The delight which a man has in hoping
for and looking forward to some special satisfaction is a part of the
real pleasure attaching to it enjoyed in advance. This is afterwards
deducted; for the more we look forward to anything, the less
satisfaction we find in it when it comes. But the brute's enjoyment
is not anticipated, and therefore, suffers no deduction; so that the
actual pleasure of the moment comes to it whole and unimpaired. In the
same way, too, evil presses upon the brute only with its own intrinsic
weight; whereas with us the fear of its coming often makes its burden
ten times more grievous.
It is just this characteristic way in which the brute gives itself up
entirely to the present moment that contributes so much to the delight
we take in our domestic pets. They are the present moment personified,
and in some respects they make us feel the value of every hour that
is free from trouble and annoyance, which we, with our thoughts and
preoccupations, mostly disregard. But man, that selfish and heartless
creature, misuses this quality of the brute to be more content than we
are with mere existence, and often works it to such an extent that he
allows the brute absolutely nothing more than mere, bare life.
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