The Irrational Laws of Civility

 On 30 September 1645, Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia wrote to René Descartes a letter including

To benefit from the particular truths you mention, we would need an exact knowledge of all these passions and preconceptions, of which most people are unaware. When we observe the customs and values of the country we are in, we sometimes discover extremely irrational ones, which we have to conform to in order to avoid greater disadvantages.

Since I have been here [Riswijk], I have had the most vexing proof of this, because I hoped that a stay in the country would do me good by providing opportunity for study; and yet I find that I have incomparably less free time than I had at the Hague, through having to entertain people who do not know what to do with their time; and although it is very unfair to deprive myself of real benefits in order to provide them with imaginary ones, I am obliged to yield to the irrational laws of civility in order not to make enemies. Since I started this letter, I have been interrupted at leas seven times by such troublesome visits.

Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia was daughter of "the Winter King", granddaughter of James I of England. Her letters to Descartes show a lively, clear intelligence.

The letter appears in The Passions of the Soul and Other Late Philosophical Writings of René Descartes, translated by Michael Moriarty.