Law 1:
Never outshine the master
·
Make those above you feel superior. Do not show your talents too
much, it’ll make them insecure.
·
Make the master appear more brilliant than they are.
Law 2: Never put too much trust
in friends, learn to use enemies
·
Friends will quickly betray you.
·
Hire former enemies, they’ll be loyal.
Law 3: Conceal your intentions
·
Keep people off-balance. They cannot prepare if they don’t know.
Guide them down the wrong path.
Law 4: Always say less than necessary
·
When trying to impress, the more you say the more common you
look and less in control.
·
Be vague.
·
Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less.
Law 5: So much depends on
reputation – guard it with your life
·
Reputation is the cornerstone of power.
·
Reputation alone will make you win.
·
Destroy enemies by attacking their reputation. Then stand aside
and let the public hang them.
Law 6: Court attention at all
cost
·
Everything is judged by appearance, what is unseen counts for
nothing.
·
Never get lost in a crowd.
·
Be mysterious; appear more colorful than the masses.
Law 7: Let others to do the work
for you, but always take credit
·
Use the skills of others to do the work for you, never do
yourself what others can do for you.
·
Your efficiency will appear god-like.
Law 8: Make other people come to
you – use bait if necessary
·
When you force others to act, you’re in control.
·
Make opponents come to you.
·
Lure with gains, then attack.
Law 9: Win through your actions,
never through argument
·
You never win through argument.
·
The resentment last long.
·
It’s more powerful to agree with actions.
·
Demonstrate, do not explain.
Law 10: Infection: Avoid the unhappy
and the unlucky
·
You’ll die from other’s misery – emotional states are as
infectious as diseases.
·
The unfortunate draw misfortune on themselves and will draw it
on you.
·
Associate with the happy and fortunate.
Law 11: Learn to keep people
dependent on you
·
To maintain independence you must be needed and wanted.
·
The more you’re relied on, the more freedom you have.
·
Make people depend on you for happiness.
·
Never teach them enough so they can do without you.
Law 12: Use selective honesty and
generosity to disarm your victim
·
One sincere move will cover over a dozen dishonest ones.
·
Honesty can bring down the guard of suspicious people.
·
Open their shield with honesty, then deceive.
Law 13: When asking for help, appeal
to people’s self-interest, never to their mercy
·
Do not remind people of past deeds.
·
Find something that will benefit them and emphasize it out of
proportion.
Law 14: Pose as a friend, work as
a spy
·
Learn to probe and find valuable information.
·
Ask indirect questions.
·
Every occasion is a chance to spy.
Law 15: Crush your enemy totally
·
More is lost through stopping halfway.
·
Crush your enemy in body and spirit.
Law 16: Use absence to increase
respect and honor
·
Too much circulation makes the price go down.
·
If you’re already established in a group, temporarily withdraw
to make people talk.
·
Create value through scarcity.
Law 17: Keep others in suspended
terror: cultivate an air of unpredictability
·
Being predictable gives control to others.
·
Behavior that isn’t consistent will wear people out, and they’ll
stop trying to explain things.
·
When used to the extreme, you’ll intimidate and terrorize.
Law 18: Do not build fortresses
to protect yourself – isolation is dangerous
·
Isolation cuts you off from valuable information.
·
It’s better to mingle.
·
You are shielded from your enemy in a crowd.
Law 19: Know who you’re dealing
with – do not offend the wrong person
·
Never assume everyone will react the same way.
·
Choose your victims carefully.
·
Never offend the wrong person.
Law 20: Do not commit to anyone
·
Fools rush to pick a side.
·
Do not commit to a cause but yourself
·
Maintain independence
·
Make people chase you and play people against one another
Law 21: Play a sucker to catch a
sucker- seem dumber than your mark
·
Don’t be stupid, but make your mark appear smarter than you
·
Making them appear smarter hides your motives
Law 22: Use the surrender tactic:
transformer weakness into power
·
When you’re weaker, never fight just for honor but surrender
·
Do not give them the satisfaction to win, surrender
·
Turn the other cheek to infuriate them
Law 23: Concentrate your forces
·
Intensity defeats extensity every time
·
Find a fat cow that’ll give you milk for a long time
Law 24: Play the perfect courtier
·
Master the art of indirection
·
Assert power gracefully
Law 25: Re-create yourself
·
Create an identity that commands attention and never bores
·
Be the master of your own image
·
Use large gestures and actions-your character will seem huge and
you’ll gain power
Law 26: Keep your hands clean
·
Never appear soiled by mistakes
·
Use others as scapegoats to disguise your involvement
Law 27: Play on people’s need to
believe to create a cultlike following
·
People want to believe in something
·
Become the focal point of this and offer them a cause, a new
faith
·
Keep your words vague but full of promise
·
Emphasize enthusiasm over rationality
·
Give your new disciples rituals to perform and ask them to make
sacrifices
Law 28: Enter action with boldness
·
If you’re unsure then don’t do it
·
Timidity is dangerous
·
Any mistakes your commit through audacity are easily corrected
with more audacity
·
Everyone admires boldness, no one honors the timid
Law 29: Plan all the way to the
end
·
The ending is everything
·
Take into account of scenario
·
If you plan, you won’t be overwhelmed
·
Guide fortune by thinking far ahead
Law 30: Make your accomplishments
seem effortless
·
Conceal the clever tricks
·
Make your success seem natural
·
Do not reveal how hard you work
·
Teach no one your tricks
Law 31: Control the opinions: get
others to play with the cards you deal
·
The best deceptions seem to give the other person a choice
·
Give options so no matter their choice, you win
Law 32: Play to people’s fantasies
·
The truth is unpleasant, avoid it
·
People that manufacture romance are like oases in the desert
·
There’s great power in tapping into people’s fantasies
Law 33: Discover each man’s thumbscrew
·
Find other’s weaknesses
·
Its usually insecurity, uncontrollable emotions, secret
pressures
Law 34: Be royal in your own
fashion: act like a king to be treated like one
·
The way you carry yourself determines how you’re treated
·
Appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you
·
Kings respect themselves and inspire the same in others
·
By acting confident you make yourself destined to wear a crown
Law 35: Master the art of timing
·
Never seem in a hurry, always seem patient
·
Sniff out the spirit of the times, find the trends that’ll give
you power
·
Learn to stand back when not ready, and then strike
Law 36: Disdain things you cannot
have: ignoring them if the best revenge
·
Acknowledging petty problems gives them existence
·
When you acknowledge an enemy you make them stronger
·
The more you a mistake visible, the worse it gets
·
If you want something but can’t have it, disdain it
·
The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem
Law 37: Create compelling
spectacles
·
Striking imagery and symbolic gestures create the auro of power
and people respond
·
Stage spectacles for those around you and heighten your presence
·
Dazzle by appearance
Law 38: Think as you like but
behave like others
·
By flaunting your unconventional ways people will only think you
want attention
·
They’ll punish you for making them feel inferior
·
Blend in
Law 39: Stir up waters to catch fish
·
Anger and emotion is counterproductive
·
Stay calm and objective
·
Make enemies emotional while you stay calm
·
Rattle your enemies
Law 40: Despise the free lunch
·
What’s offered for free in dangerous
·
Pay your own way to avoid guilt and gratitude
·
No cutting corners with excellence
·
Be lavish with your money, keep it circulating
·
Generosity is a sign and magnet for power
·
Example: Gypsies and Gifts (add link)
Law 41: Avoid stepping into a
great man’s shoes
·
What happens first always appears better and more original than
what’s next
·
Following great people means you must double their power
·
Gain power by shining in your own way
Law 42: Strike the shepherd and the
sheep will scatter
·
Trouble can be traced to a single individual
·
These people will influence others
·
Do not negotiate but banish them
·
Strike at the source of the trouble
Law 43: Work on the hearts and
minds of others
·
Coercion will work against you
·
Seduce others into wanting to move in your direction
·
Seduce others by operating on their individual psychologies and
weaknesses
·
Soften them by working their emotions and what they fear
·
Ignore the hearts and minds and they will grow to hate you
Law 44: Disarm and infuriate with
the mirror effect
·
When you mirror exactly what your enemies do, they cannot figure
out your strategy
·
The mirror effect mocks and humiliates them, making them
overreact
·
Hold a mirror to their psyches and you’ll seduce them and
they’ll think they share your values
·
Mirror their actions and they learn lessons
Law 45: Preach the need for change,
but never reform too much at once
·
Everyone wants change but too much is traumatic
·
When new to power show you respect old ways
·
Make change feel like a gentle improvement on the past
Law 46: Never
appear too perfect
·
Its dangerous to appear like you have no thoughts
·
Its ok to admit to small defects
Law 47: Do not go past the mark
you aimed for; in victory know when to stop
·
When going to far in victory, you make more enemies
·
Set a goal, achieve it, then stop
Law 48: Assume formlessness
·
By having a visible plan you open yourself to attack.
·
Stay adaptable and on the move
·
Accept that nothing is certain and now law fixed
·
Everything changes and never bet on it
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