--- title: "Courting attention" description: "Two routes to the limelight and the checks Greene adds." canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/48-laws-of-power/courting-attention/ updated: 2026-11-03 --- # Courting attention > Two routes to the limelight and the checks Greene adds. Robert Greene's framework, from 48 Laws of Power, pp. 85 to 100. Framework 5 of 27 from [48 Laws of Power](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/48-laws-of-power/index.md) by Robert Greene. Category: Content and packaging. ## The steps 1. **Surround your name with the sensational.** Create an unforgettable, even controversial image and make no distinction between kinds of attention. 2. **Create an air of mystery.** Hold back, speak ambiguously and act inconsistently so people keep trying to interpret you. 3. **Renew the method.** Vary your approach so the public does not tire or take you for granted. 4. **Know when to withdraw.** Never compete for attention with a secure superior, and pull back if the mystery starts to look like deceit. ## Where it comes from 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. ## The animation 24 seconds, 4:5, no sound. - MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/48-laws-of-power/courting-attention.mp4 - MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/48-laws-of-power/courting-attention-dark.mp4 - Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/48-laws-of-power/courting-attention.png - Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/48-laws-of-power/courting-attention-dark.png