I grant men the land, the government, the wealth, all the chances. I accept that you have to hold all the cards, since that's the only way you know how to play; but I refuse to swallow your disrespect.
Pierre BeaumarchaisRead
Drinking when we are not thirsty and making love at all seasons, madam: that is all there is to distinguish us from other animals.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that what sets humans apart from animals is our ability to engage in actions that are not solely driven by necessity.
In this quote, Pierre Beaumarchais emphasizes the uniquely human inclination to indulge in pleasures beyond mere survival needs, such as drinking and lovemaking, which are done not only when one is thirsty or in heat. This reflects on the broader human experience, highlighting our capacity for desire, enjoyment, and the pursuit of pleasure as defining traits that differentiate us from other species.
In practice
During a toast at a wedding, you might use this quote to reflect on the joys of love and indulgence.
I grant men the land, the government, the wealth, all the chances. I accept that you have to hold all the cards, since that's the only way you know how to play; but I refuse to swallow your disrespect.
Where love is concerned, too much is not even enough.
I quickly laugh at everything for fear of having to cry.
Because you are a great lord, you believe yourself to be a great genius. You took the trouble to be born, but no more.
Without the freedom to criticize, there is no true praise.
I hasten to laugh at everything, for fear of being obliged to weep.
Litigant. A person about to give up his skin for the hope of retaining his bones.
I meditate for the last time on this mountain that is bare, though others all around are white with snow. Like the bare peak of the koan, this one is not different from myself. I know this mountain because I am this mountain, I can feel it breathing at this moment, as its grass tops stray against the snows. If the snow leopard should leap from the rock above and manifest itself before me - S-A-A-O! - then in that moment of pure fright, out of my wits, I might truly perceive it, and be free.
I loathe my name because it is mine and also because it is not mine; it is at once too intimate and seems to have no connection with me. Perhaps because the name is quite common, it never seems to fit me, or fit me alone. Nevertheless, when I see the name, I always feel a peculiar sense of shame.
Even if the received opinion be not only true, but the whole truth; unless it is suffered to be, and actually is, vigorously and earnestly contested, it will, by most of those who receive it, be held in the manner of a prejudice, with little comprehension or feeling of its rational grounds
I enjoyed having a reputation as being wild, but these days I try not to worry about what people think in the privacy of their own brain or what they write in the bizarre publicity of their own newspapers, because all of those things are meaningless.
Generous gestures yield the most when that isn't their purpose.
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