The book behind the book 48 laws of power

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How does power arise?

Have you ever asked yourself:

How do those in power in politics and business act in their everyday lives?

Why is it that some can assert themselves on the throne of their power, while others cannot?

And – the most important question of all – how can a person consciously improve his own position, in whatever areas of life, regardless of his current situation in life, sustainably and systematically?

These are precisely the questions I would like to explore in this post. A work from 1647 is particularly suitable for answering them: “The Art of Worldly Wisdom” by the Jesuit Baltasar Gracián.

“The Art of Worldly Wisdom” consists of tangible advice that can often be linked together, providing easily applicable suggestions for most life situations.

To answer the three questions posed, we will use examples from the real world. The comparison of well-known people makes it clearer. Two prominent figures from German politics can be mentioned here to illustrate the point: Former German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and her predecessor Gerhard Schröder.

Although one of the biggest and most successful reforms, Agenda 2010 – the reform of the German social system and labor market – was implemented under the Schröder government, he held on to power for just seven years, not even two full legislative periods. By comparison, Dr. Merkel stayed in power for four full legislative periods.

Merkel’s government benefited from the economic upswing or Agenda 2010 through Schröder’s government. So how can it be that Gerhard Schröder “only” ruled the country for seven years and Angela Merkel ruled the country as Chancellor for over 16 years?

Agenda 2010 was certainly controversial, but the reforms were necessary at the time – at the end of the 1990s or at the beginning of the new century. So the Schröder government acted correctly at the time. Nevertheless, this government was voted out by the people. Merkel’s government not only continued the same policy unchanged, but even intensified these reforms without losing popularity.

On the contrary, as a result of the same reforms, Germany was doing steadily better economically and Angela Merkel was taking credit, and she did so without toning down the reforms again after the economic upswing. From this perspective, Merkel’s government should have faced double rejection – compared to the Schröder government of the time, but the opposite occurred.

The earlier reforms were no longer economically necessary, and the gap between rich and poor grew increasingly wider. Especially from 2008, the difference between rich and poor grew. In 2015, warnings were already being voiced by an OECD study that wealth in Germany was particularly unequally distributed compared to other industrialized nations. From this, it can be concluded that maintaining power does not necessarily have anything to do with critical political decisions.

Are professional skills enough to climb the career ladder? Or to secure power for the long term? Do professional competencies guarantee a person in power enough intellectual potential to successfully assert himself in the daily game of intrigue, dealing with the most diverse characters?

Comparing Merkel’s competencies with those of Schröder, one could repeatedly assume that technical competencies do not play a paramount role. Angela Merkel holds a doctorate in physics and is not known to have profound knowledge in, say, one of the special fields of law. Mr. Schröder is a fully qualified lawyer, so he should have better professional qualifications for a chancellor than Angela Merkel, since an overview in legal matters is more likely to be helpful than in physics.

Let’s now take a look at ways of acting and tactics for gaining and maintaining power, as well as their consequences. Observing Gerhard Schröder at the time, it can be said that this person was a doer. He took risks, spoke his mind directly and openly, showed himself smoking a Cohiba cigar, but also eating a bratwurst. Such trading methods, especially his direct and open approach, polarize. Some hold him in high esteem, while others find him absolutely unsympathetic – in any case, he provides plenty of targets for opponents and rivals.

Not so Angela Merkel. Her manner always seemed modest and reserved; even on far-reaching events – both positive and negative – she always showed only moderate emotions. She always remained friendly and polite. Her actions were characterized by subtle, indirect approaches. She did her household shopping herself, which conveyed her “down-to-earthness”.

Thanks to this approach, the power she holds was much harder to attack. Her manner rarely caused offense, did not move minds, she had less headwind to contend with.

With this subtle, polite and moderate approach, assuming determination, one gets ahead better, especially in corporations and politics.

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Standard works of world literature for rulers and those who want to become rulers

Even today, Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince is considered required reading for those in power in politics and business. Machiavelli’s work offers recommendations on how to protect, expand and consolidate the position of power that one has already attained. On the surface, two of the questions I posed at the beginning could thus be answered by Machiavelli’s work.

But it is much more challenging to answer the third question. How can a system be developed that gives “normal” people tangible advice and helps them to grow in their current life situation, whatever that may be?

I researched various books and publications, books that smart people recommended. So I learned that the favorite book of the great economist Peter F. Drucker was “The Art of Worldly Wisdom”.

The Pocket Oracle is a collection of 300 practical pieces of advice that have lost none of their relevance to this day. Many consider it the best tactical guide to life in world literature. The 300 aphorisms are formulated in a very condensed way and offer decision-making aids for the most diverse life and professional situations. However, one must have read through “The Art of Worldly Wisdom” several times to get into its maelstrom, especially to grasp the profound wisdom.

In the aphorisms I recognized that many of the advices from the Pocket Oracle can be recognized in the patterns of Angela Merkel’s actions. Enclosed are some excerpts from the aphorisms that identify and reflect the behavior of the chancellor:

Restraint and secrecy is one of the supreme maxims in Graciàn’s Pocket oracle:

Gracian 179: Reticence is the Seal of Capacity.
A breast without a secret is an open letter. Where there is a solid foundation secrets can be kept profound: there are spacious cellars where things of moment may be hid. Reticence springs from selfcontrol, and to control oneself in this is a true triumph. You must pay ransom to each you tell. The security of wisdom consists in temperance in the inner man. The risk that reticence runs lies in the crossquestioning of others, in the use of contradiction to worm out secrets, in the darts of irony: to avoid these the prudent become more reticent than before. What must be done need not be said, and what must be said need not be done.

Angela Merkel was known for her restraint and secrecy. If, it is her spokesman who mainly passes on the negative events to the press. Well – Gracián has a recommendation for this, too, under Aphorism No. 64: “Bad news should not be delivered, much less received.”

Courtesy and kindness:

Aphorism 14 – “The Thing Itself and the Way it is done. Reality and manner. Substance is insufficient, circumstance is also vital. A bad manner ruins everything, even justice and reason. A good manner makes up for everything: it gilds a ‘no’, sweetens truth, and beautifies old age itself. How something is done plays a key role in all affairs, and a good manner is a winning trick. Graceful conduct is the chief ornament of life; it gets you out of any tight situation.

Mrs. Merkel was always polite, aloof and friendly. In her always moderate, thoughtful behavior, she rarely took sides. Thus, for psychological reasons, she remains evasive but neutral. 

It was mentioned above that Angela Merkel did her own household shopping. Such a thing naturally brought a lot of popularity and sympathy among voters. So this way of acting certainly also serves to not lose touch with the lives of “ordinary” people, and for good reason.

Let’s take a look at where Gracián stands on this:

Gracian 232: Have a Touch of the Trader. Life should not be all thought: there should be action as well. Very wise folk are generally easily  deceived, for while they know out-of-the-way things they do not know the ordinary things of life, which are much more needful. The observation of higher things leaves them no time for things close at hand. Since they know not the very first thing they should know, and what everybody knows so well, they are either considered or thought ignorant by the superficial multitude. Let therefore the prudent take care to have something of the trader about him – enough to prevent him being deceived and so laughed at, Be a man adapted to the daily round, which if not the highest is the most necessary thing in life. Of what use is knowledge if it is not practical, and to know how to live is nowadays the true knowledge.

The example of Angela Merkel, as well as numerous other prominent examples, shows what an excellent thinking tool the Pocket Oracle is, and how useful it is in practice. François Mitterrand also followed Gracián’s advice throughout his life. The advice of “The Art of Worldly Wisdom” is timeless, both for people in positions of power, but also for everyday life, it is a wise guide for a good way of life. But not only that. At the same time, the Pocket Oracle shows the most effective way up. 300 aphorisms teach the reader how to live and survive better in the real world.

A typical strategy of Jean-Claude Juncker, the ex-president of the European Commission, can also be traced in the aphorisms: “253 – Don’t talk too clearly” in conjunction with “164 – Throw Straws in the Air. Juncker usually encapsulates his plans in such a complex way that there is no room for criticism. If there is no great resistance during publication, which is usually the case, the project is implemented.

Alexander the Great also acted as if he knew the Pocket Oracle: He usually obtained a personal impression in critical situations (cf. 080 “Take care when gathering information“). Likewise, he rarely trusted only an analysis presented to him (cf. 227 “Do not be the Slave of First Impressions“). Napoleon Bonaparte, on the other hand, had thoroughly studied Alexander’s procedures and imitated him. 

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The secret rules of power – better presented in The Art of Worldly Wisdom than in the book 48 Laws of Power

What is particularly interesting is how Gracián’s 300 aphorisms almost completely unveil the mysterious world of the powerful. The aphorisms unmask the ethics and politeness of those in power, which appear on the surface, as manipulative and purely a means to an end.

Machiavelli’s Prince, for example, offers a lot of tangible advice, but precisely for those already in power, which is of course a popular topic. Gracián’s aphorisms apply to everyone and everyone can benefit from them – to whatever extent.

The Pocket Oracle gives advice on all relevant areas of life, in order to assert oneself in everyday life, and not only recommendations for action for the powerful, as found in The Prince. With Gracián’s aphorisms one can both protect oneself from manipulation and from power, and with its help come to power.

Another example should follow at this point: Vladimir Putin did not come to power because he had an outstanding or even virtuous personality. His recipe, especially as an ex-KGB agent, was his masterful dissimulation, his indirect approach, the concealment of his true intentions, and the early unmasking of the intentions of his competitors. He became Russia’s president because, it seemed, he posed no threat to the oligarchs and thus was not taken seriously by them.

Now one thing is interesting: at no point does Machiavelli’s work provide advice on a rise like Putin’s, but The Art of Worldly Wisdom certainly does. Regardless of this, some of the brutal methods and procedures from The Prince have fortunately “gone out of fashion.” The advice from The Art of Worldly Wisdom, on the other hand, is in some cases even more current than it was 360 years ago, such as “Always act as if you were seen” (cf. 297). In this day and age, when video cameras are installed almost everywhere in public places and almost complete surveillance on the Internet is the rule rather than the exception, Aphorism 297 seems absolutely timely.

Therefore, the question arises: Why does almost everyone know Machiavelli’s work The Prince (at least the title) and hardly anyone knows Gracián’s PocketOracle?

Perhaps some powerful people were not interested in making this clever little book of wonders better known. If the masses would know these tactics and strategies about power, manipulation, cunning and dissimulation, the power elite would lose control. There is another aspect to consider: In order to circumvent the need for approval by his Jesuit order, Gracián’s writings did not appear under his name. Despite this measure, his writings were probably considered so dangerous that Gracián was banned from writing and sentenced to imprisonment. 

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48 Laws of Power vs. 300 Aphorisms

For centuries, only a very small number of people have always controlled the rules of power and the art of living. Currently, the richest 40 to 50 people have more wealth than about 4,000,000,0000 (quite a lot of zeros!) poor people put together. The reasons for such an asymmetrical development are manifold. Reference is always made to education and origin. However, behind such a development there are also certain behaviors, mechanisms of power and art of living. Many of these mechanisms are subtle and mostly run in our subconscious. They are rarely learned in school. Such mechanisms of power and (over-)art of living can be observed just as well in the free nature. But nature is relentlessly brutal, and so fauna and flora are mostly at the mercy of circumstances without having any influence themselves – a sheep can hardly do anything against a wolf.

We humans, however, can become aware of these subtle and sometimes unconscious mechanisms of power and art of living and make use of them. Now these subtle actions, once they have come to the surface or become effective, are apparently quite simple. In the background, however, they are complex, require a deeper analysis of the surrounding circumstances, a detailed consideration of the people or target groups involved, as well as one’s own (mental) premises: What tactics, strategies do I use?

However – the consequences of such actions remain: What you have already lost in a battle is difficult to get back. To the statement “with a lost battle the war is not yet lost”, I would like to counter that nothing makes more successful than the success itself. And if you have already lost a battle, then the two fighting parties are in unequal starting positions in the next battle.

Of course, after losing a battle, one should not immediately declare the whole war lost. But it is indispensable, as Gracián explains, to recognize the decisive moments of life in order to promote one’s own progress (cf. 288).

This guide is not about inducing immoral actions. Rather, the goal is to know the techniques of power, because the less manipulation by decision-makers and those in power will bear fruit. It is time for more people to take responsibility, to come of age and not to silently accept that individuals exploit millions and billions of others for their greed. An economy of flourishing small and medium-sized enterprises would stand for a healthy society and not the absolute rule of a few large corporations. It must not always be the eternally same, unscrupulous and conscienceless people who remain in power, but the visionary and courageous.

Further The Art of Worldly Wisdom gives to consider that the 300 aphorisms often propagate the self-interest. Here it is to be interjected that humans, who can provide for themselves well, do also others, sometimes indirectly, good. The danger of the exaggerated selfishness exists ONLY because a small elite masters the rules of the power and uses these mercilessly for their purposes.

However, the 300 aphorisms are not to be understood at first go. Likewise, for a quick and safe self-consultation, a systematization of the 300 aphorisms falls. Exactly for these reasons I have written the Ebook 500 TACTICS. In the Ebook 500 TAKTIKEN the 300 aphorisms of Gracian are completely reproduced. Subsequently, a practical interpretation of the 300 aphorisms (formulated as tactics) for a better understanding and systematization of the 300 aphorisms in 9 subject areas, but not only that…

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