HOW TO USE ENEMIES

JU

^{DG ME NT}

Bewary

zyffn'emds-they

^will

betray

you^more

quickly, for they

^are

easily

^arousedtoenvy.

They

also became

spaileri

and

tyrannical.

^{But hive}

afmmer

enemy and he will be mofre

loyal

^thana

fiimd,

because he has moreto

pmve.

In

fact,

^youhavemam

tofearfmmfviemls

^than

fivm

^en—

emies.

If

you have^no

emmnies, find

^amay ^tomake them.

TRANSGRESSIONOF THE LAW

In the mid—ninth

century

^A.l.).,ayoung^man named MichaelIIIassumed the throneofthe

Byzantine Empire.

^His

mother,

^the

Empress Theodora,

had been banishedtoanunnery, and her

lover, Theoctistus,

^{had beenmur-}

dered;

^at the head of the

conspiracy

^to

depose

Theodora and enthrone Michaelhad beenMichael’s

uncle, Bardas,

^amanof

intelligence

^anda:mbi~

tion. Michael ^was now a young,

inexperienced ^ruler,

^surrounded

by

^in»

triguers, ^murderers,

^and

profligates.

^{In this time of}

peril

^{he needed}

someonehe couldtrustashis

councillor,

^{and his}

thoughts

^{turnedtoBasil~}

ius,

his best friend. Basilius hadno

experience

^whatsoeverin

government

and

politics——-in

^{fact, he was the} head of the

royal

stables——buI he had provenhis love and

gratitude

^timeand

again.

They

^hadmetafew years

before,

when Michael had been

visiting

^the

stables

just

^{as awildhorse}

got

^loose.

Basilius,

^a.young groom^from

peasant

Macedonian

stock,

had saved Michael’s life. The

gmom’s strength

^and

courage^had

impressed ^Michael,

^who

immediately

^raisedBasilius from the

obscurity

^of

being

^{ahorsetrainertothe}

position

^ofhead of the stables.He loaded hisfriendwith

gifts

and favors and

they

^became

inseparable.

^Basil-

ius was senttothefinest schoolin

Byzantium,

^{and the crude}

peasant

^be—

came acultured and

sophisticated

^courtier.

Now Michael^wasemperor, andⁱⁿneed of^someone

loyal.

^{Who could}

he better trust with the post of chamberlain and chief councillor than ^a young^manwho owedhim

everything?

Basilius could be trained for the

job

and Michael loved him like ^a brother.

Ignoring

^{the adviceof}those who recommended the much ^more

qualified ^Bardas,

Michael chose his friend.

Basilius learnedwell andwas soon

advising

the emperor^onallmatters of state. The

only problem

^{seemed to be}

money-——Basilius

^{never had}

enough. Exposure

^tothe

splendor

^of

Byzantine

^{courtlifemadehimavari-}

ciousfor the

perks

^ofpower. Michael

doubled,

^then

tripled

^his

salary,

^en- nobled

him,

and married him offto his ^own mistress, ^Eudoxia

Ingerina.

Keeping

^{such a trusted friend and}adviser satisfied was worth any

price.

But ^more trouble was to come. Bardas was now head of the army, and BasiliusconvincedMichael mat theman was

hopelessly

^{ambitious.Under}

theillusion that he could control his

nephew,

^{Bardas had}

conspired

^to

put

him ^on the

throne,

^{and he could}

conspire again,

^{this time to} get ^{rid of} Michael and assume the crown himself. Basilius

poured poison

^into Michael’searuntil the emperor

agreed

^{tohave hisunclemurdered.}

During

a

great

^{horserace,Basiliusclosedin onBardasin}the crowd and stabbed him todeath. Soonafter,^Basiliusaskedthat he

replace

^{Bardasashead of}

the army, where he could

keep

control of the realm and

quell

^rebellion.

Thiswas

granted.

Now Basilius’s power and wealth

only

grew, and ^a few years later

Michael,

ⁱⁿfinancial straits from his own

extravagance,

^{asked himto}pay back some of the money he had borrowed ^over the years. To Michael’s shock and

astonishment,

^Basilius

refused,

^{with alook of such}

impudence

To haveagoodenemy, choose^a/rierld.'^He knowswheretomike.

DIANEDEPomrns, l499~»l566,Mismess or

HENRIIIorFnawcr,

Every^mm:Ibestowa

vacantajffice^{:7 make52} hundred discontented persons and^one

ingraze.

LOUISXIV,^1638-1715

Thusformy^ownpart I havemorethanomze

been (leroivedby^the person I loved^moss andof^whoselove.

above‘ everyone elseCr, I have beenmostr:/on}?

denr. Sothat I

believe

thatitmay

be/viggizt

^to

love

arzd¥€efi‘/re

^one

person above allothers, according^tomeritand

worth. butneverto trust.\'0much in this temptingtrapof/'n'eml- ship^{astohavecause to} repentof^itlateran.

BALDASSARF, CASTIGLIONE, 1*-178452‘)

LAW2 9

rt

|'| Ha

>.\,\|\l2 |‘l ll-.

\l{Mlxlt.»\\l)‘l‘Hl“

é€|<1R()\

/\ make chased by Imnteris as/(edafurrrwr

Inlaveifslife. ^{To hide it} from its pur.\'uer.\; the finmer .aqna£te(l^{amt lei} (hr Snake crawlinn)his belly ^{Bu! when the} tlangttr^hadpasxswl^and the [unuer ^{cwketl the} snaketocomaout.zhe

xnakerrfusml. ^{Ir was}

warmandsafiz^inside.

On hiswayharm»,^the

/7um saw aheron and worn‘ up ^:0 him and whispered ^{what had} huppemerl. ^{Tim heron} told him^tomud:^and smzin to eject ^the make. When the snake snm;kitshead(ml,the heroncaughl^it.pulled^it

our, and killed it. The former^wasworried that the makfs polxrzn Inighl ^{will be inside} him, and the heron toldhim (ha! theLure

for^snakz’poison^was

tocook and ^eatsit whitefowl. ^{“You ‘re}

(1 while fowl, ^"

.\'(Ii(l Yha farmer.

"You'll do far ^a

start.^” He grabbed the’ heron. put it in^at

bag, h0

and carried it

me, where he hung2'! upwhile he

told his wife ^whal had happened.

"I'm surprised ^at

you,^"suit! thewife.

"The hird timer you ^a kimlrms‘.

rizls_youofthv^evil

in your belly,

.save.\‘yourIliaⁱⁿ fact, yet you (archiftmcltalk of killing ^it."

She immedi-

ate!)^{J releaxetl} thehenm,and itflew

3ul 0

away.

n its way, itgouged

outher_eyes.

M07at‘;

When _you

.\'(’(:' water

/^{l0 win}g

1:phi^{I l, it}

m€u!’LS‘that

that the emperor

suddenly

realized his

predicament:

^{The former stable}

boy

^hadmoremoney,^morealliesinthe army^andsenate, ^andintheend

morepower than^the emperor himself.^Afew weeks

later,

^{after a}

night

^of

heavy drinking,

Michael awoke to find himself surrounded

by

^soldiers.

Basilius watched ^as

they

^stabbed the emperor^{to death.}

Then,

^after pro-

claiming

himself emperor,^herode his horse

through

^thestreetsof

Byzan-

tium,

brandishing

^{the headof}his former benefactor and best friendatthe endof^a

long pike.

Interpretation

MichaelIII staked hisfutureonthesenseof

gratitude

^he

thought

^Basilius

mustfeelfor him.

Surely

Basilius would servehim

best;

he owed theem-

peror his

wealth,

^his

education,

^{and his}

position. Then,

^{onceBasiliuswasin} power,

anything

^{he neededitwasbest to}

give

^to

^him, strengthening

^the

bonds between thetwo men.Itwas

only

^onthe fateful

day

^{when theem-}

peror^sawthat

impudent

^{smileonBasilius’sface}that he realized his

deadly

mistake.

Hehad created ^amonster. He had allowed aman to see power up close-—a^manwhothen wanted more,who askedfor

anything

^and

^got

^it,

who felt encumbered

by

^the

charity

he had received and

simply

^didwhat

many

people

^{do in sucha situation:}

They forget

^{the favors}

they

^{have re-}

ceived and

imagine they

have earnedtheirsuccess

by

^{theirownmerits.}

At Michael’smomentof

realization,

^{hecouldstillhavesaved hisown}

life,

^but

friendship

^{and loveblind}every^mantotheir interests.

Nobody

^be—

Iieves^afriendcan

betray.

^{AndMichaelwenton}

disbelieving

^{until the}

day

his head ended up^ona

pike.

Lord,protect

mefrum

^my

friends;

^Icantakecare

qf

my^enemies.

Volmlre, 1694-1778

OBSERVANCE OF THELAW

For severalcenturiesafter thefall oftheHan

Dynasty {A.D. 222},

Chinese his-

tory

followed the same

pattern

of violent and

bloody

^{coups, one after the}

other.

Army

^menwould

plot

^tokillaweak emperor,^thenwould

replace

^him

onthe

Dragon

Throne witha

strong general.

^The

general

^{wouldstarta new}

dynasty

^andcrownhimself emperor;^toensurehisownsurvival hewouldkill off his fellow

generals.

^Afew years

later, however,

^the

pattern

^wouldresume:

New

generals

^wouldrise upandassassinate himorhissonsintheirturn.To be_emperorof Chinawastobe

alone,

^surrounded

by

^a

pack

of enemies—it

wasthe least

powerful,

^leastsecure

position

^intherealm.

In A.D.

959,

^{General Chao}

K’uang—yin

^became

Emperor Sung.

^He

knew the

adds,

^the

probability

^thatwithinayear^{ortwohe would}bemur-

dered;

how could he break the

pattern?

^{Soon after}

becoming

emperor,

Sung

^ordereda

banquet

^tocelebrate thenew

dynasty,

and invited themost

powerful

^commandersinthe army. After

they

had drunk much wine, ^he

somcrmcisrepaying^orkirzrlnmzxt AFRICAN

dismissed the

guards

^and

everybody

^else

except

^the

generals,

^{who now}

feared he would murder them in one fell _swoop.

Instead,

^{he addressed} them: “The whole

day

^is

spent

ⁱⁿ

fear,

^{and Iam}

unhappy

^{bothatthe table}

and inmy bed. For which ^one of you does ^notdream of

ascending

^the

throne? Idonotdoubt your

allegiance,

^{but if}

by

^somechanceyour subor- dinates,

seeking

^{wealth and}

position,

^{were to force the}

emperor’s yellow

robe upon youⁱⁿturn, ^{how could}you refuse it?” Drunk and

tearing

^for

their

lives,

^the

generals proclaimed

^{theirinnocence and their}

loyalty.

^But

Sung

^hadother ideas: “The best_way topassone’s

days

^{is in}

peaceful

^en~

joyment

of riches and honor. If you^are

willing

^to

give

up your

commands,

Iam

ready

^to

provide

you with line^estatesand beautiful

dwellings

^where

you may take your

pleasure

^with

singers

^and

girls

^asyour

companions.”

Theastonished

generals

realized that instead of^alife of

anxiety

^and

struggle Sung

^was

offering

them riches and

security.

^{The next}

day,

^{all of}

the

generals

tendered their

resignations,

^and

they

^{retired asnoblestothe}

estatesthat

Sung

^{bestowedonthem.}

In one stroke,

Sung

^{turned a}

pack

^of

“friendly” ^wolves,

^{who would}

likely

^have

betrayed ^him,

^intoagroup of docile

lambs,

^{fax from}all power.

Over thenextfew years

Sung

continued his

campaign

^{to securehis} rule. InA.D.971,

King

Lin of the Southern Han

finally

surrenderedtohim after years of rebellion. To Liu’s

astonishment, Sung

gave him^arankinthe

imperial

^courtand invited himtothe

palace

^toseal their newfound friend-

ship

^{withwine. As}

King

^{Liutook the}

glass

^that

Sung

^offered

him,

^{he hesi-}

tated, fearing

^{it contained}

poison.

^“Your

subject’s

^crimes

certainly

^merit

death,”

he cried out, “but I

beg

^Your

Majesty

^tospare your

subject’s

^{life. In-}

deed I darenot drink this wine.”

Emperor Sung laughed,

^{took the}

glass

fromLin, and

swallowed

^ithimself. There was no

poison.

^{From then on}

Liubecamehismosttrusted and

loyal

^friend.

Atthetime,^{China had}

splintered

^intomany smaller

kingdoms.

^When

Ch’ien Shu, ^the

king

^{ofone of}

^these,

^was

^defeated, Sung’s

^{ministers ad-}

vised the emperor^tolockthis rebelup.

They presented

documents prov-

ing

^{that hewasstill}

conspiring

^tokill

Sung.

When Ch’ien Shucametovisit the_emperor,

however,

^{instead of}

locking

him up,

Sung

honored him. He also gave him ^a

package,

which he told the former

king

^toopen when^he

was

halfway

home. Ch’ien Shu

opened

^{the bundle on hisreturn}

journey

andsawthatitcontainedall the papers

documenting

^his

conspiracy.

^Here- alized that

Sung

^{knew of}his murderous

plans, yet

^had

spared

him nonethe- less. This

generosity

^{wonhimover,and hetoobecameoneof}

Sung’s

^most

loyal

^vassals.

Interpretation

AChinese

proverb

comparesfriendstothe

jaws

and teeth of^a

dangerous

animal: If_you^arenot

careful,

you will find them

chewing

you up.

Emperor Sung

^{knew the}

jaws

^hewas

passing

between when heassumed the throne:

His “friends” inthe army would chewhim up like meat, ^{and if hesome-} how

survived,

his “friends”inthe governmentwould have him for supper.

'1‘/iere^arermmy who thinkzlzerefizre^thzua

wiseprinceought, when he has the chance,¹⁰form-m astzarely^somecnmizy,

sothatby rlcpprmirirzg

ithewillu1:gn1mtl1is' _ur4m(nm-.s‘.f’rin«'ex,and

espwizzlly^newones, havefound^morefair/1 andmoreuxejiilmzssⁱⁿ thosemen.whom:11the

bcgimiing of^their

powertheyregarded withruspicimi.^thanin thosethey tztfirsl confided^in.Pandolfo }’c'lru<::'i, primte nf Stems.gm-‘Billed^his

Statemoreby^Iiwse it-liom hesltspecrezi [Iranby^oilzers.

Nxcrtnt) NlACHl.-\\‘l;‘LLL ls:l6‘J- ) 527

Abrahmzm.^agreat expertⁱⁿVeda who has becomeagreat archer aswell,offers^his

.s‘t?rL'It'(,'.\'Ir)Irisgrmrl frimd,^whoisnowthe king.The hruhrn/In triesamwhen hesees

I/14’king, "kemgnize

me,yu1u'V/"/'z'cm1.r"’T/u’

king^{atzswers/rim with}

comempt and than

t'.\‘[)1l1iI1S."‘YL'.V,^{we wcna} fricm1.\' Iznfrme,^butour friewzis/1/p^warbased

[NZlvlltll [1(7Mv’6’)'^WP had.^...Iw:1rfrie'nzI.s'

withvan.good hmhnmn.hecttmsvit served my purpose. No pauper isfriend^tothe rich.^nofool^tothe wisr.normvzmltorim

LAW 2 II

brave. An, Oldfriim/I-—

who needs him? Itis twomenofeqnal wealth andequalbirth whormi1racrfrier1d- ship^andmarriage,^not

(1richmanand(I pauper.^.../in old

friend—- ^whoneeds

him?

‘i Hi-,MAHABH.IxRA’lA, I". rnum L:«_=N'r1;RY ac.

Pickupⁿbeefrom klIH]I1E‘S,\‘,^{and learn}(he liIm'ruIlrm.iu/‘kindmzws.

SIIH PR()VEl{l.i

M(III aremun!remly^ll) repay^aninjury^thana bz:ru:j7‘t,^Iwmmegrilli- tude is£1‘burden and revenge^itpleasme.

T.-ugnus,^c.An55-420

1.‘) LAW2

Emperor Sung

^{would have notruck}with “friends”—-he bribedhis fellow

generals

^with

splendid

^estatesand

kept

^{them far}away. This ^{was amuch} better way^to emasculate them than

killing ^them,

which would

only

^have

led other

generals

^to seek vengeance. And

Sung

^{would have}

nothing

^todo

with

“friendly”

^{ministers.More}often than not,

they

^{would end}up

drinking

hisfamous cup of

poisoned

^wine.

Instead of

relying

^on

^friends, Sung

^{used his enemies, one after the}

other, transforming

^{themintofarmorereliable}

subjects.

^{Whileafriendex-}

pects

^{more andmore}

favors,

^and seethes with

jealousy,

^{theseformer£:ne~}

mies

expected nothing

^andgot

everything.

^{A man}

suddenly spared

^the

guillotine

^isa

grateful

^man

^indeed,

^{and willgotothe}ends of theearth for the man who has

pardoned

^{him. Intime, these} former enemies became

Sung’

^smosttrusted friends.

And

Sung

^was

finally

^{abletobreak the}

pattern

of coups,

violence,

^and civil war—the

Sung Dynasty

^{ruled China for more} than three hundred years.

In^a

speech

^AbrahamLincoln delivererlattheheight

of

the (Ii:/ilWar, he

referred

^tothe Southernersas

_

fellow

^humanbeings^whowerein

error.An

elderly lady

^chastised

himfor

^notcalling^themirremncilable enemieswhomustbe

destroyed. “Why,

madam,”L2'ncoln

replied,

“do Inot

destroy

my enemies when I make them

myfr2Tends?”

KEYS TO POWER

It is naturalto wantto

employ

your friendswhen youfind

yourself

^intimes

of need. The worldisaharsh

place,

^andyour friends softentheharshness.

Besides,

you know them.

‘Why depend

^{on a}stronger ^when you have ^a friendathand?

The

problem

is that you often do^notknow_yourfriendsaswellasyou

imagine.

Friends often _agree ^on

things

^{in order to avoid an} argument.

They

^cover up their

unpleasant qualifies

^{so as to not} offend each other.

They laugh

^{extrahard ateachother’s}

jokes.

^Since

honesty rarely strength-

ens

friendship,

you may^neverknowhowafriend

tmly

^feels. Friends will say ^that

they

love your

poetry,

^adore your music, envy your ^{taste in}

clothes———maybe they

^meanit,often

they

^donot.

Whenyou decide^tohirea

friend,

you

gradually

discover the

qualities

heorshe has

kept

^hidden.

Strangely enough,

^{it is}your^actofkindness that unbalances

everything. People

^{want to feel}

they

^{deserve their}

good

^for-

tune. The

receipt

^{ofa favor canbecome}

oppressive:

^{It means} you have beenchosen becauseyou^area

friend,

^not

necessarily

^becauseyou^aredo

serving.

^{There is almost a} touch of condescension in the act of

hiring

friends that

secretly

^{afflictsthem. The}

^injury

^{willcome out}

slowly:

^{A little}

more

honesty,

^{flashes ofresentment}and envy here^and

there,

andbefore you know^ityour

friendship

^{fades.Themorefavors and}

gifts

you

supply

^to

revive the

friendship,

^{the less}

gratitude

you^receive.

Ingratitude

^has

along

^and

deep history.

^Ithas demonstrateditspowers

forso manycenturies,^{thatit is}

truly amazing

^that

people

^{continueto un}

derestimate them. Bettertobe wary. ^Ifyou^never

expect gratitude

^{from a}

friend,

you will be

pleasantly surprised

^when

they

do prove

grateful.

The

problem

^with

using

^or

hiring

^{friendsisthatitwill}

inevitably

^limit

yourpower. The friend^is

rarely

^{theonewhoismostableto}

help

you; ^and inthe

end,

^{skill and}

competence

^arefarmore

important

^than

friendly

^feel-

ings. (Michael

^{Ill hada man}

right

^{under hisnose who}would have steered him

right

^and

kept

him alive: Thatman was

Bardas.)

All

working

^situations

require

^akindofdistance between

people.

^You

are

trying

^to

work,

^notmake

friends;

friendliness

(real

^or

false) only

^ob

scoresthat fact. The

key

^topower,

then,

^{is the}

ability

^to

judge

^whoisbest

able tofurther your^interestsinall situations.

Keep

friends for

friendship,

but work with theskilledand

competent.

Yourenemies,^{onthe other}

hand,

^{are an}

untapped gold

^minethat you

must learnto

exploit.

^When

Talleyrancl, Napc-leon’s foreign

^{minister, de-}

cided in 1807that his boss was

leading

^{France toruin, and the time had}

cometo turn

against him,

he understood the

dangers

^of

conspiring against

the emperor; he needed ^apartner, ^a confederate-——-what friend could he trustinsuch^a

project?

^{He chose}

Joseph ^Fouché,

head of thesecret

police,

hismosthatedenemy,^{a manwho hadeventriedto}have him assassinated.

Heknew that their formerhatred would^createan

opportunity

^{foran emo~}

tional reconciliation. He knew that Fouché would

expect nothing

^from

him,

^andinfact would work toprove that he ^was

worthy

^of

Talleyra.nd’s choice;

^aperson who has

something

^toprove will^{movemountains}for you.

Finally,

^{he knewthathis}

relationship

with Fouché would be basedon mu-

tual

selfiinterest,

^{and wouldnot}be contaminated

by personal feeling.

^The

selection

proved perfect; although

^the

conspirators

^{didnotsucceedin}

top- pling Napoleon,

^{the union of such}

powerful

^but

unlikely ^partners

gener- atedmuchinterest inthe_cause;

opposition

^tothe emperor

slowly began

^to

spread.

^{Andfrom thenon,}

Talleyi-and

and Fouché hada.fruitful

working relationship.

Whenever you ^can,

bury

^the hatchet with an enemy, and makea

point

^of

putting

^himinyour^service.

V

As Lincoln

said,

you

destroy

^an enemy when you make ^a friendof him. In

1971, during

the Vietnam

War, Henry Kissinger

^wasthe

target

^of

anunsuccessful

kidnapping attempt,

^a

conspiracy involving,

^among

^others,

the renowned antiwar activist

priests

^the

Berrigan brothers,

^{four more}

Catholic

priests,

^{and fournuns. In}

private,

^without

informing

^{the Secret}

Serviceorthe

justice Department, Kissinger arranged

^a

Saturday-morning meeting

with three of the

alleged kidnappers. Explaining

^tohisguests^that he would have mostAmerican soldiers ^out of Vietnam

by ^mid-1972,

^he

completely

charmed them.

They

gave him some

“Kidnap Kissinger”

^but»

tons and one of them remained afriend of his for years,

visiting

^{him on}

severaloccasions.Thiswasnot

just

^8.onetime

ploy: Kissinger

^madea

pol- icy

^of

working

with those who

disagreed

^{with him.}

Colleagues

^commented

thatheseemedto

get along

better with hisenemiesthan with his friends.

Without enemies around us, we grow

lazy.

An enemy ^{at our} heels

sharpens

^{our wits,}

keeping

^us focused and alert. It is sometimes

better,

l‘li()l‘l'l'l\A'» l\l\' til If I'.\l.\1||2$

KingIliero clumceri upon^ittime..vpeakin_;,r withone()f]‘1tS

enemies.tobe told ina

rrproacliful^rmzrzrmr thathehadstinking

brculli.lrV/wrc’upon^the goodkmg, bring^some- whrzzdi.9:rza_wdⁱⁿ Izim.ve‘I/Ias soon ashe mtlrrnmi hanw chided hiswife,^{“How doesit} Imppm^Ihmyou^never toldme0/‘thispm!»

(em?^"Thewonum.

bring^asimple.chrlsir, um! hrrwnivssrlame, Said.“Sir,I /um’thought allmaxk lmazniz imri smaller!so.

"

Thusit is

plain^thatfaults^that

areevzdmllothe senses.gross‘ and corpu/'u!,^orotherwise

noiorrous tnthe world.

weknowby^our e'm°mimSoonerthan

byum'frieml.s^and familiar;

PLUTARCII.

c.A.I).46-120

LAW 2 13