1.Never outshine the master.2.Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies.3. Conceal your intentions.4. Always say less than necessary.5. So much depends on reputation. Guard it with your life.6. Court attention at all cost.7. Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit.8. Make other people come to you. Use bait if necessary.9. Win through your actions, never through argument.10. Infection: Avoid the unhappy and unlucky.11. Learn to keep people dependent on you.12. Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm you victim.

The 48 Laws of Power- Compressed

13. When asking for help, appeal to people's self-interest, never to their mercy or gratitude.14. Pose as a friend, work as a spy.15. Crush your enemy totally.16. Use absence to increase respect and honour.17. Keep others in suspended terror: Cultivate an air of unpredictability.18. Do not build fortress to protect yourself. Isolation is dangerous.19. Know who you are dealing with. Do not offend the wrong person.20. Do not commit to anyone.21. Play a sucker to catch a sucker. Seem dumber than your mark.22. Use the surrender tactic: Transform weakness into power.23. Concentrate your forces.

24. Play the perfect courtier.25. Re-create yourself.26. Keep your hands clean.27. Play on people's need to believe to create a cultlike following.28. Enter actions with boldness.29. Plan all the way to the end.30. Make your accomplishments seem effortless.31. Control the options: Get others to play with the cards you deal.32. Play to people's fantasies.33. Discover each man's thumbscrew.34. Be royal in your own fashion: Act like a king to be treated like one.35. Master the art of timing.36. Disdain things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best revenge.37. Create compelling spectacles.

38. Think as you like but behave like others.39. Stir up waters to catch fish.40. Despise the free lunch.41. Avoid stepping into a great man's shoes.42. Strike the shepard and the sheep will scatter.43. Work on the hearts and minds of others.44. Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect.45. Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once.46. Never appear too perfect.47. Do not go past the mark you aimed for; in victory, learn when to stop.48. Assume formlessness.

Draws on the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, Von Clausewitz, and others, combining them with the legacies of powerful people throughout history to offer essential ideas of the ways of power.

books

Books

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature. In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum.   Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.

Robert Greene is an American author of books on strategy, power, and seduction. He has written six international bestsellers, including The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law, Mastery, and The Laws of Human Nature.

Robert Greene

The 48 Laws of Power

The art of war is governed by five constant factors to be taken into account in one's deliberations. These are:<ul><li>The Moral Law</li><li>Heaven</li><li>Earth</li><li>The Commander</li><li>Method and discipline</li></ul>

The Five Constant Factors

<ol><li>The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.</li><li>Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.</li><li>Earth comprises distances great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow spaces; the chances of life and death.</li><li>The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence,courage and strictness.</li><li>By Method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of army, the graduations of rank among the officers, maintenance of roads, control of expenditure.</li></ol>

What do they say

Widely regarded as "The Oldest Military Treatise in the World," this landmark work covers principles of strategy, tactics, maneuvering, communication, and supplies; the use of terrain, fire, and the seasons of the year; the classification and utilization of spies; the treatment of soldiers, including captives, all have a modern ring to them.

"There's not a dated maxim or vague prescription in it." — Newsweek Regarded as the world's oldest military treatise, this compact volume has instructed officers and tacticians for more than 2,000 years. From its origins in China, The Art of War traveled the world to inform the strategies of Napoleon and World War II generals. More recently, it has taken on a new life as a guide to competing successfully in business, law, and sports. All of The Art of War's concepts retain their value to modern readers, from the prudence of circumventing a strong opponent and taking advantage of a weak one to the wisdom of preparedness and flexibility. Other topics include strategy, tactics, maneuvering, communications, the treatment of soldiers, and the worth of well-trained officers. History enthusiasts, business thought leaders, and anyone intrigued by competition and rivalry will appreciate this elegant edition of the classic work.

Sun Tzu (孫子; pinyin: Sūnzǐ) is a honorific title bestowed upon Sūn Wu (孫武 c. 544-496 BC), the author of The Art of War (孫子兵法), an immensely influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy. Sun Tzu believed in the use of the military sciences to effect outcomes that would result in peace.In the author's name, Sūn Wu, the character wu, meaning "military", is the same as the character in wu shu, or martial art. Sun Wu also has a courtesy name, Chang Qing (Cháng Qīng).

The 48 Laws of Power

The Art of War

Vamsi Krishna