### Book:army swelled, and some of the tribes from which its soldiers came


### Book:secretly agreed to fight Selassie. In March of 1930 an enormous force of


### Book:35,000 men began to march, not on the Azebu Gallas but south, toward


### Book:the capital of Addis Ababa. Made confident by his growing strength,


### Book:Gugsa now openly led a holy war to depose Selassie and put the country


### Book:back in the hands of true Christians.


### Book:He did not see the trap that had been laid for him. Before Selassie had


### Book:ordered Gugsa to fight the Azebu Gallas, he had secured the support of


### Book:the Ethiopian church. And before the revolt got underway, he had bribed


### Book:several of Gugsa’s key allies not to show up for battle. As the rebel army


### Book:marched south, airplanes flew overhead dropping leaflets announcing


### Book:that the highest church officials had recognized Selassie as the true


### Book:Christian leader of Ethiopia, and that they had excommunicated Gugsa


### Book:for fomenting a civil war. These leaflets severely blunted the emotions


### Book:behind the holy crusade. And as battle loomed and the support that


### Book:Gugsa’s allies had promised him failed to show up, soldiers began to flee


### Book:or defect.


### Book:When the battle came, the rebel army quicky collapsed. Refusing to


### Book:surrender, Ras Gugsa was killed in the fighting. The empress, distraught


### Book:over her husband’s death, died a few days later. On April 30, Selassie


### Book:issued a formal proclamation announcing his new title: Emperor of


### Book:Ethiopia.THE MONKEY AND THE WASP


### Book:A monkey, whilst munching a ripe pear, was pestered by the bare-faced


### Book:importunities of a wasp, who, nolens volens, would have a part. After


### Book:threatening the monkey with his anger if he further hesitated to submit to


### Book:his demand, he settled on the fruit; but was as soon knocked off by the


### Book:monkey. The irritable wasp now had recourse to invective —and, after


### Book:using the most insulting language, which the other calmly listened to, he


### Book:so worked himself up into violent passion that, losing all consideration


### Book:of the penalty, he flew to the face of the monkey, and stung him with such


### Book:rage that he was unable to extricate his weapon, and was compelled to


### Book:tear himself away, leaving it in the wound—thus entailing on himself a


### Book:lingering death, accompanied by pains much greater than those he had


### Book:inflicted.


### Book:FABLES, JONATHAN BIRCH, 1783-1847


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Haile Selassie always saw several moves ahead. He knew that if he let


### Book:Ras Gugsa decide the time and place of the revolt, the danger would be


### Book:much greater than if he forced Gugsa to act on Selassie’s terms. So he


### Book:goaded him into rebellion by offending his manly pride, asking him to


### Book:fight people he had no quarrel with on behalf of a man he hated.


### Book:Thinking everything out ahead, Selassie made sure that Gugsa’s rebellion


### Book:would come to nothing, and that he could use it to do away with his last


### Book:two enemies.


### Book:This is the essence of the Law: When the waters are still, your


### Book:opponents have the time and space to plot actions that they will initiate


### Book:and control. So stir the waters, force the fish to the surface, get them to


### Book:act before they are ready, steal the initiative. The best way to do this is to


### Book:play on uncontrollable emotions—pride, vanity, love, hate. Once the


### Book:water is stirred up, the little fish cannot help but rise to the bait. The


### Book:angrier they become, the less control they have, and finally they are


### Book:caught in the whirlpool you have made, and they drown.


### Book:DITCH HIGH PRIEST


### Book:Kin ’yo, an officer of the second rank, had a brother called the High


### Book:Priest Ryogaku, an extremely bad-tempered man. Next to his monasterygrew a large nettle-tree which occasioned the nickname people gave him,


### Book:the Nettle-tree High Priest. “That name is outrageous,”said the high


### Book:priest, and cut down the tree. The stump still being left, people referred


### Book:to him now as the Stump High Priest. More furious than ever, Ryogaku


### Book:had the stump dug up and thrown away, but this left a big ditch. People


### Book:now called him the Ditch High Priest.


### Book:ESSAYS IN IDLENESS. KENKO, JAPAN, FOURTEENTH CENTURY


### Book:A sovereign should never launch an army out of anger,


### Book:a leader should never start a war out of wrath.


### Book:Sun-tzu, fourth century B.C.


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:Angry people usually end up looking ridiculous, for their response seems


### Book:out of proportion to what occasioned it. They have taken things too


### Book:seriously, exaggerating the hurt or insult that has been done to them.


### Book:They are so sensitive to slight that it becomes comical how much they


### Book:take personally. More comical still is their belief that their outbursts


### Book:signify power. The truth is the opposite: Petulance is not power, it is a


### Book:sign of helplessness. People may temporarily be cowed by your


### Book:tantrums, but in the end they lose respect for you. They also realize they


### Book:can easily undermine a person with so little self-control.


### Book:The answer, however, is not to repress our angry or emotional


### Book:responses. For repression drains us of energy and pushes us into strange


### Book:behavior. Instead we have to change our perspective: We have to realize


### Book:that nothing in the social realm, and in the game of power, is personal.


### Book:Everyone is caught up in a chain of events that long predates the


### Book:present moment. Our anger often stems from problems in our childhood,


### Book:from the problems of our parents which stem from their own childhood,


### Book:on and on. Our anger also has roots in the many interactions with others,


### Book:the accumulated disappointments and heartaches that we have suffered.


### Book:An individual will often appear as the instigator of our anger but it is


### Book:much more complicated, goes far beyond what that individual did to us.


### Book:If a person explodes with anger at you (and it seems out of proportion to


### Book:what you did to them), you must remind yourself that it is not


### Book:exclusively directed at you—do not be so vain. The cause is much larger,


### Book:goes way back in time, involves dozens of prior hurts, and is actually notworth the bother to understand. Instead of seeing it as a personal grudge,


### Book:look at the emotional outburst as a disguised power move, an attempt to


### Book:control or punish you cloaked in the form of hurt feelings and anger.


### Book:This shift of perspective will let you play the game of power with


### Book:more clarity and energy. Instead of overreacting, and becoming ensnared


### Book:in people’s emotions, you will turn their loss of control to your


### Book:advantage: You keep your head while they are losing theirs.


### Book:During an important battle in the War of the Three Kingdoms, in the


### Book:third century A.D., advisers to the commander Ts‘ao Ts’ao discovered


### Book:documents showing that certain of his generals had conspired with the


### Book:enemy, and urged him to arrest and execute them. Instead he ordered the


### Book:documents burned and the matter forgotten. At this critical moment in


### Book:the battle, to get upset or demand justice would have reverberated against


### Book:him: An angry action would have called attention to the generals’


### Book:disloyalty, which would have harmed the troops’ morale. Justice could


### Book:wait—he would deal with the generals in time. Ts‘ao Ts’ao kept his head


### Book:and made the right decision.


### Book:Compare this to Napoleon’s response to Talleyrand: Instead of taking


### Book:the conspiracy personally, the emperor should have played the game like


### Book:Ts‘ao Ts’ao, carefully weighing the consequences of any action he took.


### Book:The more powerful response in the end would have been to ignore


### Book:Talleyrand, or to bring the minister gradually back to his side and punish


### Book:him later.


### Book:Anger only cuts off our options, and the powerful cannot thrive


### Book:without options. Once you train yourself not to take matters personally,


### Book:and to control your emotional responses, you will have placed yourself in


### Book:a position of tremendous power: Now you can play with the emotional


### Book:responses of other people. Stir the insecure into action by impugning


### Book:their manhood, and by dangling the prospect of an easy victory before


### Book:their faces. Do as Houdini did when challenged by the less successful


### Book:escape artist Kleppini: Reveal an apparent weakness (Houdini let


### Book:Kleppini steal the combination for a pair of cuffs) to lure your opponent


### Book:into action. Then you can beat him with ease. With the arrogant too you


### Book:can appear weaker than you are, taunting them into a rash action.


### Book:Sun Pin, commander of the armies of Ch‘i and loyal disciple of Sun-


### Book:tzu, once led his troops against the armies of Wei, which outnumbered


### Book:him two to one. “Let us light a hundred thousand fires when our army


### Book:enters Wei,” suggested Sun Pin, “fifty thousand on the next day, and only


### Book:thirty thousand on the third.” On the third day the Wei general


### Book:exclaimed, “I knew the men of Ch’i were cowards, and after only threedays more than half of them have deserted!” So, leaving behind his slow-


### Book:moving heavy infantry, the general decided to seize the moment and


### Book:move swiftly on the Ch’I camp with a lightly armed force. Sun Pin’s


### Book:troops retreated, luring Wei’s army into a narrow pass, where they


### Book:ambushed and destroyed them. With the Wei general dead and his forces


### Book:decimated, Sun Pin now easily defeated the rest of his army.


### Book:In the face of a hot-headed enemy, finally, an excellent response is no


### Book:response. Follow the Talleyrand tactic: Nothing is as infuriating as a man


### Book:who keeps his cool while others are losing theirs. If it will work to your


### Book:advantage to unsettle people, affect the aristocratic, bored pose, neither


### Book:mocking nor triumphant but simply indifferent. This will light their fuse.


### Book:When they embarrass themselves with a temper tantrum, you will have


### Book:gained several victories, one of these being that in the face of their


### Book:childishness you have maintained your dignity and composure.


### Book:Image: The Pond of Fish. The waters


### Book:are clear and calm, and the fish are well below the surface.


### Book:Stir the waters and they emerge. Stir it some more and they get


### Book:angry, rising to the surface, biting whatever comes near—


### Book:including a freshly baited hook.


### Book:Authority: If your opponent is of a hot temper, try to irritate him. If he is


### Book:arrogant, try to encourage his egotism…. One who is skilled at making


### Book:the enemy move does so by creating a situation according to which the


### Book:enemy will act; he entices the enemy with something he is certain to


### Book:take. He keeps the enemy on the move by holding out bait and then


### Book:attacks him with picked troops. (Sun-tzu, fourth century B.C.)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:When playing with people’s emotions you have to be careful. Study the


### Book:enemy beforehand: Some fish are best left at the bottom of the pond.


### Book:The leaders of the city of Tyre, capital of ancient Phoenicia, felt


### Book:confident they could withstand Alexander the Great, who had conquered


### Book:the Orient but had not attacked their city, which stood well protected on


### Book:the water. They sent ambassadors to Alexander saying that although they


### Book:would recognize him as emperor they would not allow him or his forcesto enter Tyre. This of course enraged him, and he immediately mounted a


### Book:siege. For four months the city withstood him, and finally he decided that


### Book:the struggle was not worth it, and that he would come to terms with the


### Book:Tyrians. But they, feeling that they had already baited Alexander and


### Book:gotten away with it, and confident that they could withstand him, refused


### Book:to negotiate—in fact they killed his messengers.


### Book:This pushed Alexander over the edge. Now it did not matter to him


### Book:how long the siege lasted or how large an army it needed; he had the


### Book:resources, and would do whatever it took. He remounted his assault so


### Book:strenuously that he captured Tyre within days, burned it to the ground,


### Book:and sold its people into slavery.


### Book:You can bait the powerful and get them to commit and divide their


### Book:forces as Sun Pin did, but test the waters first. Find the gap in their


### Book:strength. If there is no gap—if they are impossibly strong—you have


### Book:nothing to gain and everything to lose by provoking them. Choose


### Book:carefully whom you bait, and never stir up the sharks.


### Book:Finally there are times when a well-timed burst of anger can do you


### Book:good, but your anger must be manufactured and under your control.


### Book:Then you can determine exactly how and on whom it will fall. Never stir


### Book:up reactions that will work against you in the long run. And use your


### Book:thunder-bolts rarely, to make them the more intimidating and


### Book:meaningful. Whether purposefully staged or not, if your outbursts come


### Book:too often, they will lose their power.LAW 40


### Book:DESPISE THE FREE LUNCH


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:What is offered for free is dangerous-it usually involves either a trick or


### Book:a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your


### Book:own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often


### Book:wise to pay the full price—there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be


### Book:lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign


### Book:and a magnet for power.


### Book:BURIED TREASURE


### Book:Many weak-minded persons in cities hope to discover property under the


### Book:surface of the earth and to make some profit from it. In the Maghrib


### Book:there are many Berber “students” who are unable to make a living by


### Book:natural ways and means. They approach well-to-do people with papers


### Book:that have torn margins and contain either non-Arabic writing or what


### Book:they claim to be the translation of a document written by the owner of


### Book:buried treasures, giving the clue to the hiding place. In this way, they try


### Book:to get their sustenance by [persuading the well-to-do] to send them out


### Book:to dig and hunt for treasure. Occasionally, one of these treasure hunters


### Book:displays strange information or some remarkable trick of magic with


### Book:which he fools people into believing his other claims, although, in fact,


### Book:he knows nothing of magic and its procedures…. The things that have


### Book:been said about [treasure hunting] have no scientific basis, nor are they


### Book:based upon [factual] information. It should be realized that although


### Book:treasures are found, this happens rarely and by chance, not by systematic


### Book:search…. Those who are deluded or afflicted by these things must take


### Book:refuge in God from their inability to make a living and their laziness in


### Book:this respect. They should not occupy themselves with absurdities and


### Book:untrue stories.THE MUQADDIMAH, IBN KHALDUN, 1332-1406


### Book:MONEY AND POWER


### Book:In the realm of power, everything must be judged by its cost, and


### Book:everything has a price. What is offered for free or at bargain rates often


### Book:comes with a psychological price tag—complicated feelings of


### Book:obligation, compromises with quality, the insecurity those compromises


### Book:bring, on and on. The powerful learn early to protect their most valuable


### Book:resources: independence and room to maneuver. By paying the full price,


### Book:they keep themselves free of dangerous entanglements and worries.


### Book:Being open and flexible with money also teaches the value of strategic


### Book:generosity, a variation on the old trick of “giving when you are about to


### Book:take.” By giving the appropriate gift, you put the recipient under


### Book:obligation. Generosity softens people up—to be deceived. By gaining a


### Book:reputation for liberality, you win people’s admiration while distracting


### Book:them from your power plays. By strategically spreading your wealth, you


### Book:charm the other courtiers, creating pleasure and making valuable allies.


### Book:Look at the masters of power—the Caesars, the Queen Elizabeths, the


### Book:Michelangelos, the Medicis: Not a miser among them. Even the great


### Book:con artists spend freely to swindle. Tight purse strings are unattractive—


### Book:when engaged in seduction, Casanova would give completely not only of


### Book:himself but of his wallet. The powerful understand that money is


### Book:psychologically charged, and that it is also a vessel of politeness and


### Book:sociability. They make the human side of money a weapon in their


### Book:armory.


### Book:For everyone able to play with money, thousands more are locked in a


### Book:self-destructive refusal to use money creatively and strategically. These


### Book:types represent the opposite pole to the powerful, and you must learn to


### Book:recognize them—either to avoid their poisonous natures or to turn their


### Book:inflexibility to your advantage:


### Book:The Greedy Fish. The greedy fish take the human side out of money.


### Book:Cold and ruthless, they see only the lifeless balance sheet; viewing others


### Book:solely as either pawns or obstructions in their pursuit of wealth, they


### Book:trample on people’s sentiments and alienate valuable allies. No onewants to work with the greedy fish, and over the years they end up


### Book:isolated, which often proves their undoing.


### Book:Greedy fish are the con artist’s bread and butter: Lured by the bait of


### Book:easy money, they swallow the ruse hook, line, and sinker. They are easy


### Book:to deceive, for they spend so much time dealing with numbers (not with


### Book:people) that they become blind to psychology, including their own.


### Book:Either avoid them before they exploit you or play on their greed to your


### Book:gain.


### Book:The Bargain Demon. Powerful people judge everything by what it costs,


### Book:not just in money but in time, dignity, and peace of mind. And this is


### Book:exactly what Bargain Demons cannot do. Wasting valuable time digging


### Book:for bargains, they worry endlessly about what they could have gotten


### Book:elsewhere for a little less. On top of that, the bargain item they do buy is


### Book:often shabby; perhaps it needs costly repairs, or will have to be replaced


### Book:twice as fast as a high-quality item. The costs of these pursuits—not


### Book:always in money (though the price of a bargain is often deceptive) but in


### Book:time and peace of mind—discourage normal people from undertaking


### Book:them, but for the Bargain Demon the bargain is an end in itself.


### Book:These types might seem to harm only themselves, but their attitudes


### Book:are contagious: Unless you resist them they will infect you with the


### Book:insecure feeling that you should have looked harder to find a cheaper


### Book:price. Don’t argue with them or try to change them. Just mentally add up


### Book:the cost, in time and inner peace if not in hidden financial expense, of the


### Book:irrational pursuit of a bargain.


### Book:The Sadist. Financial sadists play vicious power games with money as a


### Book:way of asserting their power. They might, for example, make you wait


### Book:for money that is owed you, promising you that the check is in the mail.


### Book:Or if they hire you to work for them, they meddle in every aspect of the


### Book:job, haggling and giving you ulcers. Sadists seem to think that paying for


### Book:something gives them the right to torture and abuse the seller. They have


### Book:no sense of the courtier element in money. If you are unlucky enough to


### Book:get involved with this type, accepting a financial loss may be better in


### Book:the long run than getting entangled in their destructive power games.


### Book:The Indiscriminate Giver. Generosity has a definite function in power: It


### Book:attracts people, softens them up, makes allies out of them. But it has to


### Book:be used strategically, with a definite end in mind. Indiscriminate Givers,on the other hand, are generous because they want to be loved and


### Book:admired by all. And their generosity is so indiscriminate and needy that


### Book:it may not have the desired effect: If they give to one and all, why should


### Book:the recipient feel special? Attractive as it may seem to make an


### Book:Indiscriminate Giver your mark, in any involvement with this type you


### Book:will often feel burdened by their insatiable emotional needs.


### Book:THE


### Book:A miser, to make sure of his property, sold all that he had and converted


### Book:it into a great lump of gold, which he htd in a hole in the ground, and


### Book:went continually to visit and inspect it. This roused the curiosity of one of


### Book:his workmen, who, suspecting that there was a treasure, when his


### Book:master’s back was turned, went to the spot, and stole it away. When the


### Book:miser returned and found the place empty, he wept and tore his hair. But


### Book:a neighbor who saw him in this extravagant grief, and learned the cause


### Book:of it, said: “Fret thyself no longer, but take a stone and put it in the same


### Book:place, and think that it is your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to


### Book:use it. the one will do you as much good as the other.”


### Book:The worth of money is not in its possession, but in its use.


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


### Book:TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW


### Book:Transgression I


### Book:After Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru, in 1532, gold from the Incan


### Book:Empire began to pour into Spain, and Spaniards of all classes started


### Book:dreaming of the instant riches to be had in the New World. The story


### Book:soon spread of an Indian chief to the east of Peru who once each year


### Book:would ritually cover himself in gold dust and dive into a lake. Soon word


### Book:of mouth transformed El Dorado, the “Golden Man,” into an empire


### Book:called El Dorado, wealthier than the Incan, where the streets were paved


### Book:and the buildings inlaid with gold. This elaboration of the story did not


### Book:seem implausible, for surely a chief who could afford to waste gold dust


### Book:in a lake must rule a golden empire. Soon Spaniards were searching for


### Book:El Dorado all over northern South America.In February of 1541, the largest expedition yet in this venture, led by


### Book:Pizarro’s brother Gonzalo, left Quito, in Ecuador. Resplendent in their ar


### Book:mors and colorful silks, 340 Spaniards headed east, along with 4,000


### Book:Indians to carry supplies and serve as scouts, 4,000 swine, dozens of


### Book:llamas, and close to 1,000 dogs. But the expedition was soon hit by


### Book:torrential rain, which rotted its gear and spoiled its food. Meanwhile, as


### Book:Gonzalo Pizarro questioned the Indians they met along the way, those


### Book:who seemed to be withholding information, or who had not even heard


### Book:of the fabulous kingdom, he would torture and feed to the dogs. Word of


### Book:the Spaniards’ mur derousness spread quickly among the Indians, who


### Book:realized that the only way to avoid Gonzalo’s wrath was to make up


### Book:stories about El Dorado and send him as far away as possible. As


### Book:Gonzalo and his men followed the leads the Indians gave them, then,


### Book:they were only led farther into deep jungle.


### Book:The explorers’ spirits sagged. Their uniforms had long since shredded;


### Book:their armor rusted and they threw it away; their shoes were torn to


### Book:pieces, forcing them to walk barefoot; the Indian slaves they had set out


### Book:with had either died or deserted them; they had eaten not only the swine


### Book:but the hunting dogs and llamas. They lived on roots and fruit. Realizing


### Book:that they could not continue this way, Pizarro decided to risk river travel,


### Book:and a barge was built out of rotting wood. But the journey down the


### Book:treacherous Napo River proved no easier. Setting up camp on the river’s


### Book:edge, Gonzalo sent scouts ahead on the barge to find Indian settlements


### Book:with food. He waited and waited for the scouts to return, only to find out


### Book:they had decided to desert the expedition and continue down the river on


### Book:their own.


### Book:The rain continued without end. Gonzalo’s men forgot about El Dorado;


### Book:they wanted only to return to Quito. Finally, in August of 1542, a little


### Book:over a hundred men, from an expedition originally numbering in the


### Book:thousands, managed to find their way back. To the residents of Quito


### Book:they seemed to have emerged from hell itself, wrapped in tatters and


### Book:skins, their bodies covered in sores, and so emaciated as to be


### Book:unrecognizable. For over a year and a half they had marched in an


### Book:enormous circle, two thousand miles by foot. The vast sums of money


### Book:invested in the expedition had yielded nothing—no sign of El Dorado


### Book:and no sign of gold. Interpretation


### Book:Even after Gonzalo Pizarro’s disaster, the Spaniards launched expedition


### Book:after expedition in search of El Dorado. And like Pizarro the


### Book:conquistadors would burn and loot villages, torture Indians, endure


### Book:unimaginable hardships, and get no closer to gold. The money they spenton such expeditions cannot be calculated; yet despite the futility of the


### Book:search, the lure of the fantasy endured.


### Book:There is a popular saying in Japan that goes “Tada yori takai mono wa


### Book:nai,” meaning: “Nothing is more costly than something given free of


### Book:charge.”


### Book:THE UNSPOKEN WAY, MICHIHIRO MATSUMOTO, 1988


### Book:MONEY


### Book:Yusuf Ibn Jafar el-Amudi used to take sums of money, sometimes very


### Book:large ones, from those who came to study with him. A distinguished


### Book:legalist visiting him once said: “I am enchanted and impressed by your


### Book:teachings, and I am sure that you are directing your disciples in a proper


### Book:manner. But it is not in accordance with tradition to take money for


### Book:knowledge. Besides, the action is open to misinterpretation.” El-Amudi


### Book:said: “I have never sold any knowledge. There is no Imoney on earth


### Book:sufficient to pay for it. As for misinterpretation, the abstaining from


### Book:taking money will not prevent it, for it will find some other object. Rather


### Book:should you know that a man who takes money may be greedy for money,


### Book:or he may not. But a man who takes nothing at all is under the gravest


### Book:suspicion of robbing the disciple of his soul. People who say, ‘I take


### Book:nothing,’ may be found to take away the volition of their victim.”


### Book:THE DERMIS PROBE, IDRIES SHAH, 1970


### Book:Not only did the search for El Dorado cost millions of lives—both


### Book:Indian and Spanish—it helped bring the ruin of the Spanish empire. Gold


### Book:became Spain’s obsession. The gold that did find its way back to Spain-


### Book:and a lot did—was reinvested in more expeditions, or in the purchase of


### Book:luxuries, rather than in agriculture or any other productive endeavor.


### Book:Whole Spanish towns were depopulated as their menfolk left to hunt


### Book:gold. Farms fell into ruin, and the army had no recruits for its European


### Book:wars. By the end of the seventeenth century, the entire country had


### Book:shrunk by more than half of its population; the city of Madrid had gone


### Book:from a population of 400,000 to 150,000. With diminishing returns from


### Book:its efforts over so many years, Spain fell into a decline from which it


### Book:never recovered.


### Book:Power requires self-discipline. The prospect of wealth, particularly


### Book:easy, sudden wealth, plays havoc with the emotions. The suddenly rich


### Book:believe that more is always possible. The free lunch, the money that will


### Book:fall into your lap, is just around the corner.In this delusion the greedy neglect everything power really depends


### Book:on: self-control, the goodwill of others, and so on. Understand: With one


### Book:exception—death—no lasting change in fortune comes quickly. Sudden


### Book:wealth rarely lasts, for it is built on nothing solid. Never let lust for


### Book:money lure you out of the protective and enduring fortress of real power.


### Book:Make power your goal and money will find its way to you. Leave El


### Book:Dorado for suckers and fools.


### Book:Transgression II


### Book:In the early eighteenth century, no one stood higher in English society


### Book:than the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. The duke, having led


### Book:successful campaigns against the French, was considered Europe’s


### Book:premier general and strategist. And his wife, the duchess, after much


### Book:maneuvering, had established herself as the favorite of Queen Anne, who


### Book:became ruler of England in 1702. In 1704 the duke’s triumph at the


### Book:Battle of Blenheim made him the toast of England, and to honor him the


### Book:queen awarded him a large plot of land in the town of Woodstock, and


### Book:the funds to create a great palace there. Calling his planned home the


### Book:Palace of Blenheim, the duke chose as his architect the young John


### Book:Vanbrugh, a kind of Renaissance man who wrote plays as well as


### Book:designed buildings. And so construction began, in the summer of 1705,


### Book:with much fanfare and great hopes.


### Book:Vanbrugh had a dramatist’s sense of architecture. His palace was to be


### Book:a monument to Marlborough’s brilliance and power, and was to include


### Book:artificial lakes, enormous bridges, elaborate gardens, and other


### Book:fantastical touches. From day one, however, the duchess could not be


### Book:pleased: She thought Vanbrugh was wasting money on yet another stand


### Book:of trees; she wanted the palace finished as soon as possible. The duchess


### Book:tortured Vanbrugh and his workmen on every detail. She was consumed


### Book:with petty matters; although the government was paying for Blenheim,


### Book:she counted every penny. Eventually her grumbling, about Blenheim and


### Book:other things too, created an irreparable rift between her and Queen Anne,


### Book:who, in 1711, dismissed her from the court, ordering her to vacate her


### Book:apartments at the royal palace. When the duchess left (fuming over the


### Book:loss of her position, and also of her royal salary), she emptied the


### Book:apartment of every fixture down to the brass doorknobs.THE MAN WHO LOVED MONEY BETTER


### Book:THAN LIFE


### Book:In ancient times there was an old woodcutter who went to the mountain


### Book:almost every day to cut wood.


### Book:It was said that this old n?an was a miser who hoarded his silver until it


### Book:changed to gold, and that he cared more for gold than anything else in


### Book:all the world.


### Book:One day a wilderness tiger sprang at him and though he ran he could


### Book:not escape, and the tiger carried him off in its mouth.


### Book:The woodcutter’s son saw his father’s danger, and ran to save him if


### Book:possible. He carried a long knife, and as he could run faster than the


### Book:tiger, who had a man to carry, he soon overtook them.


### Book:His father was not much hurt, for the tiger held him by his clothes. When


### Book:the old woodcutter saw his son about to stab the tiger he called out in


### Book:great alarm: “Do not spoil the tiger’s skin! Do not spoil the tiger’s skin!


### Book:If you can kill him without cutting holes in his skin we can get many


### Book:pieces of silver for it. Kill him, but do not cut his body.” While the son


### Book:was listening to his father’s instructions the tiger suddenly dashed off


### Book:into the forest, carrying the old man where the son could not reach him,


### Book:and he was soon killed.


### Book:“CHINESE FABLE,” VARIOUS FABLES FROM VARIOUS PLACES,


### Book:DIANE DI PRIMA, ED., 1960


### Book:Over the next ten years, work on Blenheim would stop and start, as the


### Book:funds became harder to procure from the government. The duchess


### Book:thought Vanbrugh was out to ruin her. She quibbled over every carload


### Book:of stone and bushel of lime, counted every extra yard of iron railing or


### Book:foot of wainscot, hurling abuse at the wasteful workmen, contractors,


### Book:and surveyors. Marlborough, old and weary, wanted nothing more than


### Book:to settle into the palace in his last years, but the project became bogged


### Book:down in a swamp of litigation, the workmen suing the duchess for


### Book:wages, the duchess suing the architect right back. In the midst of this


### Book:interminable wrangling, the duke died. He had never spent a night in his


### Book:beloved Blenheim.


### Book:After Marlborough’s death, it became clear that he had a vast estate,


### Book:worth over £2 million—more than enough to pay for finishing the


### Book:palace. But the duchess would not relent: She held back Vanbrugh’s


### Book:wages as well as the workmen’s, and finally had the architect dismissed.The man who took his place finished Blenheim in a few years, following


### Book:Vanbrugh’s designs to the letter. Vanbrugh died in 1726, locked out of


### Book:the palace by the duchess, unable to set foot in his greatest creation.


### Book:Foreshadowing the romantic movement, Blenheim had started a whole


### Book:new trend in architecture, but had given its creator a twenty-year


### Book:nightmare.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:For the Duchess of Marlborough, money was a way to play sadistic


### Book:power games. She saw the loss of money as a symbolic loss of power.


### Book:With Vanbrugh her contortions went deeper still: He was a great artist,


### Book:and she envied his power to create, to attain a fame outside her reach.


### Book:She may not have had his gifts, but she did have the money to torture and


### Book:abuse him over the pettiest details—to ruin his life.


### Book:This kind of sadism, however, bears an awful price. It made


### Book:construction that should have lasted ten years take twenty. It poisoned


### Book:many a relationship, alienated the duchess from the court, deeply pained


### Book:the duke (who wanted only to live peacefully in Blenheim), created


### Book:endless lawsuits, and took years off Vanbrugh’s life. Finally, too,


### Book:posterity had the last word: Vanbrugh is recognized as a genius while the


### Book:duchess is forever remembered for her consummate cheapness.


### Book:The powerful must have grandeur of spirit—they can never reveal any


### Book:pettiness. And money is the most visible arena in which to display either


### Book:grandeur or pettiness. Best spend freely, then, and create a reputation for


### Book:generosity, which in the end will pay great dividends. Never let financial


### Book:details blind you to the bigger picture of how people perceive you. Their


### Book:resentment will cost you in the long run. And if you want to meddle in


### Book:the work of creative people under your hire, at least pay them well. Your


### Book:money will buy their submission better than your displays of power.


### Book:THE STORY OF MOSES AND PHARAOH


### Book:It is written in the histories of the prophets that Moses was sent to


### Book:Pharaoh with many miracles, wonders and honors. Now the daily ration


### Book:for Pharaoh’s table was 4,000 sheep, 400 cows, 200 camels, and a


### Book:corresponding amount of chickens, fish, beverages, fried meats, sweets,


### Book:and other things. All the people of Egypt and all his army used to eat at


### Book:his table every day. For 400 years he had claimed divinity and never


### Book:ceased providing this food. When Moses prayed, saying, “O Lord,destroy Pharaoh,” God answered his prayer and said, “I shall destroy


### Book:him in water, and I shall bestow all his wealth and that of his soldiers on


### Book:you and your peoples.” Several vears passed bv after this promise, and


### Book:Pharaoh, doomed to rum, continued to live in all his magnificence.


### Book:Moses was impatient for God to destroy Pharaoh quickle, and he could


### Book:not endure to wail any longer. So he fasted for forty days and went to


### Book:Mount Sinai, and in his communing with god he said, “O Lord. Thou


### Book:didst promise that Thou wouldst destroy Pharaoh, and still he has


### Book:forsaken none of his blasphemies and pretensions. So when wilt Thou


### Book:destroy him?”


### Book:A voice came from The Truth saying, “O Muses, you want Me to destroy


### Book:Pharaoh as quickly as possible, but a thousand times a thousand of My


### Book:servants want Me never to do so, because they partake of his bounty and


### Book:enjoy tranquillity under his rule. By My power I swear that as long as he


### Book:provides abundant food and comfort for My creatures, I shall not destroy


### Book:him.”


### Book:Moses said, “Then when will Thy promise be fulfilled?” God said, “Mv


### Book:promise will be fulfilled when he withholds his provision from My


### Book:creatures. If ever he begins to lessen his bounty, know that his hour is


### Book:drawing near.”


### Book:It chanced that one day Pharaoh said to Haman, “Moses has gathered


### Book:the Sons of Israel about him and is causing us disquiet. We know not


### Book:what will be the issue of his affair with us. We must keep our stores full


### Book:lest at any time we be without resources. So we must halve our daily


### Book:rations and keep the saving in reserve.” He deducted 2, 000 sheep, 200


### Book:cows, and a 100 camels, and similarly every two or three days reduced


### Book:the ration. Moses then knew that the promise of The Truth was near to


### Book:fulfillment, for excessive economy is a sign of decline and a bad omen.


### Book:The masters of tradition say that on the day when Pharaoh was drowned


### Book:only two ewes had been killed in his kitchen. Nothing is better than


### Book:generosity…. If a man is rich and desires, without a royal charter, to act


### Book:like a lord; if he wants men to humble themselves before him, to revere


### Book:him and call him Lord and prince, then tell him every day to spread a


### Book:table with victuals. All those who have acquired renown in the world,


### Book:have gained it mainly through hospitality, while the miserly and


### Book:avaricious are despised in both worlds.


### Book:THE BOOK OF GOVERNMENT OR RULES FOR KINGS, NIZAM


### Book:AL-MULK, ELEVENTH CENTURYOBSERVANCES OF THE LAW


### Book:Observance I


### Book:Pietro Aretino, son of a lowly shoemaker, had catapulted himself into


### Book:fame as a writer of biting satires. But like every Renaissance artist, he


### Book:needed to find a patron who would give him a comfortable lifestyle


### Book:while not interfering with his work. In 1528 Aretino decided to attempt a


### Book:new strategy in the patronage game. Leaving Rome, he established


### Book:himself in Venice, where few had heard of him. He had a fair amount of


### Book:money he had managed to save, but little else. Soon after he moved into


### Book:his new home, however, he threw open its doors to rich and poor,


### Book:regaling them with banquets and amusements. He befriended each and


### Book:every gondolier, tipping them royally. In the streets, he spread his money


### Book:liberally, giving it away to beggars, orphans, washerwomen. Among the


### Book:city’s commoners, word quickly spread that Aretino was more than just a


### Book:great writer, he was a man of power—a kind of lord.


### Book:Artists and men of influence soon began to frequent Aretino’s house.


### Book:Within a few years he made himself a celebrity; no visiting dignitary


### Book:would think of leaving Venice without paying him a call. His generosity


### Book:had cost him most of his savings, but had bought him influence and a


### Book:good name—a cornerstone in the foundation of power. Since in


### Book:Renaissance Italy as elsewhere the ability to spend freely was the


### Book:privilege of the rich, the aristocracy thought Aretino had to be a man of


### Book:influence, since he spent money like one. And since the influence of a


### Book:man of influence is worth buying, Aretino became the recipient of all


### Book:sorts of gifts and moneys. Dukes and duchesses, wealthy merchants, and


### Book:popes and princes competed to gain his favor, and showered him with all


### Book:kinds of presents.


### Book:Aretino’s spending habits, of course, were strategic, and the strategy


### Book:worked like a charm. But for real money and comfort he needed a great


### Book:patron’s bottomless pockets. Having surveyed the possibilities, he


### Book:eventually set his sights on the extremely wealthy Marquis of Mantua,


### Book:and wrote an epic poem that he dedicated to the marquis. This was a


### Book:common practice of writers looking for patronage: In exchange for a


### Book:dedication they would get a small stipend, enough to write yet another


### Book:poem, so that they spent their lives in a kind of constant servility.


### Book:Aretino, however, wanted power, not a measly wage. He might dedicate


### Book:a poem to the marquis, but he would offer it to him as a gift, implying bydoing so that he was not a hired hack looking for a stipend but that he


### Book:and the marquis were equals.


### Book:Aretino’s gift-giving did not stop there: As a close friend of two of


### Book:Venice’s greatest artists, the sculptor Jacopo Sansovino and the painter


### Book:Titian, he convinced these men to participate in his gift-giving scheme.


### Book:Aretino had studied the marquis before going to work on him, and knew


### Book:his taste inside and out; he was able to advise Sansovino and Titian what


### Book:subject matter would please the marquis most. When he then sent a


### Book:Sansovino sculpture and a Titian painting to the marquis as gifts from all


### Book:three of them, the man was beside himself with joy.


### Book:Over the next few months, Aretino sent other gifts—swords, saddles,


### Book:the glass that was a Venetian specialty, things he knew the marquis


### Book:prized. Soon he, Titian, and Sansovino began to receive gifts from the


### Book:marquis in return. And the strategy went further: When the son-in-law of


### Book:a friend of Aretino’s found himself in jail in Mantua, Aretino was able to


### Book:get the marquis to arrange his release. Aretino’s friend, a wealthy


### Book:merchant, was a man of great influence in Venice; by turning the


### Book:goodwill he had built up with the marquis to use, Aretino had now


### Book:bought this man’s indebtedness, too, and he in turn would help Aretino


### Book:when he could. The circle of influence was growing wider. Time and


### Book:again, Aretino was able to cash in on the immense political power of the


### Book:marquis, who also helped him in his many court romances.


### Book:Eventually, however, the relationship became strained, as Aretino


### Book:came to feel that the marquis should have requited his generosity better.


### Book:But he would not lower himself to begging or whining: Since the


### Book:exchange of gifts between the two men had made them equals, it would


### Book:not seem right to bring up money. He simply withdrew from the


### Book:marquis’s circle and hunted for other wealthy prey, settling first on the


### Book:French king Francis, then the Medicis, the Duke of Urbino, Emperor


### Book:Charles V, and more. In the end, having many patrons meant he did not


### Book:have to bow to any of them, and his power seemed comparable to that of


### Book:a great lord. Interpretation


### Book:Aretino understood two fundamental properties of money: First, that it


### Book:has to circulate to bring power. What money should buy is not lifeless


### Book:objects but power over people. By keeping money in constant


### Book:circulation, Aretino bought an ever-expanding circle of influence that in


### Book:the end more than compensated him for his expenses.


### Book:Second, Aretino understood the key property of the gift. To give a gift


### Book:is to imply that you and the recipient are equals at the very least, or that


### Book:you are the recipient’s superior. A gift also involves an indebtedness orobligation; when friends, for instance, offer you something for free, you


### Book:can be sure they expect something in return, and that to get it they are


### Book:making you feel indebted. (The mechanism may or may not be entirely


### Book:conscious on their part, but this is how it works.)


### Book:Aretino avoided such encumbrances on his freedom. Instead of acting


### Book:like a menial who expects the powerful to pay his way in life, he turned


### Book:the whole dynamic around; instead of being indebted to the powerful, he


### Book:made the powerful indebted to him. This was the point of his gift-giving,


### Book:a ladder that carried him to the highest social levels. By the end of his


### Book:life he had become the most famous writer in Europe.


### Book:Understand: Money may determine power relationships, but those


### Book:relationships need not depend on the amount of money you have; they


### Book:also depend on the way you use it. Powerful people give freely, buying


### Book:influence rather than things. If you accept the inferior position because


### Book:you have no fortune yet, you may find yourself in it forever. Play the


### Book:trick that Aretino played on Italy’s aristocracy: Imagine yourself an


### Book:equal. Play the lord, give freely, open your doors, circulate your money,


### Book:and create the facade of power through an alchemy that transforms


### Book:money into influence.


### Book:Observance II


### Book:Soon after Baron James Rothschild made his fortune in Paris in the early


### Book:1820s, he faced his most intractable problem: How could a Jew and a


### Book:German, a total outsider to French society, win the respect of the


### Book:xenophobic French upper classes? Rothschild was a man who


### Book:understood power—he knew that his fortune would bring him status, but


### Book:that if he remained socially alienated neither his status nor his fortune


### Book:would last. So he looked at the society of the time and asked what would


### Book:win their hearts.


### Book:Charity? The French couldn’t care less. Political influence? He already


### Book:had that, and if anything it only made people more suspicious of him.


### Book:The one weak spot, he decided, was boredom. In the period of the


### Book:restoration of the monarchy, the French upper classes were bored. So


### Book:Rothschild began to spend astounding sums of money on entertaining


### Book:them. He hired the best architects in France to design his gardens and


### Book:ballroom; he hired Marie-Antoine Carême, the most celebrated French


### Book:chef, to prepare the most lavish parties Paris had ever witnessed; no


### Book:Frenchman could resist, even if the parties were given by a German Jew.Rothschild’s weekly soirees began to attract bigger and bigger numbers.


### Book:Over the next few years he won the only thing that would secure an


### Book:outsider’s power: social acceptance.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Strategic generosity is always a great weapon in building a support base,


### Book:particularly for the outsider. But the Baron de Rothschild was cleverer


### Book:still: He knew it was his money that had created the barrier between him


### Book:and the French, making him look ugly and untrustworthy. The best way


### Book:to overcome this was literally to waste huge sums, a gesture to show he


### Book:valued French culture and society over money. What Rothschild did


### Book:resembled the famous potlatch feasts of the American Northwest: By


### Book:periodically destroying its wealth in a giant orgy of festivals and


### Book:bonfires, an Indian tribe would symbolize its power over other tribes.


### Book:The base of its power was not money but its ability to spend, and its


### Book:confidence in a superiority that would restore to it all that the potlatch


### Book:had destroyed.


### Book:In the end, the baron’s soirees reflected his desire to mingle not just in


### Book:France’s business world but in its society. By wasting money on his pot-


### Book:latches, he hoped to demonstrate that his power went beyond money into


### Book:the more precious realm of culture. Rothschild may have won social


### Book:acceptance by spending money, but the support base he gained was one


### Book:that money alone could not buy. To secure his fortune he had to “waste”


### Book:it. That is strategic generosity in a nutshell—the ability to be flexible


### Book:with your wealth, putting it to work, not to buy objects, but to win


### Book:people’s hearts.


### Book:Observance III


### Book:The Medicis of Renaissance Florence had built their immense power on


### Book:the fortune they had made in banking. But in Florence, centuries-old


### Book:republic that it was, the idea that money bought power went against all


### Book:the city’s proud democratic values. Cosimo de’ Medici, the first of the


### Book:family to gain great fame, worked around this by keeping a low profile.


### Book:He never flaunted his wealth. But by the time his grandson Lorenzo


### Book:came of age, in the 1470s, the family’s wealth was too large, and their


### Book:influence too noticeable, to be disguised any longer.THE FLAME-COLORED CLOCK


### Book:During the campaign of Carnbyses in Egypt, a great many Greeks visited


### Book:that country for one reason or another: some, as was to be expected, for


### Book:trade, some to serve in the army, others, no doubt, out of mere curiosity,


### Book:to see what they could see. Amongst the sightseers was Aeaces’s son


### Book:Syloson, the exiled brother of Polycrates of Samos. While he was in


### Book:Egypt, Syloson had an extraordinary stroke of luck: he was hanging


### Book:about the streets of Memphis dressed in a flame-colored cloak, when


### Book:Darius, who at that time was a member of Cambyses’s guard and not yet


### Book:of any particular importance, happened to catch sight of him and, seized


### Book:with a sudden longing to possess the cloak, came up to Syloson and


### Book:made him an offer for it.


### Book:His extreme anxiety to get it was obvious enough to Syloson, who was


### Book:inspired to say: “I am not selling this for any money, but if you must


### Book:have it, I will give it to you for free. ” Darius thererepon thanked him


### Book:warmly and took it. Syloson at the moment merely thought he had lost it


### Book:by his foolish good nature; then came the death of Cambyses and the


### Book:revolt of the seven against the Magus, and Darius ascended the throne.


### Book:Syloson now had the news that the man whose request for the flame-


### Book:colored cloak he had formerly gratified in Egypt had become king of


### Book:Persia. He hurried to Susa, sat down at the entrance of the royal palace,


### Book:and claimed to be included in the official list of the king’s benefactors.


### Book:The sentry on guard reported his claim to Darius, who asked in surprise


### Book:who the man might be. “For surely,” he said, “as I have so recently


### Book:come to the throne, there cannot be any Greek to whom I am indebted for


### Book:a service. Hardly any of them have been here yet, and I certainly cannot


### Book:remember owing anything to a Greek. But bring him in all the same, that


### Book:I may know what he means by this claim.”


### Book:The guard escorted Syloson into the royal presence, and when the


### Book:interpreters asked him who he was and what he had done to justify the


### Book:statement that he was the king’s benefactor, he reminded Darius of the


### Book:story of the cloak, and said that he was the man who had given it him.


### Book:“Sir,” exclaimed Darius, “you are the most generous of men; for while I


### Book:was still a person of no power or consequence you gave me a present—


### Book:small indeed, but deserving then as much gratitude from me as would the


### Book:most splendid of gifts today. I will give you in return more silver and


### Book:gold than you can count, that you may never regret that you once did a


### Book:favor to Darius the son of Hystaspes. ” “My lord, ” replied Syloson, ”do


### Book:not give me gold or silver, but recover Samos for me, my native island,which now since Oroetes killed my brother Polycrates is in the hands of


### Book:one of our servants. Let Samos be your gift to me—but let no man in the


### Book:island be killed or enslaved.”


### Book:Darius consented to Syloson’s request, and dispatched a force under the


### Book:command of Otanes, one of the seven, with orders to do everything that


### Book:Syloson had asked.


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


### Book:Lorenzo solved the problem in his own way by developing the


### Book:strategy of distraction that has served people of wealth ever since: He


### Book:became the most illustrious patron of the arts that history has ever


### Book:known. Not only did he spend lavishly on paintings, he created Italy’s


### Book:finest apprentice schools for young artists. It was in one of these schools


### Book:that the young Michelangelo first caught the attention of Lorenzo, who


### Book:invited the artist to come and live in his house. He did the same with


### Book:Leonardo da Vinci. Once under his wing, Michelangelo and Leonardo


### Book:requited his generosity by becoming loyal artists in his stable.


### Book:Whenever Lorenzo faced an enemy, he would wield the weapon of


### Book:patronage. When Pisa, Florence’s traditional enemy, threatened to rebel


### Book:against it in 1472, Lorenzo placated its people by pouring money into its


### Book:university, which had once been its pride and joy but had long ago lost


### Book:its luster. The Pisans had no defense against this insidious maneuver,


### Book:which simultaneously fed their love of culture and blunted their desire


### Book:for battle. Interpretation


### Book:Lorenzo undoubtedly loved the arts, but his patronage of artists had a


### Book:practical function as well, of which he was keenly aware. In Florence at


### Book:the time, banking was perhaps the least admired way of making money,


### Book:and was certainly not a respected source of power. The arts were at the


### Book:other pole, the pole of quasi-religious transcendence. By spending on the


### Book:arts, Lorenzo diluted people’s opinions of the ugly source of his wealth,


### Book:disguising himself in nobility. There is no better use of strategic


### Book:generosity than that of distracting attention from an unsavory reality and


### Book:wrapping oneself in the mantle of art or religion.


### Book:Observance IV


### Book:Louis XIV had an eagle eye for the strategic power of money. When he


### Book:came to the throne, the powerful nobility had recently proven a thorn in


### Book:the monarchy’s side, and seethed with rebelliousness. So heimpoverished these aristocrats by making them spend enormous sums on


### Book:maintaining their position in the court. Making them dependent on royal


### Book:largesse for their livelihood, he had them in his claws.


### Book:Next Louis brought the nobles to their knees with strategic generosity.


### Book:It would work like this: Whenever he noticed a stubborn courtier whose


### Book:influence he needed to gain, or whose troublemaking he needed to


### Book:squelch, he would use his vast wealth to soften the soil. First he would


### Book:ignore his victim, making the man anxious. Then the man would


### Book:suddenly find that his son had been given a well-paid post, or that funds


### Book:had been spent liberally in his home region, or that he had been given a


### Book:painting he had long coveted. Presents would flow from Louis’s hands.


### Book:Finally, weeks or months later, Louis would ask for the favor he had


### Book:needed all along. A man who had once vowed to do anything to stop the


### Book:king would find he had lost the desire to fight. A straightforward bribe


### Book:would have made him rebellious; this was far more insidious. Facing


### Book:hardened earth in which nothing could take root, Louis loosened the soil


### Book:before he planted his seeds. Interpretation


### Book:Louis understood that there is a deep-rooted emotional element in our


### Book:attitude to money, an element going back to childhood. When we are


### Book:children, all kinds of complicated feelings about our parents center


### Book:around gifts; we see the giving of a gift as a sign of love and approval.


### Book:And that emotional element never goes away. The recipients of gifts,


### Book:financial or otherwise, are suddenly as vulnerable as children, especially


### Book:when the gift comes from someone in authority. They cannot help


### Book:opening up; their will is loosened, as Louis loosened the soil.


### Book:To succeed best, the gift should come out of the blue. It should be


### Book:remarkable for the fact that a gift like it has never been given before, or


### Book:for being preceded by a cold shoulder from the giver. The more often


### Book:you give to particular people, the blunter this weapon becomes. If they


### Book:don’t take your gifts for granted, becoming monsters of ingratitude, they


### Book:will resent what appears to be charity. The sudden, unexpected, one-time


### Book:gift will not spoil your children; it will keep them under your thumb.


### Book:Observance V


### Book:The antique dealer Fushimiya, who lived in the city of Edo (former name


### Book:for Tokyo) in the seventeenth century, once made a stop at a village


### Book:teahouse. After enjoying a cup of tea, he spent several minutes


### Book:scrutinizing the cup, which he eventually paid for and took away withhim. A local artisan, watching this, waited until Fushimiya left the shop,


### Book:then approached the old woman who owned the teahouse and asked her


### Book:who this man was. She told him it was Japan’s most famous connoisseur,


### Book:antique dealer to the lord of Izumo. The artisan ran out of the shop,


### Book:caught up with Fushimiya, and begged him to sell him the cup, which


### Book:must clearly be valuable if Fushimiya judged it so. Fushimiya laughed


### Book:heartily: “It’s just an ordinary cup of Bizen ware,” he explained, “and it


### Book:is not valuable at all. The reason I was looking at it was that the steam


### Book:seemed to hang about it strangely and I wondered if there wasn’t a leak


### Book:somewhere.” (Devotees of the Tea Ceremony were interested in any odd


### Book:or accidental beauty in nature.) Since the artisan still seemed so excited


### Book:about it, Fushimiya gave him the cup for free.


### Book:The artisan took the cup around, trying to find an expert who would


### Book:appraise it at a high price, but since all of them recognized it as an


### Book:ordinary teacup he got nowhere. Soon he was neglecting his own


### Book:business, thinking only of the cup and the fortune it could bring. Finally


### Book:he went to Edo to talk to Fushimiya at his shop. There the dealer,


### Book:realizing that he had inadvertently caused this man pain by making him


### Book:believe the cup had great worth, paid him 100 ryo (gold pieces) for the


### Book:cup as a kindness. The cup was indeed mediocre, but he wanted to rid the


### Book:artisan of his obsession, while also allowing him to feel that his effort


### Book:had not been wasted. The artisan thanked him and went on his way.


### Book:Money is never spent to so much advantage as when vou have been


### Book:cheated out of it; for at one stroke you have purchased prudence.


### Book:ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860


### Book:Soon word spread of Fushimiya’s purchase of the teacup. Every dealer


### Book:in Japan clamored for him to sell it, since a cup he had bought for 100


### Book:ryo must be worth much more. He tried to explain the circumstances in


### Book:which he had bought the cup, but the dealers could not be dissuaded.


### Book:Fushimiya finally relented and put the cup up for sale.


### Book:During the auction, two buyers simultaneously bid 200 ryo for the


### Book:teacup, and then began to fight over who had bid first. Their fighting


### Book:tipped over a table and the teacup fell to the ground and broke into


### Book:several pieces. The auction was clearly over. Fushimiya glued and


### Book:mended the cup, then stored it away, thinking the affair finished. Years


### Book:later, however, the great tea master Matsudaira Fumai visited the store,


### Book:and asked to see the cup, which by then had become legendary. Fumai


### Book:examined it. “As a piece,” he said, “it is not up to much, but a Tea


### Book:Master prizes sentiment and association more than intrinsic value.” Hebought the cup for a high sum. A glued-together work of less than


### Book:ordinary craftsmanship had become one of the most famous objects in


### Book:Japan.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:The story shows, first, an essential aspect of money: That it is humans


### Book:who have created it and humans who instill it with meaning and value.


### Book:Second, with objects as with money, what the courtier most values are


### Book:the sentiments and emotions embedded in them—these are what make


### Book:them worth having. The lesson is simple: The more your gifts and your


### Book:acts of generosity play with sentiment, the more powerful they are. The


### Book:object or concept that plays with a charged emotion or hits a chord of


### Book:sentiment has more power than the money you squander on an expensive


### Book:yet lifeless present.


### Book:Observance VI


### Book:Akimoto Suzutomo, a wealthy adherent of the tea ceremony, once gave


### Book:his page 100 ryo (gold pieces) and instructed him to purchase a tea bowl


### Book:offered by a particular dealer. When the page saw the bowl, he doubted it


### Book:was worth that much, and after much bargaining got the price reduced to


### Book:95 ryo. Days later, after Suzutomo had put the bowl to use, the page


### Book:proudly told him what he had done.


### Book:“What an ignoramus you are!” replied Suzutomo. “A tea bowl that


### Book:anyone asks 100 pieces of gold for can only be a family heirloom, and a


### Book:thing like that is only sold when the family is pressed for money. And in


### Book:that case they will be hoping to find someone who will give even 150


### Book:pieces for it. So what sort of fellow is it who does not consider their


### Book:feelings? Quite apart from that, a curio that you give 100 ryo for is


### Book:something worth having, but one that has only cost 95 gives a mean


### Book:impression. So never let me see that tea bowl again!” And he had the


### Book:bowl locked away, and never took it out.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:When you insist on paying less, you may save your five ryo, but the


### Book:insult you cause and the cheap impression you create will cost you inreputation, which is the thing the powerful prize above all. Learn to pay


### Book:the full price—it will save you a lot in the end.


### Book:A GIFT OF FISH


### Book:Kung-yi Hsiu, premier of Lu, was fond of fish. Therefore, people in the


### Book:whole country conscientiously bought fish, which they presented to him.


### Book:However, Kung-yi would not accept the presents. Against such a step his


### Book:younger brother remonstrated with him and said: “You like fish, indeed.


### Book:Why don’t you accept the present of fish?” In reply, he said: “It is solely


### Book:because I like fish that I would not accept the fish they gave me. Indeed,


### Book:if I accept the fish, I will be placed under an obligation to them. Once


### Book:placed under an obligation to them, I will some time have to bend the


### Book:law. If I bend the law, I will be dismissed from the premiership. After


### Book:being dismissed from the premiership, I might not be able to supply


### Book:myself with fish. On the contrary, if I do not accept the fish from them


### Book:and am not dismissed the premiership, however fond of fish, I can always


### Book:supply myself with fish.”


### Book:HAN-FEI-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.


### Book:Observance VII


### Book:Sometime near the beginning of the seventeenth century in Japan, a


### Book:group of generals whiled away the time before a big battle by staging an


### Book:incense-smelling competition. Each participant anted up a prize for the


### Book:contest’s winners—bows, arrows, saddles, and other items a warrior


### Book:would covet.


### Book:The great Lord Date Masamune happened to pass by and was induced to


### Book:participate. For a prize, he offered the gourd that hung from his belt.


### Book:Everyone laughed, for no one wanted to win this cheap item. A retainer


### Book:of the host finally accepted the gourd.


### Book:When the party broke up, however, and the generals were chatting


### Book:outside the tent, Masamune brought over his magnificent horse and gave


### Book:it to the retainer. “There,” he said, “a horse has come out of the gourd.”


### Book:The stunned generals suddenly regretted their scorn at Masamune’s gift.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Masamune understood the following: Money gives its possessor the


### Book:ability to give pleasure to others. The more you can do this, the more you


### Book:attract admiration. When you make a horse come out of a gourd, you


### Book:give the ultimate demonstration of your power.Image: The River. To protect


### Book:yourself or to save the resource,


### Book:you dam it up. Soon, however,


### Book:the waters become dank and


### Book:pestilent. Only the foulest


### Book:forms of life can live in such


### Book:stagnant waters; nothing trav


### Book:els on them, all commerce


### Book:stops. Destroy the dam. When


### Book:water flows and circulates, it gen


### Book:erates abundance, wealth, and


### Book:power in ever larger circles. The


### Book:River must flood periodically


### Book:for good things to flourish.


### Book:I took money only from those who could afford it and were willing to go


### Book:in with me in schemes they fancied would fleece others. They wanted


### Book:money for its own sake. I wanted it for the luxuries and pleasures it


### Book:would afford me. They were seldom concerned with human nature. They


### Book:knew little-and cared less-about their fellow men. If they had been


### Book:keener students of human nature, if they had given more time to


### Book:companionship with their fellows and less to the chase of the almighty


### Book:dollar, they wouldn’t have been such easy marks.


### Book:“YELLOW KID” WEIL. 1875-1976


### Book:Authority: The great man who is a miser is a great fool, and a man in


### Book:high places can have no vice so harmful as avarice. A miserly man can


### Book:conquer neither lands nor lordships, for he does not have a plentiful


### Book:supply of friends with whom he may work his will. Whoever wants to


### Book:have friends must not love his possessions but must acquire friends by


### Book:means of fair gifts; for in the same way that the lodestone subtly draws


### Book:iron to itself, so the gold and silver that a man gives attract the hearts of


### Book:men. (The Romance of the Rose, Guillaume de Lorris, c. 1200-1238)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:The powerful never forget that what is offered for free is inevitably a


### Book:trick. Friends who offer favors without asking for payment will laterwant something far dearer than the money you would have paid them.


### Book:The bargain has hidden problems, both material and psychological.


### Book:Learn to pay, then, and to pay well.


### Book:On the other hand, this Law offers great opportunities for swindling


### Book:and deception if you apply it from the other side. Dangling the lure of a


### Book:free lunch is the con artist’s stock in trade.


### Book:No man was better at this than the most successful con artist of our


### Book:age, Joseph Weil, a.k.a. “The Yellow Kid.” The Yellow Kid learned early


### Book:that what made his swindles possible was his fellow humans’ greed.


### Book:“This desire to get something for nothing,” he once wrote, “has been


### Book:very costly to many people who have dealt with me and with other con


### Book:men…. When people learn—as I doubt they will—that they can’t get


### Book:something for nothing, crime will diminish and we shall all live in


### Book:greater harmony.” Over the years Weil devised many ways to seduce


### Book:people with the prospect of easy money. He would hand out “free” real


### Book:estate—who could resist such an offer?—and then the suckers would


### Book:learn they had to pay $25 to register the sale. Since the land was free, it


### Book:seemed worth the high fee, and the Yellow Kid would make thousands of


### Book:dollars on the phony registration. In exchange he would give his suckers


### Book:a phony deed. Other times, he would tell suckers about a fixed horse


### Book:race, or a stock that would earn 200 percent in a few weeks. As he spun


### Book:his stories he would watch the sucker’s eyes open wide at the thought of


### Book:a free lunch.


### Book:The lesson is simple: Bait your deceptions with the possibility of easy


### Book:money. People are essentially lazy, and want wealth to fall in their lap


### Book:rather than to work for it. For a small sum, sell them advice on how to


### Book:make millions (P. T. Barnum did this later in life), and that small sum


### Book:will become a fortune when multiplied by thousands of suckers. Lure


### Book:people in with the prospect of easy money and you have the room to


### Book:work still more deceptions on them, since greed is powerful enough to


### Book:blind your victims to anything. And as the Yellow Kid said, half the fun


### Book:is teaching a moral lesson: Greed does not pay.LAW 41


### Book:AVOID STEPPING INTO A GREAT MAN’S


### Book:SHOES


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:What happens first always appears better and more original than what


### Book:comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you


### Book:will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do


### Book:not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making:


### Book:Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the


### Book:overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in


### Book:your own way.


### Book:THE EXCELLENCE OF BEING FIRST


### Book:Many would have shone like the very phoenix in their occupations if


### Book:others had not preceded them. Being first is a great advantage; with


### Book:eminence, twice as good. Deal the first hand and you will win the upper


### Book:ground…. Those who go first win fame by right of birth, and those who


### Book:follow are like second sons, contenting themselves with meager


### Book:portions…. Solomon opted wisely for pacifism, yielding warlike things to


### Book:his father. By changing course he found it easier to become a hero….


### Book:And our great Philip II governed the entire world from the throne of his


### Book:prudence, astonishing the ages. If his unconquered father was a model of


### Book:energy, Philip was a paradigm of prudence…. This sort of novelty has


### Book:helped the well-advised win a place in the roll of the great. Without


### Book:leaving their own art, the ingenious leave the common path and take,


### Book:even in professions gray with age, new steps toward eminence. Horace


### Book:yielded epic poetry to Virgil, and Martial the lyric to Horace. Terence


### Book:opted for comedy, Persius for satire, each hoping to be first in his genre.


### Book:Bold fancy never succumbed to facile imitation.A POCKET MIRROR FOR HEROES, BALTASAR GRACIÁN,


### Book:TRANSLATED BY CHRISTOPHER MAURER, 1996


### Book:TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW


### Book:When Louis XIV died, in 1715, after a glorious fifty-five-year reign, all


### Book:eyes focused on his great-grandson and chosen successor, the future


### Book:Louis XV. Would the boy, only five at the time, prove as great a leader as


### Book:the Sun King? Louis XIV had transformed a country on the verge of civil


### Book:war into the preeminent power in Europe. The last years of his reign had


### Book:been difficult—he had been old and tired—but it was hoped that the


### Book:child would develop into the kind of strong ruler who would reinvigorate


### Book:the land and add to the firm foundation that Louis XIV had laid.


### Book:To this end the child was given the best minds of France as his tutors,


### Book:men who would instruct him in the arts of statecraft, in the methods that


### Book:the Sun King had perfected. Nothing was neglected in his education. But


### Book:when Louis XV came to the throne, in 1726, a sudden change came over


### Book:him: He no longer had to study or please others or prove himself. He


### Book:stood alone at the top of a great country, with wealth and power at his


### Book:command. He could do as he wished.


### Book:In the first years of his reign, Louis gave himself over to pleasure,


### Book:leaving the government in the hands of a trusted minister, André-Hercule


### Book:de Fleury. This caused little concern, for he was a young man who


### Book:needed to sow his wild oats, and de Fleury was a good minister. But it


### Book:slowly became clear that this was more than a passing phase. Louis had


### Book:no interest in governing. His main worry was not France’s finances, or a


### Book:possible war with Spain, but boredom. He could not stand being bored,


### Book:and when he was not hunting deer, or chasing young girls, he whiled


### Book:away his time at the gambling tables, losing huge sums in a single night.


### Book:The court, as usual, reflected the tastes of the ruler. Gambling and


### Book:lavish parties became the obsession. The courtiers had no concern with


### Book:the future of France—they poured their energies into charming the king,


### Book:angling for titles that would bring them life pensions, and for cabinet


### Book:positions demanding little work but paying huge salaries. Parasites


### Book:flocked to the court, and the state’s debts swelled.


### Book:In 1745 Louis fell in love with Madame de Pompadour, a woman of


### Book:middle-class origin who had managed to rise through her charms, herintelligence, and a good marriage. Madame de Pompadour became the


### Book:official royal mistress; she also became France’s arbiter of taste and


### Book:fashion. But the Madame had political ambitions as well, and she


### Book:eventually emerged as the country’s unofficial prime minister—it was


### Book:she, not Louis, who wielded hiring-and-firing power over France’s most


### Book:important ministers.


### Book:As he grew older Louis only needed more diversion. On the grounds


### Book:of Versailles he built a brothel, Parc aux Cerfs, which housed some of the


### Book:prettiest young girls of France. Underground passages and hidden stair-


### Book:cases gave Louis access at all hours. After Madame de Pompadour died,


### Book:in 1764, she was succeeded as royal mistress by Madame du Barry, who


### Book:soon came to dominate the court, and who, like de Pompadour before


### Book:her, began to meddle in affairs of state. If a minister did not please her he


### Book:would find himself fired. All of Europe was aghast when du Barry, the


### Book:daughter of a baker, managed to arrange the firing of Étienne de


### Book:Choiseul, the foreign minister and France’s most able diplomat. He had


### Book:shown her too little respect. As time went by, swindlers and charlatans


### Book:made their nests in Versailles, and enticed Louis’s interest in astrology,


### Book:the occult, and fraudulent business deals. The young and pampered


### Book:teenager who had taken over France years before had only grown worse


### Book:with age.


### Book:The motto that became attached to Louis’s reign was “Après moi, le


### Book:déluge”—“After me the flood,” or, Let France rot after I am gone. And


### Book:indeed when Louis did go, in 1774, worn out by debauchery, his country


### Book:and his own finances were in horrible disarray. His grandson Louis XVI


### Book:inherited a realm in desperate need of reform and a strong leader. But


### Book:Louis XVI was even weaker than his grandfather, and could only watch


### Book:as the country descended into revolution. In 1792 the republic introduced


### Book:by the French Revolution declared the end of the monarchy, and gave the


### Book:king a new name, “Louis the Last.” A few months later he kneeled on the


### Book:guillotine, his about-to-be-severed head stripped of all the radiance and


### Book:power that the Sun King had invested in the crown.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:From a country that had descended into civil war in the late 1640s, Louis


### Book:XIV forged the mightiest realm in Europe. Great generals would tremble


### Book:in his presence. A cook once made a mistake in preparing a dish and


### Book:committed suicide rather than face the king’s wrath. Louis XIV hadmany mistresses, but their power ended in the bedroom. He filled his


### Book:court with the most brilliant minds of the age. The symbol of his power


### Book:was Versailles: Refusing to accept the palace of his forefathers, the


### Book:Louvre, he built his own palace in what was then the middle of nowhere,


### Book:symbolizing that this was a new order he had founded, one without


### Book:precedent. He made Versailles the centerpiece of his reign, a place that


### Book:all the powerful of Europe envied and visited with a sense of awe. In


### Book:essence, Louis took a great void—the decaying monarchy of France—


### Book:and filled it with his own symbols and radiant power.


### Book:Louis XV, on the other hand, symbolizes the fate of all those who


### Book:inherit something large or who follow in a great man’s footsteps. It


### Book:would seem easy for a son or successor to build on the grand foundation


### Book:left for them, but in the realm of power the opposite is true. The


### Book:pampered, indulged son almost always squanders the inheritance, for he


### Book:does not start with the father’s need to fill a void. As Machiavelli states,


### Book:necessity is what impels men to take action, and once the necessity is


### Book:gone, only rot and decay are left. Having no need to increase his store of


### Book:power, Louis XV inevitably succumbed to inertia. Under him, Versailles,


### Book:the symbol of the Sun King’s authority, became a pleasure palace of


### Book:incomparable banality, a kind of Las Vegas of the Bourbon monarchy. It


### Book:came to represent all that the oppressed peasantry of France hated about


### Book:their king, and during the Revolution they looted it with glee.


### Book:CUT OF PERICLES


### Book:As a young man Pericles was inclined to shrink from facing the people.


### Book:One reason for this was that he was considered to bear a distinct


### Book:resemblance to the tyrant Pisistratus, and when men who were well on in


### Book:years remarked on the charm of Pericles’ voice and the smoothness and


### Book:fluency of his speech, they were astonished at the resemblance between


### Book:the two. The fact that he was rich and that he came of a distinguished


### Book:family and possessed exceedingly powerful friends made the fear of


### Book:ostracism very real to him, and at the beginning of his career he took no


### Book:part in politics but devoted himself to soldiering, in which he showed


### Book:great daring and enterprise. However, the time came when Aristides was


### Book:dead. Themistocles in exile, and Cimon frequently absent on distant


### Book:campaigns. Then at last Pericles decided to attach himself to the people’s


### Book:party and to take up the cause of the poor and the many instead of that of


### Book:the rich and the few, in spite of the fact that this was quite contrary to his


### Book:own temperament, which was thoroughly aristocratic. He was afraid,apparently, of being suspected of aiming at a dictatorship: so that when


### Book:he saw that Cimon’s sympathies were strongly with the nobles and that


### Book:Cimon was the idol of the aristocratic party, Pericles began to ingratiate


### Book:himself with the people, partly for self-preservation and partly by way of


### Book:securing power against his rival. He now entered upon a new mode of


### Book:life. He was never to be seen walking in any street except the one which


### Book:led to the market-place and the council chamber.


### Book:THE LIFE OF PERICLES, PLUTARCH, c. A.D. 46-120


### Book:Louis XV had only one way out of the trap awaiting the son or


### Book:successor of a man like the Sun King: to psychologically begin from


### Book:nothing, to denigrate the past and his inheritance, and to move in a


### Book:totally new direction, creating his own world. Assuming you have the


### Book:choice, it would be better to avoid the situation altogether, to place


### Book:yourself where there is a vacuum of power, where you can be the one to


### Book:bring order out of chaos without having to compete with another star in


### Book:the sky. Power depends on appearing larger than other people, and when


### Book:you are lost in the shadow of the father, the king, the great predecessor,


### Book:you cannot possibly project such a presence.


### Book:But when they began to make sovereignty hereditary, the children quickly


### Book:degenerated from their fathers; and, so far from trying to equal their


### Book:father’s


### Book:virtues, they considered that a prince had nothing else to do than to excel


### Book:all the rest in idleness, indulgence, and every other variety of pleasure.


### Book:Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527


### Book:THE LIFE OF PIETRO PERUGINO, PAINTER,


### Book:c.1450-1523


### Book:How beneficial poverty may sometimes be to those with talent, and how


### Book:it may serve as a powerful goad to make them perfect or excellent in


### Book:whatever occupation they might choose, can be seen very clearly in the


### Book:actions of Pietro Perugino. Wishing by means of his ability to attain


### Book:some respectable rank, after leaving disastrous calamities behind in


### Book:Perugia and coming to Florence, he remained there many months in


### Book:poverty, sleeping in a chest, since he had no other bed; he turned night


### Book:into day, and with the greatest zeal continually applied himself to the


### Book:study of his profession. After painting had become second nature to him,


### Book:Pietro’s only pleasure was always to be working in his craft andconstantly to be painting. And because he always had the dread of


### Book:poverty before his eyes, he did things to make money which he probably


### Book:would not have bothered to do had he not been forced to support himself.


### Book:Perhaps wealth would have closed to him and his talent the path to


### Book:excellence just as poverty had opened it up to him, but need spurred him


### Book:on since he desired to rise from such a miserable and lowly position-if


### Book:not perhaps to the summit and supreme height of excellence, then at least


### Book:to a point where he could have enough to live on. For this reason, he


### Book:took no notice of cold, hunger, discomfort, inconvenience, toil or shame


### Book:if he could only live one day in ease and repose; and he would always


### Book:say—and as if it were a proverb—that after bad weather, good weather


### Book:must follow, and that during the good weather houses must be built for


### Book:shelter in times of need.


### Book:LIVES OF THE ARTISTS, GIORGIO VASARI, 1511-1574


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:Alexander the Great had a dominant passion as a young man—an intense


### Book:dislike for his father, King Philip of Macedonia. He hated Philip’s


### Book:cunning, cautious style of ruling, his bombastic speeches, his drinking


### Book:and whoring, and his love of wrestling and of other wastes of time.


### Book:Alexander knew he had to make himself the very opposite of his


### Book:domineering father: He would force himself to be bold and reckless, he


### Book:would control his tongue and be a man of few words, and he would not


### Book:lose precious time in pursuit of pleasures that brought no glory.


### Book:Alexander also resented the fact that Philip had conquered most of


### Book:Greece: “My father will go on conquering till there is nothing


### Book:extraordinary left for me to do,” he once complained. While other sons


### Book:of powerful men were content to inherit wealth and live a life of leisure,


### Book:Alexander wanted only to outdo his father, to obliterate Philip’s name


### Book:from history by surpassing his accomplishments.


### Book:Alexander itched to show others how superior he was to his father. A


### Book:Thessalian horse-dealer once brought a prize horse named Bucephalus to


### Book:sell to Philip. None of the king’s grooms could get near the horse—it was


### Book:far too savage—and Philip berated the merchant for bringing him such a


### Book:useless beast. Watching the whole affair, Alexander scowled and


### Book:commented, “What a horse they are losing for want of skill and spirit tomanage him!” When he had said this several times, Philip had finally


### Book:had enough, and challenged him to take on the horse. He called the


### Book:merchant back, secretly hoping his son would have a nasty fall and learn


### Book:a bitter lesson. But Alexander was the one to teach the lesson: Not only


### Book:did he mount Bucephalus, he managed to ride him at full gallop, taming


### Book:the horse that would later carry him all the way to India. The courtiers


### Book:applauded wildly, but Philip seethed inside, seeing not a son but a rival


### Book:to his power.


### Book:Alexander’s defiance of his father grew bolder. One day the two men


### Book:had a heated argument before the entire court, and Philip drew his sword


### Book:as if to strike his son; having drunk too much wine, however, the king


### Book:stumbled. Alexander pointed at his father and jeered, “Men of


### Book:Macedonia, see there the man who is preparing to pass from Europe to


### Book:Asia. He cannot pass from one table to another without falling.”


### Book:When Alexander was eighteen, a disgruntled courtier murdered Philip.


### Book:As word of the regicide spread through Greece, city after city rose up in


### Book:rebellion against their Macedonian rulers. Philip’s advisers counseled


### Book:Alexander, now the king, to proceed cautiously, to do as Philip had done


### Book:and conquer through cunning. But Alexander would do things his way:


### Book:He marched to the furthest reaches of the kingdom, suppressed the


### Book:rebellious towns, and reunited the empire with brutal efficiency.


### Book:As a young rebel grows older, his struggle against the father often


### Book:wanes, and he gradually comes to resemble the very man he had wanted


### Book:to defy. But Alexander’s loathing of his father did not end with Philip’s


### Book:death. Once he had consolidated Greece, he set his eyes on Persia, the


### Book:prize that had eluded his father, who had dreamed of conquering Asia. If


### Book:he defeated the Persians, Alexander would finally surpass Philip in glory


### Book:and fame.


### Book:Alexander crossed into Asia with an army of 35,000 to face a Persian


### Book:force numbering over a million. Before engaging the Persians in battle he


### Book:passed through the town of Gordium. Here, in the town’s main temple,


### Book:there stood an ancient chariot tied with cords made of the rind of the cor


### Book:nel tree. Legend had it that any man who could undo these cords—the


### Book:Gordian knot—would rule the world. Many had tried to untie the


### Book:enormous and intricate knot, but none had succeeded. Alexander, seeing


### Book:he could not possibly untie the knot with his bare hands, took out his


### Book:sword and with one slash cut it in half. This symbolic gesture showed the


### Book:world that he would not do as others, but would blaze his own path.


### Book:Against astounding odds, Alexander conquered the Persians. Most


### Book:expected him to stop there—it was a great triumph, enough to secure hisfame for eternity. But Alexander had the same relationship to his own


### Book:deeds as he had to his father: His conquest of Persia represented the past,


### Book:and he wanted never to rest on past triumphs, or to allow the past to


### Book:outshine the present. He moved on to India, extending his empire beyond


### Book:all known limits. Only his disgruntled and weary soldiers prevented him


### Book:from going farther.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Alexander represents an extremely uncommon type in history: the son of


### Book:a famous and successful man who manages to surpass the father in glory


### Book:and power. The reason this type is uncommon is simple: The father most


### Book:often manages to amass his fortune, his kingdom, because he begins with


### Book:little or nothing. A desperate urge impels him to succeed—he has


### Book:nothing to lose by cunning and impetuousness, and has no famous father


### Book:of his own to compete against. This kind of man has reason to believe in


### Book:himself—to believe that his way of doing things is the best, because,


### Book:after all, it worked for him.


### Book:When a man like this has a son, he becomes domineering and


### Book:oppressive, imposing his lessons on the son, who is starting off life in


### Book:circumstances totally different from those in which the father himself


### Book:began. Instead of allowing the son to go in a new direction, the father


### Book:will try to put him in his own shoes, perhaps secretly wishing the boy


### Book:will fail, as Philip half wanted to see Alexander thrown from


### Book:Bucephalus. Fathers envy their sons’ youth and vigor, after all, and their


### Book:desire is to control and dominate. The sons of such men tend to become


### Book:cowed and cautious, terrified of losing what their fathers have gained.


### Book:The son will never step out of his father’s shadow unless he adopts the


### Book:ruthless strategy of Alexander: disparage the past, create your own


### Book:kingdom, put the father in the shadows instead of letting him do the same


### Book:to you. If you cannot materially start from ground zero—it would be


### Book:foolish to renounce an inheritance—you can at least begin from ground


### Book:zero psychologically, by throwing off the weight of the past and charting


### Book:a new direction. Alexander instinctively recognized that privileges of


### Book:birth are impediments to power. Be merciless with the past, then—not


### Book:only with your father and his father but with your own earlier


### Book:achievements. Only the weak rest on their laurels and dote on past


### Book:triumphs; in the game of power there is never time to rest.THE PROBLEM OF PAUL MORPHY


### Book:The slightest acquaintance with chess shows one that it is a play-


### Book:substitute for the art of war and indeed it has been a favorite recreation


### Book:of some of the greatest military leaders, from William the Conqueror to


### Book:Napoleon. In the contest between the opposing armies the same


### Book:principles of both strategy and tactics are displayed as in actual war, the


### Book:same foresight and powers of calculation are necessary, the same


### Book:capacity for divining the plans of the opponent, and the rigor with which


### Book:decisions are followed by their consequences is, if anything, even more


### Book:ruthless. More than that, it is plain that the unconscious motive actuating


### Book:the players is not the mere love of pugnacity characteristic of all


### Book:competitive games, but the grimmer one of father-murder. It is true that


### Book:the original goal of capturing the king has been given up, but from the


### Book:point of view of motive there is, except in respect of crudity, not


### Book:appreciable change in the present goal of sterilizing him in immobility….


### Book:“Checkmate” means literally “the king is dead.” … Our knowledge of


### Book:the unconscious motivation of chess-playing tells us that what it


### Book:represented could only have been the wish to overcome the father in an


### Book:acceptable way…. It is no doubt significant that [nineteenth-century


### Book:chess champion Paul] Morphy’s soaring odyssey into the higher realms


### Book:of chess began just a year after the unexpectedly sudden death of his


### Book:father, which had been a great shock to him, and we may surmise that his


### Book:brilliant effort of sublimation was, like Shakespeare’s Hamlet and


### Book:Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, a reaction to this critical event….


### Book:Something should now be said about the reception Morphy’s successes


### Book:met with, for they were of such a kind as to raise the question whether


### Book:his subsequent collapse may not have been influenced through his


### Book:perhaps belonging to the type that Freud has described under the name


### Book:of Die am Erfolge scheitern (“Those wrecked by success”)…. Couched


### Book:in more psychological language, was Morphy affrighted at his own


### Book:presumptuousness when the light of publicity was thrown on [his great


### Book:success?] Freud has pointed out that the people who break under the


### Book:strain of too great success do so because they can endure it only in


### Book:imagination, not in reality. To castrate the father in a dream is a very


### Book:different matter from doing it in reality. The real situation provokes the


### Book:unconscious guilt in its full force, and the penalty may be mental


### Book:collapse.


### Book:THE PROBLEM OF PAUL MORPHY, ERNEST JONES, 1951KEYS TO POWER


### Book:In many ancient kingdoms, for example Bengal and Sumatra, after the


### Book:king had ruled for several years his subjects would execute him. This


### Book:was done partly as a ritual of renewal, but also to prevent him from


### Book:growing too powerful-for the king would generally try to establish a


### Book:permanent order, at the expense of other families and of his own sons.


### Book:Instead of protecting the tribe and leading it in times of war, he would


### Book:attempt to dominate it. And so he would be beaten to death, or executed


### Book:in an elaborate ritual. Now that he was no longer around for his honors to


### Book:go to his head, he could be worshipped as a god. Meanwhile the field had


### Book:been cleared for a new and youthful order to establish itself.


### Book:The ambivalent, hostile attitude towards the king or father figure also


### Book:finds expression in legends of heroes who do not know their father.


### Book:Moses, the archetypal man of power, was found abandoned among the


### Book:bulrushes and never knew his parents; without a father to compete with


### Book:him or limit him, he could attain the heights of power. Hercules had no


### Book:earthly father-he was the son of the god Zeus. Later in his life Alexander


### Book:the Great spread the story that the god Jupiter Ammon had sired him, not


### Book:Philip of Macedon. Legends and rituals like these eliminate the human


### Book:father because he symbolizes the destructive power of the past.


### Book:The past prevents the young hero from creating his own world—he


### Book:must do as his father did, even after that father is dead or powerless. The


### Book:hero must bow and scrape before his predecessor and yield to tradition


### Book:and precedent. What had success in the past must be carried over to the


### Book:present, even though circumstances have greatly changed. The past also


### Book:weighs the hero down with an inheritance that he is terrified of losing,


### Book:making him timid and cautious.


### Book:Power depends on the ability to fill a void, to occupy a field that has


### Book:been cleared of the dead weight of the past. Only after the father figure


### Book:has been properly done away with will you have the necessary space to


### Book:create and establish a new order. There are several strategies you can


### Book:adopt to accomplish this—variations on the execution of the king that


### Book:disguise the violence of the impulse by channeling it in socially


### Book:acceptable forms.


### Book:Perhaps the simplest way to escape the shadow of the past is simply to