The Wise Man Therefore Always Holds In These Matters To This Principle

On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish.

In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted.

The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.

4 Comments

  1. secondlookalliance_cz3mue on August 20, 2025 at 10:41 am

    This is a sample comment. I might reply to it to see how that goes.

  2. secondlookalliance_cz3mue on August 20, 2025 at 10:41 am

    This is a totally new comment, which can have its own comment thread below it.

    Hmmm….

  3. secondlookalliance_cz3mue on September 18, 2025 at 12:10 pm

    And this is a comment to say I’ll delete all these comments before the site goes live. – Patrick

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