restraint
Nobody likes it, really. But it is useful, if you value your life.
My husband and I sat across from each other in a French cafe after touring the Louvre and other Paris landmarks. We bantered, contrasting the French opulent style with the English castles we had seen a few days earlier.
“They went too far,” my husband said, speaking of the gold-lief and “busy” sculptures and painting on the ceilings of the French rooms. “No wonder the common people revolted when they saw this!”
I couldn’t refute his point. The grandeur of French palaces takes one’s breath away. I can only imagine how it must have felt for those who did not have enough bread to see how royalty lived.
My husband continued, “Well, think about it…that’s why the English monarchs are still here, and the French and Russian royalty are not. The common people expect their leaders to live well, but they revolt if they ‘overdo’ it!”
Maybe he is right.
It requires restraint…not a bad idea to remember in this current culture of materialism.
I think I prefer the term, “understatement.”
I think I will value my “understated” things with new appreciation!
Elaine White 
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