48 Laws Of Power

[JevinR]

This book is far too gruesome. Law 15 being crush your enemy totally, going so far as listing to "Crush him, not only body but in spirit" . And that's only the tip of the ice-berg, this is along the lines of Machiavellian philosophy. Dear god, is this how ruthless business is, and people actually think this way? Wow, I know this book is needed for self-actualization, and to understand power, how it can be used and the intricacies, but I feel some of the concepts in here may derive from ego; To add to this, there's even a book on seduction.  This/these books are somewhat dehumanizing, but they must be studied for self-actualization. I feel these types of things are although desensitizing, eye-opening into the animal that is man/woman. 

[Philip]

@JevinR Some say you should get a healthy ego before you get rid of it.

It's kind of like a house. Repair it and make it pretty before trying to sell it.

[Toby]

It's a manual for psychopaths/sociopaths imo. And even more sadly when you look how many people recommend it and give positive ratings on amazon. There are some good things in it but many things where one has to question the authors state of mind. A terrible book imo.

[OhHiMark]

After seeing the book ranked so highly I decided to give it a read and hoping it'd help me on the journey of being a better me, needless to say it isn't exactly as charming as "How to make friends and influence people".

You really wouldn't want to be around people who put the theories in this book into practice, a lot is just downright unnatural like a concept the author thought would look good on paper or what the author someday hopes of doing/becoming.

Edited April 6, 2016 by OhHiMark

[Cabot]

It's a bit of a reality check though, isn't it? A polar opposite to the mindset we're nurturing here. Not everyone is nice.

 

[Fishy]

Why do u say this book is NEEDED for self-actualization?.

Do you believe u cant be self-actualized without it?

[reez]

@JevinR I have heard that "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is the nice version, and the "48 Laws of Power"  is the raw version, but they have pretty much the same thing stuffed in there. They just put it out in different ways. I believe it was FightMediocrity that told this, I personally have not read "48 Laws" yet.

[Zane]

I love Robert Greene's books ESPECIALLY "Mastery," "The Laws of War" and "The Laws of Seduction." 

[JevinR]

@reez It was FightMediocrity. I will take the raw version.

[JevinR]

@Fishy It is needed, I know this very much. As sadhguru had once said: "Ignorance is only bliss for a short while" 

[Emerald]

I would cherry-pick advice from it, when it's applicable and helpful. But to swallow it whole would be absolutely horrible and unnecessary. I have it too. It's great for people-pleasers and understanding how cut-throat people and powerful people often operate. But in my opinion, exorbitant amounts of power are unnecessary. A little bit goes a long way.

[Fishy]

54 minutes ago, JevinR said:

@Fishy It is needed, I know this very much. As sadhguru had once said: "Ignorance is only bliss for a short while" 

That doesn't mean u need to read this exact book, by that logic you would have to read every book.

[Lorcan]

...... You do not need to crush your enemy both in body and soul to be self actualised.

First you must realise that the world we live in, is FILLED with people with bad, little or inhuman morales. These are the 1% , these are the elite, these people use money as a tool i

Of abuse, to control your life. All done legally... Who ever said the law was right? The constitution is flawed it was written by rich revloutionaries ( the 1%) 200 or more years ago. Yet we do nothing, say nothing, because we dont know how to be the resistance , we dont act , because we dont know. Some people think our society is good, these are the fortunate slaves. Homelessness ,debt , searching for food getting in the way of your pursuit of happyness.

We think our lives are good enough. 

Our lives are medicore, if you go with the flow that society has scheduled for you, you will live a miserable-mediocre life.Some lucky few escape society trap.

Most caught in it.

Few manage to break free, through years of hardwork.

Life could be better, Im fucking sick of the machine bastards whp rule the world we live in, these men and women with machine hearts and machine minds.

The education,is a pile of shit compared to what it could be. Everything is a pile of shit compared to what it could be.

 

We are all sheep, BAa baaaaaaaa.

All of you I urge you do something.

And yes all of you who enjoy meditation and being and "mastering yourself"

Our existance will be no more if we contimue to be ruled by brutes in this effective slave machiene of a society.

 

 

I like to live in the present

I often tell my self " Soon, I will be in paradise" 

I hope this is true.

The hell we live in, sure looks like a paradise.

Because it is, Its just the human race as a whole hasnt mastered the joy of living , but mastered being a slave.

 

DO SOMETHING.  I AM DOING SOMETHING. 

If you want to be swlf actualized, well damn making the pile of shit society we live in, into a functional paradise is a way to do it.

Imagine waking up with no worries or stress EVER .

This is possible, Rome wasnt built in a day, neither will Utopian society.

 

Utopian society is the future, where man is no longer OBSESSED with the possesaion of things, the challenge will not be climbing the corparate ladder and trying to make a million.

The challenge would be mastering youraelf, to be as happy as you can be.

And you.You who thinks this is not possible, If you were here right. I would spit upon you, in all your ignorance, missbeleiver, un beleiver.

I know who "I am" I am the resistance.

Who the fuck are you

-'Ate the apple, ate the core. I dont work for you no more'

 

 

 

 

 

 

[poimandres]

It is important to understand your power: enormous power to create or equal power to destroy..

Everyone manipulates.

Listen to the words of Ras Al Ghul

[StarfoxEpiphany]

The whole book is based off the philosophy that we still live in the King's Court.  It is based off of scarcity, not abundance.  Recognize that there are unlimited resources, and millions of ways to be valuable without having to compete.  It is a book designed for competitors, not creators.  It is based off the assumption that you will never be the King.  Create, and you can be your own king.  It even says that those who do not play the game are usually the most adept players of the game.

[Consept]

I started reading or rather listening to the audio book a few years ago, before I got into spirtuality. At the time I was very put off by it, it seemed really harsh and my thinking was if I needed to do all this stuff to get what I wanted it just wasn't worth it. 

Now looking at it, it makes sense in that if you think transcending the ego isn't an option or possible, then this works in strengthening your ego. The idea that everyone's playing a game and you just need to play it better. 

In a way until you let go of yourself you are just playing a game. But I would say definitely take the book with a pinch of salt, it can be useful in that you can see the inner workings of how ego works and maybe even see stuff that you don't realise you do. How to win friends is kind of similar but I think that's more based on giving rather than power which is based on taking, for both there is manipulation involved, but I wouldn't say they're the same tactics 

[zakur0]

That book is not that evil as it may seem i guess. 'know your enemy' kind of thing. And by enemy i mean 'system' and their 'sons'. 

[Zane]

What makes Greene's books so fascinating to me is his strong balance of historical anecdotes that show how the laws can be applied practically and he analyzes a variety of historical figures like politicians, generals, royalty, artists, scientists, musicians, writers and many other figures and he's very in-depth about their styles. He strongly focuses on history, human nature, and applying the laws in concrete reality. I feel like "Mastery" is the book that applies the most strongly to self-actualization. Rather than look at "Laws of Power" in a self-actualization context, I would look at it from a political history or a philosophical lens to gain insight into the concept of power. It's perfectly fine to disagree with Greene's message but i'm trying to deepen my understanding of power. 

Edited April 8, 2016 by Zane

[Leo Gura]

I didn't add 48 Laws Of Power to my book list for a good reason. It's NOT an emotionally mature attitude towards life, disregarding the power of higher consciousness values.

Robert Greene is a good writer and thinker, but I wouldn't use that book as a manual for self-actualization.

If anything, we have an over-abundance of that type of thinking in modern stage Orange Western society.

Seek a higher standard.

[JevinR]

@Leo Gura Is the Yogi path the path to ultimate truth? I'm thinking yes, why waste time then.