#THE 48 LAWS OF POWER HOW TO#
#THE 48 LAWS OF POWER MANUAL#

Review a situation – yours or someone else’s, against the 48 Laws of Power.Set aside time every day for study and reflection.To do so (and master each of the 48 laws at the same time): Subtlety – disguise your cunning and take the indirect route to power.Psychology – study, understand and never fully trust others and.Focus – never waste time or peace of mind on the affairs of others.

Objectivity – judge others not by intentions but by the effects of their actions.

Patience – learn to wait and shield yourself from impatience.

Deception – make your appearance malleable and your intentions inscrutable.

Understanding – observe the 48 laws directly and vicariously don’t repeat mistakes.

Awareness – anticipate future obstacles, plan thoroughly and never be caught unalert.

Detachment – don’t repress emotions, learn to choose how you express them.

And the people who use them are often (knowingly or unknowingly) the most sophisticated players of all.Īnd second – you must master the following general qualities and skills:

Truth and honesty – “ I’d never play the game“ or.

Equality – “ Nobody should play the game“.

#THE 48 LAWS OF POWER HOW TO#

Powerlessness – “ I don’t know how to play the game“.And yes, it might even make you more player than pawn.īut it’s also the kind of book you can’t read without changing your world view forever.Īnd this is one apple you may regret picking when you realise you can’t change it back…Įach law has its own specific dos, don’ts and exceptions (see the summaries, below).įirst – be wary of vocal “ non-players” those who claim: Yes, it’ll make you cannier, wiser and a whole lot less naive. Yes, it’s wonderfully written, structured and researched. (And you’ll find my own slightly more detailed summaries of each law of power, below.)Īnd yet even so, The 48 Laws of Power is a book to think twice about reading. There’s even an official concise version of the book. You’ll find excellent one paragraph summaries of each law in the “ Contents” and start of each chapter. But mostly because it’ll force you to confront the sheer number of psychological tactics that are used every day to control you.įortunately, Greene does some simplifying. Partly because of the emotional rollercoaster it’ll send you on (expect at least horror, disgust, anger, disdain, disbelief, shame, fascination and greed). Partly because of its relentlessly anecdotal style. It’s the bastard love child of How To Win Friends And Influence People, The Art of War and The Game – if that child was bred to survive Coral Island, then raised by wolves, then fostered by Machiavelli.

#THE 48 LAWS OF POWER MANUAL#

The 48 Laws of Power is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining or defending against ultimate control. Wish There Was a Faster/Easier Way? The 48 Laws of Power Review Practitioners of one-upmanship have been given a new, comprehensive training manual, as up-to-date as it is timeless.10. They are straightforward in their amoral simplicity: 'Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit,' or 'Discover each man's thumbscrew.' Each chapter provides examples of the consequences of observance or transgression of the law, along with 'keys to power,' potential 'reversals' (where the converse of the law might also be useful), and a single paragraph cleverly laid out to suggest an image (such as the aforementioned thumbscrew) the margins are filled with illustrative quotations. The laws cull their principles from many great schemers-and scheming instructors-throughout history, from Sun-Tzu to Talleyrand, from Casanova to con man Yellow Kid Weil. while others decrease it and even ruin us.' The 48 laws outlined in this book 'have a simple premise: certain actions always increase one's power. Mastery of one's emotions and the arts of deception and indirection are, he goes on to assert, essential. 'Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at the world, a shifting of perspective,' writes Robert Greene.

The 48 laws of power