THE 48 LAWS OF POWER

First, it is critical to recognize the spirit of the times. Fouche always we shall be in trouble. "
looked two steps ahead, found the wave that would carry hirn to power, So he had the fellow 's
and rode it. You must always work with the times, anticipate twists and feet cut off Both fami­
turns, and never miss the boat. Sometimes the spirit ofthe times is obscure: lies did exaetly the
Recognize it not by what is loudest and most obvious in it, but by what lies same thing, but one
hidden and dormant. Look forward to the Napoleons of the future rather timed it right, the other
than holding on to the ruins of the past. wrong. Thus suecess
depends on . . . rhythm.
Second, recognizing the prevailing winds does not necessarily mean
running with them. Any potent social movement creates a powerful reac­ L I E H TZll, QlJOTED IN
tion, and it is wise to anticipate what that reaction will be, as Fouche did THE C H INESE LOOKING
after the execution of Robespierre. Rather than ride the cresting wave of GLASS,
the moment, wait for the tide's ebb to carry you back to power. Upon occa­ DENNIS BLOODWORTH,
sion bet on the reaction that is brewing, and place yourself in the vanguard 1967
of it.
The sultan [of PersiaJ
Finally, Fouche had remarkable patience. Without patience as your had senteneed two men
sword and shield, your timing will fail and you will inevitably find yourself to death. One ofthem,
aloser. When the times were against Fouche, he did not struggle, get emo­ knowing how mueh the
tional, or strike out rashly. He kept his cool and maintained a low profile, sultan loved his stal­
patiently building support among the citizenry, the bulwark in his next rise !ion, offered to teaeh
to power. Whenever he found hirnself in the weaker position, he played for the horse to jly within a
time, which he knew would always be his ally if he was patient. Recognize year in return for his
the moment, then, to hide in the grass or slither under a rock, as weIl as the !ife. The sultan, faney­
moment to bare your fangs and attack. ing himself as the rider
ofthe only jlying horse
Space we can recover, time never. in the world, agreed.
The other prisoner
Napoleon Bonaparte, 1 769- 1 82 1 looked at his friend in
disbelie! " You know
KEYS TO POWER horses don 't jly. What
Time is an artificial concept that we ourselves have created to make the made you come up
limitlessness of eternity and the universe more bearable, more human. with a erazY idea like
Since we have constructed the concept of time, we are also able to mold it that? You 're only post­
to some degree, to play tricks with it. The time of a child is long and slow, poning the inevitable. "
with vast expanses; the time of an adult whizzes by frighteningly fast. "Not so, " said the [first
Time, then, depends on perception, which, we know, can be willfully al­ prisoner]. "I have aetu­
tered. This is the first thing to understand in mastering the art of timing. If ally given myselffour
the inner turmoil caused by our emotions tends to make time move faster, chances for freedom.
it follows that once we control our emotional responses to events, time will First, the sultan might
move much more slowly. This altered way of dealing with things tends to die during the year.
lengthen our perception of future time, opens up possibilities that fear and 5eeond, 1 might die.
anger dose off, and allows us the patience that is the principal requirement Third, the horse might
in the art of timing. die. And fourth . . . 1
might teaeh the horse
There are three kinds of time for us to deal with; each presents prob­ tu jly! "
lems that can be solved with skill and practice. First there is long time: the
drawn-out, years-Iong kind of time that must be managed with patience T H E CRAFT O F POWER.
and gentle guidance. Our handling of long time should be mostly defen­
sive-this is the art of not reacting impulsively, of waiting for opportunity. R . G. H . Sm,

1 979

LAW 3 5 295

T I I E T I{ O [ T \,\D Next there i s Jorced time: the short-term time that we can manipulate as an

I' I I E C [ I l C i':Ol\ offensive weapon, upsetting the timing of oUf opponents. Finally there is

A fisherman in the end time, when a plan must be executed with speed and force. We have
month ofMay stood
angling on the bank of waited, found the moment, and must not hesitate.
the Thames with an
artificial fly. He threw Long Time. The famous seventeenth-century Ming painter Chou Yung
his bait with so milch relates a story that altered his behavior forever. Late one winter aftemoon
art, that a young trollt he set out to visit a town that lay across the river from his own town. He
was rllshing toward it, was bringing some important books and papers with hirn and had commis­
sioned a young boy to help hirn carry them. As the ferry neared the other
when she was side of the river, Chou Yung asked the boatman if they would have time to
prevented by her get to the town before its gates closed, since it was a mHe away and night
mother. "Never, " said was approaching. The boatman glanced at the boy, and at the bundle of
she, "my child, be too loosely tied papers and books-"Yes," he replied, "if you do not walk too
precipitate, where there fast."
is a possibility of
danger. Take dlle time As they started out, however, the sun was setting. Afraid of being
to consider, before YOIl locked out of the town at night, prey to local bandits, Chou and the boy
risk an action that may walked faster and faster, finally breaking into a run. Suddenly the string
be fatal. How know around the papers broke and the documents scattered on the ground. It
YOIl whether yon took them many minutes to put the packet together again, and by the time
appearance be indeed a they had reached the city gates, it was too late.
fly, or the snare ofan
enemy? Let someone When you force the pace out of fear and impatience, you create a nest
else make the experi­
ment before you. lf it of problems that require fixing, and you end up taking much longer than if
be a jty, he will very
probably elllde the first you had taken YOUf time. Hurriers may occasionally get there quicker, but
attack: and the second papers fly everywhere, new dangers arise, and they find themselves in con­
may be made, ifnot stant crisis mode, fixing the problems that they themselves have created.
with SlIccess, at least Sometimes not acting in the face of danger is YOUf best move-you wait,
you deliberately slow down. As time passes it will eventually present op­
with safety. " portunities you had not imagined.
She had no sooner spo­
Waiting involves controlling not only YOUf own emotions but those of
ken, than a glldgeon YOUf colleagues, who, rnistaking action for power, may try to push you into
seized the pretended making rash moves. In YOUf rivals, on the other hand, you can encourage
this same mistake: If you let them rush headlong into trouble while you
fly, and became an stand back and wait, you will soon find ripe moments to intervene and pick
example to the giddy up the pieces. This wise policy was the principal strategy of the great early­
dallghter ofthe impor­ seventeenth-century emperor Tokugawa Ieyasu ofJapan. When his prede­
tance ofher mother's cessor, the headstrong Hideyoshi, whom he served as a general, staged a
rash invasion of Korea, Ieyasu did not involve hirnself. He knew the inva­
colinseI. sion would be a dis aster and would lead to Hideyoshi's downfall. Better to

FABLES. stand patiently on the sidelines, even Jor many years, and then be in position

ROBERT DODSLEY, to seize power when the time is right-exactly what Ieyasu did, with great
artistry.
1 703-1 764
You do not deliberately slow time down to live longer, or to take more
pleasUfe in the moment, but the better to play the game of power. First,
when YOUf mind is uncluttered by constant emergencies you will see fur­
ther into the future. Second, you will be able to resist the baits that people

296 LAW 3 5