There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. choose your victims and opponents carefully, — then never offend or deceive the wrong person.

In 1920 there was a con artist by the name of Joe Furey. Furey had made hundreds of thousands of dollars running a con-artist ring in Denver, Colorado. Furey met yet another victim who fell for his con named J. Frank Norfleet who lost $45,000 to Fury.

Furey and his men had worked such cons hundreds of times over, and the sucker was usually so embarrassed by his gullibility that he quietly learned his lessons and accepted the loss. But Norfleet was not like other suckers.

The police couldn’t help him so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Norfleet told the detectives “I’ll get them if it takes the rest of my life”.

He scoured the country searching for the group looking for others who had been fleeced in the same game. He managed to get one of the con artists locked up through this, he kept going.

He tracked down another in Montana, roped him like a calf, and dragged him through the muddy streets to the town jail. He traveled all the way to England, Canada and Mexico in search of Joe Furrey and Furrey’s right hand man, W.B. Spencer.

Finding Spencer in Montreal, Norfleet chased him through the streets.

Spencer escaped but Norfleet stayed on his trail catching up with him in Salt Lake City. Preferring the mercy of the law to Norfleet’s wrath, Spencer turned himself in.

Norfleet found Furey in Jacksonville, Florida and personally hauled him off to face justice in Texas. But he wouldn’t stop there: He continued on to Denver, determiend to break up the entire ring. Spending not only large sums of money but another year of his life in the pursuit, he managed to put all of the con ring’s leaders behind bars. Even some he didn’t catch had grown so terrified of him they they too turned themselves in. After five years of hunting, Norfleet had single-handedly destroyed the country’s largest confederation of con artists. The effort bankrupted him and ruined his marriage, but he died a satisfied man.”

Understand: Deceive and lie enough and you will eventually come across people like this who will go to all ends of the earth to stop you. Proceed with caution.

In judging and measuring your opponent, never rely on your instincts. You will make the greatest mistakes of all if you rely on such inexact indicators. Nothing can substitute for gathering concrete knowledge. Study and spy on your opponent for however long it takes; this will pay off in the long run.

Never trust appearances. Anyone with a serpent’s heart can use a show of kindness to cloak it; a person who is blustery on the outside is often really a coward. Learn to see through appearances and their contradictions. Never trust the version that people give of themselves—it is utterly unreliable.

If you want to turn people down, it is best to do so politely and respectfully, even if you feel their request is impudent or their offer ridiculous. Never reject them with an insult until you know them better; you may be dealing with a Genghis Khan.

To wield power it’s essential to be able to read people and know who you’re dealing with. If you don’t understand your targets — choosing the wrong person or doing the wrong thing — you’ll waste time at best. At worst, you bring trouble on yourself, for instance, by insulting people when you think you’re flattering them, or by triggering their insecurity.