LA W 14 page 101
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, leam to probe. Ask indireet questions to get people
to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artjul spying.
LAW 15 page 107
CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY
All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they
have leamed 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 page 115
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 leam when to leave. Create value through scarcity.
LA W 17 page 123
KEEP OTHERS IN SUSPENDED TERROR: CULTIVATE AN AIR OF UNPRED lCTABILlTY
Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people's aetions. Your predietability gives them a sense of control. Tum the tables: Be deliberately unpredietable. 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.
LA W 1 i:l page 130
DO NOT BUILD FORTRESSES TO PROTECT YOURSELF-ISOLATION IS DANGEROUS
The world is dangerous and enemies are everywkere-everyone has to proteet 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 page 137
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 vietims and opponents carefully, thennever offend or deceive the wrang person.
CONTENTS Xl
LAW 20 page 145
DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE
It is the Jool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining
your independence, you become the master oJ others-playing people against one another, making them pursue
you.
LAW 21 page156
P LAY A SUCKER TO CATCH A SUCKER-SEEM DUMBER THAN YOUR MARK
No one likes Jeeling stupider than the next person. The trick, then, is to make your victims Jeel smart-and not
Just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced oJ this, they will never suspect that you may have ulttr
rior motives.
LAW 22 page 163
USE THE SURRENDER TACTIC: TRANSFORM WEAKNESS INTO POWER
When you are weaker, never fight Jor honor's sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait Jor his power to wane. Do not give him the satisJaction oJ fighting and deJeating you-surrender first. By turning the other cheek you inJuriate and unsettle
him. Make surrender a tool oJ power.
LAW 23 page 171
CONCENTRATE YOUR FORCES
Conserve your Jorces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flittingjrom one shallow mine to another-intensity deJeats extensity every time. When looking Jor sources oJ power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the Jat cow who
will give you milk Jor a long time to come.
LAW 24 page 178
P LAY THE PERFECT COURTIER
The perJect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has
mastered the art oJ indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique
and graceJul manner. Learn and apply the laws oJ courtiership and there will be no limit to how Jar you can
rise in the court.
LAW 25 page 191
RE-CREATE YOURS.ELF
Do not accept the roles that society Joists on you. Re-create yourself by Jorging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master oJ your own image rather than letting others dtr
fine it Jor you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions-your power will be
enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.
LA W 26 page 200
KEEP YOUR HANDS C LEAN
You must seem a paragon oJ civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds.
Maintain such a spotless appearance by using otkers as scapegoats and cat 's-paws to disguise your involvement
