48 LAWS OF POWER 14-20 REPOSTED

For those who wish to print them.

Straight from the book without comments from me.
From 48 Laws of Power by Robert Green
14.Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy
Knowing about your rival is critical.

Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead.

Better still: Play the spy yourself.

In polite social encounters, learn to probe.

Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions.

There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.
15.Crush your Enemy Totally
All great leaders have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely.

(Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge.

Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.
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.
17.Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions.

Your predictability gives them a sense of control.

Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable.

Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves.

Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.
18.Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous
The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves.

A fortress seems the safest.

But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target.

Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle.

You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.
19.Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person
here 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. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge.

They are wolves in lambs’ clothing.

Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.
20.Do Not Commit to Anyone
It is the fool who always rushes to take sides.

Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself.

By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.