WHEN ASKING FOR HELP, APPEAL TO PEOPLE'S SELF-INTEREST, NEVER TO THEIR MERCY OR GRATITUDE If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. A timely gifta Trojan horsewill serve the same purpose. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bringdown the guard of even the most suspicious people. One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND GENEROSITY TO DISARM YOUR VICTIM Never teach them enough so that they can do without you. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. The more you are relied on, the moreįreedom you have. To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead. Misfortune on themselves they will also draw it on you. Helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. You can die from someone else's miseryemotional states are as infectious as diseases. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER THROUGH ARGUMENT Any momentary triumph you think you have gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is always better to make your opponentĬome to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. MAKE OTHER PEOPLE COME TO YOUUSE BAIT IF NECESSARY Never do yourself what others can do for you. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. GET OTHERS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU, BUT ALWAYS TAKE THE CREDIT
Make yourself a magnet of attentionīy appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses. Never let yourself get lost in theĬrowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.Įverything is judged by its appearance what is unseen counts for nothing. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. SO MUCH DEPENDS ON REPUTATIONGUARD IT WITH YOUR LIFE The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop
If they have noĬlue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove.
#48 LAWS OF POWER LAWS HOW TO#
NEVER PUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS, LEARN HOW TO USE ENEMIESīe wary of friendsthey will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. Your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power. Too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the oppositeinspire fear and insecurity. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go Always make those above you feel comfortably superior.