The 48 Laws of Power
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "This book has controversy, but most of it stems from reviewers that believe all people are good inside and unicorns deliver their vegan low fat cappuccino with cream. Well, most people aren't kind, and this book prepared me for reality. It doesn't teach one to be self absorbed or evil or a heretic. It teaches one to stand your ground and to protect yourself from taking unnecessary burden, unfair treatment, and manipulation from corrupt people."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2017', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-4 review-rating', 'review_body': 'there seems to be a lot of love and hate surrounding this book, so if you are curious but unsure, this review should help you decide whether or not to buy the book, and how it will impact you\n\nFirst, to understand the 48 laws of power, you must know two key ideas\n1. you CAN NOT escape the power game. thinking you can "not participate" is as foolish as thinking that you could somehow escape gravity or make the sun stand still. Robert Greene explains why in the intro with some excellent examples\n2. the 48 laws of power are neither good nor evil; they are just LAWS. If someone pushed a man off a cliff would you blame gravity for for his demise? This is the mindset you must adopt in order to learn a lot from this book.\n\nThings I Liked\n- NEW PARADIGM\nafter reading the 48 laws, you will never see the world the same way again. once you understand some of these laws you will see many underlying currents and motives you did not see before.\n- INCREASES POWER\none of the main reasons to buy the book. you wil become exponentially more powerfull by knowing and understanding these laws\n-CRYSTAL CLEAR\nevery law is clearly outlined with "transgression" of the law, "observance" of the law, keys to power, and a "reversal"\n-GREAT STORIES\nthe 48 laws are packed with mindblowing and sometimes humorous stories of people in history practicing these laws. this is helpful as some of the concepts are quite abstract.\n\nWhat I didn\'t like\n\n-RISKY\nan old proverb says " A man who plays with snakes will eventually be bitten". If you begin to use the 48 Laws improperly, you could get yourself in some dangerous situations, lose friends, piss off a lot a people, and destroy relationships\n- REQUIRES DISCERNMENT\nif you you are looking for a highly concrete book that the says "do xyz and you will accomplish vyx" look elsewhere. the Laws require good judgement and and and prospecting nature to practice and apply\n-NOT FOR EVERYONE\nIf you are aghast at the idea of manipulation and deceit then read with caution.\n\nOVERALL: If you want to have more power or a better understanding of why different situations turn out the the way they do, you should definitely read the 48 laws of power by Robert Greene. If you want to be naive, easily manipulated, weak, you should ignore this book and go watch some netfilx.\nThanks for reading'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-2 review-rating', 'review_body': 'All ethics, decency, courtesy and fairness falls out of the Golden Rule - "Treat others as you would like to be treated". So the question is what happens when we are all those things, for the best of our ability, but we get treated poorly by a narcissist that abuses our kindness. Do we the embrace the psychology of our abuser and accept that is how the world is and that it was OUR fault for being naive?\n\nThese rules are the revenge fantasy of a wounded child archetype. They are highly dysfunctional in any healthy community, relationship, friendships of family. If you practice them, you will end up losing the most valuable of friendships and other relationships that would have helped you out the most in life, and keep you in that hell.\n\nIf you want to be able to recognize psychopathic indicators in others, read up some books on modern psychology that addresses that directly. It is not very hard to recognize such people.\n\nI heard this is the most popular book ordered in US prisons. That should tell you something.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2017', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Not everything in here is pretty, good, or pleasant. Then again, this is about power, not about being a "good person", whatever that means.\n\nI wish I had read this when I was in my teens. It would have prevented me making a lot of naive mistakes as a young man.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This book takes the worst parts of the human mind and drags them down into the abyss. And then thrives there. When you open this book, it\'s akin to stepping at the edge of the cavern. You don\'t notice how its stalactite-filled ceiling echo the horrors and the gore and the piss and the vomit of others that came before. Its passages are full of the bodies of good men and women who were caught by the beasts that live there. You know you should turn back after seeing the first mangled corpse, but you\'re enthralled by the journey. It may come off as exciting. "What harm can it do?" you might think. "There\'s treasure at the end," you might think.\n\nThen you see the first demon of forty-eight. It doesn\'t do anything. It stands, however, at the centre of the first level. It stares at you, its black eyes full of emptyness. You may grow scared. And you\'d be right to. Or, like a fool, you will approach this horned burnt skin creature. It stands tall and appears almost as if it were a part of the cavern itself. Its transparent nature, made to lure you into thinking it does not exist, makes it even more dangerous. And when you are well within its reach, it seizes you with its mighty clawed hand and eats you whole. But something strange happens. You don\'t die. You fall. And you fall far.\n\nWhen you finally come to, your body, full of pain, and soreness, and that horrible feeling of nausea explodes inside you. As if a piece of your soul was eaten away. It takes you a while before you realise that you are now deeper into the abyss. There\'s less light. But you still hear some of the comforts of nature. The rushing water into the bodies of aqua. The sound of drops from the stalactites. The distant birds chirping. You would think that what you saw was some illusion. That you slipped and fell. Or that some other thing occurred. A bad lunch; a meal that made you ill. If you were smart, you\'d turn around and go home. But most people aren\'t smart. They keep going.\n\nYou hear a fox\'s cry suddenly. You can\'t believe your ears. A fox? Here? And you follow the sound. When you arrive to where the fox sits, its back to you. You might say, "Oh you poor creature. Are you lost? Do you need any help getting out?" Then it turns. It\'s not a fox. It\'s not....an animal in the normal sense. The world around you suddenly grows colder and darker. You may take a step back. But the fox, with red eyes, eyes that are bleeding and putrid and full of maggots, follows you. It\'s screeching. Loudly. And you cover your ears. But that doesn\'t help. And when the fox reaches up to you, it lunges at you. And eats its way into your heart. And you black out. When you awaken, the cavern is different. As if you were moved elsewhere. The walls are growing a faint red. Your chest feels like it\'s on fire. And you can\'t feel your arm. But it slowly begins to regain its feeling. Then you puke out blackness. It\'s not a puke like anything you\'ve seen. The human body isn\'t made to expel something like this. Something is clearly wrong. That was the second demon. You might panic and run. Or you might not. If you were smart, you\'d turn around and go home. But most people aren\'t smart. They keep going.\n\nYou rub your head, then your arm. You get up to your feet and look around. Things seem hazy. Much darker than before. You\'re confused. You don\'t know what you saw. You look around. Maybe try and find a way out. Suddenly you see a light at the end. You decide to follow it. And you spot an old man sitting on a small mound. He had a long flowing white beard, a grand white gown with the names of holy people written and he wore a crown. Much rather, he wore seven crowns made of gold, silver and copper, and each crown was full of diamonds of various colours and shapes. His eyes were gentle. And smiled, like a father does to his child. His presence gave off something warm about it.\n\n"Who are you?" You might ask.\n\n"I am the last of all that is good. Turn ye back and never return. Ere thou too shalt be consumed," the mysterious fellow said, in a loud and booming voice. You might think the old man mad, others might think the old man illogical, and finally others might say that he\'s ignorant or outdated or that he can\'t understand the intricacies of the new world, the modern world. He is a relic of the past, with all those pesky morals and traditions. We can\'t have morals or traditions in the future.\n\nIf you heed the advice, you may yet be saved. If you don\'t, then your soul will slowly be consumed. Until you too are no different than the demons you should rightfully fear. Even if you were not a religious person, it would be obvious to see how unethical this book is. You will become a spawn of evil. And no amount of prayer and church-going will ever be enough. Because you have been done the unforgiveable knowingly.\n\nIf you wish to learn how to use power for good, then I would recommend Aquinas\'s De Regno, Vincent of Beauvais\'s The Education of Noble Children, Cicero\'s De Officiis, Seneca\'s De Clementia, and the King\'s Mirror by anonymous. There are many more on the observation of power and its use in business, but these work. And you don\'t need to be underhanded in order to do so. The best businessman is the one who can keep his soul intact, and thinks of the good of others. Not himself.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2016', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This is a controversial book, mostly because the average person wishes the world were peaceful, friendly, and not full of chaos and drama...\n\nWell, unfortunately, wishes don\'t make it a reality, and there are people out there who prey on the weak and take advantage of those who are too trusting. The 48 Laws of Power (by Robert Greene) illuminates many ways that those predatory people can gain power over anyone who is not aware of the manipulation and power games they play. And while it may take some practice, study, and a keen eye for detail, anyone can learn to spot these (often subtle) power struggles and often even turn the tables on the enemy at hand!\n\nPlease, if you are considering reading this book but are \'on the fence\' about it because of the people saying negative things about it, just read it! This has become one of my favorite books in a short period of time, and it has given me a new way to perceive the world around me. Robert Greene is a great author, and the way this book is formatted / written makes it educational, entertaining, and compelling, all at the same time. I wouldn\'t necessarily recommend it to every single person in the world, because it is not for the faint of heart; but if you\'ve ever been taken advantage of, shut out of someone\'s life, lost control of a situation, had someone feign authority over you (successfully), had relationship problems, problems in the workplace, etc, you deserve to give this a read-through at LEAST once. Don\'t take everything at face-value... and by that I mean don\'t decapitate anyone for "transgression" of any of the laws, but definitely think about times you have seen these laws at work, and how a grasp on a relevant law from the book could have changed the outcome of that particular scenario.\n\n.Long story short, this is an amazing book! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :)'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': '48 laws of power are 48 ways to manipulate people to your will by any and all means necessary. "Create a cult like following" give your disciples rituals to perform and ask them to make sacrifices in your behalf".\n"When asking for help, appeal to peoples self interest, never their mercy or gratitude".\n\nStrike the Shepard and the sheep will scatter. Play dumb, lure people in with kindness and use it against then later.\n\nThis book will not inspire anything good.\nThe author gives thanks to others for help in the writing, however this is nothing more than a true representation of Law 3\nConceal your intentions, use people.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': 'WOW! I was asked to purchase this book for a client. Which I did. I wanted to see what my client was reading, so I ordered the for myself. I read the back cover....I was scared for humanity. Basically it is a "how to" manipulate and not take any responsibility for your own actions. "Don\'t outshine the master." WHO is the master? Talks about victims....so that make YOU reading the book, the tormentor?\n"Pose as a friend, work as a spy." I get that we should take control and not let people take advantage of us. But this books looks more like a "how to" for wanna be Sociopaths....\nThey should sell this book with "How to spot a sociopath!"'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This book is a must for anyone working for the corporate leviathans of our age. The scholarly research for this book is immense and impressive. It contains more non-fiction anecdotes from over thousands of years of human history than any book I have ever read.\n\nI graduated college in engineering in1996 right as the treasonous two decade plus mass movement of plants and entire industries began in earnest to China and Mexico. As millions of American jobs have been lost, dwindling work forces have been fighting like junkyard dogs over scarce resources.\n\nI was naive and tended to believe the best in people as I was born and raised in a small and relatively isolated enclave in Southern Appalachia. The last 24 years of Hard Knocks has made me a different person. I have been betrayed, knifed in the back, shut out by cliques, blind-sided publicity, etc. Nobody is after me in particular but absolutely EVERYONE is looking out after number one and don’t care who goes down in the process. Humanity has not changed over the millennia!\n\nI have unwittingly learned some of this book’s techniques over the years and have been a survivor of many mass layoffs that were inflicted on the workforce (during times of record profits I might add in case you might want to argue the business necessity of the firings). I am not using this book as a climb to the top as the upper echelons are much less secure and overrated than many tend to believe. Being a manager in a giant global conglomerate is like being the head football coach of a team where you control nearly nothing yet have all the responsibility for success or failure.\n\nThis book teaches survival. I reject that these principles are amoral. They are true reality. The folks who are pretend religious with Jesus coffee mugs and Bibles on their desks will put a thousand working families on the street if that’s what it takes to get their own personal bonus for the year. That’s just the way it is.\n\nTake what you need from this book and sweep the rest under the table. Use the principles according to your needs, organizational structure, market conditions, and personal strengths. I wish I had this book when I graduated college but would not have paid attention to it. I was full of optimism and Pollyanna positive thinking. The harsh reality of how the world works has set in and this book is a nightly reader for me as a result.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-2 review-rating', 'review_body': 'The two stars I am giving this book is because it DID teach me how power hungry people behave and what manipulation tactics they use. So, this book is invaluable in that it clearly lays down for people who have been on the receiving end of bullies, narcissistic people and manipulators, exactly what tactics they are using. So, while this will disturb you to the core, please read it if you been taken advantage of people like these in the past. For Self Defense and Awareness Purposes solely. Now that I have said that, this is a highly disturbing read. Yes, many power hungry people do behave this way. Yes, this is the REALITY of how people and institutions around the world manipulate and push people with less people around. But the author seems to be condoning them. I was deeply disturbed by this book and the author\'s "voice." If they meant this as an impartial study of reality (sad and depressing as that is), that is NOT how this comes across at all. In fact, I think a lot of the people who will be attracted to this book will be power hungry, narcissistic or outright narcissists. And this book is a manual that will help them hurt other people. And the rest who stumble across this book will probably be disgusted by it and shrink back. But to those, I say: Read this book as self defense. I am not sure what exactly the author intended by writing this book but we can use it to defend ourselves against predators. The next time you come across someone at work or at home whose power moves you just don\'t understand, look at this book. They are probably using one of these tactics that normal, decent people (which I think most, or at least, many people are) just don\'t use. This is truly a manual for how to become a narcissist.'}]