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Law 13
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The 48 Laws of Power, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Morality, and Pragmatism
Emotion vs. Action
The Pitfalls of Greed
History and Human Nature
Summary
Analysis
Pose as a friend, work as a spy. Greene recommends either using spies or posing as a spy yourself to learn more about your potential enemies. Joseph Duveen, the early 20th-century art dealer, followed this law while trying to get Andrew Mellon as a client. He spied to find out where Mellon would be, then pretended to run into him by surprise, knowing exactly how to charm him and flatter his taste in art, succeeded in making him a client.
Greene’s ruthlessly pragmatic worldview places little value on friendship. He argues that friendship doesn’t have much sway when it comes down to power struggles. Still, this law shows the benefits of acting in a friendly manner toward someone, which can build trust. In many ways, this law is the inverse of Greene’s previous law about preferring enemies over friends—he uses this passage to show why friends can be untrustworthy.
Active
Themes
People like to keep their goals and emotions hidden, so spying is essential to learn what people are planning. The best way to do this, according to Greene, is to put on a friendly face, acting as a good conversationalist. Pay close attention during social events that may at first seem innocent or irrelevant. Consider setting traps, like confessing something to a person in order to make them feel like they have to confess something to you.
While Greene believes that people should keep their own motives hidden when seeking power, he also believes that it’s important to try to figure out other people’s motives. If people are primarily self-interested, as Greene believes, then even seemingly innocent conversations can become a way to learn vital information about an opponent’s true intentions.
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At times, however, it’s important to consider the reverse of this law and learn how to foil those spying on you. The British did this during World War II, as they discovered German spies, then replaced them with English sympathizers who gave the Germans false information about where to bomb, saving lives.
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