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38 LAW5

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAWI

During

China’s War of the Three

Kingdoms (A.D. 207—265),

^thegreatgen- eral Chuko

Liang, leading

^{the forcesofthe Sim}

Kingdom, dispatched

^his

vastarmy^toadistant camp while he rested^inasmalltownwithahandful ofsoldiers.

Suddenly

sentinels hurriedinwith the

alarming

^{news thatan}

enemy force^ofover

150,000 troops

^{underSima Yiwas}

approaching.

^With

only

^{ahundredmentodefend}

^him,

^Chuko

Liang’s

^situationwas

hopeless.

The_enemywould

finally capture

this renownedleader.

Without

lamenting

^his

fate,

^or

wasting

^time

trying

^to

figure

^{outhow he}

had been

caught, Liang

^orderedhis

troops

^totake down their

flags,

^throw

open the

city gates,

and hide. Hehimself then tookaseatonthemostvisi- ble part ^{of the}

city’s ^wall, wearing

^{a Taoist robe. He lit some incense,}

strummed his

lute,

^and

began

^tochant. Minutes later he could^seethevast enemy army

approaching,

^anendless

phalanx

^ofsoldiers.

Pretending

^not

tonotice

them,

he continuedto

sing

^and

play

^thelute.

Soon thearmy stood^atthetowngates,^{Atitsheadwas Sima}

Yi,

^who

instantly recognized

^{theman onthe wall.}

Even_so,ashis soldiers itchedto enterthe

unguarded

^town

through

^its

open gates, ^SimaYi

hesitated,

^{held them}

back,

and studied

Liang

^onthe

wall.

Then,

^heorderedanimmediate and

speedy

^retreat.

Interpretation

Chuko

Liang

^was

commonly

^{known as the}

“Sleeping Dragon.”

^{His ex-}

ploits

^{in the War ofthe Three}

Kingdoms

^were

legendary.

^{Once a man}

claiming

^{to be a}disaffected enemy lieutenant^{came to}his camp,

offering help

and information.

Liang instantly recognized

^{the situation as a}setup;

thisman was afalse

deserter,

^{and should}be beheaded.Atthe lastminute,

though,

^{asthe ax was aboutto}

fall, Liang stopped

^{theexecution and of-}

feredtospare the^man’slifeifhe

agreed

^{tobecomeadouble}agent. ^Grate ful and

terrified,

^theman

agreed,

^and

began supplying

false informationto the enemy.

Liang

^{wonbattleafterbattle.}

Onanother occasion

Liang

^stolea

military

^{seal and}created false docu- ments

dispatching

^his

enemy’s troops

^todistant locations. Oncethe

troops

had

dispersed,

^{hewas ableto}

capture

^three

cities,

^sothathe controlledan

entire corridor of the

enemy’s kingdom.

^{He also once}tricked the enemy into

believing

^{oneof itsbest}

generals

^{was atraitor,}

forcing

^{theman toes-}

cape and

join

forces with

Liang.

^The

Sleeping Dragon carefully

^cultivated

his

reputation

^of

being

^{thecleverestmanin}

China,

^onewho

always

^hada

trickup his sleeve. ^As

powerful

^asany weapon, this

reputation

^struckfear

intohis_enemy.

SimaYi had

fought against

^Chuko

Liang

^{dozens of times and knew}

him well. When he ^{came on}the

empty city,

^with

Liang praying

^{on the}

wall,

^hewasstunned. The Taoist

robes,

^the

chanting,

the incense——this had tobeagame ofintimidation.Theman was

obviously taunting him, daring

himtowalkintoa

trap.

^Thegame^{was so}obvious thatforonemoment it crossed Yi’s mind that

Liang actually

^was

^alone,

^and

desperate.

^{But so}

great

^{washis fearof}

Liang

^{thathe dared notrisk}

finding

^{out. Such is the}

power of

reputation.

^Itcan put^avastarmy ^on the

defensive,

^evenforce themintoretreat, without^a

single

^arrow

being

^fired.

F07;^asCicero says, ^{eventhose who}argue

againstfame

^{stillwantthe books}

they

write

against

^{ittobear theirnameinthetitle and}

hope

^to

becamefamousfor despising

^it.

Everything

^{else is}

subject

^{tobarter:wewill letour}

friends

^have

our

goods

^andourlives

if

^{needbe;butacase}

ofsharing auvfame

^and

making

^{someoneelse the}

gift of

^our

reputation

^is

hardly

^tobe

found.

ll/Ior1Io7'g74.e, ^{1533-1 592}

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAWII

In 1841 the young^P.T.

Barnum, trying

^toestablish his

reputation

^asAmer-

ica's

premier showman,

^{decided to}

purchase

the American Museum in Manhattan andturn itintoacollection ofcuriositiesthatwouldsecurehis fame. The

problem

^wasthat he had^nomoney. The museum’s

asking price

was

$15,000,

^{butBarnumwasableto}

_put together

^a

proposal

^that

appealed

to the institution’s owners even

though

^it

replaced

^{cash up front with}

dozens ofguarantees and references. Theowners cametoaverbal agree mentwith

Barnum,

^{butatthe last}

minute,

^the

principal partner changed

his

mind,

^{andthe museumand itscollectionweresoldtothedirectors of}

Peale’s Museum. Barnum was

infuriated,

^{but the}

_partner explained

^that

business was business——the museum had been sold to Pea1e’s because Peale’s hada

reputation

^{and Barnumhadnone.}

Barnum

immediately

^{decidedthat ifhe hadno}

reputation

^tobankon,

his

only

recourse was to min the

reputation

of Peale’s.

Accordingly

^he

launcheda

letter-writing campaign

ⁱⁿthe newspapers,

calling

^theownersa

bunchof“broken-down bank directors” who hadnoidea howtorunamu- seum or entertain

people.

^{He warned the}

public against buying

^Peale’s

stock,

^{sincethe business’s}

purchase

^{ofanother museumwould}

invariably spread

^{its resources thin. The}

campaign

^was

^effective,

^{the stock}

plum- meted,

^{and with no more confidence in} Pea.le’s track record and

reputa-

tion,^{the owners}of the American Museum

reneged

^on their deal and sold the whole

thing

^toBarnum.

It took years for Pea.le’s to recover, and

they

^never

forgot

^{what Bar-}

numhad done. Mr. Peale himself decidedtoattackBarnum

by building

^a

reputation

^for

“highbrow entertainment,” promoting

his museum’s pro grams ^{as more} scientific than those of his

vulgar competitor.

^Mesmerism

(hypnotism)

^{was one} of Pea.le’s “scientific”

attractions,

^{and for awhile it} drew

big

^{crowds andwas}

quite

successful. To

fight ^back,

Barnum decided toattack Peale’s

reputation

yet

again.

Barnum

organized

^{arivalmesmeric}

performance

^{inwhich hehimself}

apparently put

^alittle

girl

^{into atrance.} Once she seemed tohave fallen

deeply ^under,

^{he triedto}

hypnotize

members of the audience~—butnomat- terhow hard he

tried,

^{noneof the}

spectators

fell under his

spell,

^andmany

of them

began

^to

laugh.

^A frustrated Barnum

finally

^{announced that to}

prove the little

girl’s

^{trance was}

real,

^{he would cutoffoneof her}

fingers

many^asheep Who’din/ured^mein

norH.\’])4’Cl.

Andeveninmy time beenknowntorry Shepherd pie.

I/‘needhe, then.I’ll die.

Yet ISIISPECI That others alsocough!

(0owntheir film‘.

1119only fair^tho!all should do their best

Tosingle^outthe guilllesl.^"

“Sire,you're^toogood

aking,^"theForhcgmv;

"Sucliscruples’^aretoo delicate.lilyword,

lbcmshc'cp,^thu!

profane^mu]vulgar herd,

Thafssin?Nay.Sim enough /or^{Slltllti crew}

Tobe dr-vourerlby xuclzasyou;

Whileoflhc .\‘l7€[lllL‘t‘(lS

wemaymy

Thurthey¢l(’.l'€IvE'il the worsttheygot, 'l‘heir.vbcmg^rlzelo!

llwloverus‘[1eu5!.\'plot A/Iinzsy^dream- ll(’g()ll¢’,Ilsway.

"

Thiixspake^(heFox, andtomly^{L'hccr.s'rate} high,

Whilenonedam!cm‘!

toocoldancyr:

(M'l'lgerI\,Bcur'.s: Illltl other eminmccs‘

(1/lax‘!Impanlamzlalra of‘/’PI1ce.s‘.

Each,ofnevcr^mind what currish lmrd.

Wasreally¹¹saint,lhey allagrecrl.

Tlzmmm."MyAss,^In my:"1 do recall

[low^onceI crmxwzrlon

obln’y-mt-ad

Whorehunger,grim‘in plenty.^andwtrhul,

I /lavenozlmiln.xome

impofg/‘ecrl, /l.\'.\'alli*rlme.andI slmverla/ungue^'3‘- hrezzdzh wide Whivefrurzkly^Illno right^{to Amy}grass.

"

LAW5 39

Allforthwith fell full

cry upontheAss:

AWolfofsome^book- learning teslified

Tim!thatcurs:beast mus!suffer^Iheir despite, Thatgullskimzerl authorof^their[71'te0L¢s plight.

They judged^himfir for naught^but gallows-bail.’

Howvile,^anal/zeris grass^toxec1uestrzIlr’.’

Hisdeath alone could wcpiale

Acrime soheinous,^as fullwell he learns.

Tim (curt,^asyoutz» of grcal^orpoor estate,

Willpamtyoueither whiteorbfllilkby^turns‘.

III}?-. masr i=AnLi:s or LAFON'IAl\'lZ, J1-:ANm=LAl7()NT.A\lNF, 1621-1695

4!) LAW 5

without her

noticing.

^{But as he}

sharpened

^the

^knife,

^{the little}

girl’s

eyes

popped

open^andsheranaway,^totheaudience’s

delight.

^He

repeated

^this

andother

parodies

^forseveral weeks. Soonno onecould take Peale’s show

seriously,

and attendance wentway down. Within^afew

weeks,

^{the show}

closed. Overthenextfewyears^Bamumestablisheda

reputation

^{for audac-}

ity

^{andconsummate}

showtnanship

that lasted his whole life. Pea1e’s

reputa-

tion,^{onthe other}

hand,

^{neverrecovered.}

Interpretation

Bamumusedtwo differenttactics to ruinPeale’s

reputation.

^{The firstwas}

simple:

^He sowed doubts about the museum’s

stability

^and

solvency.

Doubtisa

powerful

weapon: Onceyou^{letit outof the}

bag

with insidious rumors,your

opponents

^areinahorrible dilemma. On the onehand

they

can

deny

^{the rumors, even} prove that you have slandered them. But ^a

layer

^of

suspicion

^willremain:

Why

^are

they defending

^{themselvessodes-}

perately? Maybe

^{therumorhassometruthto it?}

^If,

^{onthe other}

hand, they

take the

high

^{road and}

ignore

you, the

doubts, unrefuted,

^{will be even} stronger.^{If done}

correctly,

^the

sowing

^ofrumors can soinfuriate andunset- tleyour rivals^thatin

defending

^themselves

they

^{will makenumerousmis-}

takes. Thisisthe

perfect

weapon for those whohaveno

reputation

^oftheir

owntowork from.

Once Bamumdid have a

reputation

^{of his own, heused the}

second, gentler

^{tactic, the fake}

hypnotism

demonstration: He ridiculed his rivals’

reputation.

^Thistoowas

extremely

successful. Once you have^asolid base of

respect, ridiculing

your

opponent

^both

puts

^{him on} the defensive and draws more attention to you,

enhancing

your ^own

reputation. Outright

slander and insultaretoostrong^atthis

point; they

^are

ugly,

and may hurt you ^{more than}

help

you. ^But

gentle

^{barbs and}

mockery

suggest ^thatyou have astrong

enough

^senseof your ^ownworthto

enjoy

^a

good laugh

^at

yourrival’s expense. A humorous front^canmake you^{outas aharmlessen-} tertainerwhile

poking

^holesinthe

reputation

^ofyour^rival.

It is easiertocope^withabad conscience than withabad

reputation.

Friedrirh /Vietzsrhrc, 18-44—I 900

KEYS TO POWER

The

people

^{aroundus,even ourclosest}

^friends,

^will

always

^tosomeextent

remain

mysterious

and unfathomable.Their characters havesecretrecesses

that

they

^{neverreveal. The} unknowablenessof other

people

could prove

disturbing

^ifwe

thought

^aboutit

long enough,

^{since itwould make it im-}

possible

^forus

really

^to

judge

^other

people.

^Sowe

prefer

^to

ignore

^thisfact,

andto

judge people

^on their appearances, ^on whatis mostvisible to our

eyes—-clothes, gestures, words,

^{actions.In thesocial}

realm,

appearances^are the barometer of almost all ofour

judgments,

^{andyoumustneverbe nus-}

ledinto

believing

otherwise. One false

slip,

^{oneawkwardorsudden}

change

inyour appearance,^canprove disastrous.

Thisis the reasonfor the supreme

importance

^of

making

^andmain-

taining

^a

reputation

^thatisofyour^owncreation.

That

reputation

^will

protect

you ⁱⁿ the

dangerous

game of appear- ances,

distracting

^the

probing

eyes of^others from

knowing

what you ^are

really ^like,

^and

giving

you^a

degree

^{of controlover} how the world

judges

you—a

powerful position

^{to be in.}

Reputation

^{has a}power like

magic:

With onestrokeof its

wand,

^{it can}double your

strength.

^{Itcanalso send}

people scurrying

away^from you. Whether the ^exactsame deeds appear brilliant^ordreadful^can

depend entirely

^onthe

reputation

of the deer.

In the ancient Chinese court ofthe Wei

kingdom

^{there was a man}

named Mi Tzu-hsia whohada

reputation

^forsupreme

civility

^and

^gracious-

ness. He became the mler’s favorite. Itwas a law in Wei that “whoever rides

secretly

ⁱⁿthe ruler’scoachshall havehisfeetcut

off,”

but when Mi Tzu-hsia’s mother fell

ill,

he used the

royal

^{coach tovisit}

^her, pretending

that the ruler had

given

^him

permission.

When the ruler found out, he

said,

“Howdutifulis Mi Tzu-hsia! Forhis mother’s sake he ^even

forgot

^{that he}

was

committing

^acrime

making

^{himliabletolosehisfeet!”}

Anothertimethetwoofthem tookastroll inanorchard. MiTzu-hsia

began eating

^a

peach

^{thathe could not}

^finish,

^{and he} gave the ruler the other halftoeat.The ruler

remarked,

^{“You loveme so}much that you would

even

forget

your^ownsalivatasteandletme eattherestof the

peach!”

Later, however,

^{enviousfellow}courtiers,

spreading

^{word thatMi Tzu-}

hsiawas

actually

devious andarrogant, ^succeededin

damaging

^his

reputa-

tion;^{the rulercametoseehisactionsina new}

light

“This fellowoncerode in my coach underpretense of my

order,”

he told the courtiers

angrily,

“and another time he gave ^{me a}half-eaten

peach.”

^{For the same actions}

that had charmed the rulerwhenhewasthefavorite,^{MiTzu-hsianowhad}

tosuffer the

penalties.

The fate ofhisfeet

depended solely

^{on the}

strength

of his

reputation.

Inthe

beginning,

you^mustworktoestablisha

reputation

^foroneout-

standing quality,

^whether

generosity

^or

honesty

^or

cunning.

^This

quality

setsyou

apart

^andgets^other

people

^totalkabout you.^Youthen make your

reputation

^knowntoasmany

people

^as

possible (subtly, though;

^takecare

to build

slowly,

^{and witha firm}

foundation),

^{and watch asit}

spreads

^like

wildfire.

A solid

reputation

increases your presence and

exaggerates

your

strengths

^withoutyour

having

^to

spend

much energy. ^{Itcanalso createan}

aura around you ^thatwill instill

respect,

^evenfear. In the

fighting

^{in the}

North African desert

during

^{World War}

^II,

^{the German}

general

^Erwin

Rommel hada

reputation

^for

cunning

^andfor

deceptive maneuvering

^that

struckterrorintoeveryonewho faced him.Evenwhenhisforceswerede-

pleted,

^andwhenBritish tanksoutnumberedhis

by

^{fiveto one,}entire cities would be evacuatedatthenewsof his

approach.

As

they

say, your

reputation inevitably precedes

you, and^ifit

inspires respect,

^{alot of}yourwork is donefor youbefore you arrive^onthe_scene,

orutter^a

single

^word.

Yoursuccess seemsdestined

by

your

past triumphs.

^{Muchofthe suc-}

LAW5 41

42

cess of

Henry Kissinger‘s

^shuttle

diplomacy

^{rested on his}

reputation

^for

ironing

^out

differences;

^{no onewantedtobeseen asso}unreasonablethat

Kissinger

^{could not} sway him. ^Apeace

treaty

^{seemed a fait}

accompli

^as

soon as

Kissinger’s

^namebecame involvedinthe

negotiations.

Make your

reputation simple

^{and baseiton one}

sterling quality.

^This

single quality—-efiiciency,

^say,orseductiveness-—becomes^akind of

calling

card thatannouncesyour presence and

places

others under^a

spell.

^Arepu- tation for

honesty

will allow you ^to

practice

^{all manner of}

deception.

Casanova usedhis

reputation

^{as a}

great

^seducertopave^theway for his fu-

ture

conquests;

^womenwho had heard of his powers became

immensely

curious, ^{and wantedto}discover for themselves what hadmade himso ro-

mantically

successful.

Perhaps

you have

already

stained your

reputation,

^sothatyou^arepre- vented from

establishing

^{a new one. In such cases it is wise to associate}

withsomeonewhose

image

counteractsyourown,

using

^their

good

^name

towhitewash and elevate yours. It^is

hard,

^for

example,

^{toerase a}

reputa-

tionfor

dishonesty by yourself;

^butaparagon^of

honesty

^can

help.

^‘Nixon

P. T. Barnumwantedto clean up^a

reputation

^for

promoting vulgar

^enter- tainment,^he

brought

^the

singer jenny

^Lindoverfrom

Europe.

^Shehada

stellar, high—class reputation,

and the American^tourBamum

sponsored

^for

her

greatly

enhanced hisown

image. Similarly

^thegreatrobber barons of

nineteentlrcentury

^Americawere

long

^unabletorid themselves ofarepu- tationfor

cruelty

^and

mean-spiritedness. Only

^when

they began collecting

art,^sothat thenamesof

Morgan

and Frick became

permanently

^associated

with those ofda Vinci and

Rembrandt,

^were

they

^{able to}soften theirun-

pleasant image.

Reputation

^isa treasure tobe

carefully

collected andhoarded.

Espe- cially

when you^are first

establishing it,

you^must

protect

^it

strictly,

^antici-

pating

all attacks on it. Once it is

solid,

^{do not let}

yourself get

angry ^or defensiveattheslanderous commentsof your enemies—that reveals^inse-

curity,

^{notconfidencein}your

reputation.

^Takethe

high

^road

instead,

^and

neverappear

desperate

ⁱⁿyour self—defense. On the other

hand,

^anattack

on anotherman’s

reputation

^{is a}

potent

weapon,

particularly

when you have less power than he does. He has much^moretoloseinsuch^a

battle,

and your^own

thus~far-small reputation gives

^{hima. small}

target

^whenhe

triesto returnyour fire. Bamum used such

campaigns

^to

geat

^{effect inhis}

early

^{career. But this}tactic mustbe

practiced

^with

skill;

you^{must notseem}

toengageⁱⁿ

petty

vengeance. If you do^notbreak_your

enemy’s reputation cleverly,

you will

inadvertently

^ruinyour^own.

Thomas

Edison,

considered the inventor who harnessed

electricity,

believed that a workable

system

^{would have to be based on direct cur-}

rent

(DC).

When the SerbianscientistNikola Tesla

appeared

^{tohave suc-}

ceededin

creating

^a

system

^basedon

alternating

^current

(AC),

^Edisonwas

furious.He determinedtoruinTesla’s

reputation, by making

^the

public

^be-

lieve that the AC

system

^was

inherently unsafe,

^andTesla

irresponsible

ⁱⁿ

promoting

^it.

To this end he

captured

all kinds of household

pets

^andelectrocuted