In Francois Rabelais' story: Gargantua and Pantagruel: The Abbey of Theleme, the characters are establishing an abbey. This abbey has only one rule: Do what you will, "because people who are free, well-born, well-bred, and easy in honest company have a natural spur and instinct which drives them to virtuous deeds and deflects them from vice; and this they call honour. When these same men are depressed and enslaved by vile constraint and subjection, they use this noble quality which once impelled them freely towards virtue, to throw off and break this yoke of slavery."
How amazing is it to believe enough in the goodness of human nature to trust our instincts and live our lives through our own inherent will? I find myself really internalizing this quote. Maybe because I like doing whatever I want anyways, and finding serious literature to support that is nice, but I really do find myself believing in the goodness of human kind. If I am a good person, my natural instinct will lead me to do "virtuous deeds." If a bad person, I'll act according (and wouldn't it just really suck, to be born a bad person? I feel like this text makes it seem like people are born either good or bad). Either way, I am trusting myself and being true to who I am. I really like that idea.
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