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Single Idea 20479

[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / c. Combatants ]

Full Idea

How many soldiers put themselves at risk every day in wars which they care little about, rushing into danger in battles the loss of which will not make them lose a night's sleep. Meanwhile a man at home is more passionate about the war than the soldier.

Gist of Idea

People at home care far more than soldiers risking death about the outcome of wars

Source

Michel de Montaigne (III.10 On Restraining your Will [1580], p.1139)

Book Ref

Montaigne,Michel de: 'The Complete Essays', ed/tr. Screech,M.A. [Penguin 1987], p.1139

A Reaction

It depends whether you are a mercenary (which the majority probably were in 1680), and what are the implications of defeat.

The 14 ideas from Michel de Montaigne

7496 Rules and duties are based on the will, as that is all we control [Montaigne]
23122 Montaigne was the founding father of liberalism [Montaigne, by Gopnik]
20479 People at home care far more than soldiers risking death about the outcome of wars [Montaigne]
20480 There is not much point in only becoming good near the end of your life [Montaigne]
20481 Nothing we say can be worse than unsaying it in the face of authority [Montaigne]
20482 Virtue inspires Stoics, but I want a good temperament [Montaigne]
7495 Apart from the fear, dying is an easy duty [Montaigne]
6258 Virtue is the distinctive mark of truth, and its greatest product [Montaigne]
6259 Why can't a wise man doubt everything? [Montaigne]
6260 Sceptics say there is truth, but no means of making or testing lasting judgements [Montaigne]
6261 The soul is in the brain, as shown by head injuries [Montaigne]
6262 We lack some sense or other, and hence objects may have hidden features [Montaigne]
6263 No wisdom could make us comfortably walk a wide beam if it was high in the air [Montaigne]
22269 We must fight fiercely to hang on to the few pleasures which survive into old age [Montaigne]