(p.227) Moral views are bound up with particular periods of time and geographical areas, and are also subject to change. The desire to work, diligence and thrift are fairly late arrivals in the ethical system, and are seen by most historians as typically middle-class virtues, which did not achieve their ultimate place in the value system until the eighteenth-century Enlightenment.

(p.228) Weber's hypothesis has been immensely influential to this day, sometimes being quoted approvingly and so- metimes attracting criticism ranging from thoughtful analysis to vehement denunciation It has been pointed out, for instance, that "capitalist tendencies" can be found before the Reformation, and that to hold work in high regard is characteristic of Christianity in general. Thomas Aquinas saw work not only as a means of pro- viding the essentials of life, but also as a fulfilment of the commandment to practice Christian charity, a duty to the community (officium) imposed by God. The maxim ora et labora of monastic orders...

(p.239) In the sixteenth century, the concept of acedia was replaced by the term desidia, which was taken to mean idleness in both the biblical and modern senses of "not working" and the neglect of one's everyday respon- sibilities (see Ecclesiasticus 33:27: "Send him to labour, that he be not idle, for idleness teacheth much evil")

(p.242) Another of Junius's verses, "In tabellam de otiosis" (On a picture of idlers), describing an unknown print or painting, conveys an equally clear message: "He who squanders his time in vulgar idling, and wilfully puts too much trust in chance, strikes a blow at the source of bounty, and he who has once given generously becomes a beggar. Wealth often grows for one who, though afflic- ted by want, lives frugally by toiling diligently in a seem- ly manner."68 So beggars have only themselves to blame. This point is also made in Den rechten weg nae 't gasthuys (The best...