Interpretation Catherine had seen very early on the sway that a mistress has over a man of power: Her own husband, Henri 11, had kept one o...
Interpretation Catherine had seen very early on the sway that a mistress has over a man of power: Her own husband, Henri 11, had kept one of the most infamous mistresses of them all, Diane de Poitiers_ What Catherine learned from the experience was that a man like her husband wanted to feel he could win a woman over without having to rely on his status, which he had inherited rather than earned_ And such a need contained a huge blind spot: As long as the woman began the affair by acting as if she had been conquered, the man would fail to notice that as time passed the mistress had come to hold power over hirn, as Diane de Poitiers did over Henri_
It was Catherine's strategy to turn this weakness to her advantage, using it as a way to conquer and control men. All she had to do was unleash the loveliest women in the court, her "flying squadron," on men whom she knew shared her husband's vulnerability. Remember: Always look for passions and ob sessions that cannot be controlled. The stronger the passion, the more vulnerable the person. This may seem surprising, for passionate people look strong. In fact, however, they are simply filling the stage with their theatricality, distracting people from how weak and helpless they really are.
A man's need to conquer women actually reveals a tremendous helplessness that has made suckers out of them for thousands of years. Look at the part of a person that is most visible-their greed, their lust, their intense fear. These are the emotions they cannot conceal, and over which they have the least control. And what people cannot control, you can control for them. Observance IV Arabella Huntington, wife of the great late-nineteenth-century railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington, came from humble origins and always struggled for social recognition among her wealthy peers. When she gave a party in her San Francisco mansion, few of the social elite would show Upj most of them took her for a gold digger, not their kind. Because of her husband's fabulous wealth, art dealers courted her, but with such condescension they obviously saw her as an upstart. Only one man of consequence treated her differently: the dealer Joseph Duveen. For the first few years of Duveen's relationship with Arabella, he made no effort to seIl expensive art to her. Instead he accompanied her to fine stores, chatted endlessly about queens and princesses he knew, on and on. At last, she thought, a man who treated her as an equal, even a superior, in high society. Meanwhile, ifDuveen did not try to seIl art to her, he did subtly educate her in his aesthetic ideas-namely, that the best art was the most expensive art. And after Arabella had soaked up his way of seeing things, Duveen would act as if she always had exquisite taste, even though before she met hirn her aesthetics had been abysmal. When Collis Huntington died, in 1900, Arabella came into a fortune. She suddenly started to buy expensive paintings, by Rembrandt and Veläzquez, for example-and only from Duveen. Years later Duveen sold her Gainsborough's Blue Boy for the highest price ever paid for a work of art at the time, an astounding purchase for a family that previously had shown little interest in collecting. Interpretation Joseph Duveen instantly understood Arabella Huntington and what made her tick:
She wanted to feel important, at horne in society. Intensely inseeure about her lower-class background, she needed confirmation of her new social status. Duveen waited. Instead of rushing into trying to persuade her to collect art, he subtly went to work on her weaknesses. He made her feel that she deserved his attention not because she was the wife of one of the wealthiest men in the world but because of her own special eharacter-and this completely melted her. Duveen never condescended to ArabeIla; rather than lecturing to her, he instilled his ideas in her indireetly. The result was one of his best and most devoted clients, and also the sale of The Blue Boy. People's need far validation and recognition, their need to feel important, is the best kind of weakness to exploit. First, it is almost universal; second, exploiting it is so very easy. All you have to do is find ways to make people feel better about their taste, their sodal standing, their intelligence. Once the fish are hooked, you can reel them in again and again, for years-you are filling a positive role, giving them what they cannot get on their own. They may never suspect that you are turning them like a thumbserew, and if they do they may not care, because you are making them feel better about themselves, and that is worth any price. Observance V In 1862 King William of Prussia named Otto von Bismarck premier and minister for foreign affairs. Bismarck was known for his boldness, his ambition-and his interest in strengthening the military. Since William was surrounded by liberals in his govemment and cabinet, politidans who already wanted to limit his powers, it was quite dangerous for hirn to put Bismarck in this sensitive position. His wife, Queen Augusta, had tried to dis suade hirn, but although she usually got her way with hirn, this time William stuck to his guns. Only a week after becoming prime minister, Bismarck made an impromptu speech to a few dozen ministers to convince them of the need to enlarge the army. He ended by saying, "The great questions of the time will be dedded, not by speeches and resolutions of majorities, but by iron and blood." His speech was immediately disseminated throughout Germany. The queen screamed at her husband that Bismarck was a barbaric militarist who was out to usurp control of Prussia, and that William had to lire hirn. The liberals in the govemment agreed with her. The outcry was so vehement that WiIliam began to be afraid he would end up on a scaffold, like Louis XVI of France, if he kept Bismarck on as prime minister. Bismarck knew he had to get to the king befare it was too late. He also knew he had blundered, and should have tempered his fiery words. Yet as he contemplated his strategy, he decided not to apologize but to do the exact opposite. Bismarck knew the king weIl. Caesar had instructed them, in hopes that young gentlemen, who had not known much of baltles and wounds, but came wearing their hair long, in ehe jlower of their age and height of their beauty, would be more apprehensive ofsuch blows, and not care for hazarding both a danger at present and a blemish for the future. And so it proved, for they were so far from bearing the stroke of the javelim; that they eould not stand the sight ofthem, but turned about, ami eovered their faces to see ure them. Onee in disorder, presently they turned about to jly; and so most shamefully ruined alf. For those who had beat them hack at onee outjlanked the infantry, and falling on their rear, cut ehem to pieces. Pompey, who eommanded the other wing ofthe army, when he saw his cavalry thus broken and flying, was no longer himself; nor did he now remember that he was Pompey the Great, but, like one whom some god had deprived of his senses, retired to his tent without speaking a word, and there sat to expect the event, till the whole army was routed. THE LlFE OF JULlllS CAESAR. PUJTARCH, C. A.D. 46-120 LAW 33 279 280 LAW 33 When the two men met, William, predictably, had been worked into a tizzy by the queen. He reiterated his fear of being guillotined. But Bismarck only replied, "Yes, then we shall be dead! We must die sooner or later, and could there be a more respectable way of dying? I should die fighting for the cause of my king and master. Your Majesty would die sealing with your own blood your royal rights granted by God's grace. Whether upon the scaffold or upon the battlefield makes no difference to the glorious staking of body and life on behalf of rights granted by God's grace!" On he went, appealing to William's sense of honor and the majesty of his position as head of the army. How could the king allow people to push hirn around? Wasn't the honor of Germany more important than quibbling over words? Not only did the prime minister convince the king to stand up to both his wife and his parliament, he persuaded hirn to build up the army-Bismarck's goal all along. Interpretation Bismarck knew the king feIt buHied by those around hirn. He knew that William had a military background and a deep sense of honor, and that he feit ashamed at his cravenness before his wife and his government. William secretly yearned to be a great and mighty king, but he dared not express this ambition because he was afraid of ending up like Louis XVI. Where a show of courage often conceals a man's timidity, William's timidity concealed his need to show courage and thump his chest. Bismarck sensed the longing for glory beneath William's pacifist front, so he played to the king's insecurity about his manhood, finaHy pushing hirn into three wars and the creation of a German empire. Timidity is a potent weakness to exploit. Timid souls often yearn to be their opposite-to be Napoleons. Yet they lack the inner strength. You, in essence, can become their Napoleon, pushing them into bold actions that serve YOUf needs while also making them dependent on you. Remember: Look to the opposites and never take appearances at face value. I m age: The Thumbsc rew. Yo ur enemy has secrets that he guards, thinks thoughts he will not reveal. B ut they come out in ways he cannot help. It is there somewhere, a groove of weakness on his head, at his heart, over his beHy. Once you find the groove, put YOUf thumb in i t and turn hirn at will. Authority: Find out each man's thumbscrew. 'Tis the art of setting their wills in action. It needs more skill than resolution.
You must know where to get at anyone. Every volition has a special motive which varies according to taste. All men are idolaters, some of farne, others of selfinterest, most of pleasure. Skill consists in knowing these idols in order to bring them into play. Knowing any man's mainspring of motive you have as it were the key to his will. (Baltasar Graciän, 1601-1658) REVERSAL Playing on people's weakness has one significant danger: You may stir up an action you cannot control. In YOUf games of power you always look several steps ahead and plan accordingly. And you exploit the fact that other people are more emotional and incapable of such foresight. But when you play on their vulnerabilities, the areas over which they have least control, you can unleash emotions that will upset YOUf plans. Push timid people into bold action and they may go too far; answer their need for attention or recognition and they may need more than you want to give them. The helpless, childish element you are playing on can turn against you. The more emotional the weakness, the greater the potential danger. Know the limits to this game, then, and never get carried away by your control over YOUf victims. You are after power, not the thrill of control.
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