When architects designed skyscrapers, they first surveyed the ground to see whether it could bear the building's weight.
Venice, however, had been built on driven wooden piles, creating a glittering city upon a lagoon.
A nation needed an army, but Venice used mercenaries. The navy's success only highlighted the army's failure, but that referred to large-scale operations. Venice's narrow alleys were like a maze, perfectly suited for street fighting.
There was a reason the Austrians chose shells rather than rifles. Those tangled streets would absorb troops like a sponge.
In countries with harsh seasonal changes, people wore well-made but plainly styled clothes. In countries where clothing served only as decoration, garments became more extravagant. Aristocratic women almost all lived in great comfort, and their clothes were magnificent, utterly unlike those worn by female guerrillas.
Houses were the same. In cold Northern Europe, ordinary homes were designed mainly for warmth. The little cabins in the Alps were also very simple, while Venice's palaces were extravagantly luxurious, with many glittering windows.
Britain displayed wealth by covering dining tables with meat, while the tables of Italy's rich were laden with sweets and flowers.
Food could bring happiness. If someone who had eaten black bread for a long time suddenly got a piece of chocolate, they would feel that happiness. Take away their right to eat chocolate, and that poor wretch would be stirred into "fighting spirit"—either striving to become rich themselves, or joining a revolution to overthrow the feudal lords and bourgeoisie. Robbery was always easier than starting a business.
Louis XV had been even more extravagant than Louis XVI, yet the common people had not revolted during his reign.
Why, then, had Louis XVI been so much more unfortunate than Louis XV?
It had mainly begun with a carriage accident. Jean-Jacques Rousseau