Treaties are like roses and young girls — they last while they last.

The remark is a cynical aphorism about the fragility of international agreements: treaties, like perishable flowers, endure only so long as circumstances sustain them. By pairing “treaties” with “roses,” the line stresses impermanence and the way beauty or apparent solidity can fade quickly. The added comparison to “young girls” (a formulation that reads as dated and objectifying) intensifies the idea of transience and the speaker’s skepticism toward sentimental faith in promises. In political terms, it implies that national interest and shifting power realities ultimately override written commitments, so statesmen should treat treaties as contingent instruments rather than permanent guarantees.