WRONG PERSON

JUDGMENT

There are many

different

^kinds

of people

^{in the}

^world,

and you ^can never assume that everyone will ^{react to} your

strategies

^{in thesame}way. Deeeive^oroutmaneuver some

[maple

^and

they

^will

spend

^therest

of

their lives seek-

ing

revenge.

They

^{arewolves in lambs’}

clothing.

^Choose

your ^victims and

opponents carefully,

then-—never

of- fend

^ordeceive the wrong

person.

13?’

When you^rneeta swordsman,^drawyour rwnrd:Donotrecita poetry^{10 onewhois} YXDYHIYUPI.

Fuom/\CH‘/\N Bcnmusi CLASSIC.

OU(7TF]')IN

‘lHllNl)l—iR INTHE;sou’, TR.-\:~sL.r\TEo BY THOMAS(l/I,F,ARY.1993

TI II: ll|",\l,\(.l' I)!‘

I.()|‘|‘, l>I: \(;l IHKIC

[Ln]/e dc] Agltirreir riharactcr1'’amply

illustrate‘/1 inimurirc»

dourfrom^{(ht?chronicle} uf(}¢Ir(7il11.rlI^{de‘ la} Vega.who related that in 1548Aguirre^{was a} memberofa platoonof

wliliers excortirig Indian slavesfrom^the

mine:atPaton’

[Bolivia]^{to a}royal treasury11512111.^The Indianswereillegally lmrtlrmezlwithgreat quantitiesofstlver,^and

II[oral0/flrriul^urrevteil Aguirre. senwricing

himtoreceivetwo hundred lashes in lieu oft: fine for appraising the Indians. “The soldierAguirre, lutving rrrcmvrerlanotificatitm nflheverztertce, hesuughlthe alcalde that,iris‘t1'mlof/lugging himhewould put him Indeath,for^{that he‘}

was agentlemanby birth.^...Allthishad

noeffect^{onthealcalde,} who ordered theexecu- tionertobring^abeast, andeiemtethe .\'(mteI1(‘e.The1-,xer:u—

tionrr^cametothe

138 LAW 19

OPPON

ENTS, SUCKERS,

AND VICTIMS:

Preliminary Typology

In your ^{rise to} power you ^will come across many breeds of

opponent, sucker,

^{andvictim.The}

highest

^{form oftheart}of power^isthe

ability

^todis-

tinguish

the wolves from the

lambs,

^the foxes from the

hares,

^{the hawks} from the vultures. If you make this distinction

well,

you willsucceed with»

out

needing

^{to coerce} anyone ^too much. But if you ^deal

blindly

^with

whomevercrossesyour

path,

you will have^{alife of}constant sorrow,ifyou

evenlive that

long. Being

^ableto

recognize types

^of

people,

^{andto actac-}

cordingly,

^is critical. The

following

^{are the five most}

dangerous

^{and diffi-}

cult

types

^{of mark in the}

jungle,

^{as identified}

by

artists—con and othetwise——ofthe

past

The

Arrogant

^{and Proud Man.}

Although

he may

initially disguise

it, ^{this man’s}

touchy pride

^{makes him} very

dangerous. Any perceived slight

^{will leadtoa}vengeance^of

overwhelming

^{violence. You}may say^to

yourself,

^{“But I}

only

^said such-and-such ata

party,

where everyone ^was drunk. ^{. .}.” It doesnot matter.Thereisno

sanity

^{behind his}over-reaction,

sodonot wastetime

trying

^to

figure

^himout.Ifatany

point

ⁱⁿyourdeal

ings

^{with a}person you^sensean oversensitive and overactive

pride,

^flee.

Whatever you^are

hoping

for from himisn'tworthit.

The

Hopelessly

Insecure Man. Thismanisrelatedtothe

proud

^andar- rogant

type,

^{but is less}violent and harder to

spot.

^His ego is

fragile,

^his

senseof selfinsecure, ^andifhe feels himself deceivedor

attacked,

^{the hurt} will simmer. He will attack you ⁱⁿ bites that will take forever to

get big enough

^{foryoutonotice. Ifyoufind}you have deceived^orharmedsucha

man,

disappear

^fora

long

^{time. Do not}

stay

^{aroundhim or}he will nibble you^todeath.

Mr.

Suspicion.

^{Anothervariant onthebreeds}

^above,

^{this is afuture}

_]oe

Stalin. Heseeswhat hewants to

see—usually

^{theworst—in other}

people,

and

imagines

that everyone^is afterhim. Mr.

Suspicion

^{is infactthe least}

dangerous

of the three:

Genuinely unbalanced,

^heis_easy^to

deceive, just

^as

Stalin himselfwas

constantly

^deceived.

Play

^onhis

suspicious

^natureto

get

himto turn

against

^other

people.

^{But if}you^dobecome the

target

^ofhissus-

picions,

^watchout.

The

Serpent

^{with a}

Long Memory.

^Ifhurtor

^deceived,

^{this manwill}

shownoanger^onthe

surface;

he will calculate andwait.

Then,

^{when heis}

ina

position

^toturnthe

^tables,

^{he willexacta}revenge marked

by

^acold-

blooded shrewdness.

Recognize

^thisman

by

^hiscalculationand

cunning

ⁱⁿ

the differentareasofhis life. He is

usually

^{cold and}unaffectionate. Be dou-

bly

^{careful of this}

^snake,

and if you have somehow

injured ^him,

^either

crush him

completely

^or

get

^himoutof your

sight.

The

Plain, Unassuming,

^{and Often}

Unintelligent

^Man.

^Ah,

your^ears

prick

up when you find^sucha

tempting

^{victim.But thismanisalot harder}

to deceive than you

imagine. Falling

^{for a ruse often takes}

intelligence

and

imagina1J'on—-a

^{sense of the}

possible

rewards. The blunt man will nottake the bait because he doesnot

recognize

^{it.Heisthatunaware.The}

danger

^{with this man is not thathe will harm} you ^or seek _revenge, but

merely

^{that hewillwaste}yourtime,_energy,resources,and ^evenyour^san~

ity

ⁱⁿ

trying

^todeceive him. Haveatest

ready

^foramark—a

joke,

^a

story.

^If hisreactionis

utterly literal,

^thisisthe

type

you^are

dealing

^{with. Continue}

atyour^ownrisk.

TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW

Transgression

^I

In the

early part

^{of the thirteenth}

century, Muhammad,

the shah of

Khwarezm, managed

after many ^{wars to}

forge

^a

huge empire, extending

westto

present-day Turkey

^{and southto}

Afghanistan.

^The

empire’s

^center

wasthegreat^Asian

capital

^ofSamarkand. The shah had^a

powerful,

^well-

trained army,^{and could}mobilize

200,000

^{waniorswithin}

days.

In 1219 Muhammad received ^an

embassy

^{froma new}tribal leaderto the east,

Genghis

^{Khan. The}

embassy

^{includedallsortsof}

gifts

^tothe

great Muhammad, representing

^thefinest

goods

^from Khan’s small but

growing Mongol empire. Genghis

Khan wantedtoreopen the Silk^Routeto

Europe,

and offered to shareitwith

Muhammad,

^while

promising

peace between thetwo

empires.

Muhammad didnotknow this

upstart

from the east,

who,

^itseemedto

him,

^was

extremely

arrogant^to

try

^totalkasan

equal

^{toone so}

clearly

^his

superior.

^He

ignored

Khan’s offer. Khan tried

again:

^{This time he senta}

caravan ofa hundred camels filled with the rarest articles he had

plun-

dered from China. Before the caravan reached

Muhammad, however, Inalchik,

^the governor of a

region bordering

^on

Samarkand,

^{seized it}

for

himself,

^{andexecuteditsleaders.}

'

Genghis

^{Khan was sure that this was a} mistake—that Inalchik had acted without Muhammad’s

approval.

^{He sent}

yet

^{another mission to}

Muhammad, reiterating

^hisofferand

asking

that the governor be

punished.

ThistimeMuhammad himself had^oneof the ambassadors

beheaded,

^and

senttheothertwobackwith shaved heads-a

horrifying

^{insultintheMon-}

gol

^{code of}honor. Khansentamessage^totheshah: “Youhave chosenwar.

What will

happen

^will

happen,

^{and whatitistobeweknow not;}

only

^God

knows.”

Mobilizing

^his

^forces,

^{in 1220 he} attacked Inalchik’s

province,

where he seized the

capital, captured

the governor, and ordered him ^exe- cuted

by having

^moltensilver

poured

^intohis eyes^andears.

Over the next year, Khan led ^{a series} of

guern‘lla~1ike campaigns against

the sha.h’s much

larger

army, His method^was

totally

^novelforthe

time—his soldiers couldmove very ^faston

horseback,

and had mastered theartof

firing

with bow and arrowwhile mounted. The

speed

^{and flexi-}

bility

^ofhis forces allowed himtodeceive Muhammadastohisintentions andthedirections of his movements.

Eventually

^he

managed

^{first tosur-}

prison,and putAguirre

onthebeast.^...The beastwardrivenon, andhe receiver! the l£15llt’..X...

W'l1enfreed.Aguirre announced hisintarr /ion0_/‘killing^theoffi-

cialwholmzlSt’Ilf€I1C(’(l him,the alcaldri Esquivel, Esquiuelly

termnfoffirel’X[7Ir£?(l andhe/led^toLima, threelmmlred tweruy leaguesaway, but within/ifrcen days Aguirre^hm]mzvkezl him there.Theft-ighr

meltjudge i()IlI‘ll€_W:'(l

tnQuim,^aIripoffour /zmzdredl€agN€.\‘,^andin twentydays Aguirre arn'w=d.

“WhenErquivul^/ward ofhis presemr,^” rurconlirig^InGzzrcilaso,

“he madeanotl1t>r}'()ur-

myuffiw:^humlreil leagues^tnCuzco;^but inafew days Aguirre

alsoarrived,liming tmvcllrcrlonfoot^and William‘.sI1oc.\‘,saying

that(1Wllipped^man has‘nol)u.sir1¢r.s,\‘torirlc

uh()P‘.Yt’.,^ortogowhere he would besezrtzby 01/mrs. In this way, /iguzrrrfnllowmi^his judge forthree years.

and/ourInmztlls."

Wcarying of^the pur.s'uz'I,Esquire]

remainedatCu.'./so,^:2 citymr1erIzlygoverr:.ezI /hatlzefclthe would be safe from^Agufrre.^He lookahousenear/he rnrlmdralandnever

\’€I’ltll7'(,’£l outdnorr wirlwulaswan! and(1

dagger.^{“llnwevcr.on a}

('£’l'l£llnMomlay,^ut

mum.Aguirre^entered hislwu.\‘(.',andhaving

walkedalloverii.and having^rrawtr.redu corridor.^:1mloon,⁽² L'lzurnber.mn1aninner

LAW I9 139

chamberwhere the judge kept^{his books.}

heatlastfound^him axlcep^overoneofltis hm)/<.\',^andstahbcd him

10death. Themurderer thenwentout, but when hecametothe doorof^thehouse,he format’^{that hehad} forgotten^hishat,and had thetemerity¹⁰

returnamffetch^it.and thenwalked down thestreet.”

'lHEGOLDENl'lREAVl.‘

SI:F,Kl:llS01- t~:Luotmuo.

WALKIER CIIAPMAN.

1967

‘fill’. (.R()V€ AND Tllli I~»Ill‘l|'iP AtroublesomeCrow seatedherself^onthe backof^aSlzccp.^The Sheep,^muchagainsthis will. carriedherback—

ward andforward for^(I long^{time, andatlast} said.“ifyou^had trcatetladug^{in this} way. yrtu would have:

had_yourdesert:from hissharp^{teeth,"To this} the Crowrteplictl,^“I dexpiye^theweak,^and yield^tothestrong. ^I know whomI may bully,^andwhomImust firmer;^{and thtm I}hope

toprolongmylife^tot1

AB, R SIXTH(‘l:NTlIRY B1,‘.

140 LAW )9

roundSamarkand,^thentoseize it. Muhammad

fled,

^anda_{year later}

died,

his^vast

empire

^{broken and}

destroyed. Genghis

^{Khanwas sole masterof} Samarkand,^{the Silk}

Route,

^andmostof northern Asia.

Interpretation

Never^assumethatthe_personyou^are

dealing

^{withisweakerorless}

impor-

tantthan you ^are. Some men are slow ^to take

offense,

_{which may} ^make you

misjudge

^thethickness of their

skin,

^{and fail to}_{wony about}

insulting

them. But shouldyou offend their honor and ^their

pride, they

^willover-

whelm_{you with} ^aviolence thatseems sudden and extreme

given

^their

slownesstoanger. Ifyou want to turn

people ^down,

^{it isbesttodoso}po~

litely

^and

respectfully,

^evenif you feel their

request

^is

impudent

^{or their}

offerridiculous. Never

reject

^{themwithaninsult}until you know them bet- ter; you may^be

dealing

^witha

Genghis

^Khan.

Transgression

^II

Inthelate 1910ssomeofthebest swindlers inAmerica formedacon-artist

ring

^{basedin Denver, Colorado.In thewintermonths}

they

^would

spread

acrossthe^southernstates,

plying

their trade. In 1920

Joe Furey,

^aleaderof

the

ring,

^was

working

his way

through

^Texas,

making

^{hundreds of thou-}

sands of dollars withclassic congames. ^{In Fort}

Worth,

^{he met a sucker}

named

j.

^Frank

^Norileet,

^acattleman who owned ^a

large

ranch. Nortleet fellforthe^con. Convinced of the richesto come,he

emptied

^{his bankac»}

countof

$45,000

^{andhandeditoverto}

Furey

and his Confederates.^Afew

days

^later

they

gavehimhis

“millions,”

^{whichturnedouttobeafew}

good

dollars

wrapped

^arounda

packet

of newspaper

clippings.

Furey

^andhismenhad worked suchconsahundredtimes

before,

and the sucker ^was

usually

^so embarrassed

by

^his

gullibility

^{that he}

quietly

learnedhis lesson and

accepted

^{the loss. ButNorfleet was notlike other}

suckers. Hewent tothe

police,

^whotold him therewaslittle

they

^coulddo.

“Then I’ll _{go after}those

people myselfl”

Norfleet told the detectives. “I’ll

get them,

too,if it takes therestof my life.”^{His wife}tookoverthe ranch^as Norileet scouredthe

country, looking

^forothers who had been fleecedⁱⁿ thesamegame. Onesuch sucker^came

forward,

^{and thetwomenidentified}

oneoftheconartistsinSan

Francisco,

^and

managed

^to

get

him locked up, Themancommitted suicide rather thanfacea

long

^{term in}

prison.

Norfleet

kept going.

^{He tracked down} another of the con artists in

Montana, roped

^himlikea

calf,

^and

dragged

^him

through

^the

muddy

^streets

to the town

jail.

^{He travelednot}

only

^acrossthe

country

^butto

England, Canada,

^{and Mexicoin Search}

ofjoe Furey,

^andalsoof

Furey’s right-hand

man, W B.

Spencer. Finding Spencer

ⁱⁿ

^Montreal,

^{Norfleetchased him}

through

^thestreets.

Spencer escaped

but the rancher

stayed

^{onhistrail and}

caught

up with him in Salt Lake

City. ^Preferring

the mercy of the^{law to} Nortleet’s

wrath, Spencer

^{turnedhimselfin. =}

Norfleetfound

Furey

ⁱⁿ

Jacksonville, ^Florida,

^and

personally

^hauled

him offtoface

justice

^{in Texas. But hewouldn’t}

stop

there: He continued

onto

Denver,

^determinedto break up^{the entire}

ring. Spending

^not

only

large

^sumsof moneybut anotheryear of his lifeⁱⁿthe

pursuit,

^he

managed

to

put

^{all of the con}

n'ng’s

leaders behindbars. Evensome he didn’t catch had_grown^soterrified of himthat

they

^tooturnedthemselves in.

After five years of

hunting,

Norfleet had

single-handedly destroyed

^the

country’s largest

confederation ofcon artists. The efiort

bankrupted

^him

and minedhis

marriage,

^{buthe diedasatisfiedman.}

Interpretation

Mostmen acceptthe humiliation of

being

conned withasenseof

resigna-

tion.

They

learn their

lesson, recognizing

^{that there is no such}

thing

^{as a}

free

lunch,

^{and that}

they

^have

usually

^been

brought

^down

by

^theirown

greed

for easy money.

Some, however,

^{refuseto take} their medicine. In stead of

reflecting

^ontheirown

gullibility

and avarice,

they

^{seethemselves}

as

totally

innocent victims.

Men like thismay ^{seem to} be crusaders for

justice

^and

honesty,

^but

they

^are

actually immoderately

^insecure.

Being ^fooled, being

^{conned, has}

activated their

self-doubt,

^and

they

^are

desperate

^to

repair

^the

damage.

Werethe mortgage ^{on N0rfleet’s}ranch, ^the

collapse

^{of his}

marriage,

^and

the years^of

borrowing

money^and

living

ⁱⁿ

cheap

hotels worth his revenge

over his embarrassment at

being

^{fleeced? To} the Norfleets ofthe

world, overcoming

their embarrassmentisworth any

price.

All

people

^haveinsecurities,and often thebest way^todeceive^asucker isto

play

uponhis insecurities. But inthe realm of power,

everything

^{is a}

question

^of

degree,

and the person who is

decidedly

^{more insecure than}

the averagemortal

presents

great

dangers.

Be warned: If you

practice

^de~

ception

^or

trickery

^ofany sort,

study

your mark well. Some

people’s

^inse-

curity

^andego

fragility

^cannottolerate the

slightest

offense. To see if you

are

dealing

^{with sucha}

type,

^testthemfirst—make,_say, ^amild

joke

^attheir

expense. A confident person will

laugh;

^an

overly

^{insecureonewillreactas}

if

personally

insulted. If you

suspect

you^are

dealing

^{with this}type,^findan- othervictim.

Transgression

^III

In the fifth century ^B.C.,

Ch’ung-erh,

^the

prince

^ofCh’in

(in present-day China),

^hadbeen forcedinto exile. Helived

modestly——even,

^sometimes,

in

poverty—waiting

^{forthe time}when he couldreturnhome andresume

his

princely

life. Once he was

passing through

^{the state of}

Cheng,

^where

the

ruler,

^not

knowing

^{whohe was,}treated him

rudely.

The r1.1ler’sminis- ter, Shu

Chan,

^{sawthis and}said,^{“This manis a}

worthy prince. May

^Your

Highness

^{treat him with} great courtesy ^and

thereby place

^{him under an}

obligation!”

^{Butthe ruler, able to see}

only

^the

prince’s lowly

^station,

ig-

nored this adviceand insultedthe

prince again.

^{Shu Chan}

again

^warned his master,

saying,

^{“If Your}

Highness

cannot treat

Ch’ung~erh

^withcour-

tesy, you ^should put ^{him to} death, ^to avoid

calamity

ⁱⁿ the future.” The ruler

only

^scoffed.

Years later, ^the

prince

^was

finally

^{able to return}

home,

^{his circum-}

stances

greatly changed.

^{He didnot}

forget

who had been kindto

him,

^and

LAW 19 I41

142

j

^{LAW 19}

who had been

insolent, during

^hisyears^of

poverty.

Least of all did hefor»

get^histreatment atthe hands of the ruler of

Cheng.

At his first

opportunity

heassembled^avastarmy and marched^on

Chang, taking eight

^cities,de~

straying

^the

kingdom,

^and

sending

^{therulerintoan}exile of hisown.

Interpretation

You^canneverbe^surewho you^are

dealing

^{with.Amanwhoisof littleim-}

portance

^andmeans

today

^{canbeaperson of}power^tomorrow.We

forget

alotinour

lives,

^butwe

rarely forget

^aninsult.

How^was the ruler of

Cheng

^to know that Prince

Ch’ung-erh

^{was an}

ambitious, calculating, cunning type,

^aserpent^with

along memory?

^There

was

really

^noway for^himto

know,

youmay

say-—but

^{sincetherewas no}

way,^itwould have been betternot to

tempt

^{the fates}

by finding

^out.There

is

nothing

^{to be}

gained by insulting

^a person

unnecessarily

Swallow the

impulse

^to

^offend,

^even if the other person^seemsweak. The satisfactionis meager

compared

^tothe

danger

^that

someday

^beorshe will beina

posi

tiontohurt you.

Transgresskm

^IV

The year of 1920 had been^a

particularly

^{badoneforAmericanartdealers.}

Big buyers«-«the

robber-baron

generation

^ofthe

previous century-~were getting

^{toanage where}

they

^were

dying

^{off like}

flies,

^{andno newmillion»}

aireshad

emerged

^totaketheir

place. Things

^{were sobad thatanumberof}

the

major

dealers decided to

pool

^{their resources, an} unheard-of event, sinceartdealers

usually

get

along

^likecatsand

dogs.

Joseph ^Duveen,

^{artdealer to}the richest

tycoons

^of

America,

^wassuf-

fering

^morethan the others that year, ^sohe decidedtogo

along

^{with this}

alliance. The group^nowconsistedof the five

biggest

^dealersinthe

country.

Looking

^{aroundfora new}

^client, they

decided that their last best

hope

^was

Henry ^Ford,

then the wealthiest^maninAmerica. Ford had

yet

^{to venture}

intotheart

market,

^{andhewassucha}

big target

^{thatitmadesenseforthem}

towork

together.

The dealers decidedtoassemblea

list,

“The 100 Greatest

Paintings

ⁱⁿ

the World”

(all

^{of which}

they happened

^{to havein}

^stock),

^{andto offer the}

lot ofthemtoFord. Withone

purchase

^hecould make himself the world’s

greatest

collector. Theconsortiumworked for weeksto

produce

^a

magnifi-

cent

object:

^athree-volumesetof books

containing

^beautiful

reproductions

of the

paintings,

^aswellas

scholarly

^texts

accompanying

^each

picture.

^Next

they

^{made a}

personal

^{visitto Ford athis home in}

^Dearborn, Michigan.

There

they

^were

surprised by

^the

simplicity

of his house: Mr. Ford^wasob‘

viously

^an

extremely

^{unaffectedman.}

Ford received them in his

study. Looking through

^the

^book,

^{he ex-}

pressed

astonishment and

delight.

The excited dealers

began imagining

^the

millions of dollars that would

shortly

^flowintotheir coflers.

Finally,

^how—

ever,Ford looked up from the book and

said, “Gentlemen,

beautiful books like

these,

^with beautiful colored

pictures

^like

these,

^{must cost an awful} lot!” “But Mr. Ford!” exclaimedDuveen,^{“we don’t}

expect

you^to

buy

^these