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Forum Post: In order to waige war against an enemy, you must KNOW the enemy...

Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 2, 2011, 10:14 a.m. EST by trueamerican2012 (0)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

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.

Read the rest here: http://www2.tech.purdue.edu/cg/courses/cgt411/covey/48_laws_of_power.htm

15 Comments

15 Comments


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[-] 2 points by pandoras (56) 12 years ago

How about we just start by understanding WHAT we're fighting against.

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

I'd suggest as required reading for OWS this book ----"It takes a Pillage" by Nomi Prins. it's the clearest explanation I've read of how we got into this mess, how it unfolded, and how wall street used the mess they made to extract even more money from the American people.

[-] 0 points by necropaulis (491) 12 years ago

Thank You!! I've been going through this site looking for an actual objective, or some kind of actual plan, but everyone keeps spouting the same thing. They don't know and probably never will. And true-american, your list sounds like the ramblings of a paranoid xenophobe

[-] 1 points by zymergy (236) 12 years ago

neither the study or history nor sociology encourage optimism - nonetheless there are any cogent and same liberals in academia

[-] 1 points by pandoras (56) 12 years ago

Yeah, they keep saying how about we do this and that but the hell do they even know about Wall Street? I doubt they even understand that it's not actually a fucking street!

[-] 1 points by pandoras (56) 12 years ago

Uhm, yes, I actually walk down Wall St every day.

What I'm saying is, the Wall Street you're protesting? It doesn't even live there anymore and no number of people sleeping by the pavements will put a dent in their earnings or bonuses come the end of the year. And that's all they care about.

[-] 1 points by truth2p0wer (135) 12 years ago

What part of symbolic don't you get?

[-] 1 points by pandoras (56) 12 years ago

What part of "they don't give a shit" don't you get?

[-] 1 points by truth2p0wer (135) 12 years ago

They didn't give a shit in the south... did it stop the civil rights movement? They didn't give a shit when women wanted to vote... did it stop the suffrage movement?

The point is them not giving a shit is not a reason to apck up and go home... in fact it's the reason why we protest... to show them that we give a shit and we wont give up till changes are made.

[-] 0 points by necropaulis (491) 12 years ago

These times in history you reference they all had one thing in common that you do not. LEADERS. Martin Luther King, Norma Ray, Malcolm X, people who established a role, had some sort of end game, and made sure the media knew what was going on in a professional manner. Not a quick blurb between commercials showing people yelling and screaming not know what in the hell they are talking about. You drawing parallels like this don't make any sense. And as for the south, you do realize an entire war had to be waged to begin the whole civil rights movement right?? When they got kicked out of the park, they likened that to the Native Americans. Being thrown off their land(that these protestors don't even own a square inch of), having their stuff taken and thrown out(which was mostly trash and contraband if they had listened to the repeated warnings to shuffle on so the parks could be cleaned). Nobody at any of these movements have been persecuted, shot, attacked by dogs, beaten by people much bigger than them or anything like what happened in the 40's-early 70's. Piss or get off the pot.

[-] 1 points by truth2p0wer (135) 12 years ago

And those leaders were established in the infancy of those movements? I think not. Did Dr. King fire the opening salvo in the fight for equality? Was Norma Ray the first woman to speak out for women's rights? Your desire for instant gratification is amusing and annoying at the same time. Movements take time to grow and from that growth leaders emerge.

[-] 0 points by necropaulis (491) 12 years ago

I don't look for instant gratification. In this day and age where idiots can flash mob anywhere they want, they should be able to organize better. I'm also saying the parallels being drawn are incorrect. Nobody has had to endure what these people have. Nobody had to deal with fire hoses, dogs, and billy clubs. If you sat there after the cities and police tried to tell you nicely, "you can stay at this park after hours for a little bit, but then you have to go and they ignore it. Then they act like the cops are harrassing them because it's time to go. Things escalate and then they sit there because the heard stories about how if your peaceful about it they look like the bad ones, when in fact you are the are the one disrupting things, which will cause people to ignore you. Why do you think the hippies "lost"? Why are the one's who did what you are trying to achieve now cut their hair and joined the ranks?? This has nothing to do with racism or equality. You say you're against people who are richer than you because they are richer. There are/were/will be people who also feel the same way, who, instead of coming out against the problem without a reasonable solution make change themselves. Does it happen right away?? Of course not, but in some situations, it does. The only people getting press that aren't because of the cops doing their jobs are the celebrities who are themselves rich. They can't help you because they are rich and only do this kind of stuff so they get their names out there and to MAKE MORE MONEY. Your people run in circle and refuse to understand that unless you find/elect a leader, it still comes down to people screaming in a pit while the rich lower the lotion.

[-] 0 points by necropaulis (491) 12 years ago

I like you

[-] 1 points by pandoras (56) 12 years ago

Why thank you.