Law 11: Learn To Keep People Dependent On You

The 48 Laws Of Power Summary Series

Judgement

“To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.”

Transgression Of The Law

Sometime in the Middle Ages, a mercenary soldier (also known as condottiere), whose name has not been recorded, saved the town of Siena from a foreign aggressor.

The city was extremely grateful for this act, however no amount of money or honor could possibly compare in value to the preservation of a city’s liberty. The people thought of making him the lord, they said that wasn’t enough to recompense him. At last, one of them stood before the assembly and called to debate to this matter exclaiming, “Let us kill him and then worship him as…