### Book:But this aura fades when you know too much—when your imagination


### Book:no longer has room to roam. The loved one becomes a person like


### Book:anyone else, a person whose presence is taken for granted. This is why


### Book:the seventeenth-century French courtesan Ninon de Lenclos advised


### Book:constant feints at withdrawal from one’s lover. “Love never dies of


### Book:starvation,” she wrote, “but often of indigestion.”


### Book:The moment you allow yourself to be treated like anyone else, it is too


### Book:late—you are swallowed and digested. To prevent this you need to starve


### Book:the other person of your presence. Force their respect by threatening


### Book:them with the possibility that they will lose you for good; create a pattern


### Book:of presence and absence.


### Book:Once you die, everything about you will seem different. You will be


### Book:surrounded by an instant aura of respect. People will remember their


### Book:criticisms of you, their arguments with you, and will be filled with regret


### Book:and guilt. They are missing a presence that will never return. But you do


### Book:not have to wait until you die: By completely withdrawing for a while,


### Book:you create a kind of death before death. And when you come back, it will


### Book:be as if you had come back from the dead—an air of resurrection will


### Book:cling to you, and people will be relieved at your return. This is how


### Book:Deioces made himself king.


### Book:Napoleon was recognizing the law of absence and presence when he


### Book:said, “If I am often seen at the theater, people will cease to notice me.”


### Book:Today, in a world inundated with presence through the flood of images,


### Book:the game of withdrawal is all the more powerful. We rarely know when


### Book:to withdraw anymore, and nothing seems private, so we are awed byanyone who is able to disappear by choice. Novelists J. D. Salinger and


### Book:Thomas Pynchon have created cultlike followings by knowing when to


### Book:disappear.


### Book:Another, more everyday side of this law, but one that demonstrates its


### Book:truth even further, is the law of scarcity in the science of economics. By


### Book:withdrawing something from the market, you create instant value. In


### Book:seventeenth-century Holland, the upper classes wanted to make the tulip


### Book:more than just a beautiful flower—they wanted it to be a kind of status


### Book:symbol. Making the flower scarce, indeed almost impossible to obtain,


### Book:they sparked what was later called tulipomania. A single flower was now


### Book:worth more than its weight in gold. In our own century, similarly, the art


### Book:dealer Joseph Duveen insisted on making the paintings he sold as scarce


### Book:and rare as possible. To keep their prices elevated and their status high,


### Book:he bought up whole collections and stored them in his basement. The


### Book:paintings that he sold became more than just paintings—they were fetish


### Book:objects, their value increased by their rarity. “You can get all the pictures


### Book:you want at fifty thousand dollars apiece—that’s easy,” he once said.


### Book:“But to get pictures at a quarter of a million apiece—that wants doing!”


### Book:Image:


### Book:The Sun. It can only be


### Book:appreciated by its absence.


### Book:The longer the days of rain, the


### Book:more the sun is craved. But too many


### Book:hot days and the sun overwhelms.


### Book:Learn to keep yourself obscure and


### Book:make people demand your return.


### Book:Extend the law of scarcity to your own skills. Make what you are


### Book:offering the world rare and hard to find, and you instantly increase its


### Book:value.


### Book:There always comes a moment when those in power overstay their


### Book:welcome. We have grown tired of them, lost respect for them; we see


### Book:them as no different from the rest of mankind, which is to say that we see


### Book:them as rather worse, since we inevitably compare their current status in


### Book:our eyes to their former one. There is an art to knowing when to retire. If


### Book:it is done right, you regain the respect you had lost, and retain a part of


### Book:your power.


### Book:The greatest ruler of the sixteenth century was Charles V. King of


### Book:Spain, Hapsburg emperor, he governed an empire that at one point


### Book:included much of Europe and the New World. Yet at the height of hispower, in 1557, he retired to the monastery of Yuste. All of Europe was


### Book:captivated by his sudden withdrawal; people who had hated and feared


### Book:him suddenly called him great, and he came to be seen as a saint. In


### Book:more recent times, the film actress Greta Garbo was never more admired


### Book:than when she retired, in 1941. For some her absence came too soon—


### Book:she was in her mid-thirties—but she wisely preferred to leave on her own


### Book:terms, rather than waiting for her audience to grow tired of her.


### Book:Make yourself too available and the aura of power you have created


### Book:around yourself will wear away. Turn the game around: Make yourself


### Book:less accessible and you increase the value of your presence.


### Book:Authority:


### Book:Use absence to create


### Book:respect and esteem. If presence


### Book:diminishes fame, absence augments it.


### Book:A man who when absent is regarded as a


### Book:lion becomes when present something com


### Book:mon and ridiculous. Talents lose their luster


### Book:if we become too familiar with them, for the


### Book:outer shell of the mind is more readily seen


### Book:than its rich inner kernel. Even the outstand


### Book:ing genius makes use of retirement so that


### Book:men may honor him and so that the


### Book:yearning aroused by his absence


### Book:may cause him to be esteemed.


### Book:(Baltasar Gracián,


### Book:1601-1658)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:This law only applies once a certain level of power has been attained.


### Book:The need to withdraw only comes after you have established your


### Book:presence; leave too early and you do not increase your respect, you are


### Book:simply forgotten. When you are first entering onto the world’s stage,


### Book:create an image that is recognizable, reproducible, and is seen


### Book:everywhere. Until that status is attained, absence is dangerous—instead


### Book:of fanning the flames, it will extinguish them.In love and seduction, similarly, absence is only effective once you


### Book:have surrounded the other with your image, been seen by him or her


### Book:everywhere. Everything must remind your lover of your presence, so that


### Book:when you do choose to be away, the lover will always be thinking of


### Book:you, will always be seeing you in his or her mind’s eye.


### Book:Remember: In the beginning, make yourself not scarce but


### Book:omnipresent. Only what is seen, appreciated, and loved will be missed in


### Book:its absence.LAW 17


### Book:KEEP OTHERS IN SUSPENDED TERROR:


### Book:CULTIVATE AN AIR OF UNPREDICTABILITY


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity


### Book:in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of


### Book:control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that


### Book:seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and


### Book:they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an


### Book:extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:In May of 1972, chess champion Boris Spassky anxiously awaited his


### Book:rival Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik, Iceland. The two men had been


### Book:scheduled to meet for the World Championship of Chess, but Fischer had


### Book:not arrived on time and the match was on hold. Fischer had problems


### Book:with the size of the prize money, problems with the way the money was


### Book:to be distributed, problems with the logistics of holding the match in


### Book:Iceland. He might back out at any moment.


### Book:Spassky tried to be patient. His Russian bosses felt that Fischer was


### Book:humiliating him and told him to walk away, but Spassky wanted this


### Book:match. He knew he could destroy Fischer, and nothing was going to spoil


### Book:the greatest victory of his career. “So it seems that all our work may


### Book:come to nothing,” Spassky told a comrade. “But what can we do? It is


### Book:Bobby’s move. If he comes, we play. If he does not come, we do not


### Book:play. A man who is willing to commit suicide has the initiative.”Fischer finally arrived in Reykjavik, but the problems, and the threat


### Book:of cancellation, continued. He disliked the hall where the match was to


### Book:be fought, he criticized the lighting, he complained about the noise of the


### Book:cameras, he even hated the chairs in which he and Spassky were to sit.


### Book:Now the Soviet Union took the initiative and threatened to withdraw


### Book:their man.


### Book:The bluff apparently worked: After all the weeks of waiting, the


### Book:endless and infuriating negotiations, Fischer agreed to play. Everyone


### Book:was relieved, no one more than Spassky. But on the day of the official


### Book:introductions, Fischer arrived very late, and on the day when the “Match


### Book:of the Century” was to begin, he was late again. This time, however, the


### Book:consequences would be dire: If he showed up too late he would forfeit


### Book:the first game. What was going on? Was he playing some sort of mind


### Book:game? Or was Bobby Fischer perhaps afraid of Boris Spassky? It seemed


### Book:to the assembled grand masters, and to Spassky, that this young kid from


### Book:Brooklyn had a terrible case of the jitters. At 5:09 Fischer showed up,


### Book:exactly one minute before the match was to be canceled.


### Book:The first game of a chess tournament is critical, since it sets the tone


### Book:for the months to come. It is often a slow and quiet struggle, with the two


### Book:players preparing themselves for the war and trying to read each other’s


### Book:strategies. This game was different. Fischer made a terrible move early


### Book:on, perhaps the worst of his career, and when Spassky had him on the


### Book:ropes, he seemed to give up. Yet Spassky knew that Fischer never gave


### Book:up. Even when facing checkmate, he fought to the bitter end, wearing the


### Book:opponent down. This time, though, he seemed resigned. Then suddenly


### Book:he broke out a bold move that put the room in a buzz. The move shocked


### Book:Spassky, but he recovered and managed to win the game. But no one


### Book:could figure out what Fischer was up to. Had he lost deliberately? Or


### Book:was he rattled? Unsettled? Even, as some thought, insane?


### Book:After his defeat in the first game, Fischer complained all the more


### Book:loudly about the room, the cameras, and everything else. He also failed


### Book:to show up on time for the second game. This time the organizers had


### Book:had enough: He was given a forfeit. Now he was down two games to


### Book:none, a position from which no one had ever come back to win a chess


### Book:championship. Fischer was clearly unhinged. Yet in the third game, as all


### Book:those who witnessed it remember, he had a ferocious look in his eye, a


### Book:look that clearly bothered Spassky. And despite the hole he had dug for


### Book:himself, he seemed supremely confident. He did make what appeared to


### Book:be another blunder, as he had in the first game—but his cocky air made


### Book:Spassky smell a trap. Yet despite the Russian’s suspicions, he could notfigure out the trap, and before he knew it Fischer had checkmated him.


### Book:In fact Fischer’s unorthodox tactics had completely unnerved his


### Book:opponent. At the end of the game, Fischer leaped up and rushed out,


### Book:yelling to his confederates as he smashed a fist into his palm, “I’m


### Book:crushing him with brute force!”


### Book:In the next games Fischer pulled moves that no one had seen from him


### Book:before, moves that were not his style. Now Spassky started to make


### Book:blunders. After losing the sixth game, he started to cry. One grand master


### Book:said, “After this, Spassky’s got to ask himself if it’s safe to go back to


### Book:Russia.” After the eighth game Spassky decided he knew what was


### Book:happening: Bobby Fischer was hypnotizing him. He decided not to look


### Book:Fischer in the eye; he lost anyway.


### Book:After the fourteenth game he called a staff conference and announced,


### Book:“An attempt is being made to control my mind.” He wondered whether


### Book:the orange juice they drank at the chess table could have been drugged.


### Book:Maybe chemicals were being blown into the air. Finally Spassky went


### Book:public, accusing the Fischer team of putting something in the chairs that


### Book:was altering Spassky’s mind. The KGB went on alert: Boris Spassky was


### Book:embarrassing the Soviet Union!


### Book:The chairs were taken apart and X-rayed. A chemist found nothing


### Book:unusual in them. The only things anyone found anywhere, in fact, were


### Book:two dead flies in a lighting fixture. Spassky began to complain of


### Book:hallucinations. He tried to keep playing, but his mind was unraveling. He


### Book:could not go on. On September 2, he resigned. Although still relatively


### Book:young, he never recovered from this defeat.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:In previous games between Fischer and Spassky, Fischer had not fared


### Book:well. Spassky had an uncanny ability to read his opponent’s strategy and


### Book:use it against him. Adaptable and patient, he would build attacks that


### Book:would defeat not in seven moves but in seventy. He defeated Fischer


### Book:every time they played because he saw much further ahead, and because


### Book:he was a brilliant psychologist who never lost control. One master said,


### Book:“He doesn’t just look for the best move. He looks for the move that will


### Book:disturb the man he is playing.”


### Book:Fischer, however, finally understood that this was one of the keys to


### Book:Spassky’s success: He played on your predictability, defeated you at your


### Book:own game. Everything Fischer did for the championship match was anattempt to put the initiative on his side and to keep Spassky off-balance.


### Book:Clearly the endless waiting had an effect on Spassky’s psyche. Most


### Book:powerful of all, though, were Fischer’s deliberate blunders and his


### Book:appearance of having no clear strategy. In fact, he was doing everything


### Book:he could to scramble his old patterns, even if it meant losing the first


### Book:match and forfeiting the second.


### Book:Spassky was known for his sangfroid and levelheadedness, but for the


### Book:first time in his life he could not figure out his opponent. He slowly


### Book:melted down, until at the end he was the one who seemed insane.


### Book:Chess contains the concentrated essence of life: First, because to win


### Book:you have to be supremely patient and farseeing; and second, because the


### Book:game is built on patterns, whole sequences of moves that have been


### Book:played before and will be played again, with slight alterations, in any one


### Book:match. Your opponent analyzes the patterns you are playing and uses


### Book:them to try to foresee your moves. Allowing him nothing predictable to


### Book:base his strategy on gives you a big advantage. In chess as in life, when


### Book:people cannot figure out what you are doing, they are kept in a state of


### Book:terror—waiting, uncertain, confused.


### Book:Life at court is a serious, melancholy game of chess, which requires us to


### Book:draw


### Book:up our pieces and batteries, form a plan, pursue it, parry that of our


### Book:adversary. Sometimes, however, it is better to take risks


### Book:and play the most capricious, unpredictable move.


### Book:Jean de La Bruyère, 1645-1696


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:Nothing is more terrifying than the sudden and unpredictable. That is


### Book:why we are so frightened by earthquakes and tornadoes: We do not know


### Book:when they will strike. After one has occurred, we wait in terror for the


### Book:next one. To a lesser degree, this is the effect that unpredictable human


### Book:behavior has on us.


### Book:Animals behave in set patterns, which is why we are able to hunt and


### Book:kill them. Only man has the capacity to consciously alter his behavior, to


### Book:improvise and overcome the weight of routine and habit. Yet most men


### Book:do not realize this power. They prefer the comforts of routine, of giving


### Book:in to the animal nature that has them repeating the same compulsiveactions time and time again. They do this because it requires no effort,


### Book:and because they mistakenly believé that if they do not unsettle others,


### Book:they will be left alone. Understand: A person of power instills a kind of


### Book:fear by deliberately unsettling those around him to keep the initiative on


### Book:his side. You sometimes need to strike without warning, to make others


### Book:tremble when they least expect it. It is a device that the powerful have


### Book:used for centuries.


### Book:Filippo Maria, the last of the Visconti dukes of Milan in fifteenth-


### Book:century Italy, consciously did the opposite of what everyone expected of


### Book:him. For instance, he might suddenly shower a courtier with attention,


### Book:and then, once the man had come to expect a promotion to higher office,


### Book:would suddenly start treating him with the utmost disdain. Confused, the


### Book:man might leave the court, when the duke would suddenly recall him and


### Book:start treating him well again. Doubly confused, the courtier would


### Book:wonder whether his assumption that he would be promoted had become


### Book:obvious, and offensive, to the duke, and would start to behave as if he no


### Book:longer expected such honor. The duke would rebuke him for his lack of


### Book:ambition and would send him away.


### Book:The secret of dealing with Filippo was simple: Do not presume to


### Book:know what he wants. Do not try to guess what will please him. Never


### Book:inject your will; just surrender to his will. Then wait to see what happens.


### Book:Amidst the confusion and uncertainty he created, the duke ruled


### Book:supreme, unchallenged and at peace.


### Book:Unpredictability is most often the tactic of the master, but the


### Book:underdog too can use it to great effect. If you find yourself outnumbered


### Book:or cornered, throw in a series of unpredictable moves. Your enemies will


### Book:be so confused that they will pull back or make a tactical blunder.


### Book:In the spring of 1862, during the American Civil War, General


### Book:Stonewall Jackson and a force of 4,600 Confederate soldiers were


### Book:tormenting the larger Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley.


### Book:Meanwhile, not far away, General George Brinton McClellan, heading a


### Book:force of 90,000 Union soldiers, was marching south from Washington,


### Book:D.C., to lay siege to Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. As the


### Book:weeks of the campaign went by, Jackson repeatedly led his soldiers out


### Book:of the Shenandoah Valley, then back to it.


### Book:His movements made no sense. Was he preparing to help defend


### Book:Richmond? Was he marching on Washington, now that McClellan’s


### Book:absence had left it unprotected? Was he heading north to wreak havoc up


### Book:there? Why was his small force moving in circles?Jackson’s inexplicable moves made the Union generals delay the


### Book:march on Richmond as they waited to figure out what he was up to.


### Book:Meanwhile, the South was able to pour reinforcements into the town. A


### Book:battle that could have crushed the Confederacy turned into a stalemate.


### Book:Jackson used this tactic time and again when facing numerically superior


### Book:forces. “Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy, if possible,”


### Book:he said, “… such tactics will win every time and a small army may thus


### Book:destroy a large one.”


### Book:This law applies not only to war but to everyday situations. People are


### Book:always trying to read the motives behind your actions and to use your


### Book:predictability against you. Throw in a completely inexplicable move and


### Book:you put them on the defensive. Because they do not understand you, they


### Book:are unnerved, and in such a state you can easily intimidate them.


### Book:Pablo Picasso once remarked, “The best calculation is the absence of


### Book:calculation. Once you have attained a certain level of recognition, others


### Book:generally figure that when you do something, it’s for an intelligent


### Book:reason. So it’s really foolish to plot out your movements too carefully in


### Book:advance. You’re better off acting capriciously.”


### Book:For a while, Picasso worked with the art dealer Paul Rosenberg. At


### Book:first he allowed him a fair amount of latitude in handling his paintings,


### Book:then one day, for no apparent reason, he told the man he would no longer


### Book:give him any work to sell. As Picasso explained, “Rosenberg would


### Book:spend the next forty-eight hours trying to figure out why. Was I reserving


### Book:things for some other dealer? I’d go on working and sleeping and


### Book:Rosenberg would spend his time figuring. In two days he’d come back,


### Book:nerves jangled, anxious, saying, ‘After all, dear friend, you wouldn’t turn


### Book:me down if I offered you this much [naming a substantially higher


### Book:figure] for those paintings rather than the price I’ve been accustomed to


### Book:paying you, would you?”’


### Book:Unpredictability is not only a weapon of terror: Scrambling your


### Book:patterns on a day-to-day basis will cause a stir around you and stimulate


### Book:interest. People will talk about you, ascribe motives and explanations


### Book:that have nothing to do with the truth, but that keep you constantly in


### Book:their minds. In the end, the more capricious you appear, the more respect


### Book:you will garner. Only the terminally subordinate act in a predictable


### Book:manner.


### Book:Image: The Cyclone. A


### Book:wind that cannot be fore


### Book:seen. Sudden shifts in


### Book:the barometer, inexplicable changes


### Book:in direction and


### Book:velocity. There is


### Book:no defense: A


### Book:cyclone sows


### Book:terror and


### Book:confusion.


### Book:Authority: The enlightened ruler is so mysterious that he seems to dwell


### Book:nowhere, so inexplicable that no one can seek him. He reposes in


### Book:nonaction above, and his ministers tremble below. (Han-fei-tzu, Chinese


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


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:Sometimes predictability can work in your favor: By creating a pattern


### Book:for people to be familiar and comfortable with, you can lull them to


### Book:sleep. They have prepared everything according to their preconceived


### Book:notions about you. You can use this in several ways: First, it sets up a


### Book:smoke screen, a comfortable front behind which you can carry on


### Book:deceptive actions. Second, it allows you on rare occasions to do


### Book:something completely against the pattern, unsettling your opponent so


### Book:deeply he will fall to the ground without being pushed.


### Book:In 1974 Muhammad Ali and George Foreman were scheduled to fight


### Book:for the world heavyweight boxing championship. Everyone knew what


### Book:would happen: Big George Foreman would try to land a knockout punch


### Book:while Ali would dance around him, wearing him out. That was Ali’s way


### Book:of fighting, his pattern, and he had not changed it in more than ten years.


### Book:But in this case it seemed to give Foreman the advantage: He had a


### Book:devastating punch, and if he waited, sooner or later Ali would have to


### Book:come to him. Ali, the master strategist, had other plans: In press


### Book:conferences before the big fight, he said he was going to change his style


### Book:and punch it out with Foreman. No one, least of all Foreman, believedthis for a second. That plan would be suicide on Ali’s part; he was


### Book:playing the comedian, as usual. Then, before the fight, Ali’s trainer


### Book:loosened the ropes around the ring, something a trainer would do if his


### Book:boxer were intending to slug it out. But no one believed this ploy; it had


### Book:to be a setup.


### Book:To everyone’s amazement, Ali did exactly what he had said he would


### Book:do. As Foreman waited for him to dance around, Ali went right up to him


### Book:and slugged it out. He completely upset his opponent’s strategy. At a


### Book:loss, Foreman ended up wearing himself out, not by chasing Ali but by


### Book:throwing punches wildly, and taking more and more counterpunches.


### Book:Finally, Ali landed a dramatic right cross that knocked out Foreman. The


### Book:habit of assuming that a person’s behavior will fit its previous patterns is


### Book:so strong that not even Ali’s announcement of a strategy change was


### Book:enough to upset it. Foreman walked into a trap—the trap he had been


### Book:told to expect.


### Book:A warning: Unpredictability can work against you sometimes,


### Book:especially if you are in a subordinate position. There are times when it is


### Book:better to let people feel comfortable and settled around you than to


### Book:disturb them. Too much unpredictability will be seen as a sign of


### Book:indecisiveness, or even of some more serious psychic problem. Patterns


### Book:are powerful, and you can terrify people by disrupting them. Such power


### Book:should only be used judiciously.LAW 18


### Book:DO NOT BUILD FORTRESSES TO PROTECT


### Book:YOURSELF—ISOLATION IS DANGEROUS


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere—everyone has to


### Book:protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you


### Book:to more dangers than it Protects you from—it cuts you off from valuable


### Book:information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to


### Book:circulate among people, find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your


### Book:enemies by the crowd.


### Book:TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW


### Book:Ch‘in Shih Huang Ti, the first emperor of China (221-210 B.C.), was the


### Book:mightiest man of his day. His empire was vaster and more powerful than


### Book:that of Alexander the Great. He had conquered all of the kingdoms


### Book:surrounding his own kingdom of Ch’in and unified them into one


### Book:massive realm called China. But in the last years of his life, few, if


### Book:anyone, saw him.


### Book:The emperor lived in the most magnificent palace built to that date, in


### Book:the capital of Hsien-yang. The palace had 270 pavilions; all of these


### Book:were connected by secret underground passageways, allowing the


### Book:emperor to move through the palace without anyone seeing him. He slept


### Book:in a different room every night, and anyone who inadvertently laid eyes


### Book:on him was instantly beheaded. Only a handful of men knew his


### Book:whereabouts, and if they revealed it to anyone, they, too, were put to


### Book:death.The first emperor had grown so terrified of human contact that when


### Book:he had to leave the palace he traveled incognito, disguising himself


### Book:carefully. On one such trip through the provinces, he suddenly died. His


### Book:body was borne back to the capital in the emperor’s carriage, with a cart


### Book:packed with salted fish trailing behind it to cover up the smell of the


### Book:rotting corpse—no one was to know of his death. He died alone, far from


### Book:his wives, his family, his friends, and his courtiers, accompanied only by


### Book:a minister and a handful of eunuchs.


### Book:IIII MASQU I OI IIII. RI.DDI ATH


### Book:The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had


### Book:ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatur and its seal—the


### Book:redness and horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden


### Book:dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution…. And


### Book:the whole seizure, progress, and termination of the disease, were the


### Book:incidents of half an hour. But the Prince Prospero was happy and


### Book:dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half-depopulated, he


### Book:summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends


### Book:from among the knight, and dames of his court, and with these retired to


### Book:the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive


### Book:and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet


### Book:august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of


### Book:iron. The courtier.s, having entered, brought furnaces and massy


### Book:hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of


### Book:ingress nor egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from


### Book:within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the


### Book:courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take


### Book:care of itself In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The


### Book:prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons,


### Book:there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were


### Book:musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were


### Book:within. Without was the “Red Death.” It was toward the close of the fifth


### Book:or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most


### Book:furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand


### Book:friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence. It was a


### Book:voluptuous scene, that masquerade…. … And the revel went whirlingly


### Book:on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the


### Book:clock…. And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes


### Book:of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were manyindividuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of the


### Book:presence of a masked fzgecre which had arrested the attention of no


### Book:single individual before…. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded


### Book:from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which


### Book:concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of


### Book:a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in


### Book:detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have been endured, if not


### Book:approved, by the mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far


### Book:as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood


### Book:—and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was sprinkled


### Book:with the scarlet horror … … A throng of the revellers at once threw


### Book:themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall


### Book:figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock,


### Book:gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and corpse-


### Book:like mask, which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by


### Book:any tangible form. And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red


### Book:Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the


### Book:revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the


### Book:despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out


### Book:with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And


### Book:Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over


### Book:all.


### Book:THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEAIH, EDGAR ALLAN POE, 1809-


### Book:1849


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Shih Huang Ti started off as the king of Ch’in, a fearless warrior of


### Book:unbridled ambition. Writers of the time described him as a man with “a


### Book:waspish nose, eyes like slits, the voice of a jackal, and the heart of a tiger


### Book:or wolf.” He could be merciful sometimes, but more often he


### Book:“swallowed men up without a scruple.” It was through trickery and


### Book:violence that he conquered the provinces surrounding his own and


### Book:created China, forging a single nation and culture out of many. He broke


### Book:up the feudal system, and to keep an eye on the many members of the


### Book:royal families that were scattered across the realm’s various kingdoms,


### Book:he moved 120,000 of them to the capital, where he housed the most


### Book:important courtiers in the vast palace of Hsien-yang. He consolidated themany walls on the borders and built them into the Great Wall of China.


### Book:He standardized the country’s laws, its written language, even the size of


### Book:its cartwheels.


### Book:As part of this process of unification, however, the first emperor


### Book:outlawed the writings and teachings of Confucius, the philosopher whose


### Book:ideas on the moral life had already become virtually a religion in Chinese


### Book:culture. On Shih Huang Ti’s order, thousands of books relating to


### Book:Confucius were burned, and anyone who quoted Confucius was to be


### Book:beheaded. This made many enemies for the emperor, and he grew


### Book:constantly afraid, even paranoid. The executions mounted. A


### Book:contemporary, the writer Han-fei-tzu, noted that “Ch’in has been


### Book:victorious for four generations, yet has lived in constant terror and


### Book:apprehension of destruction.”


### Book:As the emperor withdrew deeper and deeper into the palace to protect


### Book:himself, he slowly lost control of the realm. Eunuchs and ministers


### Book:enacted political policies without his approval or even his knowledge;


### Book:they also plotted against him. By the end, he was emperor in name only,


### Book:and was so isolated that barely anyone knew he had died. He had


### Book:probably been poisoned by the same scheming ministers who


### Book:encouraged his isolation.


### Book:That is what isolation brings: Retreat into a fortress and you lose


### Book:contact with the sources of your power. You lose your ear for what is


### Book:happening around you, as well as a sense of proportion. Instead of being


### Book:safer, you cut yourself off from the kind of knowledge on which your life


### Book:depends. Never enclose yourself so far from the streets that you cannot


### Book:hear what is happening around you, including the plots against you.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:Louis XIV had the palace of Versailles built for him and his court in the


### Book:1660s, and it was like no other royal palace in the world. As in a beehive,


### Book:everything revolved around the royal person. He lived surrounded by the


### Book:nobility, who were allotted apartments nestled around his, their closeness


### Book:to him dependent on their rank. The king’s bedroom occupied the literal


### Book:center of the palace and was the focus of everyone’s attention. Every


### Book:morning the king was greeted in this room by a ritual known as the lever.At eight A.M., the king’s first valet, who slept at the foot of the royal


### Book:bed, would awaken His Majesty. Then pages would open the door and


### Book:admit those who had a function in the lever. The order of their entry was


### Book:precise: First came the king’s illegitimate sons and his grandchildren,


### Book:then the princes and princesses of the blood, and then his physician and


### Book:surgeon. There followed the grand officers of the wardrobe, the king’s


### Book:official reader, and those in charge of entertaining the king. Next would


### Book:arrive various government officials, in ascending order of rank. Last but


### Book:not least came those attending the lever by special invitation. By the end


### Book:of the ceremony, the room would be packed with well over a hundred


### Book:royal attendants and visitors.


### Book:The day was organized so that all the palace’s energy was directed at


### Book:and passed through the king. Louis was constantly attended by courtiers


### Book:and officials, all asking for his advice and judgment. To all their


### Book:questions he usually replied, “I shall see.”


### Book:As Saint-Simon noted, “If he turned to someone, asked him a


### Book:question, made an insignificant remark, the eyes of all present were


### Book:turned on this person. It was a distinction that was talked of and


### Book:increased prestige.” There was no possibility of privacy in the palace, not


### Book:even for the king—every room communicated with another, and every


### Book:hallway led to larger rooms where groups of nobles gathered constantly.


### Book:Everyone’s actions were interdependent, and nothing and no one passed


### Book:unnoticed: “The king not only saw to it that all the high nobility was


### Book:present at his court,” wrote Saint-Simon, “he demanded the same of the


### Book:minor nobility. At his lever and coucher, at his meals, in his gardens of


### Book:Versailles, he always looked about him, noticing everything. He was


### Book:offended if the most distinguished nobles did not live permanently at


### Book:court, and those who showed themselves never or hardly ever, incurred


### Book:his full displeasure. If one of these desired something, the king would


### Book:say proudly: ‘I do not know him,’ and the judgment was irrevocable.”


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Louis XIV came to power at the end of a terrible civil war, the Fronde. A


### Book:principal instigator of the war had been the nobility, which deeply


### Book:resented the growing power of the throne and yearned for the days of


### Book:feudalism, when the lords ruled their own fiefdoms and the king had


### Book:little authority over them. The nobles had lost the civil war, but they


### Book:remained a fractious, resentful lot.The construction of Versailles, then, was far more than the decadent


### Book:whim of a luxury-loving king. It served a crucial function: The king


### Book:could keep an eye and an ear on everyone and everything around him.


### Book:The once proud nobility was reduced to squabbling over the right to help


### Book:the king put on his robes in the morning. There was no possibility here of


### Book:privacy—no possibility of isolation. Louis XIV very early grasped the


### Book:truth that for a king to isolate himself is gravely dangerous. In his


### Book:absence, conspiracies will spring up like mushrooms after rain,


### Book:animosities will crystallize into factions, and rebellion will break out


### Book:before he has the time to react. To combat this, sociability and openness


### Book:must not only be encouraged, they must be formally organized and


### Book:channeled.


### Book:These conditions at Versailles lasted for Louis’s entire reign, some


### Book:fifty years of relative peace and tranquillity. Through it all, not a pin


### Book:dropped without Louis hearing it.


### Book:Solitude is dangerous to reason, without being favorable to virtue….


### Book:Remember that the solitary mortal is certainly luxurious,


### Book:probably superstitious, and possibly mad.


### Book:Dr. Samuel John son, 1709-1784


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:Machiavelli makes the argument that in a strictly military sense a fortress


### Book:is invariably a mistake. It becomes a symbol of power’s isolation, and is


### Book:an easy target for its builders’ enemies. Designed to defend you,


### Book:fortresses actually cut you off from help and cut into your flexibility.


### Book:They may appear impregnable, but once you retire to one, everyone


### Book:knows where you are; and a siege does not have to succeed to turn your


### Book:fortress into a prison. With their small and confined spaces, fortresses are


### Book:also extremely vulnerable to the plague and contagious diseases. In a


### Book:strategic sense, the isolation of a fortress provides no protection, and


### Book:actually creates more problems than it solves.


### Book:Because humans are social creatures by nature, power depends on


### Book:social interaction and circulation. To make yourself powerful you must


### Book:place yourself at the center of things, as Louis XIV did at Versailles. All


### Book:activity should revolve around you, and you should be aware of


### Book:everything happening on the street, and of anyone who might behatching plots against you. The danger for most people comes when they


### Book:feel threatened. In such times they tend to retreat and close ranks, to find


### Book:security in a kind of fortress. In doing so, however, they come to rely for


### Book:information on a smaller and smaller circle, and lose perspective on


### Book:events around them. They lose maneuverability and become easy targets,


### Book:and their isolation makes them paranoid. As in warfare and most games


### Book:of strategy, isolation often precedes defeat and death.


### Book:In moments of uncertainty and danger, you need to fight this desire to


### Book:turn inward. Instead, make yourself more accessible, seek out old allies


### Book:and make new ones, force yourself into more and more different circles.


### Book:This has been the trick of powerful people for centuries.


### Book:The Roman statesman Cicero was born into the lower nobility, and


### Book:had little chance of power unless he managed to make a place for himself


### Book:among the aristocrats who controlled the city. He succeeded brilliantly,


### Book:identifying everyone with influence and figuring out how they were


### Book:connected to one another. He mingled everywhere, knew everyone, and


### Book:had such a vast network of connections that an enemy here could easily


### Book:be counterbalanced by an ally there.


### Book:The French statesman Talleyrand played the game the same way.


### Book:Although he came from one of the oldest aristocratic families in France,


### Book:he made a point of always staying in touch with what was happening in


### Book:the streets of Paris, allowing him to foresee trends and troubles. He even


### Book:got a certain pleasure out of mingling with shady criminal types, who


### Book:supplied him with valuable information. Every time there was a crisis, a


### Book:transition of power—the end of the Directory, the fall of Napoleon, the


### Book:abdication of Louis XVIII—he was able to survive and even thrive,


### Book:because he never closed himself up in a small circle but always forged


### Book:connections with the new order.


### Book:This law pertains to kings and queens, and to those of the highest


### Book:power: The moment you lose contact with your people, seeking security


### Book:in isolation, rebellion is brewing. Never imagine yourself so elevated that


### Book:you can afford to cut yourself off from even the lowest echelons. By


### Book:retreating to a fortress, you make yourself an easy target for your plotting


### Book:subjects, who view your isolation as an insult and a reason for rebellion.


### Book:Since humans are such social creatures, it follows that the social arts


### Book:that make us pleasant to be around can be practiced only by constant


### Book:exposure and circulation. The more you are in contact with others, the


### Book:more graceful and at ease you become. Isolation, on the other hand,


### Book:engenders an awkwardness in your gestures, and leads to further


### Book:isolation, as people start avoiding you.In 1545 Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici decided that to ensure the


### Book:immortality of his name he would commission frescoes for the main


### Book:chapel of the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. He had many great


### Book:painters to choose from, and in the end he picked Jacopo da Pontormo.


### Book:Getting on in years, Pontormo wanted to make these frescoes his chef


### Book:d’oeuvre and legacy. His first decision was to close the chapel off with


### Book:walls, partitions, and blinds. He wanted no one to witness the creation of


### Book:his masterpiece, or to steal his ideas. He would outdo Michelangelo


### Book:himself. When some young men broke into the chapel out of curiosity,


### Book:Jacopo sealed it off even further.


### Book:Pontormo filled the chapel’s ceiling with biblical scenes—the


### Book:Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, on and on. At the top of the middle


### Book:wall he painted Christ in his majesty, raising the dead on Judgment Day.


### Book:The artist worked on the chapel for eleven years, rarely leaving it, since


### Book:he had developed a phobia for human contact and was afraid his ideas


### Book:would be stolen.


### Book:Pontormo died before completing the frescoes, and none of them has


### Book:survived. But the great Renaissance writer Vasari, a friend of Pontormo’s


### Book:who saw the frescoes shortly after the artist’s death, left a description of


### Book:what they looked like. There was a total lack of proportion. Scenes


### Book:bumped against scenes, figures in one story being juxtaposed with those


### Book:in another, in maddening numbers. Pontormo had become obsessed with


### Book:detail but had lost any sense of the overall composition. Vasari left off


### Book:his description of the frescoes by writing that if he continued, “I think I


### Book:would go mad and become entangled in this painting, just as I believe


### Book:that in the eleven years of time Jacopo spent on it, he entangled himself


### Book:and anyone else who saw it.” Instead of crowning Pontormo’s career, the


### Book:work became his undoing.


### Book:These frescoes were visual equivalents of the effects of isolation on


### Book:the human mind: a loss of proportion, an obsession with detail combined


### Book:with an inability to see the larger picture, a kind of extravagant ugliness


### Book:that no longer communicates. Clearly, isolation is as deadly for the


### Book:creative arts as for the social arts. Shakespeare is the most famous writer


### Book:in history because, as a dramatist for the popular stage, he opened


### Book:himself up to the masses, making his work accessible to people no matter


### Book:what their education and taste. Artists who hole themselves up in their


### Book:fortress lose a sense of proportion, their work communicating only to


### Book:their small circle. Such art remains cornered and powerless.


### Book:Finally, since power is a human creation, it is inevitably increased by


### Book:contact with other people. Instead of falling into the fortress mentality,view the world in the following manner: It is like a vast Versailles, with


### Book:every room communicating with another. You need to be permeable, able


### Book:to float in and out of different circles and mix with different types. That


### Book:kind of mobility and social contact will protect you from plotters, who


### Book:will be unable to keep secrets from you, and from your enemies, who


### Book:will be unable to isolate you from your allies. Always on the move, you


### Book:mix and mingle in the rooms of the palace, never sitting or settling in one


### Book:place. No hunter can fix his aim on such a swift-moving creature.


### Book:Image: The Fortress. High


### Book:up on the hill, the citadel be


### Book:comes a symbol of all that is


### Book:hateful in power and authority.


### Book:The citizens of the town betray


### Book:you to the first enemy that comes.


### Book:Cut off from communication and in


### Book:telligence, the citadel falls with ease.


### Book:Authority: A good and wise prince, desirous of maintaining that


### Book:character, and to avoid giving the opportunity to his sons to become


### Book:oppressive, will never build fortresses, so that they may place their


### Book:reliance upon the good will of their subjects, and not upon the strength of


### Book:citadels. (Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:It is hardly ever right and propitious to choose isolation. Without keeping


### Book:an ear on what is happening in the streets, you will be unable to protect


### Book:yourself. About the only thing that constant human contact cannot


### Book:facilitate is thought. The weight of society’s pressure to conform, and the


### Book:lack of distance from other people, can make it impossible to think


### Book:clearly about what is going on around you. As a temporary recourse,


### Book:then, isolation can help you to gain perspective. Many a serious thinker


### Book:has been produced in prisons, where we have nothing to do but think.Machiavelli could write The Prince only once he found himself in exile


### Book:and isolated on a farm far from the political intrigues of Florence.


### Book:The danger is, however, that this kind of isolation will sire all kinds of


### Book:strange and perverted ideas. You may gain perspective on the larger


### Book:picture, but you lose a sense of your own smallness and limitations.


### Book:Also, the more isolated you are, the harder it is to break out of your


### Book:isolation when you choose to—it sinks you deep into its quicksand


### Book:without your noticing. If you need time to think, then, choose isolation


### Book:only as a last resort, and only in small doses. Be careful to keep your


### Book:way back into society open.LAW 19


### Book:KNOW WHO YOU’RE DEALING WITH—DO


### Book:NOT OFFEND THE WRONG PERSON


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never


### Book:assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way.


### Book:Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of


### Book:their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose


### Book:your victims and opponents carefully, then—never of fend or deceive the


### Book:wrong person.


### Book:OPPONENTS, SUCKERS, AND VICTIMS: Preliminary Typology In


### Book:your rise to power you will come across many breeds of opponent,


### Book:sucker, and victim. The highest form of the art of power is the ability to


### Book:distinguish the wolves from the lambs, the foxes from the hares, the


### Book:hawks from the vultures. If you make this distinction well, you will


### Book:succeed without needing to coerce anyone too much. But if you deal


### Book:blindly with whomever crosses your path, you will have a life of


### Book:constant sorrow, if you even live that long. Being able to recognize types


### Book:of people, and to act accordingly, is critical. The following are the five


### Book:most dangerous and difficult types of mark in the jungle, as identified by


### Book:artists—con and otherwise—of the past.


### Book:When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to


### Book:one who is not a poet.


### Book:FROM A CH’AN BUDDHIST CLASSIC, QUOTED IN THUNDER IN


### Book:THE SKY, TRANSLATED BY THOMAS CLEARY, 1993


### Book:The Arrogant and Proud Man. Although he may initially disguise it, this


### Book:man’s touchy pride makes him very dangerous. Any perceived slight will


### Book:lead to a vengeance of overwhelming violence. You may say to yourself,


### Book:“But I only said such-and-such at a party, where everyone was drunk….”


### Book:It does not matter. There is no sanity behind his overreaction, so do notwaste time trying to figure him out. If at any point in your dealings with


### Book:a person you sense an oversensitive and overactive pride, flee. Whatever


### Book:you are hoping for from him isn’t worth it.


### Book:THE REVENCE OF LOPE. DE AGI IRRE


### Book:[Lope de] Aguirre’s character is amply illustrated in an anecdote from


### Book:the chronicle of Garcilaso de la Vega, who related that in 1548 Aguirre


### Book:was a member of a platoon of soldiers escorting Indian slaves from the


### Book:mines at Potosi [Bolivia] to a royal treasury depot. The Indians were


### Book:illegally burdened with great quantities of silver, and a local official


### Book:arrested Aguirre, sentencing him to receive two hundred lashes in lieu of


### Book:a fine for oppressing the Indians. “The soldier Aguirre, having received


### Book:a notification of the sentence, besought the alcalde that, instead of


### Book:flogging him, he would put him to death, for that he was a gentleman by


### Book:birth…. All this had no effect on the alcalde, who ordered the


### Book:executioner to bring a beast, and execute the sentence. The executioner


### Book:came to the prison, and put Aguirre on the heast…. The beast was driven


### Book:on, and he received the lashes.…”


### Book:When freed, Aguirre announced his intention of killing the official who


### Book:had sentenced him, the alcalde Esquivel. Esquivel’s term of office expired


### Book:and he fled to Lima. three hundred twenty leagues away, bitt within


### Book:fifteen days Aguirre had tracked him there. The frightened judge


### Book:journeyed to Quito, a trip of four hundred leagues, and in twenty days


### Book:Aguirre arrived. “When Esquivel heard of his presence, ” according to


### Book:Garcilaso, “he made another journey of five hundred leagues to Cuzco;


### Book:but in a few days Aguirre also arrived, having travelled on foot and


### Book:without shoes, saying that a whipped man has no business to ride a


### Book:horse, or to go where he would be seen by others. In this way, Aguirre


### Book:followed his judge for three years, and four months.” Wearying of the


### Book:pursuit, Esquivel remained at Cuzco, a city so sternly governed that he


### Book:felt he would be safe from Aguirre. He took a house near the cathedral


### Book:and never ventured outdoors without a sword and a dagger. “However,


### Book:on a certain Monday, at noon, Aguirre entered his house, and having


### Book:walked all over it, and having traversed a corridor, a saloon, a chamber,


### Book:and an inner chamber where the judge kept his books, he at last found


### Book:him asleep over one of his books, and stabbed him to death. The


### Book:murderer then went out, but when he came to the door of the house, he


### Book:found that he had forgotten his hat, and had the temerity to return and


### Book:fetch it, and then walked down the street.”THE GOLDEN DREAM: SEEKERS OF EL DORADO, WALKER


### Book:CHAPMAN, 1967


### Book:The Hopelessly Insecure Man. This man is related to the proud and


### Book:arrogant type, but is less violent and harder to spot. His ego is fragile, his


### Book:sense of self insecure, and if he feels himself deceived or attacked, the


### Book:hurt will simmer. He will attack you in bites that will take forever to get


### Book:big enough for you to notice. If you find you have deceived or harmed


### Book:such a man, disappear for a long time. Do not stay around him or he will


### Book:nibble you to death.


### Book:Mr. Suspicion. Another variant on the breeds above, this is a future Joe


### Book:Stalin. He sees what he wants to see—usually the worst—in other


### Book:people, and imagines that everyone is after him. Mr. Suspicion is in fact


### Book:the least dangerous of the three: Genuinely unbalanced, he is easy to


### Book:deceive, just as Stalin himself was constantly deceived. Play on his


### Book:suspicious nature to get him to turn against other people. But if you do


### Book:become the target of his suspicions, watch out.


### Book:The Serpent with a Long Memory. If hurt or deceived, this man will


### Book:show no anger on the surface; he will calculate and wait. Then, when he


### Book:is in a position to turn the tables, he will exact a revenge marked by a


### Book:cold-blooded shrewdness. Recognize this man by his calculation and


### Book:cunning in the different areas of his life. He is usually cold and


### Book:unaffectionate. Be doubly careful of this snake, and if you have


### Book:somehow injured him, either crush him completely or get him out of


### Book:your sight.


### Book:The Plain, Unassuming, and Often Unintelligent Man. Ah, your ears


### Book:prick up when you find such a tempting victim. But this man is a lot


### Book:harder to deceive than you imagine. Falling for a ruse often takes


### Book:intelligence and imagination—a sense of the possible rewards. The blunt


### Book:man will not take the bait because he does not recognize it. He is that


### Book:unaware. The danger with this man is not that he will harm you or seek


### Book:revenge, but merely that he will waste your time, energy, resources, and


### Book:even your sanity in trying to deceive him. Have a test ready for a mark—


### Book:a joke, a story. If his reaction is utterly literal, this is the type you are


### Book:dealing with. Continue at your own risk.TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW


### Book:Transgression I


### Book:In the early part of the thirteenth century, Muhammad, the shah of


### Book:Khwarezm, managed after many wars to forge a huge empire, extending


### Book:west to present-day Turkey and south to Afghanistan. The empire’s


### Book:center was the great Asian capital of Samarkand. The shah had a


### Book:powerful, well-trained army, and could mobilize 200,000 warriors within


### Book:days.


### Book:In 1219 Muhammad received an embassy from a new tribal leader to


### Book:the east, Genghis Khan. The embassy included all sorts of gifts to the


### Book:great Muhammad, representing the finest goods from Khan’s small but


### Book:growing Mongol empire. Genghis Khan wanted to reopen the Silk Route


### Book:to Europe, and offered to share it with Muhammad, while promising


### Book:peace between the two empires.


### Book:Muhammad did not know this upstart from the east, who, it seemed to


### Book:him, was extremely arrogant to try to talk as an equal to one so clearly


### Book:his superior. He ignored Khan’s offer. Khan tried again: This time he sent


### Book:a caravan of a hundred camels filled with the rarest articles he had


### Book:plundered from China. Before the caravan reached Muhammad,


### Book:however, Inalchik, the governor of a region bordering on Samarkand,


### Book:seized it for himself, and executed its leaders.


### Book:Genghis Khan was sure that this was a mistake—that Inalchik had


### Book:acted without Muhammad’s approval. He sent yet another mission to


### Book:Muhammad, reiterating his offer and asking that the governor be


### Book:punished. This time Muhammad himself had one of the ambassadors


### Book:beheaded, and sent the other two back with shaved heads—a horrifying


### Book:insult in the Mongol code of honor. Khan sent a message to the shah:


### Book:“You have chosen war. What will happen will happen, and what it is to


### Book:be we know not; only God knows.” Mobilizing his forces, in 1220 he


### Book:attacked Inalchik’s province, where he seized the capital, captured the


### Book:governor, and ordered him executed by having molten silver poured into


### Book:his eyes and ears.


### Book:Over the next year, Khan led a series of guerrilla-like campaigns


### Book:against the shah’s much larger army. His method was totally novel for


### Book:the time—his soldiers could move very fast on horseback, and had


### Book:mastered the art of firing with bow and arrow while mounted. The speed


### Book:and flexibility of his forces allowed him to deceive Muhammad as to hisintentions and the directions of his movements. Eventually he managed


### Book:first to surround Samarkand, then to seize it. Muhammad fled, and a year


### Book:later died, his vast empire broken and destroyed. Genghis Khan was sole


### Book:master of Samarkand, the Silk Route, and most of northern Asia.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Never assume that the person you are dealing with is weaker or less


### Book:important than you are. Some men are slow to take offense, which may


### Book:make you misjudge the thickness of their skin, and fail to worry about


### Book:insulting them. But should you offend their honor and their pride, they


### Book:will overwhelm you with a violence that seems sudden and extreme


### Book:given their slowness to anger. If you want to turn people down, it is best


### Book:to do so politely and respectfully, even if you feel their request is


### Book:impudent or their offer ridiculous. Never reject them with an insult until


### Book:you know them better; you may be dealing with a Genghis Khan.


### Book:THE CROW AND THE SHEEP


### Book:A troublesome Crow seated herself on the back of a Sheep. The Sheep,


### Book:much against his will, carried her backward and forward for a long time,


### Book:and at last said, “If you had treated a dog in this way, you would have


### Book:had your deserts from his sharp teeth.”To this the Crow replied, “I


### Book:despise the weak, and yield to the strong. I know whom I may bully, and


### Book:whom I must flatter; and thus I hope to prolong my life to a good old


### Book:age.


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


### Book:Transgression II


### Book:In the late 1910s some of the best swindlers in America formed a con-


### Book:artist ring based in Denver, Colorado. In the winter months they would


### Book:spread across the southern states, plying their trade. In 1920 Joe Furey, a


### Book:leader of the ring, was working his way through Texas, making hundreds


### Book:of thousands of dollars with classic con games. In Fort Worth, he met a


### Book:sucker named J. Frank Norfleet, a cattleman who owned a large ranch.


### Book:Norfleet fell for the con. Convinced of the riches to come, he emptied his


### Book:bank account of $45,000 and handed it over to Furey and his


### Book:confederates. A few days later they gave him his “millions,” whichturned out to be a few good dollars wrapped around a packet of


### Book:newspaper clippings.


### Book:Furey and his men had worked such cons a hundred times before, and


### Book:the sucker was usually so embarrassed by his gullibility that he quietly


### Book:learned his lesson and accepted the loss. But Norfleet was not like other


### Book:suckers. He went to the police, who told him there was little they could


### Book:do. “Then I’ll go after those people myself,” Norfleet told the detectives.


### Book:“I’ll get them, too, if it takes the rest of my life.” His wife took over the


### Book:ranch as Norfleet scoured the country, looking for others who had been


### Book:fleeced in the same game. One such sucker came forward, and the two


### Book:men identified one of the con artists in San Francisco, and managed to


### Book:get him locked up. The man committed suicide rather than face a long


### Book:term in prison.


### Book:Norfleet kept going. He tracked down another of the con artists in


### Book:Montana, roped him like a calf, and dragged him through the muddy


### Book:streets to the town jail. He traveled not only across the country but to


### Book:England, Canada, and Mexico in search of Joe Furey, and also of Furey’s


### Book:right-hand man, W. B. Spencer. Finding Spencer in Montreal, Norfleet


### Book:chased him through the streets. Spencer escaped but the rancher stayed


### Book:on his trail and caught up with him in Salt Lake City. Preferring the


### Book:mercy of the law to Norfleet’s wrath, Spencer turned himself in.


### Book:Norfleet found Furey in Jacksonville, Florida, and personally hauled


### Book:him off to face justice in Texas. But he wouldn’t stop there: He


### Book:continued on to Denver, determined to break up the entire ring. Spending


### Book:not only large sums of money but another year of his life in the pursuit,


### Book:he managed to put all of the con ring’s leaders behind bars. Even some


### Book:he didn’t catch had grown so terrified of him that they too turned


### Book:themselves in.


### Book:After five years of hunting, Norfleet had single-handedly destroyed


### Book:the country’s largest confederation of con artists. The effort bankrupted


### Book:him and ruined his marriage, but he died a satisfied man.


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Most men accept the humiliation of being conned with a sense of


### Book:resignation. They learn their lesson, recognizing that there is no such


### Book:thing as a free lunch, and that they have usually been brought down by


### Book:their own greed for easy money. Some, however, refuse to take theirmedicine. Instead of reflecting on their own gullibility and avarice, they


### Book:see themselves as totally innocent victims.


### Book:Men like this may seem to be crusaders for justice and honesty, but


### Book:they are actually immoderately insecure. Being fooled, being conned, has


### Book:activated their self-doubt, and they are desperate to repair the damage.


### Book:Were the mortgage on Norfleet’s ranch, the collapse of his marriage, and


### Book:the years of borrowing money and living in cheap hotels worth his


### Book:revenge over his embarrassment at being fleeced? To the Norfleets of the


### Book:world, overcoming their embarrassment is worth any price.


### Book:All people have insecurities, and often the best way to deceive a


### Book:sucker is to play upon his insecurities. But in the realm of power,


### Book:everything is a question of degree, and the person who is decidedly more


### Book:insecure than the average mortal presents great dangers. Be warned: If


### Book:you practice deception or trickery of any sort, study your mark well.


### Book:Some people’s insecurity and ego fragility cannot tolerate the slightest


### Book:offense. To see if you are dealing with such a type, test them first—


### Book:make, say, a mild joke at their expense. A confident person will laugh; an


### Book:overly insecure one will react as if personally insulted. If you suspect


### Book:you are dealing with this type, find another victim.


### Book:Transgression III


### Book:In the fifth century B.C., Ch‘ung-erh, the prince of Ch’in (in present-day


### Book:China), had been forced into exile. He lived modestly—even, sometimes,


### Book:in poverty—waiting for the time when he could return home and resume


### Book:his princely life. Once he was passing through the state of Cheng, where


### Book:the ruler, not knowing who he was, treated him rudely. The ruler’s


### Book:minister, Shu Chan, saw this and said, “This man is a worthy prince.


### Book:May Your Highness treat him with great courtesy and thereby place him


### Book:under an obligation!” But the ruler, able to see only the prince’s lowly


### Book:station, ignored this advice and insulted the prince again. Shu Chan again


### Book:warned his master, saying, “If Your Highness cannot treat Ch’ung-erh


### Book:with courtesy, you should put him to death, to avoid calamity in the


### Book:future.” The ruler only scoffed.


### Book:Years later, the prince was finally able to return home, his


### Book:circumstances greatly changed. He did not forget who had been kind to


### Book:him, and who had been insolent, during his years of poverty. Least of all


### Book:did he forget his treatment at the hands of the ruler of Cheng. At his first


### Book:opportunity he assembled a vast army and marched on Cheng, takingeight cities, destroying the kingdom, and sending the ruler into an exile


### Book:of his own. Interpretation


### Book:You can never be sure who you are dealing with. A man who is of little


### Book:importance and means today can be a person of power tomorrow. We


### Book:forget a lot in our lives, but we rarely forget an insult.


### Book:How was the ruler of Cheng to know that Prince Ch’ung-erh was an


### Book:ambitious, calculating, cunning type, a serpent with a long memory?


### Book:There was really no way for him to know, you may say—but since there


### Book:was no way, it would have been better not to tempt the fates by finding


### Book:out. There is nothing to be gained by insulting a person unnecessarily.


### Book:Swallow the impulse to offend, even if the other person seems weak. The


### Book:satisfaction is meager compared to the danger that someday he or she


### Book:will be in a position to hurt you.


### Book:Transgression IV


### Book:The year of 1920 had been a particularly bad one for American art


### Book:dealers. Big buyers—the robber-baron generation of the previous century


### Book:—were getting to an age where they were dying off like flies, and no


### Book:new millionaires had emerged to take their place. Things were so bad


### Book:that a number of the major dealers decided to pool their resources, an


### Book:unheard-of event, since art dealers usually get along like cats and dogs.


### Book:Joseph Duveen, art dealer to the richest tycoons of America, was


### Book:suffering more than the others that year, so he decided to go along with


### Book:this alliance. The group now consisted of the five biggest dealers in the


### Book:country. Looking around for a new client, they decided that their last best


### Book:hope was Henry Ford, then the wealthiest man in America. Ford had yet


### Book:to venture into the art market, and he was such a big target that it made


### Book:sense for them to work together.


### Book:The dealers decided to assemble a list, “The 100 Greatest Paintings in


### Book:the World” (all of which they happened to have in stock), and to offer the


### Book:lot of them to Ford. With one purchase he could make himself the


### Book:world’s greatest collector. The consortium worked for weeks to produce


### Book:a magnificent object: a three-volume set of books containing beautiful


### Book:reproductions of the paintings, as well as scholarly texts accompanying


### Book:each picture. Next they made a personal visit to Ford at his home in


### Book:Dearborn, Michigan. There they were surprised by the simplicity of his


### Book:house: Mr. Ford was obviously an extremely unaffected man.Ford received them in his study. Looking through the book, he


### Book:expressed astonishment and delight. The excited dealers began


### Book:imagining the millions of dollars that would shortly flow into their


### Book:coffers. Finally, however, Ford looked up from the book and said,


### Book:“Gentlemen, beautiful books like these, with beautiful colored pictures


### Book:like these, must cost an awful lot!” “But Mr. Ford!” exclaimed Duveen,


### Book:“we don’t expect you to buy these books. We got them up especially for


### Book:you, to show you the pictures. These books are a present to you.” Ford


### Book:seemed puzzled. “Gentlemen,” he said, “it is extremely nice of you, but I


### Book:really don’t see how I can accept a beautiful, expensive present like this


### Book:from strangers.” Duveen explained to Ford that the reproductions in the


### Book:books showed paintings they had hoped to sell to him. Ford finally


### Book:understood. “But gentlemen,” he exclaimed, “what would I want with


### Book:the original pictures when the ones right here in these books are so


### Book:beautiful?”


### Book:Interpretation


### Book:Joseph Duveen prided himself on studying his victims and clients in


### Book:advance, figuring out their weaknesses and the peculiarities of their


### Book:tastes before he ever met them. He was driven by desperation to drop this


### Book:tactic just once, in his assault on Henry Ford. It took him months to


### Book:recover from his misjudgment, both mentally and monetarily. Ford was


### Book:the unassuming plain-man type who just isn’t worth the bother. He was


### Book:the incarnation of those literal-minded folk who do not possess enough


### Book:imagination to be deceived. From then on, Duveen saved his energies for


### Book:the Mellons and Mor gans of the world—men crafty enough for him to


### Book:entrap in his snares.


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:The ability to measure people and to know who you’re dealing with is


### Book:the most important skill of all in gathering and conserving power.


### Book:Without it you are blind: Not only will you offend the wrong people, you


### Book:will choose the wrong types to work on, and will think you are flattering


### Book:people when you are actually insulting them. Before embarking on any


### Book:move, take the measure of your mark or potential opponent. Otherwiseyou will waste time and make mistakes. Study people’s weaknesses, the


### Book:chinks in their armor, their areas of both pride and insecurity. Know their


### Book:ins and outs before you even decide whether or not to deal with them.


### Book:Two final words of caution: First, in judging and measuring your


### Book:opponent, never rely on your instincts. You will make the greatest


### Book:mistakes of all if you rely on such inexact indicators. Nothing can


### Book:substitute for gathering concrete knowledge. Study and spy on your


### Book:opponent for however long it takes; this will pay off in the long run.


### Book:Second, never trust appearances. Anyone with a serpent’s heart can


### Book:use a show of kindness to cloak it; a person who is blustery on the


### Book:outside is often really a coward. Learn to see through appearances and


### Book:their contradictions. Never trust the version that people give of


### Book:themselves—it is utterly unreliable.


### Book:Image: The Hunter. He does not lay the same trap for a wolf as for a fox.


### Book:He does not set bait where no one will take it. He knows his prey


### Book:thoroughly, its habits and hideaways, and hunts accordingly.


### Book:Authority: Be convinced, that there are no persons so insignificant and


### Book:inconsiderable, but may, some time or other, have it in their power to be


### Book:of use to you; which they certainly will not, if you have once shown


### Book:them contempt. Wrongs are often forgiven, but contempt never is. Our


### Book:pride remembers it for ever. (Lord Chesterfield, 1694-1773)


### Book:REVERSAL


### Book:What possible good can come from ignorance about other people? Learn


### Book:to tell the lions from the lambs or pay the price. Obey this law to its


### Book:fullest extent; it has no reversal—do not bother looking for one.LAW 20


### Book:DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE


### Book:JUDGMENT


### Book:It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side


### Book:or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become


### Book:the master of others—playing people against one another, making them


### Book:pursue you.


### Book:PART I: DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE, BUT BE COURTED


### Book:BY ALL


### Book:If you allow people to feel they possess you to any degree, you lose all


### Book:power over them. By not committing your affections, they will only try


### Book:harder to win you over. Stay aloof and you gain the power that comes


### Book:from their attention and frustrated desire. Play the Virgin Queen: Give


### Book:them hope but never satisfaction.


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:When Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England, in 1558, there


### Book:was much to-do about her finding a husband. The issue was debated in


### Book:Parliament, and was a main topic of conversation among Englishmen of


### Book:all classes; they often disagreed as to whom she should marry, but


### Book:everyone thought she should marry as soon as possible, for a queen must


### Book:have a king, and must bear heirs for the kingdom. The debates raged on


### Book:for years. Meanwhile the most handsome and eligible bachelors in the


### Book:realm—Sir Robert Dudley, the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter Raleigh—vied


### Book:for Elizabeth’s hand. She did not discourage them, but she seemed to be


### Book:in no hurry, and her hints as to which man might be her favorite often


### Book:contradicted each other. In 1566, Parliament sent a delegation to


### Book:Elizabeth urging her to marry before she was too old to bear children.She did not argue, nor did she discourage the delegation, but she


### Book:remained a virgin nonetheless.


### Book:The delicate game that Elizabeth played with her suitors slowly made


### Book:her the subject of innumerable sexual fantasies and the object of cultish


### Book:worship. The court physician, Simon Forman, used his diary to describe


### Book:his dreams of deflowering her. Painters represented her as Diana and


### Book:other goddesses. The poet Edmund Spenser and others wrote eulogies to


### Book:the Virgin Queen. She was referred to as “the world’s Empresse,” “that


### Book:virtuous Virgo” who rules the world and sets the stars in motion. In


### Book:conversation with her, her many male suitors would employ bold sexual


### Book:innuendo, a dare that Elizabeth did not discourage. She did all she could


### Book:to stir their interest and simultaneously keep them at bay.


### Book:Throughout Europe, kings and princes knew that a marriage with


### Book:Elizabeth would seal an alliance between England and any nation. The


### Book:king of Spain wooed her, as did the prince of Sweden and the archduke


### Book:of Austria. She politely refused them all.


### Book:The great diplomatic issue of Elizabeth’s day was posed by the revolt


### Book:of the Flemish and Dutch Lowlands, which were then possessions of


### Book:Spain. Should England break its alliance with Spain and choose France


### Book:as its main ally on the Continent, thereby encouraging Flemish and


### Book:Dutch independence ? By 1570 it had come to seem that an alliance with


### Book:France would be England’s wisest course. France had two eligible men


### Book:of noble blood, the dukes of Anjou and Alençon, brothers of the French


### Book:king. Would either of them marry Elizabeth? Both had advantages, and


### Book:Elizabeth kept the hopes of both alive. The issue simmered for years.


### Book:The duke of Anjou made several visits to England, kissed Elizabeth in


### Book:public, even called her by pet names; she appeared to requite his


### Book:affections. Meanwhile, as she flirted with the two brothers, a treaty was


### Book:signed that sealed peace between France and England. By 1582


### Book:Elizabeth felt she could break off the courtship. In the case of the duke of


### Book:Anjou in particular, she did so with great relief: For the sake of


### Book:diplomacy she had allowed herself to be courted by a man whose


### Book:presence she could not stand and whom she found physically repulsive.


### Book:Once peace between France and England was secure, she dropped the


### Book:unctuous duke as politely as she could.


### Book:By this time Elizabeth was too old to bear children. She was


### Book:accordingly able to live the rest of her life as she desired, and she died


### Book:the Virgin Queen. She left no direct heir, but ruled through a period of


### Book:incomparable peace and cultural fertility.Interpretation


### Book:Elizabeth had good reason not to marry: She had witnessed the mistakes


### Book:of Mary Queen of Scots, her cousin. Resisting the idea of being ruled by


### Book:a woman, the Scots expected Mary to marry and marry wisely. To wed a


### Book:foreigner would be unpopular; to favor any particular noble house would


### Book:open up terrible rivalries. In the end Mary chose Lord Darnley, a


### Book:Catholic. In doing so she incurred the wrath of Scotland’s Protestants,


### Book:and endless turmoil ensued.


### Book:Elizabeth knew that marriage can often lead to a female ruler’s


### Book:undoing: By marrying and committing to an alliance with one party or


### Book:nation, the queen becomes embroiled in conflicts that are not of her


### Book:choosing, conflicts which may eventually overwhelm her or lead her into


### Book:a futile war. Also, the husband becomes the de facto ruler, and often tries


### Book:to do away with his wife the queen, as Darnley tried to get rid of Mary.


### Book:Elizabeth learned the lesson well. She had two goals as a ruler: to avoid


### Book:marriage and to avoid war. She managed to combine these goals by


### Book:dangling the possibility of marriage in order to forge alliances. The


### Book:moment she committed to any single suitor would have been the moment


### Book:she lost her power. She had to emanate mystery and desirability, never


### Book:discouraging anyone’s hopes but never yielding.


### Book:Through this lifelong game of flirting and withdrawing, Elizabeth


### Book:dominated the country and every man who sought to conquer her. As the


### Book:center of attention, she was in control. Keeping her independence above


### Book:all, Elizabeth protected her power and made herself an object of worship.


### Book:I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.


### Book:Queen Elizabeth I, 1533-1603


### Book:KEYS TO POWER


### Book:Since power depends greatly on appearances, you must learn the tricks


### Book:that will enhance your image. Refusing to commit to a person or group is


### Book:one of these. When you hold yourself back, you incur not anger but a


### Book:kind of respect. You instantly seem powerful because you make yourself


### Book:ungraspable, rather than succumbing to the group, or to the relationship,


### Book:as most people do. This aura of power only grows with time: As your


### Book:reputation for independence grows, more and more people will come todesire you, wanting to be the one who gets you to commit. Desire is like


### Book:a virus: If we see that someone is desired by other people, we tend to


### Book:find this person desirable too.


### Book:The moment you commit, the magic is gone. You become like


### Book:everyone else. People will try all kinds of underhanded methods to get


### Book:you to commit. They will give you gifts, shower you with favors, all to


### Book:put you under obligation. Encourage the attention, stimulate their


### Book:interest, but do not commit at any cost. Accept the gifts and favors if you


### Book:so desire, but be careful to maintain your inner aloofness. You cannot


### Book:inadvertently allow yourself to feel obligated to anyone.


### Book:Remember, though: The goal is not to put people off, or to make it


### Book:seem that you are incapable of commitment. Like the Virgin Queen, you


### Book:need to stir the pot, excite interest, lure people with the possibility of


### Book:having you. You have to bend to their attention occasionally, then—but


### Book:never too far.


### Book:The Greek soldier and statesman Alcibiades played this game to


### Book:perfection. It was Alcibiades who inspired and led the massive Athenian


### Book:armada that invaded Sicily in 414 B.C. When envious Athenians back


### Book:home tried to bring him down by accusing him of trumped-up charges,


### Book:he defected to the enemy, the Spartans, instead of facing a trial back


### Book:home. Then, after the Athenians were defeated at Syracuse, he left Sparta


### Book:for Persia, even though the power of Sparta was now on the rise. Now,


### Book:however, both the Athenians and the Spartans courted Alcibiades


### Book:because of his influence with the Persians; and the Persians showered


### Book:him with honors because of his power over the Athenians and the


### Book:Spartans. He made promises to every side but committed to none, and in


### Book:the end he held all the cards.


### Book:If you aspire to power and influence, try the Alcibiades tactic: Put


### Book:yourself in the middle between competing powers. Lure one side with


### Book:the promise of your help; the other side, always wanting to outdo its


### Book:enemy, will pursue you as well. As each side vies for your attention, you


### Book:will immediately seem a person of great influence and desirability. More


### Book:power will accrue to you than if you had rashly committed to one side.


### Book:To perfect this tactic you need to keep yourself inwardly free from


### Book:emotional entanglements, and to view all those around you as pawns in


### Book:your rise to the top. You cannot let yourself become the lackey for any


### Book:cause.


### Book:In the midst of the 1968 U.S. presidential election, Henry Kissinger


### Book:made a phone call to Richard Nixon’s team. Kissinger had been allied


### Book:with Nelson Rockefeller, who had unsuccessfully sought the Republicannomina tion. Now Kissinger offered to supply the Nixon camp with


### Book:valuable inside information on the negotiations for peace in Vietnam that


### Book:were then going on in Paris. He had a man on the negotiating team


### Book:keeping him informed of the latest developments. The Nixon team gladly


### Book:accepted his offer.


### Book:At the same time, however, Kissinger also approached the Democratic


### Book:nominee, Hubert Humphrey, and offered his aid. The Humphrey people


### Book:asked him for inside information on Nixon and he supplied it. “Look,”


### Book:Kissinger told Humphrey’s people, “I’ve hated Nixon for years.” In fact


### Book:he had no interest in either side. What he really wanted was what he got:


### Book:the promise of a high-level cabinet post from both Nixon and Humphrey.


### Book:Whichever man won the election, Kissinger’s career was secure.


### Book:The winner, of course, was Nixon, and Kissinger duly went on to his


### Book:cabinet post. Even so, he was careful never to appear too much of a


### Book:Nixon man. When Nixon was reelected in 1972, men much more loyal to


### Book:him than Kissinger were fired. Kissinger was also the only Nixon high


### Book:official to survive Watergate and serve under the next president, Gerald


### Book:Ford. By maintaining a little distance he thrived in turbulent times.


### Book:Those who use this strategy often notice a strange phenomenon:


### Book:People who rush to the support of others tend to gain little respect in the


### Book:process, for their help is so easily obtained, while those who stand back


### Book:find themselves besieged with supplicants. Their aloofness is powerful,


### Book:and everyone wants them on their side.


### Book:When Picasso, after early years of poverty, had become the most


### Book:successful artist in the world, he did not commit himself to this dealer or


### Book:that dealer, although they now besieged him from all sides with attractive


### Book:offers and grand promises. Instead, he appeared to have no interest in


### Book:their services; this technique drove them wild, and as they fought over


### Book:him his prices only rose. When Henry Kissinger, as U.S. secretary of


### Book:state, wanted to reach detente with the Soviet Union, he made no


### Book:concessions or conciliatory gestures, but courted China instead. This


### Book:infuriated and also scared the Soviets—they were already politically


### Book:isolated and feared further isolation if the United States and China came


### Book:together. Kissinger’s move pushed them to the negotiating table. The


### Book:tactic has a parallel in seduction: When you want to seduce a woman,


### Book:Stendhal advises, court her sister first.


### Book:Stay aloof and people will come to you. It will become a challenge for


### Book:them to win your affections. As long as you imitate the wise Virgin


### Book:Queen and stimulate their hopes, you will remain a magnet of attention


### Book:and desire.Image:


### Book:The Virgin Queen.


### Book:The center of attention,


### Book:desire, and worship. Never


### Book:succumbing to one suitor or the


### Book:other, the Virgin Queen keeps


### Book:them all revolving around


### Book:her like planets, unable to


### Book:leave her orbit but never


### Book:getting any closer


### Book:to her.


### Book:Authority: Do not commit yourself to anybody or anything, for that is to


### Book:be a slave, a slave to every man…. Above all, keep yourself free of


### Book:commitments and obligations—they are the device of another to get you


### Book:into his power…. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)PART II: DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE-


### Book:STAY ABOVE THE FRAY


### Book:Do not let people drag you into their petty fights and squabbles. Seem


### Book:interested and supportive, but find a way to remain neutral; let others do


### Book:the fighting while you stand back, watch and wait. When the fighting


### Book:parties are good and tired they will be ripe for the picking. You can make


### Book:it a practice, in fact, to stir up quarrels between other people, and then


### Book:offer to mediate, gaining power as the go-between.


### Book:THE KITES, THE CROWS, AND THE FOX


### Book:The kites and the crows made an agreement among themselves that they


### Book:should go halves in everything obtained in the forest. One day they saw a


### Book:fox that had been wounded by hunters lying helpless under a tree, and


### Book:gathered round it. The crows said, “We will take the upper half of the


### Book:fox.” “Then we will take the lower half,” said the kites. The fox laughed


### Book:at this, and said, “I always thought the kites were superior in creation to


### Book:the crows; as such they must get the upper half of my body, of which my


### Book:head, with the brain and other delicate things in it, forms a portion. ”


### Book:“Oh, yes, that is right,” said the kites, “we will have that part of the


### Book:fox.” “Not at all,” said the crows, “we must have it, as already agreed.”


### Book:Then a war arose between the rival parties, and a great many fell on both


### Book:sides, and the remaining few escaped with difficulty. The fox continued


### Book:there for some days, leisurely feeding on the dead kites and crows, and


### Book:then left the place hale and hearty, observing, The weak benefit by the


### Book:quarrels of the mighty. ”


### Book:INDIAN FABLES


### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW


### Book:In the late fifteenth century, the strongest city-states in Italy—Venice,


### Book:Florence, Rome, and Milan—found themselves constantly squabbling.Hovering above their struggles were the nations of France and Spain,


### Book:ready to grab whatever they could from the weakened Italian powers.


### Book:And trapped in the middle was the small state of Mantua, ruled by the


### Book:young Duke Gianfrancesco Gonzaga. Mantua was strategically located


### Book:in northern Italy, and it seemed only a matter of time before one of the


### Book:powers swallowed it up and it ceased to exist as an independent


### Book:kingdom.


### Book:Gonzaga was a fierce warrior and a skilled commander of troops, and


### Book:he became a kind of mercenary general for whatever side paid him best.


### Book:In the year 1490, he married Isabella d’Este, daughter of the ruler of


### Book:another small Italian duchy, Ferrara. Since he now spent most of his time


### Book:away from Mantua, it fell to Isabella to rule in his stead.


### Book:Isabella’s first true test as ruler came in 1498, when King Louis XII of


### Book:France was preparing armies to attack Milan. In their usual perfidious


### Book:fashion, the Italian states immediately looked for ways to profit from


### Book:Milan’s difficulties. Pope Alexander VI promised not to intervene,


### Book:thereby giving the French carte blanche. The Venetians signaled that they


### Book:would not help Milan, either—and in exchange for this, they hoped the


### Book:French would give them Mantua. The ruler of Milan, Lodovico Sforza,


### Book:suddenly found himself alone and abandoned. He turned to Isabella


### Book:d’Este, one of his closest friends (also rumored to be his lover), and


### Book:begged her to persuade Duke Gonzaga to come to his aid. Isabella tried,


### Book:but her husband balked, for he saw Sforza’s cause as hopeless. And so, in


### Book:1499, Louis swooped down on Milan and took it with ease.


### Book:Isabella now faced a dilemma: If she stayed loyal to Lodovico, the


### Book:French would now move against her. But if, instead, she allied herself


### Book:with France, she would make enemies elsewhere in Italy, compromising


### Book:Mantua once Louis eventually withdrew. And if she looked to Venice or


### Book:Rome for help, they would simply swallow up Mantua under the cloak of


### Book:coming to her aid. Yet she had to do something. The mighty king of


### Book:France was breathing down her neck: She decided to befriend him, as


### Book:she had befriended Lodovico Sforza before him—with alluring gifts,


### Book:witty, intelligent letters, and the possibility of her company, for Isabella


### Book:was famous as a woman of incomparable beauty and charm.


### Book:In 1500 Louis invited Isabella to a great party in Milan to celebrate his


### Book:victory. Leonardo da Vinci built an enormous mechanical lion for the


### Book:affair: When the lion opened its mouth, it spewed fresh lilies, the


### Book:symbols of French royalty. At the party Isabella wore one of her


### Book:celebrated dresses (she had by far the largest wardrobe of any of the


### Book:Italian princesses), and just as she had hoped, she charmed andcaptivated Louis, who ignored all the other ladies vying for his attention.


### Book:She soon became his constant companion, and in exchange for her


### Book:friendship he pledged to protect Mantua’s independence from Venice.


### Book:Men of great abilities are slow to act. for it is easier to avoid occasions


### Book:for committing yourself than to come well out of a commitment. Such


### Book:occasions test your judgment; it is safer to avoid them than to emerge


### Book:victorious from them. One obligation leads to a greater one, and you


### Book:come very near to the brink of disaster.


### Book:BALTASAR GRACIAN, 1601-1658


### Book:As one danger receded, however, another, more worrying one arose,


### Book:this time from the south, in the form of Cesare Borgia. Starting in 1500,


### Book:Borgia had marched steadily northward, gobbling up all the small


### Book:kingdoms in his path in the name of his father, Pope Alexander. Isabella


### Book:understood Cesare perfectly: He could be neither trusted nor in any way


### Book:offended. He had to be cajoled and kept at arm’s length. Isabella began


### Book:by sending him gifts—falcons, prize dogs, perfumes, and dozens of


### Book:masks, which she knew he always wore when he walked the streets of


### Book:Rome. She sent messengers with flattering greetings (although these


### Book:messengers also acted as her spies). At one point Cesare asked if he


### Book:could house some troops in Mantua; Isabella managed to dissuade him


### Book:politely, knowing full well that once the troops were quartered in the city,


### Book:they would never leave.


### Book:Even while Isabella was charming Cesare, she convinced everyone


### Book:around her to take care never to utter a harsh word about him, since he


### Book:had spies everywhere and would use the slightest pretext for invasion.


### Book:When Isabella had a child, she asked Cesare to be the godfather. She


### Book:even dangled in front of him the possibility of a marriage between her


### Book:family and his. Somehow it all worked, for although elsewhere he seized


### Book:everything in his path, he spared Mantua.


### Book:In 1503 Cesare’s father, Alexander, died, and a few years later the new


### Book:pope, Julius II, went to war to drive the French troops from Italy. When


### Book:the ruler of Ferrara—Alfonso, Isabella’s brother—sided with the French,


### Book:Julius decided to attack and humble him. Once again Isabella found


### Book:herself in the middle: the pope on one side, the French and her brother on


### Book:the other. She dared not ally herself with either, but to offend either


### Book:would be equally disastrous. Again she played the double game at which


### Book:she had become so expert. On the one hand she got her husband Gonzaga


### Book:to fight for the pope, knowing he would not fight very hard. On the other


### Book:she let French troops pass through Mantua to come to Ferrara’s aid.While she publicly complained that the French had “invaded” her


### Book:territory, she privately supplied them with valuable information. To make


### Book:the invasion plausible to Julius, she even had the French pretend to


### Book:plunder Mantua. It worked once again: The pope left Mantua alone.


### Book:In 1513, after a lengthy siege, Julius defeated Ferrara, and the French


### Book:troops withdrew. Worn out by the effort, the pope died a few months


### Book:later. With his death, the nightmarish cycle of battles and petty squabbles


### Book:began to repeat itself.


### Book:A great deal changed in Italy during Isabella’s reign: Popes came and


### Book:went, Cesare Borgia rose and then fell, Venice lost its empire, Milan was


### Book:invaded, Florence fell into decline, and Rome was sacked by the


### Book:Hapsburg Emperor Charles V Through all this, tiny Mantua not only


### Book:survived but thrived, its court the envy of Italy. Its wealth and


### Book:sovereignty would remain intact for a century after Isabella’s death, in


### Book:1539.


### Book:THE EAGLE AND THE SOW


### Book:An eagle built a nest on a tree, and hatched out some eaglets. And a wild


### Book:sow brought her litter under the tree. The eagle used to fly off after her


### Book:prey, and bring it back to her young. And the sow rooted around the tree


### Book:and hunted in the woods, and when night came she would bring her


### Book:young something to eat.