Beware Involuntary Betrayal

Betrayal need not be deliberate to be ruinous. One may be betrayed not only by enemies, but by friends, or even by oneself, through nothing more than a slip, a glance, a silence held too long. A man may be betrayed not only with malice, but through well-meaning accident, weakness, or simple misjudgement.

It is therefore a mistake to believe trust alone sufficient to secure secrecy. The trusted, however loyal their intentions, may falter – not through indiscretion but incapacity. A confidante may be tricked, manipulated, threatened, or worn down; a facial expression may betray what lips withhold; a single reflexive answer may tell more than intended.

This is the danger of intentionalism: the belief that only deliberate acts matter. Such a concept may have moral significance, but practicalities must also be considered. Facts do not care whether they were revealed by design or by mistake. What is exposed is no less exposed for having been uttered unwittingly. Prudence cares not for morality, only consequences.

For a man to truly safeguard himself, he must reckon not just with potential disloyalty, but with potential fragility. The friend who means well may still collapse under pressure, and even the man’s own unconscious behaviour may speak loudly when silence is needed. The wise do not merely choose whom to trust – they calculate how likely that trust is to hold against accident, deception, or threat.