48 Laws of Power

48 Laws of Power

Law 1: Never outshine the master

Make those above you feel superior. Do not show your talents too much, it’ll make them insecure.

Make the master appear more brilliant than they are.

Law 2: Never put too much trust in friends, learn to use enemies

Friends will quickly betray you.

Hire former enemies, they’ll be loyal.

Law 3: Conceal your intentions

Keep people off-balance. They cannot prepare if they don’t know. Guide them down the wrong path.

Law 4: Always say less than necessary

When trying to impress, the more you say the more common you look and less in control.

Be vague.

Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less.

Law 5: So much depends on reputation – guard it with your life

Reputation is the cornerstone of power.

Reputation alone will make you win.

Destroy enemies by attacking their reputation. Then stand aside and let the public hang them.

Law 6: Court attention at all cost

Everything is judged by appearance, what is unseen counts for nothing.

Never get lost in a crowd.

Be mysterious, appear more colorful than the masses.

Law 7: Let others to do the work for you, but always take credit

Use the skills of others to do the work for you, never do yourself what others can do for you.

Your efficiency will appear god-like.

Law 8: Make other people come to you – use bait if necessary

When you force others to act, you’re in control.

Make opponents come to you.

Lure with gains, then attack.

Law 9: Win through your actions, never through argument

You never win through argument.

The resentment last long.

It’s more powerful to agree with actions.

Demonstrate, do not explain.

Law 10: Infection: Avoid the unhappy and the unlucky

You’ll die from other’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as diseases.

The unfortunate draw misfortune on themselves and will draw it on you.

Associate with the happy and fortunate.

Law 11: Learn to keep people dependent on you

To maintain independence you must be needed and wanted.

The more you’re relied on, the more freedom you have.

Make people depend on you for happiness.

Never teach them enough so they can do without you.

Law 12: Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim

One sincere move will cover over a dozen dishonest ones.

Honesty can bring down the guard of suspicious people.

Open their shield with honesty, then deceive.

Law 13: When asking for help, appeal to people’s self-interest, never to their mercy

Do not remind people of past deeds.

Find something that will benefit them and emphasize it out of proportion.

Law 14: Pose as a friend, work as a spy

Learn to probe and find valuable information.

Ask indirect questions.

Every occasion is a chance to spy.

Law 15: Crush your enemy totally

More is lost through stopping halfway.

Crush your enemy in body and spirit.

Law 16: Use absence to increase respect and honor

Too much circulation makes the price go down.

If you’re already established in a group, temporarily withdraw to make people talk.

Create value through scarcity.

Law 17: Keep others in suspended terror: cultivate an air of unpredictability

Being predictable gives control to others.

Behavior that isn’t consistent will wear people out, and they’ll stop trying to explain things.

When used to the extreme, you’ll intimidate and terrorize.

Law 18: Do not build fortresses to protect yourself – isolation is dangerous

Isolation cuts you off from valuable information.

Its better to mingle.

You are shielded from your enemy in a crowd.

Law 19: Know who you’re dealing with – do not offend the wrong person

Never assume everyone will react the same way.

Choose your victims carefully.

Never offend the wrong person.

Law 20: Do not commit to anyone

Fools rush to pick a side.

Do not commit to a cause but yourself

Maintain independence

Make people chase you and play people against one another

Law 21: Play a sucker to catch a sucker- seem dumber than your mark

Don’t be stupid, but make your mark appear smarter than you

Making them appear smarter hides your motives

Law 22: Use the surrender tactic: transformer weakness into power

When you’re weaker, never fight just for honor but surrender

Do not give them the satisfaction to win, surrender

Turn the other cheek to infuriate them

Law 23: Concentrate your forces

Intensity defeats extensity every time

Find a fat cow that’ll give you milk for a long time

Law 24: Play the perfect courtier

Master the art of indirection

Assert power gracefully

Law 25: Re-create yourself

Create an identity that commands attention and never bores

Be the master of your own image

Use large gestures and actions-your character will seem huge and you’ll gain power

Law 26: Keep your hands clean

Never appear soiled by mistakes

Use others as scapegoats to disguise your involvement

Law 27: Play on people’s need to believe to create a cultlike following

People want to believe in something

Become the focal point of this and offer them a cause, a new faith

Keep your words vague but full of promise

Emphasize enthusiasm over rationality

Give your new disciples rituals to perform and ask them to make sacrifices

Law 28: Enter action with boldness

If you’re unsure then don’t do it

Timidity is dangerous

Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity

Everyone admires boldness, no one honors the timid

Law 29: Plan all the way to the end

The ending is everything

Take into account of the scenario

If you plan, you won’t be overwhelmed

Guide fortune by thinking far ahead

Law 30: Make your accomplishments seem effortless

Conceal the clever tricks

Make your success seem natural

Do not reveal how hard you work

Teach no one your tricks

Law 31: Control the opinions: get others to play with the cards you deal

The best deceptions seem to give the other person a choice

Give options so no matter their choice, you win

Law 32: Play to people’s fantasies

The truth is unpleasant, avoid it

People that manufacture romance are like oases in the desert

There’s great power in tapping into people’s fantasies

Law 33: Discover each man’s thumbscrew

Find other’s weaknesses

Its usually insecurity, uncontrollable emotions, secret pressures

Law 34: Be royal in your own fashion: act like a king to be treated like one

The way you carry yourself determines how you’re treated

Appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you

Kings respect themselves and inspire the same in others

By acting confident you make yourself destined to wear a crown

Law 35: Master the art of timing

Never seem in a hurry, always seem patient

Sniff out the spirit of the times, find the trends that’ll give you power

Learn to stand back when not ready, and then strike

Law 36: Disdain things you cannot have: ignoring them if the best revenge

Acknowledging petty problems gives them existence

When you acknowledge an enemy you make them stronger

The more you a mistake visible, the worse it gets

If you want something but can’t have it, disdain it

The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem

Law 37: Create compelling spectacles

Striking imagery and symbolic gestures create the aura of power and people respond

Stage spectacles for those around you and heighten your presence

Dazzle by appearance

Law 38: Think as you like but behave like others

By flaunting your unconventional ways people will only think you want attention

They’ll punish you for making them feel inferior

Blend in

Law 39: Stir up waters to catch fish

Anger and emotion is counterproductive

Stay calm and objective

Make enemies emotional while you stay calm

Rattle your enemies

Law 40: Despise the free lunch

What’s offered for free in dangerous

Pay your own way to avoid guilt and gratitude

No cutting corners with excellence

Be lavish with your money, keep it circulating

Generosity is a sign and magnet for power

Example: Gypsies and Gifts (add link)

Law 41: Avoid stepping into a great man’s shoes

What happens first always appears better and more original than what’s next

Following great people means you must double their power

Gain power by shining in your own way

Law 42: Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter

Trouble can be traced to a single individual

These people will influence others

Do not negotiate but banish them

Strike at the source of the trouble

Law 43: Work on the hearts and minds of others

Coercion will work against you

Seduce others into wanting to move in your direction

Seduce others by operating on their individual psychologies and weaknesses

Soften them by working their emotions and what they fear

Ignore the hearts and minds and they will grow to hate you

Law 44: Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect

When you mirror exactly what your enemies do, they cannot figure out your strategy

The mirror effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact

Hold a mirror to their psyches and you’ll seduce them and they’ll think they share your values

Mirror their actions and they learn lessons

Law 45: Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once

Everyone wants change but too much is traumatic

When new to power show you respect old ways

Make change feel like a gentle improvement on the past

Law 46: Never appear too perfect

Its dangerous to appear like you have no thoughts

Its ok to admit to small defects

Law 47: Do not go past the mark you aimed for; in victory know when to stop

When going to far in victory, you make more enemies

Set a goal, achieve it, then stop

Law 48: Assume formlessness

By having a visible plan you open yourself to attack.

Stay adaptable and on the move

Accept that nothing is certain and now law fixed

Everything changes and never bet on it