48 tips to become more powerful - PART 4

(1) 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.

(2) DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE.
It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause by yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others — playing people against one another, making them pursue you.

(3) PLAY A SUCKER TO CATCH A SUCKER — SEEM DUMBER THAN YOUR MARK.
No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, then, 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 have ulterior motives.

(4) 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 cheek you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.

(5) 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 one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.

(6) 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 most 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.