From Roger Pearson's Oxford University Press translation (Candide and Other Stories, 2006), page 208:
"The Abbé tried to prove that . . . without the conventions established between [people] the laws of nature would scarcely amount to much more than skullduggery.
'We have need . . . of notaries, and priests, and wtinesses, and contracts, and dispensations.'"
L'Ingénu responds: "You must be a pretty dishonest lot then, if you have to take so many precautions with each other."
The Abbé: "There are, I admit . . . a lot of rogues and shady characters among us, and there would be just as many among the Hurons if they were all gathered together . . . But there are also some wise . . . enlightened souls . . ."
And I ask you, dear, reader, why you think we have speed limits, police, armies, courts and legal documents? Do you think some or all of these are necessary as protections against violent anarchy, or are they not necessary at all?
Today's Rune: Protection.
2 comments:
I think they're necessary because there are always too many who will push the boundaries of common sense and end up hurting others. They aren't necessary for most people with sense.
Erik, Charles has said it best. People are too self motivated. And we can't have 'scullduggery', now can we?
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