Robert Greene Explains What Powerlessness Does to People

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]You don't have any power in your life, any control over any influence is deeply, deeply miserable for the human animal. So, we want to be able to have a sense of feeling that we have some power over our environment, over the people around us. Now, you can get power in various ways. You can use manipulation, you can play a softer, more seductive game, but it is my opinion that a great majority of people's behavior and actions are motivated by this desire to feel like there's a degree of control over their environment. If you deny that need, if you can't seem to get it, if you don't have that power in your life, if you feel powerless, you can turn to some very negative forms of behavior.

[00:00:40]So, I try to say that to be able to understand the game of power, to be able to feel like you can control people, you can influence them, you can move them in your direction, will save you a lot of energy in life, save you a lot of drama, save you a lot of self-loathing, and all kinds of bad patterns that you can fall into.