Key takeaways: Be calculating and strategic, not emotional. (Shortform note: We’ve grouped the laws into categories to clarify themes and make them easier to remember.) Adopt a Power Mindset Here, then, are the 48 laws in brief (each is independent, so you don’t need to follow them in sequence), along with Greene’s warning of the seductive quality of power: it can consume your mind, and you might never see human behavior the same way again. To practice deception effectively requires an understanding of human behavior (your own and others’), the relentless study of the people around you, complete self-control, outward charm, adaptability, strategic thinking, and deviousness.

Since then, the game of power hasn’t changed much, although it’s gotten a bit less bloody (more heads roll figuratively than literally). Staying on top and increasing your power required strategy and tactics, but at the heart of the game lay an essential skill - deception, which was employed in myriad ways. At the same time they had to be subtle: Courtiers sought power by sucking up to the king, but if they got too obvious about it, their peers (who had the same goal) would turn on them. They appeared civilized and refined, but were ruthless and ambitious beneath the surface. There were clear principles and rules of conduct that everyone knew, but applying them was a high art at which only a few succeeded, and not always for long.Ĭourtiers served the king while scheming to increase their power, defend it from others, and keep others from undermining or surpassing them. Many of the laws originated or were exemplified in the aristocratic courts of old Europe, where a bevy of courtiers jockeyed for influence around a powerful person. He provides details on how to practice the laws, plus examples and analysis. Greene argues that following the 48 laws will generally increase your power, while failing to follow them will decrease it, or worse. He’s codified 48 laws of power based on examples and writings going back 3,000 years of people who’ve excelled or failed at wielding power, with glorious or bloody results. In The 48 Laws of Power Robert Greene contends that since you can’t opt out of the game of power, you’re better off becoming a master player by learning the rules and strategies practiced since ancient times. You’re either a power player or a pawn someone else is playing with. Striving for and wielding power is a game everyone participates in, whether they want to or not. Everyone wants power and is always trying to get more. 1-Page Summary 1-Page Book Summary of The 48 Laws of Power

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene