48 Laws of Power

[winston]

Law 10
Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky

You can die from someone else's misery; Emotional states are as infectious as disease.

You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster.

The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you.

Associate with the happy and fortunate instead

[winston]

Law 11
Learn to Keep People Dependent on You

To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted.

The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have.

Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear.

Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.

[winston]

Law 12
Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim

One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones.

Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people.

Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will.

A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose.

[winston]

Law 13
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. He will find a way to ignore you.

Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion.

He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.

[winston]

Law 14
Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy

Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead.

Better still: Play the spy yourself.

In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions.

There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.

[winston]

Law 15
Crush your Enemy Totally

All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.)

If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out.

More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge.

Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.

[winston]

Law 16
Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor

Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear.

If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired.

You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.

[winston]

Law 17
Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability

Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people's actions.

Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable.

Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves.

Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.

[winston]

Law 18
Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous

The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves.

A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target.

Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.

[winston]

Law 19
Know Who You're Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person

There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way.

Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs' clothing.

Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.