Preface -- law 1. Never outshine the master -- law 2. Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies -- law 3. Conceal your intentions -- law 4. Always say less than necessary -- law 5. So much depends on reputation -- guard it with your life -- law 6. Court attention at all cost -- law 7. Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit -- law 8. Make other people come to you -- use bait if necessary -- law 9. Win through your actions, never through argument -- law 10. Infection : avoid the unhappy and the unlucky -- law 11. Learn to keep people dependent on you -- law 12. Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim -- law 13. When asking for help, appeal to people's self-interest, never to their mercy or gratitude -- law 14. Pose as a friend, work as a spy -- law 15. Crush your enemy totally -- law 16. Use absence to increase respect and honor -- law 17. Keep others in suspended terror : cultivate an air of unpredictability -- law 18. Do not build fortresses to protect yourself -- isolation is dangerous -- law 19. Know who you're dealing with -- do not offend the wrong person -- law 20. Do not commit to anyone -- law 21. Play a sucker to catch a sucker -- seem dumber than your mark -- law 22. Use the surrender tactic : transform weakness into power -- law 23. Concentrate your forces -- law 24. Play the perfect courtier -- law 25. Re-create yourself -- law 26. Keep your hands clean -- law 27. Play on people's need to believe to create a cultlike following -- law 28. Enter action with boldness -- law 29. Plan all the way to the end -- law 30. Make your accomplishments seem effortless -- law 31. Control the options : get others to play with the cards you deal -- law 32. Play to people's fantasies -- law 33. Discover each man's thumbscrew -- law 34. Be royal in your own fashion : act like a king to be treated like one -- law 35. Master the art of timing -- law 36. Disdain things you cannot have : ignoring them is the best revenge -- law 37. Create compelling spectacles -- law 38. Think as you like but behave like others -- law 39. Stir up waters to catch fish -- law 40. Despise the free lunch -- law 41. Avoid stepping into a great man's shoes -- law 42. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter -- law 43. Work on the hearts and minds of others -- law 44. Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect -- law 45. Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once -- law 46. Never appear to perfect -- law 47. Do not go past the mark you aimed for; in victory, learn when to stop -- law 48. Assume formlessness -- Selected bibliography -- Index.