TOP 10 LESSONS LEARNED FROM BOOK - “THE ART OF SEDUCTION” 

1. “Desire is both imitative (we like what others like) and competitive (we want to take away from others what they have). As children, we wanted to monopolize the attention of a parent, to draw it away from other siblings. This sense of rivalry… makes people compete for the attention.”

2. “ There is too little mystery in the world; too many people say exactly what they feel or want.”

3. “Sadness of any sort is also seductive, particularly if it seems deep-rooted, even spiritual, rather than needy or pathetic — it makes people come to you.”

4. “The key to such power is ambiguity. In a society where the roles everyone plays are obvious, the refusal to conform to any standard will excite interest. Be both masculine and feminine, impudent and charming, subtle and outrageous. Let other people worry about being socially acceptable; those types are a dime a dozen, and you are after a power greater than they can imagine.”

5. “if no resistances or obstacles face you, you must create them. No seduction can proceed without them.”

6. “I give my mind the liberty to follow the first wise or foolish idea that presents itself,”

7. “Most of us live in a semi-somnambulistic state: we do our daily tasks and the days fly by. The two exceptions to this are childhood and those moments when we are in love. In both cases, our emotions are more engaged, more open and active. And we equate feeling emotional with feeling more alive.”

8. “If everything in a dream were realistic, it would have no power over us; if everything were unreal, we would feel less involved in its pleasures and fears. Its fusion of the two is what makes it haunting.”

9. “ According to Freud (who was speaking from experience, since he was his mother’s darling), spoiled children have a confidence that stays with them all their lives.”

10. “ The fetish is an object that commands an emotional response and that makes us breathe life into it. Because it is an object we can imagine whatever we want to about it.”