Make Way For Me

A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine. I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents. I should be incapable of drawing a single stroke at the present moment; and yet I feel that I never was a greater artist than now.

When, while the lovely valley teems with vapour around me, and the meridian sun strikes the upper surface of the impenetrable foliage of my trees, and but a few stray gleams steal into the inner sanctuary, I throw myself down among the tall grass by the trickling stream; and, as I lie close to the earth, a thousand unknown plants are noticed by me: when I hear the buzz of the little world among the stalks, and grow familiar with the countless indescribable forms of the insects and flies, then I feel the presence of the Almighty, who formed us in his own image, and the breath.

But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure.

“Fusce facilisis eleifend lorem, et euismod erat mattis vel. Duis eleifend ullamcorper massa id mattis. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Sed tortor leo, consequat eu nisl eget, porta tincidunt eros. Donec vitae consequat lectus. Integer et diam ut nisl hendrerit condimentum. Quisque sodales elit molestie elit mollis, vitae facilisis lectus vehicula. Duis quis euismod velit. Aliquam fringilla vitae dolor et egestas. Proin elementum sapien vel volutpat lobortis. Quisque euismod commodo risus, eget finibus nibh congue quis. Maecenas facilisis bibendum eleifend. Donec dui lectus, sodales at ipsum ut, dapibus laoreet ligula.”
Charlie Chaplin

To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? 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.