QUOTE FOR THE EVENING: And how much of my reading of Grotius hinges on this?*
"Therefore the same Cicero calls it detestable to break Faith, the Observation of which is the Bond of human Life, and, as Seneca says, Faith is the most sacred Good of the rational soul. Which Sovereign Princes ought the more solemnly to keep, by how much they offend with more Impunity than others. Wherefore take away Faith, they will be like wild Beasts, whose Rage all Men dread. Justice indeed in other Parts, has often something that is obscure, but the Bond of Faith is self-evident, and to that End do Men engage their Faith in their Dealings, that all Doubts may be removed."
-Grotius, De jure belli ac pacis, III.XXV.2
*pretty much all of it
(I'll be otherwise distracted for much of the week, trying to draft a full version of my prospectus; but I'll still post from time to time)
"Thou shalt not extinguish thine anger, but shall master it,
that thy conscience may not be blunted by adjustment
to wrong causes."
-The Dutch Ten Commandments to Foil the Nazis
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