The Laws of Human Nature in English

See the Hostility Behind the Friendly Facade The Law of Aggression On the surface, the people around you appear so polite and civilized. But beneath the mask, they are all inevitably dealing with frustrations

Make Them Want to Follow You The Law of Fickleness Although styles of leadership change with the times, one constant remains: people are always ambivalent about those in power.

Resist the Downward Pull of the Group The Law of Conformity We have a side to our character that we are generally unaware of—our social personality, the dif erent person we become when we operate in groups of people.

Advance with a Sense of Purpose The Law of Aimlessness Unlike animals, with their instincts to guide them past dangers, we humans have to rely upon our conscious decisions

Know Your Limits The Law of Grandiosity We humans have a deep need to think highly of ourselves. If that opinion of our goodness, greatness, and brilliance diverges enough from reality, we become grandiose.

Beware the Fragile Ego The Law of Envy We humans are naturally compelled to compare ourselves with one another.

Confront Your Dark Side The Law of Repression People are rarely who they seem to be. Lurking beneath their polite, af able exterior is inevitably a dark, shadow side consisting of the insecurities and the aggressive, selfish impulses they repress and carefully conceal from public view.

Change Your Circumstances by Changing Your Attitude The Law of Self-sabotage Each of us has a particular way of looking at the world, of interpreting events and the actions of people around us. This is our attitude, and it determines much of what happens to us in life. If our attitude is essentially fearful, we see the negative in every circumstance. We stop ourselves from taking chances.

Soften People’s Resistance by Confirming Their Self-opinion The Law of Defensiveness Life is harsh and people competitive. We naturally must look after our own interests. We also want to feel that we are independent, doing our own bidding.

Elevate Your Perspective The Law of Shortsightedness It is in the animal part of your nature to be most impressed by what you can see and hear in the present—the latest news reports and trends, the opinions and actions of the people around you, whatever seems the most dramatic.

Determine the Strength of People’s Character The Law of Compulsive Behavior When choosing people to work and associate with, do not be mesmerized by their reputation or taken in by the surface image they try to project.

Transform Self-love into Empathy The Law of Narcissism We all naturally possess the most remarkable tool for connecting to people and attaining social power—empathy.

Master Your Emotional Self The Law of Irrationality you like to imagine yourself in control of your fate, consciously planning the course of your life as best you can.

Introduction If you come across any special trait of meanness or stupidity . . . you must be careful not to let it annoy or distress you, but to look upon it merely as an addition to your knowledge—a new fact to be considered in studying the character of humanity. Your attitude towards it will be that of the mineralogist who stumbles upon a very characteristic specimen of a mineral. —Arthur Schopenhauer