In the film Dangerous Liaisons the Vicomte De Valmont (played by John Malkovich) breaks up with Madame De Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer), sinking her into a spiral of grief that leads to her death, and ultimately his own too. He loves her deeply but is required to split up with her by his pride, which will not have him submit to love. During the brutal conversation she begs him to reconsider and asks, “Do you want to kill me?”, to which he replies, “You have given me great pleasure but I simply cannot bring myself to regret leaving you. It's the way of the world. Quite beyond my control” Sound familiar? In the fable of the scorpion and the frog that opened the Introduction, the only explanation for the scorpion's destructive (and self-destructive) act put it beyond his control with the line “It's in my nature”. We often play Valmont's scorpion to Madame de Tourvel's frog, using phrases such as “it's not my fault, I can't help it”, “mistakes were made (but not by me)”, “boys will be boys” and “que sera sera” all harnessed in an effort to feel less accountable for one's actions. David Brent in the British comedy The Office said it best when explaining to his team that some of them would be losing their jobs: “It's out of my hands, and even if it were in my hands, my hands are tied” (Gervais & Merchant 2003).