This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please and impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents 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.” – Robert Greene, Law 1: Never Outshine the Master, Page 26
“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, envelop them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.” – Robert Greene, Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions, Page 46
“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.” – Robert Greene, Law 19: Know Who You’re Dealing With – Do Not Offend The Wrong Person, Page 211
Is This An Overview?
There is value in being civilized and fair, but those who
follow being civilized and fair too strictly, get taken advantage of by those
who do not follow them too strictly.
Freedom to make decisions without fear comes through becoming a person
who is in demand, a person that others cannot do without. But accomplishments can make others feel
insecure, who will then want to undermine those who have made accomplishments. To not be replaced, superiors should not be
outperformed. To obtain the safety of
the crowd, showing personal uniqueness needs to be limited.
To get someone to do something, find something within the
negotiation that would benefit the person.
Causing someone to do anything through coercion, creates demand for
retaliation. An alternative method is
seduction, through which people will want to support that which is wanted. Friends are quick to betray, while feared
enemies generate a need to maintain cooperation for mutual preservation. Limit what information is shared, as that
prevents people from finding methods to defend themselves against what is
actually planned.
Choose victims and opponents carefully, as different people
can react different. Find other people’s
weaknesses, to use against them.
Overreacting to the decisions of others shows weakness that could be
taken advantage of. Showing interest in
something is another source of weakness, as desire creates demand for
more. People do not want the truth, as people
want to live in their fantasies.
Caveats?
Although there is value in the various laws, most laws
presented in the book, justify doing harm to others. Rather than improving the conditions for
people using the laws, the laws are meant facilitate taking advantage of others
at the expense of others. There is
legislature that makes various laws illegal, to prevent the criminal activity
supported in the book.
This book is based on examples, that contain a survivorship
bias. The examples presented express
when the law has worked, and the consequences when not using the law. What is missing are the examples when there
were consequences of using the law, when the law does not work. The shared reversals, are supporting of the
laws. There are laws that are culturally
conditional, as people within different cultures can have different responses
to the same law. When the people
involved know how they are being used by the laws, the expected reaction from
using the laws can become different.
There are laws that contradict the use of other laws.
