The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert Greene
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert GreeneEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-09-01
ISBN: 0140280197
Number of pages: 452
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780140280197
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The 48 Laws of Power
Book Review: For the ethically sick and demented
Summary: 1 Stars
If these are worthy principles, they should stand on their own. Let's take just a few of these "laws" at face value and see:
"Avoid the unhappy and unlucky."
I like to help others. It is very rewarding. Refusing to have anything to do with them would rob me of that pleasure. I would say that helping others is very good for me and my life, maybe more so than just about anything else I do. The fact is, you don't have to be pulled down by others. You can pull them up. I think it's an ethically and emotionally bankrupt life that thinks that associating with those in need creates misfortune for yourself. If this is a sample of these laws of power, I'm not interested. Besides, power isn't one of my goals in life. And I have had plenty of power in the past, and my influence still affects the country. The thing that is most gratifying about that is the people it has helped, nothing more. I truly feel sorry for people with this kind of outlook. One thing I have learned in life: if you do something worthwhile, and help others, other people will pick up the ball and your influence will extend far beyond your personal capabilities.
"Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit."
That's sick! That's theft. Why would anyone advocate such a thing? I'm not interested in a "godlike aura". People respect me for what I actually did, not for the way I took advantage of other people's actions. The more I see of this, the sorrier I feel for the people who follow this book.
One person in another review said that this is what a good manager does. Not at all. A GOOD manager gives credit where it is due, and builds loyalty. The more loyalty you build, the easier it is to manage people and get them to work productively. And the results will be far superior. Taking credit for other people's accomplishments just builds resentment. No good manager ever causes resentment in those he manages.
"Court attention at all cost."
Robert Greene must have some ego! What makes him think he is more worthy of attention than other people? Live an honest life, and you will get the kind of attention you value. Just being weird for the sake of getting attention means you may have to compromise your own values and ethics to get it. If you are living a life worth living, you will GET attention without working for it.
"So much depends on reputation-guard it with your life."
I would tend to agree with this, but NOT for the reasons given. Your reputation should be a product of your integrity, and the other things these rules have said are examples of very poor integrity. If you have a good reputation that is undeserved, it's a lie. The purpose of reputation is NOT to intimidate people, and I think it's sick to seek to destroy one's enemies through opening holes in their reputations. That's just dog eat dog. Frankly, my enemies don't need my help destroying their own reputations. They do an excellent job of it all by themselves, and probably do far more damage to their own reputations than anything I can do to them. Act with integrity, and let your reputation take care of itself. If people defame you, take action to set the record straight if you are allowed to do so (people like the President aren't, which is why I defend people who aren't allowed to do so). If you are truly practicing these 48 laws of power, you don't DESERVE a good reputation. A reputation should reflect who you are, not who you pretend to be, or your skill at flummoxing and using people.
"Make other people come to you-use bait if necessary."
Man, what a piece of work! The author thinks deceit and subterfuge are desirable? And why is he such a control freak anyway? I want things to be the way they should be, but I don't care how they get there. I don't mind if I'm not in control. I just mind if someone who is morally bankrupt is in control. I don't have TIME to exercise the kind of power this book is talking about. I have too many important things to do.
"Win through your actions, never through argument."
So the laws would throw out the power of persuasion? Your actions can do far less than your persuasion. If you persuade, then other people will also pursue your agenda. And this is contradictory. I guess the author has no idea how to conduct a civil debate. (Users usually don't.) Too bad.
"Always say less than necessary."
Oh good grief! So Greene would rather be mysterious than teach people to agree with him? And why does he feel the need to intimidate people? What is the point in that? Remember the argument about not winning through argument? If you're intimidating people, they will resent you. And why does Greene want to impress people? For personal glory? What use is personal glory? While you don't want to talk too much, you should always say exactly what is necessary, no less.
"Conceal your intentions."
So Greene believes in deceiving people? Why? What's the point? If you do that, you don't DESERVE a good reputation. He speaks here of gratuitously destroying others. Man, he is one sick puppy!
"Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies."
Greene doesn't have any friends he can trust? I feel REALLY sorry for him. Obviously, he is just a user. No wonder he can't trust his "friends." And why should I seek to make enemies? I don't hate anybody that much!
"Never outshine the master."
Any master who cannot teach someone to be better than he is has failed. Why would anyone want to turn his master into a failure? If the student gives the master proper respect, his being superior will reward the master for his diligent efforts.
This set of laws is not amoral. It is highly IMmoral, and designed to create a world where hatred, animosity, and violence rule the day. I think terrorists practice such rules, and that's why they are such a detriment to civilization. You don't have to have absolute moral principles to see through a piece of tripe like this. It's garbage on its face. Tenderhearted people will never be users like this. Those who have made their hearts into stone will live to rue the day. The end result of this is death, not power. And an ignominious death it will be! If you want an example, simply think of al Zarqawi and Saddam Hussein. Both met ignominious ends, as well they should. Enough said.
Summary of The 48 Laws of Power
Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills three thousand years of the history of power in to forty-eight well explicated laws. As attention-grabbing in its design as it is in its content, this bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other great thinkers.Some laws teach the need for prudence ("Law 1: Never Outshine the Master"), the virtue of stealth ("Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions"), and many demand the total absence of mercy ("Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally"), but like it or not, all have applications in real life.
Illustrated through the tactics of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, P. T. Barnum, and other famous figures who have wielded--or been victimized by--power, these laws will fascinate any reader interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.
"Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at the world, a shifting of perspective," writes Robert Greene. Mastery of one's emotions and the arts of deception and indirection are, he goes on to assert, essential. The 48 laws outlined in this book "have a simple premise: certain actions always increase one's power ... while others decrease it and even ruin us."
The laws cull their principles from many great schemers--and scheming instructors--throughout history, from Sun-Tzu to Talleyrand, from Casanova to con man Yellow Kid Weil. They are straightforward in their amoral simplicity: "Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit," or "Discover each man's thumbscrew." Each chapter provides examples of the consequences of observance or transgression of the law, along with "keys to power," potential "reversals" (where the converse of the law might also be useful), and a single paragraph cleverly laid out to suggest an image (such as the aforementioned thumbscrew); the margins are filled with illustrative quotations. Practitioners of one-upmanship have been given a new, comprehensive training manual, as up-to-date as it is timeless.
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