CONCENTRATE Y()[JR.F()R(3ES

JUDGMENT

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

byflit—

tingfrom

^oneshallow mineto

another-—intensity dzfeats extensity

every time. When

lookingfor

^sources

ofpower

^to

elevate you,

find

^theone

key patnm, the_fat

^{cowwho will}

give

you milk

for

^a

long

^timetocame.

12’!

TH} (.‘UU.<l; AND Till’.IIOHSF A game who^was pluckinggrass upon^u commonthought her.\'el_faffronter! by^a horse whofed^nearher;

mm’.inhi.\'.s'ingll(‘L‘(Wll.\', thus addressed him: “I

amcertainly^amore noble andperfect

animal_{than yozr}for

tin’whole_rangeand extentafyourfarcrtlties

isconfined^{to one} element.Icanwalk uponthegroom!^as

well(:5you,’ Ihave, basidtas, wings,^with whichIcanraise

myself^intheair;and when Iplease.^Ican sport^onpomls^and lakes,andn7f*'.'Sh myst,-ifin^{1119 ‘ml}

waters:1enfmirlle dlffermzrpowersUfa bird,⁽¹fish,^am!a qumiruped.^"

Thehorse,$tl(5!‘!§Izg sonrrwhatdistltzinjizliy.

replied:^“I:ismic:you inhabit three eiemems.

but_youmakenovery

disrirzguisiieri/ignreⁱⁿ

any^oneofthem.^You fly,imlerd;but your

flight^issoheavy^and clmnsy,^{thatVonluau-‘e}

noright^toputyourself

nn alevelwith the [ark orthe swallow. You^can swimonthesurface of the watch», but you Ltmnoiliveinthemas

fishesr1o:you^cannot findyourfood^inrho!

riemenl,norgfirlr .\'nzoor?:1_y(aitmg^the bottomof^ritewaves.

Amiwhen_youwalk,^or ratherwtlcltlle,upon theground,with your liroadfretand your longneck xlretchredout,

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In Chinainthe

early

^sixth

century

^{B.C., the}

kingdom

^ofWu

began

^awas

with the

neighboring

^norlhem

provinces

^oftheMiddle

Kingdom.

^Wuwas

a.

growing

power, but^itlacked thegreat

history

and civilization ofthe Mid dle

Kingdom,

^{forcenturies thecenter}of Chinese culture.

By defeating

^the

Middle

Kingdom,

^the

king

^{of Wuwould}

instantly

^{raise hisstatus.}

The ^war

began

^with

great

^fanfare and several victories, ^{butit soon}

bogged

^{down. A}

victory

^{ononefromwould}leave the Wuarmiesvulnera~

bleonanother. The

king’

^{schiefministerand}

adviser,

^Wu

Tzu-hsiu,

^warned him thatthe barbarousstateof

Yueh,

^tothe

south,

^was

beginning

^tonotice

the

kingdom

^{of V\’u’s}

problems

^{and had}

designs

^toinvade. The

king only laughed

^atsuch w0rries~onemore

big victory

^{and the}

great

^Middle

King—

domwould be his.

In the year

490,

Wu T212-hsiu senthis sonaway^to

safety

^inthe

king-

dom ofCh’i. In

doing

^{sohe sentthe}

king

^a

signal

^{that he}

disapproved

^of

the_war,and that he believedthe

king’s

selfish ambitionwas

leading

^Wuto

min.The

king, sensing betrayal,

^{lashedoutathisminister,}

accusing

^{him of}

alackof

loyalty ^and,

^{inafit ofanger,}ordered himtokill himself. WuTzu- hsiu

obeyed

^his

king,

^{but before he}

plunged

^{the knife into his}

^chest,

^he

cried,

“Tearoutmy eyes,^oh

King,

^{andfix themonthe}gate^of

Wu,

^{sothat I} may^seethe

triumphant entry

^{of Yueh.”}

AsWuTzwlrsiuhad

predicted,

^withinafew years^aYueh army

passed

beneath the

gate

^{of Wu.As}the barbarians surrounded the

palace,

^the

king

remembered hisminister’slast Words-——~and felt the dead man’s disembod- ied eyes

watching

^his

disgrace.

^{Unable tohear his}

shame,

^the

king

^killed

himself, “covering

^hisfacesothat he wouldnothaveto meetthe

reproaclr

ful gaze of hisminister inthenextworld.”

Interpretation

The

story

^{of Wuisa}

paradigm

^{of all the}

empires

^{that havecometomin}

by overreachlng.

^{Drunk withsuccessand sick with}

^ambition,

^such

empires

^ex‘

pand

^to

grotesque proportions

^{and meeta min that is} total. This is what

happened

^{to ancient}

^Athens,

which lusted for the

faraway

^{island of}

Sicily

and endedup

losing

^its

empire.

The Romans stretched the boundaries of their

empire

^toencompass^vastterritories;ⁱⁿ

doing

^so

they

increased their

vulnerability,

^{and the}chances of invasionfromyetanother barbarian tribe.

Their useless

expansion

^{led their}

empire

^{intooblivion.}

Forthe

Chinese,

the fate ofthe

kingdom

^ofWuserves as anelemental lessononwhat

happens

^{when you}

dissipate

your forces^onseveral

fronts, losing sight

^{of distant}

dangers

^{forthesake of}

present gain.

“If you^arenotin

danger,”

says

Sun-tzu,

^“donot

fight.”

It is almost a

physical

^{law: Whatis}

bloated

beyond

^its

proportions inevitably collapses.

^{The mind mustnot}

wanderfrom

goal

^to

goal,

^orbe distracted

by

^{successfromitssenseof}pur- pose and

proportion.

^Whatis

concentrated, coherent,

^{and connectedtoits}

past

^haspower.^Whatis

dissipated, ^divided,

and distendedrotsandfallsto

the

ground.

^The

bigger

^it

^bloats,

^{theharderitfalls.}

OBSERVANCEOF THE LAW’

The Rothschild

banking family

^{had humble}

beginnings

^{in the}

Jewish ghetto

^of

^Frankfurt, Germany.

^The

city‘s

harsh laws made it

impossible

^for

Jews

^to

mingle

outside the

ghetto,

^{but the}

Jews

^{had turned this into a}

virtuemit made them

self—reliant,

and zealous to preserve ^theirculture at allcosts.

Mayer ^Amschel,

^{the first ofthe} Rothschildstoaccumulatewealth

by lending

money, in the late

eighteenth century,

well understood the power that^{comesfrom thiskind}of concentrationand cohesion.

First, Mayer

^{Amschel allied} himself with one

family,

^the

powerful princes

^{ofThomund Taxis. Insteadof}

spreading

^{hisservicesout,hemade}

himselfthese

princes’ primary

^banker.

Second,

he entrusted none of his business^to

outsiders, using only

his children and close relatives. Themore

unifiedand

tight-knit

^the

family,

^themore

powerful

^{itwouldbecome.Soon}

Mayer

^{Amschel’sfive sons were}

running

the business. Andwhen

Mayer

Amschel

lay dying,

ⁱⁿ

^1812,

^{herefusedtoname a}

principal ^heir,

^insteadset-

ting

up all^{of his sonsto}continue-the

fa.mily' ^tradition,

^sothat

they

^would

stayunited and wouldresistthe

dangers

of dillusion andofinfiltration

by

outsiders.

Once

Mayer

^{Amschel’s sons}controlled the

family ^business, they

^de-

cidedthat the

key

^{towealthon a.}

larger

^{scalewastosecureafootholdinthe}

financesof

Europe

^asa

whole,

rather than

being

^tiedto any^one

country

^or

prince.

^{Ofthe five}

^brothers,

^{Nathan had}

already opened

up

shop

^inLon- don. In 1813

James

^{moved to Paris. Amschel remained in}

^Frankfurt,

Salomon established himselfin

Vienna,

^and

Karl,

^the

youngest

^{son, went}

to

Naples.

^{With each}

sphere

^ofinfluence

^covered, they

^could

tighten

^their

hold^on

Europe’s

financial markets.

This

widespread ^network,

^ofcourse,

opened

^the Rothschilds to the very

danger

^{of which}their father had warned them:

diliusion, division,

^dis-

sension.

They

^avoidedthis

danger,

^andestablished themselvesasthemost

powerful

^{force in}

European

^financeand

politics, by

^once

again resorting

^to the

strategy

^{of the}

ghetto-——excluding outsiders, concentrating

their forces.

TheRothschiids established thefastestcourier

system

ⁱⁿ

Europe, allowing

themto

get

^newsofeventsbefore all their

competitors. They

^heldavirtual

monopoly

^oninformation.Andtheir internalcommunications andcorre-

spondence

^{werewrittenin Frankfurt}

^Yiddish,

^{andin acodethat}

only

^the

brothers could

decipher.

^{Therewas no}

point

ⁱⁿ

stealing

this information—-

no one could understandit. “Eventhe shewdest bankerscannotfind their way

through

the Rothschild

maze,”

^{admittedafinancierwho hadtriedto} infiltratetheclan.

In 1824

James

^{Rothschilddecideditwastimeto}getmarried. This pre- senteda

problem

^forthe

Rothschilds,

^{since itmeant}

incorporating

^anout- sider into the Rothschild

clan,

^{an outsider who could}

betray

^{its secrets.}

jarnes

therefore decidedtomarrywithinthe

family,

^{andchose the}

daugh-

terof hisbrother Salomon. The brotherswere ecstatic—~thiswas the _per- fect solution^to their

marriage problems. james‘s

^{choicenowbecamethe}

family policy:

^{Two years}

^later,

^{Nathan married off his}

daughter

^to

fzissirig^atewrrvmze who passesby,you bringuponyourself^the deri5z'orxofall^belmid-

err.Iconfess^thatIam onlyformed^tomove

upontheground,^but

howgraceful^{is my} rmzkefHowwelltumml my lz'mb.r.’ Howhighly finishedmywhole

burly!How greatmy

strength!^Hawaston- irhingmyspeed/I^had much rather be

confined^{to one} elerm-nt,and be arlmirmlmthat,^than be11goose^m011.’^” mm lzs mom um~r:At“cio .-mo CHAUCER.

Du. .l<)H.NArum, l747~»lR22

Bewaret)j'tIi.r.\'i[:aIiIig your p(:wer.r:^Xtriw:

consrmnly^toconcen-

trate(hem.Genius I/rinks itcando wizar- everitrepsothers doing.^{butit issureto} repentu/every^ill- jutlgcd outlay.

JOEIANNVONGm-:rmz.

1749-1832

LAW 23 I73

Ir-4 ‘ LAW23

Salornon’s son. In the years^{to come, the} five brothers

arranged eighteen

matches _amongtheir

cluldren,

^{sixteen of these}

being

contracted between first cousins.

“We ^are like the mechanism of^awatch: Each

part

^is

essential,”

^said brother Salomon.Asina

watch,

every

part

of the business movedⁱⁿ con- certwith every

other,

^{and the inner}

workings

^{wereinvisible tothe}

^world,

which

only

^{sawthemovement}of the hands. While other rich and

powerful

families suffered irrecoverable downturns

during

the tumultons firsthalf of the nineteenth

century,

^the

tight-knit

Rothschilds

managed

^not

only

^topre-

servebutto

expand

^their

unprecedented

^wealth.

Interpretation

The Rothschildswereborninstrange ^times.

They

^{camefrom a}

place

^that

hadnot

changed

^{incenturies,butlivedinan}age that gave birth^tothe In- dustrial

Revolution,

^{the French}

Revolution,

^{and an endless series} _{of up-} heavals. The Rothchilds

kept

^the

past alive,

resisted the

patterns

^of

dispersion

^{of theireraand forthisareemblematicofthe lawofconcentra-}

tion.

Noone represents this better than

_]ames Rothschild,

^{the sonwho es-} tablished himselfin Paris. in his lifetime

james

^{witnessed the defeat of}

Napoleon,

the restorationof the Bourbon

monarchy,

^the

bourgeois

^monar-

chy

^of

^Orleans,

^{thereturn to a}

republic,

^and

finally

the enthronement of

Napoleo

¹ III. French

styles

and fashions

changed

^atarelentless pace dur-

ing

^{all this} turmoil. Without

appearing

^{to be a} relic of the

past, James

steered his

family

^asifthe

ghetto

^{lived on}within them. He

kept

^{alive his}

clan’sinnercohesion and

strength. Only through

^suchan

anchoring

^inthe

past

^wasthe

family

^abletothrive amidst such chaos. Concentrationwasthe foundation oftheRothschilds’ power,

wealth,

^and

stability.

The beststmzngy^is

always

^tobe verystrong;

flrst

ⁱⁿ

general,

^than

atthedecisive

point.

^{.. . Thereisno}

higher

^andsimpler^law

of

strategy

than that

afkeeping ones/brces

concentrated. ^{. ..} In shortthe

first principle

^{is:actwith theutmost}concentration.

011War, Carlmm,fllausewitz, 1780-1831

KEYSTOPOWER

The world is

plagued by greater

^and

geater

division-——within countries,

political

groups,

families,

^evenindividuals. We^areallinastateof total dis- traction and

diffusion, hardly

^{able to}

keep

^{ourmindsinone}direction be- fore we are

pulled

^{in a} thousand others. The modern world’s level of conflictis

higher

^{thanever,andwe}have internalizeditinour ownlives.

The solution is^aform ofretreatinside

ourselves,

^tothe

past,

^tomore concentrated formsof

thought

^andaction.As

Schopenhauer

wrote, “Intel- lect isa

magnitude

^of

intensity,

^nota

magnitude

^of

extensity.” Napoleon

knew thevalueof

concentrating

your forces^atthe

enemy’s

^weakest

spot——

itwasthe secretof hissuccess onthe battlefield. Buthis

willpower

^{and his}

mindwere

equally

^{modeledonthisnotion.}

Single-mindedness

^ofpurpose, totalconcentrationonthe

goal,

^{and theuse of these}

qualifies against

peo

ple

^less

^focused, people

^inastateofdistraction—suchanarrowwillfindits mark every^timeand overwhelm the enemy.

Casanova attributedhissuccessinlifetohis

ability

^toconcentrateon a

single goal

^and

push

^atituntilit

yielded.

^Itwashis

ability

^to

give

^himself

over

completely

^{to thewomen he desiredthatmadehim so}

intensely

^se-

ducfive. For the weeks or months that one of these women lived in his

orbit,

^he

thought

^{ofnooneelse.When hewas}

imprisoned

^{inthetreacher-}

ous“leads” of the

doge’s palace

ⁱⁿ

^Venice,

^a

prison

^{fromwhichno onehad}

ever

escaped,

he concentratedhismindon the

single goal

of escape,

day

after

day.

^A

change

^of

^cells,

^{which meant} that months of

digging

^{had all}

been for

naught,

^didnot

discourage ^him;

^he

persisted

^and

eventually

^es-

caped.

^“Ihave

always ^believed,”

he later wrote, “that when a man

gets

^it

intohis headtodo

something,

^{andwhen he}

exclusively occupies

^himselfin

that

design,

^{he must}

^succeed,

whatever the diliiculties. Thatmanwill be-

comeGrandVizieror

Pope.”

ConcentrateC 1 a

single goal,

^a

single ^task,

^{and beatit into}submission.

In the world ofpower you will

constantly

^need

help

^{from other}

people, usually

^thosemore

powerful

than you. The fool flits from^oneperson^toan-

other, believing

^{thathewill survive}

by spreading

^{himselfout.It isacorol-}

lary

^{ofthe law of}concentration, however, ^{that much}_energy^is

saved,

^and

morepower isattained,

by affixing yourself

^{to a}

single, appropriate

^source

of power. The scientistNikola Tesla. mined himself

by believing

^{that he}

somehow maintained his

independence by

^not

having

^{to serve a}

single

master.He even turneddown P.

Morgan,

who offered hima rich con- tract. In the

end,

^Tesla’s

“independence”

^{meantthat he could}

depend

^on

no

single patron,

^butwas

always having

^to

toady

up ^{to a} dozen of them.

Later inhis life he realizedhis mistake.

All thegreatRenaissance

painters

and writerswrestled withthis

prob- lem,

^{none more so than the}

sixteenth-century

^{writer Pietro Aretino.}

Throughout

his life Aretinosufferedthe

indignities

^of

having

^to

please

^this

prince

and that. At

last,

^{he hadhad}

enough,

^{anddecidedto wooCharles}

V, promising

^theemperorthe services ofhis

powerful

pen. ^He

finally

^dis-

covered the freedom that came from attachment to a

single

^{source of}

power.

Michelangelo

found this freedom with

Pope Julius ^II,

Galileo with the Medicis. In theend,^the

singie patron appreciates

your

loyalty

^{and be-}

comes

dependent

^on your services;^inthe

long

^{runthe master serves the}

slave.

Finally,

power itself

always

^existsinconcentrated forms. Inanyorga- nizationitisinevitableforasmall_youptohold the

strings.

^Andoftenitis

notthose withthe titles. In the_{game of}power,

only

^the fool llails about without

fixing

^his target. ^{You must find out}who controlsthe

operations,

whois the real directorbehind thescenes.As Richelieu discoveredatthe

beginning

^{of his rise to the} top of the French

political

^scene

during

^the

LAW 23 I 75

I76

early

seventeenth

century,

^itwasnot

King

^{Louis XIII}who decided

things,

itwasthe

king’s

mother. And^sohe attached himselfto

her,

^and

catapulted through

the ranks ofthecourtiers,^alltheway^tothe

top.

Itis

enough

^tostrike oil once—your^{wealth and}power^are assured for

alifetime.

Image:

^{The Arrow. Youcannothittwo} targets withonearrow. Ifyour

thoughts stray,

you

miss the

enemy’s

heart. Mind and

arrow must become one.

Only

with such concentration of mental and

physical

power^canyour^arrow hit the

target

^and

pierce

^the

h ea rt.

Authority:

^Prize

intensity

^{more than}

extensity.

^{Perfection re»}

sides in

quality,

^not

quantity.

Extent alone never rises above

mediocrity,

^{andit is the} misfortune ofmenwith wide

general

intereststhatwhile

they

^{wouldliketohave their}

finger

ⁱⁿevery

pie, they

^{haveoneinnone.}

Intensity gives

^{eminence,andrises}

totheheroicin matterssublime.

(Baltasar ^Gracian, 1601-1658)

REVERSAI.

There are

dangers

ⁱⁿ concentration, ^{and momentswhen}

dispersion

^isthe

proper tactical^move.

Fighting

^theNationalists forcontrol of

China,

^Mao

Tse~tung

^{and the Communists}

fought

^a

protracted

^{war on several}

^fronts, using sabotage

^{and ambushastheirmain}weapons.

Dispersal

^isoftensuit-

able for the weaker

side;

^itis,ⁱⁿ

fact,

^acrucial

principle

^of

guerrilla

^warfare.

When

fighting

^a

stronger

army,

concentrating

yourforces

only

^makesyou

an easier

ta.rget—better

^{to dissolve into} the scenery and frustrate your enemy^{with the}elusiveness ofyour presence.

Tying yourself

^toa

single

^source of power has^one

preeminent danger:

If that person

dies, leaves,

^orfalls from grace, you suffer. This^iswhat

hap- pened

^{to Cesare}

Borgia,

^{who derived his} power ^from his

father, Pope

AlexanderVI. It^was the pope whogaveCesarearmies to

fight

^{with and}

wars towageⁱⁿhisname.When he

suddenly

^died

(perhaps

^from

poison),