This is the best self-help book you’ll ever read. To call it a self-help book is a bit of an insult. The 48 Laws of Power is a guide to understanding how the world actually works.
The book has been called Machiavellian, amoral, cruel, ruthless, you name it. But at its core, the laws ring true. Accepting people for how they really are is a superpower.
People play power games, engage in politics, use coy manoeuvres to get what they want, deceive, all the while pretending they aren’t doing any of it. Often, this happens on a subconscious level. Some of my best learning. Some of my personal best learning is as below
Never outshine the master — Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power
Always say less than necessary — Power is in many ways a game of appearances, and when you say less than necessary, you inevitably appear greater and more powerful than you are.
Infection: Avoid the unhappy or the unlucky — When you suspect you are in the presence of an infector, don’t argue, don’t try to help, don’t pass the person on to your friends, or you will become enmeshed. Flee the infector’s presence or suffer the consequences.
Play a sucker to catch a sucker, seem dumber than your mark — Given how important the idea of intelligence is to most people’s vanity, it is critical never inadvertently to insult or impugn a person’s brainpower.