Book Review: The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

1. It’s dangerous to seem too power-hungry in today’s world. So we need to be subtle. Everything must appear civilized, decent, democratic, and fair. Power moves need to be made indirectly.

2. Those who claim to be nonplayers may affect an air of naïveté, to protect them from the accusation that they are after power. You can recognize these supposed nonplayers by the way they flaunt their moral qualities, their piety, their exquisite sense of justice.

3. If the world is like a giant scheming court and we are trapped inside it, there is no use in trying to opt out of the game. That will only render you powerless, and powerlessness will make you miserable. Instead of struggling against the inevitable, instead of arguing and whining and feeling guilty, it is far better to excel at power.

4. The most important of these skills, and power’s crucial foundation, is the ability to master your emotions. An emotional response to a situation is the single greatest barrier to power, a mistake that will cost you a lot more than any temporary satisfaction you might gain by expressing your feelings. Anger is the most destructive of emotional responses, for it clouds your vision the most.

5. Power requires the ability to play with appearances. You must learn to wear many masks and keep a bag full of deceptive tricks.

6. Half of your mastery of power comes from what you do not do, what you do not allow yourself to get dragged into.

7. Power is a social game. To learn and master it, you must develop the ability to study and understand people.

8. Consider The 48 Laws of Power a kind of handbook on the arts of indirection.

9. Law 1 – Never Outshine the Master: Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please and impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite—inspire fear, resentment, and insecurity. All masters want to appear more brilliant than other people.

10. 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. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. Since honesty rarely strengthens friendship, you may never know how a friend truly feels. Without enemies around us, we grow lazy.

11. 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. It takes effort to control your tongue and monitor what you reveal.

12. Law 4 – Always Say Less Than Necessary: Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish. In most areas of life, the less you say, the more profound and mysterious you appear.

13. 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 it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. As they say, your reputation inevitably precedes you.

14. Law 9 – Win Through Your Actions, Never Through Argument: It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.

15. Law 10 – Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky: In the game of power, the people you associate with are critical. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.

16. 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.

17. 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. Instead, uncover something in your request that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion.

18. 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.

19. Law 19 – Know Who You’re Dealing With: 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. The ability to measure people and to know who you’re dealing with is the most important skill of all in gathering and conserving power.

20. Law 23 – Concentrate Your Forces: Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. Intensity defeats extensity every time. The mind must not wander from goal to goal, or be distracted by success from its sense of purpose and proportion.

21. 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 most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.

22. 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 it for you. Working on yourself like clay should be one of your greatest and most pleasurable life tasks.

23. 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.

24. 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 from 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.

25. Law 35 – Master the Art of Timing: 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.

26. Law 38 – Think As Your Like But Behave Like Others: 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. Image: The Black Sheep. The herd shuns the black sheep, uncertain whether or not it belongs with them.

27. 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.

28. Law 43 – Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others: You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. The key to persuasion is softening people up and breaking them down, gently.

29. 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.

30. 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. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water. Power can only thrive if it is flexible in its forms.