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送交者: knowhow 于 February 17, 2012 19:56:25:
The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers
Law 1
Never Outshine the Master
Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to
please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you
might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your
masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights
of power.
Law 2
Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies
Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily
aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former
enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove
. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you
have no enemies, find a way to make them.
Law 3
Conceal your Intentions
Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose
behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot
prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them
in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be
too late.
Law 4
Always Say Less than Necessary
When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more
common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying
something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and
sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The
more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.
Law 5
So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life
Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can
intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be
attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert
to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn
to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then
stand aside and let public opinion hang them.
Law 6
Court Attention at all Cost
Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing.
Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion.
Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of
attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the
bland and timid masses.
Law 7
Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit
Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own
cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it
will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your
helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself
what others can do for you.
Law 8
Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary
When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is
always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in
the process. Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack. You hold the
cards.
Law 9
Win through your Actions, Never through Argument
Any momentary triumph you think 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 much more powerful to
get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word.
Demonstrate, do not explicate.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Law 20
Do Not Commit to Anyone
It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side
or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the
master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue
you.
Law 21
Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark
No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons. The trick, is to make
your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are.
Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior
motives.
Law 22
Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power
When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead
. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your
conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the
satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first. By turning
the other check you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of
power.
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 every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you,
find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you 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 mot
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
if 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 an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the
focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow.
Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over
rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform,
ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized
religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold
power.
Law 28
Enter Action with Boldness
If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and
hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to
enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily
corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the
timid.
Law 29
Plan All the Way to the End
The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all
the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might
reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end
you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop
. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.
Law 30
Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless
Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and
practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be
concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more.
Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises
questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.
Law 31
Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal
The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice
: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets.
Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose.
Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which
serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored
wherever they turn.
Law 32
Play to People’s Fantasies
The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal
to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for
disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can
manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert:
Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies
of the masses.
Law 33
Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew
Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usual y
an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small
secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to
your advantage.
Law 34
Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one
The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the
long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a
king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting
regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to
wear a crown.
Law 35
Master the Art of Timing
Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over
yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that
everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right
moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to
power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike
fiercely when it has reached fruition.
Law 36
Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge
By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The
more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small
mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is
sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but
cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more
superior you seem.
Law 37
Create Compelling Spectacles
Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power –
everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then full
of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence.
Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.
Law 38
Think as you like but Behave like others
If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional
ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention
and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for
making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the
common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those
who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.
Law 39
Stir up Waters to Catch Fish
Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay
calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying
calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance:
Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you
hold the strings.
Law 40
Despise the Free Lunch
What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick
or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your
own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often
wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence.
Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign
and a magnet for power.
Law 41
Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes
What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes
after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to
accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in
their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own
name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father,
disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.
Law 42
Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter
Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer,
the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill. If you allow such people
room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for
the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them –
they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing
them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.
Law 43
Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others
Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must
seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have
seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate
on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant
by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they
fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.
Law 44
Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect
The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception:
When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure
out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them
overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with
the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their
actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.
Law 45
Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once
Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-
day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic,
and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an
outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way
of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle
improvement on the past.
Law 46
Never appear too Perfect
Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all
is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies.
It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices,
in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods
and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.
Law 47
Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop
The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of
victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had
aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do
not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy
and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.
Law 48
Assume Formlessness
By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack.
Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable
and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is
fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as
water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.
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