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ID 194741418 © Volodymyr Melnyk | Dreamstime.com

The notion of ’noblesse oblige’ (literally: ’nobility obligates’) was once a guiding principle in the relations of the pre-war European landed gentry with their plebeian tenants.

In recent quarters, following a hiatus of around 150 fiscal years, the ethic seems to be undergoing a new-world revival – specifically in its figurative sense, defined by the thoroughly old-world Dictionnaire de l’Academie Française as follows:

“Noblesse oblige (Fig.): The duty to act in accordance with one’s status; with ...

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