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. Law 7: Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, 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. Law 5: So much depends on reputation-guard 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. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late. If they have no clue 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 barnes and noble how to#
Law 2: Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemiesīe wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power. 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. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.Īlways make those above you feel comfortably superior. Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”). In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T.
48 laws of power barnes and noble manual#
Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature.