Wabi-sabi is an elegant philosophy that denotes a more connected way of living—a lifestyle, where we are deeply connected to nature, and thus, better connected to our truest inner-selves.Wabi-sabi is a concept that motions us to constantly search for the beauty in imperfection and accept the more natural cycle of life. It reminds us that all things including us and life itself, are impermanent, incomplete, and imperfect. Perfection, then, is impossible and impermanence is the only way.

Wabi-Sabi Overview

Taken individually, wabi and sabi are two separate concepts: Wabi is about recognizing beauty in humble simplicity. It invites us to open our heart and detach from the vanity of materialism so we can experience spiritual richness instead.Sabi is concerned with the passage of time, the way all things grow, age, and decay, and how it manifests itself beautifully in objects. It suggests that beauty is hidden beneath the surface of what we actually see, even in what we initially perceive as broken.

Wabi-Sabi Explained

Accept what is, stay in the present moment, and appreciate the simple, transient stages of life.There’s a plethora of wisdom embedded within the very fabric of this age-old philosophy. Here are five of these Wabi-sabi teachings that can better help you to fully step away from the modern-day struggles of moving fast, striving for perfection, and chasing inorganic forms of success.

Wisdom of Wabi-Sabi

The first teaching of the wabi-sabi philosophy, is to practice gratitude and acceptance. It’s not about giving up. It’s about surrendering to the gravity of the situation at hand and then actively playing a role in deciding what happens next.Will you accept the imperfect flow of life? Or will you fight it? Will you find peace in what is right here, right now? Or will you deny it and thus continue your struggle with it?The idea is quite simple: As you continue to resist, so will you continue to compound your suffering.

1. Through acceptance, you find freedom; out of acceptance, you find growth.

If everything in nature is always changing, then nothing can ever be absolutely complete. And since perfection is a state of completeness, then nothing can ever be perfect. Hence, the wabi-sabi philosophy teaches us that all things, including us and life itself, are impermanent, incomplete, and imperfect.

2. All things in life, including you, are in an imperfect state of flux, strive not for perfection, but for excellence instead.

Perfection does not exist because imperfection is the natural state of life—you are whole, the entirety of you, as you are.Imperfection is not a compromise; imperfection is the only way because imperfection is the true nature of things.In other words, simply do your best to be the best that you can be.All things in life, including you, are in an imperfect state of flux. Change is the only constant. Everything is transient and nothing is ever complete. And that’s why perfection doesn’t exist.

Strive not for perfection, but for excellence instead. 

The idea here is simple: There will be many times in your life when you will feel broken. There will be events that will leave you with emotional or physical scars. Do not hide in the shadow of your own sunshine. Do not dim your own light with the darkness of a cloud. Instead, let those scars be redrawn with gold.Consider that your failures are there to teach you how not to do things, your mistakes are there to teach you the importance of forgiveness, and your wrinkles are there to remind you of your laughs that caused them.

3. Appreciate the beauty of all things, especially the great beauty that hides beneath the surface of what seems to be broken.

Slow down and simplify your life. Otherwise, you’ll rush through it, arrive at the end and wonder, “what was the point?” This teaching is quite simple, but its immediate and long-term implications are profound.Slowing down is the antidote to living in a rhythm of rush. Slowing down is what helps you become a more observant person. Which then helps you become more self-aware.As you slow down, you begin creating the space for you to pause and reflect, to wonder and ask questions. You naturally become more present.

4. Slow and simple, is the only way, to feel the joy of what it means to be alive. 

Simplifying your life is the antidote to living a complex one.Slow and simple is the only way to feel the joy of what it means to be alive.Only by doing so will you immerse yourself into the fabric of this universe and appreciate it for what it is.Beauty is found in everything that is alive.Slow down, simplify your life, and concentrate on what really matters to you. Become more intentional if you wish to experience the joy of everyday living.

Simplify

The illusion that once we make it, once we attain our goal or reach our destination, we will reach lasting happiness. But of course, that’s not the case, because compulsive goal-setting does not lead to happiness, it leads to a mindless and stressful game of fetch.The root of all unhappiness is born from being discontent with where you are and what you have. It really is as simple as that.To be content with what you have and where you are is to be grateful. Through gratitude, intention, and action, you find happiness.

5. To be content exactly where you are with all that you already have, is to be happy.

“If we demand perfection from ourselves we are not living in the real world...The inherent problem in the relationship between the ideal & the real is that the ideal judges the real as unacceptable and brings down condemnation and wrath on the real. This sets up an adversarial relationship between the two and like all adversaries, they move further and further apart.”-Henry Cloud

Unrealistic Expectations Quote

Wabi-sabi is a beautiful philosophy to embed and practice in your everyday life.Wabi-sabi reminds you that life is fragile and temporary, it is as impermanent as anything else in nature, so why not give yourself permission to be just that, yourself?

The Core Teaching of The Wabi-Sabi Philosophy

“The world is perfect, with all its imperfections.”-Sahara Sanders

Imperfection Quote

Wabi-sabi is an ancient Japanese philosophy that motions us to constantly 
search for the beauty in imperfection and accept the more natural cycle of 
life. It reminds us that all things including us and life itself, are 
impermanent, incomplete, and imperfect. Perfection, then, is impossible and 
impermanence is the only way. Here are five teachings of Wabi-Sabi you can 
apply in your daily life.

philosophy

Philosophy

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

5 Teachings From The Japanese Wabi-Sabi Philosophy That Can Drastically Improve Your Life — OMAR ITANI

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together,but do so with all your heart

The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

Our life is what our thoughts make it.

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.﻿

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.

Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.

Christopher Gill provides a new translation and commentary on the first half of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, and a full introduction to the Meditations as a whole. The Meditations constitute a unique and remarkable work, a reflective diary or notebook by a Roman emperor, that is based on Stoic philosophy but presented in a highly distinctive way. This new edition will help students and scholars of ancient philosophy make sense of a workwhose intellectual content and status have often been found puzzling. The translation is designed to be accessible to modern readers and all Greek and Latin are translated in the introduction and commentary.

Christopher Gill provides a new translation and commentary on the first half of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, and a full introduction to the Meditations as a whole. The Meditations constitute a unique and remarkable work, a reflective diary or notebook by a Roman emperor, that is based on Stoic philosophy but presented in a highly distinctive way. Gill focuses on the philosophical content of the work, especially the question of how far it is consistent with Stoic theory as we know this from other sources. He argues that the Meditations are largely consistent with Stoic theory—more than has been often supposed. The work draws closely on core themes in Stoic ethics and also reflects Stoic thinking on the links between ethics and psychology or the study of nature. To make sense of the Meditations, it is crucial to take into account its overall aim, which seems to be to help Marcus himself take forward his own ethical development by creating occasions for reflection on key Stoic themes that can help to guide his life. This new edition will help students and scholars of ancient philosophy make sense of a work whose intellectual content and status have often been found puzzling. Along with volumes in the Clarendon Later Ancient Philosophers series on Epictetus and Seneca, it will help to chart the history of Stoic philosophy in the first and second century AD. The translation is designed to be accessible to modern readers and all Greek and Latin are translated in the introduction and commentary.

Marcus Aurelius (Emperor of Rome)

Marcus Aurelius: Meditations, Books 1-6

Meditations

Derived from the Latin word ‘nihil’ meaning ‘nothing,’ Nihilism was quite possibly the most pessimistic school of philosophy. It was a widespread style of thinking throughout 19th century Europe. Nihilism questioned all forms of authority, including government, religion, truth, values, and knowledge, arguing that life is essentially meaningless and nothing really matters. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom – some found the idea of rejecting prescribed doctrines a liberating prospect.

What is Nihilism?

One of the fundamental aspects of Nihilism was its rejection of all forms of authority. Nihilists questioned what gave one figure the authority to preside over another, and asked why there should be such a hierarchy in place at all. They argued no one should be more important than anyone else, because we are all as meaningless as each other. This belief has led to one of the more dangerous strands of Nihilism, prompting people to wage acts of violence and destruction against the police or local governments.

1. Nihilism Questioned Figures of Authority

In the wake of the Enlightenment, and its subsequent discoveries of ration and reasoning, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that Christianity no longer made sense. He argued that a totalizing system that explained all truths about the world was a fundamentally flawed system, because the world is so complex, nuanced, and unpredictable.

2. Nihilism Questioned Religion

Nihilism argued that nothing had any meaning, and there was no higher purpose or calling in life. It’s a pretty depressing attitude, defined by pessimism and skepticism. And at times this attitude has led to wanton acts of violence and extremism.Nietzsche believed we should accept the fear and uncertainty of the unknown, in order to pass through it and find a new higher calling.

3. Nihilists Believed Nothing Matters

Towards the 20th century, the doom and gloom attitude of Nihilism softened. It eventually evolved into the less anarchic style of Existentialism. While Existentialists shared some of the skepticism about power systems and religion as their predecessors, they also believed the individual had the power to find their own purpose in life. From Existentialism, Absurdism emerged. The Absurdists argued that the world might well be chaotic, turbulent and absurd, but we could still celebrate it, or perhaps even laugh, but only in a wry, cynical way.

4. Nihilism Sometimes Overlaps with Existentialism and Absurdism

“It is a self-deception of philosophers and moralists to imagine that they escape decadence by opposing it. That is beyond their will; and, however little they acknowledge it, one later discovers that they were among the most powerful promoters of decadence.”-Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power

Nietzsche Quote

Nihilism was a gloomy philosophical school from the 19th century - its leaders argued nothing mattered, and life had no higher purpose.

religionandspirituality

Religion & Spirituality

problemsolving

Problem Solving

communication

Communication

Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, and Marie Curie had brilliant ideas that pushed the boundaries of their time. However, genius is not a fixed quantity. Anyone can be a genius in the right context and with the right tools. Research suggests there are ways we can all become more intelligent and think like a genius, from being able to process information faster than most people to be able to tackle complex problems efficiently.

Genius isn't solely inborn

Great thinkers from da Vinci to Thomas Edison were more interested in how things could work. Brilliant thinkers like Marie Curie and Steve Jobs are renowned for their original thinking that led to groundbreaking discoveries. They knew how to think but weren't born with these advantages. Instead, they learned specific methods to understand the world around them and unlock hidden potential.

Great thinkers approach problems differently

R<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321729749_Robust_Prediction_of_Individual_Creative_Ability_from_Brain_Functional_Connectivity">ecent research</a> about creatives found that people who are more creative can simultaneously engage brain networks that don't typically work together. Great minds discover novel ideas because they focus on how to think, not what to think.

Geniuses know how to connect unrelated ideas

The ability to think and act outside your normal understanding realm requires you to see things from different perspectives and imagine unique solutions. <ul><li>Newton spent many years teaching himself mathematics before developing the concept of gravity.</li><li>Picasso was not born to paint. He honed his skill.</li><li>Mozart committed almost all his life to learning and composing music.</li></ul> Geniuses are mostly self-learners. The best way is to start with books.

Genius is a learnable skill

Genius minds see things abstractly. They tend to see the big picture more clearly than most people. Original ideas require you not to be afraid to try new things and take risks. Look for inspiration in things people take for granted.

Original ideas seem irrational

The human capacity to learn, discover, improve, create or change our environment is very natural. We are made to create. Creativity is not something you have or you don't. Watch how children think freely until they are formally educated to become conventional thinkers. We are expected to join closed-minded educational systems, stop thinking and do what we are told. Yet that is what prevents the development of independent and original thinking.

Society is institutionally terrible at nurturing genius

If you believe the hype, genius is a rare, fixed quantity: either you’re born with it or aren’t. But what if being a genius isn’t solely inborn? What if anyone could become a genius by adopting the…

education

Learning & Education

The Path to Genius: Think “How,” Instead of “What”

<ul><li>Incidental learning is learning that happens unintentionally from activities. For example, when someone plays a sport for fun but ends up improving their skills over time.</li><li>Intentional learning happens due to activities where learning is a deliberate and primary goal.</li></ul> Neither type of learning is inherently better. Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages and may be useful for different people under different circumstances.

Incidental learning vs intentional learning

<ul><li>Instead of using flashcards, someone learns new vocabulary words by watching TV in a foreign language for fun.</li><li>A toddler who touches something hot out of curiosity learns that it hurts to do so.</li><li>A kid who plays with other kids for fun learns social skills incidentally.</li><li>A teacher who interacts with students as part of the job learns how to communicate more effectively.</li><li>An athlete who watches competitions in their sport for fun learns how to perform new moves.</li><li>An entrepreneur who reads a fiction book to relax learns new ways to improve their business.</li></ul>

Examples of incidental learning

The defining characteristic of incidental learning is the lack of intention to learn. Ways incidental learning can vary. Incidental learning depends on:<ul><li>Whether learners are motivated to learn.</li><li>Whether learners are aware of the learning.</li><li>Whether other people such as parents or teachers are aware of the learning.</li><li>Whether other people are guiding the learning by providing encouragement or asking questions.</li></ul>

Characteristics of incidental learning

Benefits of incidental learning:<ul><li>It can be more effective, for example, if someone avoids intentional learning because they lack confidence in their ability to learn.</li><li>It can be more efficient. For example, someone could learn something quickly and automatically through their daily routine instead of intentionally spending time and effort learning it.</li><li>It can be more enjoyable. For example, playing Scrabble is more enjoyable for learning to spell than memorising lists.</li></ul> There are also situations where incidental learning is ineffective, such as learning specific concepts for an exam.

Benefits and drawbacks of incidental learning

You can use incidental learning by placing yourself in situations where you can learn without actively trying to learn. For example, if you want to learn a new language but a course bores you, engage in activities such as video games and watching TV shows without actively trying to learn.

How to learn incidentally

<ul><li>Teach people directly. If someone can learn something but don't try to do so intentionally, simply teach them what they need to know.</li><li>Help people engage in incidental learning. Ask guided questions to help someone in a situation to think through what's happening.</li><li>Drive people to situations where they can engage in incidental learning. If you want to help someone grow their vocabulary, encourage them to read or read intention-grabbing books to them.</li><li>Prompt people to engage in incidental learning. Explain to someone what incidental learning is, why it’s beneficial, and how they can engage in it.</li></ul>

How to promote incidental learning in others

<ul><li>Reverse psychology involves getting people to do things by prompting them to do the opposite. For example, if someone is misinformed about something and won't listen to you, encourage them to find evidence that will prove you wrong.</li><li>Protégé effect, where teaching, pretending to teach or preparing to teach information to others helps a person learn that information. Encourage a disinterested student to tutor other students.</li><li>Combine incidental learning with intentional learning. For example, teaching key concepts after the learner learned something incidentally.</li></ul>

Techniques to promote incidental learning

Incidental teaching involves teaching individuals in situations they're not trying to learn, such as a parent reading a historical novel to their child. This form of teaching can be used in various situations, for example, as a naturalistic language intervention through adult-child interactions, such as play. Incidental learning is also used to help autistic people improve their social skills.

Incidental teaching

Learning Without Trying to Learn – Effectiviology

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky 1821 – 1881), sometimes transliterated as Dostoyevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and journalist. Dostoevsky's literary works explore the human condition in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Demons (sometimes also called The Possessed or The Devils) is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Demons is a social and political satire, a psychological drama, and large-scale tragedy. The novel was first published in 1873. “People who can speak well, speak briefly.”-Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Demons

Demons (Dostoevsky novel)

Demons is an allegory of the potentially catastrophic consequences of the political and moral nihilism that were becoming prevalent in Russia in the 1860s.It’s a fictional town that descends into chaos as it becomes the focal point of an attempted revolution. The underlying allegorical context is about "demonic" forces that take possession of the town.

Demons as allegory

“Demons” in this sense refers not so much to individuals as to the ideas that possess them. For Dostoevsky, 'ideas' are living cultural forces that have the capacity to seduce and subordinate the individual consciousness, and the individual who has become alienated from his own concrete national traditions is particularly susceptible.

Meaning of the term “Demons”

In late 1860s Russia there was an unusual level of political unrest caused by student groups influenced by liberal, socialist, and revolutionary ideas. Dostoevsky offers commentary on the relationship of the ideas of his own generation to those of the current generation.

Background of Demons

ThemesMuch of the plot develops out of the tension between belief and non-belief, and the words and actions of most of the characters seem to be intimately bound to the position they take up within this struggle.Dostoevsky saw atheism as the root cause of Russia's deepening social problems.In Demons the Russian man has lost his true national identity (inextricably linked, for Dostoevsky, with the Orthodox Christian faith) and tries to fill the void with ideas derived from Western modes of thought.

Themes

Dostoevsky saw Russia's growing suicide rate as a symptom of the decline of religious faith and the concomitant disintegration of social institutions like the family. Self-destruction as a result of atheism or loss of faith is a major theme in Demons.There are four actual suicides described in the novel.

Suicide

Demons as satireDostoevsky took great pains to derive the novel's characters and story from real people and real ideas of the time. As prophecySince the Russian Revolution, many commentators have remarked on the prophetic nature of Demons.

Demons as satire and Prophecy

“One must be a great man indeed to be able to hold out even against common sense. Or else a fool.”-Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Demons

Quote from the Novel

Demons (Dostoevsky novel) - Wikipedia

If you spend a lot of time in a situation, which consumes a lot of emotional energy, you'll naturally look for a way out.When people leave religion, this is part of the choice.

⚡ The principle of minimum energy

When someone chooses to identify as an atheist, it is because it's more believable to them.It also takes a lot of guilt off of them, for things that don't matter anyway.

🧠 Atheism

Answer with: "If what you believe is true, then no need to convince me, I'll naturally realize you are right"

🕯️ Next time someone tells you "turn from your wicked ways"

because they want to think their hatred is justified by a greater force.

🛐 Sometimes people need religion

consensual relationship is not disrespectful to any religion. Telling people they deserve to suffer is.

💖 Having a loving,

it's best to use reason. "God said so" isn't a valid reason.If your religion is only fear-mongering beyond the basics, then maybe think it through.

🗣️ If you tell others about your beliefs,

These are not my words, they are from a TikTok video that popped up, sadly I can't use a TikTok link to publish. You can check out the video <a href="https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMNANVxvF/?k=1">here</a>. Please support the original creator.

❗ Disclaimer, please read

Hi! A little different topic today, this just popped up on my for you page on TikTok, and I wanted to share it with you! Not my words, original video link on the last idea. 🤔🧠🛐

People using religion to justify hatred

Everyone has insecurities. Those who attain high standing in life want to feel secure in their positions, and superior to those around them.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Commit harmless mistakes that will not hurt you in the long run but will give you the chance to ask for his help.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Make it clear that your advice is merely an echo of his advice.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">You cannot worry about upsetting every person you come across but you must be selectively cruel. If he is very weak and ready to fall, let nature takes its course.</li></ul> Key to Power: Never take your position for granted. <a href="https://www.justologist.com/the-48-laws-of-power/">Read The Full Article Here</a>.<a href="https://www.justologist.com/#/portal/signup">Join the Community</a>.

Law 1: Never Outshine The Master.

<ul><li>People forget the favors they have received and imagine they have earned their success on their own merits.</li><li>While a friend expects more and more favors and seethes with jealousy, these former enemies expect nothing and got everything.</li></ul> Key to Power: Judge who is best able to further your interests in all situations. Keep friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent.

Law 2: Never Put Too Much Trust In Friends, Learn To Use Enemies.

Part I: Use Red Herrings.<ul><li>Our first instinct is to always trust appearances.</li><li>Cultivate an air of honesty in one area to disguise dishonesty in other.</li><li>Kill three birds with one stone: appear friendly, conceal your intentions, and send your rivals on time-consuming wild-goose chases.</li></ul> Part II: Use Smoke Screens.<ul><li>The paranoid and wary are often the easiest to deceive.</li><li>Win their trust in one area, and you have a smoke screen that blinds them in another.</li><li>The best deception is bland and inconspicuous, which calls no attention.</li></ul> Key to Power: If you keep people off the balance, they can't counter your efforts

Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions.

<ul><li>Power is, in many ways, a game of appearance, and when you say less than necessary, you inevitably appear more powerful than you are.</li><li>Once the words are out, you cannot take them back.</li><li>Short answers and silences will put people on the defensive, nervously filling the silence with all kinds of comments that will reveal valuable information about them and their weaknesses.</li></ul> Key to Power: The less you say, the more intimidating you are.

Law 4: Always Say Less Than Necessary.

<ul><li>Establish a reputation for one outstanding quality that sets you apart and gets other people to talk about you.</li><li>A solid reputation increases your presence and exaggerates your strengths without having to spend much energy.</li><li>It is wise to associate with someone whose image counteracts your own, using their good name to whitewash and elevate yours.</li></ul> Key to Power: When you have a solid reputation, you can undermine your opponent's efforts with ridicule.

Law 5: So Much Depends On Reputation—Guard It With Your Life.

<ul><li>Every crowd has a silver lining and they tend to act in conjunction.</li><li>Attach your name and reputation to a quality, an image, that sets you apart from other people.</li><li>Attack the most visible, most famous, most powerful person you can find.</li><li>The quality of attention is irrelevant.</li><li>An element of mystery can give you an intimidating presence as a leader.</li></ul> Key to Power: Play against people's expectations and welcome negative attention.  <a href="https://www.justologist.com/the-48-laws-of-power/">Read The Full Article Here.</a><a href="https://www.justologist.com/#/portal/signup">Join The Community.</a>

Law 6: Court Attention At All Cost.

<ul><li>The credit for an invention or creation is as important, if not more important, than the invention itself.</li><li>Keep your creation quiet until you can be sure there are no vultures circling overhead.</li><li>Learn to take advantage of other people’s work to further your own cause.</li><li>Use the past, a vast storehouse of knowledge and wisdom to build on the achievement of others.</li></ul> Key to Power: Don't waste time and energy, when you can simply wait for the right moment, then take others' lunch.

Law 7: Get Others To Do The Work For You, But Always Take The Credit.

<ul><li>Master your anger yet play on people’s natural tendency to react angrily when pushed and baited.</li></ul> Key to Power: Keep the initiative, to get others to react to your moves and keep them on the defensive.

Law 8: Make Other People Come To You—Use Bait If Necessary.

<ul><li>When you argue with someone, even if they seem to agree with you, you can never be certain how they will react.</li><li>Demonstrating your point is more effective and powerful. </li></ul> Key to Power: Learn to demonstrate the correctness of your ideas indirectly.

Law 9: Win Through Your Actions, Never Through Argument.

<ul><li>People are highly susceptible to the emotions and pathologies of those they spend time with.</li><li>The most damaging types of infectors are those who are perpetually dissatisfied and aggrieved.</li></ul> Key to Power: Choose who you are associated with carefully.

Law 10: Infection — Avoid The Unhappy And Unlucky.

<ul><li>Do not mistake independence for power; power requires a relationship.</li><li>Fear you can control; love, never. Better to have others depend on you out of fear of the consequences of losing you than out of love for your company.</li><li>Make yourself so indispensable that your superior is afraid to find out what their life would be like without you. </li></ul> Key to Power: Cultivate an irreplaceable talent or skill

Law 11: Learn To Keep People Dependent On You.

<ul><li>Give before you take.</li><li>Selective honesty is best employed on your first encounter with someone.</li><li>Calculated acts of kindness can turn a Capone into a gullible child.</li><li>Exceptions: When you have a history of deceit behind you, no generosity will fool people.</li></ul> Key to Power: Win people's hearts and you can set up your scheme without being noticed.

Law 12: Use Selective Honesty And Generosity to Disarm Your Victim.

<ul><li>Achieving power often requires seeking help from those above you.</li><li>To succeed in getting what you want, you need to understand their motives and tie them in with yours.</li></ul> Key to Power: Understand the person you are dealing with, and not confuse your needs with theirs.

Law 13: When Asking For Help, Appeal To People’s Self-Interest, Never To Their Mercy or Gratitude.

<ul><li>Use spies or be a spy yourself.</li><li>Pay attention at social gatherings where people's guards are downs.</li><li>Share a fake confession and someone else will give you a real one.</li></ul> Key to Power: Suppress oneself in the conversation, to make others talk endlessly about themselves and inadvertently reveal their intentions and plans.

Law 14: Pose As A Friend, Work As A Spy.

<ul><li>Chinese history abounds with examples of leaders who left their enemies alive out of mercy but returned to haunt them.</li><li>Recognize that you will accumulate enemies who you cannot bring over to your side, and that to leave them any escape will mean you are never secure.</li><li>When we sympathize with our enemies, we only strengthen their hate, and they will someday take revenge.</li></ul> Key to Power: Annihilate your enemy. Do not show leniency.

Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally.

<ul><li>Preserve and enhance your status by withdrawing at the right moment, just before people start getting tired of you.</li><li>Make yourself less accessible to increase your value in others' minds.</li><li>Image: The Sun. It can only be appreciated in its absence. The longer the days of rain, the more the sun is craved. But too many hot days and the sun overwhelms.</li></ul> Key to Power: Scarcity increases value. <a href="https://www.justologist.com/the-48-laws-of-power/">Read The Full Article Here.</a><a href="https://www.justologist.com/#/portal/signup">Join The Community.</a>

Law 16: Use Absence to Increase Honor and Respect.

<ul><li>Nothing is more terrifying than the sudden and unpredictable. We do not know when they will strike. After one has occurred, we wait in terror for the next one.</li><li>Unpredictability draws attention and gets people talking, especially if you are the underdog. </li></ul> Key to Power: Instill a kind of fear by deliberately unsettling those around him to keep the initiative on his side.

Law 17: Keep Others in Suspended Terror—Cultivate An Air of Unpredictability.

<ul><li>Maintaining power requires social interaction.</li><li>An isolated person is an easy target with limited access to information.</li><li>Choose isolation only as a last resort. </li></ul> Key to Power: When faced with threats, resist the urge to isolate yourself.

Law 18: Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself—Isolation is Dangerous.

The Arrogant and Proud Man: Any perceived slight will lead to a vengeance of overwhelming violence. Flee these people.The Hopelessly Insecure Man: Attack you in small bites that will take forever to get big enough for you to notice. Do not stay around him.Mr.Suspicion: Sees the worse in others and imagines that everyone is after him. Easy to deceive — get him to turn on others. Key to Power: Never trust appearances or only rely on your instincts when judging someone; instead gather concentrated knowledge.

Law 19: Know Who You’re Dealing With — Do Not Offend the Wrong Person.

Part I: Be Courted By All.Play the Virgin Queen: Give them hope but never satisfaction.<ul><li>Put yourself in the middle between competing powers.</li><li>Lure one side with the promise of your help; the other side, always wanting to outdo its enemy, will pursue you as well.</li></ul> Part II: Stay Above The Fray.When the fighting parties are good and tired they will be ripe for the picking.<ul><li>People who rush to the support of others tend to gain little respect, for their help is so easily obtained.</li></ul> Key to Power: Keep yourself free of commitments and obligations—they are the device of another to get you into his power.

Law 20: Do Not Commit To Anyone.

<ul><li>Intelligence, taste, and sophistication are all things you can downplay to reassure others they are more advanced than you.</li><li>The easier they think it is to prey on you, the more easily you can turn the tables.</li></ul> Key to Power: If you make other people feel smarter than you, they'll let down their guard and fail to notice your motives.

Law 21: Play A Sucker to Catch A Sucker — Seem Dumber Than Your Mark

<ul><li>When you are weak, there is nothing to be gained by fighting a useless fight. No one comes to help the weak.</li><li>People trying to make a show of their authority are easily deceived by the surrender tactic: inwardly you stay firm, but outwardly you bend.</li><li>Your outward sign of submission makes them feel important; satisfied that you respect them, they become easier targets for a later counterattack.</li></ul> Key to Power: Lulling the enemy into complacency gives you time to recoup, time to undermine, and time for revenge. Never sacrifice that time in exchange for honor in a battle that you cannot win.

Law 22: Use The Surrender Tactic — Transform Weakness into Power

<ul><li>Drunk with success and sick with ambition, empires expand to grotesque proportions and meet a ruin that is total.</li><li>Concentrate on a single goal and beat it into submission.</li><li>Extent alone never rises above mediocrity, and it is the misfortune of men with wide general interests that while they would like to have their finger in every pie, they have one in none.</li></ul> Key to Power: Prioritize intensity over extensity.

Law 23: Concentrate Your Forces

The Laws of Court Politics<ul><li>Avoid Ostentation: modesty is always preferable.</li><li>Practice Nonchalance: your talent must appear to flow naturally, with ease.</li><li>Be Frugal with Flattery: flatter indirectly by being modest.</li><li>Arrange to be Noticed: pay attention to your appearance, and find a way to create a subtly distinctive style and image.</li><li>Never Be the Bearer of Bad News: the messenger is always killed. Bring only glad news.</li><li>Do Not Be the Court Cynic: express admiration for the good work of others.</li></ul> Key to Power: Play by the rules of the environment and thrive in any situation.

Law 24: Play the Perfect Courtier

<ul><li>Forge a new identity, one of your own making, one that has had no boundaries assigned to it.</li><li>Develop self-awareness to take control of your appearances and emotions.</li><li>Create a memorable character that compels attention.</li></ul> Key to Power: Know how to be all things to all men. That is the art of winning over everyone, for like attracts like.

Law 25: Re-Create Yourself.

Part I: Have a Scapegoat to Take The Blame.Our good name and reputation depend more on what we conceal than on what we reveal.<ul><li>Shift the guilt and sin to an outside figure—object, animal, or man—which is banished.</li><li>Set up the “Fall of the Favorite” — why would the king sacrifice him unless he were guilty?</li></ul> Part II: Use A Cat’s Paw.You need a cat’s paw—someone who does the dirty, dangerous work for you.<ul><li>Do everything pleasant yourself, everything unpleasant through third parties.</li></ul> Key to Power: All men make mistakes, but the wise conceal the blunders they have made, while fools make them public.

Law 26: Keep Your Hands Clean.

<ul><li>Keep it Vague; Keep it Simple: Most people want to hear that a simple solution will cure their problems.</li><li>Emphasize the Visual and the Sensual over the Intellectual: Create a spectacle.</li><li>Borrow the Forms of Organized Religion: Organise followers into a hierarchy, rank them in grades of sanctity, and give them titles.</li><li>Set Up an Us-Verses-Them Dynamic: Unified by your goals, manufacture the notion of a common enemy out to ruin you all.</li></ul> Key to Power: People have a desperate need to believe in something, and belong to a cause. Become the magnet, the invisible force that attracts people's imaginations.

Law 27: Play On People’s Need to Believe to Create A Cult-Like Following.

<ul><li>The Bolder The Better: Ask for the moon and you’ll be surprised how often you get it. The largeness of scale deceives the human eye.</li><li>Lions Circle the Hesitant Prey: Everything depends on perception, and once you demonstrate a willingness to compromise, you will be pushed around without mercy.</li><li>Boldness Strikes Fear; Fear Creates Authority: When you are as small and obscure as David was, you must find a Goliath to attack. The larger the target, the more attention you gain.</li></ul> Key to Power: Root out the habit of timidity and replace it with boldness.

Law 28: Enter Action With Boldness.

<ul><li>The ending is everything that determines the glory, the money, the prize.</li><li>Overcome the natural tendency to react to things as they happen, and instead train oneself to step back.</li><li>So much of power is not what you do but what you do not do—the rash and foolish actions that you refrain from before they get you into trouble.</li></ul> Key to Power: Begin with an end in mind.

Law 29: Plan All The Way To The End.

<ul><li>Research and practice endlessly before appearing in public.</li><li>Conceal the effort behind one’s work. One never sees the source of a god’s power revealed; one only sees its effects.</li><li>Revealing tricks lets others use them against you.</li><li>The more mystery surrounds your actions, the more awesome your power seems—the appearance of having an exclusive gift.</li></ul> Key to Power: Make it seem easy.

Law 30: Make Your Accomplishments Seem Effortless.

<ul><li>Withdrawal and disappearance are classic ways of controlling the options.</li><li>Give people a sense of how things will fall apart without you, and you offer them a “choice”: I stay away, and you suffer the consequences, or I return under circumstances that I dictate.</li><li>Color the Choices: Propose multiple solutions but always present the favored option as the best compared to the others.</li><li>The Shrinking Options: Raise the price every time the buyer hesitates and another day goes by.</li></ul> Key to Power: Control the options to disguise yourself as an agent of power and punishment.

Law 31: Control the Options — Get Others To Play With The Cards You Deal.

<ul><li>The Reality: Change is slow and gradual. It requires hard work, a bit of luck, a fair number of sacrifices, and a lot of patience.</li><li>The Fantasy: A sudden transformation will bring a total change in one’s fortunes, bypassing work, luck, self-sacrifice, and time in one fantastic stroke.</li><li>Image: The Moon. Unattainable, always changing shape, disappearing and reappearing. We look at it, imagine, wonder, and pine—never familiar, continuous provoker of dreams. Do not offer the obvious. Promise the moon.</li></ul> Key to Power: Promise the moon at the right moment, when spirits are low.

Law 32: Play to People’s Fantasies.

Learn the Game of Power: Master your emotions. Play with appearances. Shift your perspective on the world. Learn from those who came before you.

THE MILLION COPY INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Drawn from 3,000 years of the history of power, this is the definitive guide to help readers achieve for themselves what Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, Louis XIV and Machiavelli learnt the hard way. Law 1: Never outshine the master Law 2: Never put too much trust in friends; learn how to use enemies Law 3: Conceal your intentions Law 4: Always say less than necessary. The text is bold and elegant, laid out in black and red throughout and replete with fables and unique word sculptures. The 48 laws are illustrated through the tactics, triumphs and failures of great figures from the past who have wielded - or been victimised by - power. ___________________________________ (From the Playboy interview with Jay-Z, April 2003) PLAYBOY: Rap careers are usually over fast: one or two hits, then styles change and a new guy comes along. Why have you endured while other rappers haven't? JAY-Z: I would say that it's from still being able to relate to people. It's natural to lose yourself when you have success, to start surrounding yourself with fake people. In The 48 Laws of Power, it says the worst thing you can do is build a fortress around yourself. I still got the people who grew up with me, my cousin and my childhood friends. This guy right here (gestures to the studio manager), he's my friend, and he told me that one of my records, Volume Three, was wack. People set higher standards for me, and I love it.

The 48 Laws Of Power

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