English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
For them, one can no more choose one’s sense of obligation to a group, or the lack of it, than one can choose one’s personality.
The Moral Foundation of Politics by Ian Shapiro
I don't understand the connection between no more and than. What does no more choosing something than something means? Or am I getting this sentence wrong? Can please someone explain this sentence to me?
A. Can one choose one's sense of obligation to a group?
B. Can one choose one's personality?
The author thinks one can not choose one's personality, and claims that choosing one's obligation to a group is not possible either.
If B is impossible, and
A is no more possible than B
then A is also impossible.
A simpler example might clarify things:
I would no more buy designer shoes than throw my money away.
There is a variant of this structure, using "sooner":
I would no sooner argue with him than I would bark at my dog.
