Beautiful book, with interesting stories in red on the sides. The 4 Laws of Power by Robert Greene written in 1998 is a kind of handbook on the arts of indirection. The laws are based on the writings of men and women who have studied and mastered the game of power spanning a period of more than 3000 years - The most illustrious strategists (Sun Tzu - Clausewitz), statesmen (Bismarck, Talleyrand), courters (Castiglione, Gracian) , seducers (Nino de Lenclos, Casanova) and con artists ('Yellow kid' Weil) in history.
The feeling of having no power over people and events is generally unbearable to us - when we feel helpless we feel miserable. No one wants less power; everyone wants more. In the world today, however, it is dangerous to seem too power hungry, to be overt with your power moves. We have to seem fair and decent. So we need to be subtle - congenial yet cunning, democratic yet devious.
Today we face a peculiarly similar paradox to that of the courtier: Everything must appear civilized, decent, democratic and fair. But if we play by those rules too strictly, if we take them too literally, we are crushed by those around us who are not so foolish. As the great Renaissance diplomat and courtier Niccolo Machiavelli wrote, "Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good." ~ The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527. The court imagined itself the pinnacle of refinement, but underneath its glittering surface a cauldron of dark emotions - greed, envy, lust, hated - boiled and simmered. Our world today similarly imagines itself the pinnacle of fairness, yet the same ugly emotions still stir within us as they have forever.
If, like the courtier of times gone by, you can master the arts of indirection, learning to seduce, charm, deceive and subtly outmanoeuvre your opponents, you will attain the heights of power. You will be able to make people bend to your will without their realizing what you have done. And if they do not realize what you have done, they will neither resent nor resist you.
Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at the world a shifting of perspective. The most important of these skills and power's crucial foundation, is the ability to master your emotions. An emotional response to a situation is the single greatest barrier to power, a mistake that will cost you a lot more than any temporary satisfaction you might gain by expressing your feelings. Emotions cloud reason, and if you cannot see the situation clearly, you cannot prepare for and respond to it with any degree of control.
Anger is the most destructive of emotional responses, for it clouds your vision the most. It also has a ripple effect that invariably makes situations less controllable and heightens your enemy's resolve. If you are trying to destroy an enemy who has hurt you, far better to keep him off-guard by feigning friendliness than showing your anger.
Love and affection are also potentially destructive, in that they blind you to the often self-serving interests of those whom you least suspect of playing a power game. You cannot repress anger or love, or avoid feeling them, and you should not try. But you should be careful about how you express them, and most important, they should never influence your plans and strategies in any way.
Relating to mastering your emotions is the ability to distance yourself from the present moment and think objectively about the past and future. Power requires the ability to play with appearance. Deception is a developed art of civilization and the most potent weapon in the game of power. Patience in all things is your crucial shield. Patience will protect you from making moronic blunders.
Power is essentially amoral and one of the most important skills to acquire is the ability to see circumstances rather than good or evil. Power is a game - this cannot be repeated too often - and in games you do not judge your opponents by their intentions but by the effects of their action.
Half of your mastery of power comes from what you do not do, what you do not allow yourself to get dragged into. For this skill you must learn to judge all things by what they cost you. Power is a social game. To learn and master it, you must develop the ability to study and understand people. You must be a master psychologist. You must recognise motivations and see through the cloud of dust with which people surround their action.
Never discriminate as to whom you study and whom you trust. Never trust anyone completely and study everyone including friends and loved ones. By training yourself to be indirect, you can thrive in the modern court, appearing the paragon of decency while being the consummate manipulator.
The law has a simple premise: Certain actions almost always increase one's power (the observance of the law), while the other decrease it and even ruin is (the transgression of the law). These transgressions and observance are illustrated by historical examples. The laws are timeless and definitive.
All the laws are interrelated, though at a point in time, only some feel applicable. A thorough reading of the book will inspire thinking and re-evaluation long after you finish it. The gods of power frown on the frivolous; they give ultimate satisfaction only to those who study and reflect and punish those who skim the surfaces looking for a good time.
The 48 laws are:
Law 1: Never Outshine the Master: Ensure that those above you always feel superior. Go out of your way to make your bosses look better and feel smarter than anyone else. Everyone is insecure, but an insecure boss can retaliate more strongly than others can.
Law 2: Never Put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies: Keep a close eye on your friends — they get envious and will undermine you. If you co-opt an enemy, he’ll be more loyal than a friend because he’ll try harder to prove himself worthy of your trust.
Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions: Always hide your true intentions. Create a smokescreen. If you keep people off-balance and in the dark, they can’t counter your efforts.
Law 4: Always Say Less than Necessary: Say little and be ambiguous, leaving the meaning to others to interpret. The less you say, the more intimidating and powerful you are.
Law 5: So Much Depends on Reputation — Guard It with Your Life: Nurture and guard your reputation because reputation is integral to power. With a strong reputation, you can influence and intimidate others.
Law 6: Court attention at all cost - Everything is judged by its appearance, what is unseen counts for nothing. Don't get lost in the crowd. Create an Air of Mystery: Be outrageous or create an aura of mystery. Any attention — positive or negative — is better than being ignored. Attention brings you wealth. Make yourself a magnet of attention.
Law 7: Get Others to Do the Work for You, but Always Take the Credit: Get others to do your work for you. Use their skill, time, and energy to further your ambitions while taking full credit. You’ll be admired for your efficiency.
Law 8: Make Other People Come to You — Use Bait if Necessary: Make your opponent come to you. When you force others to act, you’re in control. Bait them, then attack.
Law 9: Win Through Your Actions, Never Through Argument: Demonstrate your point rather than arguing. Arguing rarely changes anyone’s mind, but people believe what they see. They’re also less likely to be offended.
Law 10: Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky: Avoid miserable people. The perpetually miserable spread misery like an infection, and they’ll drown you in it.
Law 11: Learn to Keep People Dependent on You: Make your superior dependent on you. The more she needs you, the more security and freedom you have to pursue your goals.
Law 12: Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm Your Victim: Use honesty and generosity to disarm and distract others from your schemes. Even the most suspicious people respond to acts of kindness, leaving them vulnerable to manipulation.
Law 13: When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude: When you need help from someone in a position of power, appeal to their self-interest. They’ll be glad to help if they’ll get something in return, and you’ll get what you want without seeming desperate or irritating. Uncover something in your request or in your alliance that will benefit the other person and emphasize it out of all proportion.
Law 14: Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy: Be friendly, sympathetic, and interested to get people to reveal their deepest thoughts and feelings. When you know your opponent’s secrets, you can predict his behavior and control him.
Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally: Crush your enemy completely. If you leave even one ember smoldering, it will eventually ignite. You can’t afford to be lenient. The enemy will recover and seek revenge.
Law 16: Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor: Once you’ve become well-known, don’t wear out your welcome. The more you’re seen and heard from, the more you cheapen your brand. Create value through scarcity.
Law 17: Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability: Throw others off balance and unnerve them with random, unpredictable acts. You’ll gain the upper hand.
Law 18: Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous: Never isolate yourself when under pressure. This cuts you off from information you need, and when real danger arises you won’t see it coming.
Law: 19: Know Who You’re Dealing With – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person: When attempting to deceive someone, know who you’re dealing with, so you don’t waste your time or stir up a hornets’ nest in reaction.
Law 20: Do Not Commit to Anyone: Don’t commit to any side or cause except yourself. By maintaining your independence, you remain in control — others will vie for your attention. You also have the ability to pit the sides against each other.
Law 21: Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber Than Your Mark: Make your intended victims feel as though they’re smarter than you are, and they won’t suspect you of having ulterior motives.
Law 22: Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power: When you’re weaker, surrender rather than fighting for the sake of honor. This gives you time to build strength and undermine your victor. You’ll win in the end.
Law 23: Concentrate your forces: Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another - intensity defeats extensity everytime. When Looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give your milk for a long time to come.
Law 24: Play the perfect Courtier:
The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors and asserts power over others in the most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.
Law 25: Re - create Yourself:
Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions - your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.
Law 26:Keep your Hands clean:
You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat's paws to disguise your involvement.
Law 27: Play on people's need to believe to create a cultlike following
People have a psychological need to believe in something or someone. You can attract a loyal following by positioning yourself as a source of hope or answers. This, however, carries a heavy ethical responsibility and should be practiced with caution to avoid manipulation and exploitation.
Law 28: Enter action with boldness
Hesitation or half-hearted attempts often lead to failure. When you enter any action, do it with confidence and conviction. Boldness can cover up shortcomings and often intimidates others, creating a psychological advantage.
Law 29: Plan all the way to the End
A powerful person doesn't just think about immediate steps but plans all the way to the end. Having a clear vision of your goal and a comprehensive plan to achieve it can give you a significant strategic advantage.
Law 31: Control the options: Get others to play with the cards you deal
The best way to get people to follow your plans is to present them with options for your desired outcome. By controlling their choices, you can subtly guide their decisions.
Law 32: Play to People's Fantasies
Reality is often disappointing, and people have a tendency to get lost in their fantasies. By appealing to these fantasies, you can provide an escape from the mundanity of their reality, thereby earning their loyalty.
Law 34: Be Royal in your own fashion: Act like a king to be treated like one
How you perceive yourself sets the bar for how others perceive you. By carrying yourself with dignity and demanding respect, you set a standard for how you should be treated.
Law 36: Disdain things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best revenge
Longing for things you cannot have is a sign of powerlessness. You demonstrate your power and control over your desires by showing disdain or ignoring them.
Law 37: Create compelling spectacles
Creating memorable, dramatic spectacles can captivate an audience and capture their attention. This makes your power and influence more pronounced and memorable.
Law 38: Think as you like but behave like others
If you want to fit in and gain power within a group, you must learn to behave like others in that group. Maintaining your own thoughts and ideas while outwardly conforming to the group's norms can help you navigate social dynamics more effectively.
Law 39: Stir up waters to catch fish
Creating a little chaos can disrupt the status quo and provide you with opportunities to seize power. It's important to remember that this is not about causing harm but creating a shift in power dynamics.
Law 41: Avoid stepping into a great man's shoes
Following in the footsteps of a great person can often put you in their shadow. You need to forge your own path to assert your power and influence.
Law 42: Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter
Attacking a group leader can often disorient the rest of the members. This tactic, however, should be used sparingly and ethically, as it can lead to serious consequences if mishandled.
Law 43: Work on the hearts and minds of others
Power is not just about brute force; it's also about winning over hearts and minds. You can build a loyal and dedicated following by working on others' emotions and perceptions.
Law 44: Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect
Mimicking others can disarm them and can also serve as a form of subtle mockery. This strategy can be used to unsettle your opponents and gain a psychological edge.
Law 45: Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once
While change is necessary, too much change too quickly can be unsettling. Maintaining a balance and ensuring that changes are introduced gradually is important to prevent resistance or backlash.
Law 47: Do not go past the mark you aimed for in victory, learn when to stop
Exceeding your goal can often lead to unforeseen problems. When you've achieved your goal, stop and consolidate your position, or else your continued push might trigger resistance, sparking a downfall.
Staying adaptable and flexible allows you to navigate any situation that arises. By not committing to a single form or strategy, you can adapt as needed, taking the shape that best serves your purpose at any given moment.
These could be grouped as:
Laws 1-6: Watch out — and watch yourself
Laws 7-10: You will never succeed without interactions with other people
Laws 11-15: Vulnerability could make you stronger
Laws 16-20: Earn respect, don’t take it for granted
Laws 21-25: In our lives, we reproduce the global division
Laws 26-30: Keep your words dubious but promising
Laws 31-39: There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses
Laws 40-48: Dangerous is what you get for free.
Power only makes sense when we channel it. Everyone feels insecure from time to time. The moment you reveal yourself to the world and display your talents, you inherently stir up all kinds of resentment, jealousy, and further manifestations of insecurity. This is normal. You cannot spend your life bothering about the little emotions of others. Moreover, you don’t need everyone’s love and approval.
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