Once you understand this, you will find it essential to overcome your natural timidity and practice the art of audacity.

Like Velazquez, you must demand for yourself the power to determine your position

Half of your mastery of power comes from what you do not do, what you do not allow yourself to get dragged into. For this skill you must learn to judge all things by what they cost you.

Never let financial details blind you to the bigger picture of how people perceive you. Their resentment will cost you in the long run.

The most important of these skills, and power’s crucial foundation, is the ability to master your emotions. An emotional response to a situation is the single greatest barrier to power, a mistake that will cost you a lot more than any temporary

If you feel irritated by the absurd remarks of two people whose conversation you happen to overhear, you should imagine that you are listening to the dialogue of two fools in a comedy. Probatum est. The man who comes into the world with the notion that he is really going to instruct it in matters of the highest importance, may thank his stars if he

The problem in trying to prove a point or gain a victory through argument is that in the end you can never be certain how it affects the people you’re arguing with: They may appear to agree with you politely, but inside they may resent you.

There is nothing more intoxicating than victory, and nothing more dangerous.

The real purpose of the backward-glancing eye is to educate yourself constantly—you look at the past to learn from those who came before you.