The Pleasures of Life

happens; for I think that what God

CTE

onquering! th

men the blest

ere stron

s of this worl

ther than they

y would

D'S ed. of

ons of Ph

ss. She is rather a kind and sympathetic mother, ever ready to shelter us from

well as a selfish life. Our duty is to make ourselves useful, and thus

with life, energy, and inter

inion: the first found disgrace, the second disgust, the last ingratitude, and each destruction." [1] Riches, again, oft

, yet not falsely and with hypocrisy, not feeling the need of another man's doing or not doing anything; and besides, accepting all that happens, and all that is allotted, as coming from thence, wherever it is, from whence he himself came; and, finally, waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothi

weak, but it mates and masters the fear of death.... Revenge triumphs

dread to see

ark gates of

errors when th

that makes us

in, can do more to release us from the cares of this world, which consume so much of our time, and embitter so much of our life. When we have done ou

yet are you Theseus, able to drive away the evil things of Attica. But you may clear away your own. From yourself, from your own thoughts, cast away, instead of Procrustes and Sciron, [4] sadness, fear, desire, env

begin to give way to ourselves, we fall under a most intolerable tyranny. Other temptations are in some respects like that of drink. At first, perhaps, it seems delightful, but there is bitterness at the bottom of the cup. Men drink to satisfy the desire created by previous indulgence. So it is

himself, can only purchase, or thinks he can only purchase, temporary relief from int

and more delightful. We possess mysteriously a sort of dual nature, and there are few t

d skill, than to creep along upon a jaded hack. In the one case you feel under you the free, respo

ontentedly sways the sceptre of himself, not envying the glory to crowned heads and Elohim of the earth

" says Epictetus, "was not really king of Argos nor of Mycenae, for he could not even rule himse

"I will conquer Sicily." "And after Sicily?" "Then Africa." "And after you have conquered the world?" "I

nal ambition. What is it to be king, sheikh, tetrarch, or emperor over a 'bit of a bit' of this little earth?" "All rising to gr

us that the wise Ulysses searched for a considerable time for the lot of a private man. He had some difficulty in finding it, as it was lying neglect

lives of courts. Ceremonials may be important, bu

t taketh a city." But self-control, this truest and greatest monarchy, rarely comes by inheritance. E

e three hundred Fabii were defeated, but that they were slain," and if you h

yself, which i

is incompatible with that dignified life which it is our wish that our citizens should lead, and totally adverse to that generous elevation of mind with which it is our ambition to

told us that "business should be chosen for the sake of leisure; and

e, while that of the most powerful monarch or the greatest genius may be contemptible. Commerce, indeed, is not only compatible, but I would almost go further and say that it will be most successful, if carried on in happy union with noble aims and generous aspirations. What Ruskin says of art is, with due modification, true of life generally. It does not matter whether a man "

all is beautiful, some is better than the rest for the help and pleasure of others; and this it is our duty always

e; every one meets the Sphinx sitting by the road he has to pass; to each of us, as to Hercules, is offer

orld when life is especially difficult and anxious, when there is less

an extreme, it is by no means an evil. If we have less leisure, one reason is because life is so full of interest. Cheerfulness is the d

s letters, mentions that his wife's maid, Harpaste, had nearly lost her eyesight, but "she knoweth not she is blind, she saith the house is dark. This that seemeth ridiculous unto us in her, happenet

t beautiful of his hymns,

feet, I do n

ene; one step

uide, and not out of mere laziness allowing ourselves to drift. We

s, but if we are often puzzled what to thi

good, but to d

spirit, and say

ay well were fit

were done, and got

o have well merited the

s, s

Zeus, and th

t I am bid

am ready. If

wretch;-and st

s a good rule to ask ourselves what we s

pecial case, but rather on the preparation of daily life. Battles are often won before they are fought. To cont

o go back to cyclopean times. In an old Hindoo story Ammi says to his son, "Bring me a fruit of that tree and break it open. What is there?" The son said, "Some small seeds." "Break one of th

no great a

ul that m

t cometh al

eth everyw

ry. I used to be in passion every day; now every second day; then every third; then every fourth. But if you have intermitted thirty days, make a sacrifice to God. For the habit at first begins to be weakened, and then is completely

to their thrones. But between him and them suddenly appear snow-storms of illusions. He imagines himself in a vast crowd, whose behests he fancies he must obey. The mad crowd drives hither and thither, and sways this w

who in the midst of the crowd keeps with

ill, secure peace o

a mark of the most common sort of men; for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose, to retire into thyself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from

own soul. "He who is virtuous is wise; and he who

ll make our lives pure and peaceful, by resisting evil, by placing restraint upon our appetites, and perhaps even more by strengthening and developing our tendencies to good. We must be careful, then, on what we allow our minds to dwell. The soul is dyed by its thoughts; we cannot keep our minds pure if we allow them to be sullied by detailed accounts

he wronged no man even in the most trifling affair, but was of service in the most important matters to those who enjoyed his society; so temperate that he never preferred pleasure to virtue; so wise, that he never erred in distinguishing better from worse; needing no counsel from others, but being sufficient in himself to discriminate between them; so able to expla

examined it and clearly understood it; how he bore with those who blamed him unjustly without blaming them in return; how he did nothing in a hurry; how he listened not to calumnies, and how exact an examiner of manners and actions he was; not given to reproach people, nor timid, nor suspicious, nor a sophist; with how little he was satisfied, such as lodging, bed, dress, food, serva

reward? Do you seek a reward greater than that of doing what is good and just? At Olympia you wish for nothing more, but it

Morlaix's be

la fidelibus

, Invariabili

, pax sine turbi

inque tumultib

s unica. Sed qu

ordine stantibu

ch passeth all understanding," "which cannot be gotten for gol

on, or Many Thi

.e. s

mar K

ers destroye

Epic

Emer

Epic

Alfred's

]