From c9fd379c512aae8e76ccdebdda7395f227e44938 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: iambrj Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2023 18:51:15 +0530 Subject: [PATCH] Remove stuff --- 48laws/README.md | 370 ----------------------------------------------- 1 file changed, 370 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 48laws/README.md diff --git a/48laws/README.md b/48laws/README.md deleted file mode 100644 index 576715e..0000000 --- a/48laws/README.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,370 +0,0 @@ -# Law 1: Never outshine the master - -Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please -or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talent: or you might -accomplish the opposite - inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear -more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power. - -# Law 2 : Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies - -Be wary of friends - they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily -aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former -enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. -In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no -enemies, find a way to make them. - -# Law 3 : Conceal your intentions - -Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind -your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a -defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough -smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late. - -# Law 4 : Always say less than necessary - -When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more -common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something -banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. -Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the -more likely you are to say something foolish. - -# Law 5 : So much depends on reputation - guard it with your life - -Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can -intimidate and win, Once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and will be -attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to -potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to -destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside -and let public opinion hang them. - -# Law 6 : Court attention at all cost - -Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing: Never -let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. He -conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing -larger, more colorful more mysterious than the bland and timid masses. - -# Law 7 : Get others to do the work for you, always take the credit - -Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own muse. -Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give -you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will -be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can -do for you. - -# Law 8 - -MAKE OTHER PEOPLE COME TO YOU—-USE BAIT IF NECESSARY -When you forte the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always -better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the -process. Lure him with fabulous gains-then attack. You hold the cards. - -# Law 9 : Win through your actions, never through argument - -Any momentary triumph you think you have gained through argument is really a -Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts -longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get -others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. -Demonstrate, do not explicate. - -# Law 10: Infection: avoid the unhappy and unlucky - -You can die from someone else: misery - emotional states are as infectious as -diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only -precipitating your own disaster: The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on -themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and -fortunate instead. - -# Law 11 : Learn to keep people dependent on you - -To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you -are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their -happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never touch them enough -so that they can do without you. - -# Law 12 : Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim - -One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. -Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the -most suspicions people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor; -you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely - a Trojan horse - will -serve the same purpose. - -# Law 13 : When asking for help, appeal to people’s self interest, never to their mercy or gratitude - -If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your -past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, -uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will -benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion, He will respond -enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself. - -# Law 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. - -# Law 15 : Crush your enemy totally - -All great leaders since Moses 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, afire 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. - -# Law 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. - -# Law 17 : Keep others in suspended terror: cultivate an air of unpredictability - -Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in -other peoples 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. - -# Law 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 by the crowd. - -# Law 19 : Know who you're dealing with—do not offend the wrong person - -There 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. - -# Law 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. - -# Law 21 : Play a sucker to catch a sucker—--seem dumber than your mark - -No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, then, is to make -your victims feel smart and not just smart, out smarter than you are. Once -convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives. - -# Law 22 : Use the surrender tactic: transform weakness into power - -When you are weaker; never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead. -Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your -conqueror; time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction -of fighting and defeating you——surrender first. By turning the other cheek you -infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power. - -# Law 23 : Concentrate your forces - -Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at -their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper; -than by flitting from one shallow mine to another intensity defeats extensity -every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key -patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come. - -# Law 24 : Play the perfect courtier - -The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power -and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flutters, -yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique and -graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no -limit to how far you can rise in the court. - -# Law 25 : Re-create yourself - -Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Recreate yourself by forging -a new identity, one that commands attention and never bones the audience. Be the -master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you. -Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions - your power -will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life. - -# Law 26 : Keep your hands clean - -You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency. Your hands are never soiled -by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others -as scapegoats and cat's-paws to disguise your involvement People have an -overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such -desire by offering them a cause, a faith to follow. Keep your wants vague but -full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give -your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your -behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief -system will bring you untold power. - -# Law 28 : Enter action with boldness - -If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and -hesitations will infect your execution, Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter -with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected -with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid. - -# Law 29 : Plan all the way to the end - -The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the -possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your -hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be -overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune -and help determine the future by thinking far ahead. - -# Law 30 : Make your accomplishments seem effortless - -Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice -that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you -act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation -of-revealing how hard you work - it only raises questions. Teach no one your -tricks or they will be used against you. - -# Law 31 : Control the options: get others to play with the cards you deal - -The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: -Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give -people options that some out in your favor whichever one they choose, Force them -to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your -purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn. - -# Law 32 : Play to peoples fantasies - -The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to -truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes from -disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture -romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to -them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses. - -# Law 33 : Discover each man's thumbscrew - -Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually an -insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a smart secret -pleasure. Either may, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your -advantage. - -# Law 34 : Be royal in your own fashion: act like a king to be treated like one - -The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated: In the long -run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king -respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally -and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown. - -# Law 35 : Master the art of timing - -Never seem to be in a hurry - hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself: -and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to -you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; out the spirit of the -times, the trends that will carry you to power: Learn to stand back when the -time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition. - -# Law 36 : Disdain things you cannot have: ignoring them is the best revenge - -By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more -attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is -often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best -to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show -contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem. - -# Law 37 : Create compelling spectacles - -Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power - everyone -responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then, full of arresting -visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by -appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing. - -# Law 38 : Think as you like but behave like others - -If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional -ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and -that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them -feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share -your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate -your uniqueness. - -# Law 39 : Stir up waters to catch fish - -Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm -and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm -yourself you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies - -# Law 40 : Despise the free lunch - -What is offered for free is dangerous - it usually involves either a trick or a -hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for By paying your own way you -stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the -full price-—there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your -money and it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power. - -# Law 41 : Avoid stepping into a great man's shoes - -What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after -If you succeed a great man or have famous parent, you will have to accomplish -double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or -stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by -changing course. Slay the overbearing father; disparage his legacy, and gain -power by shining in your own way. - -# Law 42 : Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter - -Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual - the stirrer, the -arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill. You allow such people room to -operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles -they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them - they are -irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike -at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter. - -# Law 43 : Work on the hearts and minds of others - -Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must -seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced -becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their -individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on -their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear: Ignore the -hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you. - -# Law 44 : Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect - -The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When -you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your -strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By -holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you -share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a -lesson. Few can resist the power of the Mirror Effect. - -# Law 45 : Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once - -Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day -level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will -lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to -build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If -change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past. - -# Law 46 : Never appear too perfect - -Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is -to appear to have no fault: or weaknesses. Envy mates silent enemies. It is -smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to -deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can -seem perfect with impunity. - -# Law 47 : Do not go past the mark you aim for; in victory, learn when to stop - -The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of -victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed -for; and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow -success to go to your head. Time is no substitute for strategy and careful -planning. Set a goal, and when you mach it, stop. - -# Law 48 : Assume formlessness - -By talking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. -Instead of taking form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on -the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best -way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and form less as water; never bet on -stability or lasting order. Everything changes.