Montaigne 1.47
…necessity is a violent schoolmistress.
And if the essay is martial in content, yet is it pacific in tone, a marshalling not of men but disposition – a plea for caution. Even the acknowledgement that a fight is sometimes necessary is made with a cat-footed caution; for if one stakes all, one must be prepared to lose that stake – and know what losing entails. Here, of course, lies the uncertainty of judgement.