Robert Greene

Last week, while in New York for business, I was able to have a private meeting with the rapper 50 cent. This was our second encounter, having met for lunch several months ago. I am not someone by nature who is impressed by celebrities, having encountered quite a few in my days working in Hollywood. … Read more

As the strategy for the Democrats plays itself out this fall, it seems to be a variation of the old Napoleonic adage: never interfere with a man who is in the process of hanging himself. The idea is that the Republicans are doing such a bad job right now with the war and with the … Read more

The word control does not have the most positive connotation in our culture. Expressions like control freak speak to this. But my idea of power is directly related to the concept of control. First and foremost there is the idea of self-control. The only real power that matters in the end is power over yourself … Read more

Several years ago, I had the idea of dramatizing some of the ideas and characters in The 48 Laws of Power. I sketched out a scenario–based on some of my own experiences working in offices–of some difficult situations, some impossible personalities, and I created a clever protagonist who would navigate this mine field of scheming … Read more

This is in no way intended as a grading of your responses, which were very interesting and revealing. There is obviously no single correct seduction in this matter. It is chemistry–what the individual seducer brings to the mix, with his strengths and weaknesses, and the particular victim at hand. But some of your comments and … Read more

We are gearing up for an election only a few months away, and so I think it appropriate to look at someone who looms large in the picture: Karl Rove. Let us say a few things about him for which there is certainly no argument: He is intensely competitive. He cannot stand losing. When he … Read more

A piece about me in The Sunday Times, an English newspaper.

In chapter 33 of The 33 Strategies of War I expounded what I think is a somewhat novel idea and theory about terrorism. The great debate, particularly after 9/11, was whether we were entering a new phase of terrorism, or whether 9/11 was just another example of what is known as conventional terrorism. The general … Read more

I plan to get to many of your excellent topic suggestions over the course of the following months. I will begin with Tribal Witch Doctor’s excellent query, which I quote below: Could you please discuss your views on finding reliable sources of information? Particularly, could you discuss your views on how the media skews or … Read more

Keep things simple and direct: One of my greatest pet peeves is airy abstractions and unnecessary complications; I like to keep things brutally simple. Here’s how I see it: People want power in their lives. They hate the feeling of not having control. They do whatever they can to get power–consciously or not. Some of … Read more