Lola Montez In his own time Simon Thomas was a great doctor. I remember that I happened to meet him one day at the home of a rich old consumptive: He told his patient when discussing ways to cure him that one means was to provide occasions for me to enjoy his company: He could … Read more
Law 13 – When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude People are generally motivated by their self-interest – and that is what you must appeal to if you want something from them. Trying to bring up the past and inducing feelings of guilt in them are strategies that … Read more
‘David’ by Michelangelo Greene tells us that unless you want to mislead or distract someone, it is better not to argue. It is more effective to display with actions the point you intend to make. Human beings are rarely swayed by reason. “The truth is generally seen, rarely heard.” – Baltasar Gracian In 131 B.C., … Read more
P.T Barnum The Chinese general, Chuko Liang, had a great reputation. During the war of the Three Kingdoms (A.D 207-265), he dispatched his large army to a far away camp, while he stayed in a small town with only a few soldiers. Suddenly, a vast army of 150,000 soldiers led by Sima Yi approached his … Read more
Law 4: Always Say Less than Necessary When it comes to speech, less is more, and more is less. Remaining silent or saying only few words makes you sound more profound and mysterious. People will respect you for it. But when you say too much, you will likely suffer the repercussions. King Louis XIV of … Read more
Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions Greene recalls a story that took place in France in the seventeenth century, that was a violation of this law. There was a Marquee who wanted to seduce a Countess, but being young and inexperienced, he had no idea what to do. A famous Courtesan at the time, Ninon de … Read more
Law 1: Never Outshine the Master Many believe that flaunting your talents to your superiors is a good idea. But this is grave mistake. Masters and people who have ascended to positions of power, are not much different from the kings and queens of antiquity. They have fragile egos, and nothing could provoke their wrath … Read more
The Role of Myths Myths are a mechanism we can use to find out who we are, and what we value implicitly. It teaches us about the stages of life, and how to pass through them successfully – while avoiding the psychological dangers along the way. In this post, I discuss the role of myths … Read more
What are Myths? In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell shows us what the myths of the past have in common. He identifies an archetypal story structure that explains the patterns most great myths and folk stories follow. He describes the role of the archetypal characters within the story and what they symbolize. The … Read more
Epilogue: Myth and Society 1. The Shapeshifter Campbell concludes by commenting on the relevance of myths today, how myths are viewed and how you can make use of them in your own life. It is important to remember that there is no system for interpretation myths. If you seek to understand them, then you must … Read more