Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 29: Florence to Trieste by Giacomo Casanova
page 99 of 150 (66%)
page 99 of 150 (66%)
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they had separated and he passed his time in trifling intrigues, hunting,
and reading the papers, literary and political. He laughed at those sages who declared that there was not one really happy person in the world, and he supported his denial by the unanswerable dictum: "I myself am perfectly happy." However, as he died of a tumor in the head at the age of thirty-five, he probably acknowledged his mistake in the agonies of death. There is no such thing as a perfectly happy or perfectly unhappy man in the world. One has more happiness in his life and another more unhappiness, and the same circumstance may produce widely different effects on individuals of different temperaments. It is not a fact that virtue ensures happiness for the exercise of some virtues implies suffering, and suffering is incompatible with happiness. My readers may be aware that I am not inclined to make mental pleasure pre-eminent and all sufficing. It may be a fine thing to have a clear conscience, but I cannot see that it would at all relieve the pangs of hunger. Baron Pittoni and myself escorted Zaguri to the Venetian border, and we then returned to Trieste together. In three or four days Pittoni took me everywhere, including the club where none but persons of distinction were admitted. This club was held at the inn where I was staying. |
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