“When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet.”Tagged: Power, Success
“The key to power, then, is the ability to judge who is best able to further your interests in all situations. Keep friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent.”Tagged: Power, Work, Success, It's Okay To Have Dumb Friends?
“To succeed in the game of power, you have to master your emotions.”Tagged: Power, Success, Emotion, Feelings
“The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves, they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.”Tagged: Power, Success, People, Happiness
“It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.”Tagged: Power, actions
“Be wary of friends—they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove.”Tagged: Power, Friends, enemies, Frenemies
“Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you.”Tagged: Power, Attention, Image, Originality
“Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses.”Tagged: Power, Attention, Mystery
“Do not leave your reputation to chance or gossip; it is your life's artwork, and you must craft it, hone it, and display it with the care of an artist.”Tagged: Power, Reputation, Gossip
“Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.”Tagged: Power
“Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense.”Tagged: Power, Secrets
“When you show yourself to the world and display your talents, you naturally stir all kinds of resentment, envy, and other manifestations of insecurity... you cannot spend your life worrying about the petty feelings of others.”Tagged: Power, Envy, Showing Off
“When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.”Tagged: Words, Saying Less, Power
“Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.”Tagged: Words, Saying Less, Power