Gratitude & insolence

• Gratitude is the engine of civil society. 
• Gratitude is the ground of custom. 
• As such, gratitude situates deservedness and undeservedness at the base of customary conduct. 
• Insolence – the violation of what one is used to – challenges the customary behavior but in so doing fortifies it. 
• Insolence would not be understood as meaningful were it not for the prior general acceptance of what was customary.