I say, that beside ambition, which may also have a stroke in the business, there is some shadow of delight and delicacy which smiles upon and flatters us even in the very lap of melancholy. Est quaedam flere voluptas. Nullum sine auctoramento malum est. I feel him melting under the weight of his delight, and see him utterly unable to support so pure, so continual, and so universal a pleasure. Indeed, he is running away while he is there, and naturally makes haste to escape as from a place where he cannot stand firm, and where he is afraid of sinking.
Man is wholly and throughout but patch and motley.
Omne magnum exemplum habet aliquid ex iniquo, quod contra singulos utilitate publica rependitur, says Tacitus. This sharp vivacity of soul, and the supple and restless volubility attending it, disturb our negotiations. To the next essay . To the previous essay . To the Essays page .