### Book:proceeding as planned in the hotel room. The financiers were looking


### Book:glum at how badly their fighter was doing, and Geezil was dreaming


### Book:about the easy money he was about to make. Then, suddenly, a wild


### Book:swing by the financier’s fighter hit Gross hard in the face, knocking him


### Book:down. When he hit the canvas, blood spurted from his mouth. He


### Book:coughed, then lay still. One of the financiers, a former doctor, checked


### Book:his pulse; he was dead. The millionaires panicked: Everyone had to get


### Book:out before the police arrived-they could all be charged with murder.


### Book:Terrified, Geezil hightailed it out of the gym and back to Chicago,


### Book:leaving behind his $35,000 which he was only too glad to forget, for it


### Book:seemed a small price to pay to avoid being implicated in a crime. He


### Book:never wanted to see Weil or any of the others again.


### Book:After Geezil scurried out, Gross stood up, under his own steam. The


### Book:blood that had spurted from his mouth came from a ball filled with


### Book:chicken blood and hot water that he had hidden in his cheek. The whole


### Book:affair had been masterminded by Weil, better known as “the Yellow


### Book:Kid,” one of the most creative con artists in history. Weil split the


### Book:$35,000 with the financiers and the boxers (all fellow con artists)—a


### Book:nice little profit for a few days’ work.


### Book:SN BROAD


### Book:This means to create a front that eventually becomes imbued with an


### Book:atmosphere or impression of familiarity, within which the strategist may


### Book:maneuver unseen while all eyes are trained to see obvious familiarities.


### Book:“THE THIRTY-SIX STRATEGIES.” QUOTED IN THF JAPANESE


### Book:ART OF WAR.


### Book:THOMAS CLEARY, 1991


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:The Yellow Kid had staked out Geezil as the perfect sucker long before


### Book:he set up the con. He knew the boxing-match scam would be the perfect


### Book:ruse to separate Geezil from his money quickly and definitively. But he


### Book:also knew that if he had begun by trying to interest Geezil in the boxingmatch, he would have failed miserably. He had to conceal his intentions


### Book:and switch attention, create a smoke screen—in this case the sale of the


### Book:lodge.


### Book:On the train ride and in the hotel room Geezil’s mind had been


### Book:completely occupied with the pending deal, the easy money, the chance


### Book:to hobnob with wealthy men. He had failed to notice that Gross was out


### Book:of shape and middle-aged at best. Such is the distracting power of a


### Book:smoke screen. Engrossed in the business deal, Geezil’s attention was


### Book:easily diverted to the boxing match, but only at a point when it was


### Book:already too late for him to notice the details that would have given Gross


### Book:away. The match, after all, now depended on a bribe rather than on the


### Book:boxer’s physical condition. And Geezil was so distracted at the end by


### Book:the illusion of the boxer’s death that he completely forgot about his


### Book:money.


### Book:Learn from the Yellow Kid: The familiar, inconspicuous front is the


### Book:perfect smoke screen. Approach your mark with an idea that seems


### Book:ordinary enough—a business deal, financial intrigue. The sucker’s mind


### Book:is distracted, his suspicions allayed. That is when you gently guide him


### Book:onto the second path, the slippery slope down which he slides helplessly


### Book:into your trap.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II


### Book:In the mid-1920s, the powerful warlords of Ethiopia were coming to the


### Book:realization that a young man of the nobility named Haile Selassie, also


### Book:known as Ras Tafari, was outcompeting them all and nearing the point


### Book:where he could proclaim himself their leader, unifying the country for


### Book:the first time in decades. Most of his rivals could not understand how this


### Book:wispy, quiet, mild-mannered man had been able to take control. Yet in


### Book:1927, Selassie was able to summon the warlords, one at a time, to come


### Book:to Addis Ababa to declare their loyalty and recognize him as leader.


### Book:Some hurried, some hesitated, but only one, Dejazmach Balcha of


### Book:Sidamo, dared defy Selassie totally. A blustery man, Balcha was a great


### Book:warrior, and he considered the new leader weak and unworthy. He


### Book:pointedly stayed away from the capital. Finally Selassie, in his gentle but


### Book:stem way, commanded Balcha to come. The warlord decided to obey, but


### Book:in doing so he would turn the tables on this pretender to the Ethiopianthrone: He would come to Addis Ababa at his own speed, and with an


### Book:army of 10,000 men, a force large enough to defend himself, perhaps


### Book:even start a civil war. Stationing this formidable force in a valley three


### Book:miles from the capital, he waited, as a king would. Selassie would have


### Book:to come to him.


### Book:Selassie did indeed send emissaries, asking Balcha to attend an


### Book:afternoon banquet in his honor. But Balcha, no fool, knew history—he


### Book:knew that previous kings and lords of Ethiopia had used banquets as a


### Book:trap. Once he was there and full of drink, Selassie would have him


### Book:arrested or murdered. To signal his understanding of the situation, he


### Book:agreed to come to the banquet, but only if he could bring his personal


### Book:bodyguard—600 of his best soldiers, all armed and ready to defend him


### Book:and themselves. To Balcha’s surprise, Selassie answered with the utmost


### Book:politeness that he would be honored to play host to such warriors.


### Book:On the way to the banquet, Balcha warned his soldiers not to get drunk


### Book:and to be on their guard. When they arrived at the palace, Selassie was


### Book:his charming best. He deferred to Balcha, treated him as if he desperately


### Book:needed his approval and cooperation. But Balcha refused to be charmed,


### Book:and he warned Selassie that if he did not return to his camp by nightfall,


### Book:his army had orders to attack the capital. Selassie reacted as if hurt by his


### Book:mistrust. Over the meal, when it came time for the traditional singing of


### Book:songs in honor of Ethiopia’s leaders, he made a point of allowing only


### Book:songs honoring the warlord of Sidamo. It seemed to Balcha that Selassie


### Book:was scared, intimidated by this great warrior who could not be outwitted.


### Book:Sensing the change, Balcha believed that he would be the one to call the


### Book:shots in the days to come.


### Book:At the end of the afternoon, Balcha and his soldiers began their march


### Book:back to camp amidst cheers and gun salutes. Looking back to the capital


### Book:over his shoulder, he planned his strategy—how his own soldiers would


### Book:march through the capital in triumph within weeks, and Selassie would


### Book:be put in his place, his place being either prison or death. When Balcha


### Book:came in sight of his camp, however, he saw that something was terribly


### Book:wrong. Where before there had been colorful tents stretching as far as the


### Book:eye could see, now there was nothing, only smoke from doused fires.


### Book:What devil’s magic was this?


### Book:A witness told Balcha what had happened. During the banquet, a large


### Book:army, commanded by an ally of Selassie’s, had stolen up on Balcha’s


### Book:encampment by a side route he had not seen. This army had not come to


### Book:fight, however: Knowing that Balcha would have heard a noisy battle


### Book:and hurried back with his 600-man bodyguard, Selassie had armed hisown troops with baskets of gold and cash. They had surrounded Balcha’s


### Book:army and proceeded to purchase every last one of their weapons. Those


### Book:who refused were easily intimidated. Within a few hours, Balcha’s entire


### Book:force had been disarmed and scattered in all directions.


### Book:Realizing his danger, Balcha decided to march south with his 600


### Book:soldiers to regroup, but the same army that had disarmed his soldiers


### Book:blocked his way. The other way out was to march on the capital, but


### Book:Selassie had set a large army to defend it. Like a chess player, he had


### Book:predicted Balcha’s moves, and had checkmated him. For the first time in


### Book:his life, Balcha surrendered. To repent his sins of pride and ambition, he


### Book:agreed to enter a monastery.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Throughout Selassie’s long reign, no one could quite figure him out.


### Book:Ethiopians like their leaders fierce, but Selassie, who wore the front of a


### Book:gentle, peace-loving man, lasted longer than any of them. Never angry or


### Book:impatient, he lured his victims with sweet smiles, lulling them with


### Book:charm and obsequiousness before he attacked. In the case of Balcha,


### Book:Selassie played on the man’s wariness, his suspicion that the banquet was


### Book:a trap—which in fact it was, but not the one he expected. Selassie’s way


### Book:of allaying Balcha’s fears—letting him bring his bodyguard to the


### Book:banquet, giving him top billing there, making him feel in control—


### Book:created a thick smoke screen, concealing the real action three miles


### Book:away.


### Book:Remember: The paranoid and wary are often the easiest to deceive.


### Book:Win their trust in one area and you have a smoke screen that blinds their


### Book:view in another, letting you creep up and level them with a devastating


### Book:blow. A helpful or apparently honest gesture, or one that implies the


### Book:other person’s superiority—these are perfect diversionary devices.


### Book:Properly set up, the smoke screen is a weapon of great power. It


### Book:enabled the gentle Selassie to totally destroy his enemy, without firing a


### Book:single bullet.


### Book:Do not underestimate the power of Tafari. He creeps


### Book:like a mouse but he has jaws like a lion.


### Book:Bacha of Sidamo’s last worlds before entering the monasteryKEYS TO POWER


### Book:If you believe that deceivers are colorful folk who mislead with elaborate


### Book:lies and tall tales, you are greatly mistaken. The best deceivers utilize a


### Book:bland and inconspicuous front that calls no attention to themselves. They


### Book:know that extravagant words and gestures immediately raise suspicion.


### Book:Instead, they envelop their mark in the familiar, the banal, the harmless.


### Book:In Yellow Kid Weil’s dealings with Sam Geezil, the familiar was a


### Book:business deal. In the Ethiopian case, it was Selassie’s misleading


### Book:obsequiousness—exactly what Balcha would have expected from a


### Book:weaker warlord.


### Book:Once you have lulled your suckers’ attention with the familiar, they


### Book:will not notice the deception being perpetrated behind their backs. This


### Book:derives from a simple truth: people can only focus on one thing at a time.


### Book:It is really too difficult for them to imagine that the bland and harmless


### Book:person they are dealing with is simultaneously setting up something else.


### Book:The grayer and more uniform the smoke in your smoke screen, the better


### Book:it conceals your intentions. In the decoy and red herring devices


### Book:discussed in Part I, you actively distract people; in the smoke screen, you


### Book:lull your victims, drawing them into your web. Because it is so hypnotic,


### Book:this is often the best way of concealing your intentions.


### Book:The simplest form of smoke screen is facial expression. Behind a


### Book:bland, unreadable exterior, all sorts of mayhem can be planned, without


### Book:detection. This is a weapon that the most powerful men in history have


### Book:learned to perfect. It was said that no one could read Franklin D.


### Book:Roosevelt’s face. Baron James Rothschild made a lifelong practice of


### Book:disguising his real thoughts behind bland smiles and nondescript looks.


### Book:Stendhal wrote of Talleyrand, “Never was a face less of a barometer.”


### Book:Henry Kissinger would bore his opponents around the negotiating table


### Book:to tears with his monotonous voice, his blank look, his endless


### Book:recitations of details; then, as their eyes glazed over, he would suddenly


### Book:hit them with a list of bold terms. Caught off-guard, they would be easily


### Book:intimidated. As one poker manual explains it, “While playing his hand,


### Book:the good player is seldom an actor. Instead he practices a bland behavior


### Book:that minimizes readable patterns, frustrates and confuses opponents,


### Book:permits greater concentration.”


### Book:An adaptable concept, the smoke screen can be practiced on a number


### Book:of levels, all playing on the psychological principles of distraction and


### Book:misdirection. One of the most effective smoke screens is the noblegesture. People want to believe apparently noble gestures are genuine,


### Book:for the belief is pleasant. They rarely notice how deceptive these gestures


### Book:can be.


### Book:The art dealer Joseph Duveen was once confronted with a terrible


### Book:problem. The millionaires who had paid so dearly for Duveen’s paintings


### Book:were running out of wall space, and with inheritance taxes getting ever


### Book:higher, it seemed unlikely that they would keep buying. The solution was


### Book:the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which Duveen helped


### Book:create in 1937 by getting Andrew Mellon to donate his collection to it.


### Book:The National Gallery was the perfect front for Duveen. In one gesture,


### Book:his clients avoided taxes, cleared wall space for new purchases, and


### Book:reduced the number of paintings on the market, maintaining the upward


### Book:pressure on their prices. All this while the donors created the appearance


### Book:of being public benefactors.


### Book:Another effective smoke screen is the pattern, the establishment of a


### Book:series of actions that seduce the victim into believing you will continue


### Book:in the same way. The pattern plays on the psychology of anticipation:


### Book:Our behavior conforms to patterns, or so we like to think.


### Book:In 1878 the American robber baron Jay Gould created a company that


### Book:began to threaten the monopoly of the telegraph company Western


### Book:Union. The directors of Western Union decided to buy Gould’s company


### Book:up— they had to spend a hefty sum, but they figured they had managed


### Book:to rid themselves of an irritating competitor. A few months later, though,


### Book:Gould was it at again, complaining he had been treated unfairly. He


### Book:started up a second company to compete with Western Union and its new


### Book:acquisition. The same thing happened again: Western Union bought him


### Book:out to shut him up. Soon the pattern began for the third time, but now


### Book:Gould went for the jugular: He suddenly staged a bloody takeover


### Book:struggle and managed to gain complete control of Western Union. He


### Book:had established a pattern that had tricked the company’s directors into


### Book:thinking his goal was to be bought out at a handsome rate. Once they


### Book:paid him off, they relaxed and failed to notice that he was actually


### Book:playing for higher stakes. The pattern is powerful in that it deceives the


### Book:other person into expecting the opposite of what you are really doing.


### Book:Another psychological weakness on which to construct a smoke


### Book:screen is the tendency to mistake appearances for reality—the feeling


### Book:that if someone seems to belong to your group, their belonging must be


### Book:real. This habit makes the seamless blend a very effective front. The trick


### Book:is simple: You simply blend in with those around you. The better you


### Book:blend, the less suspicious you become. During the Cold War of the 1950sand ’60s, as is now notorious, a slew of British civil servants passed


### Book:secrets to the Soviets. They went undetected for years because they were


### Book:apparently decent chaps, had gone to all the right schools, and fit the old-


### Book:boy network perfectly. Blending in is the perfect smoke screen for


### Book:spying. The better you do it, the better you can conceal your intentions.


### Book:Remember: It takes patience and humility to dull your brilliant colors,


### Book:to put on the mask of the inconspicuous. Do not despair at having to


### Book:wear such a bland mask—it is often your unreadability that draws people


### Book:to you and makes you appear a person of power.


### Book:Image: A Sheep’s Skin.


### Book:A sheep never marauds,


### Book:a sheep never deceives,


### Book:a sheep is magnificently


### Book:dumb and docile. With a


### Book:sheepskin on his back,


### Book:a fox can pass right


### Book:into the chicken coop.


### Book:Authority: Have you ever heard of a skillful general, who intends to


### Book:surprise a citadel, announcing his plan to his enemy? Conceal your


### Book:purpose and hide your progress; do not disclose the extent of your


### Book:designs until they cannot be opposed, until the combat is over. Win the


### Book:victory before you declare the war. In a word, imitate those warlike


### Book:people whose designs are not known except by the ravaged country


### Book:through which they have passed. (Ninon de Lenclos, 1623-1706)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:No smoke screen, red herring, false sincerity, or any other diversionary


### Book:device will succeed in concealing your intentions if you already have an


### Book:established reputation for deception. And as you get older and achieve


### Book:success, it often becomes increasingly difficult to disguise your cunning.


### Book:Everyone knows you practice deception; persist in playing naive and you


### Book:run the risk of seeming the rankest hypocrite, which will severely limit


### Book:your room to maneuver. In such cases it is better to own up, to appear the


### Book:honest rogue, or, better, the repentant rogue. Not only will you beadmired for your frankness, but, most wonderful and strange of all, you


### Book:will be able to continue your stratagems.


### Book:As P. T. Barnum, the nineteenth-century king of humbuggery, grew


### Book:older, he learned to embrace his reputation as a grand deceiver. At one


### Book:point he organized a buffalo hunt in New Jersey, complete with Indians


### Book:and a few imported buffalo. He publicized the hunt as genuine, but it


### Book:came off as so completely fake that the crowd, instead of getting angry


### Book:and asking for their money back, was greatly amused. They knew


### Book:Barnum pulled tricks all the time; that was the secret of his success, and


### Book:they loved him for it. Learning a lesson from this affair, Barnum stopped


### Book:concealing all of his devices, even revealing his deceptions in a tell-all


### Book:autobiography. As Kierkegaard wrote, “The world wants to be


### Book:deceived.”


### Book:Finally, although it is wiser to divert attention from your purposes by


### Book:presenting a bland, familiar exterior, there are times when the colorful,


### Book:conspicuous gesture is the right diversionary tactic. The great charlatan


### Book:mountebanks of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe used humor


### Book:and entertainment to deceive their audiences. Dazzled by a great show,


### Book:the public would not notice the charlatans’ real intentions. Thus the star


### Book:charlatan himself would appear in town in a night-black coach drawn by


### Book:black horses. Clowns, tightrope walkers, and star entertainers would


### Book:accompany him, pulling people in to his demonstrations of elixirs and


### Book:quack potions. The charlatan made entertainment seem like the business


### Book:of the day; the business of the day was actually the sale of the elixirs and


### Book:quack potions.


### Book:Spectacle and entertainment, clearly, are excellent devices to conceal


### Book:your intentions, but they cannot be used indefinitely. The public grows


### Book:tired and suspicious, and eventually catches on to the trick. And indeed


### Book:the charlatans had to move quickly from town to town, before word


### Book:spread that the potions were useless and the entertainment a trick.


### Book:Powerful people with bland exteriors, on the other hand—the


### Book:Talleyrands, the Rothschilds, the Selassies—can practice their deceptions


### Book:in the same place throughout their lifetimes. Their act never wears thin,


### Book:and rarely causes suspicion. The colorful smoke screen should be used


### Book:cautiously, then, and only when the occasion is right.LAW 4


### Book:ALWAYS SAY LESS THAN NECESSARY


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the


### Book:more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying


### Book:something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended,


### Book:and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less.


### Book:The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.


### Book:TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW


### Book:Gnaeus Marcius, also known as Coriolanus, was a great military hero of


### Book:ancient Rome. In the first half of the fifth century B.C. he won many


### Book:important battles, saving the city from calamity time and time again.


### Book:Because he spent most of his time on the battlefield, few Romans knew


### Book:him personally, making him something of a legendary figure.


### Book:In 454 B.C., Coriolanus decided it was time to exploit his reputation


### Book:and enter politics. He stood for election to the high rank of consul.


### Book:Candidates for this position traditionally made a public address early in


### Book:the race, and when Coriolanus came before the people, he began by


### Book:displaying the dozens of scars he had accumulated over seventeen years


### Book:of fighting for Rome. Few in the crowd really heard the lengthy speech


### Book:that followed; those scars, proof of his valor and patriotism, moved the


### Book:people to tears. Coriolanus’s election seemed certain.


### Book:When the polling day arrived, however, Coriolanus made an entry into


### Book:the forum escorted by the entire senate and by the city’s patricians, the


### Book:aristocracy. The common people who saw this were disturbed by such a


### Book:blustering show of confidence on election day.And then Coriolanus spoke again, mostly addressing the wealthy


### Book:citizens who had accompanied him. His words were arrogant and


### Book:insolent. Claiming certain victory in the vote, he boasted of his


### Book:battlefield exploits, made sour jokes that appealed only to the patricians,


### Book:voiced angry accusations against his opponents, and speculated on the


### Book:riches he would bring to Rome. This time the people listened: They had


### Book:not realized that this legendary soldier was also a common braggart.


### Book:Down on his luck, [the screenwriter] Michael Arlen went to New York in


### Book:1944. To drown his sorrows he paid a visit to the famous restaurant


### Book:“21.” In the lobby, he ran into Sam Goldwyn, who offered the somewhat


### Book:impractical advice that he should buy racehorses. At the bar Arlen met


### Book:Louis B. Mayer, an old acquaintance, who asked him what were his plans


### Book:for the future. “I was just talking to Sam Goldwyn …” began Arlen.


### Book:“How much did he offer you? ”interrupted Mayer. “Not enough,” he


### Book:replied evasively. “Would you take fifteen thousand for thirty weeks?”


### Book:asked Mayer. No hesitation this time. “Yes,” said Arlen.


### Book:THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES, CLIFTON


### Book:FADIMAN, ED., 1985


### Book:News of Coriolanus’s second speech spread quickly through Rome,


### Book:and the people turned out in great numbers to make sure he was not


### Book:elected. Defeated, Coriolanus returned to the battlefield, bitter and


### Book:vowing revenge on the common folk who had voted against him. Some


### Book:weeks later a large shipment of grain arrived in Rome. The senate was


### Book:ready to distribute this food to the people, for free, but just as they were


### Book:preparing to vote on the question Coriolanus appeared on the scene and


### Book:took the senate floor. The distribution, he argued, would have a harmful


### Book:effect on the city as a whole. Several senators appeared won over, and


### Book:the vote on the distribution fell into doubt. Coriolanus did not stop there:


### Book:He went on to condemn the concept of democracy itself. He advocated


### Book:getting rid of the people’s representatives—the tribunes—and turning


### Book:over the governing of the city to the patricians.


### Book:One oft-told tale about Kissinger… involved a report that Winston Lord


### Book:had worked on for days. After giving it to Kissinger, he got it back with


### Book:the notation, “Is this the best you can do?” Lord rewrote and polished


### Book:and finally resubmitted it; back it came with the same curt question.


### Book:After redrafting it one more time—and once again getting the same


### Book:question from Kissinger-Lord snapped, “Damn it, yes, it’s the best I can


### Book:do. ” To which Kissinger replied: “Fine, then I guess I’ll read it this


### Book:time. ”KISSINGER. WALTER ISAACSON, 1992


### Book:When word of Coriolanus’s latest speech reached the people, their


### Book:anger knew no bounds. The tribunes were sent to the senate to demand


### Book:that Coriolanus appear before them. He refused. Riots broke out all over


### Book:the city. The senate, fearing the people’s wrath, finally voted in favor of


### Book:the grain distribution. The tribunes were appeased, but the people still


### Book:demanded that Coriolanus speak to them and apologize. If he repented,


### Book:and agreed to keep his opinions to himself, he would be allowed to return


### Book:to the battlefield.


### Book:Coriolanus did appear one last time before the people, who listened to


### Book:him in rapt silence. He started slowly and softly, but as the speech went


### Book:on, he became more and more blunt. Yet again he hurled insults! His


### Book:tone was arrogant, his expression disdainful. The more he spoke, the


### Book:angrier the people became. Finally they shouted him down and silenced


### Book:him.


### Book:The tribunes conferred, condemned Coriolanus to death, and ordered


### Book:the magistrates to take him at once to the top of the Tarpeian rock and


### Book:throw him over. The delighted crowd seconded the decision. The


### Book:patricians, however, managed to intervene, and the sentence was


### Book:commuted to a lifelong banishment. When the people found out that


### Book:Rome’s great military hero would never return to the city, they celebrated


### Book:in the streets. In fact no one had ever seen such a celebration, not even


### Book:after the defeat of a foreign enemy.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Before his entrance into politics, the name of Coriolanus evoked awe.


### Book:His battlefield accomplishments showed him as a man of great


### Book:bravery. Since the citizens knew little about him, all kinds of legends


### Book:became attached to his name. The moment he appeared before the


### Book:Roman citizens, however, and spoke his mind, all that grandeur and


### Book:mystery vanished. He bragged and blustered like a common soldier. He


### Book:insulted and slandered people, as if he felt threatened and insecure.


### Book:Suddenly he was not at all what the people had imagined. The


### Book:discrepancy between the legend and the reality proved immensely


### Book:disappointing to those who wanted to believe in their hero. The more


### Book:Coriolanus said, the less powerful he appeared—a person who cannot


### Book:control his words shows that he cannot control himself, and is unworthy


### Book:of respect.The King [Louis XIV] maintains the most impenetrable secrecy about


### Book:affairs of State. The ministers attend council meetings, but he confides


### Book:his plans to them only when he has reflected at length upon them and has


### Book:come to a definite decision. I wish you might see the King. His


### Book:expression is inscrutable; his eyes like those of a fox. He never discusses


### Book:State affairs except with his ministers in Council. When he speaks to


### Book:courtiers he refers only to their respective prerogatives or duties. Even


### Book:the most frivolous of his utterances has the air of being the


### Book:pronouncement of an oracle.


### Book:PRIMI VISCONTI, QUOTED IN LOUIS XIV, LOUIS BERTRAND,


### Book:1928


### Book:Had Coriolanus said less, the people would never have had cause to be


### Book:offended by him, would never have known his true feelings. He would


### Book:have maintained his powerful aura, would certainly have been elected


### Book:consul, and would have been able to accomplish his antidemocratic


### Book:goals. But the human tongue is a beast that few can master. It strains


### Book:constantly to break out of its cage, and if it is not tamed, it will run wild


### Book:and cause you grief. Power cannot accrue to those who squander their


### Book:treasure of words.


### Book:Oysters open completely when the moon is full; and when the crab sees


### Book:one


### Book:it throws a piece of stone or seaweed into it and the oyster cannot close


### Book:again so that it serves the crab for meat. Such is the fate of him who


### Book:opens


### Book:his mouth too much and thereby puts himself at the mercy of the listener.


### Book:Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:In the court of Louis XIV, nobles and ministers would spend days and


### Book:nights debating issues of state. They would confer, argue, make and


### Book:break alliances, and argue again, until finally the critical moment arrived:


### Book:Two of them would be chosen to represent the different sides to Louis


### Book:himself, who would decide what should be done. After these persons


### Book:were chosen, everyone would argue some more: How should the issuesbe phrased? What would appeal to Louis, what would annoy him? At


### Book:what time of day should the representatives approach him, and in what


### Book:part of the Versailles palace? What expression should they have on their


### Book:faces?


### Book:Finally, after all this was settled, the fateful moment would finally


### Book:arrive. The two men would approach Louis—always a delicate matter—


### Book:and when they finally had his ear, they would talk about the issue at


### Book:hand, spelling out the options in detail.


### Book:Louis would listen in silence, a most enigmatic look on his face.


### Book:Finally, when each had finished his presentation and had asked for the


### Book:king’s opinion, he would look at them both and say, “I shall see.” Then


### Book:he would walk away.


### Book:The ministers and courtiers would never hear another word on this


### Book:subject from the king—they would simply see the result, weeks later,


### Book:when he would come to a decision and act. He would never bother to


### Book:consult them on the matter again.


### Book:Undutiful words of a subject do often take deeper root than the memory


### Book:of ill deeds…. The late Earl of Essex told Queen Elizabeth that her


### Book:conditions were as crooked as her carcass; but it cost him his head,


### Book:which his insurrection had not cost him but for that speech.


### Book:SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 1554-1618


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Louis XIV was a man of very few words. His most famous remark is


### Book:“L‘état, c’est moi” (“I am the state”); nothing could be more pithy yet


### Book:more eloquent. His infamous “I shall see” was one of several extremely


### Book:short phrases that he would apply to all manner of requests.


### Book:Louis was not always this way; as a young man he was known for


### Book:talking at length, delighting in his own eloquence. His later taciturnity


### Book:was self-imposed, an act, a mask he used to keep everybody below him


### Book:off-balance. No one knew exactly where he stood, or could predict his


### Book:reactions. No one could try to deceive him by saying what they thought


### Book:he wanted to hear, because no one knew what he wanted to hear. As they


### Book:talked on and on to the silent Louis, they revealed more and more about


### Book:themselves, information he would later use against them to great effect.


### Book:In the end, Louis’s silence kept those around him terrified and under


### Book:his thumb. It was one of the foundations of his power. As Saint-Simon


### Book:wrote, “No one knew as well as he how to sell his words, his smile, evenhis glances. Everything in him was valuable because he created


### Book:differences, and his majesty was enhanced by the sparseness of his


### Book:words.”


### Book:It is even more damaging for a minister to say foolish things than to do


### Book:them.


### Book:Cardinal de Retz, 1613-1679


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:Power is in many ways a game of appearances, and when you say less


### Book:than necessary, you inevitably appear greater and more powerful than


### Book:you are. Your silence will make other people uncomfortable. Humans are


### Book:machines of interpretation and explanation; they have to know what you


### Book:are thinking. When you carefully control what you reveal, they cannot


### Book:pierce your intentions or your meaning.


### Book:Your short answers and silences will put them on the defensive, and


### Book:they will jump in, nervously filling the silence with all kinds of


### Book:comments that will reveal valuable information about them and their


### Book:weaknesses. They will leave a meeting with you feeling as if they had


### Book:been robbed, and they will go home and ponder your every word. This


### Book:extra attention to your brief comments will only add to your power.


### Book:Saying less than necessary is not for kings and statesmen only. In most


### Book:areas of life, the less you say, the more profound and mysterious you


### Book:appear. As a young man, the artist Andy Warhol had the revelation that it


### Book:was generally impossible to get people to do what you wanted them to


### Book:do by talking to them. They would turn against you, subvert your wishes,


### Book:disobey you out of sheer perversity. He once told a friend, “I learned that


### Book:you actually have more power when you shut up.”


### Book:In his later life Warhol employed this strategy with great success. His


### Book:interviews were exercises in oracular speech: He would say something


### Book:vague and ambiguous, and the interviewer would twist in circles trying


### Book:to figure it out, imagining there was something profound behind his often


### Book:meaningless phrases. Warhol rarely talked about his work; he let others


### Book:do the interpreting. He claimed to have learned this technique from that


### Book:master of enigma Marcel Duchamp, another twentieth-century artist who


### Book:realized early on that the less he said about his work, the more peopletalked about it. And the more they talked, the more valuable his work


### Book:became.


### Book:By saying less than necessary you create the appearance of meaning


### Book:and power. Also, the less you say, the less risk you run of saying


### Book:something foolish, even dangerous. In 1825 a new czar, Nicholas I,


### Book:ascended the throne of Russia. A rebellion immediately broke out, led by


### Book:liberals demanding that the country modernize—that its industries and


### Book:civil structures catch up with the rest of Europe. Brutally crushing this


### Book:rebellion (the Decembrist Uprising), Nicholas I sentenced one of its


### Book:leaders, Kondraty Ryleyev, to death. On the day of the execution


### Book:Ryleyev stood on the gallows, the noose around his neck. The trapdoor


### Book:opened—but as Ryleyev dangled, the rope broke, dashing him to the


### Book:ground. At the time, events like this were considered signs of providence


### Book:or heavenly will, and a man saved from execution this way was usually


### Book:pardoned. As Ryleyev got to his feet, bruised and dirtied but believing


### Book:his neck had been saved, he called out to the crowd, “You see, in Russia


### Book:they don’t know how to do anything properly, not even how to make


### Book:rope!”


### Book:A messenger immediately went to the Winter Palace with news of the


### Book:failed hanging. Vexed by this disappointing turnabout, Nicholas I


### Book:nevertheless began to sign the pardon. But then: “Did Ryleyev say


### Book:anything after this miracle?” the czar asked the messenger. “Sire,” the


### Book:messenger replied, “he said that in Russia they don’t even know how to


### Book:make rope.”


### Book:“In that case,” said the Czar, “let us prove the contrary,” and he tore up


### Book:the pardon. The next day Ryleyev was hanged again. This time the rope


### Book:did not break.


### Book:Learn the lesson: Once the words are out, you cannot take them back.


### Book:Keep them under control. Be particularly careful with sarcasm: The


### Book:momentary satisfaction you gain with your biting words will be


### Book:outweighed by the price you pay.


### Book:Image:


### Book:The Oracle at Delphi.


### Book:When visitors consulted the


### Book:Oracle, the priestess would utter


### Book:a few enigmatic words that seemed


### Book:full of meaning and import. No one


### Book:disobeyed the words of the Oracle—


### Book:they held power over life and death.Authority: Never start moving your own lips and teeth before the


### Book:subordinates do. The longer I keep quiet, the sooner others move their


### Book:lips and teeth. As they move their lips and teeth, I can thereby


### Book:understand their real intentions…. If the sovereign is not mysterious, the


### Book:ministers will find opportunity to take and take. (Han-fei-tzu, Chinese


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


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:There are times when it is unwise to be silent. Silence can arouse


### Book:suspicion and even insecurity, especially in your superiors; a vague or


### Book:ambiguous comment can open you up to interpretations you had not


### Book:bargained for. Silence and saying less than necessary must be practiced


### Book:with caution, then, and in the right situations. It is occasionally wiser to


### Book:imitate the court jester, who plays the fool but knows he is smarter than


### Book:the king. He talks and talks and entertains, and no one suspects that he is


### Book:more than just a fool.


### Book:Also, words can sometimes act as a kind of smoke screen for any


### Book:deception you might practice. By bending your listener’s ear with talk,


### Book:you can distract and mesmerize them; the more you talk, in fact, the less


### Book:suspicious of you they become. The verbose are not perceived as sly and


### Book:manipulative but as helpless and unsophisticated. This is the reverse of


### Book:the silent policy employed by the powerful: By talking more, and making


### Book:yourself appear weaker and less intelligent than your mark, you can


### Book:practice deception with greater ease.LAW 5


### Book:SO MUCH DEPENDS ON REPUTATION—


### Book:GUARD IT WITH YOUR LIFE


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you


### Book:can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and


### Book:will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always


### Book:be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen.


### Book:Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own


### Book:reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I


### Book:During China’s War of the Three Kingdoms (A.D. 207-265), the great


### Book:general Chuko Liang, leading the forces of the Shu Kingdom, dispatched


### Book:his vast army to a distant camp while he rested in a small town with a


### Book:handful of soldiers. Suddenly sentinels hurried in with the alarming news


### Book:that an enemy force of over 150,000 troops under Sima Yi was


### Book:approaching. With only a hundred men to defend him, Chuko Liang’s


### Book:situation was hopeless. The enemy would finally capture this renowned


### Book:leader.


### Book:Without lamenting his fate, or wasting time trying to figure out how he


### Book:had been caught, Liang ordered his troops to take down their flags, throw


### Book:open the city gates, and hide. He himself then took a seat on the most


### Book:visible part of the city’s wall, wearing a Taoist robe. He lit some incense,


### Book:strummed his lute, and began to chant. Minutes later he could see the


### Book:vast enemy army approaching, an endless phalanx of soldiers. Pretending


### Book:not to notice them, he continued to sing and play the lute.Soon the army stood at the town gates. At its head was Sima Yi, who


### Book:instantly recognized the man on the wall.


### Book:Even so, as his soldiers itched to enter the unguarded town through its


### Book:open gates, Sima Yi hesitated, held them back, and studied Liang on the


### Book:wall. Then, he ordered an immediate and speedy retreat.


### Book:THE ANIMALS STRICKEN WITH THE


### Book:PLAGUE


### Book:A frightful epidemic sent To earth by Heaven intent to vent Its fury on a


### Book:sinful world, to call It by its rightful name, the pestilence, That Acheron-


### Book:filling vial of virulence Had fallen on every animal. Not all were dead,


### Book:but all lay near to dying, And none was any longer trying To find new


### Book:fuel to feed life’s flickering fires. No foods excited their desires; No more


### Book:did wolves and foxes rove In search of harmless, helpless prey; And dove


### Book:would not consort with dove, For love and joy had flown away. The Lion


### Book:assumed the chair to say: “Dear friends, I doubt not it’s for heaven’s


### Book:high ends That on us sinners woe must fall. Let him of us who’s sinned


### Book:the most Fall victim to the avenging heavenly host, And may he win


### Book:salvation for us all; For history teaches us that in these crises We must


### Book:make sacrifices. Undeceived and stern-eyed, let’s inspect Our


### Book:conscience. As I recollect, To put my greedy appetite to sleep, I’ve


### Book:banqueted on many a sheep Who’d injured me in no respect, And even in


### Book:my time been known to try Shepherd pie. If need be, then. I’ll die. Yet I


### Book:suspect That others also ought to own their sins. It’s only fair thnt all


### Book:should do their best To single out the guiltiest.” “Sire, you’re too good a


### Book:king,“the Fox begins; ”Such scruples are too delicate. My word, To eat


### Book:sheep, that profane and vulgar herd. That’s sin? Nay. Sire, enough for


### Book:such a crew To be devoured by such as you; While of the shepherds we


### Book:may say That they deserved the worst they got. Theirs being the lot that


### Book:over us beasts plot A flimsy dream-begotten sway.” Thus spake the Fox,


### Book:and toady cheers rose high, While none dared cast too cold an eye On


### Book:Tiger‘s, Bear’s, and other eminences Most unpardonable offences Each,


### Book:of never mind what currish breed, Was really a saint, they all agreed.


### Book:Then came the Ass, to say: ”I do recall How once I crossed an abbey-


### Book:mead Where hunger, grass in plenty, and withal, I have no doubt, some


### Book:imp of greed. Assailed me, and I shaved a tongue’s-breadth wide Where


### Book:frankly I’d no right to any grass.”All forthwith fell full cry upon the Ass:


### Book:A Wolf of some book-learning testified That that curst beast must suffer


### Book:their despite, That gallskinned author of their piteous plight. Theyjudged him fit for nought but gallows-bait: How vile, another’s grass to


### Book:sequestrate! His death alone could expiate A crime so heinous, as full


### Book:well he learns. The court, as you’re of great or poor estate, Will paint


### Book:you either white or black by turns.


### Book:THE BEST FABLES OF LA FONTAINE, JEAN DE LA FONTAINE,


### Book:1621-1695


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Chuko Liang was commonly known as the “Sleeping Dragon.” His


### Book:exploits in the War of the Three Kingdoms were legendary. Once a man


### Book:claiming to be a disaffected enemy lieutenant came to his camp, offering


### Book:help and information. Liang instantly recognized the situation as a setup;


### Book:this man was a false deserter, and should be beheaded. At the last


### Book:minute, though, as the ax was about to fall, Liang stopped the execution


### Book:and offered to spare the man’s life if he agreed to become a double agent.


### Book:Grateful and terrified, the man agreed, and began supplying false


### Book:information to the enemy. Liang won battle after battle.


### Book:On another occasion Liang stole a military seal and created false


### Book:documents dispatching his enemy’s troops to distant locations. Once the


### Book:troops had dispersed, he was able to capture three cities, so that he


### Book:controlled an entire corridor of the enemy’s kingdom. He also once


### Book:tricked the enemy into believing one of its best generals was a traitor,


### Book:forcing the man to escape and join forces with Liang. The Sleeping


### Book:Dragon carefully cultivated his reputation of being the cleverest man in


### Book:China, one who always had a trick up his sleeve. As powerful as any


### Book:weapon, this reputation struck fear into his enemy.


### Book:Sima Yi had fought against Chuko Liang dozens of times and knew


### Book:him well. When he came on the empty city, with Liang praying on the


### Book:wall, he was stunned. The Taoist robes, the chanting, the incense—this


### Book:had to be a game of intimidation. The man was obviously taunting him,


### Book:daring him to walk into a trap. The game was so obvious that for one


### Book:moment it crossed Yi’s mind that Liang actually was alone, and


### Book:desperate. But so great was his fear of Liang that he dared not risk


### Book:finding out. Such is the power of reputation. It can put a vast army on the


### Book:defensive, even force them into retreat, without a single arrow being


### Book:fired.


### Book:For, as Cicero says, even those who argue against fame still want the


### Book:books theywrite against it to bear their name in the title and hope to become


### Book:famous for


### Book:despising it. Everything else is subject to barter: we will let our friends


### Book:have


### Book:our goods and our lives if need be; but a case of sharing our fame and


### Book:making someone else the gift of our reputation is hardly to be found.


### Book:Montaigne, 1533-1592


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II


### Book:In 1841 the young P. T. Barnum, trying to establish his reputation as


### Book:America’s premier showman, decided to purchase the American


### Book:Museum in Manhattan and turn it into a collection of curiosities that


### Book:would secure his fame. The problem was that he had no money. The


### Book:museum’s asking price was $15,000, but Barnum was able to put


### Book:together a proposal that appealed to the institution’s owners even though


### Book:it replaced cash up front with dozens of guarantees and references. The


### Book:owners came to a verbal agreement with Barnum, but at the last minute,


### Book:the principal partner changed his mind, and the museum and its


### Book:collection were sold to the directors of Peale’s Museum. Barnum was


### Book:infuriated, but the partner explained that business was business—the


### Book:museum had been sold to Peale’s because Peale’s had a reputation and


### Book:Barnum had none.


### Book:Barnum immediately decided that if he had no reputation to bank on,


### Book:his only recourse was to ruin the reputation of Peale’s. Accordingly he


### Book:launched a letter-writing campaign in the newspapers, calling the owners


### Book:a bunch of “broken-down bank directors” who had no idea how to run a


### Book:museum or entertain people. He warned the public against buying


### Book:Peale’s stock, since the business’s purchase of another museum would


### Book:invariably spread its resources thin. The campaign was effective, the


### Book:stock plummeted, and with no more confidence in Peale’s track record


### Book:and reputation, the owners of the American Museum reneged on their


### Book:deal and sold the whole thing to Barnum.


### Book:It took years for Peale’s to recover, and they never forgot what


### Book:Barnum had done. Mr. Peale himself decided to attack Barnum by


### Book:building a reputation for “high-brow entertainment,” promoting his


### Book:museum’s programs as more scientific than those of his vulgarcompetitor. Mesmerism (hypnotism) was one of Peale’s “scientific”


### Book:attractions, and for a while it drew big crowds and was quite successful.


### Book:To fight back, Barnum decided to attack Peale’s reputation yet again.


### Book:Barnum organized a rival mesmeric performance in which he himself


### Book:apparently put a little girl into a trance. Once she seemed to have fallen


### Book:deeply under, he tried to hypnotize members of the audience—but no


### Book:matter how hard he tried, none of the spectators fell under his spell, and


### Book:many of them began to laugh. A frustrated Barnum finally announced


### Book:that to prove the little girl’s trance was real, he would cut off one of her


### Book:fingers without her noticing. But as he sharpened the knife, the little


### Book:girl’s eyes popped open and she ran away, to the audience’s delight. He


### Book:repeated this and other parodies for several weeks. Soon no one could


### Book:take Peale’s show seriously, and attendance went way down. Within a


### Book:few weeks, the show closed. Over the next few years Barnum established


### Book:a reputation for audacity and consummate showmanship that lasted his


### Book:whole life. Peale’s reputation, on the other hand, never recovered.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Barnum used two different tactics to ruin Peale’s reputation. The first


### Book:was simple: He sowed doubts about the museum’s stability and solvency.


### Book:Doubt is a powerful weapon: Once you let it out of the bag with


### Book:insidious rumors, your opponents are in a horrible dilemma. On the one


### Book:hand they can deny the rumors, even prove that you have slandered


### Book:them. But a layer of suspicion will remain: Why are they defending


### Book:themselves so desperately? Maybe the rumor has some truth to it? If, on


### Book:the other hand, they take the high road and ignore you, the doubts,


### Book:unrefuted, will be even stronger. If done correctly, the sowing of rumors


### Book:can so infuriate and unsettle your rivals that in defending themselves


### Book:they will make numerous mistakes. This is the perfect weapon for those


### Book:who have no reputation of their own to work from.


### Book:Once Barnum did have a reputation of his own, he used the second,


### Book:gentler tactic, the fake hypnotism demonstration: He ridiculed his rivals’


### Book:reputation. This too was extremely successful. Once you have a solid


### Book:base of respect, ridiculing your opponent both puts him on the defensive


### Book:and draws more attention to you, enhancing your own reputation.


### Book:Outright slander and insult are too strong at this point; they are ugly, and


### Book:may hurt you more than help you. But gentle barbs and mockery suggest


### Book:that you have a strong enough sense of your own worth to enjoy a goodlaugh at your rival’s expense. A humorous front can make you out as a


### Book:harmless entertainer while poking holes in the reputation of your rival.


### Book:It is easier to cope with a bad conscience than with a bad reputation.


### Book:Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:The people around us, even our closest friends, will always to some


### Book:extent remain mysterious and unfathomable. Their characters have secret


### Book:recesses that they never reveal. The unknowableness of other people


### Book:could prove disturbing if we thought about it long enough, since it would


### Book:make it impossible for us really to judge other people. So we prefer to


### Book:ignore this fact, and to judge people on their appearances, on what is


### Book:most visible to our eyes—clothes, gestures, words, actions. In the social


### Book:realm, appearances are the barometer of almost all of our judgments, and


### Book:you must never be mis led into believing otherwise. One false slip, one


### Book:awkward or sudden change in your appearance, can prove disastrous.


### Book:This is the reason for the supreme importance of making and


### Book:maintaining a reputation that is of your own creation.


### Book:That reputation will protect you in the dangerous game of


### Book:appearances, distracting the probing eyes of others from knowing what


### Book:you are really like, and giving you a degree of control over how the


### Book:world judges you—a powerful position to be in. Reputation has a power


### Book:like magic: With one stroke of its wand, it can double your strength. It


### Book:can also send people scurrying away from you. Whether the exact same


### Book:deeds appear brilliant or dreadful can depend entirely on the reputation


### Book:of the doer.


### Book:In the ancient Chinese court of the Wei kingdom there was a man


### Book:named Mi Tzu-hsia who had a reputation for supreme civility and


### Book:graciousness. He became the ruler’s favorite. It was a law in Wei that


### Book:“whoever rides secretly in the ruler’s coach shall have his feet cut off,”


### Book:but when Mi Tzu-hsia’s mother fell ill, he used the royal coach to visit


### Book:her, pretending that the ruler had given him permission. When the ruler


### Book:found out, he said, “How dutiful is Mi Tzu-hsia! For his mother’s sake


### Book:he even forgot that he was committing a crime making him liable to lose


### Book:his feet!”Another time the two of them took a stroll in an orchard. Mi Tzu-hsia


### Book:began eating a peach that he could not finish, and he gave the ruler the


### Book:other half to eat. The ruler remarked, “You love me so much that you


### Book:would even forget your own saliva taste and let me eat the rest of the


### Book:peach!”


### Book:Later, however, envious fellow courtiers, spreading word that Mi Tzu-


### Book:hsia was actually devious and arrogant, succeeded in damaging his


### Book:reputation; the ruler came to see his actions in a new light. “This fellow


### Book:once rode in my coach under pretense of my order,” he told the courtiers


### Book:angrily, “and another time he gave me a half-eaten peach.” For the same


### Book:actions that had charmed the ruler when he was the favorite, Mi Tzu-hsia


### Book:now had to suffer the penalties. The fate of his feet depended solely on


### Book:the strength of his reputation.


### Book:In the beginning, you must work to establish a reputation for one


### Book:outstanding quality, whether generosity or honesty or cunning. This


### Book:quality sets you apart and gets other people to talk about you. You then


### Book:make your reputation known to as many people as possible (subtly,


### Book:though; take care to build slowly, and with a firm foundation), and watch


### Book:as it spreads like wildfire.


### Book:A solid reputation increases your presence and exaggerates your


### Book:strengths without your having to spend much energy. It can also create an


### Book:aura around you that will instill respect, even fear. In the fighting in the


### Book:North African desert during World War II, the German general Erwin


### Book:Rommel had a reputation for cunning and for deceptive maneuvering


### Book:that struck terror into everyone who faced him. Even when his forces


### Book:were depleted, and when British tanks outnumbered his by five to one,


### Book:entire cities would be evacuated at the news of his approach.


### Book:As they say, your reputation inevitably precedes you, and if it inspires


### Book:respect, a lot of your work is done for you before you arrive on the


### Book:scene, or utter a single word.


### Book:Your success seems destined by your past triumphs. Much of the


### Book:success of Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy rested on his reputation


### Book:for ironing out differences; no one wanted to be seen as so unreasonable


### Book:that Kissinger could not sway him. A peace treaty seemed a fait


### Book:accompli as soon as Kissinger’s name became involved in the


### Book:negotiations.


### Book:Make your reputation simple and base it on one sterling quality. This


### Book:single quality—efficiency, say, or seductiveness—becomes a kind of


### Book:calling card that announces your presence and places others under a


### Book:spell. A reputation for honesty will allow you to practice all manner ofdeception. Casanova used his reputation as a great seducer to pave the


### Book:way for his future conquests; women who had heard of his powers


### Book:became immensely curious, and wanted to discover for themselves what


### Book:had made him so romantically successful.


### Book:Perhaps you have already stained your reputation, so that you are


### Book:prevented from establishing a new one. In such cases it is wise to


### Book:associate with someone whose image counteracts your own, using their


### Book:good name to whitewash and elevate yours. It is hard, for example, to


### Book:erase a reputation for dishonesty by yourself; but a paragon of honesty


### Book:can help. When P. T. Barnum wanted to clean up a reputation for


### Book:promoting vulgar entertainment, he brought the singer Jenny Lind over


### Book:from Europe. She had a stellar, high-class reputation, and the American


### Book:tour Barnum sponsored for her greatly enhanced his own image.


### Book:Similarly the great robber barons of nineteenth-century America were


### Book:long unable to rid themselves of a reputation for cruelty and mean-


### Book:spiritedness. Only when they began collecting art, so that the names of


### Book:Morgan and Frick became permanently associated with those of da Vinci


### Book:and Rembrandt, were they able to soften their unpleasant image.


### Book:Reputation is a treasure to be carefully collected and hoarded.


### Book:Especially when you are first establishing it, you must protect it strictly,


### Book:anticipating all attacks on it. Once it is solid, do not let yourself get angry


### Book:or defensive at the slanderous comments of your enemies—that reveals


### Book:insecurity, not confidence in your reputation. Take the high road instead,


### Book:and never appear desperate in your self-defense. On the other hand, an


### Book:attack on another man’s reputation is a potent weapon, particularly when


### Book:you have less power than he does. He has much more to lose in such a


### Book:battle, and your own thus-far-small reputation gives him a small target


### Book:when he tries to return your fire. Barnum used such campaigns to great


### Book:effect in his early career. But this tactic must be practiced with skill; you


### Book:must not seem to engage in petty vengeance. If you do not break your


### Book:enemy’s reputation cleverly, you will inadvertently ruin your own.


### Book:Thomas Edison, considered the inventor who harnessed electricity,


### Book:believed that a workable system would have to be based on direct current


### Book:(DC). When the Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla appeared to have


### Book:succeeded in creating a system based on alternating current (AC), Edison


### Book:was furious. He determined to ruin Tesla’s reputation, by making the


### Book:public believe that the AC system was inherently unsafe, and Tesla


### Book:irresponsible in promoting it.


### Book:To this end he captured all kinds of household pets and electrocuted


### Book:them to death with an AC current. When this wasn’t enough, in 1890 hegot New York State prison authorities to organize the world’s first


### Book:execution by electrocution, using an AC current. But Edison’s


### Book:electrocution experiments had all been with small creatures; the charge


### Book:was too weak, and the man was only half killed. In perhaps the country’s


### Book:cruelest state-authorized execution, the procedure had to be repeated. It


### Book:was an awful spectacle.


### Book:Although, in the long run, it is Edison’s name that has survived, at the


### Book:time his campaign damaged his own reputation more than Tesla’s. He


### Book:backed off. The lesson is simple—never go too far in attacks like these,


### Book:for that will draw more attention to your own vengefulness than to the


### Book:person you are slandering. When your own reputation is solid, use


### Book:subtler tactics, such as satire and ridicule, to weaken your opponent


### Book:while making you out as a charming rogue. The mighty lion toys with


### Book:the mouse that crosses his path—any other reaction would mar his


### Book:fearsome reputation.


### Book:Image:


### Book:A Mine Full of


### Book:Diamonds and Rubies.


### Book:You dug for it, you found it,


### Book:and your wealth is now assured.


### Book:Guard it with your life. Robbers and thieves


### Book:will appear from all sides. Never take your wealth


### Book:for granted, and constantly renew it—time


### Book:will diminish the jewels’ luster,


### Book:and bury them from sight.


### Book:Authority: Therefore I should wish our courtier to bolster up his inherent


### Book:worth with skill and cunning, and ensure that whenever he has to go


### Book:where he is a stranger, he is preceded by a good reputation…. For the


### Book:fame which appears to rest on the opinions of many fosters a certain


### Book:unshakable belief in a man’s worth which is then easily strengthened in


### Book:minds already thus disposed and prepared. (Baldassare Castiglione,


### Book:1478-1529)


### Book:REVERSALThere is no possible Reversal. Reputation is critical; there are no


### Book:exceptions to this law. Perhaps, not caring what others think of you, you


### Book:gain a reputation for insolence and arrogance, but that can be a valuable


### Book:image in itself—Oscar Wilde used it to great advantage. Since we must


### Book:live in society and must depend on the opinions of others, there is


### Book:nothing to be gained by neglecting your reputation. By not caring how


### Book:you are perceived, you let others decide this for you. Be the master of


### Book:your fate, and also of your reputation.LAW 6


### Book:COURT ATTENTION AT ALL COST


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for


### Book:nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in


### Book:oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet


### Book:of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the


### Book:bland and timid masses.PART I: SURROUND YOUR NAME WITH


### Book:THE SENSATIONAL AND SCANDALOUS


### Book:Draw attention to yourself by creating an unforgettable, even


### Book:controversial image. Court scandal. Do anything to make yourself seem


### Book:larger than life and shine more brightly than those around you. Make no


### Book:distinction between kinds of attention—notoriety of any sort will bring


### Book:you power. Better to be slandered and attacked than ignored.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:P. T. Barnum, America’s premier nineteenth-century showman, started


### Book:his career as an assistant to the owner of a circus, Aaron Turner. In 1836


### Book:the circus stopped in Annapolis, Maryland, for a series of performances.


### Book:On the morning of opening day, Barnum took a stroll through town,


### Book:wearing a new black suit. People started to follow him. Someone in the


### Book:gathering crowd shouted out that he was the Reverend Ephraim K.


### Book:Avery, infamous as a man acquitted of the charge of murder but still


### Book:believed guilty by most Americans. The angry mob tore off Barnum’s


### Book:suit and was ready to lynch him. After desperate appeals, Barnum finally


### Book:convinced them to follow him to the circus, where he could verify his


### Book:identity.


### Book:THE WASP AND THE PRINCE


### Book:A wasp named Pin Tail was long in quest of some deed that would make


### Book:him forever famous. So one day he entered the kirrg’s palace and stung


### Book:the little prince, who was in bed. The prince awoke with loud cries. The


### Book:king and his courtiers rushed in to see what had happened. The prince


### Book:was yelling as the wasp stung him again and again. The courtiers tried


### Book:to catch the wasp, and each in turn was stung. The whole royal


### Book:household rushed in, the news soon spread, and people flocked to the


### Book:palace. The city was in an uproar, all business suspended. Said the waspto itself, before it expired from its efforts, “A name without fame is like


### Book:fire without flame. There is nothing like attracting notice at any cost.”


### Book:INDIAN FABLE


### Book:Once there, old Turner confirmed that this was all a practical joke—he


### Book:himself had spread the rumor that Barnum was Avery. The crowd


### Book:dispersed, but Barnum, who had nearly been killed, was not amused. He


### Book:wanted to know what could have induced his boss to play such a trick.


### Book:“My dear Mr. Barnum,” Turner replied, “it was all for our good.


### Book:Remember, all we need to ensure success is notoriety.” And indeed


### Book:everyone in town was talking about the joke, and the circus was packed


### Book:that night and every night it stayed in Annapolis. Barnum had learned a


### Book:lesson he would never forget.


### Book:Barnum’s first big venture of his own was the American Museum—a


### Book:collection of curiosities, located in New York. One day a beggar


### Book:approached Barnum in the street. Instead of giving him money, Barnum


### Book:decided to employ him. Taking him back to the museum, he gave the


### Book:man five bricks and told him to make a slow circuit of several blocks. At


### Book:certain points he was to lay down a brick on the sidewalk, always


### Book:keeping one brick in hand. On the return journey he was to replace each


### Book:brick on the street with the one he held. Meanwhile he was to remain


### Book:serious of countenance and to answer no questions. Once back at the


### Book:museum, he was to enter, walk around inside, then leave through the


### Book:back door and make the same bricklaying circuit again.


### Book:On the man’s first walk through the streets, several hundred people


### Book:watched his mysterious movements. By his fourth circuit, onlookers


### Book:swarmed around him, debating what he was doing. Every time he


### Book:entered the museum he was followed by people who bought tickets to


### Book:keep watching him. Many of them were distracted by the museum’s


### Book:collections, and stayed inside. By the end of the first day, the brick man


### Book:had drawn over a thousand people into the museum. A few days later the


### Book:police ordered him to cease and desist from his walks—the crowds were


### Book:blocking traffic. The bricklaying stopped but thousands of New Yorkers


### Book:had entered the museum, and many of those had become P. T. Barnum


### Book:converts.


### Book:Even when I’m railed at, I get my quota of renown.


### Book:PIETRO ARETINO, 1492-1556


### Book:Barnum would put a band of musicians on a balcony overlooking the


### Book:street, beneath a huge banner proclaiming FREE MUSIC FOR THEMILLIONS. What generosity, New Yorkers thought, and they flocked to


### Book:hear the free concerts. But Barnum took pains to hire the worst


### Book:musicians he could find, and soon after the band struck up, people would


### Book:hurry to buy tickets to the museum, where they would be out of earshot


### Book:of the band’s noise, and of the booing of the crowd.


### Book:THE COURT ARTIST


### Book:A work that was voluntarily presented to a prince was bound to seem in


### Book:some way special. The artist himself might also try to attract the


### Book:attention of the court through his behaviour. In Vasari’s judgment


### Book:Sodoma was “well known both for his personal eccentricities and for his


### Book:reputation as a good painter.” Because Pope Leo X “found pleasure in


### Book:such strange, hare-brained individuals,” he made Sodoma a knight,


### Book:causing the artist to go completely out of his mind. Van Mander found it


### Book:odd that the products of Cornelis Ketel’s experiments in mouth and foot


### Book:painting were bought by notable persons “because of their oddity,” yet


### Book:Ketel was only adding a variation to similar experiments by Titian, Ugo


### Book:da Carpi and Palma Giovane, who, according to Boschini painted with


### Book:their fingers “because they wished to imitate the method used by the


### Book:Supreme Creator. ” Van Mander reports that Gossaert attracted the


### Book:attention of Emperor Charles V by wearing a fantastic paper costume. In


### Book:doing so he was adopting the tactics used by Dinocrates, who, in order


### Book:to gain access to Alexander the Great, is said to have appeared disguised


### Book:as the naked Hercules when the monarch was sitting in judgment.


### Book:THE COURT ARTIST, MARTIN WARNKE, 1993


### Book:One of the first oddities Barnum toured around the country was Joice


### Book:Heth, a woman he claimed was 161 years old, and whom he advertised


### Book:as a slave who had once been George Washington’s nurse. After several


### Book:months the crowds began to dwindle, so Barnum sent an anonymous


### Book:letter to the papers, claiming that Heth was a clever fraud. “Joice Heth,”


### Book:he wrote, “is not a human being but an automaton, made up of


### Book:whalebone, india-rubber, and numberless springs.” Those who had not


### Book:bothered to see her before were immediately curious, and those who had


### Book:already seen her paid to see her again, to find out whether the rumor that


### Book:she was a robot was true.


### Book:In 1842, Barnum purchased the carcass of what was purported to be a


### Book:mermaid. This creature resembled a monkey with the body of a fish, but


### Book:the head and body were perfectly joined—it was truly a wonder. Aftersome research Barnum discovered that the creature had been expertly put


### Book:together in Japan, where the hoax had caused quite a stir.


### Book:He nevertheless planted articles in newspapers around the country


### Book:claiming the capture of a mermaid in the Fiji Islands. He also sent the


### Book:papers woodcut prints of paintings showing mermaids. By the time he


### Book:showed the specimen in his museum, a national debate had been sparked


### Book:over the existence of these mythical creatures. A few months before


### Book:Barnum’s campaign, no one had cared or even known about mermaids;


### Book:now everyone was talking about them as if they were real. Crowds


### Book:flocked in record numbers to see the Fiji Mermaid, and to hear debates


### Book:on the subject.


### Book:A few years later, Barnum toured Europe with General Tom Thumb, a


### Book:five-year-old dwarf from Connecticut whom Barnum claimed was an


### Book:eleven-year-old English boy, and whom he had trained to do many


### Book:remarkable acts. During this tour Barnum’s name attracted such attention


### Book:that Queen Victoria, that paragon of sobriety, requested a private


### Book:audience with him and his talented dwarf at Buckingham Palace. The


### Book:English press may have ridiculed Barnum, but Victoria was royally


### Book:entertained by him, and respected him ever after.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Barnum understood the fundamental truth about attracting attention:


### Book:Once people’s eyes are on you, you have a special legitimacy. For


### Book:Barnum, creating interest meant creating a crowd; as he later wrote,


### Book:“Every crowd has a silver lining.” And crowds tend to act in conjunction.


### Book:If one person stops to see your beggarman laying bricks in the street,


### Book:more will do the same. They will gather like dust bunnies. Then, given a


### Book:gentle push, they will enter your museum or watch your show. To create


### Book:a crowd you have to do something different and odd. Any kind of


### Book:curiosity will serve the purpose, for crowds are magnetically attracted by


### Book:the unusual and inexplicable. And once you have their attention, never


### Book:let it go. If it veers toward other people, it does so at your expense.


### Book:Barnum would ruthlessly suck attention from his competitors, knowing


### Book:what a valuable commodity it is.


### Book:At the beginning of your rise to the top, then, spend all your energy on


### Book:attracting attention. Most important: The quality of the attention is


### Book:irrelevant. No matter how badly his shows were reviewed, or how


### Book:slanderously personal were the attacks on his hoaxes, Barnum wouldnever complain. If a newspaper critic reviled him particularly badly, in


### Book:fact, he made sure to invite the man to an opening and to give him the


### Book:best seat in the house. He would even write anonymous attacks on his


### Book:own work, just to keep his name in the papers. From Barnum’s vantage,


### Book:attention—whether negative or positive—was the main ingredient of his


### Book:success. The worst fate in the world for a man who yearns fame, glory,


### Book:and, of course, power is to be ignored.


### Book:If the courtier happens to engage in arms in some public spectacle


### Book:such as jousting … he will ensure that the horse he has is beautifully


### Book:caparisoned, that he himself is suitably attired, with appropriate


### Book:mottoes and ingenious devices to attract the eyes of the onlookers


### Book:in his direction as surely as the lodestone attracts iron.


### Book:Baldassare Castighone, 1478-1529


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:Burning more brightly than those around you is a skill that no one is born


### Book:with. You have to learn to attract attention, “as surely as the lodestone


### Book:attracts iron.” At the start of your career, you must attach your name and


### Book:reputation to a quality, an image, that sets you apart from other people.


### Book:This image can be something like a characteristic style of dress, or a


### Book:personality quirk that amuses people and gets talked about. Once the


### Book:image is established, you have an appearance, a place in the sky for your


### Book:star.


### Book:It is a common mistake to imagine that this peculiar appearance of


### Book:yours should not be controversial, that to be attacked is somehow bad.


### Book:Nothing could be further from the truth. To avoid being a flash in the


### Book:pan, and having your notoriety eclipsed by another, you must not


### Book:discriminate between different types of attention; in the end, every kind


### Book:will work in your favor. Barnum, we have seen, welcomed personal


### Book:attacks and felt no need to defend himself. He deliberately courted the


### Book:image of being a humbug.


### Book:The court of Louis XIV contained many talented writers, artists, great


### Book:beauties, and men and women of impeccable virtue, but no one was more


### Book:talked about than the singular Duc de Lauzun. The duke was short,


### Book:almost dwarfish, and he was prone to the most insolent kinds of behavior


### Book:—he slept with the king’s mistress, and openly insulted not only othercourtiers but the king himself. Louis, however, was so beguiled by the


### Book:duke’s eccentricities that he could not bear his absences from the court. It


### Book:was simple: The strangeness of the duke’s character attracted attention.


### Book:Once people were enthralled by him, they wanted him around at any


### Book:cost.


### Book:Society craves larger-than-life figures, people who stand above the


### Book:general mediocrity. Never be afraid, then, of the qualities that set you


### Book:apart and draw attention to you. Court controversy, even scandal. It is


### Book:better to be attacked, even slandered, than ignored. All professions are


### Book:ruled by this law, and all professionals must have a bit of the showman


### Book:about them.


### Book:The great scientist Thomas Edison knew that to raise money he had to


### Book:remain in the public eye at any cost. Almost as important as the


### Book:inventions themselves was how he presented them to the public and


### Book:courted attention.


### Book:Edison would design visually dazzling experiments to display his


### Book:discoveries with electricity. He would talk of future inventions that


### Book:seemed fantastic at the time—robots, and machines that could


### Book:photograph thought—and that he had no intention of wasting his energy


### Book:on, but that made the public talk about him. He did everything he could


### Book:to make sure that he received more attention than his great rival Nikola


### Book:Tesla, who may actually have been more brilliant than he was but whose


### Book:name was far less known. In 1915, it was rumored that Edison and Tesla


### Book:would be joint recipients of that year’s Nobel Prize in physics. The prize


### Book:was eventually given to a pair of English physicists; only later was it


### Book:discovered that the prize committee had actually approached Edison, but


### Book:he had turned them down, refusing to share the prize with Tesla. By that


### Book:time his fame was more secure than Tesla’s, and he thought it better to


### Book:refuse the honor than to allow his rival the attention that would have


### Book:come even from sharing the prize.


### Book:If you find yourself in a lowly position that offers little opportunity for


### Book:you to draw attention, an effective trick is to attack the most visible,


### Book:most famous, most powerful person you can find. When Pietro Aretino, a


### Book:young Roman servant boy of the early sixteenth century, wanted to get


### Book:attention as a writer of verses, he decided to publish a series of satirical


### Book:poems ridiculing the pope and his affection for a pet elephant. The attack


### Book:put Aretino in the public eye immediately. A slanderous attack on a


### Book:person in a position of power would have a similar effect. Remember,


### Book:however, to use such tactics sparingly after you have the public’s


### Book:attention, when the act can wear thin.Once in the limelight you must constantly renew it by adapting and


### Book:varying your method of courting attention. If you don’t, the public will


### Book:grow tired, will take you for granted, and will move on to a newer star.


### Book:The game requires constant vigilance and creativity. Pablo Picasso never


### Book:allowed himself to fade into the background; if his name became too


### Book:attached to a particular style, he would deliberately upset the public with


### Book:a new series of paintings that went against all expectations. Better to


### Book:create something ugly and disturbing, he believed, than to let viewers


### Book:grow too familiar with his work. Understand: People feel superior to the


### Book:person whose actions they can predict. If you show them who is in


### Book:control by playing against their expectations, you both gain their respect


### Book:and tighten your hold on their fleeting attention.


### Book:Image:


### Book:The Limelight. The


### Book:actor who steps into this bril


### Book:liant light attains a heightened


### Book:presence. All eyes are on him. There


### Book:is room for only one actor at a time in


### Book:the limelight’s narrow beam; do what


### Book:ever it takes to make yourself its focus.


### Book:Make your gestures so large, amus


### Book:ing, and scandalous that the


### Book:light stays on you while the


### Book:other actors are left in


### Book:the shadows.


### Book:Authority: Be ostentatious and be seen…. What is not seen is as though


### Book:it did not exist…. It was light that first caused all creation to shine forth.


### Book:Display fills up many blanks, covers up deficiencies, and gives


### Book:everything a second life, especially when it is backed by genuine merit.


### Book:(Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)PART II: CREATE AN AIR OF MYSTERY


### Book:In a world growing increasingly banal and familiar, what seems


### Book:enigmatic instantly draws attention. Never make it too clear what you are


### Book:doing or about to do. Do not show all your cards. An air of mystery


### Book:heightens your presence; it also creates anticipation—everyone will be


### Book:watching you to see what happens next. Use mystery to beguile, seduce,


### Book:even frighten.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:Beginning in 1905, rumors started to spread throughout Paris of a young


### Book:Oriental girl who danced in a private home, wrapped in veils that she


### Book:gradually discarded. A local journalist who had seen her dancing


### Book:reported that “a woman from the Far East had come to Europe laden with


### Book:perfume and jewels, to introduce some of the richness of the Oriental


### Book:colour and life into the satiated society of European cities.” Soon


### Book:everyone knew the dancer’s name: Mata Hari.


### Book:Early that year, in the winter, small and select audiences would gather


### Book:in a salon filled with Indian statues and other relics while an orchestra


### Book:played music inspired by Hindu and Javanese melodies. After keeping


### Book:the audience waiting and wondering, Mata Hari would suddenly appear,


### Book:in a startling costume: a white cotton brassiere covered with Indian-type


### Book:jewels; jeweled bands at the waist supporting a sarong that revealed as


### Book:much as it concealed; bracelets up the arms. Then Mata Hari would


### Book:dance, in a style no one in France had seen before, her whole body


### Book:swaying as if she were in a trance. She told her excited and curious


### Book:audience that her dances told stories from Indian mythology and


### Book:Javanese folktales. Soon the cream of Paris, and ambassadors from far-


### Book:off lands, were competing for invitations to the salon, where it was


### Book:rumored that Mata Hari was actually performing sacred dances in the


### Book:nude.The public wanted to know more about her. She told journalists that


### Book:she was actually Dutch in origin, but had grown up on the island of Java.


### Book:She would also talk about time spent in India, how she had learned


### Book:sacred Hindu dances there, and how Indian women “can shoot straight,


### Book:ride horseback, and are capable of doing logarithms and talk


### Book:philosophy.” By the summer of 1905, although few Parisians had


### Book:actually seen Mata Hari dance, her name was on everyone’s lips.


### Book:As Mata Hari gave more interviews, the story of her origins kept


### Book:changing: She had grown up in India, her grandmother was the daughter


### Book:of a Javanese princess, she had lived on the island of Sumatra where she


### Book:had spent her time “horseback riding, gun in hand, and risking her life.”


### Book:No one knew anything certain about her, but journalists did not mind


### Book:these changes in her biography. They compared her to an Indian goddess,


### Book:a creature from the pages of Baudelaire—whatever their imagination


### Book:wanted to see in this mysterious woman from the East.


### Book:In August of 1905, Mata Hari performed for the first time in public.


### Book:Crowds thronging to see her on opening night caused a riot. She had now


### Book:become a cult figure, spawning many imitations. One reviewer wrote,


### Book:“Mata Hari personifies all the poetry of India, its mysticism, its


### Book:voluptuousness, its hypnotizing charm.” Another noted, “If India


### Book:possesses such unexpected treasures, then all Frenchmen will emigrate to


### Book:the shores of the Ganges.”


### Book:Soon the fame of Mata Hari and her sacred Indian dances spread


### Book:beyond Paris. She was invited to Berlin, Vienna, Milan. Over the next


### Book:few years she performed throughout Europe, mixed with the highest


### Book:social circles, and earned an income that gave her an independence rarely


### Book:enjoyed by a woman of the period. Then, near the end of World War I,


### Book:she was arrested in France, tried, convicted, and finally executed as a


### Book:German spy. Only during the trial did the truth come out: Mata Hari was


### Book:not from Java or India, had not grown up in the Orient, did not have a


### Book:drop of Eastern blood in her body. Her real name was Margaretha Zelle,


### Book:and she came from the stolid northern province of Friesland, Holland.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:When Margaretha Zelle arrived in Paris, in 1904, she had half a franc in


### Book:her pocket. She was one of the thousands of beautiful young girls who


### Book:flocked to Paris every year, taking work as artists’ models, nightclub


### Book:dancers, or vaudeville performers at the Folies Bergère. After a few yearsthey would inevitably be replaced by younger girls, and would often end


### Book:up on the streets, turning to prostitution, or else returning to the town


### Book:they came from, older and chastened.


### Book:Zelle had higher ambitions. She had no dance experience and had


### Book:never performed in the theater, but as a young girl she had traveled with


### Book:her family and had witnessed local dances in Java and Sumatra. Zelle


### Book:clearly understood that what was important in her act was not the dance


### Book:itself, or even her face or figure, but her ability to create an air of


### Book:mystery about herself. The mystery she created lay not just in her


### Book:dancing, or her costumes, or the stories she would tell, or her endless lies


### Book:about her origins; it lay in an atmosphere enveloping everything she did.


### Book:There was nothing you could say for sure about her—she was always


### Book:changing, always surprising her audience with new costumes, new


### Book:dances, new stories. This air of mystery left the public always wanting to


### Book:know more, always wondering about her next move. Mata Hari was no


### Book:more beautiful than many of the other young girls who came to Paris,


### Book:and she was not a particularly good dancer. What separated her from the


### Book:mass, what attracted and held the public’s attention and made her famous


### Book:and wealthy, was her mystery. People are enthralled by mystery; because


### Book:it invites constant interpretation, they never tire of it. The mysterious


### Book:cannot be grasped. And what cannot be seized and consumed creates


### Book:power.


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:In the past, the world was filled with the terrifying and unknowable—


### Book:diseases, disasters, capricious despots, the mystery of death itself. What


### Book:we could not understand we reimagined as myths and spirits. Over the


### Book:centuries, though, we have managed, through science and reason, to


### Book:illuminate the darkness; what was mysterious and forbidding has grown


### Book:familiar and comfortable. Yet this light has a price: in a world that is ever


### Book:more banal, that has had its mystery and myth squeezed out of it, we


### Book:secretly crave enigmas, people or things that cannot be instantly


### Book:interpreted, seized, and consumed.


### Book:That is the power of the mysterious: It invites layers of interpretation,


### Book:excites our imagination, seduces us into believing that it conceals


### Book:something marvelous. The world has become so familiar and itsinhabitants so predictable that what wraps itself in mystery will almost


### Book:always draw the limelight to it and make us watch it.


### Book:Do not imagine that to create an air of mystery you have to be grand


### Book:and awe-inspiring. Mystery that is woven into your day-to-day


### Book:demeanor, and is subtle, has that much more power to fascinate and


### Book:attract attention. Remember: Most people are upfront, can be read like an


### Book:open book, take little care to control their words or image, and are


### Book:hopelessly predictable. By simply holding back, keeping silent,


### Book:occasionally uttering ambiguous phrases, deliberately appearing


### Book:inconsistent, and acting odd in the subtlest of ways, you will emanate an


### Book:aura of mystery. The people around you will then magnify that aura by


### Book:constantly trying to interpret you.


### Book:Both artists and con artists understand the vital link between being


### Book:mysterious and attracting interest. Count Victor Lustig, the aristocrat of


### Book:swindlers, played the game to perfection. He was always doing things


### Book:that were different, or seemed to make no sense. He would show up at


### Book:the best hotels in a limo driven by a Japanese chauffeur; no one had ever


### Book:seen a Japanese chauffeur before, so this seemed exotic and strange.


### Book:Lustig would dress in the most expensive clothing, but always with


### Book:something—a medal, a flower, an armband—out of place, at least in


### Book:conventional terms. This was seen not as tasteless but as odd and


### Book:intriguing. In hotels he would be seen receiving telegrams at all hours,


### Book:one after the other, brought to him by his Japanese chauffeur—telegrams


### Book:he would tear up with utter nonchalance. (In fact they were fakes,


### Book:completely blank.) He would sit alone in the dining room, reading a large


### Book:and impressive-looking book, smiling at people yet remaining aloof.


### Book:Within a few days, of course, the entire hotel would be abuzz with


### Book:interest in this strange man.


### Book:All this attention allowed Lustig to lure suckers in with ease. They


### Book:would beg for his confidence and his company. Everyone wanted to be


### Book:seen with this mysterious aristocrat. And in the presence of this


### Book:distracting enigma, they wouldn’t even notice that they were being


### Book:robbed blind.


### Book:An air of mystery can make the mediocre appear intelligent and


### Book:profound. It made Mata Hari, a woman of average appearance and


### Book:intelligence, seem like a goddess, and her dancing divinely inspired. An


### Book:air of mystery about an artist makes his or her artwork immediately more


### Book:intriguing, a trick Marcel Duchamp played to great effect. It is all very


### Book:easy to do—say little about your work, tease and titillate with alluring,even contradictory comments, then stand back and let others try to make


### Book:sense of it all.


### Book:Mysterious people put others in a kind of inferior position—that of


### Book:trying to figure them out. To degrees that they can control, they also


### Book:elicit the fear surrounding anything uncertain or unknown. All great


### Book:leaders know that an aura of mystery draws attention to them and creates


### Book:an intimidating presence. Mao Tse-tung, for example, cleverly cultivated


### Book:an enigmatic image; he had no worries about seeming inconsistent or


### Book:contradicting himself—the very contradictoriness of his actions and


### Book:words meant that he always had the upper hand. No one, not even his


### Book:own wife, ever felt they understood him, and he therefore seemed larger


### Book:than life. This also meant that the public paid constant attention to him,


### Book:ever anxious to witness his next move.


### Book:If your social position prevents you from completely wrapping your


### Book:actions in mystery, you must at least learn to make yourself less obvious.


### Book:Every now and then, act in a way that does not mesh with other people’s


### Book:perception of you. This way you keep those around you on the defensive,


### Book:eliciting the kind of attention that makes you powerful. Done right, the


### Book:creation of enigma can also draw the kind of attention that strikes terror


### Book:into your enemy.


### Book:During the Second Punic War (219-202 B.C.), the great Carthaginian


### Book:general Hannibal was wreaking havoc in his march on Rome. Hannibal


### Book:was known for his cleverness and duplicity.


### Book:Under his leadership Carthage’s army, though smaller than those of


### Book:the Romans, had constantly outmaneuvered them. On one occasion,


### Book:though, Hannibal’s scouts made a horrible blunder, leading his troops


### Book:into a marshy terrain with the sea at their back. The Roman army


### Book:blocked the mountain passes that led inland, and its general, Fabius, was


### Book:ecstatic—at last he had Hannibal trapped. Posting his best sentries on the


### Book:passes, he worked on a plan to destroy Hannibal’s forces. But in the


### Book:middle of the night, the sentries looked down to see a mysterious sight:


### Book:A huge procession of lights was heading up the mountain. Thousands


### Book:and thousands of lights. If this was Hannibal’s army, it had suddenly


### Book:grown a hundredfold.


### Book:The sentries argued heatedly about what this could mean:


### Book:Reinforcements from the sea? Troops that had been hidden in the area?


### Book:Ghosts? No explanation made sense.


### Book:As they watched, fires broke out all over the mountain, and a horrible


### Book:noise drifted up to them from below, like the blowing of a million horns.Demons, they thought. The sentries, the bravest and most sensible in the


### Book:Roman army, fled their posts in a panic.


### Book:By the next day, Hannibal had escaped from the marshland. What was


### Book:his trick? Had he really conjured up demons? Actually what he had done


### Book:was order bundles of twigs to be fastened to the horns of the thousands


### Book:of oxen that traveled with his troops as beasts of burden. The twigs were


### Book:then lit, giving the impression of the torches of a vast army heading up


### Book:the mountain. When the flames burned down to the oxen’s skin, they


### Book:stampeded in all directions, bellowing like mad and setting fires all over


### Book:the mountainside. The key to this device’s success was not the torches,


### Book:the fires, or the noises in themselves, however, but the fact that Hannibal


### Book:had created a puzzle that captivated the sentries’ attention and gradually


### Book:terrified them. From the mountaintop there was no way to explain this


### Book:bizarre sight. If the sentries could have explained it they would have


### Book:stayed at their posts.


### Book:If you find yourself trapped, cornered, and on the defensive in some


### Book:situation, try a simple experiment: Do something that cannot be easily


### Book:explained or interpreted. Choose a simple action, but carry it out in a


### Book:way that unsettles your opponent, a way with many possible


### Book:interpretations, making your intentions obscure. Don’t just be


### Book:unpredictable (although this tactic too can be successful—see Law 17);


### Book:like Hannibal, create a scene that cannot be read. There will seem to be


### Book:no method to your madness, no rhyme or reason, no single explanation.


### Book:If you do this right, you will inspire fear and trembling and the sentries


### Book:will abandon their posts. Call it the “feigned madness of Hamlet” tactic,


### Book:for Hamlet uses it to great effect in Shakespeare’s play, frightening his


### Book:stepfather Claudius through the mystery of his behavior. The mysterious


### Book:makes your forces seem larger, your power more terrifying.


### Book:Image: The Dance of


### Book:the Veils—the veils


### Book:envelop the dancer.


### Book:What they reveal


### Book:causes excitement.


### Book:What they conceal


### Book:heightens interest. The


### Book:essence of mystery.Authority: If you do not declare yourself immediately, you arouse


### Book:expectation…. Mix a little mystery with everything, and the very


### Book:mystery stirs up veneration. And when you explain, be not too


### Book:explicit…. In this manner you imitate the Divine way when you cause


### Book:men to wonder and watch. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:In the beginning of your rise to the top, you must attract attention at all


### Book:cost, but as you rise higher you must constantly adapt. Never wear the


### Book:public out with the same tactic. An air of mystery works wonders for


### Book:those who need to develop an aura of power and get themselves noticed,


### Book:but it must seem measured and under control. Mata Hari went too far


### Book:with her fabrications; although the accusation that she was a spy was


### Book:false, at the time it was a reasonable presumption because all her lies


### Book:made her seem suspicious and nefarious. Do not let your air of mystery


### Book:be slowly transformed into a reputation for deceit. The mystery you


### Book:create must seem a game, playful and unthreatening. Recognize when it


### Book:goes too far, and pull back.