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### Book:against him to slay him. And now they said to one another, “Behold, this

### Book:dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him

### Book:into some pit, and we shall say, some evil beast hath devoured him; and

### Book:we shall see what will become of his dreams”

### Book:OLD TESTAMENT, GENESIS 37:3—20

### Book:THE TRAGEDY OF THE TOMB

### Book:[When Pope Julius first saw Michelangelo’s design for his tomb] it

### Book:pleased him so much that he at once sent him to Carrara to quarry the

### Book:necessary marbles, instructing Alamanno Salviati, of Florence, to pay

### Book:him a thousand ducats for this purpose. Michelangelo stayed in these

### Book:mountains more than eight months with two workmen and his horse, and

### Book:without any other provision except food…. Enough marbles quarried and

### Book:chosen, he took them to the sea-coast, and left one of his men to have

### Book:them embarked. He himself returned to Rome.

### Book:… The quantity of marbles was immense, so that, spread over the piazza,

### Book:they were the admiration of all and a joy to the pope, who heaped

### Book:immeasurable favors upon Michelangelo: and when he began to work

### Book:upon them again and again went to see him at his house, and talked to

### Book:him about the tomb and other things as with his own brother. And in

### Book:order that he might more easily go to him, the pope ordered that a

### Book:drawbridge should be thrown across from the Corridore to the rooms of

### Book:Michelangelo, by which he might visit him in private.

### Book:These many and frequent favors were the cause (as often is the case at

### Book:court) of much envy, and, after the envy, of endless persecution, since

### Book:Bramante, the architect, who was loved by the pope, made him change

### Book:his mind as to the monument by telling him, as is said by the vulgar, that

### Book:it is unlucky to build one’s tomb in one’s lifetime, and other tales. Fear as

### Book:well as envy stimulated Bramante, for the judgment of Michelangelo had

### Book:exposed many of his errors…. Now because he had no doubt that

### Book:Michelangelo knew these errors of his, he always sought to remove him

### Book:from Rome, or, at least, to deprive him of the favor of the pope, and of

### Book:the glory and usefulness that he might have acquired by his industry. He

### Book:succeeded in the matter of the tomb. There is no doubt that if

### Book:Michelangelo had been allowed to finish it, according to his first design,having so large a field in which to show his worth, no other artist,

### Book:however celebrated (be it said without envy) could have wrested from

### Book:him the high place he would have held.

### Book:VITA DI MICHELANGELO, ASCANIO CONDIVI, 1553

### Book:A great danger in the realm of power is the sudden improvement in

### Book:fortune—an unexpected promotion, a victory or success that seems to

### Book:come out of nowhere. This is sure to stir up envy among your former

### Book:peers.

### Book:When Archbishop de Retz was promoted to the rank of cardinal, in

### Book:1651, he knew full well that many of his former colleagues envied him.

### Book:Understanding the foolishness of alienating those below him, de Retz did

### Book:everything he could to downplay his merit and emphasize the role of

### Book:luck in his success. To put people at ease, he acted humbly and

### Book:deferentially, as if nothing had changed. (In reality, of course, he now

### Book:had much more power than before.) He wrote that these wise policies

### Book:“produced a good effect, by lessening the envy which was conceived

### Book:against me, which is the greatest of all secrets.” Follow de Retz’s

### Book:example. Subtly emphasize how lucky you have been, to make your

### Book:happiness seem more attainable to other people, and the need for envy

### Book:less acute. But be careful not to affect a false modesty that people can

### Book:easily see through. This will only make them more envious. The act has

### Book:to be good; your humility, and your openness to those you have left

### Book:behind, have to seem genuine. Any hint of insincerity will only make

### Book:your new status more oppressive. Remember: Despite your elevated

### Book:position, it will do you no good to alienate your former peers. Power

### Book:requires a wide and solid support base, which envy can silently destroy.

### Book:Political power of any kind creates envy, and one of the best ways to

### Book:deflect it before it takes root is to seem unambitious. When Ivan the

### Book:Terrible died, Boris Godunov knew he was the only one on the scene

### Book:who could lead Russia. But if he sought the position eagerly, he would

### Book:stir up envy and suspicion among the boyars, so he refused the crown,

### Book:not once but several times. He made people insist that he take the throne.

### Book:George Washington used the same strategy to great effect, first in

### Book:refusing to keep the position of Commander in Chief of the American

### Book:army, second in resisting the presidency. In both cases he made himself

### Book:more popular than ever. People cannot envy the power that they

### Book:themselves have given a person who does not seem to desire it.

### Book:According to the Elizabethan statesman and writer Sir Francis Bacon,

### Book:the wisest policy of the powerful is to create a kind of pity forthemselves, as if their responsibilities were a burden and a sacrifice.

### Book:How can one envy a man who has taken on a heavy load for the public

### Book:interest? Disguise your power as a kind of self-sacrifice rather than a

### Book:source of happiness and you make it seem less enviable. Emphasize your

### Book:troubles and you turn a potential danger (envy) into a source of moral

### Book:support (pity). A similar ploy is to hint that your good fortune will

### Book:benefit those around you. To do this you may need to open your purse

### Book:strings, like Cimon, a wealthy general in ancient Athens who gave

### Book:lavishly in all kinds of ways to prevent people from resenting the

### Book:influence he had bought in Athenian politics. He paid a high price to

### Book:deflect their envy, but in the end it saved him from ostracism and

### Book:banishment from the city.

### Book:The painter J. M. W. Turner devised another way of giving to deflect

### Book:the envy of his fellow artists, which he recognized as his greatest

### Book:obstacle to his success. Noticing that his incomparable color skills made

### Book:them afraid to hang their paintings next to his in exhibitions, he realized

### Book:that their fear would turn to envy, and would eventually make it harder

### Book:for him to find galleries to show in. On occasion, then, Turner is known

### Book:to have temporarily dampened the colors in his paintings with soot to

### Book:earn him the goodwill of his colleagues.

### Book:To deflect envy, Gracian recommends that the powerful display a

### Book:weakness, a minor social indiscretion, a harmless vice. Give those who

### Book:envy you something to feed on, distracting them from your more

### Book:important sins. Remember: It is the reality that matters. You may have to

### Book:play games with appearances, but in the end you will have what counts:

### Book:true power. In some Arab countries, a man will avoid arousing envy by

### Book:doing as Cosimo de Medici did by showing his wealth only on the inside

### Book:of his house. Apply this wisdom to your own character.

### Book:Beware of some of envy’s disguises. Excessive praise is an almost