And then Coriolanus spoke again, mostly addressing the wealthy citizens who had accompanied him. His words were arrogant and insolent. Claiming certain victory in the vote, he boasted of his battlefield exploits, made sour jokes that appealed only to the patricians, voiced angry accusations against his opponents, and speculated on the riches he would bring to Rome. This time the people listened: They had not realized that this legendary soldier was also a common braggart.
A small island is attached to the mainland by a wide green causeway, circled by Sydney Harbour. I run freely in the open space, lifting my knees and lengthening my stride. 'A few laps and then head back up the hill for a shower?' asks Dad. He falls back, breathing hard. 'Slow down a bit, luv, he says. 'Go easy on your old man.'
A small island is attached to the mainland by a wide green causeway, circled by Sydney Harbour. I run freely in the open space, lifting my knees and lengthening my stride. 'A few laps and then head back up the hill for a shower?' asks Dad. He falls back, breathing hard. 'Slow down a bit, luv, he says. 'Go easy on your old man.'
A small island is attached to the mainland by a wide green causeway, circled by Sydney Harbour. I run freely in the open space, lifting my knees and lengthening my stride. 'A few laps and then head back up the hill for a shower?' asks Dad. He falls back, breathing hard. 'Slow down a bit, luv, he says. 'Go easy on your old man.'
A small island is attached to the mainland by a wide green causeway, circled by Sydney Harbour. I run freely in the open space, lifting my knees and lengthening my stride. 'A few laps and then head back up the hill for a shower?' asks Dad. He falls back, breathing hard. 'Slow down a bit, luv, he says. 'Go easy on your old man.'
When the polling day arrived, however, Coriolanus made an entry into the forum escorted by the entire senate and by the city's patricians, the aristocracy. The common people who say this were disturbed by such a blustering show of confidence on election day.
In 454 B.C., Coriolanus decided it was time to exploit his reputation and enter politics. He stood for election to the high rank of consul. Candidates for this position traditionally made a public address early in the race, and when Coriolanus came before the people, he began by displaying the dozens of scars he had accumulated over seventeen years of fighting for Rome. Few in the crowd really heard the lengthy speech that followed; those scars, proof of his valor and patriotism, moved the people to tears. Coriolanus's election seemed certain.
Always Say Less Than Necessary
Transgression Of The Law
Gnaeus Marcius, also known as Coriolanus, was a great military hero of ancient Rome. In the first half of the fifth century B.C. he won many important battles, saving the city from calamity time and time again. Because he spent most of his time on the battlefield, few Romans knew him personally, making him something of a legendary figure.
Spectacle and entertainment, clearly, are excellent devices to conceal your intentions, but they cannot be used indefinitely. The public grows tired and suspicious, and eventually catches on to the trick. And indeed the charlatans had to move quickly from town to town, before word spread that the potions were useless and the entertainment a trick. Powerful people with bland exteriors, on the other hand the Talleyrands, the Rothschilds, the Selassies can practice their deceptions in the same place throughout their lifetimes. Their act never wears thin, and rarely causes suspicion. The colorful smoke screen should be used cautiously, then, and only when the occasion is right.
Finally, although it is wiser to divert attention from your purposes by presenting a bland, familiar exterior, there are times when the colorful, conspicuous gesture is the right diversionary tactic. The great charlatan mountebanks of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe used humor and entertainment to deceive their audiences. Dazzled by a great show, the public would not notice the charlatans' real intentions. Thus the star charlatan himself would appear in town in a night-black coach drawn by black horses. Clowns, tightrope walkers, and star entertainers would accompany him, pulling people in to his demonstrations of elixirs and quack potions. The charlatan made entertainment seem like the business of the day; the business of the day was actually the sale of the elixirs and quack potions.
As P. T. Barnum, the nineteenth-century king of humbuggery, grew older, he learned to embrace his reputation as a grand deceiver. At one point he organized a buffalo hunt in New Jersey, complete with Indians and a few imported buffalo. He publicized the hunt as genuine, but it came off as so completely fake that the crowd, instead of getting angry and asking for their money back, was greatly amused. They knew Barnum pulled tricks all the time; that was the secret of his success, and they loved him for it. Learning a lesson from this affair, Barnum stopped concealing all of his devices, even revealing his deceptions in a tell-all autobiography. As Kierkegaard wrote, "The world wants to be deceived,"
Reversal
No smoke screen, red herring, false sincerity, or any other diversionary device will succeed in concealing your intentions if you already have an established reputation for deception. And as you get older and achieve success, it often becomes increasingly difficult to disguise your cunning. Everyone knows you practice deception; persist in playing naive and you run the risk of seeming the rankest hypocrite, which will severely limit your room to maneuver. In such cases it is better to own up, to appear the honest rogue, or, better, the repentant rogue. Not only will you be admired for your frankness, but, most woderful and strange of all, you will be able to continue your stratagems.
Authority: Have you ever heard of a skillful general, who intends to surprise a citadel, announcing his plan to his enemy? Conceal your purpose and hide your progress; do not disclose the extent of your designs until they cannot be opposed, until the combat is over. Win the victory before you declare the war. In a word, imitate those warlike people whose designs are not known except by the ravaged country through which they have passed. (Ninon de Lenclos, 1623-1706)
Image: A Sheep's Skin. A sheep never marauds, a sheep never deceives, a sheep is magnificently dumb and docile. With a sheepskin on his back, a fox can pass right into the chicken coop.
Remember: It takes patience and humility to dull your brilliant colors, to put on the mask of the inconspicuous. Do not despair at having to wear such a bland mask it is often your unreadability that draws people to you and makes you appear a person of power.
Another psychological weakness on which to construct a smoke screen is the tendency to mistake appearances for reality the feeling that if someone seems to belong to your group, their belonging must be real. This habit makes the seamless blend a very effective front. The trick is simple: You simple blend in with those around you. The better you blend, the less suspicious you become. During the Cold War of the 1950s and '60s, as is now notorious, a slew of British civil servants passed secrets to the Soviets. They went undetected for years because they were apparently decent chaps, had gone to all the right schools, and fit the old-boy network perfectly. Blending in is the perfect smoke screen for spying. The better you do it, the better you can conceal your intentions.
In 1878 the American robber baron Jay Gould created a company that began to threaten the monopoly of the telegraph company Wester Union. The directors of Western Union decided to buy Gould's company up they had to spend a hefty sum, but they figured they had managed to rid themselves of an irritating competitor. A few months later, though, Gould was it at again, complaining he had been treated unfairly. He started up a second company to compete with Western Union and its new acquisition. The same thing happened again: Western Union bought him out to shut him up. Soon the pattern began for the third time, but now Gould went for the jugular: He suddenly staged a bloody takeover struggle and managed to gain complete control of Western Union. He had established a pattern that had tricked the company's directors into thinking his goal was to be bought out at a handsome rate. Once they paid him off, they relaxed and failed to notice that he was actually playing for higher stakes. The pattern is powerful in that it deceives the other person into expecting the opposite of what you are really doing.
Exterior Floor 2 Southwest Bedroom Floor 2 Southwest Bedroom Directly Floor 2 Southeast Bedroom Floor 2 Northeast Bedroom Floor 1 Bedroom Floor 1 Bedroom Directly Beneath The Floor 1 Bedroom Closet/Storage Floor 1 Entry Floor 1 Entry Directly Beneath The Floor 1 Living Room Floor 1 Dining Room/Sunroom Floor 1 Kitchen Floor 1 Kitchen Directly Beneath The Floor 1 Kitchen Directly Beneath The Floor 1 Bathroom Floor 1 Bathroom Directly Beneath The Floor 1 Mud Room/Laundry Floor 1 Mud Room/Laundry Floor 1 Beneath The Stair/Pantry Crawlspace Beneath Dining Room Attic Attic Over Entry/Bedroom Attic Over Mud Room/Laundry Crawlspace Directly Beneath Kitchen Crawlspace Directly Beneath The First
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Querido Zorro Ágil, Viajaba Con Ximena Por Un Bosque Extraordinario. Juntos, Observaban Pájaros De Colores Vivos Mientras La Brisa Suave Movía Las Hojas Verdes. Un Juguetón León Saltó Rápidamente Sobre Un Tronco, Haciendo Que Todos Rieran.
La Búho, Con Su Sabiduría, Habló Sobre Cómo Las Mariposas Volaban Casi Inmediatamente Hacia Nuevas Flores. El Día Terminó Con Un Cielo Azul, En El Que Brillaba La Luna, Y Ximena Agradeció Al Zorro Por La Increíble Experiencia.
