Enquiries after Happiness, and Rules for attaining it, are not so necessary and useful to Mankind as the Arts of Consolation, and supporting oneself under Affliction. The utmost we can hope for in this World is Contentment; if we aim at any thing higher, we shall meet with nothing but Grief and Disappointments. A Man … Continue reading Joseph Addison on the quest for happiness
Tag: Consolation
From Seneca’s consolation to Marcia
"Plague on it! what madness this is, to punish one's self because one is unfortunate, and not to lessen, but to increase one's ills! You ought to display, in this matter also, that decent behaviour and modesty which has characterised all your life: for there is such a thing as self-restraint in grief also. You … Continue reading From Seneca’s consolation to Marcia
From Seneca’s consolation to Polybius
"It is ... a great consolation to reflect that what has happened to us has happened to everyone before us and will happen to everyone after us. In my opinion, nature has made her cruellest acts affect all men alike, in order that the universality of their lot might console them for its hardship." "We … Continue reading From Seneca’s consolation to Polybius
Notes in the Margins of the Days 