The Daily Laws by Robert Greene [Actionable Summary]

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The Book In Three Or More Sentences:

If you feel unqualified to plan your life. Create a path for yourself to follow – taking into account the devious nature of us, humans. The Daily Laws will aid you. Robert Greene – an author I deeply admire – consolidating all of his previous books (check out other book summaries by Robert Greene here, here, here, and here), offers a powerful ally that will prepare your fragile psyche for the monstrosities of the real world. As the titles suggest, the book offers short must-follow daily tips. The end goal is you, transitioning from being blindsided by what people present to the world, to adequately fending all of their moves that are trying to rule you.

The Core Idea:

The world is not what it appears. People, don’t wish you well. They wish you to obey their commands and think the way they think. The goal of The Daily Laws is to help you see behind the masks. Spot what really powers others – greed, envy, desire for power – and also identify what moves you. Eventually, you’ll realize that you are flawed – like everyone else. But instead of moaning, by using the suggestions in the book, you will overcome your own negative traits and figure out what you should do with your life.

Reason To Read:

This book is for everyone who needs a life companion. A comrade to point the way. The way the information is presented offers something truly unique. Daily, you’re provided with something to do that will get you closer to being better at not only the work you do. But also closer to understanding the real incentives of the people around. Both needed to gain the strength required in order to handle the difficulties of life.

7 Key Lessons From The Daily Laws:

Lesson #1: Modern Dangers Are People, Not Leopards

Thousands of years ago. Survival was based on our ability to find food while simultaneously defending ourselves from the wild beasts trying to do the same.

Today, we no longer have to worry about being attacked by a big cat with laser-sharp claws. Survival is based on something much more delicate. Namely, dealing with people.

Yes, our greatest danger is ourselves. We, and the people around us.

We are taught that we should obey our teachers, our bosses, our leaders, imaginary entities that are worshiped around the world.

We are never thought, however, to stop and ask ourselves what we really want. And something Robert Greene points out, whether the person on the other side is actually wishing us well, or simply trying to protect his bottom line.

We become naive, and as the author concludes, “To add to this dangerous brew, our culture tends to fill our heads with all kinds of false notions, making us believe things about what the world and human nature should be like, rather than what they are actually like.”

People don’t want the best for us. They want the best for themselves.

Guided by this simple, at first glance, observation. Robert Greene presents a descriptive yearly plan. A manual that, when used daily, will help you emerge battle-tested, ready for the manipulative and power-seeking individuals we usually identify as friends, colleagues, bosses, and companions.

The Daily Laws is divided into 12 parts – each representing a month from our calendar. Each month focuses on a specific task you need to master so you can get closer to living a fulfilling life. A worthy life.

Once completed, Greene promises that you’ll finally have direction in your life. Finally possess the techniques needed to defend yourself, from yourself. Plus, from the attackers coming from outside people.

Here’s the overview of the content by months:

1. January. Your Life’s Task: Planting the Seeds for Mastery: We are all unique. We don’t only have a unique DNA. But also a unique blend of skills, interests, desires, thoughts. Figure out what’s your exceptional mix of qualities and map out a Life’s Task – as the author calls it.
2. February. The Ideal Apprenticeship: Transforming Yourself: Learning from what others have already mastered is the best way to improve, faster. Every career requires taking a path of apprenticeship. Absorbing the wisdom of the people who are already great in your field of choice is a must.
3. March. The Master at Work: Activating Skills and Attaining Mastery: Becoming great at what you do requires you to keep being great. Inevitably, this means a continuous state of moving, learning, attaining more knowledge. The moment you stop improving is the moment you start decaying.
4. April. The Perfect Courtier: Playing the Game of Power: In life, we are playing a civilized war. We are trying to please our current “master” while retaining a positive relationship with the rest of the “servants”. We don’t want to appear too ambitious because if others notice, they’ll try to bring us down.
5. May. The Supposed Nonplayers of Power: Recognizing Toxic Types and Disguised Power Strategies: Recognizing the main motivating factors of people will help you better adapt your strategy. Everyone appears noble, but not everyone is noble. Identifying the envious and manipulative players will defog their real intentions. Noticing beyond what’s presented is a valuable skill.
6. June. The Devine Craft: Mastering The Arts of Inderection and Manipulation: Interacting with the outside world can be equated to performing. Entertaining the people around you. In this regard, deception and masquerade should be mastered and used to your advantage. Don’t consider these techniques immoral. But ways to convince others in your rightfulness.
7. July. The Seductive Character: Penetrating Hearts and Minds: Given the fact that we are fascinated by outside appearance. The month of July will teach you how to enhance your charm. Seduce. Influence. Cast a spell on others so they can start to feel strangely drawn by you.
8. August. The Master Persuader: Softening People’s Resistance: To lower the guard of the other person, tell a fascinating story. Adjust your tone of voice and the words you use specifically to the person on the other end. Always think about how others think to interest them. It’s about them, not about you. Once this is sensible in your communication with others, you will win more hearts.
9. September. The Grand Strategist: Rising Out of Tactical Hell: Robert Greene defines our lives with the term tactical hell. Our interactions with others are like small battles. We are both trying to dominate the conversation. If you get too consumed by these interactions, you will lose your path. The only solution is setting an actionable strategy that will guide you outside these micro-battles. Elevate you to a higher place, so you can keep your eyes on the big goal.
10. October. The Emotional Self: Coming to Terms with Our Dark Side: We are not fallen angels. We have dark patterns that, if not understood, will lead to self-sabotage and derail. The text in the month of October will help you understand what are our primitive roots. Then, help you protect yourself from your natural flaws.
11. November. The Rational Human: Realizing Your Higher Self: We default to laziness. Always taking the path of least resistance. To win, to conquer, we need to touch base with our higher self. To bring out the best of us. For that to happen, we first need to think rationally. Use the emerging emotions as a stepping stone to take action in the right direction. But before that, take the time to think about the situation thoroughly.
12. December. The Cosmic Sublime: Expanding the Mind to Its Furthest Reaches: Understanding that we are mortals and that our time on earth is limited will create a sense of urgency. Focus you on the most important tasks in life. Stop imagining that you will live forever or that you have time. You don’t. We don’t. Reconnect with your deepest wants and start making progress towards the life you really want for yourself.

“The Daily Laws will take you, the protagonist, on a similar journey through a land full of dangerous and toxic types of people, helping you shed your illusions and hardening you for the battles ahead so that you may find solace and pleasure in seeing people and the world in their true light.” Robert Greene

Lesson #2: Figure Out Your Life’s Task

Keep trying. Keep pushing. Don’t give up.

These are some of the things the author repeatedly told himself throughout the years.

He didn’t become a best-selling author overnight. In fact, the book starts with a short story about his writing career.

Or more precisely, about his failure as a writer.

Robert Greene explains that he received a harsh critique about his way of writing. His boss years ago, while he was working as a journalist, told him, “You are not writer material. Your work is too undisciplined. Your style is too bizarre. Your ideas—they’re just not relatable to the average reader. You should seriously consider a different career.”

Surely painful to hear this. He didn’t give up. He kept pursuing his dream of becoming a writer. Something he decided to become since he was 8 years old.

The first branch – the month of January – will help you figure out your life’s tasks. This is the most important decision in your life because it will give you direction. Allow you to arrange all other areas in your life in a way that best suits your mission.

Here are a couple of ideas from the book about discovering your calling:

• Reconnect with your childhood obsession: We are not afraid to get obsessed with doing different things when we are young. Some of us spend years when young doing something – writing, painting, creating. With age, life gets in the way, and we sadly disconnect from these passions. Think about what were your fascinations as a child. Reconnect with them. See if you can make one of these adorable activities from the past your calling.
• It is already within you: Want you want to do is already somewhere within you. You just need to find the signal and increase the volume. Think about what’s something you’ve always felt a pull toward.
• Change is the law: We love comfort. We do everything possible to reach a comfortable state of existence. That’s why we keep doing things, working jobs, we don’t particularly like. Greene explains that we are not tied to a particular position or a company. We should be only committed to our life’s task. This, of course, requires change. What you are doing now does not mean that it should determine what you will do in the future.
• Depending on others is misery: When you’re dependent on others you’re vulnerable. When you expect others to give you work, show you the way, you are dooming yourself to failure. Find inner power. Don’t underestimate your own abilities. Others are usually not that better than you. They simply appear to be better. The more you depend on yourself, the more powerful you’ll become.
• Embrace your weirdness: If you’re trying to be like everyone else, you won’t get far. Robert Greene suggests doubling down on your weird metrics. Traits. Bizarre obsessions. Use your weirdness as a tool that will differentiate you from the rest.

“Daily Law: Always stick to what makes you weird, odd, strange, different. That’s your source of power.” Robert Greene

Lesson #3: Find The Best In The Field and Attach Yourself To Them

To build something. Anything. You must learn the building processes involved. This, always, requires a stage of apprenticeship.

Surely you can learn things on your own. But why waste time?

Why not take what others have already mastered. The best practices in your field of choice, and mercilessly use them for what you want for yourself?

This is the tactic Robert Greene have used, years ago, to learn various languages. By looking at what others are doing and deeply studying their habits, he was able to quickly improve not only his French, but later also his writing style.

The month of February offers a set of lessons on how to learn from others. How to learn by doing.

• What the mentor needs: People who know more than you can surely teach you a lot. But why should they waste time with you? This question can help you think about what are the needs of the mentor. What can you give them? How can you help them? The mentor-apprentice relationship should be a mutually beneficial affair. Find someone who can be your mentor and figure out how you can help them.
• You have one goal: The greatest position when you’re starting a new career journey is rarely the one that offers the highest salary. It’s a position offering the greatest possibilities for learning. Practical knowledge cannot be measured with cash. You should look for what a job can teach you. Focus on this: Tackling difficult tasks and getting regular feedback to quickly accelerate your progress.
• Redefine pleasure: The pursuit of pleasure is distracting. If you consider the work you do boring. If you constantly dream about finishing your job so you can do something more entertaining. Then you’re not doing the right job. Real pleasures should come from overcoming challenges and refining your skills.
• Learn by doing: Formal education emphasizes mostly on boring, lifeless facts to teach you something. Real learning happens by doing. Want to write a book? Just start writing. Want to learn a language? Go and speak to people. Our brain is designed to learn by doing. By persistently practicing the activity you want to strengthen.
• The painful truth: There are no shortcuts. Don’t try to bypass the apprenticeship phase, Robert Greene says. Yes, we literally have to spend hours working and refining the skill we want to acquire if we want to master it. There is no other way.

“Daily Law: Find the deepest pleasure in absorbing knowledge and information. Feel like you never have enough.” Robert Greene

Lesson #4: Master The Art of Deception And Seduction

Napoleon Bonaparte said it approximately two centuries ago: “Place your hand inside a velvet glove.”

Mastering the fine art of seduction will drastically change the way you interact with others.

You won’t simply think about how to approach a single individual. You will look at the grand scheme of things and force yourself to think deeply about all the relationships in the organization, group, community.

Carefully considering all of your interactions with others, will ensure that you’re always in a favorable spot. Always ready to outmaneuver your opponents.

• Wear the appropriate mask: We all wear masks. Yes, this sounds shameful and unethical, but it’s true. Different people and situations require an appropriate mask. Consider yourself as an actor in a play. Never state your real intentions. Form them in such a way to position people where you want them to be.
• Take control of your image: We judge people based on their outward appearance. Do you think the case is different for you? It surely isn’t. If you’re not strategic with how you appear and what you convey, you will let others form their own image about you. Be responsible for that. Create a well-polished image for yourself. Add a dose of mystery. A dose of excitement. The point is that you are responsible for how people perceive you.
• Infect the group with productive emotions: When others get tired, you need to keep pushing. If the situation is getting hard, keep advancing. This will make others embarrassed by their lack of enthusiasm. They will see you as a source of energy and attach themselves to you. All of this, making you more powerful.
• The art of presence and absence: Don’t share everything. Refrain from showing all the details. People love when you’re purposefully withholding something. This creates a strangely intriguing aura around your image. If you’re always present, people will get bored. If you’re never there, they will forget you. There is a fine balance between presence and absence.
• Play the honest rogue: With time, the false image you’ve created for yourself will be something extremely difficult to maintain. The solution is simple: reveal your real intentions. Some people will surely hate you and label you as fake and a hypocrite. But others will love you for your honesty.

“Daily Law: When you can no longer disguise your cunning, reveal your devices.” Robert Greene

Lesson #5: Observe The Battlefield From Above

We are too consumed by the daily interactions with people. We think about what others have said and done. All of these interactions, prevent us from seeing the big picture.

The author calls this tactical hell. Instead of focusing on your long-term strategy, you start reacting to what others are doing. You become too emotional in the process.

Careful strategy is the way to move forward. Robert Greene labels his idea as follows: “Strategy is a mental process in which your mind elevates itself above the battlefield. You have a sense of a larger purpose for your life, where you want to be down the road, what you were destined to accomplish.”

When you stop carrying too much about the daily, insignificant things, you can finally see what matters most. What battles you should avoid and which are the important ones.

• Elevate yourself above the battlefield: There is a difference between strategy and tactics. Strategy is the art of managing a large-scale operation (e.g., an army or the direction of your life). In contrast, tactics is the things you’re doing right now. Greene says that we are, “Most of us in life are tacticians, not strategists.” Meaning that we don’t stop to consider the whole battlefield. We get preoccupied with the small daily battles. Take the higher ground. Observe your life above the battlefield. This will help you better frame your campaign.
• Avoid tactical hell: Detach from the daily tasks to see the big picture.Don’t let your ego or emotions prevent you from working on your grand goal. You should see a couple of moves ahead. As the author says, “raise your perspective high enough to think in that manner.”
• Place yourself in shih: Sun Tzu describes the position of shih a position of potential force. You don’t instantly take the first option – or do the first thing. You position yourself in a situation where you are able to choose between a couple of options – the opportunity to do a couple of things. A lot of times, more options give you greater power.
• See the larger dangers that loom in the future: We are victims of fate. Unable to see the future. Trapped by our emotions, we often don’t take the time to plan. If we consider the future – think about what can happen – we will immediately gain more clarity and direction. Robert Greene recommends: “train yourself to step back, imagine the larger things taking shape beyond your immediate vision.”
• Retreat to gain perspective: If all you do daily is responding to what’s happening, you will never see your uniqueness. Your differences that make you better from the rest. Preoccupied with our life, we never step back to think about us or about our place in the world. Pause. Retreat. Stop reacting and think about how you should proactively approach your days.

“Daily Law: Retreating shows not weakness but strength. It is something you must do every now and then, to find yourself and detach yourself from infecting influences.” Robert Greene

Lesson #6: Study Human Nature To Understand Yourself And Others

Regardless of how hard you try. You can’t overcome your natural flaws.

Deep down. There are patterns that derail you from your goals. Making you act emotionally when you should act rationally. Convincing you to buy things, instead of invest in things.

All of these toxic deeds are influenced by nothing other than people.

While surely a good company. Other people are the reason we struggle and feel pain.

When we see others who have more, we feel envy.

When we can’t seduce or influence, we feel abandoned and weak.

When we realize that others don’t care about us – because they really don’t – we feel lonely and misunderstood.

Getting to know this “exciting” blend of emotions and feelings that your mind is prone to experience will prepare you. Remove the fog and show you the prime source of all of your problems.

Precisely, that you are your biggest enemy. How you think is what sabotages you. Studying human nature will help you see others, and yourself, inside out.

Altering how you think is what you need to modify your perspective about the world.

• There’s nothing stronger than human nature: We evolved from the same source. We all have the same basic traits. This means that we all experience the same range of emotions – envy, loneliness, anger, joy, etc. If you are jealous of something, chances are that at least half of the people you know are experiencing the same thing. Identifying how we primarily act, will help you better spot weaknesses in your behavior and in the behavior of the people around you.
• The inner Athena: Pericles, a Greek statesman, believed that we all worship something. Most people worship their god, their ego, or their family. Pericles favored something else. He focused on nous (from Greek: mind or intelligence). He was attracted to the goddess Athena. A representation of the strongest characteristic of people – rationality. If you can find calmness in moments of pure anger and think deeply, you will never have to regret your deeds.
• Do not let success intoxicate you: A degree of confidence is surely helpful. You need courage and inner strength to keep moving. But this positive characteristic can quickly lead to a downfall. Getting a promotion or winning a client is never an end. Quite the opposite. This is the beginning of a long process of proving to others, and yourself, that you deserved the promotion or the contract.
• The madness of groups: A support group is a double-edged sword. Your friends can convince you that your new business idea is good. That you should “go for it”. Equally, they can also quickly dismiss our concept and call it stupid. In both of the situations, how the group thinks heavily influences our decision. But is their opinion valuable? Every time you have an idea, step back and think about the feedback you’re getting objectively. Groups offer the least rational way of thinking.
• Change your circumstances by changing your attitude: If you don’t feel like going to a dinner party. If you find the concept of talking to others a chore. If you think that others should be the first to engage with you. I guarantee that you’ll regret stepping foot out of the door. Conversely, if you’re genuinely excited about going out. If you can’t wait to speak to others, you will have a blast. Our attitude dictates how we behave. How we experience life. As the author writes, “We shape much of the reality that we perceive, dictated by our moods and emotions.”

“Depression and anxiety come from not being your complete self, from always playing a role. It requires great energy to keep this dark side at bay, but at times unpleasant behavior leaks out as a way to release the inner tension.” Robert Greene

Lesson #7: Use Your Emotions To Reach Rational Decisions

We consider the animal side of ourselves. The part that’s always emotionally reacting to what’s happening. The supreme evil of our human existence.

“If only I stop being so emotional,” we tell ourselves.

We think that to be rational, you should get rid of all of your sensations steering you towards disaster.

That’s not the case. Robert Greene points out that emotional thinking and rational thinking are internally connected.

When used properly, anger, sadness, or envy can lead you to a better place.

For instance, if you’re frustrated about your current position in the world. And if you step back and think about the situation deeply. You can find an alternative route for yourself.

To be a rational person is not about having a sterile brain absent from emotions. It’s about achieving harmony between your emotions and your way of thinking.

• Hope for us all: To keep going with our long-term aim. The author offers two notions: First, to learn about people who were able to attain mastery. People like Leonardo da Vinci, Marcus Aurelius, Anton Chekhov. To use their accomplishments as fuel for our project. Secondly, to utilize the maker’s mindset. When we work on our goal, we should feel excitement and energy. Repress our ego and become exceptionally practical.
• Know yourself thoroughly: Identify how you act under stress. Are you trying to please others? Are you reacting harshly? Do you tend to make irrational decisions? Knowing how you act in your weakest moments is essential for improving your life. You will then spend time finding an alternative route. A way to resist these impulsive reactions and figure out a better way to respond.
• Practice Mitfreude: When we see others succeed, even though we try to hide it, we feel a pang of envy. That’s our normal reaction. But where does this leave us? Only more crushed. Instead, the author suggests practicing something he borrowed from Friedrich Nietzsche – Mitfreude. This means that you actively try to feel the joy others are experiencing. When you see how others are making progress, try to feel their happiness. Imagine what it’s like to be in their position. This will make you genuinely excited about them. Additionally, it will give you the strength to work on your own projects.
• Ascend the mountain: Locked in the present moment, we can get trapped in the daily news, tasks, actions. Such that promote get rich fast schemes. Basically, everything you daily do is focused on getting results now. That’s why shopping is booming. To avoid getting stuck in the base of the mountain where you’re not progressing. You need to avoid status updates, daily news, products that offer quick results. Then, elevate your perspective. Focus on the big scale events. Ascend the mountain to get clarity and keep your eyes on the important objective.
• Integrate the shadow side: In the book, Robert Greene shares how Abraham Lincoln regularly analyzed himself. He concluded that he is ambitious, rough, loved boxing, but at the same time, he had a soft side. Deeply carrying about animals, loved poetry, and resented any kind of physical cruelty. Instead of covering his sensitive side, he channeled it to end the war early. Embracing your opposing qualities is a virtue. Showing both your strengths and weaknesses will make you more authentic. More human. More likable. Also, this will prevent you from going insane because you won’t have to hide part of yourself.

“Daily Law: Your goal must be not only complete acceptance of your Shadow side but also the desire to integrate it into your present personality. By doing so, you will be a more complete human and will radiate an authenticity that will draw people to you.” Robert Greene

Actionable Notes:

• Think for yourself: All of our ideas and all of our beliefs are transferred in our brains from other people. We believe in the god we believe because, at some point in the past, our caregivers explained the concept of Christianity (or other, depending on your views). And while there is nothing inherently bad about holding some of the beliefs we currently hold, it’s a good idea to be a bit rebellious. To create your own views of the world based on how you, yourself, imagine things. Get rid of some old views and create your own. Here’s what Robert Greene suggests, “Commandment: You need to think for yourself and not be tied to what other people have told you is reality.”
• Position yourself in the heads of others: Each person, no matter how twisted, beliefs that what he’s doing is the right thing. You might think that spending half of your salary on clothes every month, carefully photographic every outfit, and sharing the results online is an unnecessarily expensive way to attract awareness towards yourself. However, for the person doing it, it makes perfect sense. When you spot irrational behavior, get inside the head of this person. Try to think like them. Imagine what they are going through. This will not only help you forgive their stupidity. But also help you see the world as they see it. This is a powerful tool to “read” others.
• Every hour spent on dramas is a distraction: This is something I’ve witnessed myself a lot. People whose daily lives revolve around arguing and endless ego battles. You can’t advance in life if you’re constantly exhausting energy in pointless conversation. Consider your emotions a depletable daily resource. If you waste it on conflicts, you will never do anything productive. Focus on your own game and leave conflicts that don’t matter. Respect your emotional well-being. Some will consider you heartless and indifferent. But ultimately, that’s what you need to gain a higher position.
• Never stop exploring: Knowledge is infinite. Why do we then hold the same beliefs for years, for decades? The person you are, the person you become, is based on the thoughts you have. If you repeatedly consume the same things, turn to the same sources, you will never expand your knowledge and therefore never improve your position in the world. We are unconsciously creating a constraining small world if we keep reading and watching the same things. Open the door for more. For different. Use the easy access to the information available online as a way to grow as a person.
• Use death as a tool: Don’t focus on avoiding death. Use it as a tool. Use your fragile mortality to remind yourself what are the important tasks. Do you really have to browse all day long through status updates or news? Or, you can use your time to create something that will be helpful for others for years to come? Robert Greene writes, “By becoming deeply aware of our mortality, we intensify our experience of every aspect of life.” Midlife crises occur because we feel that what we’re doing doesn’t matter. Revise your daily actions and replace unimportant tasks with such of high value.

Commentary and Key Takeaway

As a fan of Robert Green – I mean, I’ve read all of his books- I can say that I was a bit disappointed.

Not that the content is not good. It is. But the content is not good (deep) enough.

This is a book that distills – in twitter-like style – the main concepts of his other works. It’s like continuous advertising of his other books. And it kind of feels like he’s saying all the time: “For more info, check my other books.”

I miss the in-depth analysis he usually includes and the deep dive into the ideas he presents.

For instance, a chapter of 48 Laws of Power is something like 20-30 pages. Here, you get one idea per page.

The Daily Laws can serve you as nothing more than a starting point to immerse yourself into the endless abyss of understanding human nature and power.

As the title explains, there are 366 meditations. Meaning, that you get an opening to an idea with a short actionable advice.

Probably the best way to use this book is to simply read a chapter a day. Each chapter is super short – one page. In the end. You get a prompt to do something.

For people working on long-term projects, the book can be used as a partner. A mentor that will help you go through the daily challenges we all face.

Personally, I recommend going deep into a particular idea once such pops. The difficult part is that the book is full of important concepts. You get lost, in a good way, searching for answers in the fields of power, seduction, mastery, and human nature.

Key takeaway:

There is something strangely calming about reading this book. You realize that achieving mastery is going to take a lot of time. But instead of feeling depressed because you need to wait an abnormally long amount of time to obtain the skills needed to call yourself an expert. You feel fine. You understand that achieving greatness – sort to say – takes time. Besides, you get that it’s not about the outcome. But about enjoying the process.

Notable Quotes:

“We humans have become the slaves to our fears and our evasions. When we turn this around, becoming more aware of our mortality, we experience a taste of true freedom. We no longer feel the need to restrict what we think and do, in order to make life predictable. We can be more daring without feeling afraid of the consequences.” Robert Greene

“Every minute of every day we are aging; every encounter with others alters and shapes our ideas; we are a continuous work in progress, never quite the same. As Heraclitus once said, ‘You cannot step into the same river twice; it is not the same river, and you are not the same person.'” Robert Greene

“We have goals to reach, projects to get done, relationships to improve. This could be our last such project, our last battle on earth, given the uncertainties of life, and we must commit completely to what we do. With this continual awareness we can see what really matters, how petty squabbles and side pursuits are irritating distractions.” Robert Greene