The 33 Strategies of War

by Robert Greene

Good example of passive aggressive at play

The idiom represents an archetype in world literature: a person with a smiling face and a cruel heart, dubbed a “smiling tiger” in Chinese folklore. THE WILES OF WAR, TRANSLATED BY SUN HAICHEN, 1991

Second, once you realize you are dealing with the dangerous variety, the smartest move is to disengage, at best to get the person out of your life,

make the person feel comfortable in expressing any negative feelings toward you and encouraging it. This may be hard to take initially, but it may defuse his or her need to be underhanded; and open criticisms are easier to deal with than covert sabotage.

The reversal of passive aggression is aggressive passivity, presenting an apparently hostile face while inwardly staying calm and taking no unfriendly action. The purpose here is intimidation: perhaps you know you are the weaker of the two sides and hope to discourage your enemies from attacking you by presenting a blustery front.