Two routes to the limelight and the checks Greene adds.
Robert Greene's framework, from 48 Laws of Power, pp. 85 to 100.
Surround your name with the sensational
Create an unforgettable, even controversial image and make no distinction between kinds of attention.
Create an air of mystery
Hold back, speak ambiguously and act inconsistently so people keep trying to interpret you.
Renew the method
Vary your approach so the public does not tire or take you for granted.
Know when to withdraw
Never compete for attention with a secure superior, and pull back if the mystery starts to look like deceit.
From chapter: LAW 6, pp. 85–100
Everything is judged by appearance, so you must stand out and never let attention drift away. Barnum built his fortune on stunts such as the brick-laying beggar and the Fiji Mermaid, and he held that any attention, even hostile, was useful. Greene then adds a second route, the air of mystery, shown by Mata Hari, Count Lustig and Hannibal's burning oxen, where an enigma makes people keep watching and interpreting you. You have to keep varying how you draw notice, as Picasso did, and know when to retreat, as Lola Montez failed to when she upstaged Queen Victoria.
