Galileo hit on a new strategy in 1610, when he discovered the moons of Jupiter. Instead of dividing the discovery among his patrons giving one the telescope he had used, dedicating a book to another, and so on as he had done in the past, he decided to focus exclusively on the Medicis. He chose the Medicis for one reason: Shortly after Cosimo I had established the Medici dynasty, in 1540, he had made Jupiter, the mightiest of the gods, the Medici symbol a symbol of a power that went beyond politics and banking, one linked to ancient Rome and its divinities.
Observance Of The Law
In the early 1600s, the Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo found himself in a precarious position. He depended on the generosity of great rulers to support his research, and so, like all Renaissance scientists, he would sometimes make gifts of his inventions and discoveries to the leading patrons of the time. Once, for instance, he presented a military compass he had invented to the Duke of Gonzaga. Then he dedicated a book explaining the use of the compass to the Medicis. Both rulers were grateful, and through them Galileo was able to find more students to teach. No matter how great the discovery, however, his patrons usually paid him with gifts, not cash. This made for a lie of constant insecurity and dependence. There must be an easier way, he thought.
Such is the fate, in some form or other, of all those who unbalance the master's sense of self, poke holes in his vanity, or make him doubt his preeminence. When the evening began, Fouquet was at the top of the world. By the time it had ended, he was at the bottom.
Let us examine the situation. The evening of the party, as Fouquet presented spectacle on spectacle to Louis, each more magnificent than the one before, he imagined the affair as demonstrating his loyalty and devotion to the king. Not only did he think the party would put him back in the king's favor, he thought it would show his good taste, his connections, and his popularity, making him indispensable to the king and demonstrating that he would make an excellent prime minister. Instead, however, each new spectacle, each appreciative smile bestowed by the guests on Fouquet, made it seem to Louis that his own friends and subjects were more charmed by the finance minister than by the king himself, and that Fouquet was actually flaunting his wealth and power. Rather than flattering Louis XIV, Fouquet's elaborate party offended the king's vanity. Louis would not admit this to anyone, of course instead, he found a convenient excuse to rid himself of a man who had inadvertently made him feel insecure.
Interpretation
Louis XIV, the Sun King, was a proud and arrogant man who wanted to be the center of attention at all times; he could not countenance being outdone in lavishness by anyone, and certainly not his finance minister. To succeed Fouquet, Louis chose Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a man famous for his parsimony and for giving the dullest parties in Paris. Colbert made sure that any money liberated from the treasury went straight into Louis's hands. With the money. Louis built a palace even more magnificent than Fouquet's the glorious palace of Versailles. He used the same architects, decorators, and garden designer. And at Versailles, Louis hosted parties even more extravagant than the one that cost Fouquet his freedom.
The next day, Fouquet was arrested by the king's head musketeer, D'Artagnan. Three months later he went on trial for stealing from the country's treasury. (Actually, most of the stealing he was accused of he had done on the king's behalf and with the king's permission.) Fouquet was found guilty and sent to the most isolated prison in France, high in the Pyrenees Mountains, where he spent the last twenty years of his life in solitary confinement.
Fouquet personally accompanied the young king through the geometrically aligned arrangements of shrubbery and flower beds. Arriving at the gardens' canals, they witnessed a fireworks display, which was followed by the performance of Moliere's play. The party ran well into the night and everyone agreed it was the most amazing affair they had ever attended.
After dinner there was a promenade through the chateau's gardens. The grounds and fountains of Vaux-le-Vicomte were to be the inspiration for Versailles.
The most brilliant nobility of Europe an some of the greatest minds of the time La Fontaine, La Rochefoucauld, Madame de Sevigne attended the party. Moliere wrote a play for the occasion, in which he himself was to perform at the evening's conclusion. The party began with a lavish seven-course dinner, featuring foods from the Orient never before taste in France, as well as new dishes created especially for the night. The meal was accompanied with music commissioned by Fouquet to honor the king.
Never Outshine The Master
Transgression Of The Law
Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's finance minister in the first years of his reign, was a generous man who loved lavish parties, pretty women, and poetry. He also loved money, for he led an extravagant lifestyle. Fouquet was clever and very much indispensable to the king, so when the prime minister, Jules Mazarin, died, in 1661, the finance minister expected to be named the successor. Instead, the king decided to abolish the position. This and other signs made Fouquet suspect that he was falling out of favor, and so he decided to ingratiate himself with the king by staging the most spectacular party the world had ever seen. The party's ostensible purpose would be to commemorate the completion of Fouquet's chateau, Vaux-le-Vicomte, but its real function was to pay tribute to the king, the guest of honor.
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Sansa watches the long procession of heroes and captives being presented before the King. Tywin Lannister is now Hand, and many are rewarded for their service to House Lannister during the Battle of the Blackwater, with over 600 new knights made.
Ser Loras Tyrell is named a member of Joffrey’s Kingsguard, and Margaery is betrothed to Joffrey. With this, Sansa's betrothal to Joffrey is ended, to her great relief. Mace Tyrell is named to the King’s small council.
Many of the great lords sworn to Casterly Rock and Highgarden receive honors, and many hedge knights and freeriders as well. Lothor Brune is knighted, and called Apple-Eater for defeating several Fossoways; Philip Foote is granted the lands of Lord Bryce Caron and elevated to lord. Hallyne the Pyromancer is named lord, but given no lands, and Lancel is named lord and given the land of the Darrys, except he may die or lose his arm from the wounds he suffered. Littlefinger is granted Harrenhal and named Lord Paramount of the Trident for negotiating the treaty which brought the Tyrells to the aid of King's Landing.
When the captives are brought in, many swear fealty to Joffrey, but several are killed for openly ridiculing the King and refusing to bend the knee. Later that night, Sansa goes to the godswood and meets Dontos Hollard, who is sad because the Queen still has plans for Sansa, and her escape will be impossible while the Queen is watching. However, Dontos does reveal that they will escape during Joffrey’s wedding in about a month. Dontos then gives her a hair net that resembles a silver spiderweb with amethysts in it. He tells her to wear it, for "It’s magic, you see. It’s justice you hold. It’s vengeance for your father. It’s home."
After aiding in the fall of Harrenhal, Arya is now serving Lord Roose Bolton as his cupbearer, "Nan". She is bothered by the killing and head-staking of many of the servants who worked for Lord Tywin, most of them inherited from Lady Shella Whent who held Harrenhal prior to Lord Tywin.[1] Arya does not wish to reveal herself to the Lord of the Dreadfort, even though she knows Roose to be one of King Robb Stark's bannermen.
Arya overhears a meeting between Bolton and his advisors, mainly Freys. The Freys believe that Robb will lose, and that they should sue for peace and leave Harrenhal. Roose states that he is not a man to be undone, like Stannis Baratheon was. Arya learns that Winterfell has fallen and is horrified when she finds out that her brothers are dead. Roose dismisses the Freys and has Arya remove the leeches.
Qyburn reads a letter from the Lady Walda, Roose's s new wife. Lord Bolton orders the letter burned, and a message sent to Helman Tallhart, who has recently taken Darry from the Lannisters. Roose orders Helman and Robett Glover to burn the castle and put the people within to the sword in the name of King Robb, and then to strike east for Duskendale. Roose says that both men will wish vengeance for what has transpired to their families and homes in the north.
Roose announces that he will hunt wolves that day, for he cannot sleep with all the howling at night. Meanwhile, Arya practices her water dance in the godswood of Harrenhal.
That evening, Lord Bolton returns with nine dead wolves, and he tells Arya that he means to give Harrenhal to Vargo Hoat when he returns to the north. Arya is to remain at Harrenhal to serve the goat. Outside the Wailing Tower, which is occupied by the Freys, she hears much shouting within and sees Elmar crying on the steps. The young son of Lord Walder Frey says, "We’ve been dishonored. There was a bird from the Twins. My lord father says I'll need to marry someone else." Elmar was promised a princess originally, but whether or not he knows it to be Arya[2] is unknown.
Arya decides to flee Harrenhal, and eventually convinces Gendry and Hot Pie to come with her that night. They meet at the Tower of Ghosts, Gendry says the postern gate is guarded, and Arya says she will get rid of the Bolton guard. She approaches him openly and tells him that Lord Roose has her giving a silver piece to all the guards for their service. She takes out the coin Jaqen gave her and drops it, when the guard reach for it, she slits his throat and the three ride out through a sally port and away from Harrenhal.
Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.
Finally, the book can be browsed through and picked apart for entertainment, for an enjoyable ride through the foibles and great deeds of our predecessors in power. A warning, however, to those who use the book for this purpose: It might be better to turn back. Power is endlessly seductive and deceptive in its own way. It is a labyrinth your mind becomes consumed with solving its infinite problems, and you soon realize how pleasantly lost you have become. In other words, it becomes most amusing by taking it seriously. Do not be frivolous with such a critical matter. The gods of power frown on the frivolous; they give ultimate satisfaction only to those who study and reflect, and punish those who skim the surfaces looking for a good time.
The book has also been designed for browsing and for examining the law that seems at that particular moment most pertinent to you. Say you are experiencing problems with a superior and cannot understand why your efforts have not lead to more gratitude or a promotion. Several laws specifically address the master-underling relationship, and you are almost certainly transgressing one of them. By browsing the initial paragraphs for the 48 laws in the table of contents, you can identify the pertinent law.
The 48 Laws of Power can be used in several ways. By reading the book straight through you can learn about power in general. Although several of the laws may seem not to pertain directly to your life, in time you will probably find that all of them have some application, and that in fact they are interrelated. By getting an overview of the entire subject you will best be able to evaluate your own past actions and gain a greater degree of control over your immediate affairs. A thorough reading of the book will inspire thinking and reevaulation long after you finish it.
The laws have a simple premise: Certain actions almost always increase one's power (the observance of the law), while others decrease it and even ruin us (the transgression of the law). These transgressions and observances are illustrated by historical examples. The laws are timeless and definitive.
Consider The 48 Laws of Power a kind of handbook on the arts of indirection. The laws are based on the writings of men and women who have studied and mastered the game of power. These writings span a period of more than three thousand years and were created in civilizations as disparate as ancient China and Renaissance Italy; yet they share common threads and themes, together hinging at an essence of power that has yet to be fully articulated. The 48 laws of power are the distillation of this accumulated wisdom, gathered from the writings of the most illustrious strategists (Suntzu, Clausewitz), statesmen (Bismarck, Talleyrand), courtiers (Castiglione, Graian), seducers (Ninon de Lenclos, Casanova), and con artists ("Yellow Kid" Weil) in history.
Finally, you must learn always to take the indirect route to power. Disguise your cunning. Like a billiard ball that caroms several times before it hits its target, your moves must be planned and developed in the least obvious way. By training yourself to be indirect, you can thrive in the modern court, appearing the paragon of decency while being the consummate manipulator.
