ought to show one’s hand.” No one who heard him could


### Book:believe their ears: A man who never once in his life had shown his cards


### Book:was telling other people to show theirs. Tactics like this made it


### Book:impossible to distinguish Talleyrand’s real deceptions from his fake ones.By embracing his reputation for dishonesty, he preserved his ability to


### Book:deceive.


### Book:Nothing in the realm of power is set in stone. Overt deceptiveness will


### Book:sometimes cover your tracks, even making you admired for the honesty


### Book:of your dishonesty.LAW 13


### Book:WHEN ASKING FOR HELP, APPEAL TO


### Book:PEOPLE’S SELF-INTEREST, NEVER TO THEIR


### Book:MERCY OR GRATITUDE


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of


### Book:your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you.


### Book:Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him,


### Book:that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will


### Book:respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for


### Book:himself.


### Book:TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW


### Book:In the early fourteenth century, a young man named Castruccio


### Book:Castracani rose from the rank of common soldier to become lord of the


### Book:great city of Lucca, Italy. One of the most powerful families in the city,


### Book:the Poggios, had been instrumental in his climb (which succeeded


### Book:through treachery and bloodshed), but after he came to power, they came


### Book:to feel he had forgotten them. His ambition outweighed any gratitude he


### Book:felt. In 1325, while Castruccio was away fighting Lucca’s main rival,


### Book:Florence, the Poggios conspired with other noble families in the city to


### Book:rid themselves of this troublesome and ambitious prince.


### Book:THE PEASANT AND THE APPLE-TREE


### Book:A peasant had in his garden an apple-tree, which bore no fruit, but only


### Book:served as a perch for the sparrows and grasshoppers. He resolved to cutit down, and, taking his ax in hand, made a bold stroke at its roots. The


### Book:grasshoppers and sparrows entreated him not to cut down the tree that


### Book:sheltered them, but to spare it, and they would sing to him and lighten his


### Book:labors. He paid no attention to their request, but gave the tree a second


### Book:and a third blow with his ax. When he reached the hollow of the tree, he


### Book:found a hive full of honey. Having tasted the honeycomb, he threw down


### Book:his ax, and, looking on the tree as isacred, took great care of it. Self-


### Book:interest alone moves some men.


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


### Book:Mounting an insurrection, the plotters attacked and murdered the


### Book:governor whom Castruccio had left behind to rule the city. Riots broke


### Book:out, and the Castruccio supporters and the Poggio supporters were poised


### Book:to do battle. At the height of the tension, however, Stefano di Poggio, the


### Book:oldest member of the family, intervened, and made both sides lay down


### Book:their arms.


### Book:A peaceful man, Stefano had not taken part in the conspiracy. He had


### Book:told his family it would end in a useless bloodbath. Now he insisted he


### Book:should intercede on the family’s behalf and persuade Castruccio to listen


### Book:to their complaints and satisfy their demands. Stefano was the oldest and


### Book:wisest member of the clan, and his family agreed to put their trust in his


### Book:diplomacy rather than in their weapons.


### Book:When news of the rebellion reached Castruccio, he hurried back to


### Book:Lucca. By the time he arrived, however, the fighting had ceased, through


### Book:Stefano’s agency, and he was surprised by the city’s calm and peace.


### Book:Stefano di Poggio had imagined that Castruccio would be grateful to him


### Book:for his part in quelling the rebellion, so he paid the prince a visit. He


### Book:explained how he had brought peace, then begged for Castruccio’s


### Book:mercy. He said that the rebels in his family were young and impetuous,


### Book:hungry for power yet inexperienced; he recalled his family’s past


### Book:generosity to Castruccio. For all these reasons, he said, the great prince


### Book:should pardon the Poggios and listen to their complaints. This, he said,


### Book:was the only just thing to do, since the family had willingly laid down


### Book:their arms and had always supported him.


### Book:Castruccio listened patiently. He seemed not the slightest bit angry or


### Book:resentful. Instead, he told Stefano to rest assured that justice would


### Book:prevail, and he asked him to bring his entire family to the palace to talk


### Book:over their grievances and come to an agreement. As they took leave of


### Book:one another, Castruccio said he thanked God for the chance he had been


### Book:given to show his clemency and kindness. That evening the entire Poggiofamily came to the palace. Castruccio immediately had them imprisoned


### Book:and a few days later all were executed, including Stefano.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Stefano di Poggio is the embodiment of all those who believe that the


### Book:justice and nobility of their cause will prevail. Certainly appeals to


### Book:justice and gratitude have occasionally succeeded in the past, but more


### Book:often than not they have had dire consequences, especially in dealings


### Book:with the Castruc cios of the world. Stefano knew that the prince had risen


### Book:to power through treachery and ruthlessness. This was a man, after all,


### Book:who had put a close and devoted friend to death. When Castruccio was


### Book:told that it had been a terrible wrong to kill such an old friend, he replied


### Book:that he had executed not an old friend but a new enemy.


### Book:A man like Castruccio knows only force and self-interest. When the


### Book:rebellion began, to end it and place oneself at his mercy was the most


### Book:dangerous possible move. Even once Stefano di Poggio had made that


### Book:fatal mistake, however, he still had options: He could have offered


### Book:money to Castruccio, could have made promises for the future, could


### Book:have pointed out what the Poggios could still contribute to Castruccio’s


### Book:power—their influence with the most influential families of Rome, for


### Book:example, and the great marriage they could have brokered.


### Book:Instead Stefano brought up the past, and debts that carried no


### Book:obligation. Not only is a man not obliged to be grateful, gratitude is often


### Book:a terrible burden that he gladly discards. And in this case Castruccio rid


### Book:himself of his obligations to the Poggios by eliminating the Poggios.


### Book:Most men are so thoroughly subjective that nothing really interests them


### Book:but themselves. They always think of their own case as soon as ever any


### Book:remark is made, and their whole attention is engrossed and absorbed by


### Book:the merest chance reference to anything which affects them personally,


### Book:be it never so remote.


### Book:ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAWIn 433 B.C., just before the Peloponnesian War, the island of Corcyra


### Book:(later called Corfu) and the Greek city-state of Corinth stood on the brink


### Book:of conflict. Both parties sent ambassadors to Athens to try to win over


### Book:the Athenians to their side. The stakes were high, since whoever had


### Book:Athens on his side was sure to win. And whoever won the war would


### Book:certainly give the defeated side no mercy.


### Book:Corcyra spoke first. Its ambassador began by admitting that the island


### Book:had never helped Athens before, and in fact had allied itself with


### Book:Athens’s enemies. There were no ties of friendship or gratitude between


### Book:Corcyra and Athens. Yes, the ambassador admitted, he had come to


### Book:Athens now out of fear and concern for Corcyra’s safety. The only thing


### Book:he could offer was an alliance of mutual interests. Corcyra had a navy


### Book:only surpassed in size and strength by Athens’s own; an alliance between


### Book:the two states would create a formidable force, one that could intimidate


### Book:the rival state of Sparta. That, unfortunately, was all Corcyra had to offer.


### Book:The representative from Corinth then gave a brilliant, passionate


### Book:speech, in sharp contrast to the dry, colorless approach of the Corcyran.


### Book:He talked of everything Corinth had done for Athens in the past. He


### Book:asked how it would look to Athens’s other allies if the city put an


### Book:agreement with a former enemy over one with a present friend, one that


### Book:had served Athens’s interest loyally: Perhaps those allies would break


### Book:their agreements with Athens if they saw that their loyalty was not


### Book:valued. He referred to Hellenic law, and the need to repay Corinth for all


### Book:its good deeds. He finally went on to list the many services Corinth had


### Book:performed for Athens, and the importance of showing gratitude to one’s


### Book:friends.


### Book:After the speech, the Athenians debated the issue in an assembly. On


### Book:the second round, they voted overwhelmingly to ally with Corcyra and


### Book:drop Corinth.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:History has remembered the Athenians nobly, but they were the


### Book:preeminent realists of classical Greece. With them, all the rhetoric, all


### Book:the emotional appeals in the world, could not match a good pragmatic


### Book:argument, especially one that added to their power.


### Book:What the Corinthian ambassador did not realize was that his


### Book:references to Corinth’s past generosity to Athens only irritated the


### Book:Athenians, subtly asking them to feel guilty and putting them underobligation. The Athenians couldn’t care less about past favors and


### Book:friendly feelings. At the same time, they knew that if their other allies


### Book:thought them ungrateful for abandoning Corinth, these city-states would


### Book:still be unlikely to break their ties to Athens, the preeminent power in


### Book:Greece. Athens ruled its empire by force, and would simply compel any


### Book:rebellious ally to return to the fold.


### Book:When people choose between talk about the past and talk about the


### Book:future, a pragmatic person will always opt for the future and forget the


### Book:past. As the Corcyrans realized, it is always best to speak pragmatically


### Book:to a pragmatic person. And in the end, most people are in fact pragmatic


### Book:—they will rarely act against their own self-interest.


### Book:It has always been a rule that the weak should be subject to the strong;


### Book:and besides, we consider that we are worthy of our power. Up till the


### Book:present moment you, too, used to think that we were; but now, after


### Book:calculating your own interest, you are beginning to talk in terms of right


### Book:and wrong. Considerations of this kind have never yet turned people


### Book:aside


### Book:from the opportunities of aggrandizement offered by superior strength.


### Book:Athenian representative to Sparta,


### Book:quoted in The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, c. 465-395 B.C.


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:In your quest for power, you will constantly find yourself in the position


### Book:of asking for help from those more powerful than you. There is an art to


### Book:asking for help, an art that depends on your ability to understand the


### Book:person you are dealing with, and to not confuse your needs with theirs.


### Book:Most people never succeed at this, because they are completely


### Book:trapped in their own wants and desires. They start from the assumption


### Book:that the people they are appealing to have a selfless interest in helping


### Book:them. They talk as if their needs mattered to these people—who probably


### Book:couldn’t care less. Sometimes they refer to larger issues: a great cause, or


### Book:grand emotions such as love and gratitude. They go for the big picture


### Book:when simple, everyday realities would have much more appeal. What


### Book:they do not realize is that even the most powerful person is locked inside


### Book:needs of his own, and that if you make no appeal to his self-interest, he


### Book:merely sees you as desperate or, at best, a waste of time.In the sixteenth century, Portuguese missionaries tried for years to


### Book:convert the people of Japan to Catholicism, while at the same time


### Book:Portugal had a monopoly on trade between Japan and Europe. Although


### Book:the missionaries did have some success, they never got far among the


### Book:ruling elite; by the beginning of the seventeenth century, in fact, their


### Book:proselytizing had completely antagonized the Japanese emperor Ieyasu.


### Book:When the Dutch began to arrive in Japan in great numbers, Ieyasu was


### Book:much relieved. He needed Europeans for their know-how in guns and


### Book:navigation, and here at last were Europeans who cared nothing for


### Book:spreading religion—the Dutch wanted only to trade. Ieyasu swiftly


### Book:moved to evict the Portuguese. From then on, he would only deal with


### Book:the practical-minded Dutch.


### Book:Japan and Holland were vastly different cultures, but each shared a


### Book:timeless and universal concern: self-interest. Every person you deal with


### Book:is like another culture, an alien land with a past that has nothing to do


### Book:with yours. Yet you can bypass the differences between you and him by


### Book:appealing to his self-interest. Do not be subtle: You have valuable


### Book:knowledge to share, you will fill his coffers with gold, you will make


### Book:him live longer and happier. This is a language that all of us speak and


### Book:understand.


### Book:A key step in the process is to understand the other person’s


### Book:psychology. Is he vain? Is he concerned about his reputation or his social


### Book:standing? Does he have enemies you could help him vanquish? Is he


### Book:simply motivated by money and power?


### Book:When the Mongols invaded China in the twelfth century, they


### Book:threatened to obliterate a culture that had thrived for over two thousand


### Book:years. Their leader, Genghis Khan, saw nothing in China but a country


### Book:that lacked pasturing for his horses, and he decided to destroy the place,


### Book:leveling all its cities, for “it would be better to exterminate the Chinese


### Book:and let the grass grow.” It was not a soldier, a general, or a king who


### Book:saved the Chinese from devastation, but a man named Yelu Ch‘u-Ts’ai.


### Book:A foreigner himself, Ch‘u-Ts’ai had come to appreciate the superiority of


### Book:Chinese culture. He managed to make himself a trusted adviser to


### Book:Genghis Khan, and persuaded him that he would reap riches out of the


### Book:place if, instead of destroying it, he simply taxed everyone who lived


### Book:there. Khan saw the wisdom in this and did as Ch‘u-Ts’ai advised.


### Book:When Khan took the city of Kaifeng, after a long siege, and decided to


### Book:massacre its inhabitants (as he had in other cities that had resisted him),


### Book:Ch‘u-Ts’ai told him that the finest craftsmen and engineers in China had


### Book:fled to Kaifeng, and it would be better to put them to use. Kaifeng wasspared. Never before had Genghis Khan shown such mercy, but then it


### Book:really wasn’t mercy that saved Kaifeng. Ch‘u-Ts’ai knew Khan well. He


### Book:was a barbaric peasant who cared nothing for culture, or indeed for


### Book:anything other than warfare and practical results. Ch‘u-Ts’ai chose to


### Book:appeal to the only emotion that would work on such a man: greed.


### Book:Self-interest is the lever that will move people. Once you make them


### Book:see how you can in some way meet their needs or advance their cause,


### Book:their resistance to your requests for help will magically fall away. At


### Book:each step on the way to acquiring power, you must train yourself to think


### Book:your way inside the other person’s mind, to see their needs and interests,


### Book:to get rid of the screen of your own feelings that obscure the truth.


### Book:Master this art and there will be no limits to what you can accomplish.


### Book:Image: A Cord that


### Book:Binds. The cord of


### Book:mercy and grati


### Book:tude is threadbare,


### Book:and will break at


### Book:the first shock.


### Book:Do not throw


### Book:such a lifeline.


### Book:The cord of


### Book:mutual self-inter


### Book:est is woven of


### Book:many fibers and


### Book:cannot easily be


### Book:severed. It will serve


### Book:you well for years.


### Book:Authority: The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let


### Book:people see clearly that it is in their interests to promote yours. (Jean de


### Book:La Bruyère, 1645-1696)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:Some people will see an appeal to their self-interest as ugly and ignoble.


### Book:They actually prefer to be able to exercise charity, mercy, and justice,which are their ways of feeling superior to you: When you beg them for


### Book:help, you emphasize their power and position. They are strong enough to


### Book:need nothing from you except the chance to feel superior. This is the


### Book:wine that intoxicates them. They are dying to fund your project, to


### Book:introduce you to powerful people—provided, of course, that all this is


### Book:done in public, and for a good cause (usually the more public, the better).


### Book:Not everyone, then, can be approached through cynical self-interest.


### Book:Some people will be put off by it, because they don’t want to seem to be


### Book:motivated by such things. They need opportunities to display their good


### Book:heart.


### Book:Do not be shy. Give them that opportunity. It’s not as if you are


### Book:conning them by asking for help—it is really their pleasure to give, and


### Book:to be seen giving. You must distinguish the differences among powerful


### Book:people and figure out what makes them tick. When they ooze greed, do


### Book:not appeal to their charity. When they want to look charitable and noble,


### Book:do not appeal to their greed.LAW 14


### Book:POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable


### Book:information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy


### Book:yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect


### Book:questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There


### Book:is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:Joseph Duveen was undoubtedly the greatest art dealer of his time—


### Book:from 1904 to 1940 he almost single-handedly monopolized America’s


### Book:millionaire art-collecting market. But one prize plum eluded him: the


### Book:industrialist Andrew Mellon. Before he died, Duveen was determined to


### Book:make Mellon a client.


### Book:Duveen’s friends said this was an impossible dream. Mellon was a


### Book:stiff, taciturn man. The stories he had heard about the congenial,


### Book:talkative Duveen rubbed him the wrong way—he had made it clear he


### Book:had no desire to meet the man. Yet Duveen told his doubting friends,


### Book:“Not only will Mellon buy from me but he will buy only from me.” For


### Book:several years he tracked his prey, learning the man’s habits, tastes,


### Book:phobias. To do this, he secretly put several of Mellon’s staff on his own


### Book:payroll, worming valuable information out of them. By the time he


### Book:moved into action, he knew Mellon about as well as Mellon’s wife did.


### Book:In 1921 Mellon was visiting London, and staying in a palatial suite on


### Book:the third floor of Claridge’s Hotel. Duveen booked himself into the suite


### Book:just below Mellon’s, on the second floor. He had arranged for his valet to


### Book:befriend Mellon’s valet, and on the fateful day he had chosen to make hismove, Mellon’s valet told Duveen’s valet, who told Duveen, that he had


### Book:just helped Mellon on with his overcoat, and that the industrialist was


### Book:making his way down the corridor to ring for the lift.


### Book:Duveen’s valet hurriedly helped Duveen with his own overcoat.


### Book:Seconds later, Duveen entered the lift, and lo and behold, there was


### Book:Mellon. “How do you do, Mr. Mellon?” said Duveen, introducing


### Book:himself. “I am on my way to the National Gallery to look at some


### Book:pictures.” How uncanny—that was precisely where Mellon was headed.


### Book:And so Duveen was able to accompany his prey to the one location that


### Book:would ensure his success. He knew Mellon’s taste inside and out, and


### Book:while the two men wandered through the museum, he dazzled the


### Book:magnate with his knowledge. Once again quite uncannily, they seemed to


### Book:have remarkably similar tastes.


### Book:Mellon was pleasantly surprised: This was not the Duveen he had


### Book:expected. The man was charming and agreeable, and clearly had


### Book:exquisite taste. When they returned to New York, Mellon visited


### Book:Duveen’s exclusive gallery and fell in love with the collection.


### Book:Everything, surprisingly enough, seemed to be precisely the kind of work


### Book:he wanted to collect. For the rest of his life he was Duveen’s best and


### Book:most generous client.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:A man as ambitious and competitive as Joseph Duveen left nothing to


### Book:chance. What’s the point of winging it, of just hoping you may be able to


### Book:charm this or that client? It’s like shooting ducks blindfolded. Arm


### Book:yourself with a little knowledge and your aim improves.


### Book:Mellon was the most spectacular of Duveen’s catches, but he spied on


### Book:many a millionaire. By secretly putting members of his clients’


### Book:household staffs on his own payroll, he would gain constant access to


### Book:valuable information about their masters’ comings and goings, changes


### Book:in taste, and other such tidbits of information that would put him a step


### Book:ahead. A rival of Duveen’s who wanted to make Henry Frick a client


### Book:noticed that whenever he visited this wealthy New Yorker, Duveen was


### Book:there before him, as if he had a sixth sense. To other dealers Duveen


### Book:seemed to be everywhere, and to know everything before they did. His


### Book:powers discouraged and disheartened them, until many simply gave up


### Book:going after the wealthy clients who could make a dealer rich.Such is the power of artful spying: It makes you seem all-powerful,


### Book:clairvoyant. Your knowledge of your mark can also make you seem


### Book:charming, so well can you anticipate his desires. No one sees the source


### Book:of your power, and what they cannot see they cannot fight.


### Book:Rulers see through spies, as cows through smell, Brahmins through


### Book:scriptures and the rest of the people through their normal eyes.


### Book:Kautilya, Indian philosopher third century B. C.


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:In the realm of power, your goal is a degree of control over future events.


### Book:Part of the problem you face, then, is that people won’t tell you all their


### Book:thoughts, emotions, and plans. Controlling what they say, they often keep


### Book:the most critical parts of their character hidden—their weaknesses,


### Book:ulterior motives, obsessions. The result is that you cannot predict their


### Book:moves, and are constantly in the dark. The trick is to find a way to probe


### Book:them, to find out their secrets and hidden intentions, without letting them


### Book:know what you are up to.


### Book:This is not as difficult as you might think. A friendly front will let you


### Book:secretly gather information on friends and enemies alike. Let others


### Book:consult the horoscope, or read tarot cards: You have more concrete


### Book:means of seeing into the future.


### Book:The most common way of spying is to use other people, as Duveen


### Book:did. The method is simple, powerful, but risky: You will certainly gather


### Book:information, but you have little control over the people who are doing


### Book:the work. Perhaps they will ineptly reveal your spying, or even secretly


### Book:turn against you. It is far better to be the spy yourself, to pose as a friend


### Book:while secretly gathering information.


### Book:The French politician Talleyrand was one of the greatest practitioners


### Book:of this art. He had an uncanny ability to worm secrets out of people in


### Book:polite conversation. A contemporary of his, Baron de Vitrolles, wrote,


### Book:“Wit and grace marked his conversation. He possessed the art of


### Book:concealing his thoughts or his malice beneath a transparent veil of


### Book:insinuations, words that imply something more than they express. Only


### Book:when necessary did he inject his own personality.” The key here is


### Book:Talleyrand’s ability to suppress himself in the conversation, to makeothers talk endlessly about themselves and inadvertently reveal their


### Book:intentions and plans.


### Book:Throughout Talleyrand’s life, people said he was a superb conversa


### Book:tionalist—yet he actually said very little. He never talked about his own


### Book:ideas; he got others to reveal theirs. He would organize friendly games of


### Book:charades for foreign diplomats, social gatherings where, however, he


### Book:would carefully weigh their words, cajole confidences out of them, and


### Book:gather information invaluable to his work as France’s foreign minister.


### Book:At the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) he did his spying in other ways:


### Book:He would blurt out what seemed to be a secret (actually something he


### Book:had made up), then watch his listeners’ reactions. He might tell a


### Book:gathering of diplomats, for instance, that a reliable source had revealed


### Book:to him that the czar of Russia was planning to arrest his top general for


### Book:treason. By watching the diplomats’ reactions to this made-up story, he


### Book:would know which ones were most excited by the weakening of the


### Book:Russian army—perhaps their goverments had designs on Russia? As


### Book:Baron von Stetten said, “Monsieur Talleyrand fires a pistol into the air to


### Book:see who will jump out the window.”


### Book:If you have reason to suspect that a person is telling you a lie, look as


### Book:though you believed every word he said. This will give him courage to go


### Book:on; he will become more vehement in his assertions, and in the end


### Book:betray himself. Again, if you perceive that a person is trying to conceal


### Book:something from you, but with only partial success, look as though you


### Book:did not believe him. The opposition on your part will provoke him into


### Book:leading out his reserve of truth and bringing the whole force of it to bear


### Book:upon your incredulity.


### Book:ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860


### Book:During social gatherings and innocuous encounters, pay attention.


### Book:This is when people’s guards are down. By suppressing your own


### Book:personality, you can make them reveal things. The brilliance of the


### Book:maneuver is that they will mistake your interest in them for friendship,


### Book:so that you not only learn, you make allies.


### Book:Nevertheless, you should practice this tactic with caution and care. If


### Book:people begin to suspect you are worming secrets out of them under the


### Book:cover of conversation, they will strictly avoid you. Emphasize friendly


### Book:chatter, not valuable information. Your search for gems of information


### Book:cannot be too obvious, or your probing questions will reveal more about


### Book:yourself and your intentions than about the information you hope to find.A trick to try in spying comes from La Rochefoucauld, who wrote,


### Book:“Sincerity is found in very few men, and is often the cleverest of ruses—


### Book:one is sincere in order to draw out the confidence and secrets of the


### Book:other.” By pretending to bare your heart to another person, in other


### Book:words, you make them more likely to reveal their own secrets. Give them


### Book:a false confession and they will give you a real one. Another trick was


### Book:identified by the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who suggested


### Book:vehemently contradicting people you’re in conversation with as a way of


### Book:irritating them, stirring them up so that they lose some of the control over


### Book:their words. In their emotional reaction they will reveal all kinds of


### Book:truths about themselves, truths you can later use against them.


### Book:Another method of indirect spying is to test people, to lay little traps


### Book:that make them reveal things about themselves. Chosroes II, a


### Book:notoriously clever seventh-century king of the Persians, had many ways


### Book:of seeing through his subjects without raising suspicion. If he noticed,


### Book:for instance, that two of his courtiers had become particularly friendly,


### Book:he would call one of them aside and say he had information that the other


### Book:was a traitor, and would soon be killed. The king would tell the courtier


### Book:he trusted him more than anyone, and that he must keep this information


### Book:secret. Then he would watch the two men carefully. If he saw that the


### Book:second courtier had not changed in his behavior toward the king, he


### Book:would conclude that the first courtier had kept the secret, and he would


### Book:quickly promote the man, later taking him aside to confess, “I meant to


### Book:kill your friend because of certain information that had reached me, but,


### Book:when I investigated the matter, I found it was untrue.” If, on the other


### Book:hand, the second courtier started to avoid the king, acting aloof and


### Book:tense, Chosroes would know that the secret had been revealed. He would


### Book:ban the second courtier from his court, letting him know that the whole


### Book:business had only been a test, but that even though the man had done


### Book:nothing wrong, he could no longer trust him. The first courtier, however,


### Book:had revealed a secret, and him Chosroes would ban from his entire


### Book:kingdom.


### Book:It may seem an odd form of spying that reveals not empirical


### Book:information but a person’s character. Often, however, it is the best way of


### Book:solving problems before they arise.


### Book:By tempting people into certain acts, you learn about their loyalty,


### Book:their honesty, and so on. And this kind of knowledge is often the most


### Book:valuable of all: Armed with it, you can predict their actions in the future.


### Book:Image:


### Book:The Third Eye ofthe Spy. In the land of


### Book:the two-eyed, the third eye


### Book:gives you the omniscience


### Book:of a god. You see further than


### Book:others, and you see deeper


### Book:into them. Nobody is


### Book:safe from the eye


### Book:but you.


### Book:Authority: Now, the reason a brilliant sovereign and a wise general


### Book:conquer the enemy whenever they move, and their achievements surpass


### Book:those of ordinary men, is their foreknowledge of the enemy situation.


### Book:This “foreknowledge” cannot be elicited from spirits, nor from gods, nor


### Book:by analogy with past events, nor by astrologic calculations. It must be


### Book:obtained from men who know the enemy situation—from spies. (Sun-


### Book:tzu, The Art of War, fourth century B.C.)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:Information is critical to power, but just as you spy on other people, you


### Book:must be prepared for them to spy on you. One of the most potent


### Book:weapons in the battle for information, then, is giving out false


### Book:information. As Winston Churchill said, “Truth is so precious that she


### Book:should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” You must surround


### Book:yourself with such a bodyguard, so that your truth cannot be penetrated.


### Book:By planting the information of your choice, you control the game.


### Book:In 1944 the Nazis’ rocket-bomb attacks on London suddenly


### Book:escalated. Over two thousand V-1 flying bombs fell on the city, killing


### Book:more than five thousand people and wounding many more. Somehow,


### Book:however, the Germans consistently missed their targets. Bombs that were


### Book:intended for Tower Bridge, or Piccadilly, would fall well short of the


### Book:city, landing in the less populated suburbs. This was because, in fixing


### Book:their targets, the Germans relied on secret agents they had planted in


### Book:England. They did not know that these agents had been discovered, andthat in their place, English-controlled agents were feeding them subtly


### Book:deceptive information.


### Book:The bombs would hit farther and farther from their targets every time


### Book:they fell. By the end of the campaign they were landing on cows in the


### Book:country. By feeding people wrong information, then, you gain a potent


### Book:advantage. While spying gives you a third eye, disinformation puts out


### Book:one of your enemy’s eyes. A cyclops, he always misses his target.LAW 15


### Book:CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be


### Book:crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If


### Book:one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will


### Book:eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through


### Book:total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush


### Book:him, not only in body but in spirit.


### Book:TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW


### Book:No rivalry between leaders is more celebrated in Chinese history than the


### Book:struggle between Hsiang Yu and Liu Pang. These two generals began


### Book:their careers as friends, fighting on the same side. Hsiang Yu came from


### Book:the nobility; large and powerful, given to bouts of violence and temper, a


### Book:bit dull witted, he was yet a mighty warrior who always fought at the


### Book:head of his troops. Liu Pang came from peasant stock. He had never


### Book:been much of a soldier, and preferred women and wine to fighting; in


### Book:fact, he was something of a scoundrel. But he was wily, and he had the


### Book:ability to recognize the best strategists, keep them as his advisers, and


### Book:listen to their advice. He had risen in the army through these strengths.


### Book:The remnants of an enemy can become active like those of a disease or


### Book:fire. Hence, these should be exterminated completely…. One should


### Book:never ignore an enemy, knowing him to be weak. He becomes dangerous


### Book:in due course, like the spark of fire in a haystack.


### Book:KAUTILYA, INDIAN PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.In 208 B.C., the king of Ch‘u sent two massive armies to conquer the


### Book:powerful kingdom of Ch’in. One army went north, under the generalship


### Book:of Sung Yi, with Hsiang Yu second in command; the other, led by Liu


### Book:Pang, headed straight toward Ch’in. The target was the kingdom’s


### Book:splendid capital, Hsien-yang. And Hsiang Yu, ever violent and impatient,


### Book:could not stand the idea that Liu Pang would get to Hsien-yang first, and


### Book:perhaps would assume command of the entire army.


### Book:THE TRAP AT SINIGAGLIA


### Book:On the day Ramiro was executed, Cesare [Borgia] quit Cesena, leaving


### Book:the mutilated body on the town square, and marched south. Three days


### Book:later he arrived at Fano, where he received the envoys of the city of


### Book:Ancona, who assured him of their loyalty. A messenger from Vitellozzo


### Book:Vitelli announced that the little Adriatic port of Sinigaglia had


### Book:surrendered to the condottieri [mercenary soldiers]. Only the citadel, in


### Book:charge of the Genoese Andrea Doria, still held out, and Doria refused to


### Book:hand it over to anyone except Cesare himself. [Borgia] sent word that he


### Book:would arrive the next day, which was just what the condottieri wanted to


### Book:hear. Once he reached Sinigaglia. Cesare would be an easy prey, caught


### Book:between the citadel and their forces ringing the town…. The condottieri


### Book:were sure they had military superiority, believing that the departure of


### Book:the French troops had lef? Cesare with only a small force.


### Book:In fact, according to Machiavelli. [Borgia] had left Cesena with ten


### Book:thousand infantry-men and three thousand horse, taking pains to split up


### Book:his men so that they would march along parallel routes before


### Book:converging on Sinigaglia. The reason for such a large force was that he


### Book:knew, from a confession extracted from Ramiro de Lorca, what the


### Book:condottieri had up their sleeve. He therefore decided to turn their own


### Book:trap against them. This was the masterpiece of trickery that the historian


### Book:Paolo Giovio later called “the magnificent deceit. ” At dawn on


### Book:December 31 [1502], Cesare reached the outskirts of Sinigaglia…. Led


### Book:by Michelotto Corella, Cesare’s advance guard of two hundred lances


### Book:took up its position on the canal bridge…. This control of the bridge


### Book:effectively prevented the conspirators’ troops from withdrawing….


### Book:Cesare greeted the condottieri effusively and invited them to join him….


### Book:Michelotto had prepared the Palazzo Bernardino for Cesare’s use, and


### Book:the duke invited the condottieri inside…. Once indoors the men were


### Book:quietly arrested by guards who crept up from the rear…. [Cesare] gave


### Book:orders for an attack on Vitelli’s and Orsini’s soldiers in the outlyingareas…. That night, while their troops were being crushed, Michelotto


### Book:throttled Oliveretto and Vitelli in the Bernardino palace…. At one fell


### Book:swoop, [Borgia] had got rid of his former generals and worst enemies.


### Book:THE BORGIAS, IVAN CLOULAS, 1989


### Book:At one point on the northern front, Hsiang’s commander, Sung Yi,


### Book:hesitated in sending his troops into battle. Furious, Hsiang entered Sung


### Book:Yi’s tent, proclaimed him a traitor, cut off his head, and assumed sole


### Book:command of the army. Without waiting for orders, he left the northern


### Book:front and marched directly on Hsien-yang. He felt certain he was the


### Book:better soldier and general than Liu, but, to his utter astonishment, his


### Book:rival, leading a smaller, swifter army, managed to reach Hsien-yang first.


### Book:Hsiang had an adviser, Fan Tseng, who warned him, “This village


### Book:headman [Liu Pang] used to be greedy only for riches and women, but


### Book:since entering the capital he has not been led astray by wealth, wine, or


### Book:sex. That shows he is aiming high.”


### Book:Fan Tseng urged Hsiang to kill his rival before it was too late. He told


### Book:the general to invite the wily peasant to a banquet at their camp outside


### Book:Hsien-yang, and, in the midst of a celebratory sword dance, to have his


### Book:head cut off. The invitation was sent; Liu fell for the trap, and came to


### Book:the banquet. But Hsiang hesitated in ordering the sword dance, and by


### Book:the time he gave the signal, Liu had sensed a trap, and managed to


### Book:escape. “Bah!” cried Fan Tseng in disgust, seeing that Hsiang had


### Book:botched the plot. “One cannot plan with a simpleton. Liu Pang will steal


### Book:your empire yet and make us all his prisoners.”


### Book:Realizing his mistake, Hsiang hurriedly marched on Hsien-yang, this


### Book:time determined to hack off his rival’s head. Liu was never one to fight


### Book:when the odds were against him, and he abandoned the city. Hsiang


### Book:captured Hsien-yang, murdered the young prince of Ch’in, and burned


### Book:the city to the ground. Liu was now Hsiang’s bitter enemy, and he


### Book:pursued him for many months, finally cornering him in a walled city.


### Book:Lacking food, his army in disarray, Liu sued for peace.


### Book:Again Fan Tseng warned Hsiang, “Crush him now! If you let him go


### Book:again, you will be sorry later.” But Hsiang decided to be merciful. He


### Book:wanted to bring Liu back to Ch’u alive, and to force his former friend to


### Book:acknowledge him as master. But Fan proved right: Liu managed to use


### Book:the negotiations for his surrender as a distraction, and he escaped with a


### Book:small army. Hsiang, amazed that he had yet again let his rival slip away,


### Book:once more set out after Liu, this time with such ferocity that he seemed


### Book:to have lost his mind. At one point, having captured Liu’s father in battle,Hsiang stood the old man up during the fighting and yelled to Liu across


### Book:the line of troops, “Surrender now, or I shall boil your father alive!” Liu


### Book:calmly answered, “But we are sworn brothers. So my father is your


### Book:father also. If you insist on boiling your own father, send me a bowl of


### Book:the soup!” Hsiang backed down, and the struggle continued.


### Book:A few weeks later, in the thick of the hunt, Hsiang scattered his forces


### Book:unwisely, and in a surprise attack Liu was able to surround his main


### Book:garrison. For the first time the tables were turned. Now it was Hsiang


### Book:who sued for peace. Liu’s top adviser urged him to destroy Hsiang, crush


### Book:his army, show no mercy. “To let him go would be like rearing a tiger—it


### Book:will devour you later,” the adviser said. Liu agreed.


### Book:Making a false treaty, he lured Hsiang into relaxing his defense, then


### Book:slaughtered almost all of his army. Hsiang managed to escape. Alone and


### Book:on foot, knowing that Liu had put a bounty on his head, he came upon a


### Book:small group of his own retreating soldiers, and cried out, “I hear Liu


### Book:Pang has offered one thousand pieces of gold and a fief of ten thousand


### Book:families for my head. Let me do you a favor.” Then he slit his own throat


### Book:and died.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Hsiang Yu had proven his ruthlessness on many an occasion. He rarely


### Book:hesitated in doing away with a rival if it served his purposes. But with


### Book:Liu Pang he acted differently. He respected his rival, and did not want to


### Book:defeat him through deception; he wanted to prove his superiority on the


### Book:battlefield, even to force the clever Liu to surrender and to serve him.


### Book:Every time he had his rival in his hands, something made him hesitate—


### Book:a fatal sympathy with or respect for the man who, after all, had once


### Book:been a friend and comrade in arms. But the moment Hsiang made it clear


### Book:that he intended to do away with Liu, yet failed to accomplish it, he


### Book:sealed his own doom. Liu would not suffer the same hesitation once the


### Book:tables were turned.


### Book:This is the fate that faces all of us when we sympathize with our


### Book:enemies, when pity, or the hope of reconciliation, makes us pull back


### Book:from doing away with them. We only strengthen their fear and hatred of


### Book:us. We have beaten them, and they are humiliated; yet we nurture these


### Book:resentful vipers who will one day kill us. Power cannot be dealt with this


### Book:way. It must be exterminated, crushed, and denied the chance to return to


### Book:haunt us. This is all the truer with a former friend who has become anenemy. The law governing fatal antagonisms reads: Reconciliation is out


### Book:of the question. Only one side can win, and it must win totally.


### Book:Liu Pang learned this lesson well. After defeating Hsiang Yu, this son


### Book:of a farmer went on to become supreme commander of the armies of


### Book:Ch‘u. Crushing his next rival—the king of Ch’u, his own former leader


### Book:—he crowned himself emperor, defeated everyone in his path, and went


### Book:down in history as one of the greatest rulers of China, the immortal Han


### Book:Kao-tsu, founder of the Han Dynasty.


### Book:To have ultimate victory, you must be ruthless.


### Book:NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821


### Book:Those who seek to achieve things should show no mercy.


### Book:Kautilya, Indian philosopher third century B.C.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:Wu Chao, born in A.D. 625, was the daughter of a duke, and as a


### Book:beautiful young woman of many charms, she was accordingly attached


### Book:to the harem of Emperor T’ai Tsung.


### Book:The imperial harem was a dangerous place, full of young concubines


### Book:vying to become the emperor’s favorite. Wu’s beauty and forceful


### Book:character quickly won her this battle, but, knowing that an emperor, like


### Book:other powerful men, is a creature of whim, and that she could easily be


### Book:replaced, she kept her eye on the future.


### Book:Wu managed to seduce the emperor’s dissolute son, Kao Tsung, on the


### Book:only possible occasion when she could find him alone: while he was


### Book:relieving himself at the royal urinal. Even so, when the emperor died and


### Book:Kao Tsung took over the throne, she still suffered the fate to which all


### Book:wives and concubines of a deceased emperor were bound by tradition


### Book:and law: Her head shaven, she entered a convent, for what was supposed


### Book:to be the rest of her life. For seven years Wu schemed to escape. By


### Book:communicating in secret with the new emperor, and by befriending his


### Book:wife, the empress, she managed to get a highly unusual royal edict


### Book:allowing her to return to the palace and to the royal harem. Once there,


### Book:she fawned on the empress, while still sleeping with the emperor. Theempress did not discourage this—she had yet to provide the emperor


### Book:with an heir, her position was vulnerable, and Wu was a valuable ally.


### Book:In 654 Wu Chao gave birth to a child. One day the empress came to


### Book:visit, and as soon as she had left, Wu smothered the newborn—her own


### Book:baby. When the murder was discovered, suspicion immediately fell on


### Book:the empress, who had been on the scene moments earlier, and whose


### Book:jealous nature was known by all. This was precisely Wu’s plan. Shortly


### Book:thereafter, the empress was charged with murder and executed. Wu Chao


### Book:was crowned empress in her place. Her new husband, addicted to his life


### Book:of pleasure, gladly gave up the reins of government to Wu Chao, who


### Book:was from then on known as Empress Wu.


### Book:Although now in a position of great power, Wu hardly felt secure.


### Book:There were enemies everywhere; she could not let down her guard for


### Book:one moment. Indeed, when she was forty-one, she began to fear that her


### Book:beautiful young niece was becoming the emperor’s favorite. She


### Book:poisoned the woman with a clay mixed into her food. In 675 her own


### Book:son, touted as the heir apparent, was poisoned as well. The next-eldest


### Book:son—illegitimate, but now the crown prince—was exiled a little later on


### Book:trumped-up charges. And when the emperor died, in 683, Wu managed


### Book:to have the son after that declared unfit for the throne. All this meant that


### Book:it was her youngest, most ineffectual son who finally became emperor. In


### Book:this way she continued to rule.


### Book:Over the next five years there were innumerable palace coups. All of


### Book:them failed, and all of the conspirators were executed. By 688 there was


### Book:no one left to challenge Wu. She proclaimed herself a divine descendant


### Book:of Buddha, and in 690 her wishes were finally granted: She was named


### Book:Holy and Divine “Emperor” of China.


### Book:Wu became emperor because there was literally nobody left from the


### Book:previous T’ang dynasty. And so she ruled unchallenged, for over a


### Book:decade of relative peace. In 705, at the age of eighty, she was forced to


### Book:abdicate.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:All who knew Empress Wu remarked on her energy and intelligence. At


### Book:the time, there was no glory available for an ambitious woman beyond a


### Book:few years in the imperial harem, then a lifetime walled up in a convent.


### Book:In Wu’s gradual but remarkable rise to the top, she was never naive. She


### Book:knew that any hesitation, any momentary weakness, would spell her end.If, every time she got rid of a rival a new one appeared, the solution was


### Book:simple: She had to crush them all or be killed herself. Other emperors


### Book:before her had followed the same path to the top, but Wu—who, as a


### Book:woman, had next to no chance to gain power—had to be more ruthless


### Book:still.


### Book:Empress Wu’s forty-year reign was one of the longest in Chinese


### Book:history. Although the story of her bloody rise to power is well known, in


### Book:China she is considered one of the period’s most able and effective


### Book:rulers.


### Book:A priest asked the dying Spanish statesman and general Ramón Maria


### Book:Narváez.


### Book:(1800-1868), “Does your Excellency forgive all your enemies ? ”I do not


### Book:have to forgive my enemies,” answered Narváez, ”I have had them all


### Book:shot. ”


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:It is no accident that the two stories illustrating this law come from


### Book:China: Chinese history abounds with examples of enemies who were left


### Book:alive and returned to haunt the lenient. “Crush the enemy” is a key


### Book:strategic tenet of Sun-tzu, the fourth-century-B.C. author of The Art of


### Book:War. The idea is simple: Your enemies wish you ill. There is nothing they


### Book:want more than to eliminate you. If, in your struggles with them, you


### Book:stop halfway or even three quarters of the way, out of mercy or hope of


### Book:reconciliation, you only make them more determined, more embittered,


### Book:and they will someday take revenge. They may act friendly for the time


### Book:being, but this is only because you have defeated them. They have no


### Book:choice but to bide their time.


### Book:The solution: Have no mercy. Crush your enemies as totally as they


### Book:would crush you. Ultimately the only peace and security you can hope


### Book:for from your enemies is their disappearance.


### Book:Mao Tse-tung, a devoted reader of Sun-tzu and of Chinese history


### Book:generally, knew the importance of this law. In 1934 the Communist


### Book:leader and some 75,000 poorly equipped soldiers fled into the desolate


### Book:mountains of western China to escape Chiang Kai-shek’s much larger


### Book:army, in what has since been called the Long March.Chiang was determined to eliminate every last Communist, and by a


### Book:few years later Mao had less than 10,000 soldiers left. By 1937, in fact,


### Book:when China was invaded by Japan, Chiang calculated that the


### Book:Communists were no longer a threat. He chose to give up the chase and


### Book:concentrate on the Japanese. Ten years later the Communists had


### Book:recovered enough to rout Chiang’s army. Chiang had forgotten the


### Book:ancient wisdom of crushing the enemy; Mao had not. Chiang was


### Book:pursued until he and his entire army fled to the island of Taiwan. Nothing


### Book:remains of his regime in mainland China to this day.


### Book:The wisdom behind “crushing the enemy” is as ancient as the Bible:


### Book:Its first practitioner may have been Moses, who learned it from God


### Book:Himself, when He parted the Red Sea for the Jews, then let the water


### Book:flow back over the pursuing Egyptians so that “not so much as one of


### Book:them remained.” When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the Ten


### Book:Commandments and found his people worshipping the Golden Calf, he


### Book:had every last offender slaughtered. And just before he died, he told his


### Book:followers, finally about to enter the Promised Land, that when they had


### Book:defeated the tribes of Canaan they should “utterly destroy them… make


### Book:no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them.”


### Book:The goal of total victory is an axiom of modern warfare, and was


### Book:codified as such by Carl von Clausewitz, the premier philosopher of war.


### Book:Analyzing the campaigns of Napoleon, von Clausewitz wrote, “We do


### Book:claim that direct annihilation of the enemy’s forces must always be the


### Book:dominant consideration…. Once a major victory is achieved there must


### Book:be no talk of rest, of breathing space… but only of the pursuit, going for


### Book:the enemy again, seizing his capital, attacking his reserves and anything


### Book:else that might give his country aid and comfort.” The reason for this is


### Book:that after war come negotiation and the division of territory. If you have


### Book:only won a partial victory, you will inevitably lose in negotiation what


### Book:you have gained by war.


### Book:The solution is simple: Allow your enemies no options. Annihilate


### Book:them and their territory is yours to carve. The goal of power is to control


### Book:your enemies completely, to make them obey your will. You cannot


### Book:afford to go halfway. If they have no options, they will be forced to do


### Book:your bidding. This law has applications far beyond the battlefield.


### Book:Negotiation is the insidious viper that will eat away at your victory, so


### Book:give your enemies nothing to negotiate, no hope, no room to maneuver.


### Book:They are crushed and that is that.


### Book:Realize this: In your struggle for power you will stir up rivalries and


### Book:create enemies. There will be people you cannot win over, who willremain your enemies no matter what. But whatever wound you inflicted


### Book:on them, deliberately or not, do not take their hatred personally. Just


### Book:recognize that there is no possibility of peace between you, especially as


### Book:long as you stay in power. If you let them stick around, they will seek


### Book:revenge, as certainly as night follows day. To wait for them to show their


### Book:cards is just silly; as Empress Wu understood, by then it will be too late.


### Book:Be realistic: With an enemy like this around, you will never be secure.


### Book:Remember the lessons of history, and the wisdom of Moses and Mao:


### Book:Never go halfway.


### Book:It is not, of course, a question of murder, it is a question of


### Book:banishment. Sufficiently weakened and then exiled from your court


### Book:forever, your enemies are rendered harmless. They have no hope of


### Book:recovering, insinuating themselves and hurting you. And if they cannot


### Book:be banished, at least understand that they are plotting against you, and


### Book:pay no heed to whatever friendliness they feign. Your only weapon in


### Book:such a situation is your own wariness. If you cannot banish them


### Book:immediately, then plot for the best time to act.


### Book:Image: A Viper crushed beneath your foot but left alive, will rear up and


### Book:bite you with a double dose of venom. An enemy that is left around is


### Book:like a half-dead viper that you nurse back to health. Time makes the


### Book:venom grow stronger.


### Book:Authority: For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else


### Book:annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot


### Book:do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be


### Book:such that we need not fear his vengeance. (Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-


### Book:1527)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:This law should very rarely be ignored, but it does sometimes happen


### Book:that it is better to let your enemies destroy themselves, if such a thing is


### Book:possible, than to make them suffer by your hand. In warfare, for


### Book:example, a good general knows that if he attacks an army when it is


### Book:cornered, its soldiers will fight much more fiercely. It is sometimesbetter, then, to leave them an escape route, a way out. As they retreat,


### Book:they wear themselves out, and are ultimately more demoralized by the


### Book:retreat than by any defeat he might inflict on the battlefield. When you


### Book:have someone on the ropes, then—but only when you are sure they have


### Book:no chance of recovery—you might let them hang themselves. Let them


### Book:be the agents of their own destruction. The result will be the same, and


### Book:you won’t feel half as bad.


### Book:Finally, sometimes by crushing an enemy, you embitter them so much


### Book:that they spend years and years plotting revenge. The Treaty of Versailles


### Book:had such an effect on the Germans. Some would argue that in the long


### Book:run it would be better to show some leniency. The problem is, your


### Book:leniency involves another risk—it may embolden the enemy, which still


### Book:harbors a grudge, but now has some room to operate. It is almost always


### Book:wiser to crush your enemy. If they plot revenge years later, do not let


### Book:your guard down, but simply crush them again.LAW 16


### Book:USE ABSENCE TO INCREASE RESPECT AND


### Book:HONOR


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen


### Book:and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already


### Book:established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more


### Book:talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create


### Book:value through scarcity.


### Book:TRANSGRESSION AND OBSERVANCE OF


### Book:THE LAW


### Book:Sir Guillaume de Balaun was a troubadour who roamed the South of


### Book:France in the Middle Ages, going from castle to castle, reciting poetry,


### Book:and playing the perfect knight. At the castle of Javiac he met and fell in


### Book:love with the beautiful lady of the house, Madame Guillelma de Javiac.


### Book:He sang her his songs, recited his poetry, played chess with her, and little


### Book:by little she in turn fell in love with him. Guillaume had a friend, Sir


### Book:Pierre de Barjac, who traveled with him and who was also received at the


### Book:castle. And Pierre too fell in love with a lady in Javiac, the gracious but


### Book:temperamental Viernetta.


### Book:THE CAMEL AND THE FLOATING STICKS


### Book:The first man who saw a camel fled; The second ventured within


### Book:distance; The third dared slip a halter round its head. Familiarity in this


### Book:existence Makes all things tame, for what may seem Terrible or bizarre,when once our eyes Have had time to acclimatize, Becomes quite


### Book:commonplace. Since I’m on this theme, I’ve heard of sentinels posted by


### Book:the shore Who, spotting something far-away afloat, Couldn’t resist the


### Book:shout: “A sail! A sail! A mighty man-of-war!” Five minutes later it’s a


### Book:packet boat, And then a skiff, and then a bale, And finally some sticks


### Book:bobbing about. I know of plenty such To whom this story applies—


### Book:People whom distance magnifies, Who, close to, don’t amount to much.


### Book:SELECTED FABLES, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE, 1621-1695


### Book:Then one day Pierre and Viernetta had a violent quarrel. The lady


### Book:dismissed him, and he sought out his friend Guillaume to help heal the


### Book:breach and get him back in her good graces. Guillaume was about to


### Book:leave the castle for a while, but on his return, several weeks later, he


### Book:worked his magic, and Pierre and the lady were reconciled. Pierre felt


### Book:that his love had increased tenfold—that there was no stronger love, in


### Book:fact, than the love that follows reconciliation. The stronger and longer


### Book:the disagreement, he told Guillaume, the sweeter the feeling that comes


### Book:with peace and rapprochement.


### Book:As a troubadour, Sir Guillaume prided himself on experiencing all the


### Book:joys and sorrows of love. On hearing his friend’s talk, he too wanted


### Book:know the bliss of reconciliation after a quarrel. He therefore feigned


### Book:great anger with Lady Guillelma, stopped sending her love letters, and


### Book:abruptly left the castle and stayed away, even during the festivals and


### Book:hunts. This drove the young lady wild.


### Book:Guillelma sent messengers to Guillaume to find out what had


### Book:happened, but he turned the messengers away. He thought all this would


### Book:make her angry, forcing him to plead for reconciliation as Pierre had.


### Book:Instead, however, his absence had the opposite effect: It made Guillelma


### Book:love him all the more. Now the lady pursued her knight, sending


### Book:messengers and love notes of her own. This was almost unheard of—a


### Book:lady never pursued her troubadour. And Guillaume did not like it.


### Book:Guillelma’s forwardness made him feel she had lost some of her dignity.


### Book:Not only was he no longer sure of his plan, he was no longer sure of his


### Book:lady.


### Book:Finally, after several months of not hearing from Guillaume,


### Book:Guillelma gave up. She sent him no more messengers, and he began to


### Book:wonder—perhaps she was angry? Perhaps the plan had worked after all?


### Book:So much the better if she was. He would wait no more—it was time to


### Book:reconcile. So he put on his best robe, decked the horse in its fanciest


### Book:caparison, chose a magnificent helmet, and rode off to Javiac.On hearing that her beloved had returned, Guillelma rushed to see


### Book:him, knelt before him, dropped her veil to kiss him, and begged


### Book:forgiveness for whatever slight had caused his anger. Imagine his


### Book:confusion and despair—his plan had failed abysmally. She was not


### Book:angry, she had never been angry, she was only deeper in love, and he


### Book:would never experience the joy of reconciliation after a quarrel. Seeing


### Book:her now, and still desperate to taste that joy, he decided to try one more


### Book:time: He drove her away with harsh words and threatening gestures. She


### Book:left, this time vowing never to see him again.


### Book:The next morning the troubadour regretted what he had done. He rode


### Book:back to Javiac, but the lady would not receive him, and ordered her


### Book:servants to chase him away, across the drawbridge and over the hill.


### Book:Guillaume fled. Back in his chamber he collapsed and started to cry: He


### Book:had made a terrible mistake. Over the next year, unable to see his lady,


### Book:he experienced the absence, the terrible absence, that can only inflame


### Book:love. He wrote one of his most beautiful poems, “My song ascends for


### Book:mercy praying.” And he sent many letters to Guillelma, explaining what


### Book:he had done, and begging forgiveness.


### Book:After a great deal of this, Lady Guillelma, remembering his beautiful


### Book:songs, his handsome figure, and his skills in dancing and falconry, found


### Book:herself yearning to have him back. As penance for his cruelty, she


### Book:ordered him to remove the nail from the little finger of his right hand,


### Book:and to send it to her along with a poem describing his miseries.


### Book:He did as she asked. Finally Guillaume de Balaun was able to taste the


### Book:ultimate sensation—a reconciliation even surpassing that of his friend


### Book:Pierre.


### Book:IIII MROSON IIII. COCK


### Book:While serving under the Duke Ai of Lu, T‘ien Jao, resenting his obscure


### Book:position, said to his master, “I am going to wander far away like a snow


### Book:goose. ” “What do you mean by that?” inquired the Duke. “Do you see


### Book:the cock?” said T’ien Jao in reply. “Its crest is a symbol of civility; its


### Book:powerful talons suggest strength; its daring to fight any enemy denotes


### Book:courage; its instinct to invite others whenever food is obtained shows


### Book:benevolence; and, last but not least, its punctuality in keeping the time


### Book:through the night gives us an example of veracity. In spite. however, of


### Book:these five virtues, the cock is daily killed to fill a dish on your table.


### Book:Why? I’he reason is that it is found within our reach. On the other hand,


### Book:the snow goose traverses in one flight a thousand li. Resting in yourgarden, it preys on your fishes and turtles and pecks your millet. Though


### Book:devoid of any of the cock’s five virtues, yet you prize this bird for the


### Book:sake of its scarcity. This being so, I shall fly far like a snow goose.”


### Book:ANCIENT CHINESE PARABLES, YU HSIU SEN, ED., 1974


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Trying to discover the joys of reconciliation, Guillaume de Balaun


### Book:inadvertently experienced the truth of the law of absence and presence.


### Book:At the start of an affair, you need to heighten your presence in the eyes of


### Book:the other. If you absent yourself too early, you may be forgotten. But


### Book:once your lover’s emotions are engaged, and the feeling of love has


### Book:crystallized, absence inflames and excites. Giving no reason for your


### Book:absence excites even more: The other person assumes he or she is at


### Book:fault. While you are away, the lover’s imagination takes flight, and a


### Book:stimulated imagination cannot help but make love grow stronger.


### Book:Conversely, the more Guillelma pursued Guillaume, the less he loved her


### Book:—she had become too present, too accessible, leaving no room for his


### Book:imagination and fancy, so that his feelings were suffocating. When she


### Book:finally stopped sending messengers, he was able to breathe again, and to


### Book:return to his plan.


### Book:What withdraws, what becomes scarce, suddenly seems to deserve our


### Book:respect and honor. What stays too long, inundating us with its presence,


### Book:makes us disdain it. In the Middle Ages, ladies were constantly putting


### Book:their knights through trials of love, sending them on some long and


### Book:arduous quest—all to create a pattern of absence and presence. Indeed,


### Book:had Guillaume not left his lady in the first place, she might have been


### Book:forced to send him away, creating an absence of her own.


### Book:Absence diminishes minor passions and inflames great ones,


### Book:as the wind douses a candle and fans a fire.


### Book:La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:For many centuries the Assyrians ruled upper Asia with an iron fist. In


### Book:the eighth century B.C., however, the people of Medea (nownorthwestern Iran) revolted against them, and finally broke free. Now the


### Book:Medes had to establish a new government. Determined to avoid any form


### Book:of despotism, they refused to give ultimate power to any one man, or to


### Book:establish a monarchy. Without a leader, however, the country soon fell


### Book:into chaos, and fractured into small kingdoms, with village fighting


### Book:against village.


### Book:In one such village lived a man named Deioces, who began to make a


### Book:name for himself for fair dealing and the ability to settle disputes.


### Book:He did this so successfully, in fact, that soon any legal conflict in the


### Book:area was brought to him, and his power increased. Throughout the land,


### Book:the law had fallen into disrepute—the judges were corrupt, and no one


### Book:entrusted their cases to the courts any more, resorting to violence instead.


### Book:When news spread of Deioces’ wisdom, incorruptibility, and unshakable


### Book:impartiality, Medean villages far and wide turned to him to settle all


### Book:manner of cases. Soon he became the sole arbiter of justice in the land.


### Book:At the height of his power, Deioces suddenly decided he had had


### Book:enough. He would no longer sit in the chair of judgment, would hear no


### Book:more suits, settle no more disputes between brother and brother, village


### Book:and village. Complaining that he was spending so much time dealing


### Book:with other people’s problems that he had neglected his own affairs, he


### Book:retired. The country once again descended into chaos. With the sudden


### Book:withdrawal of a powerful arbiter like Deioces, crime increased, and


### Book:contempt for the law was never greater. The Medes held a meeting of all


### Book:the villages to decide how to get out of their predicament. “We cannot


### Book:continue to live in this country under these conditions,” said one tribal


### Book:leader. “Let us appoint one of our number to rule so that we can live


### Book:under orderly government, rather than losing our homes altogether in the


### Book:present chaos.”


### Book:And so, despite all that the Medes had suffered under the Assyrian


### Book:despotism, they decided to set up a monarchy and name a king. And the


### Book:man they most wanted to rule, of course, was the fair-minded Deioces.


### Book:He was hard to convince, for he wanted nothing more to do with the


### Book:villages’ in-fighting and bickering, but the Medes begged and pleaded—


### Book:without him the country had descended into a state of lawlessness.


### Book:Deioces finally agreed.


### Book:Yet he also imposed conditions. An enormous palace was to be


### Book:constructed for him, he was to be provided with bodyguards, and a


### Book:capital city was to be built from which he could rule. All of this was


### Book:done, and Deioces settled into his palace. In the center of the capital, the


### Book:palace was surrounded by walls, and completely inaccessible to ordinarypeople. Deioces then established the terms of his rule: Admission to his


### Book:presence was forbidden. Communication with the king was only possible


### Book:through messengers. No one in the royal court could see him more than


### Book:once a week, and then only by permission.


### Book:Deioces ruled for fifty-three years, extended the Medean empire, and


### Book:established the foundation for what would later be the Persian empire,


### Book:under his great-great-grandson Cyrus. During Deioces’ reign, the


### Book:people’s respect for him gradually turned into a form of worship: He was


### Book:not a mere mortal, they believed, but the son of a god.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Deioces was a man of great ambition. He determined early on that the


### Book:country needed a strong ruler, and that he was the man for the job.


### Book:In a land plagued with anarchy, the most powerful man is the judge


### Book:and arbiter. So Deioces began his career by making his reputation as a


### Book:man of impeccable fairness.


### Book:At the height of his power as a judge, however, Deioces realized the


### Book:truth of the law of absence and presence: By serving so many clients, he


### Book:had become too noticeable, too available, and had lost the respect he had


### Book:earlier enjoyed. People were taking his services for granted. The only


### Book:way to regain the veneration and power he wanted was to withdraw


### Book:completely, and let the Medes taste what life was like without him. As he


### Book:expected, they came begging for him to rule.


### Book:Once Deioces had discovered the truth of this law, he carried it to its


### Book:ultimate realization. In the palace his people had built for him, none


### Book:could see him except a few courtiers, and those only rarely. As


### Book:Herodotus wrote, “There was a risk that if they saw him habitually, it


### Book:might lead to jealousy and resentment, and plots would follow; but if


### Book:nobody saw him, the legend would grow that he was a being of a


### Book:different order from mere men.”


### Book:A man said to a Dervish: “Why do I not see you more often?” The


### Book:Dervish


### Book:replied, “Because the words ‘Why have you not been to see me?’ are


### Book:sweeter to my ear than the words ‘Why have you come again?”’


### Book:Mulla jami, quoted in ldries Shah’s Caravan of Dreams, 1968KEYS TO POWER


### Book:Everything in the world depends on absence and presence. A strong


### Book:presence will draw power and attention to you—you shine more brightly


### Book:than those around you. But a point is inevitably reached where too much


### Book:presence creates the opposite effect: The more you are seen and heard


### Book:from, the more your value degrades. You become a habit. No matter how


### Book:hard you try to be different, subtly, without your knowing why, people


### Book:respect you less and less. At the right moment you must learn to


### Book:withdraw yourself before they unconsciously push you away. It is a game


### Book:of hide-and-seek.


### Book:The truth of this law can most easily be appreciated in matters of love


### Book:and seduction. In the beginning stages of an affair, the lover’s absence


### Book:stimulates your imagination, forming a sort of aura around him or her.