Montaigne 1.6
- The dangers of conferring with the ‘enemy’ – both if one goes on one’s own or with one’s cohorts: dangers on all sides.
- Circumstances create their own consequence, and lead naturally to a certain course of action; the refrain from that action becomes difficult (specifically to do with the difficulty in restraining a conquering army from looting a city, even if pledged not to do so, but there are of course other applications).
- ‘But the gods avenged this subtle perfidy’ – and – ‘they who run a race should use their best speed, but by no means are they at liberty to lay a hand on their adversary to stop him, or to stretch out a leg to trip him up’ (says Chrysippus).
