AND GENEROSITY TO DISARM YOUR VICTIM

12

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90

0

LAW12

OBSERVANCE OFTHE LAW

Sometimein

1926,

^a

tall, dapperly

^dressedman

paid

^avisittoAl

Capone,

themostfeared

gangster

^{of histime.}

Speaking

^{with an}

elegant

Continental accent, the^man introduced himself^as Count Victor

Lustig.

^He

promised

thatif

Capone

gave him

$50,000

he could doubleit.

Capone

^{had more}

than

enough

^{fundsto coverthe}

“investment,”

^{but hewasn’t in}the habitof

entrusting large

^{sums to total}

strangers.

^{Helooked the countover: Same-}

thing

^{about the man was} different-—-his

classy style,

his manna-r—and so

Capone

^{decided to}

play along.

^{He counted out{he bills}

personally

^and

handed them to

Lustig. “Okay, ^Count,”

^said

Capone.

^{“Doubleitin}

sixty days

like you said.”

Lustig

left with the money,

put

^{it ina}

safe—deposit

^box

in

Chicago,

then headedtoNew

York,

^wherehe had several other money-

making

^schemesinprogress.

The

$50,000

^remainedinthe bank box untouched.

Lustig

^madenoef-

forttodoubleit.Two months later heretumedto

Chicago,

took the money from the

box,

^and

paid Capone

^{anothervisit. Helookedatthe}

gangstefs stony~faced bodyguards,

^smiled

apologetically,

^and

^said,

^“Please

accept

my

profound regrets,

^Mr.

Capone.

I’m sorry^to

report

^thatthe

plan

^{failed. . . I}

failed.”

Capone slowly

stood up. He

glowered

^at

Lustig, debating

^which

part

of theriver to throw him in. But the countreached into hiscoat

pocket,

withdrew the

$50,000,

^and

placed

^{itonthe desk.}

^“Here,

^sir,isyour money, to the penny.

Again,

my ^sincere

apologies.

^{This is most}

embarrassing.

Things

didn’t workouttheway I

thought they

would. I would have loved

tohave doubled your money for you and for

myself»-—Lord

knows I need it--but the

plan just

^didn’tmaterialize.”

Capone sagged

^{backinto his}

^chair,

confused. “I know

you’re

^{a con}

man,

Count,”

^said

Capone.

^{“I knew itthemoment}you walkedⁱⁿhere. I

expected

^eitheronehundred thousand dollarsor

nothing.

^{Butthis.. .}

get- ting

my money back ^{. . .} well.”

“Again

my

apologies,

^ML

Capone,”

^said

Lustig,

^ashe

picked

^uphishatand

began

^toleave.

“My

God! You’re hon- est!”

yelled Capone.

^“If

you’re

^onthe

spot,

here’s fiveto

help

you

along.”

He counted out five one—thousand~dollar bills out of the

$50,000.

^The

countseemed

stunned,

^bowed

deeply,

mumbled his

thanks,

^and

left,

^tak-

ing

the money.

The

$5,000

^waswhat

Lustig

had been after all

along.

Interpretation

Count Victor

Lustig,

^{a manwho}

spoke

^several

languages

^and

prided

^him-

selfonhis refinement and

culture,

^{was oneof the}_great^{conarfistsof mod-}

ern times. He was known for his

audacity,

^his

fearlessness, and,

^most

important,

^his

knowledge

^ofhuman

psychology.

^{He couldsize}up^{a manin} minutes,

discovering

^his

weaknesses,

and he had radarforsuckers.

Lustig

knew thatmost^men build up defenses

against

crooks and other trouble- makers. Theconartists

job

^isto

bring

^{thosedefensesdown.}

One sure way ^todo thisis

through

^anactof

apparent sincerity

^and

honesty.

Who will distrust^aperson

literally caught

^intheactof

being

^hon-

est?

Lustig

used selective

honesty

manytimes,^butwith

Capone

^hewenta

step

further. No normal con manwouldhave daredsuch^a_con;he would have chosen his suckers for their

meekness,

^{for that}look about them that says

they

^{will taketheir}medicine without

complaint.

^Con

Capone

and you would

spend

^{the rest} of your life

(whatever

remained of

it)

afraid. But

Lustig

understood thata manlike

Capone spends

^{his life}

rrfistrusting

^oth-

ers.Noone around himishonestorgenerous,^and

being

^{somuch inthe}

company of wolves ^is

exhausting,

^even

depressing.

^{A man like}

Capone

yearns^tobe the

recipient

^ofanhonestorgenerous

gesture,

^{tofeel thatnot} everyone has^an

angle

^{orisout torob him.}

Lusiig’s

^{act ofselective}

honesty

^disarmed

Capone

^{becauseit was so}

unexpected.

^{A con artistloves}

conflicting

^{emotions like}

^these,

^{since the}

person

caught

upⁱⁿthemisso

easily

distracted and deceived.

Donot

shy

away^from

practicing

^{this lawonthe}

Capones

^{ofthe world.}

Withawell-timed

gesture

^of

honesty

^or

generosity,

you^willhavethemost brutal and

cynical

^beastinthe

kingdom eating

^outof your hand.

Everything

^turnsgray when^{I don ’t}haveatleastonemarkanthe horizon.

Life

^thenseemsempty^and

depressing.

^{Icannotunderstandhonestmm.}

They

^leaddesperatelives,

full ofbaredom.

(mm: ‘.1110:Lu.«u,«;, ^{ISO!) :94?}

KEYS ’l‘(.) P()\/\"l:lR

Theessenceof

deception

^isdistraction.

Distracting

^the

people

you^{want to} deceive

gives

you the timeand space ^todo

something they

won’: notice.

Anactof

kindness, generosity,

^or

honesty

^{isoften themost}

powerful

^form

ofdistraction because it disanns other

people’s suspicions.

^{It tums them}

into

children, eagerly lapping

up any kind of a.ft'ectiona.tegesture.

In ancientChina thiswascalled

“giving

before you take”--the

giving

makes ithard fortheother person^{to notice}the

taldng.

^{It isa}device with infinite

practical

^uses.

Brazenly taking something

^{fromsomeone is}

danger-

ous,^even for the

powerful.

^{Thevictimwill}

plot

revenge. It^isalso

danger-

ous

simply

^{to askfor what you}

^need,

^{no matterhow}

politely:

^{Unless the}

other person^{sees some}

gain

^for

themselves, they

may^cometoresentyour neediness. Learn to

give

^beforeyoutake. It softens the

ground,

^takesthe

biteoutofafuturerequest,^or

simply

^createsadistraction. And the

giving

can takemany forms:^an actual

gift,

^atgenerous act,^akind

favor,

^an“l1on~

est”admission-—whateverittakes.

Selective

honesty

^isbest

employed

^onyourfirstencounterwithsome one.Weareallcreaturesof

habit,

^andourfirst

impressions

^lasta

long

^time.

Ifsomeonebelieves you^arehonestatthestartof your

relationship

^ittakes

alottoconvincethem otherwise. This

gives

you^{roomtomaneuver.}

jay ^Gould,

^{like Al}

Capone,

^{was a man} who distrusted everyone.

By

^{the time he was}

thirty—three

^{he was}

already

^a

multimillionaire, mostly through deception

^and

strong-arming.

In the late

1860s,

^Gouldin- vested

heavily

^{inthe Erie}

Railroad,

then discovered that the market had

L/SW12 91

92, ^{LAW l2}

been floodedwith avast amountof

phony

stock certificates for the com»

party. ^{He stoodtolosea}fortune andtosufferalot ofembarrassment.

Inthe midst of thiscrisis,^{a mannamed Lord}

john

Gordon- Gordonof- fered to

help. Gordon—Gordon,

^a Scottish

lord,

^had

apparently

^{made a}

small fortune

investing

^inrailroads.

By hiring

^some

handwriting experts

'Gordon—Gordon was able to

prove^to Gould that the

culprits

^forthe

phony

stock certificateswereactu-

ally

^several

top

^{executiveswith theErie}Railroad itself. Gouldwas

grateful.

Gordon«Gordon then

proposed

that he and Gould

join

^forcesto

buy

up^a

controlling

interest in Erie. Gould

agreed.

^{For a while the venture} ap-

peared

^to prosper. The ^twomen were now

good ^friends,

and every^time Gordon—Gordon ^came to Gould

asking

for money ^to

buy

^more

stock,

Gould gave ^{it to him.} In

1873, however,

Gordon-Gordon

suddenly dumped

^{allof his}

^stock, making

^afortune but

drastically lowering

^{the value}

of Gould’sown

holdings.

^{Then he}

disappeared

^from

sight.

Upon investigation,

Gould found^outthat Gordon-Gordon’s real^name

was

john Crowningsfield,

and that he ^was the bastardsonof^amerchant

Seaman andaLondonbarmaid. There hadbeenmany clues before then that Goi-donvGordonwas a conman,buthis initialactof

honesty

and sup

port

^hadso blinded Gould thatittook theloss ofmillions for him to see

through

the scheme.

A

single

^actof

honesty

^isoftennot

enough.

^{What is}

required

^isarepu- tationfor

honesty,

^{builton a.seriesof}acts-—but thesecanbe

quite

^inconse-

quential.

^Oncethis

reputation

^is

established,

^{aswith first}

impressions,

^itis

hardtoshake. ^~

Inancient

China,

^{Duke Wu of}

Chéng

^{decideditwastimetotakeover}

the

increasingly powerful kingdom

^ofHo.

Telling

^{no one of his}

plan,

^he

marriedhis

daughter

^toHu’s ruler. Hethencalledaoounciland asked his ministers, ^{“I am}

considering

^a

military campaign.

^Which

country

^should

weinvade?”Ashe had

expected,

^{oneof hisministers}

replied,

“H11 should beinvaded.” The duke seemedangry, and

said,

^{“Huisasisterstatenow.}

Why

^doyou suggest

invading

^{her?”He had theminister}executed for his

impolitic

remark. The rulerof Huheard about

this,

^and

considering

^other

tokensof Wu’s

honesty

^{and the}

marriage

^withhis

daughter,

^{he tookno}pre- cautions todefend himself from

Chéng.

A few weeks

later, Chéng

^forces

swept through

Hu and tookthecountry,^neverto

relinquish

^it.

Honesty

^{is one} of the best ways ^to disarm the wary, but^{it isnot}the

only

^one.

Any

^{kind of}

^noble, apparently

^{selflessactwillserve.}

Perhaps

^the

best such_act,

though,

^isoneof

generosity.

^Few

people

^canresista

gift,

^even

fromthemosthardened enemy, which^is

why

^{itisoften the}

perfect

way^to disarm

people.

^A

gift brings

^{outthe childinus,}

instantly lowering

^ourdc»

lenses.

Although

^{we oftenviewother}

people’s

^{actions inthemost}

cynical light,

^we

rarely

^seetheMachiavellian element ofa

gift,

^which

quite

^often hides ulteriormotives. A

gift

^isthe

perfect object

^{inwhichtohidea}

decep—

livemove.

Over three thousand years ago the ^{ancientGreeks}traveledacrossthe

seato

recapture

^thebeautiful

Helen,

^stolenaway from them

by ^Paris,

^and

to

destroy

^Paris’s

city, Troy.

^The

siege

^lastedtenyears, many^heroes

died, yet

neither side hadcomecloseto

victory.

^One

day,

^the

prophet

^Calchas

assembled theGreeks.

“Stop battering

away ^at these walls!” he told them. “You must find

some other _way, some ruse. We cannot take

Troy by

force alone. We mustfindsome

cunning

stratagem.”

^{The cun—}

ning

^{Greek leader}

Odysseus

^{then came} up with the idea of

building

a

giant

^wooden

horse, hiding

^{soldiers inside it,}

then

offering

^{it to the}

Trojans

^{as a}

gift.

Neoptolemus,

^{son of}

Achilles,

^was

disgusted

with this

idea;

^{it was}

unmanly.

^{Better for}

thousands to die on the battlefield than to

gain victory

^so

deceitfully.

^{But the}

^soldiers,

^faced

with a choice between another ten years of

manliness, honor,

^and

death,

^ontheonehand

and a

quick victory

^{on the}

other,

^{chose the}

horse,

^{which was}

promptly

built. The trick was successful and

Troy

^fell.

One

gift

^didmorefor the Greekcausethantenyears^of

fighting.

Selective kindnessshould also be

part

^ofyour arsenal of

deception.

^For

years the^ancientRomans had

besieged

^the

city

^{of the}

Faliscans, always

^un~

successfully.

^One

day, ^however,

when the Roman

general

^{Camillus was}

encamped

outside the

city,

^he

suddenly

^sawaman

leading

^{some children}

toward him. Themanwas aFaliscan

teacher,

^{and the}

children,

^itturned out,^werethe sons and

daughters

^{of thenoblestandwealthiestcitizens of}

thetown. On the

pretense

^of

taking

these childrenoutfora

walk,

^{he had} led them

straight

^tothe

^Romans, offering

^themas

hostages

ⁱⁿ

hopes

^ofin-

gratiating

himself with

Camillus,

^the

city’s

enemy.

Camillus didnottake thechildren

hostage.

^He

stripped

^the

^teadier,

tied his hands behind his

back,

gave each child^a

rod,

and let them

whip

him all the way back^tothe

city.

^The

gesture

^hadanimmediate effect on

the Faliscans. Had Camillus used the childrenas

hostages,

^someinthe

city

would have voted to surrender. And even ifthe Faliscans had gone ^on

fighting,

^{theirresistance}would have been halfhearted. Camillus’s refusalto

take

advantage

of the situationbroke down the Faliscans’resistance, ^and

they

surrendered. The

general

had calculated

correctly.

^{Andinanycasehe}

had had

nothing

^to lose: He knew that the

hostage ploy

^{would nothave}

ended the_{war, at}leastnot

right

away.

By turning

^thesituation

^around,

^he

earnedhis

enemy’s

^trustand

respecg disarming

them. Selective kindness will oftenbreak down even the most stubborn foe:

Aiming right

^{for the}

heart,

^itcorrodes thewillto

fight

^back.

Remember:

By playing

^on

people’s

^{emotions,calculatedactsof kind-}

ness canturn a

Capone

^{into a}

gullible

^{child. As} with any emotional ap-

proach,

^{thetacticmustbe}

practiced

^{withcaution:If}

people

^see

through

^it,

their

disappointed feelings

^of

gratitude

and warmth willbecome themost violent hatred and distrust_{Unless you}canmake the

gesture

^seemsincere and

heartfelt,

^donot

play

^{with fire.}

Im ag^e: The

Trojan

^Horse.

Your

guile

^is

hidden inside

a

magnificent gift

that proves irresistible to youropponent.

The walls open.

Once

inside,

wreak havoc.

LAW 12 1 93

94 LAW 12

Authority:

When Duke Hsien of Chin was aboutto raid Yii, he

presented

^{to them a}

jade

and a team of horses. When Earl Chih was about to raid

Cl1’ou~yu,

^he

presented

^to

them

grand

chariots. Hence the

saying:

“When you ^are about to take. _you ^should

give." (Han-feivtzn,

^Chinese

philosopher,

^third

century

^B.C.}

REVERSAL

When you^havea

history

^{ofdeceitbehind}you,^noamountof

honesty,

gen-

erosity,

^{orkindnesswillfool}

people.

^{In fact itwill}

only

^{callattention toit-}

self. Once

people

^{have cometosee}you^as

deceitful,

^{to acthonestallofa}

suddenis

simply suspicious.

^{Inthesecasesit isbetterto}

play

the rogue.

Count

Lustig, pulling

^the

biggest

^can of his career, ^was aboutto sell theEiffel Towerto ^an

unsuspecting

indusixialistwho believedthe govern- ment was

auctioning

^{itoff for}scrap^metal. The industrialistwas

prepared

to hand^{over a}

huge

^sumof money^to

Lustig,

^{who had}

successfully imper-

sonated ^a

government

^{official. Atthe lastminute,}

however,

^{the markwas}

suspicious. Something

^about

Lustig

^{botheredhim. Atthe}

meeting

^inwhich

hewastohandoverthe money,

Lustig

^sensedhissudden distrust.

Leaning

^{overto the}

industrialist, Lustig explained,

^{in a low}

whisper,

how low his

salary

^was,how difficult his financeswere,^onandon.Aftera

few minutes of

this,

the industlialistrealized that

Lustig

^was

asking

^{for a}

bribe. For the first time he relaxed. Now he knew he could trust

Lustig:

Since all

government

^{officials were}

dishonest, Lustig

^{hadto be real. The}

manforked overthe money.

By acting dishonest, Lustig

seemed the real

McCoy.

^{Inthiscaseselective}

honesty

would have had the

opposite

^effect.

AstheFrench

diplomat Talleyrand

grew

older,

^his

reputation

^{as a mas-}

ter liar and deceiver

spread.

^{At the}

Congress

^ofVienna

(1814-1815),

^he

would

spin

fabulous stories andmake

impossible

^remarlmto

people

^who

knew he had tobe

lying.

^His

dishonesty

^hadnopurpose

except

^{to cloak} the momentswhen he

really

^was

deceiving

^{them. One}

day,

^for

example,

among

friends, Talleyrand

^{said with}

apparent sincerity,

^{“In businessone}

ought

^{to showone’s hand.” No one who heardhim} could believe their

ears: A manwho never once in his life had shown his cards was

telling

other

people

^toshow theirs. Tactics like this madeit

impossible

^todistin-

guish Talleyi-and’s

^real

decepfions

^{from his fake ones.}

By embracing

^his

reputation

^for

dishonesty,

^he

preserved

^his

ability

^todeceive.

Nothing

^intherealmofpower^{issetinstone.Overt}

deceptiveness

^will

sometimescoveryour

tracks,

^even

making

you admired for the

honesty

^of

your

dishonesty.

13