What’s it about?: Reportedly one of the most requested and banned books in American prison libraries, and cited by many in the entertainment industry. The 48 Laws of Power is presented as a how-to guide on the acquisition of power, drawing on the works and philosophies of Niccolo Machiavelli, Sun-Tzu, Carl Von Clausewitz, the lives and examples of statesmen, military leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and various other luminaries.
The structure of each chapter (or law) is this:
- Observance of the law;
- Transgression of the law;
- Keys to power;
- Reversal.
Each law begins with a story. Observance is what happens when you follow the law, while transgression is what happens when you don’t. Keys to power has to do with the general principle of the law, while the reversal highlights the exceptions. This divides each law, for the sake of clarity if nothing else.
My opinion: I love 48 Laws. It’s one of my favourites, and has been for years. My introduction was after I’d been out of high school for a year or so. I was a relatively minor poster on the (long defunct) Rudius Media forums, where the community were in the thrall of Greene and his work. The site’s owner, his inner circle, and the userbase insisted that everyone read his work. Then I saw Neil Strauss refer to it in The Game, another book I enjoyed thoroughly. Everything in my life at the time seemed to point towards the 48 Laws. I’m not really a believer in fate, but the more I saw it, I figured “It takes something.” One day, I bought a copy, and what I found was so much not a “how to” guide, but an amazing work of research and storytelling, and a unique ability to explain timeless truths through story and example. It is ideal for someone like me who loves the classics, but doesn’t always understand the bigger picture or see the lessons as easily as others.
If there was ever a text that exemplified the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” it would be 48 Laws. Take all the accolades about it and its author being the next Machiavelli or Sun-Tzu or whoever, and forget all of that. It is simply a wonderful distillation of history and storytelling, of observations about life and strategy. For all its hype and controversy, 48 Laws, is–dare I say–more mundane than one might be led to believe. That’s not an insult; in fact, I think it’s totally appropriate for a text like this.
“I love this book, but I don’t think it’s all that useful for building a business,” author and rancher Tucker Max says in his brilliantly-conceived “Do Not Read List,” which explains why the most entrepreneurship reading lists are purely decorative, if not counterproductive. “Building a business is about creating value. 48 Laws is about how to take things, not create them. It’s great for learning how to navigate office politics, or deal with Hollywood, or the music business, or things like that.”
Ryan Holiday points out, “Robert talked about ‘never outshining the master’ and ‘let others do all the work but take all the credit’ in The 48 Laws of Power, yet in reality, he’s generous, patient and supportive. No one has helped me more in my career.” Holiday was also on Rudius back in the day, and apprenticed under Greene for a while, prior to his career as a bestselling author. If anyone knows Greene and his work, it’s him.
It can be a lot of things. For me, 48 Laws is a text for those of us who are more naive, who might be more likely to find themselves on the receiving end of the strategies and tactics described. I’m just an ordinary classroom teacher, after all. It’s not like I’m high up the HR chain. We all have goals we want to accomplish, and power is something we inevitably find ourselves facing. The power of others, and the power we have or need to achieve our aims. Some of the laws might apply to you; they might not. I don’t know what “keeping others in suspended terror” would accomplish (Law 17). I can’t imagine myself “crushing my enemies totally” (Law 15). Or having enemies at all, for that matter, and if I ever did, then that would make me rather villainous by extension.
But if I had to think of some laws that apply to my line of work, or life in general, they would be:
- Law 4: Always say less than necessary. This isn’t so much an edict for self-censorship as it is a reminder that one can always benefit from listening and understanding more, and keeping one’s points clear and concise. Think of some populist leader who always seems to be sounding off about this and that. He speaks his mind and doesn’t beat around the bush. That’s great, isn’t it? Well, is it admirable to speak your mind if most of what comes out of your mouth is incorrect, if not completely outlandish? Imagine if these people actually learned from criticism and scrutiny. It’s worth pausing to think over.
- Law 29: Plan all the way to the end. You have a goal. Figure out how you’re going to go about this, down to the last detail. It could be just a simple daily routine, but you need a plan. Do not skip any steps. Every teacher will know what this means (unit and lesson plans). Anyone creating anything for any amount of time, or anyone who has any pressure put on them, understands it as well.
- Law 48: Assume formlessness. “Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed,” Greene says. “The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water.” That is, understand that there are no certainties, and how your day will go depends on things falling in place, which doesn’t always happen. “Empty your mind, be formless,” Bruce Lee once said. “Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
Last year marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the book’s publication. To celebrate, a limited “Special Power Edition” was released. What more can you do with the book that has it all? Everything, apparently. In addition to the text itself, which is awesome, this anniversary edition boasts a vegan leather cover with gilded edges, and new notes from the author and publisher. But the coolest part is the hidden effect–portraits of Robert Greene and Machiavelli that appear as the pages are turned. Greene in one direction; Machiavelli in the other. Very cool.
Whatever edition, I cannot recommend The 48 Laws of Power enough. Really, the entire compendium of Greene’s work is great, but I would pair this one with Mastery. There is no better literary dynamic duo.
Lawrence Deveney 