THE 48 LAWS OF POWER

'''The 48 Laws of Power''' is a book by Robert Greene and published by Joost Elffers, compared to Niccolò Machiavelli's ''The Prince'',^[1] with the main difference being that the audience is not royalty, but the masses. It takes the form of a manual which provides laws for those who seek to increase their power in life. The work aims to illustrate that "certain actions always increase one's power ... while others decrease it and even ruin us." The work has become very popular among hip hop artists and producers.^[2]

Contents

Sources and inspirations

Popular culture references

Notes and references

Sources and inspirations

Greene uses anecdotes from notable historical figures such as Talleyrand, Otto von Bismarck, Catherine the Great, Mao Zedong, Haile Selassie, Lola Montez, Saul Alinsky and various con artists in order to exemplify the 48 rules. Published in September 1998, the book has been compared to Sun-Tzu's The Art of War, written as a set of 13 theories on Chinese ground military strategy with the common idea with Greene's laws: it's all about illusion. Furthermore, Greene's modern way of courtship was greatly inspired by the writings of Baltasar Gracian and Niccolò Machiavelli. Greene also often appears to use an amoral approach, leaving the reader to weigh the ethical implications of the laws.
His blog ''Power, Seduction and War: The Robert Greene Blog'', has expanded many of the themes from this book--which he commonly refers to as the POWER book.

Popular culture references

★ Matt Albie (played by Matthew Perry) references ''The 48 Laws of Power'' in the episode "Monday" of the NBC TV series ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip''.

★ Rapper Jay-Z quoted ''48'' in an interview circa 2001.

★ Rapper Beanie Sigel raps in "Nothing Like It" that the "48 laws" got him "moving niggas like puppets with no strings attached".

★ Rapper Kanye West references ''The 48 Laws of Power'' in a freestyle over Beanie Sigel's "The Truth" Instrumental.

★ Rapper Freeway on a freestyle quotes "strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter"

★ 50 Cent referred to this book in an interview with VIBE

★ British rock band Septembre references the third law of power with the title of their 2004 EP, ''Rule 3: Conceal Your Intentions''.

★ Hip-hop producer DJ Premier has a line from the book tattooed on his right forearm.

★ Rapper MC Paul Barman has performed a song quoting the titles of the first twenty-four laws.

★ American basketball player Chris Bosh mentioned in his first http://NBA.com blog that he is reading ''The 48 Laws of Power''.

★ Rapper Canibus referred to the book in his song "Harbinger of Light", saying "Law One through Forty-Eight/Law Forty Nine is the loophole that I used to escape".

★ Rapper Young Buck in his song Put Me In The Projects says "If theres 48 Laws Of Power lemme ask ya is Rule Number One never outshine the master" in reference to his relationship with 50 Cent, the head of G-Unit.

Notes and references

1. Review - The 48 Laws of Power
2. Laws for an Outlaw Culture