# Touchstone's escape clause becomes a moral condition

Commentary on Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton.

On [CH04.P016](https://glosses.org/orthodoxy/pg16769-r1/CH04.P016/#char=183,279): "Touchstone talked of much virtue in an "if"; according to elfin ethics all virtue is in an "if.""

Touchstone's words come from *As You Like It*, 5.4.100–107. Explaining how gentlemen can avoid fighting even after a direct accusation of lying, he describes opponents who turn their assertions into conditional statements and become friends. His conclusion is: “Your ‘if’ is the only peacemaker: much virtue in ‘if.’” The wording here follows the modern Folger online text, updated July 31, 2015; the play was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. [Text and scene](https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/as-you-like-it/read/5/4/); [publication history](https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/as-you-like-it/an-introduction-to-this-text/).

Chesterton accurately recalls the speaker and the phrase, but deliberately changes their application. Touchstone's conditional softens an assertion and releases people from a quarrel; Chesterton's conditional binds a recipient to the terms of a gift. “Virtue” moves from the useful power of a verbal device toward moral goodness. Shakespeare supplies the comic hinge, not an independent argument that every prohibition deserves obedience.

## Sources

- [William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Folger online edition](https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/as-you-like-it/read/5/4/), 5.4.100–107; FTLN 2732–2739; text updated July 31, 2015
- [Folger Shakespeare Library, An Introduction to This Text: As You Like It](https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/as-you-like-it/an-introduction-to-this-text/), Opening publication-history statement: first printed in 1623

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