The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Counsels and Maxims by Arthur Schopenhauer
page 25 of 149 (16%)
page 25 of 149 (16%)
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in the world, amid a crowd of various impressions and with a
correspondingly small amount of activity on the part of his own mind. And in this connection it will be in place to observe that, when events and circumstances which have influenced us pass away in the course of time, we are unable to bring back and renew the particular mood or state of feeling which they aroused in us: but we can remember what we were led to say and do in regard to them; and thus form, as it were, the result, expression and measure of those events. We should, therefore, be careful to preserve the memory of our thoughts at important points in our life; and herein lies the great advantage of keeping a journal. SECTION 9. To be self-sufficient, to be all in all to oneself, to want for nothing, to be able to say _omnia mea mecum porto_--that is assuredly the chief qualification for happiness. Hence Aristotle's remark, [Greek: hae eudaimonia ton autarchon esti][1]--to be happy means to be self-sufficient--cannot be too often repeated. It is, at bottom, the same thought as is present in the very well-turned sentence from Chamfort: _Le bonheur n'est pas chose aisée: il est très difficile de le trouver en nous, et impossible de le trouver ailleurs_. [Footnote 1: _Eudem. Eth_. VII. ii. 37.] For while a man cannot reckon with certainty upon anyone but himself, the burdens and disadvantages, the dangers and annoyances, which arise from having to do with others, are not only countless but unavoidable. |
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