Taking a thousand forms, often very
strange ones, this becomes the goal of almost all the efforts he makes
that are not rooted in physical pleasure or pain. It is true that
besides the sources of pleasure which he has in common with the
brute, man has the pleasures of the mind as well. These admit of many
gradations, from the most innocent trifling or the merest talk up to
the highest intellectual achievements; but there is the accompanying
boredom to be set against them on the side of suffering. Boredom is
a form of suffering unknown to brutes, at any rate in their natural
state; it is only the very cleverest of them who show faint traces
of it when they are domesticated; whereas in the case of man it has
become a downright scourge. The crowd of miserable wretches whose one
aim in life is to fill their purses but never to put anything into
their heads, offers a singular instance of this torment of boredom.
Their wealth becomes a punishment by delivering them up to misery of
having nothing to do; for, to escape it, they will rush about in all
directions, traveling here, there and everywhere. No sooner do they
arrive in a place than they are anxious to know what amusements it
affords; just as though they were beggars asking where they could
receive a dole! Of a truth, need and boredom are the two poles
of human life.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25