crush your enemy & use absence

Law 15

Crush your Enemy Totally

All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.

The analogy helped this make sense. I can't really see myself crushing someone so completely but I'm sure there has been a time when I really wanted to and I considered it... Almost like mentally throwing stuff at them, it's better than nothing. I'm a pretty peaceful person... Slightly vicious when the occasion calls for it but for the most part I'm calm and mellow. This makes sense in war.. Not the peaceful mellow thing but the annihilation thing... For a ruler that is, crushing an entire country is not much of a victory. You'd be killing innocent people that may have nothing to do with the ruler.

Law 16

Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor

Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.

I'm reading another book by Robert Greene so this makes sense in more ways then one. If someone is around all the time you probably would take it for granted. As soon as they don't have time for you you start to wonder and think about them more. Disappearing every once in a while is a good idea.