Conspiracy entails determined, coordinated action, done in secret—always in secret—that aims to disrupt the status quo or accomplish some aim. (Location 54)
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What would happen if more people took up plotting, coordinating how to eliminate what they believe are negative forces and obstacles, and tried to wield power in an attempt to change the world? (Location 74)
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It is just one word: Conspiracies. (Location 89)
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coordinate, and sustain a concerted effort to remove someone from power, to secretly move against an enemy, to do what Machiavelli would say was one of the hardest things to do in the world: to overthrow an existing order and do something new. To engage in a conspiracy to change the world. (Location 95)
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They had been confident of victory for some time, having already experienced this moment, twice, in expensive mock jury proceedings. (Location 110)
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can see the copy of Discourses over his right shoulder as he describes his personal war against Gawker in defense of a right he believes it threatened—privacy—and for what that privacy offers—the space to be peculiar, to think for oneself and to live as one wishes. (Location 118)
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He found himself outmaneuvered and outspent by a nemesis he’d deliberately prodded and provoked. (Location 134)
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to overcome your enemies, to drive them before you, to see their friends and allies bathed in tears, to take their possessions as your own. (Location 150)
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Machiavelli said that a proper conspiracy moves through three distinct phases: the planning, the doing, and the aftermath. Each of these phases requires different skills—from organization to strategic thinking to recruiting, funding, aiming, secrecy, managing public relations, leadership, foresight, and ultimately, knowing when to stop. Most important, a conspiracy requires patience and fortitude, so much patience, as much as it relies on boldness or courage. (Location 156)
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Never fight a battle against someone who buys ink by the barrel. It’s easier to just let the whole thing go. (Location 308)
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Do people even have the arrogance anymore? To test the limits? To try big things? (Location 443)
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His anger is at odds with the cautious mind that is his nature; he is not a man prone to being ruled by his emotions. (Location 515)
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Someone to do your bidding, to work with you, someone you can trust, who agrees with you that there’s a problem, or is willing to be paid to agree with the sentiment that it’s about time someone, somebody did something about this. (Location 709)
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To begin you must study the end. You don’t want to be the first to act, you want to be the last man standing. (Location 901)
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considering each trade and investment anew from a dozen perspectives, seeing what others aren’t able to see and doing it on a regenerative basis. (Location 1125)
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At almost every step Thiel avoided making this mistake himself.* He had assembled a team of patient, cautious individuals who were prepared to spend essentially any amount of money and work for any amount of time. (Location 1949)
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Thiel was trying to strip Gawker of its allies, and with the fog settling in thick and heavy around them, they didn’t even know it was happening. (Location 2299)
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British knew that war was never simply a matter of overwhelming force. (Location 2314)
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It was about creating an impression, about keeping the Nazis off balance and defensive on a second front for as long as possible. (Location 2321)
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“Keep your object always in mind, while adapting your plan to circumstances.” “Take a line of operation which offers alternative objectives.” “Ensure that both plans and dispositions are flexible—adaptable to circumstances.” (Location 2326)
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When Gawker outs a prominent fashion media executive in 2015, his suit against the company is quietly helped along by Thiel and Harder. (Location 2337)
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Denton might have also noticed someone trying to buy small amounts of Gawker shares on the private market. (Location 2340)
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Quentin Tarantino sues it in January 2014 for publishing a leaked script of The Hateful Eight. (Location 2344)
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“Did Gawker really employ the people they said they did? Were their taxes in order?” (Location 2349)
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Now Gawker was on the hook by themselves. Now their war chest was depleted—they’d have to defend their story to that jury in Florida on their own. (Location 2356)
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“At the end of the day you had to go all in on the things that were most likely to work,” Thiel said. (Location 2415)
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In ancient Rome, slaves who revealed conspiracies were often given their freedom in exchange. (Location 2424)
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François Picaud, (Location 2428)
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beware your allies. (Location 2430)
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