Law of Human Nature- Robert Greene

Written By Shivani Suresh

Genre: Philosophy, Lessons from History, Human Nature, Inspirational

Average time to read: 18 hours approximately Pages: 588

Suggested reading tactic: Read across 3 weeks. An hour every night before bed. With reflection break days in between. Scribble your reflection notes in the margins. (You’ll thank me later)

Book Highlights:

  1. The more civilised and moral we outwardly become, the more potentially dangerous is the Shadow, which we so fiercely deny. As the character Dr Jekyll describes it, ‘ My devil has long been caged, he came out roaring’…”

  2. You are rarely aware of your own grandiosity because by its nature, it alters your perception of reality and makes it hard to make an accurate assessment of yourself.

  3. The law of Shortsightedness- It is in your animal part of your nature to be most impressed by what you see and hear in the present……….beware of getting into the continued reactive mode

Contents:

  • Master your emotional self

  • Transform your self-love into empathy

  • See through people’s masks

  • Determine the strength of people’s character

  • Become an elusive object of desire

  • Elevate your perspective

  • Soften people’s resistance by confirming their self-opinion

  • Change your circumstances by changing your attitude

  • Confront your dark side (this chapter is a fantastic read)

  • Beware of the fragile ego

  • Know your limits

  • Reconnect to the Masculine or Feminine within you

  • Advance with a sense of purpose

  • Resist the downward pull of the group

  • Make them want to follow you

  • See the hostility behind the friendly façade

  • Seize the historical moment

  • Meditate on our common mortality

Transformation for me:

This book could be easily mistaken as just a “guide to manipulating human behaviour”. While it is also that (so take what the author says with a pinch of salt), there are few books that make you interrogate your own human nature like this one does. I caught me by surprise several times, making me stare face to face with me.

Humans are flawed and we all are aware that underneath the surface, there are habits and behaviours that require a bit of a “reevaluation” (atleast generally if you are someone committed to growth). But we can’t really put a finger on what it actually is. Why are do we act the way we act? Why is it so incredibly difficult to change a certain behaviour? Often a little help comes in the form of a label in layman’s words. That’s what this book does brilliantly. At the end of it you’ll recognise human behaviour patterns and name behaviours.

I think this book might just be ‘The’ layman’s guide to human behaviour.

Shivani Suresh