"Patriotism is conducive to good morals, and good morals contribute to patriotism. The less we are able to satisfy our private passions, the more we abandon ourselves to those of a more general nature. Why are monks so fond of their order? Precisely because of those things which make it insupportable. Their rule deprives them of all the things on which the ordinary passions rest: there remains, then, only that passion for the rule which torments them. The more austere the rule, that is, the more it curbs their inclinations, the more force it gives to the one inclination which leaves them."
- Charles-Louis De Secondat, Baron De La Brede et de Montesquieu
I think you have a misspelling in the first half of the first sentence. Though maybe it is correct, because I am not sure I understand this one...
ReplyDeleteAh, "Good Morals." Thanks Linda, I will repair.
ReplyDeleteI think Montesquieu's point is that the more we are part of something greater than ourselves and the more it requires of us, the more we become committed to it.
Ah. Right. Well, that is certainly true. Thank you for the clarification, TB. :)
ReplyDelete