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Article HAPPINESS: A FRAGMENT. Page 1 of 5 →
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Happiness: A Fragment.
HAPPINESS : A FRAGMENT .
Quin multiseget quamvis ' sit dives , egenus . Content ... panels , est opulentus , inops ; Sola fames ami , rerumque jeterna cupido , Non defectus opum , nos faciunt inopes .
PROSPERITY , adversity , poverty , riches , chagrin , or joy , affecf * us onl y in proportion to the jnanner . in which , we behave under them ; and it may with propriety be said , ' that what is . pronounced good or Wbythe world , more frequently consists in imagination ^ than reality . A trifling misfortune often overwhelms us more than a great calamity-, and , on the other hand , a trivial pleasure communicates than
more jo } -,- good fortune iii a much greater latitude . Thus it is that the pure limpid stream with brown bread gives , one man more genuine satisfaction , than another receives from the highest dainties , and the richest wines . ° " . Lysander . had one day a very elegant repast sent him ; '< give it / said he' to the Helots */ and he contented himself with
, some coarse food , which was his usual . diet . In like manner A ;< esilaus , when some dainties and curious liquors were offered him , took only a little rneat , and refused all the rest . The sage Pit . acus formerly : said ; * He is rich who desires nothing but what is necessary for subsist-, ence , and who is never in want of . them . ' It were ridiculous to have compassion for a person , who had none for himself ; and it were follto esteem him
y happy , who considers : himself miserable . I call a man rich , who , in a state of poverty , seems to ' abound iu every thitio- j and I esteem-him . happy ,. who knows how to accommodate himself % every possible misfortune ; so , on the contrary , I look upon him as , poor , who , in the midst of riches , never thinks he has enough , and as miserable as the man who is overwhelmed at every trifling cross of fortune that is
. A . man devoted to melanchol y , will never , become joyous in any prosperity ; and he who is disposed to avarice , will ever live in a state of misery : as a glutton is never satisfied , and as an hydropical person is ever thirsty . ' Happiness , ' says a modern philosopher , ' is of itself neither good nor bad ; it is man alone that gives itthis stamp ; just as clothes do not in fact communicate heat
, , though they cover us , the warmth arising from our bodies . ' Hence arose the adage , that every one was the architect : of his own happi . "ess : Faber sua quisqua-fortune . If we were to hear that misfortunes shower down upon a man , we should lament his hard fate , throng in crowds to his house to pay him compliments of condolence ' - '
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Happiness: A Fragment.
HAPPINESS : A FRAGMENT .
Quin multiseget quamvis ' sit dives , egenus . Content ... panels , est opulentus , inops ; Sola fames ami , rerumque jeterna cupido , Non defectus opum , nos faciunt inopes .
PROSPERITY , adversity , poverty , riches , chagrin , or joy , affecf * us onl y in proportion to the jnanner . in which , we behave under them ; and it may with propriety be said , ' that what is . pronounced good or Wbythe world , more frequently consists in imagination ^ than reality . A trifling misfortune often overwhelms us more than a great calamity-, and , on the other hand , a trivial pleasure communicates than
more jo } -,- good fortune iii a much greater latitude . Thus it is that the pure limpid stream with brown bread gives , one man more genuine satisfaction , than another receives from the highest dainties , and the richest wines . ° " . Lysander . had one day a very elegant repast sent him ; '< give it / said he' to the Helots */ and he contented himself with
, some coarse food , which was his usual . diet . In like manner A ;< esilaus , when some dainties and curious liquors were offered him , took only a little rneat , and refused all the rest . The sage Pit . acus formerly : said ; * He is rich who desires nothing but what is necessary for subsist-, ence , and who is never in want of . them . ' It were ridiculous to have compassion for a person , who had none for himself ; and it were follto esteem him
y happy , who considers : himself miserable . I call a man rich , who , in a state of poverty , seems to ' abound iu every thitio- j and I esteem-him . happy ,. who knows how to accommodate himself % every possible misfortune ; so , on the contrary , I look upon him as , poor , who , in the midst of riches , never thinks he has enough , and as miserable as the man who is overwhelmed at every trifling cross of fortune that is
. A . man devoted to melanchol y , will never , become joyous in any prosperity ; and he who is disposed to avarice , will ever live in a state of misery : as a glutton is never satisfied , and as an hydropical person is ever thirsty . ' Happiness , ' says a modern philosopher , ' is of itself neither good nor bad ; it is man alone that gives itthis stamp ; just as clothes do not in fact communicate heat
, , though they cover us , the warmth arising from our bodies . ' Hence arose the adage , that every one was the architect : of his own happi . "ess : Faber sua quisqua-fortune . If we were to hear that misfortunes shower down upon a man , we should lament his hard fate , throng in crowds to his house to pay him compliments of condolence ' - '