The (New) 48 Laws Of Power

The 48 Laws of Power is a book written by Robert Greene, an author best known for writing books that cover themes such as power, sex and seduction. This particular book was first published in 1998 by Viking Press and apparently the book, which has been compared to Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (written in the 6th century B.C.), was a big hit in the hood. That is, it became a sort of self-proclaimed “bible” for hip-hop success – so much so that 50 Cent has teamed up with Greene for the new updated version of the book, known as The 50th Law. According to Greene’s blog post over on HarperStudio the book is due out on September 8th of this year. So, in order to get you ready for this new version, we thought we would review the first 48 laws as authored by Greene way back when … you know, in the 20th century.

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.

Practical Application:  When you are the Assistant Manager of a Quizno’s, you must make sure that the General Manager knows how much hard work you put into arranging the mushrooms.

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 can 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.

Practical Application:  Take your enemies up the ladder with you, that way you don’t have to fire your friends on the way up – you just throw your enemies under the bus.

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.

Practical Application:  Fly by the seat of your pants as needed and don’t let on to anyone that you really don’t have a clue either.

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 sphinx-like. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

Practical Application:  You have two ears and one mouth – use them in the same ratio as they are given. Keep your mouth shut so you don’t reveal just how inept you really are.

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.

Practical Application:  You are what people think of you – no, really. So if anyone talks smack you need to nip it in the bud, otherwise you come out looking like a tool.

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.

Practical Application:  You must become the center of attention. Join every social networking site possible and update as frequently as possible. They’ll never forget who you are!

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 for yourself what others can do for you.

Practical Application:  Delegate everything possible to your lackeys but be sure and let the boss know when it’s done so you can get the credit. Worried about the lackeys? They should be the enemies you brought from law # 2 so don’t worry about it.

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.

Practical Application:  Act like you have all the answers, even if you’re just guessing like everyone else. This will allow you to give advice to your enemies that will result in their demise. But don’t overdo it (see law # 4).

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.

Practical Application:  Don’t argue about it – just go out and prove that you are right. Lead by example and you will gain all kinds of respect, except from those lackeys you threw under the bus. But hey, it’s all good on the way to the top, right?

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.

Practical Application:  Don’t hang around depressed, pessimistic people unless you want to be one.  If you want to be happy, hang out with the group that goes to happy hour ever day.

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.

Practical Application:  Have your underlings do all the dirty work but never ever show them how to do your paperwork and such.  This way they can never replace you, never.  Of course, you never get a vacation either, but hey, that’s the cost of true leadership.

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.

Practical Application:  Only tell the truth when you have to.  Lying is the best policy. Duh.

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.

Practical Application:  Remember the question that everyone, even your friends, are asking: what’s in it for me?  If you can’t answer that question, you won’t get any help.

Law 14:  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, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.

Practical Application:  Find out information about your rivals by any means necessary.  Hook up to the rumor mill and gossip chain as soon as possible and feed them well.  They will return the favor.

Law 15:  Crush your Enemy Totally

All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned 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.

Practical Application:  This one is easy!  When your enemy or unloyal co-worker calls in sick, tell the boss about the party the night before … or the strippers … or his daughter (or wife), etc.  Make it so bad he’ll fire the whole family.  No one keeps the job … muwhahahah.

Law 16:  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 learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.

Practical Application:  Remember that old saying, “absense makes the heart grow fonder?”  Yeah, ok, whatever.  Just do it.

Law 17:  Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability

Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. 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.

Practical Application:  Shift the targets! Change the goals!  Whatever you do, don’t do it the same way twice.  If you keep them guessing you can break them down in no time.

Law 18:  Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous

The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect 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.

Practical Application:  Maybe it’s ok to have some friends after all.  It’s hard to tell.  After all the vengeful actions you’ve taken so far, these power laws are making you a bit schizophrenic.  Just roll with it.

Law 19:  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 victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.

Practical Application:  It’s ok to throw almost anyone under the bus (including grandma) unless you are going to need them again later.  Too late? Oh hell.

Law 20:  Do Not Commit to Anyone

It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.

Practical Application:  It’s that “c” word – commitment.  I feel quite sure none of the readers on this blog need any additional insight into this one.  Play people against each other on the job just like hoes from the hood.  There, ’nuff said.

Law 21:  Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark

No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.

Practical Application:  In the old school we called this being a shark.  Play stupid and play poorly.  When they up the ante, whoop that ass.

Law 22:  Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power

When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first. By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.

Practical Application:  Surrender?  I don’t know what the heck Greene is talking about here.  Real men don’t surrender.  Just go ahead and scratch law #22 out of your notes, ok?

Law 23:  Concentrate Your Forces

Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.

Practical Application:  When you find the sweet spot, stick with it.  Milk your rumor and gossip sources for all they are worth.  If the boss’ wife is sweet on you, play her to the hilt.  She will remember you later and you’ll be better off for it (or fired, but hey, who cares?).

Law 24:  Play the Perfect Courtier

The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the mot oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtier-ship and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.

Practical Application:  Know how to play poker, i.e., when to hold and when to fold.  Align yourself with those who are the winners in your circle of influence.

Law 25:  Re-Create Yourself

Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

Practical Application:  Remember when we said earlier that you are what people think about you? Forget that BS and re-create yourself in a new image.  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Law 26:  Keep Your Hands Clean

You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement.

Practical Application:  Blame all of your failures on someone else.  Start with anyone who you have already thrown under the bus, since they won’t be making much noise anyway.

Law 27:  Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cult-like Following

People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

Practical Application:  Did you ever win class president in junior high by promising to change the cafeteria food, even though there was no way you could do it?  Just take it to the next level.

Law 28:  Enter Action with Boldness

If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.

Practical Application:  When in doubt, forget all about it.  Only do things you are sure will succeed.  Earth to Mr. Greene? WTF, over?

Law 29:  Plan All the Way to the End

The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.

Practical Application:  Life isn’t like a box of chocolates, ok? It’s more like a game of chess.  So put on your thinking hat and think your plans through all the way to the end.  If you can’t do this you probably need to get out of the game, mkay?

Law 30:  Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless

Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.

Practical Application:  If people think you put forth a lot of effort to accomplish what you have, they won’t see you as a superhero.  You have to make the underlings do the work so you can act as if it was nothing (which it was for you).

Law 31:  Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal

The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.

Practical Application:  Ever hear of child psychology?  Well, it works for adults too.  Just make them believe that whatever you want them to do was really their idea.

Law 32:  Play to People’s Fantasies

The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.

Practical Application:  Always promise the moon and deliver Subway.  That is all.

Law 33:  Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew

Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.

Practical Application:  When you find someone’s weakness, exploit it to your full potential.  If it is a friend, just move them over to the enemies column so you can throw them under the bus too.

Law 34:  Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

Practical Application:  Don’t be a jackass.  That’s the way they explained it to me anyway.

Law 35:  Master the Art of Timing

Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.

Practical Application:  You have to practice patience grasshopper … only spring forth with the answer at the right moment.  Otherwise you will be seen as someone who just can’t wait to have their day, and you’ll never get yours.

Law 36:  Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge

By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.

Practical Application:  If someone pisses you off, ignore them.  If someone has more power than you and you secretly desire their position, make fun of them.  Yeah, that will teach them!

Law 37:  Create Compelling Spectacles

Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.

Practical Application:  Ok, here we are again talking about appearances for the third time on this list.  Does it matter what people see you as? Do other people’s opinions matter?  Apparently so, but only if you come off as dazzlingly brilliant.  Otherwise forget it.

Law 38:  Think as you like but Behave like others

If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.

Practical Application:  Keep your thoughts to yourself.  No one must know how power mad and hungry you really are.

Law 39:  Stir up Waters to Catch Fish

Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.

Practical Application:  Provoke anger in others while remaining calm so they can make an ass out of themselves.  This will show you are truly superior.

Law 40:  Despise the Free Lunch

What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

Practical Application:  Don’t take favors from anyone.  They will only come back to ask for something in return.  Never owe anyone.  Never.

Law 41:  Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes

What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.

Practical Application:  If someone before you was a really big success, you should find another division or company to move up in.  Going where others have gone before makes it difficult to get recognition for your work.

Law 42:  Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter

Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.

Practical Application:  If you have an employee who is a troublemaker, fire them immediately.  All of their followers will deny them faster than Judas.

Law 43:  Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others

Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.

Practical Application:  There are two things that make people do things – pleasure and fear.  Play on these two things and you will get what you want out of others. This is EXACTLY how VH1 became a success.

Law 44:  Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect

The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.

Practical Application:  Ever see the Star Trek original series episode, “Mirror, Mirror?”  Become the bad Kirk and mirror your enemies.  It might get you thrown in the brig, but then again, you might just kick some ass.

Law 45:  Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once

Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.

Practical Application:  People want change, they just don’t like it.  For current reference see the outcome of the most recent presidential election.  We voted for change, but we’re still getting more of the same.  This is law #45 in action. Still, it’s better than having John McCain, who smells of Grape Nuts and Failure.

Law 46:  Never appear too Perfect

Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.

Practical Application:  It’s ok to show a mistake every now and then.  Maybe once a year.  Just don’t over-do it, ok? This is the ‘Laws of Power’ version of Garth saying “if you’re gonna spew, spew into this”.

Law 47:  Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop

The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.

Practical Application:  When you achieve your goal, quit.  You are successful at that point.  Going beyond that only increases your chances for failure.  Just ask General MacArthur.  Oh wait, he’s dead.  Nevermind.

Law 48:  Assume Formlessness

By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.

Practical Application:  Become a shape shifter like on Star Trek or almost any other sci-fi series and movie.  Never remain the same, always continue the process of re-inventing yourself.  This way no one (including yourself) will ever figure out who you really are.

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