Never Outshine Your Master

I created this exercise from a book I have : 48 Laws of Power. 

 

Story #1

 

 

 

In the early 1600s, the Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo found himself in a _______________  position. He depended on the generosity of great rulers to support his research, and so, he would sometimes make gifts of his inventions and discoveries to the leading _______________  of the time. Once, for instance, he presented a military compass he had invented to the Duke of Gonzaga. Then he dedicated a book explaining the use of the compass to the Medicis. Both rulers were _______________ , and through them Galileo was able to find more students to teach. No matter how great the _______________ , however, his patrons usually paid him with gifts, not cash. This made for a life of constant _______________ and dependence. There must be an easier way, he thought.

Galileo hit on a new strategy in 1610, when he discovered the moons of Jupiter. Instead of dividing the discovery among his patrons – giving one the telescope he had used , _______________  a book to another, and so on – as he had done in the past, he decided to focus exclusively on the Medicis. He chose this for one reason: Shortly after the establishment of the Medicis dynasty, in 1540, Jupiter was made the mightiest of the gods, the Medici symbol – a symbol of a power that went beyond politics and banking, one linked to ancient Rome and its divinities.

Galileo turned his discovery of Jupiter’s moons into a _______________  event honoring the Medicis’ greatness. Shortly after the discovery, he announced that “the bright stars [the moons of Jupiter] offered themselves in the heavens” to his telescope. He said that the number of the moons – four – _______________ with the number of the Medicis and that the moons orbited Jupiter as these four songs revolved around the dynasty’s founder. More than coincidence, this showed that the heavens themselves ______________ the ascendancy of the Medici family. After he dedicated the discovery to the Medicis, Galileo commissioned an _______________ representing Jupiter sitting on a cloud with the four stars circling about him, and presented this to the dynasty.

In 1610 Cosimo II made Galileo his official court philosopher and mathematician, with a full salary. For a scientist this was the _______________ of a lifetime. The days of begging for _______________ were over.

Cosmic   Reflected    Patrons     Discovery   Grateful    Dedicating      Harmonized     Emblem   Patronage   Precarious   Insecurity   Triumph

 

    

Never Outshine the Master
	The first rule from the book the 48 laws of power. It means to never ever show the full extent of your talents if it looks like it will pass your superior's. Explanation: Superiors whether its teachers or bosses are just like any other people. They have insecurities and egos. Once you expose them they will do their best to bring you down to show they are at the top.