The 48 Laws of Power - Couverture souple

Greene, Robert

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0140280197 ISBN 13 : 9780140280197

Editeur : Penguin Books, 2000

Synopsis

The 48 Laws of Power Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this bestselling work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. As attention-grabbing in its design as it is in content, this bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other great thinkers.

A propos du livre

Extrait

Table of Contents

About the Authors

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

PREFACE

 

LAW 1 - NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER

LAW 2 - NEVER PUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS, LEARN HOW TO USE ENEMIES

LAW 3 - CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS

LAW 4 - ALWAYS SAY LESS THAN NECESSARY

LAW 5 - SO MUCH DEPENDS ON REPUTATION—GUARD IT WITH YOUR LIFE

LAW 6 - COURT ATTENTION AT ALL COST

LAW 7 - GET OTHERS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU, BUT ALWAYS TAKE THE CREDIT

LAW 8 - MAKE OTHER PEOPLE COME TO YOU—USE BAIT IF NECESSARY

LAW 9 - WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER THROUGH ARGUMENT

LAW 10 - INFECTION: AVOID THE UNHAPPY AND UNLUCKY

LAW 11 - LEARN TO KEEP PEOPLE DEPENDENT ON YOU

LAW 12 - USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND GENEROSITY TO DISARM YOUR VICTIM

LAW 13 - WHEN ASKING FOR HELP, APPEAL TO PEOPLE’S SELF-INTEREST, NEVER TO THEIR ...

LAW 14 - POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY

LAW 15 - CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY

LAW 16 - USE ABSENCE TO INCREASE RESPECT AND HONOR

LAW 17 - KEEP OTHERS IN SUSPENDED TERROR: CULTIVATE AN AIR OF UNPREDICTABILITY

LAW 18 - DO NOT BUILD FORTRESSES TO PROTECT YOURSELF—ISOLATION IS DANGEROUS

LAW 19 - KNOW WHO YOU’RE DEALING WITH—DO NOT OFFEND THE WRONG PERSON

LAW 20 - DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE

LAW 21 - PLAY A SUCKER TO CATCH A SUCKER—SEEM DUMBER THAN YOUR MARK

LAW 22 - USE THE SURRENDER TACTIC: TRANSFORM WEAKNESS INTO POWER

LAW 23 - CONCENTRATE YOUR FORCES

LAW 24 - PLAY THE PERFECT COURTIER

LAW 25 - RE-CREATE YOURSELF

LAW 26 - KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN

LAW 27 - PLAY ON PEOPLE’S NEED TO BELIEVE TO CREATE A CULTLIKE FOLLOWING

LAW 28 - ENTER ACTION WITH BOLDNESS

LAW 29 - PLAN ALL THE WAY TO THE END

LAW 30 - MAKE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS SEEM EFFORTLESS

LAW 31 - CONTROL THE OPTIONS: GET OTHERS TO PLAY WITH THE CARDS YOU DEAL

LAW 32 - PLAY TO PEOPLE’S FANTASIES

LAW 33 - DISCOVER EACH MAN’S THUMBSCREW

LAW 34 - BE ROYAL IN YOUR OWN FASHION: ACT LIKE A KING TO BE TREATED LIKE ONE

LAW 35 - MASTER THE ART OF TIMING

LAW 36 - DISDAIN THINGS YOU CANNOT HAVE: IGNORING THEM IS THE BEST REVENGE

LAW 37 - CREATE COMPELLING SPECTACLES

LAW 38 - THINK AS YOU LIKE BUT BEHAVE LIKE OTHERS

LAW 39 - STIR UP WATERS TO CATCH FISH

LAW 40 - DESPISE THE FREE LUNCH

LAW 41 - AVOID STEPPING INTO A GREAT MAN’S SHOES

LAW 42 - STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP WILL SCATTER

LAW 43 - WORK ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF OTHERS

LAW 44 - DISARM AND INFURIATE WITH THE MIRROR EFFECT

LAW 45 - PREACH THE NEED FOR CHANGE, BUT NEVER REFORM TOO MUCH AT ONCE

LAW 46 - NEVER APPEAR TOO PERFECT

LAW 47 - DO NOT GO PAST THE MARK YOU AIMED FOR; IN VICTORY, LEARN WHEN TO STOP

LAW 48 - ASSUME FORMLESSNESS

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Robert Greene has a degree in classical studies and has been an editor at Esquire and other magazines. He is also a playwright and lives in Los Angeles.

 

Joost Elffers is the producer of Penguin Studio’s bestselling The Secret Language of Birthdays, The Secret Language of Relationships, and of Play With Your Food. He lives in New York City.

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First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin,
a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. 1998
Published in Penguin Books 2000

 

Copyright © Joost Elffers and Robert Greene, 1998

All rights reserved

 

A portion of this work first appeared in The Utne Reader.

 

CIP data available.

ISBN: 9781101042458

 

 

 

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To Anna Biller, and to my parents
R. G.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First I would like to thank Anna Biller, who helped edit and research this book, and whose invaluable insights played a critical role in the shape and content of The 48 Laws. Without her, none of this would have been possible.

I must also thank my dear friend Michiel Schwarz who was responsible for involving me in the art school Fabrika in Italy and introducing me there to Joost Elffers, my partner and producer of The 48 Laws of Power. It was in the scheming world of Fabrika that Joost and I saw the timeless-ness of Machiavelli and from our discussions in Venice, Italy, this book was born.

I would like to thank Henri Le Goubin, who supplied me with many Machiavellian anecdotes over the years, particularly concerning the numerous French characters who play such a large role in this book.

I would also like to thank Les and Sumiko Biller, who lent me their library on Japanese history and helped me with the Japanese Tea Ceremony part of the book. Similarly, I must thank my good friend Elizabeth Yang who advised me on Chinese history.

A book like this depended greatly on the research material available and I am particularly grateful to the UCLA Research Library; I spent many pleasant days wandering through its incomparable collections.

My parents, Laurette and Stanley Green, deserve endless thanks for their patience and support.

And I must not forget to pay tribute to my cat, Boris, who kept me company throughout the never-ending days of writing.

Finally, to those people in my life who have so skillfully used the game of power to manipulate, torture, and cause me pain over the years, I bear you no grudges and I thank you for supplying me with inspiration for The 48 Laws of Power.

Robert Greene

 

 

In addition, we would like to thank Susan Petersen and Barbara Grossman, the Penguin publishers for believing in this book; Molly Stern, editor, who oversaw the whole project for Viking Penguin. Sophia Murer, for her new classic design. David Frankel, for editing the text. Roni Axelrod, Barbara Campo, Jaye Zimet, Joe Eagle, Radha Pancham, Marie Timell, Michael Fragnito, and Eng-San Kho.

Robert Greene
Joost Elffers

PREFACE

The feeling of having no power over people and events is generally unbearable to us—when we feel helpless we feel miserable. No one wants less power; everyone wants more. In the world today, however, it is dangerous to seem too power hungry, to be overt with your power moves. We have to seem fair and decent. So we need to be subtle—congenial yet cunning, democratic yet devious.

This game of constant duplicity most resembles the power dynamic that existed in the scheming world of the old aristocratic court. Throughout history, a court has always formed itself around the person in power—king, queen, emperor, leader. The courtiers who filled this court were in an especially delicate position: They had to serve their masters, but if they seemed to fawn, if they curried favor too obviously, the other courtiers around them would notice and would act against them. Attempts to win the master’s favor, then, had to be subtle. And even skilled courtiers capable of such subtlety still had to protect themselves from their fellow courtiers, who at all moments were scheming to push them aside.

Meanwhile the court was supposed to represent the height of civilization and refinement. Violent or overt power moves were frowned upon; courtiers would work silently and secretly against any among them who used force. This was the courtier’s dilemma: While appearing the very paragon of elegance, they had to outwit and thwart their own opponents in the subtlest of ways. The successful courtier learned over time to make all of his moves indirect; if he stabbed an opponent in the back, it was with a velvet glove on his hand and the sweetest of smiles on his face. Instead of using coercion or outright treachery, the perfect courtier got his way through seduction, charm, deception, and subtle strategy, always planning several moves ahead. Life in the court was a never-ending game that required constant vigilance and tactical thinking. It was civilized war.

Today we face a peculiarly similar paradox to that of the courtier: Everything must appear civilized, decent, democratic, and fair. But if we play by those rules too strictly, if we take them too literally, we are crushed by those around us who are not so foolish. As the great Renaissance diplomat and courtier Niccolò...

Présentation de l'éditeur

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature.

In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum.
 
Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Penguin Books
• Date d'édition: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0140280197
• ISBN 13: 9780140280197
• Reliure: Broché
• Langue: anglais
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 496