Concise 48 Laws of Power

Business. Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML: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… (more)

Media reviews

New York

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Letture.org

«Ad alcuni, l’idea di mettere consapevolmente in atto giochi di potere — per quanto indiretti — sembra immorale, antisociale, un retaggio del passato. Sono convinti di poter scegliere di non partecipare a quei giochi semplicemente adottando comportamenti che nulla hanno a che fare con il

potere. In realtà, occorre diffidare di simili individui, perché mentre esprimono queste opinioni a parole, in molti casi sono proprio tra i più abili a tessere trame a proprio vantaggio. Essi infatti ricorrono a strategie che celano abilmente la vera natura della manipolazione in atto. Spesso, ad esempio, esibiscono la loro debolezza e il fatto di non detenere alcun potere come se si trattasse di altrettante virtù morali. Ma la vera assenza di potere, quella che non è dettata in alcun modo dall’interesse personale, non ostenta la propria fragilità per guadagnarsi comprensione o rispetto. Mostrarsi deboli in realtà è di per sé una strategia molto efficace, subdola e ingannevole, nel gioco del potere. Un’altra strategia adottata dal sedicente outsider consiste nel chiedere a gran voce parità e uguaglianza in ogni sfera dell’esistenza umana. Tutti, dunque, debbono essere trattati allo stesso modo, quale che sia il loro status e la loro forza. Ma se, per evitare il marchio disonorevole del potere, cerchiamo di comportarci con tutti quanti con la stessa equità e correttezza, ci troviamo di fronte a un problema: alcuni fanno determinate cose meglio di altri. Trattare tutti in modo paritetico significa ignorare le differenze, elevare i meno capaci e tarpare le ali di chi eccelle. Ancora una volta, molti di coloro che adottano questo approccio in realtà mettono in atto un’ennesima strategia di potere che consiste nel ridistribuire i riconoscimenti alle persone secondo criteri soggettivi che essi stessi hanno stabilito. Esiste poi un altro modo per evitare di entrare in gioco: adottare un comportamento improntato alla massima sincerità e schiettezza, visto che le tecniche fondamentali utilizzate da chi mira al potere sono invece l’inganno e l’abitudine a tramare nell’ombra. Tuttavia, volendo essere sinceri sempre e comunque, si finisce inevitabilmente per ferire e offendere moltissime persone, alcune delle quali possono poi ripagarci con la stessa moneta. Nessuno considererà la vostra franca affermazione come totalmente obiettiva e scevra da motivazioni dettate dall’interesse personale. E a ragione: in realtà, il ricorso alla sincerità è di per sé una strategia di potere, tesa a convincere gli altri che siamo di animo nobile, buono e altruista. È una forma di persuasione, addirittura una sottile forma di coercizione. Infine, può accadere che chi si chiama fuori dal gioco ostenti un’aria di falso candore per difendersi dall’accusa di essere assetato di potere. Di nuovo, guardiamoci da chi assume un simile atteggiamento, perché l’ostentazione di una presunta ingenuità può essere un valido strumento per ingannare il prossimo (cfr. Legge 21: Fingetevi sciocchi per mettere nel sacco gli ingenui). Ma neppure il candore autentico è al riparo dalle insidie del potere. Nei bambini esso può manifestarsi in molti modi, tuttavia spesso scaturisce dall’esigenza primaria di acquisire il controllo su coloro che li circondano. […] In sintesi, può accadere che anche le persone autenticamente innocenti siano in corsa per il potere: spesso la loro azione risulta terribilmente efficace, in quanto non si scontra con l’ostacolo della riflessione. Ancora una volta, chi ostenta o esibisce la propria innocenza è il meno innocente di tutti. […] Se il mondo è paragonabile a una gigantesca corte attraversata da infinite trame e maneggi nei quali noi ci troviamo intrappolati, non ha senso cercare di chiamarsi fuori dal gioco. Un simile tentativo non fa che accrescere la nostra impotenza e questa a sua volta ci fa sentire più infelici. Anziché combattere contro l’inevitabile, anziché discutere e lagnarsi e sentirsi in colpa, è molto meglio eccellere nel potere. Anzi, meglio riuscirete a gestire il potere, migliori diventerete come amici, amanti, mariti, mogli e, più in generale, persone. Seguendo il percorso del cortigiano perfetto, imparerete a far sì che gli altri si sentano meglio con se stessi e diventerete per loro una fonte di piacere. Essi svilupperanno una sorta di dipendenza dalle vostre capacità e desidereranno costantemente la vostra presenza. Imparando alla perfezione a mettere in pratica le 48 leggi illustrate in questo libro, risparmierete agli altri la sofferenza che deriva dall’armeggiare goffamente con il potere — giocando cioè col fuoco senza conoscerne le proprietà. Se al gioco del potere non è possibile sottrarsi, è meglio esserne un artefice che rifiutare di cimentarvisi o adottare un approccio dilettantesco. Per cimentarsi con successo nel gioco del potere, è necessario innanzitutto acquisire una certa visione del mondo, cambiare prospettiva. […] Sono dunque necessarie alcune capacità di base; una volta acquisite queste ultime, sarete in grado di applicare le leggi del potere con maggiore facilità. La più importante di queste abilità, e il fondamento primo del potere, è il saper governare le proprie emozioni. Una reazione emotiva a una data situazione costituisce in assoluto il maggior ostacolo all’acquisizione del potere, un errore che vi potrà costare molto di più di qualunque temporanea soddisfazione possiate ricavare dal manifestare i vostri sentimenti. Le emozioni ottenebrano la ragione e se non siete in grado di vedere la situazione con chiarezza, non potete prepararvi ad affrontarla né reagire a essa con un minimo di controllo. L’ira è la più distruttiva delle reazioni emotive in quanto è quella che più di tutte offusca la nostra capacità di guardare le cose con lucidità. Inoltre, essa innesca una reazione a catena che rende invariabilmente più difficile controllare la situazione e accresce la determinazione dell’avversario. Se state cercando di distruggere un nemico che vi ha fatto del male, anziché manifestare apertamente la vostra collera, è molto meglio che lo incoraggiate a tenere abbassata la guardia ostentando un atteggiamento amichevole. Anche amore e affetto possono rivelarsi distruttivi, in quanto vi impediscono di capire come dietro le azioni di coloro che meno di tutti sospettereste impegnati in un gioco di potere stia spesso nascosto l’interesse personale. […] Per padroneggiare le proprie emozioni occorre anche essere capaci di prendere le distanze dal presente e di considerare passato e futuro con obiettività. […] Per quanto concerne il domani, il motto è: «Siate sempre vigili». Nulla dovrebbe cogliervi di sorpresa, perché cercherete sempre di anticipare i possibili problemi prima che si presentino. Anziché passare il tempo a fantasticare sul felice esito dei vostri progetti, dovrete darvi da fare per calcolare qualsiasi imprevisto e qualsiasi insidia possiate incontrare sul vostro cammino. Più lontano riuscirete a spingere lo sguardo, più numerose saranno le fasi del processo che sarete in grado di pianificare, maggior potere potrete acquisire. […] Metà del gioco consiste proprio nell’imparare a dimenticare gli eventi il cui ricordo ci divora interiormente e offusca la nostra razionalità. Il vero scopo della riflessione su ciò che è stato è educare se stessi, costantemente […]. Poi, dopo aver meditato sul passato, rivolgiamo la nostra attenzione più vicino a noi, alle nostre azioni e a quelle dei nostri amici. È soprattutto da questa scuola che possiamo trarre gli insegnamenti più preziosi, perché essa si fonda sull’esperienza personale.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member jimocracy

To be honest, I began reading this book with resentment. Most of what the author was advocating seemed diabolical and immoral. I continued reading with the goal of learning what power tricks to avoid in others. And in the context, the book was enlightening.

As I continued reading, my position

softened. There were still some aspects that I would not emulate but with each successive law, I found myself being won over to the arguments and appreciating the lessons. One or two of the lessons even had personal significance to me and I felt I could really improve my relationships by employing their wisdom.

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LibraryThing member Quintuslocutaest

If Darth Vader had written The Dark Side for Beginners, this is what it would look like. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers is a carefully crafted quilt of advice, supported by classical citations, for becoming a modern day Machiavellian prince.

Here is a small

example:

“OPPONENTS, SUCKERS, AND VICTIMS: Preliminary Typology

In your rise to power you will come across many breeds of opponent, sucker, and victim. The highest form of the art of power is the ability to distinguish the wolves from he lambs, the foxes from the hares, the hawks from the vultures. If you make this distinction well, you will succeed without needing to coerce anyone too much. But if you deal blindly with whomever crosses you path, you will have a life of constant sorrow, if you even live that long. Being able to recognize types of people, and to act accordingly, is critical. The following are the most dangerous and difficult types of mark in the jungle, as identified by artists—con and otherwise—of the past.”

The sidebar directly beside the above paragraph reads: “When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet.”

Mr. Robert Greene is a classicist of the highest caliber, and he left no major classical work unnoticed as he gleaned that rich field of human knowledge. Although admittedly one-sided, dark-sided, a person can gain an admirable command of a deeply interesting part of Classical Studies by perusing the 452 pages of Mr. Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power.

The only criticism I might have is the title. As one reads this profoundly fascinating book, the astute will discover in short order that the ‘laws’ are not laws at all. Many of them conflict with each other, so I feel it would have been more accurate to call them The 48 GUIDELINES of Power. However, I admit, with such an unbeguiling title as I suggest, Mr. Greene's book would not have most likely become a National Bestseller, so I can forgive him that.

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LibraryThing member Jaylabelle

Cunning, ruthless, timeless, instructive and an excellent history lesson. But don't take them too seriously, or you just might turn into Napoleon or Machiavelli.

LibraryThing member DrT

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Why I picked this book up: I am a clinical Psychologis. I grew up in LA County and work in a max security, level 4, prison. I once talked with an inmate porter who cleaned our hallway, bathroom and cleared trash. I often read and he asked me if I ever read one

if Greene’s books. He named three of them and I started this one. This book as been banned from being read in prison. From the very. Evinning, Right away, I thought and felt this book was based on conniving, taking advantage of others, lying and myriad other negative things so I stopped reading it. It appeared to be pushing sin or at least amoral behavior. this us my 14th book is far in 2022. Having time to read recently, I figured I'd read it to see what other thoughts were in this book. This book has historical figures and examples of what they got from behaving in these ways.

Thoughts: I know manipulation is common and even pets can manipulate to get what they want but I do not want my children reading this book. I don't want my children to manipulate others, I want them to be honest, honorable, trustworthy and pure.

Why I finished this read: In spite of all the morally unacceptable thind a in these laws I finished because I wanted to orient myself to and observe the inmates I work around. I read this to educate myself on how some criminals think and behave.

I rated this book at a 1.5 stars because I do like like this root of these 49 laws.

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LibraryThing member pongcofamily

If you want to learn how to deal with complete a**holes, read this book.

LibraryThing member ablueidol

Interesting idea with lots of illustrative stories and example of the principles. It does make the reader reflect on why did x fail and y succeed. But not sure if it wanted to be an academic review of power or a series of popular histories of power. Useful to name types of power plays for the ones

we see in the office. It does tend to see power as being in the person rather then an interaction between the leader, environment and followers. It makes the same mistake of any mono-paradigm in assuming that human interactions can only be understood from one perspective. Hence can be over cynical but if linked to strategies of influence then more useful. But repetitive and once read...so what?

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LibraryThing member ZenoIzen

My copy of this book is almost entirely worn out. I am no more powerful now than the day I bought this book, but I am a whole lot less stupider. Anyone could benefit from this book. It does not teach the principles of megalomania so much as a kind of common sense that is a whole lot less common

than it ought to be.

In addition to that, the wide range of historical anecdotes used to illustrate the "laws" make the book worth reading over and over again.

This is an entertaining and enlightening book. Definitely a must have for anyone who does not want their life to be the kicktoy of random events.

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LibraryThing member AAAO

self-projections masked as interpretations of historical events, re-reads them as "laws of power." Foundationally flawed, mostly attributes causations to non-causes; e.g. X was powerful. X hid motives. Therefor hiding motives will make one powerful...actually commits many types of fallacies

(petitio principii; argumentum ad verecundiam; etc. I could tick them off)...some suggestions weren't merely displays of flawed reasoning, they were questionable on ethical and moral grounds. For example, the eleventh law "learn to keep people dependent on you" reads more like a description of an abusive mentality (tyranny really) than the useful advice it pretends to be...don't just make them dependent, "learn..." the book advises. In addition to the logical fallacies, I found fact-checking problems. Cited events were often grotesquely out of their historical context, Newton's sarcasm was wasted on this book...so was Teslas's endurance...so bad...such a shame...this book gives power a bad name…. even assuming the book was effective (that would be a hugely invalid assumption btw) the “power” one gains would not be sustainable…it’s a shame….so bad. I felt I had an ethical responsibility to return the book to seller.

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LibraryThing member satyridae

I hated every word of this manual for the soulless. It's a perfect example of exactly what's wrong with Big Pharma, big business, Wall Street, and in short capitalism as it's currently practiced. This book, which is kinda-sorta a synthesis of many previous Me First directives (Machiavelli leaps to

mind), is a handbook on how to fuck over everyone you come in contact with, in order for you to get "ahead" and "succeed". It'd be awesome for sociopaths and wanna-be-CEOs. It plunged me into despair. Parts of it actually raised gooseflesh on my arms while I was reading, I was so freaked out.

Repellent. Utterly amoral. Reprehensible. Negative 300 million zillion stars.

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LibraryThing member alexbafana

Nice evening reading

LibraryThing member srice07

Good... if only I could make myself finish it. I think maybe "The Art of Seduction" would have been a better choice for me.

LibraryThing member AtrixWolfe

The "Laws" given in this book aren't any surprise - you can find them elsewhere. The gems in this book come from the quotations and stories about historical figures which bring history to life. And the stories are really useful to bring up as examples in any discussion.
While the "laws" are useful

for insights into what people are trying to use against you, if that is your purpose you are better off reading "Sun-Tzu was a Sissy".

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LibraryThing member jpsnow

Powerful, to the extent it's almost evil. But it's practical and also interesting history filled with worthy anecdotes. The cigar-smoking escapee from Mcarthyism was shared three times and a few of the examples seemed a bit contrived, but all in all, this Elffers production is a great piece of

work. It makes top shelf.

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LibraryThing member rchj98

Interesting, but a little unorganized and the flow is very choppy

LibraryThing member squarespiral

Two points only for the content - though the stories are quite entertaining - one additional star for the editor and the beautiful typesetting. Look at it and enjoy the historical stories but don't expect much enlightenment about the 'laws of power'.

LibraryThing member Mathew

If you want to learn how to be a complete asshole, read this book.

LibraryThing member illuminated

LOVE IT!!!!

LibraryThing member krista.rutherford

One might say this book needed to be written. Taken at face value, it is cruel and amoral. Taken as an interpretation of history, politics, and personal conflicts, it is extraordinarily incisive and factual. A plethora of examples and anecdotes taken from all over the world and exemplified in

various philosophical, political, and socio-economic schools of thought clearly demonstrate each point without betraying any particular bias. Written from a cynical angle, the book is about how to recognize, defend against, and be above the practice of these power plays, rather than about promoting antisocial behaviors.

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LibraryThing member zen_923

I really enjoyed reading this book. I am looking forward to reading 33 strategies of war also by robert greene..

LibraryThing member lente

Changed my mind, I thought it was a great book, but the content may be somewhat questionable after all.

LibraryThing member Allzz

loved this book.!!!

LibraryThing member mldavis2

It is difficult to categorize a book like this. It is very Machiavellian in terms of the emphasis on obtaining and keeping power, but there are caveats. The author has a series of at least five other books that are somewhat related in thematic material.

Using historical accounts of incidents,

battles and politics, Greene has collated 48 laws (as he calls them) of ways to wrest power and control from other persons. Each chapter is one law, and is illustrated with anecdotes from past history. At the end of each law, after he explains and demonstrates it effectiveness, the author then gives a short corollary which is a warning that the law may not be effective in every incident and when it might bite you back.

The historical references are what kept my attention to the end. If this is your type of book, I would recommend it.

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LibraryThing member 064

Great read!

LibraryThing member wenestvedt

Forty-eight brief essays that each explicate a principle of how to gain and keep power in politics, at work, and in your personal life. The essays are all illustrated with a vignette from, for example, calssical Greek or Japanese literature, and are entertaining if rather cynical.

LibraryThing member CraigGoodwin

I really like Robert Green as a media presence and his prose is very like his oratory.
However, The 48 Laws is a really dispirating book, I DNF'd the abbreviated version many years ago, but thought I would give the full work a go.
The jaundiced views make it a negative book to read, not helped by the

some fairly embarrassing and tenuous "evidence". Clearly inspired by Machiavelli's The Prince, the negative views throughout are exhausting.
Intellectually a nice idea, and it has clearly made Robert Green a lot of money, but in for the reader it is frustrating. This is not least because for each example given, it isn't that difficult to come up with a polar opposite, that would demonstrate a contrary law. In fact, there are many internal inconsistencies within the laws...maybe "it depends" is the overriding message?

Recently, Greene described this book, by saying it's a way of making you aware of the kind of people that are in the world, and allowing you to be better able to deal with them. If that was the case, then why didn't he write that book?

That being said, The 48 Laws are interesting thought experiments and both the layout and prose are engaging. I will continue to read Robert's books, but I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone.

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