Sometimes you do. But that's the risk you have to take when you're dealing with a force more powerful than yourself—especially if that force has some real leverage to keep you down.

[this is a situation he is all too familiar with, and the brief flash of bitterness in his expression.]

Even when you know, it doesn't always make a difference. But it means you still have to pick your battles, especially when we don't know what we're up against here.