"Many people spend time studying the properties of animals or herbs; how much more important it would be to study those of people, with whom we must live or die!"

Insights:

1. To understand social dynamics and power we must study and understand people and become a master psychologist.
2. It is important to recognize motivation through the social signals people give off.

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"Avoid outshining the master. All superiority is odious, but the superiority of a subject over his prince is not only stupid, it is fatal. This is a lesson that the stars in the sky teach us—they may be related to the sun, and just as brilliant, but they never appear in her company."

Insights:

1. Displaying talents too much can inspire fear and insecurity, particularly in superiors.
2. Displaying talents can stir up resentment, envy, and other insecurities.
3. It is not a weakness to disguise strengths if they lead to power in the end.

Principles:

1. Make those above you feel comfortably superior.
2. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are.

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"Know how to use enemies for your own profit. You must learn to grab a sword not by its blade, which would cut you, but by the handle, which allows you to defend yourself. The wise man profits more from his enemies, than a fool from his friends."

Insights:

1. Friends [because of social comparison and proximity to you] are quicker to become envious.
2. Hiring a former enemy can make them more loyal to you as they have more to prove.

Principles:

1. Never put too much trust in friends.
2. Learn how to use your enemies.

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"Be ostentatious and be seen.... What is not seen is as though it did not exist.... It was light that first caused all creation to shine forth. Display fills up many blanks, covers up deficiencies, and gives everything a second life, especially when it is backed by genuine merit."

Insights:

1. Everything is judged based on appearance - the unseen counts for nothing.
2. Notoriety can bring power.
3. It is better to do something and attract criticism than be ignored for doing nothing.

Principles:

1. Stand out.
2. Attract attention by appearing larger and more mysterious than the average.
3. Cultivate an unforgettable image, even if controversial.

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"If you do not declare yourself immediately, you arouse expectation.... Mix a little mystery with everything, and the very mystery stirs up veneration. And when you explain, be not too explicit.... In this manner you imitate the Divine way when you cause men to wonder and watch."

Insights:

1. As objective power rises, we should adapt - cultivating an air of mystery can help us to develop an aura of power whilst being measured.

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"There is much to be known, life is short, and life is not life without knowledge. It is therefore an excellent device to acquire knowledge from everybody. Thus, by the sweat of another's brow, you win the reputation of being an oracle."

Insights:

1. Outsourcing work to others saves time and energy and makes you appear efficient and fast.
2. People that do the work are often forgotten, it is those that are at the top that are remembered.
3. There are times when taking the credit for the work of others is not wise: when power is not firmly established.
4. To take credit for the work of others, your position must we unshakeable, or you will be accused of deception.

Principles:

1. Never do what others can do for you.
2. Know when letting other people share credit serves you.
3. Do not be greedy with taking credit if you have a master above you.

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"The truth is generally seen, rarely heard."

Insights:

1. No one can argue with a demonstrated proof.

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"Recognize the fortunate so that you may choose their company, and the unfortunate so that you may avoid them. Misfortune is usually the crime of folly, and among those who suffer from it there is no malady more contagious: Never open your door to the least of misfortunes, for, if you do, many others will follow in its train.... Do not die of another's misery."

Insights:

1. We can get pulled down by the misery of others.
2. Emotional states are infectious.
3. Some people are born to unfortunate circumstances, others bring it upon themselves - avoid these people.

Principles:

1. Do not get drawn to helping people too much, especially when it draws too much from your energy.
2. Associate with the happy and fortunate.

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"Make people depend on you. More is to be gained from such dependence than courtesy. He who has slaked his thirst, immediately turns his back on the well, no longer needing it. When dependence disappears, so does civility and decency, and then respect. The first lesson which experience should teach you is to keep hope alive but never satisfied, keeping even a royal patron ever in need of you."

Insights:

1. Power comes from getting people to do as you wish - especially without force or coercion.
2. The strongest position is when others rely on you.
3. Having others dependent on you is also in some ways making you reliant on them.

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"Use absence to create respect and esteem. If presence diminishes fame, absence augments it. A man who when absent is regarded as a lion becomes when present something common and ridiculous. Talents lose their luster if we become too familiar with them, for the outer shell of the mind is more readily seen than its rich inner kernel. Even the outstanding genius makes use of retirement so that men may honor him and so that the yearning aroused by his absence may cause him to be esteemed."

Insights:

1. Absence of something valuable makes its value increase.
2. Strong presence draws power, until it doesn't.
3. Once you have established yourself as powerful or valuable, the more you are seen, the more common you appear.

Principles:

1. Create value through scarcity.
2. Make what you offer rare and hard to find.

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"Do not commit yourself to anybody or anything, for that is to be a slave, a slave to every man.... Above all, keep yourself free of commitments and obligations — they are the device of another to get you into his power..."

Insights:

1. It is wise to be patient in taking sides.
2. By remaining independent, others will seek you out for you opinion or favour.

Principles:

1. Do not be drawn to the conflicts of others.

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"Men of great abilities are slow to act. for it is easier to avoid occasions for committing yourself than to come well out of a commitment. Such occasions test your judgment; it is safer to avoid them than to emerge victorious from them. One obligation leads to a greater one, and you come very near to the brink of disaster."

Insights:

1. You cannot control the opinions, temperament, or actions of those around you.

Principles:

1. Master your emotions.
2. Wait before acting.

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"Regard it as more courageous not to become involved in an engagement than to win in battle, and where there is already one interfering fool, take care that there shall not be two."

Principles:

1. Do not get involved in that which does not concern you.

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"Know how to make use of stupidity: The wisest man plays this card at times. There are occasions when the highest wisdom consists in appearing not to know — you must not be ignorant but capable of playing it. It is not much good being wise among fools and sane among lunatics. He who poses as a fool is not a fool. The best way to be well received by all is to clothe yourself in the skin of the dumbest of brutes."

Insights:

1. No one likes feeling stupider than others - you can take advantage of this by making people feel smarter than you.
2. People rarely believe that they can be outsmarted by people they feel are not as smart as them.
3. You can cover up misdoings by appearing to have authority and knowledge so that people believe what you say.

Principles:

1. Never insult someone's intelligence.
2. Subtly reassure people that they are smarter than you are.

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"Prize intensity more than extensity. Perfection resides in quality, not quantity. Extent alone never rises above mediocrity, and it is the misfortune of men with wide general interests that while they would like to have their finger in every pie, they have one in none. Intensity gives eminence, and rises to the heroic in matters sublime."

Insights:

1. Working at something with intensity is usually more effective.
2. Sometimes dispersal of energy can be effective to disrupt a larger power, guerrilla tactics in warfare for example.

Principles:

1. Focus energy on where you are strongest.

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"Know how to be all things to all men. A discreet Proteus—a scholar among scholars, a saint among saints. That is the art of winning over everyone, for like attracts like. Take note of temperaments and adapt yourself to that of each person you meet— follow the lead of the serious and jovial in turn, changing your mood discreetly."

Insights:

1. You do not have to be defined by circumstances or the situation you were born into.

Principles:

1. Recreate yourself in ways that are best for you.
2. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you.

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"Folly consists not in committing Folly, but in being incapable of concealing it. All men make mistakes, but the wise conceal the blunders they have made, while fools make them public. Reputation depends more on what is hidden than on what is seen. If you can't be good, be careful."

Insights:

1. Public image depends more on what is concealed rather than what is revealed.
2. The wise mask their mistakes and shift attention to others.

Principles:

1. Appear wise, good, and efficient.
2. Do not be put in positions to appear to make mistakes or commit bad acts.
3. Use others as scapegoats.
4. Remove yourself from being the executioner or bearer of bad news.

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"Do everything pleasant yourself, everything unpleasant through third parties. By adopting the first course you win favour, by taking the second you deflect ill will. Important affairs often require rewards and punishments. Let only the good come from you and the evil from others."

Insights:

1. The powerful always seem to be unhurried and unburdened.
2. The powerful know how to find the right people to put in the effort on their behalf.

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"Always set to work without misgivings on the score of imprudence. Fear of failure in the mind of a performer is, for an onlooker, already evidence of failure.... Actions are dangerous when there is doubt as to their wisdom; it would be safer to do nothing."

Insights:

1. Doubt feeds timid actions and poor execution.
2. The mistakes taken with bold action can be fixed with more bold action.
3. Boldness makes others feel at ease.
4. Boldness should not be behind all actions, only when a clear path to success lies ahead.

Principles:

1. Do not venture down a path when you are unsure.

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"Keep the extent of your abilities unknown. The wise man does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he desires to be honoured by

"We do claim that direct annihilation of the enemy's forces must always be the dominant consideration... Once a major victory is achieved there must be no talk of rest, of breathing space... but only of the pursuit, going for the enemy again, seizing his capital, attacking his reserves and anything else that might give his country aid and comfort."

Insights:

1. You lose leverage in negotiations when you only achieve partial victory.

Principles:

1. Give your opponents no options, you cannot afford to go halfway.

 

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"The best strategy is always to be very strong first in general, then at the decisive point... There is no higher and simpler law of strategy than that of keeping one’s forces concentrated... In short the first principle is: act with the utmost concentration."

- Carl von Clausewitz

Insight: Your are better off finding a rich mine and mining it deeper than going from one shallow mine to the next.

Insight: Intensity defeats extensity every time.

Principle: Concentrate your forces and energy at their strongest point.

 

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"There are very few men—and they are the exceptions — who are able to think and feel beyond the present moment."

- Carl von Clausewitz

Insight: By imagining the future and all potential scenarios, you will feel less overwhelmed if things do not go according to plan.

Principle: Plan all the way to the end, thinking about the consequences of action, obstacles, risks.

Insights:

1. Effective delegation can make you powerful and reduce the burden of tasks.
2. Effective delegation can save you energy and effort.

Insights:

1. Creating an us vs them dynamic is a way to strengthen groups. Creating a "straw man" for followers to react against will unify followers, and give them an easy enemy to destroy.