arouse her all-powerful springs. There is no argument, no tradition, no force, which is of any avail against her inclination and her choice. Of the many thousand twists and turns she has at her command, let us make her take one conducive to our repose and preservation; then we are not only shielded from all harm, but even pleased and flattered, if it seems well to her, by hurts and ills. She turns every thing to her advantage, no matter what it is: error, dreams, are useful to her as legitimate material for making us secure and content.
It is easy to see that what gives an edge to pain and pleasure within us is our state of mind. The animals, who are unaffected by this,[1] feel in their bodies their unconstrained natural sensations, which consequently are almost invariable in each species, as we see by the conformity of their actions. If we did not disturb in our members their jurisdiction in this matter, it may be believed that we should be the better off, and nature has given them a just and moderate mingling of pleasure and of pain which cannot fail to be just, being equal and alike to all. But since we have cut loose from her rules, to abandon ourselves to the vagabond license of our imaginations, let us at least help to turn them in the most agreeable direction. Plato is displeased by our immitigable union with pain and pleasure, because it binds the soul to the body and attaches it too closely; I, on the contrary, am displeased by it, inasmuch as it detaches and separates them.[2] (a) Just as the enemy becomes fiercer when we fly, so pain grows proud to see us tremble before it.[3] It will surrender on much better terms to the man who shows it a bold front; we must resist it and brace ourselves against it. By being cornered and falling back, we invite and attract the destruction that threatens us. (c) As the body is steadier against the onset by stiffening its muscles, so is the soul.[4]
(a) But let us come to examples, which are proper game for the weak-loined like me: here we shall find that it is
- ↑ Qui le tiennent sous boucle.
- ↑ Plato craint nostre engagement aspre a la dolur et a la volupte, d’autant qu'il oblige et atache par trop l’ame au corps. Moi plustost, au rebours, d’autant qu’il l’en desprent et descloue. See Plato, Phædo.
- ↑ See Seneca, Epistle 78.
- ↑ See Cicero, Tusc. Disp., II, 23.
