and Octagon Press (London).

The Craft of Power by R. G. H. Siu; John Wiley & Sons. Copyright © 1979 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The Subtle Ruse: The Book of Arabic Wisdom and Guile, translated by Rene R. Khawam; East-West Publications. Copyright © 1980 English translation East-West Publications (U.K.) Ltd.

The Art of War by Sun-tzu, translated by Thomas Cleary; Shambhala Publications. © 1988 by Thomas Cleary.

The Art of War by Sun-tzu, translated by Yuan Shibing. © 1987 by General Tao Hanshang. Used by permission of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016.

The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner; Penguin Books (London). Translation copyright Rex Warner, 1954.

The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber; HarperCollins. Copyright 1945 by James Thurber.

The Court Artist: On the Ancestry of the Modern Artist by Martin Warnke, translated by David McLintock. Translation © Maison des Sciences de l’Homme and Cambridge University Press 1993. By permission of Cambridge University Press.

The Con Game and “Yellow Kid” Weil: The Autobiography of the Famous Con Artist as told to W. T. Brannon; Dover Publications. Copyright © 1948 by W. T. Brannon.

To Anna Biller, and to my parents
R. G.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First I would like to thank Anna Biller, who helped edit and research this book, and whose invaluable insights played a critical role in the shape and content of The 48 Laws. Without her, none of this would have been possible.

I must also thank my dear friend Michiel Schwarz who was responsible for involving me in the art school Fabrika in Italy and introducing me there to Joost Elffers, my partner and producer of The 48 Laws of Power. It was in the scheming world of Fabrika that Joost and I saw the timeless-ness of Machiavelli and from our discussions in Venice, Italy, this book was born.

I would like to thank Henri Le Goubin, who supplied me with many Machiavellian anecdotes over the years, particularly concerning the numerous French characters who play such a large role in this book.

I would also like to thank Les and Sumiko Biller, who lent me their library on Japanese history and helped me with the Japanese Tea Ceremony part of the book. Similarly, I must thank my good friend Elizabeth Yang who advised me on Chinese history.

A book like this depended greatly on the research material available and I am particularly grateful to the UCLA Research Library; I spent many pleasant days wandering through its incomparable collections.

My parents, Laurette and Stanley Green, deserve endless thanks for their patience and support.

And I must not forget to pay tribute to my cat, Boris, who kept me company throughout the never-ending days of writing.

Finally, to those people in my life who have so skillfully used the game of power to manipulate, torture, and cause me pain over the years, I bear you no grudges and I thank you for supplying me with inspiration for The 48 Laws of Power.

Robert Greene

 

 

In addition, we would like to thank Susan Petersen and Barbara Grossman, the Penguin publishers for believing in this book; Molly Stern, editor, who oversaw the whole project for Viking Penguin. Sophia Murer, for her new classic design. David Frankel, for editing the text. Roni Axelrod, Barbara Campo, Jaye Zimet, Joe Eagle, Radha Pancham, Marie Timell, Michael Fragnito, and Eng-San Kho.

Robert Greene
Joost Elffers

PREFACE

The feeling of having no power over people and events is generally unbearable to us—when we feel helpless we feel miserable. No one wants less power; everyone wants more. In the world today, however, it is dangerous to seem too power hungry, to be overt with your power moves. We have to seem fair and decent. So we need to be subtle—congenial yet cunning, democratic yet devious.

This game of constant duplicity most resembles the power dynamic that existed in the scheming world of the old aristocratic court. Throughout history, a court has always formed itself around the person in power—king, queen, emperor, leader. The courtiers who filled this court were in an especially delicate position: They had to serve their masters, but if they seemed to fawn, if they curried favor too obviously, the other courtiers around them would notice and would act against them.