LAW 1 page 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 page 8
NEVER PUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS,
LEARN HOW TO USE ENEMIES
Be wary of fiiends-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 fiiends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to
make them.
LAW 3 page 16
CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS
Keep people off-balance and in the dark lly 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 wrang path, envelop
them in enough smoke, and lly the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.
LAW 4 page 31
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 lly saying less. The more you say, the more likely you
are to say something foolish.
LAW 5 page 37
SO MUCH DEPENDS ON REPUTATION-GUARD IT WITH YOUR LIFE
Reputation is the corners tone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once it slips,
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, leam to destroy your enemies lly
opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and Let public opinion hang them.
LAW 6 page44
COURT ATTENTION AT ALL COST
Everything is judged lly 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
lrj appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses.
