INTRODUCTION

The 48 Laws of Power (1998) is a self-help book by American author Robert Greene. The
book is a New York Times bestseller, selling over 1.2 million copies in the United States.
Greene initially formulated some of the ideas in the 48 Laws of Power while working as a
writer in Hollywood and concluding that today's power elite shared similar traits with
powerful figures throughout history. In 1995, Greene worked as a writer at FABRICA, an art
and media school, and met a book packager named Joost Elffers. Greene pitched a book
about power to Elffers and six months later, Elffers requested that Greene write a treatment.
Although Greene was quite unhappy in his job, he was comfortable and saw the time
needed to write a proper book proposal as too risky. However, at the time Greene was
rereading his favourite biography about Julius Caesar and took inspiration from Caesar's
decision to cross the Rubicon River and fight Pompey, thus inciting the Caesar's civil war.
Greene wrote the treatment, which would later become the 48 Laws of Power. He would
note this as the turning point of his life.

SUMMARY
From law 10 to 19, author talks about that to avoid the unhappy and unlucky of the people,
you may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own
disaster. As in law 11, it talks about to learn to keep people dependent on you, 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. In law 12, use selective honesty and generosity
to disarm your victim, once your selective honestly opens a hole in their armour, you can
deceive and manipulate them at will. In law 13, when asking for help appeal to peoples 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. In law 14, pose as a friend
work as a spy, use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. In law
15, crush your enemy totally, all great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy
must be crushed completely. In law 16, use absence to protect increase respect and honour,
the more you are seen and heard from the more common you appear. In law 17, keep others
in suspended terror, cultivate and air of unpredictability, your predictability gives them a
sense of control. In law 18, do not build fortresses to protect yourself isolation is dangerous,
enemies are everywhere everyone has to protect themselves. In law 19, know who you are
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.
 ANALYSIS
Law 10. Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and the Unlucky
Emotional states can be as infectious as diseases. Occasionally, some unfortunate individuals
bring their own misfortune upon themselves and can bring you down too if you get too close.
Therefore, make sure to associate with the happy and the fortunate. The incurably unhappy
tend to portray themselves as victims, and before you realize they are the cause of their own
misfortune, they have infected you with their misery. Who you decide to associate with is
critical. Through associating with the miserable, you waste your valuable time and drain your
potential power.

Law 11. Learn to Keep People Dependent on You

To maintain independence, you must make others need and want you. The more people rely
on you, the more freedom you have. Yet, be wary to never teach those surrounding you with
enough information that they can start doing things for themselves. This method is the best
way to get people to do what you want without forcing them or inflicting pain on them. Once
you have dependents, they are reliant on you, and you can subtly do with them as you wish.

Law 12. Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm Your Victim
A single honest gesture can help cover the traces of dozens of dishonest acts. By being
generous, you can disarm even the most suspicious people. Once they are disarmed, you can
manipulate them at will. The key to successful deception is distraction. An act of generosity
distracts those you wish to deceive while turning them into docile children, delighted by the
affectionate gesture.

Law 13. When Asking for Help, Appeal to the Self-interests of Others,
Never to Their Mercy or Gratitude
If you must ask for help, make sure your request includes a benefit for your ally that you can
exaggerate beyond proportion. When your ally sees that there is something in it for them,
they are more likely to respond with enthusiasm. Self-interest is the greatest motivator for
people. Once you master the art of working out what others want and using it to further your
own plans, there will be no limits on what you can accomplish.

Law 14. Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy

Knowledge about your rival is essential. By posing as a friend, you can ask indirect questions
and gradually get your opponents to reveal their weaknesses and their intentions. Once you
know this information, you can better predict how they are going to move next. If you don’t
want to pose as a friend, get others to spy for you. However, while you gather information,
you open yourself up to vulnerabilities by letting other people do your work for you. It’s
always better to spy and pose as a friend yourself.
Law 15. Crush Your Enemy Totally.
To crush your enemy partially means that they will eventually recover and seek revenge.
Ultimately, you can only gain peace and serenity if your enemies cease to exist. If you manage
to remove all of your opponent’s options, then they will have no choice but to bend to your
will. By giving them nothing to negotiate with and no room to maneuver, you will have
crushed them.

Law 16. Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor

The more present you are, the more common you appear. Create an air of scarcity around
yourself to increase your perceived value. If you currently exist within an established group,
intermittently withdraw so that others talk about you and admire you more. To do this
effectively, you must learn when is the right time to withdraw. In doing so, you force their
respect by inadvertently threatening your absence for good. Once you return from your
absence, it will appear as if you have been resurrected, and people will be relieved to see you
again.

Law 17. Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of

Unpredictability
Humans are creatures of habit who look for familiar patterns in the behaviour of others. By
acting unpredictably, your opponents will tire themselves out by trying to predict and analyse
your moves. This means occasionally striking without warning. When you act predictably, you
give others power over you. If you act surprisingly, they will feel that they don’t understand
you and will be intimidated.

Law 18. Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is

Dangerous
If you decide to isolate yourself from your enemies and the world at large, you cut yourself off
from valuable information. This makes you vulnerable to attack. It’s always better to mingle
amongst people, as you are better protected in a crowd. Because humans are social
creatures, power comes with social interaction.

Law 19. Know Who You’re Dealing With – Don’t Offend the Wrong
Person
Choose your opponents wisely. There are some people that once defeated, will spend the rest
of their lives seeking revenge. Consequently, it pays to not offend the wrong person. The skill
of correctly measuring people is the most important with regard to getting and maintaining
power. Be sure to know everything about a person before you work with them. However,
don’t rely on your instincts to get an understanding of a person, and never trust appearances.
Watch your target over a long period of time to get a truer picture of their nature.
 CONCLUSION
In order to cultivate relationships that increase their power, people seeking power should
force others to come to them, never allow others to become independent of them, avoid
anyone who frequently encounters misfortune, never place too much trust in any one person,
and never outperform their superiors.
People seeking power should mimic the courtier’s ability to flatter the powerful and thwart
rivals. They should make no definite commitments to anyone, but avoid becoming isolated,
and appeal to others’ self-interest when asking for help.
Appearances are vital to the powerful, so they should never attract envy or step into the role
of another great person. Instead, the powerful should act like royalty, make accomplishments
seem effortless, and safeguard reputation while cultivating terror in others.