LAW 40

Law 40 of “The 48 Laws of Pow­er” by Robert Greene advis­es to despise the free lunch, high­light­ing the dan­ger and strings often attached to things that are offered for free. Greene argues that what is offered with­out cost can involve deceit or hid­den oblig­a­tions and that gen­uine worth jus­ti­fies pay­ment. To main­tain inde­pen­dence and avoid entan­gle­ments, one should pay their way and uphold the val­ue of strate­gic gen­eros­i­ty to cir­cu­late wealth and build alliances.

The chap­ter under­scores the psy­cho­log­i­cal price of free or cheap offer­ings, which can include feel­ings of oblig­a­tion, com­pro­mise on qual­i­ty, and ulti­mate­ly, a drain on resources more valu­able than mon­ey, such as time and peace of mind. It illus­trates these con­cepts through his­tor­i­cal anec­dotes and para­bles, empha­siz­ing that gen­eros­i­ty can be a mag­net for pow­er when used strate­gi­cal­ly. Notable fig­ures in his­to­ry, famous for their pow­er, were known for their lav­ish spend­ing to buy influ­ence and favor, rather than hoard­ing wealth.

Greene also describes dif­fer­ent types of indi­vid­u­als who fail to under­stand the strate­gic use of mon­ey, such as the Greedy Fish, who sees only the finan­cial val­ue and miss­es the social and psy­cho­log­i­cal aspects of mon­ey, and the Bar­gain Demon, who obsess­es over minor sav­ings at the cost of qual­i­ty and dig­ni­ty.

The chap­ter is filled with cau­tion­ary tales and fables, includ­ing the sto­ry of Fran­cis­co Pizarro’s quest for El Dora­do, which illus­trates the ruinous obses­sion with effort­less wealth. It explains how sud­den wealth with­out a sol­id foun­da­tion is unsta­ble and high­lights that pow­er, not mon­ey, should be the ulti­mate goal.

Greene con­cludes that strate­gic gen­eros­i­ty, not miser­li­ness, should guide the pow­er­ful, using his­tor­i­cal exam­ples of indi­vid­u­als who gained influ­ence and pres­tige through their lav­ish yet cal­cu­lat­ed dis­plays of wealth. The law warns that the lure of free offer­ings can lead to ruin, advo­cat­ing instead for the judi­cious and strate­gic use of mon­ey to main­tain pow­er and influ­ence.