Quote

Playing with appearances and mastering the arts of deception are among the aesthetic pleasures of life. They are also key components in the acquisition of power.

Robert Greene

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Robert Greene
Age: 34 †
Born: 1558
Born: July 11
Died: 1592
Died: September 3
Playwright
Poet
Writer
Norwich
Norfolk
Among
Acquisition
Playing
Components
Pleasure
Deception
Art
Pleasures
Also
Aesthetic
Power
Arts
Life
Appearance
Mastering
Keys
Appearances

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It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause by yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others — playing people against one another, making them pursue you.
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50 is a great person. I was a little intimidated when I met him for the first time in 2006. I didn't know what to expect. It ended up we got along really well. That's why we decided to do a book together, The 50th Law of Power.
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Be brutal with the past, especially your own, and have no respect for the philosophies that are foisted on you from outside.
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All masters want to appear more brilliant than other people.
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Keep your friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent
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People are more complicated than the masks they wear in society.
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The pyramid would start at the bottom: you don't know who you are or what you're intended to do in life. And so, the X factor - the ingredient that will make you powerful, that will make you successful is your energy and drive and your tenacity. If you've got that, there's nothing in the world that's going to stop you.
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You must always be prepared to place a bet on yourself, on your future, by heading in a direction that others seem to fear.
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I have examples of people who find their way back later on in life, in their 30's, 40's, it can happen in your 50's, I'm sure it can. It's not really a science. It's maybe more of an art.
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It's fortunately a kind of society we live in where we can be diverse. People can take different paths and not feel like they're doing something wrong.
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People around you, constantly under the pull of their emotions, change their ideas by the day or by the hour, depending on their mood. You must never assume that what people say or do in a particular moment is a statement of their permanent desires.
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If you're only ten feet above, then you're better than when you're on the ground.
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True genius, in strategy or anywhere, lies in self-control, self-mastery, presence of mind, fluidity of thought.
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When there are no other options, people fight harder. If the choice is life or death they have nothing to lose.
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Deception is a developed art of civilization and the most potent weapon in the game of power
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There are things that you study, classes you've taken, activities you've done that feel right, that feel like they're in your power zone. So it doesn't take incredible amount of effort for you to do it - it just comes more naturally to you.
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I hate the way war is seen as something inherently brutal and ugly. Yes, much of war brings out the worst part of our [people's] nature. But in war, all kinds of noble human traits have been developed, such as discipline, cohesion, pride.
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Mistakes and failures are precisely your means of education. They tell you about your own inadequacies.
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Never whine, never complain, never try to justify yourself.
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In the opening stage of most careers any attention is what you want, any attention is good attention, even if it's bad attention.
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