How to Win a Sausage Duel
Alchemy.
As much as the scientist/skeptic in me scoffs, it’s the only word for it.
In Law 31 of Robert Greene’s must-read The 48 Laws of Power he states …
Control the Options – Get Others to Play with the Cards You Deal
Sometimes seemingly “unwinnable” situations can be transmuted into victory by a simple shift in perspective.
German pathologist and liberal politician Rudolf Virchow was a vocal critic of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
Growing tired of Virchow’s verbal pin-prick attacks, Bismarck put Virchow in an unwinnable situation: he challenged him to a duel. Bismarck was a trained marksman and Virchow’s only military experience was as a Medical Doctor.
But Virchow won. How?
Virchow asked Bismarck to be informed of the choice of weapons. One of the sausages would be infected with deadly germs. The other would be perfectly sound. Each would eat one sausage and Bismarck could choose which.
Bismarck promptly cancelled the duel.
Alchemy … Can you think of a better word? Perhaps transmutation of the negative into the positive is what the ancient alchemists were referring to all along.
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To learn even more ways to “snatch victory from the jaws of defeat,” check out part three in our four-part summary of The 48 Laws of Power.
Simpleology Summaries:
The 48 Laws of Power – Part 3: Laws 25-36
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