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We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation.
Francois De La Rochefoucauld
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Weakness can lead to betrayal more than careful planning can.

This quote suggests that human frailty or moral weakness is a common cause of betrayal, rather than intentional malice or premeditated deceit. It emphasizes that individuals may act treacherously not out of a deliberate plan, but due to vulnerabilities or failures in character that drive them to such actions.

Themes

BetrayalWeaknessHuman NaturePhilosophyTreachery

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a discussion about ethics in business.

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To understand matters rightly we should understand their details; and as that knowledge is almost infinite, our knowledge is always superficial and imperfect.
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