The Pleasures of Life | Page 5

wants, And e'en if it
denies what seems our right, Either denies because 'twould have us ask,
Or seems but to deny, and in denying grants."
Those on the other hand who do not accept the idea of continual
interferences, will rejoice in the belief that on the whole the laws of the
Universe work out for the general happiness.
And if it does come--
"Grief should be Like joy, majestic, equable, sedate, Confirming,
cleansing, raising, making free: Strong to consume small troubles; to
commend Great thoughts, grave thoughts, thoughts lasting to the end."
[11]

If, however, we cannot hope that life will be all happiness, we may at
least secure a heavy balance on the right side; and even events which
look like misfortune, if boldly faced, may often be turned to good.
Oftentimes, says Seneca, "calamity turns to our advantage; and great
ruins make way for greater glories." Helmholtz dates his start in science
to an attack of illness. This led to his acquisition of a microscope,
which he was enabled to purchase, owing to his having spent his
autumn vacation of 1841 in the hospital, prostrated by typhoid fever;
being a pupil, he was nursed without expense, and on his recovery he
found himself in possession of the savings of his small resources.
"Savonarola," says Castelar, "would, under different circumstances,
undoubtedly have been a good husband, a tender father; a man
unknown to history, utterly powerless to print upon the sands of time
and upon the human soul the deep trace which he has left; but
misfortune came to visit him, to crush his heart, and to impart that
marked melancholy which characterizes a soul in grief; and the grief
that circled his brows with a crown of thorns was also that which
wreathed them with the splendor of immortality. His hopes were
centered in the woman he loved, his life was set upon the possession of
her, and when her family finally rejected him, partly on account of his
profession, and partly on account of his person, believed that it was
death that had come upon him, when in truth it was immortality."
It is however, impossible to deny the existence of evil, and the reason
for it has long exercised the human intellect. The Savage solves it by
the supposition of evil Spirits. The Greeks attributed the misfortunes of
men in great measure to the antipathies and jealousies of gods and
goddesses. Others have imagined two divine principles, opposite and
antagonistic--the one friendly, the other hostile, to men.
Freedom of action, however, seems to involve the existence of evil. If
any power of selection be left us, much must depend on the choice we
make. In the very nature of things, two and two cannot make five.
Epictetus imagines Jupiter addressing man as follows: "If it had been
possible to make your body and your property free from liability to
injury, I would have done so. As this could not be, I have given you a

small portion of myself."
This divine gift it is for us to use wisely. It is, in fact, our most valuable
treasure. "The soul is a much better thing than all the others which you
possess. Can you then show me in what way you have taken care of it?
For it is not likely that you, who are so wise a man, inconsiderately and
carelessly allow the most valuable thing that you possess to be
neglected and to perish." [12]
Moreover, even if evil cannot be altogether avoided, it is no doubt true
that not only whether the life we lead be good and useful, or evil and
useless, but also whether it be happy or unhappy, is very much in our
own power, and depends greatly on ourselves. "Time alone relieves the
foolish from sorrow, but reason the wise." [13] and no one was ever yet
made utterly miserable excepting by himself. We are, if not the masters,
at any rate almost the creators of ourselves.
With most of us it is not so much great sorrows, disease, or death, but
rather the little "daily dyings" which cloud over the sunshine of life.
Many of our troubles are insignificant in themselves, and might easily
be avoided!
How happy home might generally be made but for foolish quarrels, or
misunderstandings, as they are well named! It is our own fault if we are
querulous or ill-humored; nor need we, though this is less easy, allow
ourselves to be made unhappy by the querulousness or ill-humors of
others.
Much of what we suffer we have brought on ourselves, if not by actual
fault, at least by ignorance or thoughtlessness. Too often we think only
of the happiness of the moment, and sacrifice that of the life. Troubles
comparatively seldom come to