I regard almost all quarrels of princes on the same footing, and I see nothing that marks man's unreason so positively as war. Indeed, what folly to kill one another for interests often imaginary, and always for the pleasure of persons who do not think themselves even obliged to those who sacrifice themselves for them!
Interpretation
The quote criticizes the senselessness of war and highlights the irrationality of conflicts driven by the selfish interests of leaders.
Mary Wortley Montagu's quote reflects on the absurdity of warfare, illustrating how conflicts between leaders often have little to do with the common people who bear the brunt of these quarrels. She emphasizes that many of these disputes are based on imaginary interests that serve only the privileged few, who remain indifferent to the sacrifices made by those who fight on their behalf. The quote showcases a deep frustration with the nature of war and the profound folly of killing in the name of such trivial matters.
In practice
During a discussion on the futility of war at a conference, one might quote Montagu to emphasize the irrationality of conflicts.
Whoever will cultivate their own mind will find full employment. Every virtue does not only require great care in the planting, but as much daily solicitude in cherishing as exotic fruits and flowers; the vices and passions (which I am afraid are the natural product of the soil) demand perpetual weeding. Add to this the search after knowledge. . . and the longest life is too short.
There is no remedy so easy as books, which if they do not give cheerfulness, at least restore quiet to the most troubled mind.
My chief study all my life has been to lighten misfortunes and multiply pleasures, as far as human nature can.
Strictly speaking, there is but one real evil: I mean acute pain. All other complaints are so considerably diminished by time that it is plain the grief is owing to our passion, since the sensation of it vanishes when that is over.
The secret of the demagogue is to make himself as stupid as his audience so they believe they are clever as he.
If eternity had a season, it would be midsummer. Autumn, winter, spring are all change and passage, but at the height of summer the year stands poised. It's only a passing moment, but even as it passes the heart knows it cannot change.
To believe that will has power over potentiality, that the passage to actuality is the result of a decision that puts an end to the ambiguity of potentiality (which is always potentiality to do and not to do) — this is the perpetual illusion of morality.
As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes; and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity.
Identity is a prison you can never escape, but the way to redeem your past is not to run from it, but to try to understand it, and use it as a foundation to grow.
To the man-in-the-street, who, I'm sorry to say, is a keen observer of life. The word Intellectual suggests straight away. A man who's untrue to his wife.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.