Welcome to MALICIA AS A GAME OF POWER, a blog series exploring human interactions, communication, conflict resolution, and negotiation. It offers strategies for leadership, personal branding, and highlights the importance of social influence and emotional intelligence. Readers will find techniques for navigating social dynamics, resolving conflicts, and building a strong personal brand. The blog serves as a resource with insights and practical advice for using communication effectively to succeed personally and professionally, encouraging reflection on experiences to foster meaningful connections.
In this installment, we will explore the 47th law of power in the book, the 48 laws of power by Robert Greene. You can buy a copy by clicking HERE.
LAW 47 DO NOT GO PAST THE MARK YOU AIMED FOR IN VICTORY
LAW 47: DO NOT GO PAST THE MARK YOU AIMED FOR IN VICTORY
This law is a critical, yet often overlooked, principle of strategic success and power maintenance. It serves as a caution against the intoxicating hubris that can accompany a great triumph. The core idea is simple: once you have achieved your objective—once you have secured the victory you initially sought—stop. Continuing to push the boundaries of your success or attempting to exploit your defeated enemy further is a grave mistake that almost inevitably leads to a reversal of fortune.
The Peril of Over-Extension
When a victory is achieved, a dangerous psychological shift often occurs. The victor, feeling powerful and invincible, tends to become careless and greedy. They forget the measured caution and strategic planning that led to the success in the first place. Instead, they begin to believe they can achieve anything and often try to extract more from the situation than is realistically possible or politically advisable.
The consequences of this over-extension are threefold:
- Arousal of Resentment and Fear: Pushing your advantage too far humiliates the defeated and instills fear in onlookers, including your potential allies. When you aim for absolute destruction or total subjugation, you leave the enemy with nothing to lose, thus inspiring a desperate, last-stand resistance. Furthermore, neighboring powers and subordinates, observing your boundless ambition, will begin to see you not as a hero, but as a tyrant who must be stopped before their own interests are threatened.
- Dilution of Resources: Every step taken past the original goal requires an investment of time, money, manpower, and attention. This unnecessary expenditure drains your resources, weakens your original position, and provides your enemies (both current and future) with a potential opening. A finite victory is strong; an attempt at infinite victory is inherently fragile.
- The Point of Diminishing Returns: The greatest benefit is derived from the initial victory. Subsequent gains often come at a much higher cost and yield far fewer strategic advantages. The wise strategist knows when the maximum return has been reached and pulls back to consolidate their gains. To continue past this mark is to invite exhaustion and vulnerability.
Strategic Implementation
To adhere to LAW 47, a leader must exercise rigorous self-control and clear foresight:
- Define the Mark: Before the conflict or competition even begins, clearly define what constitutes a complete and sufficient victory. This definition must be concrete, measurable, and limited.
- Stop and Consolidate: Once the defined goal is met—the castle is taken, the treaty is signed, the market share is secured—it is time to halt the offensive. Shift immediately from the act of conquering to the process of consolidating power and fortifying the newly won position.
- Grace in Victory: Show a degree of magnanimity toward the defeated. This is not charity; it is shrewd politics. Allowing the enemy an honorable retreat or a degree of self-respect lessens their desire for immediate vengeance and makes future diplomatic relations possible.
By stopping at the appropriate mark, the victor preserves their energy, avoids unnecessary conflict, and, most importantly, prevents the world from perceiving them as an insatiable threat. The perfect victory is one that achieves the objective with the least necessary effort and leaves the victor in a strong, sustainable position.
The 47th Law of Power, as described in Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power, is: “Do not go past the mark you aimed for; in victory, learn when to stop.” This law essentially advises against overextending oneself after achieving a significant success or victory, emphasizing the importance of knowing when to consolidate gains rather than pressing one’s luck and making new enemies.
Applying this law in an ethical manner requires reframing its core principle—strategic restraint—around virtuous and constructive goals, rather than purely self-serving or manipulative ones.Ethical Application of the 47th Law: Strategic Restraint for Sustainable Success
The ethical use of the 47th Law revolves around two main areas: Consolidating Success and Maintaining Moral Integrity.1. Consolidating Success (Knowing When to Stop for Good)
In an ethical context, “stopping” does not mean ceasing all activity, but rather pausing aggressive expansion or self-promotion to ensure long-term stability, foster goodwill, and sustain impact.
- Focus on Depth, Not Just Breadth: After a major achievement (e.g., launching a successful product, completing a key project, or winning a policy debate), resist the urge to immediately pivot to the next, more ambitious goal. Instead, dedicate resources to perfecting the existing success. This involves improving quality, optimizing processes, training employees, and deepening relationships with existing stakeholders.
- Ethical Rationale: Ensuring a product or service is truly excellent and sustainable provides greater value to the public and prevents rushed, low-quality efforts that could damage trust.
- Share the Credit and Cede the Spotlight: A key risk of overextension after victory is becoming arrogant or monopolizing the spotlight. Ethically, a leader should use a victory as an opportunity to elevate others. Acknowledge the team’s contributions, share praise with collaborators, and ensure that those who helped achieve the goal are properly rewarded.
- Ethical Rationale: Fostering a culture of gratitude and shared success builds a stronger, more loyal team and prevents the leader from becoming an isolating figure of envy.
- Manage Expectations and Resources: Success can create a dangerous appetite for constant, escalating wins. Ethically, one must be realistic about organizational capacity. Do not commit to unachievable future goals merely to capitalize on current momentum. Use the “stop” period to meticulously audit resources, assess the true cost of success, and plan future initiatives responsibly.
- Ethical Rationale: Responsible stewardship of resources and avoiding burnout demonstrates respect for employees and stakeholders.
2. Maintaining Moral Integrity (Avoiding the Envy of the Gods)
The original law warns that pressing too far incites envy from others, leading to a backlash. Ethically, this means being mindful of the impact of your success on the wider community and deliberately avoiding actions that cause unnecessary resentment or suffering.
- Practice Humility and Avoid Triumphalism: Ethical success should not be flaunted in a way that minimizes others. Avoid public gloating, unnecessary displays of wealth, or rhetoric that frames rivals as utterly defeated or incompetent. Maintain a gracious and humble demeanor, even when celebrating.
- Ethical Rationale: Respect for opponents and maintaining civility fosters a better environment for future collaboration and reduces the motivation for others to actively work toward your downfall.
- Do Not Exploit a Weakened Competitor: If a victory comes at the expense of a competitor who is now struggling, the ethical application of the 47th Law mandates restraint. Do not use their moment of weakness to deliver a crippling blow or acquire their assets through coercive means. Instead, focus on your own business improvement.
- Ethical Rationale: Ethical competition allows for the health of the market and community. Crushing a rival unnecessarily can lead to monopolies, job losses, and a poorer outcome for consumers.
- Define and Honor the “Good Enough” Mark: In the context of ethical self-improvement or social change, know when a goal has been sufficiently achieved. For instance, in an advocacy campaign, reaching a meaningful legislative reform might be the “mark.” Going past the mark might mean demanding extreme, non-negotiable changes that alienate moderate supporters and threaten to overturn the initial, successful reform.
- Ethical Rationale: Prioritizing pragmatic, achievable, and widely beneficial outcomes over maximalist idealism ensures that ethical progress is durable and widely supported.
In essence, the ethical application of the 47th Law of Power transforms a manipulative rule of self-preservation into a virtuous principle of sustainable, responsible, and shared success. It is a discipline that preserves not just your power, but also your reputation and moral standing.
The 47th Law of Power, Through the Eyes of an Angoleiro
This exploration delves into the seemingly contradictory yet profoundly insightful relationship between Robert Greene’s The 47th Law of Power: Do Not Go Past the Mark You Aimed At; In Victory, Learn When to Stop and the philosophical discipline embodied by Capoeira Angola.
The 47th Law cautions against the intoxicating hubris of an overwhelming victory, advising the powerful to exercise restraint, not push their luck too far, and avoid creating bitter enemies through total annihilation. It is a lesson in strategic self-limitation, reminding us that a continued escalation of dominance can be counterproductive, drawing unwanted attention and galvanizing opposition.
For the Angoleiro—a practitioner of Capoeira Angola—this law resonates deeply within the core principles of their art. Capoeira Angola is not merely a fight; it is a complex, ritualized game (jogo) played within the protective circle of the roda (the ring). The ultimate aim is not to physically destroy an opponent but to achieve dominance through malícia (malice, cunning, and trickery), mandinga (mystical energy, power, and strategy), and superior technical skill, all while maintaining the utmost respect for the tradition and the partner.
The Angoleiro’s Interpretation of the 47th Law:
- The Mark (O Alvo): In the roda, the “mark” is often not a knockout blow but a strategic moment of control, a perfectly executed rasteira (sweep), or a brilliant escape from a compromising position. The true objective is to win the game, not end the partnership.
- Victory (A Vitória): A true “victory” in Capoeira Angola is the display of complete control and fluid mastery, a jogo so compelling that it captivates the entire roda. To land a debilitating strike or humiliate a partner publicly goes “past the mark.” Such an action violates the spirit of the jogo, risks inciting genuine violence, and earns the practitioner a reputation for carelessness and lack of malandragem (street smarts/cunning).
- Learning When to Stop (Saber Parar): The Angoleiro learns that the highest form of power is restraint. After successfully sweeping a partner, the master does not follow up with a crushing kick (cabeçada); instead, they often use a fluid, non-damaging movement to continue the jogo or gracefully back away, allowing the partner to recover and re-enter the dance. This act of grace signals strength, confidence, and respect, ensuring the jogo continues and the community remains harmonious. Pushing a defeated opponent further creates unnecessary inimizade (enmity), which the wise Angoleiro avoids, knowing that in the closed world of the Capoeira community, today’s opponent is tomorrow’s teacher or friend.
The Angoleiro, therefore, practices the 47th Law not as a cynical political maneuver, but as an essential philosophical element of their art, understanding that the pursuit of absolute, total victory is often an act of profound weakness, whereas controlled, measured dominance is the truest manifestation of power.
Jogo Corpo Fechado 