The 48 Laws Of Power

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

This outstanding book by Robert Greene is for those who want power, watch power, or want to arm themselves against power. The majority of its teachings capitalize and emphasize on the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, and Clausewitz. This book is a must have for those who are interested in gaining, observing, or defending against POWER.

[size=150]THE 48 LAWS OF POWER[/size]

1: Never outshine the Master.

2: Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies.

3: Conceal your intentions.

4: Always say less than neccessary.

5: So much depends on reputation - gaurd it with your life.

6: Court attention at all costs.

7: Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit.

8: Make other people come to you - use bait if neccessary.

9: Win through your actions, never through argument.

10: Avoid the unhappy and unlucky.

11: Learn to keep people dependend on you.

12: Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim.

13: When asking for help, appeal to people’s self-interest, never to their mercy or gratitude.

14: Pose as a friend, work as a spy.

15: Crush your enemy totally.

16: Use absence to increase respect and honor.

17: Keep others in suspended terror - cultivate an air of unpredictability.

18: Do not build fortresses to protect yourself - isolation is dangerous.

19: Know who you’re dealing with - do not offend the wrong person.

20: Do not commit to anyone.

21: Play a sucker to catch a sucker - seem dumber than your mark.

22: Use the surrender tactic to transform weakness into power.

23: Concentrate your forces.

24: Play the perfect courtier.

25: Re-create yourself.

26: Keep your hands clean.

27: Play on people’s need to believe in order to creat a cultlike following.

28: Enter action with boldness.

29: Plan all the way to the end.

30: Make your accomplishments seem effortless.

31: Control the options to get others to play with the cards you deal.

32: Play to people’s fantasies.

33: Discover each man’s thumbscrew.

34: Be royal in your own fashion - act like a king to be treated like one.

35: Master the art of timing.

36: Disdain things you cannot have - ignoring them is the best revenge.

37: Create compelling spectacles.

38: Think as you like but behave like others.

39: Stir up waters to catch fish.

40: Despise the free lunch.

41: Avoid stepping into a great man’s shoes.

42: Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.

43: Work on the hearts and minds of others.

44: Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect.

45: Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once.

46: Never appeart too perfect.

47: Do not go past the mark you aimed for; in victory, learn when to stop.

48: Assume formlessness.

2

Ah very nice. I saw something about the art of seduction by this guy mentioned on another topic and the official website also mentioned this book. Fascinating, yet kind of depressing to see what is necessary to be powerful…

3

It seems to me that a principled person is immune to such tactics, as most of them play on the assumption that other people will usually be ignorant, greedy, or unprincipled and uses that to the advantage. To paraphrase the famous saying, “Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything.”

4

you are sadly mistaken dl. nobody is imune.

5

How about the milder term ‘resistant’ instead of immune? Like a healthy physical immune system does not give absolute protection from illness, only a higher resistance to illness.

A principled person is more resistant to manipulation, but not immune from it. While an unprincipled person is less resistant to manipulation.

When it comes down to it we may have an unrealistic view of our own level of being principled. We all probably think that we are more resistant to manipulation than we actually are.

6

in my oppinion a virtuous person (in the sense i suppose dt gives that term, supposition based on context and perceived behaviour of dt) is the least imune, about as imune as a corpse is to infection.

resistance is possible, as opposed to immunity, but it takes alot more intelligence and introspection than principles. or at least so i think.

7

sounds more like “the 48 laws to being a selfish asshole” . seriously, all those laws are compleate gargage. the more power you try to obtain the less you will have.

8

I think that I see part of what you mean. For instance a man who places high value on the principle of loyalty would be highly susceptible to manipulation. His desire to be consistent with his claim of being a loyal person would make him putty in the right hands.

I will agree with you about introspection tending to boost one’s resistance to manipulation.

I think that intelligence can actually make one more susceptible to manipulation. An abundance of intelligence can usual compensate for a lack of wisdom. Then it also inhibits the development of wisdom by allowing that individual to avoid the kind of experiences that bestow wisdom.

9

In a religious sense, Robert Greene is the Devil’s Apprentice, and that’s exactly what this book teaches someone to be.

I’m assuming you said this out of an emotional response upon first reaction when you saw the laws. However, I’m sure you wouldn’t say such things if you actually read the book and the details around each law. One thing I’ve found quite interesting is that anyone could see some of these laws practiced by their parents on their own offspring, and spouses. You would be suprised how much power you would learn to obtain after learning what is within this book.

10

I am unsurprised that some form of these “laws” is practiced by parents upon their children. It is in fact why children are such little bastards sometimes - they haven’t learned to get beyond this winner-take-all mode of thinking. Some of them never do, and grow up to become politicians. The human race will not solve its problems until most of us learn to get beyond this mode of thinking.

Fuck power. I want power over no other human being, and I want no other human being to have power over me. To the extent that human beings must cooperate to survive, this should not be done in ways that require power to be distributed in any fashion other than by who is most capable of using it for the good of all concerned and in ways that do no nonconsentual or secret harm to those over whom power is held.

Overobsession with power and the desire for it is what has caused the bulk of the harmful portion of human stupidity.

11

I have this book and read it – it’s facinating. The anecdotes and examples were great.

12

I agree. It’s sad how many children grow up imitating their parent’s method of parenting.

You’ve made an interesting point, and the great thing about this book is that it shows you how you can keep others from having power over you, or even for that matter, explains what NOT to do to achieve power over others. It is a rulebook that goes both ways depending on your perspective.

Indeed. What I love about it is the sheer amount of details it gives on such a broad level explaining how certain laws of power apply to many different situations.

13

Well said and very true. It is unfortunate our reality shows that just as we can use power to improve human condition, we also use it to oppress others or to gain advantage over others–similar to avarice and other forms of vice, power oftentimes corrupts.

14

Have you ever had a management position? Have you ever been in An office? Have you ever worked a job? Are you A human being? Do you forget that you are by nature and evolution, no matter how Romantic and solitary you’d like to be, a pack animal? Humans contend to have Power over one another or to avoid being crushed by power.

The idea that we should avoid power or avoid having power over other subjects is a type of bad romanticism that comes from A perspective that has no grounding in living.

Now, the real issue is to avoid using your power for bad purposes. That’s the damn problem.

15

You make an excellent point there Hermes. Power is the reason why mankind is on the top of the food chain. Power is the reason why civilization exists in the first place. And Power…uhm…power is the reason…for something…

16

Being a member of a society, of an economy, and giving and receiving instructions to and from other members of that society and economy, is a different thing from having power or being subject to it. Someone has to make decisions and choose what paths to take, but this does not necessitate Machiavellian control over other people’s lives. This is how we’ve done things thus far; if I see that we could do it differently, forgive me for being unconvinced by pessimistic rants that absolute power is intrinsic to cooperative societies, like some Hobbesian nightmare.

The United States Constitution was geared specifically to minimize the power any person or group could have over any other while still ensuring societal cohesion and survival. We can improve on that, and though a perfect rendition of equality and freedom is an unattainable utopia, that does not mean we should not formulate something better than what we’ve got.

17

false zen. if your drill sargeant tells you to drop and give him fifty because he has a reason or because he feels like messing with you, you are still sweating. power is power.

xanderman, intelligence also tends to get you into alot more trouble. id say the influence of intelligence on the aquiring of wisdom-allowing experiences is a mixed basket. however the ability to turn these experiences into real wisdom is definitely skewed in favour of the intelligent.

18

no seriously, those would really work. every one of them is absolutely true. especially number 14: “Pose as a friend, work as a spy.” that one alone about sums it up.

19

Yes. I would call this conception “authority”, which connotes leadership and guidance, instead of power which connotes strength and advantage over others.

20

I don’t think what Hermes said can be doubted. Power just is. It’s fundamentally neutral, and it’s here to stay. When you have the ability to poison your political opponents and skew elections in your favor, that’s power. But when hundreds of thousands of people shut down your government by taking to the streets, that is also power. The difference? In the first case you have absolute power (or at least an attempt in that direction); in the second you have collective power, power with accountability.

But power nonetheless.