Law 33 of 48
Discover Each Man's Weakness.
Identify and exploit the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of individuals to gain leverage and control. By understanding what motivates and demoralizes them, you can manipulate their actions and decisions. Use this knowledge strategically to achieve your objectives.
Independent commentary on a principle popularised in The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors or their publishers.
What it actually means
Everyone has a pressure point, usually an insecurity or something they need to be seen as, and flattery is the cheapest way to test for it. People after leverage go looking for yours. Knowing your own is the whole defence; using someone else's is not strategy, it is just harm you can be charged for later.
Where you would have seen it
A colleague works out that you cannot bear being thought unhelpful. After that, every request arrives with a line about how you are the only one who can sort it, and you keep taking on work that was never yours.
Try it today
Write down the compliment that most reliably gets you to say yes. Next time you hear it, wait a full day before you answer.
Where this shows up
Law 33 tends to come up in these parts of life. Follow a path to read the other laws that belong with it:
Laws that go with it
If law 33 landed, these are the entries people usually read next — they cover overlapping ground: law 2, law 14, law 16.
Never Put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies.
Friendship makes obligations invisible: nobody states the terms, so nobody can be held to them.
Friends & FamilyAt WorkLaw 14Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy.
Some warmth is reconnaissance.
Friends & FamilyAt WorkPersuasionLaw 16Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor.
Constant availability gets priced accordingly.
Friends & FamilyPersuasionAt Work