the.com/overreach
the ambition that packs its own parachute, then forgets to check if it opens.
means trying to grab more power, land, or authority than you actually have the right or ability to hold.
from from old english oferræcan, literally to reach beyond — used since the 1500s for stretching a limb too far, then borrowed by lawyers and generals for stretching ambition too far.
legal usecourts strike laws down for exceeding constitutional power
empire patternhistorians blame overreach for rome, napoleon, and britain's decline
business versionstartups overreach by scaling before the product actually works