-
Articles/Ads
Article ON THE ERRORS OF COMMON OPINION. ← Page 4 of 4
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Errors Of Common Opinion.
whole world , as to their mouldering dust when kept together . It is not for this , it is not for him that is dead , but for ourselves , who remain alive , that we bury him ; to bury our remembrance of the loss of what we loved : we bury with him his utensils of life , which he then wants no mote . You say , we bury these ,-that they may live again and serve their master as before ; but you accuse us falsely :
these things shall live- tio mote , their time of perishing shall come like ours ; but they shall never be renewed again . Wouldst . thou know why we bury them thus with their master , it is for love and charity . An axe , a gun , and a few other necessary implements , are all we want to make life happy to us , and they are ail our riches ; were these to descend to the relations of the dying man , who knows but the desire of ho
possessing'things so . valuable mig ht incite the heir to parricide :. mig ht hasten the death of one whom he long had hated for possessing what was one clay to be his , and mi g ht , instead of using means to save , himself destroy him . Our fathers have taught us to guard against this cruelty and wietchedness , by thus determining the loss of a !! possessions with the possessor ' s life , that even the wicked have no
temptation to hope the death of those from whom no one can be a gainer . " The preacher went away confounded and ashamed , while the modest Indian returned the congratulations of his friends , with telling them , " It is not I that am better than this man , but our custonrjs are better than his . " To conclude the triumphs over sense and reason of this common
enemy of . the world , common opinion , with that unhappy error , which robs us of all solid happiness to give us a mere shadow of it , let us rememl-er that every body says , there is mote happiness in the expectation of pleasures , than in the possessing them . This is telling us , in other words , that all substantial happiness is out of our reach , and the imagination of it ail we have to- hope for . Precept too . often hoodwinks oar reason , nay and our very senses , and compels us to believe the dictates of neither : thus , in the case before us , we are
dictated to till we think pleasure itself no . pleasure , and the most uneasy of all sensations , expectation , a real blessing and true felicity . " What are your ¦ uneasinesses , "' says a bosom friend ; " and how shall I advise you to relieve them ? - Are you desirous of knowing that happ iness which riches g ive ; keep those-riches in . your coffers ; pleasures pali upon the sense , and when purchased prove nothing ; but while have it in to purchase themyou may always
you . your power , feast on the idea of what you can command at p leasure . Do you not desire riches ? there is but one other passion that can engross alt your thoug ht ; , that is Jove . Are you an adorer of the beauties and perfection of some female acquaintance , piarry her , and the charm will cease . " Thus common opinion teaches the world to laugh at all but ideal happ iness . What lessons of destruction are these to that being , charms of lif
whose true interest it is to know that the two great e ,, riches and beauty , have no real value , but in the actual use and true possession . Money , in the relieving the necessities of others , or procuring p leasures for ourselves , that is , in the parting with , not in the possessing ; and that the charms of a woman are only valuable , as they make the married life the happiest scene of action , and make the greatest pleasure of life as durable as life itself .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Errors Of Common Opinion.
whole world , as to their mouldering dust when kept together . It is not for this , it is not for him that is dead , but for ourselves , who remain alive , that we bury him ; to bury our remembrance of the loss of what we loved : we bury with him his utensils of life , which he then wants no mote . You say , we bury these ,-that they may live again and serve their master as before ; but you accuse us falsely :
these things shall live- tio mote , their time of perishing shall come like ours ; but they shall never be renewed again . Wouldst . thou know why we bury them thus with their master , it is for love and charity . An axe , a gun , and a few other necessary implements , are all we want to make life happy to us , and they are ail our riches ; were these to descend to the relations of the dying man , who knows but the desire of ho
possessing'things so . valuable mig ht incite the heir to parricide :. mig ht hasten the death of one whom he long had hated for possessing what was one clay to be his , and mi g ht , instead of using means to save , himself destroy him . Our fathers have taught us to guard against this cruelty and wietchedness , by thus determining the loss of a !! possessions with the possessor ' s life , that even the wicked have no
temptation to hope the death of those from whom no one can be a gainer . " The preacher went away confounded and ashamed , while the modest Indian returned the congratulations of his friends , with telling them , " It is not I that am better than this man , but our custonrjs are better than his . " To conclude the triumphs over sense and reason of this common
enemy of . the world , common opinion , with that unhappy error , which robs us of all solid happiness to give us a mere shadow of it , let us rememl-er that every body says , there is mote happiness in the expectation of pleasures , than in the possessing them . This is telling us , in other words , that all substantial happiness is out of our reach , and the imagination of it ail we have to- hope for . Precept too . often hoodwinks oar reason , nay and our very senses , and compels us to believe the dictates of neither : thus , in the case before us , we are
dictated to till we think pleasure itself no . pleasure , and the most uneasy of all sensations , expectation , a real blessing and true felicity . " What are your ¦ uneasinesses , "' says a bosom friend ; " and how shall I advise you to relieve them ? - Are you desirous of knowing that happ iness which riches g ive ; keep those-riches in . your coffers ; pleasures pali upon the sense , and when purchased prove nothing ; but while have it in to purchase themyou may always
you . your power , feast on the idea of what you can command at p leasure . Do you not desire riches ? there is but one other passion that can engross alt your thoug ht ; , that is Jove . Are you an adorer of the beauties and perfection of some female acquaintance , piarry her , and the charm will cease . " Thus common opinion teaches the world to laugh at all but ideal happ iness . What lessons of destruction are these to that being , charms of lif
whose true interest it is to know that the two great e ,, riches and beauty , have no real value , but in the actual use and true possession . Money , in the relieving the necessities of others , or procuring p leasures for ourselves , that is , in the parting with , not in the possessing ; and that the charms of a woman are only valuable , as they make the married life the happiest scene of action , and make the greatest pleasure of life as durable as life itself .