The 48 Laws of Power

Robert Greene

Sep 2000 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

to be honest. this book will make you be HATED by everyone. being a manipulator and just getting what you want is not the right thing. when I first read this, I am reading to how to kill people and manipulate them. being a chess player it's very hard to me to focus becuase SOMEONE is manipulating me while playing chess. if you are about to read this book. Please pray to God and ask to cleanse all of your sins, This book is the devil's bible not recommend EVER...

1. Writing a manual on how to manipulate, hurt,and "conquer" others for selfish intent. Is disgustingly vile. Shame on you. This material needs to be regulated. Coming from a manipulator and a narcissist myself. I had to be shown from other narcissists to be aware of what I was doing to people. Using hatred and selfish conquest over another only feeds the fire that continues the way we treat each other. This book fuels a paradigm that devolves humanity and the love that is inside of us all. In the right hands and with good intentions to help defend against others yes however it needs to be reviewed together. Deceptive and dishonesty creates a black hole. Nothing escapes. Not even light.

The 48 Laws of Power is a deliberately manipulative book that treats constant duplicity as realism and sincerity as weakness. It encourages a hollow way of living in which every action is part of a deceptive mask and every person is a rival to be exploited or crushed. It is pickup artistry expanded outward to all of society. It turns resentment at personal failure into “strategy” and moral weakness into "insight". Greene sells power starved fantasies but possesses very little power himself.

About the author

Robert Greene, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, The 33 Strategies of War, The Art of Seduction, Mastery, The Laws of Human Nature, and The Daily Laws, is an internationally renowned expert on power strategies. He lives in Los Angeles.

Joost Elffers is the packaging genius behind Viking Studio's Secret Language series, Play with Your Food, and How Are You Peeling?. He lives in New York City.