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### Book:OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

### Book:In the early 1600s, the Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo

### Book:found himself in a precarious position. He depended on the generosity of

### Book:great rulers to support his research, and so, like all Renaissance

### Book:scientists, he would sometimes make gifts of his inventions and

### Book:discoveries to the leading patrons of the time. Once, for instance, he

### Book:presented a military compass he had invented to the Duke of Gonzaga.

### Book:Then he dedicated a book explaining the use of the compass to the

### Book:Medicis. Both rulers were grateful, and through them Galileo was able to

### Book:find more students to teach. No matter how great the discovery, however,

### Book:his patrons usually paid him with gifts, not cash. This made for a life of

### Book:constant insecurity and dependence. There must be an easier way, he

### Book:thought.

### Book:Galileo hit on a new strategy in 1610, when he discovered the moons

### Book:of Jupiter. Instead of dividing the discovery among his patrons—giving

### Book:one the telescope he had used, dedicating a book to another, and so on—

### Book:as he had done in the past, he decided to focus exclusively on the

### Book:Medicis. He chose the Medicis for one reason: Shortly after Cosimo I

### Book:had established the Medici dynasty, in 1540, he had made Jupiter, the

### Book:mightiest of the gods, the Medici symbol—a symbol of a power thatwent beyond politics and banking, one linked to ancient Rome and its

### Book:divinities.

### Book:Galileo turned his discovery of Jupiter’s moons into a cosmic event

### Book:honoring the Medicis’ greatness. Shortly after the discovery, he

### Book:announced that “the bright stars [the moons of Jupiter] offered

### Book:themselves in the heavens” to his telescope at the same time as Cosimo

### Book:II’s enthronement. He said that the number of the moons—four—

### Book:harmonized with the number of the Medicis (Cosimo II had three

### Book:brothers) and that the moons orbited Jupiter as these four sons revolved

### Book:around Cosimo I, the dynasty’s founder. More than coincidence, this

### Book:showed that the heavens themselves reflected the ascendancy of the

### Book:Medici family. After he dedicated the discovery to the Medicis, Galileo

### Book:commissioned an emblem representing Jupiter sitting on a cloud with the

### Book:four stars circling about him, and presented this to Cosimo II as a symbol

### Book:of his link to the stars.

### Book:In 1610 Cosimo II made Galileo his official court philosopher and

### Book:mathematician, with a full salary. For a scientist this was the coup of a

### Book:lifetime. The days of begging for patronage were over.

### Book:Interpretation

### Book:In one stroke, Galileo gained more with his new strategy than he had in

### Book:years of begging. The reason is simple: All masters want to appear more

### Book:brilliant than other people.

### Book:They do not care about science or empirical truth or the latest

### Book:invention ; they care about their name and their glory. Galileo gave the

### Book:Medicis infinitely more glory by linking their name with cosmic forces

### Book:than he had by making them the patrons of some new scientific gadget or

### Book:discovery.

### Book:Scientists are not spared the vagaries of court life and patronage. They

### Book:too must serve masters who hold the purse strings. And their great

### Book:intellectual powers can make the master feel insecure, as if he were only

### Book:there to supply the funds—an ugly, ignoble job. The producer of a great

### Book:work wants to feel he is more than just the provider of the financing. He

### Book:wants to appear creative and powerful, and also more important than the

### Book:work produced in his name. Instead of insecurity you must give him

### Book:glory. Galileo did not challenge the intellectual authority of the Medicis

### Book:with his discovery, or make them feel inferior in any way; by literally

### Book:aligning them with the stars, he made them shine brilliantly among thecourts of Italy. He did not outshine the master, he made the master

### Book:outshine all others.

### Book:KEYS TO POWER

### Book:Everyone has insecurities. When you show yourself in the world and

### Book:display your talents, you naturally stir up all kinds of resentment, envy,

### Book:and other manifestations of insecurity. This is to be expected. You cannot

### Book:spend your life worrying about the petty feelings of others. With those

### Book:above you, however, you must take a different approach: When it comes

### Book:to power, outshining the master is perhaps the worst mistake of all.

### Book:Do not fool yourself into thinking that life has changed much since the

### Book:days of Louis XIV and the Medicis. Those who attain high standing in

### Book:life are like kings and queens: They want to feel secure in their positions,

### Book:and superior to those around them in intelligence, wit, and charm. It is a

### Book:deadly but common misperception to believe that by displaying and

### Book:vaunting your gifts and talents, you are winning the master’s affection.

### Book:He may feign appreciation, but at his first opportunity he will replace

### Book:you with someone less intelligent, less attractive, less threatening, just as

### Book:Louis XIV replaced the sparkling Fouquet with the bland Colbert. And

### Book:as with Louis, he will not admit the truth, but will find an excuse to rid

### Book:himself of your presence.

### Book:This Law involves two rules that you must realize. First, you can

### Book:inadvertently outshine a master simply by being yourself. There are

### Book:masters who are more insecure than others, monstrously insecure; you

### Book:may naturally outshine them by your charm and grace.

### Book:No one had more natural talents than Astorre Manfredi, prince of

### Book:Faenza. The most handsome of all the young princes of Italy, he

### Book:captivated his subjects with his generosity and open spirit.

### Book:In the year 1500, Cesare Borgia laid siege to Faenza. When the city

### Book:surrendered, the citizens expected the worst from the cruel Borgia, who,

### Book:however, decided to spare the town: He simply occupied its fortress,

### Book:executed none of its citizens, and allowed Prince Manfredi, eighteen at

### Book:the time, to remain with his court, in complete freedom.

### Book:A few weeks later, though, soldiers hauled Astorre Manfredi away to a

### Book:Roman prison. A year after that, his body was fished out of the River

### Book:Tiber, a stone tied around his neck. Borgia justified the horrible deedwith some sort of trumped-up charge of treason and conspiracy, but the

### Book:real problem was that he was notoriously vain and insecure. The young

### Book:man was outshining him without even trying. Given Manfredi’s natural

### Book:talents, the prince’s mere presence made Borgia seem less attractive and

### Book:charismatic. The lesson is simple: If you cannot help being charming and

### Book:superior, you must learn to avoid such monsters of vanity. Either that, or

### Book:find a way to mute your good qualities when in the company of a Cesare

### Book:Borgia.

### Book:Second, never imagine that because the master loves you, you can do

### Book:anything you want. Entire books could be written about favorites who

### Book:fell out of favor by taking their status for granted, for daring to outshine.