When the Day Vetoes the School
Forbidding silk to common people makes silk more desirable. Montaigne watches sumptuary law produce the reverse of its speech. Intention does not invoice the outcome. A noble-sounding rule that inflames appetite has failed the test, whatever the preamble said.
Key Insight
Policy is a hypothesis. If the result contradicts the claim, revise the rule. Do not praise the motive while the market laughs.
“The true way would be to beget in men a contempt of silks and gold, as vain, frivolous, and useless; whereas we augment to them the honours, and enhance the value of such things.”Explore full theme analysis
