14# - ONE MIN BOOK SUMMARY - Law 12: Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm Your Victim - The 48 laws of Power (Robert Greene)
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As pervert as it sounds, one honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones.
Yes, sincere gestures of kindness and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people.
Why ?
Because human nature works this way. We adore receiving from others. By greed or curiosity we like to benefit from a gift or a gesture.
Once your selective honesty creates confusion in their mind and emotions, it will open a hole in their armor, then you will be able to strike the coup de grace.
An apparently honest gift will serve the same purpose.
Chinese used to call this “giving before the take”.
As clear as it is, the giving makes it hard for your prey to see the taking.
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Victor Lustig was a very cultivated and refined con man gifted with human psychology knowledge.
Confidence was also part of his trait, as he was able to con Al Capone. You don't need me to remind you who was Al Capone.
Lustig asked Capone for $50,000 in order to double this money in 60 days.
What did he really do with the money?
He simply left it in a safety deposit box until the sixty-days were up.
We went back to the Italian Gangster, apologized for not being able to double the money as agreed and returned the $50,000.
Needless to say that Lustig already had a reputation of being a scam artist.
But when he returned the money, Capone got confused by this apparently genuine gesture, dropped his guard and gave Lustig $ 5,000 just for being honest...
This Lustig...Clearly an evil genius.
