48 laws of power cheat sheet

CHEAT SHEET -
48 LAWS OF
POWER
Based on the book 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers

Law# 1:
Never
Outshine
the Master
Always make those above you feel comfortably superior.
In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far
in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the
opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters
appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the
heights of power.
• Make those above you feel superior. Do not show your
talents too much, it’ll make them insecure.
• Make the master appear more brilliant than they are.

Law# 2:
Never put too
Much Trust
in Friends,
Learn how to
use Enemies
Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for
they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled
and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be
more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In
fact, you have more to fear from friends than from
enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make
them.
• Friends will quickly betray you.
• Hire former enemies, they’ll be loyal.

Law# 3:
Conceal
your
Intentions
Conceal your Intentions Keep people off-balance and in
the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your
actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they
cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down
the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by
the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.
• Keep people off-balance.They cannot prepare if they
don’t know. Guide them down the wrong path.

Law# 4:
Always Say
Less than
Necessary
When you are trying to impress people with words, the
more you say, the more common you appear, and the less
in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will
seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and
sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by
saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to
say something foolish.
• When trying to impress, the more you say the more
common you look and less in control.
• Be vague.
• Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying
less.

Law# 5: So
Much
Depends on
Reputation
– Guard it
with your
Life
Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation
alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however,
you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make
your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential
attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile,
learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own
reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang
them.
• Reputation is the cornerstone of power.
• Reputation alone will make you win.
• Destroy enemies by attacking their reputation.Then
stand aside and let the public hang them.

Law# 6:
Court
Attention at
all Cost
Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen
counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the
crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be
conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of
attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more
mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.
• Everything is judged by appearance, what is unseen
counts for nothing.
• Never get lost in a crowd.
• Be mysterious, appear more colorful than the masses.

Law# 7: Get
others to do
the Work
for you, but
Always
Take the
Credit
Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people
to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance
save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a
godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your
helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered.
Never do yourself what others can do for you.
• Use the skills of others to do the work for you, never
do yourself what others can do for you.
• Your efficiency will appear god-like.

Law# 8:
Make other
People come
to you – use
Bait if
Necessary
When you force the other person to act, you are the one
in control. It is always better to make your opponent
come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process.
Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack. You hold the
cards.
• When you force others to act, you’re in control.
• Make opponents come to you.
• Lure with gains, then attack.

Law# 9: Win
through your
Actions,
Never
through
Argument
Any momentary triumph you think gained through
argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and
ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any
momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful
to get others to agree with you through your actions,
without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.
• You never win through argument.
• The resentment last long.
• It’s more powerful to agree with actions.
• Demonstrate, do not explain.

Law# 10:
Infection:
Avoid the
Unhappy
and
Unlucky
You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional
states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are
helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating
your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw
misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you.
Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.
• You’ll die from other’s misery – emotional states are
as infectious as diseases.
• The unfortunate draw misfortune on themselves and
will draw it on you.
• Associate with the happy and fortunate.

Law# 11:
Learn to
Keep People
Dependent
on You
To maintain your independence you must always be
needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more
freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their
happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear.
Never teach them enough so that they can do without
you.
• To maintain independence you must be needed and
wanted.
• The more you’re relied on, the more freedom you
have.
• Make people depend on you for happiness.
• Never teach them enough so they can do without you.

Law# 12: Use
Selective
Honesty and
Generosity to
Disarm your
Victim
One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of
dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and
generosity bring down the guard of even the most
suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a
hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them
at will. A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same
purpose.
• One sincere move will cover over a dozen dishonest
ones.
• Honesty can bring down the guard of suspicious
people.
• Open their shield with honesty, then deceive.

Law# 13:
When Asking
for Help,
Appeal to
People’s Self-
Interest,
Never to
their Mercy
or Gratitude
If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to
remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He
will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something
in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will
benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He
will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to
be gained for himself.
• Do not remind people of past deeds.
• Find something that will benefit them and emphasize
it out of proportion.

Law# 14:
Pose as a
Friend,
Work as a
Spy
Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather
valuable information that will keep you a step ahead.
Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social
encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get
people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is
no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.
• Learn to probe and find valuable information.
• Ask indirect questions.
• Every occasion is a chance to spy.

Law# 15:
Crush your
Enemy
Totally
All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared
enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they
have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight,
no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually
break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than
through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and
will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.
• More is lost through stopping halfway.
• Crush your enemy in body and spirit.

Law# 16:
Use
Absence to
Increase
Respect and
Honor
Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more
you are seen and heard from, the more common you
appear. If you are already established in a group,
temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked
about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave.
Create value through scarcity.
• Too much circulation makes the price go down.
• If you’re already established in a group, temporarily
withdraw to make people talk.
• Create value through scarcity.

Law# 17:
Keep Others
in Suspended
Terror:
Cultivate an
Air of
Unpredictabi
lity
Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see
familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives
them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately
unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency
or purpose will keep them off balance, and they will wear
themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an
extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.
• Being predictable gives control to others.
• Behavior that isn’t consistent will wear people out, and
they’ll stop trying to explain things.
• When used to the extreme, you’ll intimidate and
terrorize.

Law# 18: Do
Not Build
Fortresses to
Protect
Yourself –
Isolation is
Dangerous
The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere –
everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the
safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it
protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable
information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy
target. Better to circulate among people find allies,
mingle.You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.
• Isolation cuts you off from valuable information.
• Its better to mingle.
• You are shielded from your enemy in a crowd.

Law# 19:
Know Who
You’re
Dealing with
– Do Not
Offend the
Wrong
Person
There are many different kinds of people in the world, and
you can never assume that everyone will react to your
strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver
some people and they will spend the rest of their lives
seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing.
Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then –
never offend or deceive the wrong person.
• Never assume everyone will react the same way.
• Choose your victims carefully.
• Never offend the wrong person.

Law# 20:
Do Not
Commit to
Anyone
It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not
commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining
your independence, you become the master of others –
playing people against one another, making them pursue
you.
• Fools rush to pick a side.
• Do not commit to a cause but yourself
• Maintain independence
• Make people chase you and play people against one
another

Law# 21:
Play a
Sucker to
Catch a
Sucker –
Seem
Dumber than
your Mark
No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons. The
trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just
smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this,
they will never suspect that you may have ulterior
motives.
• Don’t be stupid, but make your mark appear smarter
than you
• Making them appear smarter hides your motives

Law# 22:
Use the
Surrender
Tactic:
Transform
Weakness
into Power
When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake;
choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to
recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time
to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the
satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender
first. By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle
him. Make surrender a tool of power.
• When you’re weaker, never fight just for honor but
surrender
• Do not give them the satisfaction to win, surrender
• Turn the other cheek to infuriate them

Law# 23:
Concentrate
Your Forces
Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them
concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by
finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting
from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats
extensity every time. When looking for sources of power
to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who
will give you milk for a long time to come.
• Intensity defeats extensity every time
• Find a fat cow that’ll give you milk for a long time

Law# 24:
Play the
Perfect
Courtier
The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything
revolves around power and political dexterity. He has
mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to
superiors, and asserts power over others in the mot
oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of
courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can
rise in the court.
• Master the art of indirection
• Assert power gracefully

Law# 25:
Re-Create
Yourself
Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-
create yourself by forging a new identity, one that
commands attention and never bores the audience. Be
the master of your own image rather than letting others
define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your
public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced
and your character will seem larger than life.
• Create an identity that commands attention and
never bores
• Be the master of your own image
• Use large gestures and actions-your character will
seem huge and you’ll gain power

Law# 27:
Keep Your
Hands
Clean
You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your
hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds.
Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as
scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement.
• Never appear soiled by mistakes
• Use others as scapegoats to disguise your
involvement

Law# 27:
Play on
People’s Need
to Believe to
Create a
Cultlike
Following
People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something.
Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a
cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full
of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear
thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them
to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of
organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system
will bring you untold power.
• People want to believe in something
• Become the focal point of this and offer them a cause, a
new faith
• Keep your words vague but full of promise
• Emphasize enthusiasm over rationality
• Give your new disciples rituals to perform and ask them
to make sacrifices

Law# 28:
Enter
Action with
Boldness
If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it.
Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution.
Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any
mistakes you commit through audacity are easily
corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold;
no one honors the timid.
• If you’re unsure then don’t do it
• Timidity is dangerous
• Any mistakes your commit through audacity are
easily corrected with more audacity
• Everyone admires boldness, no one honors the timid

Law# 29:
Plan All the
Way to the
End
The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into
account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and
twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and
give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will
not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know
when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine
the future by thinking far ahead.
• The ending is everything
• Take into account of scenario
• If you plan, you won’t be overwhelmed
• Guide fortune by thinking far ahead

Law# 30:
Make your
Accomplish
ments Seem
Effortless
Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease.
All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the
clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act
effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the
temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises
questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used
against you.
• Conceal the clever tricks
• Make your success seem natural
• Do not reveal how hard you work
• Teach no one your tricks

Law# 31:
Control the
Options:
Get Others
to Play with
the Cards
you Deal
The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other
person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are
actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in
your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make
choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve
your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are
gored wherever they turn.
• The best deceptions seem to give the other person a
choice
• Give options so no matter their choice, you win

Law# 32:
Play to
People’s
Fantasies
The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant.
Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for
the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh
and distressing that people who can manufacture romance
or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone
flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the
fantasies of the masses.
• The truth is unpleasant, avoid it
• People that manufacture romance are like oases in the
desert
• There’s great power in tapping into people’s fantasies

Law# 33:
Discover
Each Man’s
Thumbscre
w
Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That
weakness is usual y an insecurity, an uncontrollable
emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure.
Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to
your advantage.
• Find other’s weaknesses
• Its usually insecurity, uncontrollable emotions, secret
pressures

Law# 34: Be
Royal in your
Own
Fashion: Act
like a King to
be treated
like one
The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are
treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will
make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and
inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and
confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined
to wear a crown.
• The way you carry yourself determines how you’re
treated
• Appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect
you
• Kings respect themselves and inspire the same in others
• By acting confident you make yourself destined to wear
a crown

Law# 35:
Master the
Art of
Timing
Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of
control over yourself, and over time. Always seem
patient, as if you know that everything will come to you
eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff
out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to
power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe,
and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.
• Never seem in a hurry, always seem patient
• Sniff out the spirit of the times, find the trends that’ll
give you power
• Learn to stand back when not ready, and then strike

Law# 36:
Disdain
Things you
cannot have:
Ignoring
them is the
best Revenge
By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and
credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the
stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made
worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes
best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but
cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you
reveal, the more superior you seem.
• Acknowledging petty problems gives them existence
• When you acknowledge an enemy you make them
stronger
• The more you a mistake visible, the worse it gets
• If you want something but can’t have it, disdain it
• The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem

Law# 37:
Create
Compelling
Spectacles
Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the
aura of power – everyone responds to them. Stage
spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting
visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence.
Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are
really doing.
• Striking imagery and symbolic gestures create the
auro of power and people respond
• Stage spectacles for those around you and heighten
your presence
• Dazzle by appearance

Law# 38:
Think as
you like but
Behave like
others
If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your
unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think
that you only want attention and that you look down upon
them. They will find a way to punish you for making them
feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the
common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant
friends and those who are sure to appreciate your
uniqueness.
• By flaunting your unconventional ways people will only
think you want attention
• They’ll punish you for making them feel inferior
• Blend in

Law# 39:
Stir up
Waters to
Catch Fish
Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive.
You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can
make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself,
you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-
balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you
can rattle them and you hold the strings.
• Anger and emotion is counterproductive
• Stay calm and objective
• Make enemies emotional while you stay calm
• Rattle your enemies

Law# 40:
Despise the
Free Lunch
What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves
either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is
worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear
of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay
the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence.
Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for
generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.
• What’s offered for free in dangerous
• Pay your own way to avoid guilt and gratitude
• No cutting corners with excellence
• Be lavish with your money, keep it circulating
• Generosity is a sign and magnet for power

Law# 41:
Avoid
Stepping
into a Great
Man’s Shoes
What happens first always appears better and more original
than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a
famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their
achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their
shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish
your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the
overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by
shining in your own way.
• What happens first always appears better and more
original than what’s next
• Following great people means you must double their
power
• Gain power by shining in your own way

Law# 42:
Strike the
Shepherd
and the
Sheep will
Scatter
Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the
stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill. If
you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb
to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to
multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are
irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or
banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the
sheep will scatter.
• Trouble can be traced to a single individual
• These people will influence others
• Do not negotiate but banish them
• Strike at the source of the trouble

Law# 43:
Work on the
Hearts and
Minds of
Others
Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you.
You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A
person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to
seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and
weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions,
playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the
hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.
• Coercion will work against you
• Seduce others into wanting to move in your direction
• Seduce others by operating on their individual psychologies and
weaknesses
• Soften them by working their emotions and what they fear
• Ignore the hearts and minds and they will grow to hate you

Law# 44:
Disarm and
Infuriate
with the
Mirror
Effect
The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for
deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as
they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror
Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact.
By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them
with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a
mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can
resist the power of Mirror Effect.
• When you mirror exactly what your enemies do, they
cannot figure out your strategy
• The mirror effect mocks and humiliates them, making
them overreact
• Hold a mirror to their psyches and you’ll seduce them
and they’ll think they share your values
• Mirror their actions and they learn lessons

Law# 45:
Preach the
Need for
Change, but
Never
Reform too
much at
Once
Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract,
but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too
much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you
are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build
a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of
doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle
improvement on the past.
• Everyone wants change but too much is traumatic
• When new to power show you respect old ways
• Make change feel like a gentle improvement on the past

Law# 46:
Never
appear too
Perfect
Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but
most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or
weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to
occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices,
in order to deflect envy and appear more human and
approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect
with impunity.
• Its dangerous to appear like you have no thoughts
• Its ok to admit to small defects

Law# 47: Do
not go Past
the Mark you
Aimed for; In
Victory,
Learn when
to Stop
The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest
peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence
can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by
going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat.
Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no
substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal,
and when you reach it, stop.
• When going to far in victory, you make more enemies
• Set a goal, achieve it, then stop

Law# 48:
Assume
Formlessne
ss
By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open
yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your
enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the
move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is
fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and
formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order.
Everything changes.
• By having a visible plan you open yourself to attack.
• Stay adaptable and on the move
• Accept that nothing is certain and now law fixed
• Everything changes and never bet on it

48 laws of power cheat sheet

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