Dear reader,

In the last couple of months I've been spending hundreds of hours of my free time animating summaries of each chapter of The 48 Laws of Power written by the glorious Robert Greene on youtube.com/c/illacertus. I'm currently up to Law 44, simultaneously working on new exciting projects, but about to finish the book by the end of January. I'm finished! I spent about an average of 10 hours on each video, so even 4 minutes of material are a handful. I'm by far no voiceover talent, although I have improved a great deal since the humble beginnings of Law 1-19. The quality of my work lies in visualizing historical power games and summarizing the laws most important tenets, sort of bringing a, at times, difficult to read book to life in a compact, more easily digestable format. In other words, if you can't bring yourself to read this Machiavellian bible, I'm your man. Same if you've already read it or you're about to read it / reading it. Remind yourself of what you learned or read as you go along with the playlist, seeing Greene's words reenacted.

I've put together a short introductory trailer for the playlist that answers all the big questions.

Below are some of my personal favorites:

- 27 Create A Cult: Play on People's Need to Believe - Adolf Hitler, Religious Cults & Bullshit Artists
- 28 Enter Action with Boldness - Con-Artist Monsieur Lustig & Ivan the Terrible's Ascent
- 32 Play to People's Need to Believe - "Il Brigadino" The Alchemist, Advertising, Choosing Safety over Fear
- 48 Assume Formlessness - The Spartans downfall, '300' animated, on adapting / being fluid, moldable

I kindly invite you to watch these first, if you want to get a feel for my more recent work. With this book coming to an end The 50th Law, The Art of Seduction, Mastery, The Prince and Self-Reliance are only a few works coming up shortly in the new year. So, please partake in this win-win deal and SUBSCRIBE right away. Your appreciation makes it all worth it. Thank you very much!

This list links you directly to the YouTube video covering the definition, observations and theory of the according law.

Law 1: Never Outshine The Master - Nicholas Fouquet's demise, Galileo Galilei's patrons
Law 2: Never put too Much Trust in Friends - Michael III of the Byzantine Empire & Basilius' disloyalty
Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions - Otto von Bismarck's war strategy, Ninon de L'Enclos on seduction
Law 4: Always Say Less than Necessary - Louis XIV's "I shall see.", Coriolanus & the necessity of saying less
Law 5: So Much Depends on Reputation - Erwin Rommel, Thomas Edison & Sima Yi, the benefits guarding reputation
Law 6: Court Attention at all Cost - P.T. Barnum, Thomas Edison & Pietro Aretino, shining in the public sphere
Law 7: Get Others to Do the Work for You - Shakespeare on stealing, Nikola Tesla being used by Edison
Law 8: Make Other People Come To You Use Bait - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand manipulating Napoleon Bonaparte

Law 9: Win Through Your Actions - Not Argument - Mucianus killing off his arguing engineer, Michelangelo on pleasing egos
Law 10: Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky - The parasitic Lola Montez, Ludwig of Bavaria
Law 11: Learn To Keep People Dependent on You - Bismarck, the man behind the throne & surviving through importance
Law 12: Use Selective Honesty to Disarm Your Victim - Lustig conning Al Capone, on being an honest lier
Law 13: Asking for Help Appeal to People's Self Interest - Ancient greek politics, self-interest & win-win deals
Law 14: Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy - Direct vs. indirect information search, the subtlety of words
Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally - Hsiang Yu's hesitation & timid approach, a weakened enemy's ascent
Law 16: Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor - On being scarce & valuable, magnified presence

Law 17: Cultivate an air of Unpredictability - The predictable and easily caluclated is boring, exciting mysteriousness
Law 18: Isolation is Dangerous - The dangers of isolation, empors & kings must mingle in the masses
Law 19: Do Not Offend the Wrong Person - What if Hitler was given the opportunity of becoming an artist?
Law 20: Do Not Commit to Anyone - Commitment opens up vulnerabillities you cannot afford
Law 21: Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker - Being openly clever is stupid, being openly stupid is clever
Law 22: Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power - Giving in to the hierarchical structure of business
Law 23: Concentrate Your Forces - Rome, fighting on all sides vs one strong side
Law 24: Play the Perfect Courtier - Most insightful law, the art of courtiership is a necessity

Law 25: Recreate Yourself - Changing who you are, Julius Ceasar's flair for the dramatic
Law 26: Keep Your Hands Clean - Cesare Borgia from The Prince, Cleopatra's Seduction
Law 27: Create a Cult: Play on People’s Need to Believe - Adolf Hitler, Religious Cults & Bullshit Artists
Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness - Con-Artist Monsieur Lustig & Ivan the Terrible's Ascent
Law 29: Plan all the way to the End - Strong end-game strategy, Bismarck's expansion politics
Law 30: Make Your Accomplishments Seem Effortless - Tea ceremonies, the beauty of effortless appearances
Law 31: Get others to Play with the Cards you Deal - The Godfather, Ivan the Terrible, on offering forced options
Law 32: Play to People’s Fantasies - "Il Brigadino" The Alchemist, Advertising, Choosing Safety over Fear

Law 33: Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew - Know your enemies weak spots, one of my personal office stories
Law 34: Be Royal in Your Own Fashion – Act Like a King - Christopher Columbus' Ascent, Asking for the Moon
Law 35: Master the Art of Timing - Joseph Fouché, choosing sides & playing Robespierre, Louis XIV & Napoleon
Law 36: Disdain things you cannot have - Ignoring someone is the best way to infuriate them, no arguments
Law 37: Create Compelling Spectacles - Dr. Weisleder, the moon doctor, carrying a lavish brand
Law 38: Think as you like, but behave like others - Elevating yourself above the crowd, you make an easy target
Law 39: Stir Up Waters to Catch Fish - Provoke your opponents into being trapped, monkey see, monkey do
Law 40: Despise the Free Lunch - Louis XIV on buying allies, strategic generosity, everything has it's cost

Law 41: Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes - Alexander the Great on outshining his father Philip II
Law 42: Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep Will Scatter - Cutting the snake at the head, dissolving enemy groups
Law 43: Work on the Heart and Mind of Others - Louis XVI's mistress, Marie-Antoinette / 'Madame Deficit'
Law 44: Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect - NLP technique, mirroring people, Alcibiades charm & wit
Law 45: Preach Change But Never Reform Quickly - Change is a wish we have, but dislike when it's happening
Law 46 Never Appear Too Perfect - On envy, how to possibly avoid & deal with it, with success hate is inevitable
Law 47: In Victory Learn When To Stop - The perfect application of Jeanne-Marie Poisson / Madame Pompadour
Law 48: Assume Formlessness - The Spartans downfall, '300' animated, on adapting / being fluid, moldable

In full support of the Red Pill community helping men find their way in an unapologetic world.

illacertus here, I obsessively study Robert Greene and his works,
currently animating ‘The 48 Laws of Power’ summaries (youtube.com/c/illacertus).
Let's talk about the core chapter ‘Law 24: Play the Perfect Courtier’ in other words “Handle others perfectly."

When you look at the times of Niccolo Machiavelli and compare the basic works of power to today, it’s astonishing how little has changed in terms of the authority & subordinate relationship. Here's an excerpt from a 500 years old book;

“The aim of the perfect courtier is so to win for himself the favor and mind of the prince whom he serves that he may be able to tell him, and always will tell him, the truth about everything he needs to know, without fear or risk of displeasing him; and that when he sees the mind of his prince inclined to a wrong action, he may dare to oppose him and in a gentle manner avail himself of the favor acquired by his good accomplishments, so as to dissuade him of every evil intent and bring him to the path of virtue." –Baldassare Castiglione (The Book of the Courtier, 1516)

Greene’s next book “The Laws of Human Nature” will go deep with why history is repeating itself over and over again, where our human behavior comes from and why it’s still much the same (to add to that; Friedrich Nietzsche will be a great star in the book).

To my luck I made my major mistakes in courtier ship with teachers who didn’t have as much power over me as my authorities today. Disregarding the master and pupil relationship I’d argue about everything, ask questions that made the teacher insecure and defensive, I’d be arrogant and feeling to have to play a certain dominant role in the classroom. I would probably not be enjoying such a good status in the office now, if I hadn’t made the majority of my teachers dislike me. 500 years ago I would’ve been beheaded in the court no doubt.

But, that's the thing. The majority of people aren't aware of what's going on and start their careers good-spirited and naive as fuck. They make all kinds of mistakes, break law after law and find themselves fired for reasons they can't make any sense of. Some of it is common sense, but a lot of it is in the shadows; eg. eye and body movement, micro-expressions in the face, unusual hand gestures, a slight change of tone etc. and if you haven't instinctively learnt this through observation of your surroundings growing up, you're even more screwed. You absolutely have to be able to read people.

It should go without saying that being a skilled courtier, someone who knows how to further their own agenda while not offending the wrong people, but pleasing the right people, is an essential attribute everyone interested in power (or a roof over their head) should spend time attaining, because it is those who manage to assert themselves as, by Castiglione's definition, a great courtier who end up popular and promoted, not the hardest-working, first in, last out the office employee. And to the contrary of subjects on accumulating power there are quite a lot of books on learning the art of courtiership.

To dive into the DEFINITION, OBSERVATIONS and THEORY of the law, I recommend watching my animated summary HERE
(because that makes me millions of dollars per view).

-illacertus