The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

The Insinuating-Doubt Strategy: In the course of a
conversation, someone you know, perhaps a friend, lets slip a
comment that makes you wonder about yourself and if they are in
some way insulting you. Perhaps they commend you on your latest
work, and with a faint smile they say they imagine you will get lots of
attention for it, or lots of money, the implication being that that was
your somewhat dubious motive. Or they seem to damn you with faint
praise: “You did quite well for someone of your background.”
Robespierre, one of the leaders of the Terror of the French
Revolution, was the absolute master of this strategy. He came to see
Georges Danton, a friend and fellow leader, as having become an
enemy of the revolution, but did not want to say this outright. He
wanted to insinuate it to others and strike some fear in Danton. In one
instance, at an assembly, Robespierre leaped to his feet to support his
friend, who had been accused of using his power in the government to
make money. In defending Danton, Robespierre carefully repeated all
of the various charges leveled against him in great detail, then
concluded, “I may be wrong about Danton, but, as a family man, he
deserves nothing but praise.”
As a variation on this, people may say some rather harsh things
about you, and if you seem upset, they will say they were kidding:
“Can’t you take a joke?” They may interpret things you have said in a
slightly negative light, and if you call them on this, they will innocently
reply, “But I’m only repeating what you said.” They may use these
insinuating comments behind your back as well, to sow doubts in other
people’s minds about you. They will also be the first ones to report to

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you any bad news, or bad reviews, or the criticisms of others, always
expressed with sympathy, but secretly delighting in your pain.
The point of this strategy is to make you feel bad in a way that gets
under your skin and causes you to think of the insinuation for days.
They want to strike blows at your self-esteem. Most often they are
operating out of envy. The best counter is to show that their
insinuations have no effect on you. You remain calm. You “agree” with
their faint praise, and perhaps you return it in kind. They want to get a
rise out of you, and you will not give them this pleasure. Hinting that
you might see through them will perhaps infect them with their own
doubts, a lesson worth delivering.