B.C., just before the Peloponnesian War, the island of Corcyra (later

NEVER TO THEIR MERCY OR GRATITUDE

In 4-33 B.C., just before the Peloponnesian War, the island of Corcyra (later

called

Corfu)

^andtheGreek

city~state

^{of Corinthstoodonthe brinkofcon-}

flict. Both

parties

^sentambassadorstoAthenstotry^towinoverthe Atheni~

ansto theirside. The stakeswere

high,

^sincewhoever had Athens on his sidewas suretowin. And whoeverwon thewarwould

certainly give

^the defeated sidenomercy.

Corcyra spoke

^first.Its ambassador

began by admitting

^{that theisland}

hadnever

helped

^Athens

^before,

^{andinfact had}allied itself with Athens’s enemies. There were no ties of

friendship

^or

gratitude

^between

Corcyra

and Athens. Yes, the ambassador

achnitted,

^{he hadcome to Athens now}

outoffearandconcernfor

Corcyra’s safety.

^The

only thing

^hecould offer

was anallianceof mutualinterests.

Corcyra

^hada navy

only surpassed

ⁱⁿ

size and

strength by

^{Athens’s own; an} alliance between the two states wouldcreateaformidable

force,

^onethat could intimidatetherivalstateof

Sparta. ^That, unfortunately,

^wasall

Oorcyra

^hadtooffer.

The

representative

^from Corinth then gave ^a

brilliant, passionate speech,

ⁱⁿ

sharp

^{contrast to the}

dry,

^colorless

approach

^ofthe

Corcyran.

He talked of

everything

Corinth had done^forAthensinthepast.^Heasked how^itwould looktoAthens’s otheralliesifthe

city put

^anagreement^with

a former _enemy ^over one with ^a

present

^{friend, one that had served} Athens’sinterest

loyally: Perhaps

those allies would breaktheiragreements with Athensif

they

^sawthattheir

loyalty

^{was notvalued.} He referred to Hellenic

law,

^{and the needto} repay Corinth for all^its

good

^deeds.Hefi-

nally

^{wentontolistthe}many^servicesCorinth had

performed

^for

Athens,

andthe

importance

^of

showing gratitude

^toone’s friends.

Afterthe

speech,

the Athenians debated theissue inan

assembly.

^On

Mostmen are sothor-

oughlyxubjeciive^that nothingreally^intermls

zhem bu!1hmn.reIw.v.

T/zr,-yalways^thinkof theirowncasn atman as (warany^{remark is} made,andtheir whole auenukm iserzgrmxscd and abvorbed b_ythe Inerestclmnrerr:fr:r-

muretoanything^which uffct/s^thempersonally, be itnever sorcrnoze.

/\R1‘liUR S(:xmm«‘r~:uALrr-.12.

l7XX—l8tI(l

LAW I3 97

‘)5’: ^{LAW 13}

the second

round, they

^voted

overwhelmingly

^to

ally

^with

Corcyra

^and

drop

^Corinth.

Interpretation

History

^has remembered the Athenians

nobly,

^but

they

^{were the}

preemi-

nentrealists ofclassical Greece.With

them,

^{all the}

rhetoric,

^{all theemo-}

tional

appeals

^inthe

^world,

^{couldnotmatcha}

good pragmatic

argument,

especially

^{onethataddedto}their power.

What the Corinthian ambassador did not realize was that his refer-

ences toCorinth’s

past generosity

^{to Athens}

only

^irritatedthe

^Athenians, subtly asking

^{themto feel}

guilty

^and

putting

^{them under}

obligation.

^The

Athenians couldn’tcarelessabout

past

^favorsand

friendly feelings.

^{At the}

sametime,

they

^{knew thatif}their other allies

thought

^them

ungrateful

^for

abandoning ^Corinth,

^these

city-states

would still be

unlikely

^tobreak their tiesto

Athens,

^the

preeminent

powerⁱⁿGreece. Athens ruledits

empire by force,

and would

simply compel

any rebellious

ally

^{toreturn tothe fold.}

When

people

^choosebetween talk about the

past

and talk about the

future,

^a

pragmatic

person^will

always

opt^forthe future and

forget

^the

past.

As the

Corcyrans ^realized,

^{it is}

always

^{best to}

speak pragmatically

^{to a}

pragmatic

person. And^inthe

end,

^most

people

^areinfast

pragmatic-—they

will

rarely

^act

against

^theirownself-interest.

Ithas

always

^beenarule that the weakshould be

subject

^tothestrong;

andbesides,^weconsider thatweam

worthy of

^ourpower.

Up

^{till the} present^momentyou,^{too, usedtothink thatwewere;butnow.}

after calculating

your^owninterest,_you^are

beginning

^{totalk interms}

of right

andwrong. Conréderatiores

ofthis

^{kind havenever}yet^turned

people

^aside

[mm

^the

opportunities of agrandizemeni offered by superior strength.

Athenmrr. r.’pre.rwata.£ir»s'^loSf1Irrifi.

quulmi^inThePcloponnesian^War, '£‘hur._wiz'dn.i,^{(2. 4(15» 39514.1.’.}

KEYS TO POWER

In your

quest

for power, you^will

constantly

^find

yourself

^inthe

position

^of

asking

^for

help

^{fromthosemore}

powerful

^thanyou.Thereisanarttoask-

ing

^for

help,

^anartthat

depends

^onyour

ability

^tounderstand the person you^are

dealing with,

^{andtonotconfuse}your needs with theirs.

Most

people

^{never succeed at}

^this,

^because

they

^are

completely trapped

^{in their own wants}and desires.

They

^{start from the}

assumption

that the

people they

^are

appealing

^{to have a selfless interest in}

helping

them.

They

^talkasif their needsmatteredtothese

peopleowho probably

couldn’tcareless. Sometimes

they

^referto

larger

^{issues: a}

great

^{cause, or}

grand

emotions such aslove and

gratitude. They

^{go for the}

big picture

when

simple, everyday

realities would have muchmore

appeal.

^What

they

do notrealizeisthateventhemost

powerful

person^islocked inside needs of his own, and that if you make^no

appeal

^{to his}

selfdnterest,

^he

merely

seesyou^as

desperate

^{or, atbest, awasteof time.}

In the sixteenth

century, Portuguese

missionaries tried foryears^tocon vertthe

people ofjapan

^to

Catholicism,

^{while atthe same time}

Portugal

had^a

monopoly

^{ontradebetween}

japan

^and

Europe. Although

^{the mis-}

sionariesdidhavesomesuccess,

they

^never

got

far among^the

ruling elite;

by

^the

beginning

^oftheseventeenth

century,

ⁱⁿ

fact,

^their

proselytizing

^had

completely antagonized

^the

Japanese

^emperor

Ieyasu.

^{When the Dutch}

began

^{toarrive in}

japan

ⁱⁿgreat

numbers, Ieyasu

^wasmuch relieved. He needed

Europeans

^{for theirknow-howinguns and}

navigation,

^andhereat last^were

Europeans

^whocared

nothing

^for

spreading religion——the

^Dutch

wanted

only

^totrade.

Ieyasu swiftly

^{movedtoevictthe}

Portuguese.

^From

thenon,he would

only

deal with the

practicalminded

^Dutch.

Japan

and Holland were

vastly

^different

^cultures,

^{buteach shared a}

timelessanduniversal ^concern:selfiinterest.

Every

personyoudeal withis like anotherculuire, ^{analien land with a}

past

^{that has}

nothing

^todowith

yours. Yetyou^can

bypass

^thedifferences between_youand him

by appeal- ing

^tohis self—interest.Do notbe subtle: You have valuable

knowledge

^to

share,

you will fill his^cofferswith

gold,

you will make him live

longer

^and

happier.

^Thisisa

language

^{thatall ofus}

speak

and understand.

A

key

step^intheprocess^isto understand the other

person’s psychol~

ogy. Is he^{vain? Is}he concernedabout his

reputation

^{orhis social}

standing?

Does he have ^enemies you could

help

^him

vanquish?

^{Is he}

simply

^mod»

vated

by

money and

power?

When the

Mongols

invaded Chinainthetwelfth century,

they

^threab

erred to obliterate aculture that had thrived forovertwothousand years.

Their

leader, Genghis ^Khan,

^saw

nothing

^{in China. but a} country ^that lacked

pasturing

^{for his}

^horses,

and he decided^to

destroy

^the

place,

^IeveI~

ing

^{allitscities,for “it}would be better^toexterminatetheChinese andlet the grass

grow.”

^{It was not a}

^soldier,

^a.

general,

^{or a}

king

who saved the Chinese from

devastation,

^{buta man named}Yelu Ch’u—Ts’ai. A

foreigner himself,

Ch’u«Ts’ai hadcometo

appreciate

^the

superiority

^{of Chinese cul-}

ture.He

managed

^{tomakehimselfa}trusted adviserto

Genghis Khan,

^and

persuaded

him that hewould reap riches ^outofthe

place ^if,

^{insteadof de}

straying

^it,he

simply

taxed everyone who lived there. Khan ^sawthewis- dominthis and did^asCh’u—Ts‘a.i advised.

When Khan took the

city

^of

Kaifeng,

^aftera

long siege,

and decidedto massaxtre its inhabitants

(as

^{he had in othercities} that had resisted

him),

Ch’u~Ts’ai toldhim that the finest craftsmen and

engineers

^{in China had}

fled to

Kaifeng,

^{and it} would be betterto

put

^{them to use.}

Kaifeng

^was

spared.

^{Never before had}

Genghis

Khan shown such _mercy, but then it

really

wasn’t mercy^thatsaved

Kaifeng.

Ch‘u—Ts’ai knew Khan well. Hewas abarbaric

peasant

^{who cared}

nothing

^for

^culuire,

^orindeedfor

anything

other than warfare and

practical

results. Ch’u—Ts’ai chose to

appeal

^tothe

only

emotion thatwould workonsucha man:

greed.

Self-interestis thelever that willmove

people.

^Onceyoumake them

see how you ^{canin some} way ^meettheir needs ^or advance their_cause, theirresistance to your

requests

^for

help

^will

magically

fall away.^Ateach

step

^{onthe wayto}

acquiring

power, you^musttrain

yourself

^tothink your

LAW13 99

100 LAW 13

way^insidetheother

persorfs mind,

^toseetheir needsandinterests, ^to

get

rid of thescreenofyour^own

feelings

that obscure the truth. Master this^an and there willbe^nolimitstowhat you^can

accomplish.

Image:

^{A Cord that}

Binds. The cord of mercy and

grati-

tudeisthreadbare.

and will break at

the first shock.

Do not throw such a lifeline.

T he c o rd 0f mutual self-inter- est is woven of many fibers and

cannot

easily

^be

severed. Itwill^serve you well ^for years.

Authority:

The shortest and best way^to make your^for

tuneistolet

people

^see

clearly

^{thatit is intheirinterests}

to

promote

yours.

(jean

^{de La}

Bruyere. l645—169(i)

REVERSAI.

Some

people

^{will see an}

appeal

^to their selfiinterest^as

ugly

^and

ignoble.

They actually prefer

^{to be able to exercise}

charity,

mercy, and

justice,

which aretheir ways of

feeling superior

^to you: When you

beg

^{them for}

help,

^you

emphasize

their power and

position. They

^are

strong enough

^to

need

nothing

^{from you}

except

^{thechancetofeel}

superior.

^{Thisisthewine}

thatintoxicates them.

They

^are

dying

^{to fund}your

project,

^{to introduce}

you^to

powerful people———provided,

^ofcourse,that all thisisdonein

public,

and for a

good

^cause

(usually

^themore

public,

^the

^better).

Not everyone,

then,

^canbe

approached through cynical

self—interest. Some

people

^{will be}

put ^off

by

^{it, because}

they

^{dorftwant to seem to} be motivated

by

^such

things. They

^need

opportunities

^to

display

^their

good

^heart,

Donotbe

shy.

Give them that

opportunity.

^{It’snotasifyou are con»}

ning

^them

by asking

^for

help——it

^is

really

^their

pleasure

^to

give,

^{and to be}

seen

giving.

^{You must}

distinguish

the differences among

powerful people

and

figure

^outwhat makes themtick.When

they

^ooze

greed,

^donot

appeal

totheir

charity.

^When

they

^{want to}look charitable and

noble,

donotap-

peal

^totheir

greed.

LAW

14

P()SElAS.AfiFRIEPJD,