The 48 Rules Of Power , Power to the best in everything

[Way_2_Skinny!]

Which rules do you agree/disagree with , why or why not?
http://www.tech.purdue.edu/Cgt/Cours...s_of_power.htm

[The Conqueror]

There is some AWESOME stuff there.

I have read other works that are similar and this is almost a compilation of things like: "Winning through Intimidation" "Unlimited Power" and others.

Thanks. . .I've saved it as HTML and will study it more closely later.

[Way_2_Skinny!]

Originally Posted by The Conqueror

There is some AWESOME stuff there.

I have read other works that are similar and this is almost a compilation of things like: "Winning through Intimidation" "Unlimited Power" and others.

Thanks. . .I've saved it as HTML and will study it more closely later.

It's actually quite amazing. It is amazing because this stuff can help in all aspects of life , from everything to getting women , to getting to the top of the corporate ladder. Heres a prime example.

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.

[CodiMac]

I always conceal my intentions like it says. I always have these elaborate schemes that I try to put into play and my girlfriend asks me what its all for and I outright tell her to go **** herself. There's no way I'm letting her in on my intentions, she'd only try to sabotage it. After we shoot up and have wild sex I'm always more liable to give up secrets so I gotta watch out.

[sword_]

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 you slip, 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.

[Way_2_Skinny!]

Hmm

Law 21

Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark

No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.

-This rule is genius , and help so much during highscool and life
-Does anyone believe any of these rules take it too far?

[CodiMac]

This guide will make you successful but everyone will end up viewing you as manipulative bastard. You have to be genuinely humble sometimes too, cocky SOBs are often very successful but a lot of people shun that.

[Way_2_Skinny!]

Originally Posted by CodiMac

This guide will make you successful but everyone will end up viewing you as manipulative bastard. You have to be genuinely humble sometimes too, cocky SOBs are often very successful but a lot of people shun that.

If you do it properly though , no one should know your a manipulative bastard except yourself.

[mophatthedamaja]

I've read the book.... absolute perfection

[bts327]

Classic **** here.

All would do well to read.

[CodiMac]

Originally Posted by Way_2_Skinny!

If you do it properly though , no one should know your a manipulative bastard except yourself.

who's going to be able to do that though without slipping up from time to time? Maybe Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the sting but for the average guy its better to take the points with a grain of salt and apply them in certain situations when it can be of advantage, not try to transform yourself into some untouchable hotshot.

[Way_2_Skinny!]

Originally Posted by CodiMac

who's going to be able to do that though without slipping up from time to time? Maybe Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the sting but for the average guy its better to take the points with a grain of salt and apply them in certain situations when it can be of advantage, not try to transform yourself into some untouchable hotshot.

That's the mentality thats probably robbing you of becoming the untouchable hotshot. If you are young like me , I don't blame you because right now we aren't in a desperate race for power , so we do not care.

[bts327]

Originally Posted by CodiMac

This guide will make you successful but everyone will end up viewing you as manipulative bastard. You have to be genuinely humble sometimes too, cocky SOBs are often very successful but a lot of people shun that.

It's just like any other book/guide.

It's not meant as an all encompassing model upon which all men should base their actions. You take what you need and that's that.

[JohnHowardall]

Yeah but if you ever want to have intimate relationships, no that doesn't just mean sexual, with other people you'll never be able to. If you are constantly putting on a facade you'll never be able to genuinely interact with anybody else. If your goal is to get rich by screwing people over and just pick up random girls all your life this is your bible, but not for everyone, maybe I'd utilize these principles on a Friday night when I go out but I don't think they are honourable points to live by.

[Way_2_Skinny!]

Originally Posted by JohnHowardall

Yeah but if you ever want to have intimate relationships, no that doesn't just mean sexual, with other people you'll never be able to. If you are constantly putting on a facade you'll never be able to genuinely interact with anybody else. If your goal is to get rich by screwing people over and just pick up random girls all your life this is your bible, but not for everyone, maybe I'd utilize these principles on a Friday night when I go out but I don't think they are honourable points to live by.

How about during your worklife or school life , or for that matter any social events.

[~Q~]

Some of these statments do not even make sense. There is a few good ones but the one I hated the most was

Law 2 "Hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. "

a enemy is a enemy, they must die not be friends with. anyone agree with law 2 explain...

[iamlegend]

Complete and udder garbage.

peace

[tiger20]

Originally Posted by iamlegend

Complete and udder garbage.

peace

garbage post.

[Way_2_Skinny!]

Originally Posted by tiger20

garbage post.

agreed.

[RideDaLightin]

Originally Posted by bts327

It's just like any other book/guide.

It's not meant as an all encompassing model upon which all men should base their actions. You take what you need and that's that.

Well said, other than that this book is freaking awesome and it truly does help out with a lot of aspects of life.

[Ruhanv]

There is a lot of truth in this. It really appeals to the lowest, most rudimentary traits in our human nature. Greed and self advancement at the expense of others, regardless of the cost. In that sens it's sad that a lot of this is true.

In my experience you can apply about 10% of this stuff 10% of the time and it would be very beneficial both in your career and social life. Anything more than that and you become a bitter, unhappy and very lonely individual.

[MantisShrimp]

Never Outshine the Master - You can respectfully outshine someone, just do not gloat.

Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies - Part 1 is total bull****, friends are your backbone. Part 2 is part truth, you can use the energy of an enemy against them, but better to not have enemies in the first place.

Conceal your Intentions - From anyone you do not trust, or do not want to build trust with. I am not pessimistic enough to believe in this broadly.

Always Say Less than Necessary - I see the point, but insight is valuable and sometimes heroic. It's typically insecure people who hold it against the outspoken, and often times those people aren't worth knowing anyway.

So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life - Rep is important but I would rather live in infamy than die for fame. To believe this you have to believe that power is more important than existence. And that's kinda dumb.

Court Attention at all Cost - Yeah, because we all love attention whores. How about, use humility to discern when you deserve attention, and then court it.

Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit - Total bull****.
Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary - Again, only insecure people consider you weak for approaching them.

Win through your Actions, Never through Argument - Definitely very true.

Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky - I can't tell you how true this is. People will drag you down into hell. Only unhappy people you have any obligation to are the ones you love.

Learn to Keep People Dependent on You - Power? Depends on how they leverage that dependency, this could overtax you. It's good to be needed, but only if that need translates into gain. Do you consider codependent relationships "powerful?"

Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim - Bull****. Be honest all the time, if at all possible. One lie will make a person suspicious of you for LIFE.
When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude - Situational. Self-interest and win/win are effective as hell, mercy is right in some situations (like Katrina) and gratitude is probably less effective because it causes resentment.

Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy - For losers.

Crush your Enemy Totally - True honor is knowing who has made an enemy of you, but having no enemies yourself.

Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor - Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but trying to manipulate it could backfire. Again, quit trying to manipulate people and focus on yourself instead. Externalizing all these strategies is petty as ****. Internal struggle leads to outward successes.

Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability - This principle is true, and is somewhat Machiavellian but I don't know how well it applies to the personal level, or modern organizations. Not very, IMO.

Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous - True, and isolation is also dangerous to your mental health.

Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person _ Don't selectively apply the golden rule, strive to treat everyone with respect. The RIGHT person for offense might become the WRONG person at a later date. Again, petty hierarchical bull****.

Do Not Commit to Anyone - Ridiculous. Commitments are not mutuall exclusive. If two friends wanna hate each other, it does no harm to be committed to both, it is their scourge, not yours.

Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark - Any phrase with "mark" in it is just total crap, as is the person who would use it.

Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power - Odd, I would think they'd prefer flight to surrender. Surrender is weaker.

Concentrate Your Forces - Very ironic, given how "externalizing" most of these "laws" are. Someone truly concentrated keeps a peripheral vision of others and society, but focuses most of their vision upon themselves and their self-development. These guys are talking in circles.

Play the Perfect Courtier - Yeah, he's smarmy, and a lot of guys like to punch these sycophants.

Re-Create Yourself - I have no major disagreement with this point.

Keep Your Hands Clean - The only way to keep your hands clean is to actualy keep them clean, not to SEEM to do so. The truth will out.

Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following - It doesn't hurt to encourage people, so this point is not bad, despite the ridiculous religious overtones.

Enter Action with Boldness - I agree with this point.

Plan All the Way to the End - Planning is great, good basic point, but glory is not something you plan for, glory is something you receive for doing what's right. You don't PLAN to do what's right, glory is not SOME PRIZE DOOD. It is an attribution which results from an ETHIC.

Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless - Agree with not displaying your workload, but sharing information with others is mostly harmless, the only things that can be taught are techniques, you cannot teach substance so you are really in no danger from teaching. Furthermore, teaching is a learning experience, but I don't really expect our selfish authors to understand that.

Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal - The sheerly stupid verbiage used in this "law" prevent me from even thinking about it.

Play to People’s Fantasies - This is actually true.

Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew - Or, you could learn to push someone's buttons, and then they could explode on you.

Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one - Actually, vulgar can be quite bold. Ever deliberately pick your nose while talking to someone? It says "yeah, I play by a different set of rules."

Master the Art of Timing - Strike fiercely! Gay. Of course timing is important.

Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge - Success is the best revenge, having people see you while you do not have to see them.

Create Compelling Spectacles - Spectacles are amusing and entertaining in their own right, no need to try and "deceive" people for them, people want to be "deceived," you aren't getting away with anything.

Think as you like but Behave like others - Pretty true.

Stir up Waters to Catch Fish - See previous point about enemies.

Despise the Free Lunch - Not always true. Generally, yes.

Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes - True.

Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter - More dumb terminology, but true.

Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others - Do people actually sit around worrying about this kinda ****?

Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect - Pretty true here.

Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once - That is true.

Never appear too Perfect - This is true.

Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop - True.

Assume Formlessness - Right. Which would imply, not ascribing to laws. Chaos. Thanks for the contradiction.

[Way_2_Skinny!]

Originally Posted by MantisShrimp

Never Outshine the Master - You can respectfully outshine someone, just do not gloat.

Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies - Part 1 is total bull****, friends are your backbone. Part 2 is part truth, you can use the energy of an enemy against them, but better to not have enemies in the first place.

Conceal your Intentions - From anyone you do not trust, or do not want to build trust with. I am not pessimistic enough to believe in this broadly.

Always Say Less than Necessary - I see the point, but insight is valuable and sometimes heroic. It's typically insecure people who hold it against the outspoken, and often times those people aren't worth knowing anyway.

So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life - Rep is important but I would rather live in infamy than die for fame. To believe this you have to believe that power is more important than existence. And that's kinda dumb.

Court Attention at all Cost - Yeah, because we all love attention whores. How about, use humility to discern when you deserve attention, and then court it.

Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit - Total bull****.
Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary - Again, only insecure people consider you weak for approaching them.

Win through your Actions, Never through Argument - Definitely very true.

Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky - I can't tell you how true this is. People will drag you down into hell. Only unhappy people you have any obligation to are the ones you love.

Learn to Keep People Dependent on You - Power? Depends on how they leverage that dependency, this could overtax you. It's good to be needed, but only if that need translates into gain. Do you consider codependent relationships "powerful?"

Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim - Bull****. Be honest all the time, if at all possible. One lie will make a person suspicious of you for LIFE.
When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude - Situational. Self-interest and win/win are effective as hell, mercy is right in some situations (like Katrina) and gratitude is probably less effective because it causes resentment.

Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy - For losers.

Crush your Enemy Totally - True honor is knowing who has made an enemy of you, but having no enemies yourself.

Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor - Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but trying to manipulate it could backfire. Again, quit trying to manipulate people and focus on yourself instead. Externalizing all these strategies is petty as ****. Internal struggle leads to outward successes.

Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability - This principle is true, and is somewhat Machiavellian but I don't know how well it applies to the personal level, or modern organizations. Not very, IMO.

Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous - True, and isolation is also dangerous to your mental health.

Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person _ Don't selectively apply the golden rule, strive to treat everyone with respect. The RIGHT person for offense might become the WRONG person at a later date. Again, petty hierarchical bull****.

Do Not Commit to Anyone - Ridiculous. Commitments are not mutuall exclusive. If two friends wanna hate each other, it does no harm to be committed to both, it is their scourge, not yours.

Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark - Any phrase with "mark" in it is just total crap, as is the person who would use it.

Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power - Odd, I would think they'd prefer flight to surrender. Surrender is weaker.

Concentrate Your Forces - Very ironic, given how "externalizing" most of these "laws" are. Someone truly concentrated keeps a peripheral vision of others and society, but focuses most of their vision upon themselves and their self-development. These guys are talking in circles.

Play the Perfect Courtier - Yeah, he's smarmy, and a lot of guys like to punch these sycophants.

Re-Create Yourself - I have no major disagreement with this point.

Keep Your Hands Clean - The only way to keep your hands clean is to actualy keep them clean, not to SEEM to do so. The truth will out.

Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following - It doesn't hurt to encourage people, so this point is not bad, despite the ridiculous religious overtones.

Enter Action with Boldness - I agree with this point.

Plan All the Way to the End - Planning is great, good basic point, but glory is not something you plan for, glory is something you receive for doing what's right. You don't PLAN to do what's right, glory is not SOME PRIZE DOOD. It is an attribution which results from an ETHIC.

Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless - Agree with not displaying your workload, but sharing information with others is mostly harmless, the only things that can be taught are techniques, you cannot teach substance so you are really in no danger from teaching. Furthermore, teaching is a learning experience, but I don't really expect our selfish authors to understand that.

Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal - The sheerly stupid verbiage used in this "law" prevent me from even thinking about it.

Play to People’s Fantasies - This is actually true.

Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew - Or, you could learn to push someone's buttons, and then they could explode on you.

Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one - Actually, vulgar can be quite bold. Ever deliberately pick your nose while talking to someone? It says "yeah, I play by a different set of rules."

Master the Art of Timing - Strike fiercely! Gay. Of course timing is important.

Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge - Success is the best revenge, having people see you while you do not have to see them.

Create Compelling Spectacles - Spectacles are amusing and entertaining in their own right, no need to try and "deceive" people for them, people want to be "deceived," you aren't getting away with anything.

Think as you like but Behave like others - Pretty true.

Stir up Waters to Catch Fish - See previous point about enemies.

Despise the Free Lunch - Not always true. Generally, yes.

Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes - True.

Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter - More dumb terminology, but true.

Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others - Do people actually sit around worrying about this kinda ****?

Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect - Pretty true here.

Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once - That is true.

Never appear too Perfect - This is true.

Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop - True.

Assume Formlessness - Right. Which would imply, not ascribing to laws. Chaos. Thanks for the contradiction.

Reps for analzying , wow

[PDaggers]

Life is a game, you are either winning or losing. These rules can help the loser figure out why he is losing and help the winner stay where he is.










now go eat your OATS.

[RobDude]

I hate to burst your bubbles - but this list is crap.

Good advice, sure, but it doesn't even begin to say 'HOW' to do any of them.

'Be ready for anything!' is good advice too, but it's meaningless unless you already know how to be ready for anything.

Here, I'll make my own list...

'Do everything right'
'Don't mess up'
'Get hot chicks'
'Have lots of sex'
'Get rich'

See, let's be honest, if all of us could do everything in my list, our lives would be pretty damn great. But, *HOW* do you do them? Read what the list says about 'Always Say Less than Necessary' because that's what this list does. It's vague and doesn't explain itself and people go 'Hmm, well, it does seem like a good idea to never have holes in my rep, but to always find holes in my enemys reps, although, my enemys aren't too bad, because they are more loyal than my friends...so maybe I should be finding holes in my friend's rep? And how do I ensure my rep is perfect? If I just alwasy do everything perfect, my rep would be perfect. But, umm, how do I be perfect. And, if I were perfect, why would I be reading this list/!?'

[Way_2_Skinny!]

Originally Posted by RobDude

I hate to burst your bubbles - but this list is crap.

Good advice, sure, but it doesn't even begin to say 'HOW' to do any of them.

'Be ready for anything!' is good advice too, but it's meaningless unless you already know how to be ready for anything.

Here, I'll make my own list...

'Do everything right'
'Don't mess up'
'Get hot chicks'
'Have lots of sex'
'Get rich'

See, let's be honest, if all of us could do everything in my list, our lives would be pretty damn great. But, *HOW* do you do them? Read what the list says about 'Always Say Less than Necessary' because that's what this list does. It's vague and doesn't explain itself and people go 'Hmm, well, it does seem like a good idea to never have holes in my rep, but to always find holes in my enemys reps, although, my enemys aren't too bad, because they are more loyal than my friends...so maybe I should be finding holes in my friend's rep? And how do I ensure my rep is perfect? If I just alwasy do everything perfect, my rep would be perfect. But, umm, how do I be perfect. And, if I were perfect, why would I be reading this list/!?'

Wow , you're way off.

For eg. Dont Trust People

If you have to be told how to do that , you might aswell just give up on life.

[DTRG]

Originally Posted by Way_2_Skinny!

Wow , you're way off.

For eg. Dont Trust People

If you have to be told how to do that , you might aswell just give up on life.

he does have a point, some of these i wouldve liked to see an example or something. but most of them are pretty self explanatory and ill have to read over a few times to drill them into my head. id like to try to apply this mostly to being the cool confident one at a party.

the problem is, the cool confident ones i dont see getting many girls. for example: me. at parties i do a lot of chillin, dont make a lot of noise, just have conversations with people and try to mind my own business but at the same time looking at how other people are acting and picking out their weakness' and knowing how they could improve. problem is, i dont get girls often. being TOO quiet and mysterious is not always a good thing.

[siamesedream]

That list is disgusting. Honestly, how self-serving and egocentric has our society gotten? It's sickening.

[CodiMac]

like i've said before, all this stuff will help you mislead girls into sleeping with you and possibly con some money out of naive people but you're going to end up a very isolated, lonely individual because you'll never have a genuine relationship, romantic or otherwise if you're always putting on a face.

[~Q~]

Originally Posted by siamesedream

That list is disgusting. Honestly, how self-serving and egocentric has our society gotten? It's sickening.

It has ALWAYS been like that. When was it not like this?