It was Montaigne who declared that "custom" ought to be followed simply because it is custom.

A poor reason indeed.

There should be a better argument for the doing of what is contrary to reason and nature.
Nature is a wise mother, and she bestows on us no member of the body that is unnecessary.

The thought of her fostering care was well expressed by the old Greeks who lived an out-door life, in their personification of Mother Earth under the creation of their Demeter, perfect in form and beautiful in expression and noble in action.

This is far above the conceptions of nature or of a presiding genius over our lives, taking into account social order and marriage vows, which we find in Chinese literature or mythology.