Everything contains the element of its own destruction.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) Every grant of authority carries inherent limits — the very conditions that create a power also define the circumstances under which that power expires or is forfeited.

Where this applies

• A power of attorney grants broad authority to an agent but also contains a clause allowing the principal to revoke it at any time — the very grant of power carries within it the mechanism for its own termination.
• A corporate officer's authority derives from the board's appointment, and that same appointment process contains the power to remove him — the authority contains the seed of its own end.
• A lease grants a tenant the right to occupy for five years, but the expiration date built into the lease is the element that will eventually destroy the tenancy.