part XIII. ETICURUS.

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He alfo confiders, that he can do nothing more worthy that virtue and wifdom vvhich he profefleth, than not to yield the viftory to pain though the moft hard tobe fuftained ot all things ^ to bear up couragiouRy, to repulfe by patience fo dangerous an enemy ^ and at length to make fo perfe£l a conqueft,as that the very remembrance of it will be moftoelight- tul, and efpecially through abfolute indolency, which will befo much the more pleafmg, as a quiet Ha/en is moft welcome after a Tem-
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Now if a wife man is not without his allevia¬ tions and conforts in the greateft pain, what ftiall we fav of him in remifs and gentle pains, or at the lofs of fome limb or fenfe ? Truly, it was not without rcaron,that 1 faid formerly, a wife man, though depiivM of ihebeft otSen- fes Sight, would yet be happy : For if the Night doth not dinhnilh the happinefs of life, why Aiould blindnefs, that fo nearly rcfembles Night ? However he may want fome plealurcs that depend upon the light, yet are there feve- ral others left him, and what is much above all the relt, he may delight his mind with many things, and many ways without Seemg.
For fince to a wife man, to live is to think, certainly his thoughts are not oblig’d to his eyes in the bufmefs of fearching into truth. And that man, to whofe Dotfrine I gave up my name, could live long and happy, without being able to diftinguifh colours ; but without the know¬ ledge of things, he could not hgve livci happy. jMoreover, he was of opinion, that the perfpi- cacity of the mind was very much dimm’d by the fight of the eyes; and while others could fcarcely be faid to fee things that were before thenij he travelled abroad into all’ infinity, not flopping at any bounds.
CHAP. XXIII.
Of Fortitude^ againf Difeontent of Mind.
I' Said, that Difeontent of Mind is commonly , taken at fuch things as are conceived to be external llls,and the Contraries to thofe Goods which we moft love and defire. For men call fome things adverfc, others profperous : And -we may generally obferve, that the Mind,which Is elevated, and infolent with profperity, and caft down with adverfity, is abjedl and bafe. Hence is it, that all we fhould here fay, con¬ cerning the Ills which caufe Difeontent, and a- gainft which we have need of Fortitude, may be fufficiently inferred from what we formerly faid, touching thofe Goods which are the gene¬ ral objedts of Qur defires or inclinations, and in refpeft whereof we have need of Tempe¬ rance.
Let it fulfice in general to repeat what we for¬ merly faid. That Difeontent of Mind is not grounded upon Nature, but merely upon opini¬ on of 111. Wherefore, who ever conceives him- lelf to lie under fom 111, whether only forefeen and expedted, or already come upon him,muft of neceffity be difeontented. For how comes it,that 0 Father whofc Son is kill’d, and he knows it notiis not a wjut l|fs chearful or merry, than
if he were alive? Or that he,who hath loft much of his good Fame abroad, or all his Goods, and Cattcljby Robbery at home, is not at all fenfi- ble of either lofs till he hear of it ? Is it not Opinion only which difeontents him? For, if Nature did it, at the fame minute wherein the Son was llain,the Father’s mind would be ftruck wiih a fenfe of his death ; the like would be per^ ceived in the lofsof Honours or Goods.
^ T hcrcfore,to laifc Difeontent in the Mind, it is neccilary thatOpinion, not Nature,intervene. And that you may doubt the lefs of this, ob¬ ferve, that a Man who thinks a fuppofititious Cliild his own, and his own fuppofiticious * if News he brought him of the death of his own Son, he will not bcnioved,but ifofhisfuppofiti- iious,he will be e.xcecdingly afflidfed ; and this comes not ftoni N^tme, but Opinion.
but that thofe.things which alllirl us are not indeed Ills to us, appears even from this, that they are without or beyond us, and cannot reach us of themfclves, but- only by our own opinion are made Ills to us. And hence it was that I faid, it is reafon which makes Life happy orple'afanc, by expelling opinions, for which the mind is pofiefs’d with trouble. For it is difeontent alone which difturbs the mind, and its quiet and content.
But how can reafon e.vpel thefe opinions ? By teaching a wife Man to arm his mind againft Fortune. For the e.xternal things which wc think Goods, and the lofs of which caufeth dif¬ eontent in our minds, are termed the Goods of Fortune, becaufe indeed they are not ours, but comeandgo, as Foitune pleafeih.
For this reafon, a wife Man efteemsthem no more belonging to him, than to others ; nor pplTeileth them fo, as not to be ready to part with them. He hath caft off that opinion which cells us. Such Goods are our own, and can never be loft ; and hath put on the right opini¬ on, which affures him they are uncertain and tranficory, as indeed they are. And hereupon heconfiders with himfelf before hand, what he [hall do if he chance to lofe them ; he cnnfiders,
I fay, before- hand,that when it happens, he may not be affixed with vain grief, but take it quietly, that Fortune redemands what (he. gave not, but only lent.
Certainly to thofe who think,lhatto be de¬ prived of thefe Goods is an 111, the moft unhap¬ py thing of all is, that Premeditation encreaf- eth the Ills which it might have much diminifti- ed, if not wholly prevented ; and thus becomes only a foolifh confideration of 111 to come, and which perhaps will nev.er come. Every Ill is of itfelf troubkfom enough when it comes ; and if it chance never to come, we draw a voluntary mifery upon omfelves to nopurpofe, and by that means (hall never be free from trouble, ei¬ ther by receiving or apprehending fome III ; for he who always thinks that fome 111 or adverfity will befall him, to him that very thought is a continual 111.
Now if it (hall happen alfo to a wife man, that, by being long accuftomed to the poffeffion and ufe of the goods of Fortune, he hath not quite blotted that opinion out of his mind, and fo fome little of Fortune intervene, and give him a blow, by reafon whereof, he falls into
L 1 1 1 fome
EPICURUS.
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