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About this quote

What does it mean?
Written agreements often fail to stop a government with the will to act.
In plain terms
Paper contracts mean nothing to a determined state.
What can you take from it?
Trust power dynamics more than paperwork.

Where it applies

  • political conflict
  • bureaucracy
  • negotiation

Putting it to work

  • assessing power
  • planning for breach
  • securing leverage

Questions to consider

  • What stops a determined government?
  • Are contracts ever truly binding?

Another view

It ignores cases where laws actually do constrain power.

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