The Essays of Montaigne — Volume 03 by Michel de Montaigne
page 40 of 62 (64%)
page 40 of 62 (64%)
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"Cur non ut plenus vita; conviva recedis?" ["Why not depart from life as a sated guest from a feast? "Lucretius, iii. 951.] "If you have not known how to make the best use of it, if it was unprofitable to you, what need you care to lose it, to what end would you desire longer to keep it? "'Cur amplius addere quaeris, Rursum quod pereat male, et ingratum occidat omne?' ["Why seek to add longer life, merely to renew ill-spent time, and be again tormented?"--Lucretius, iii. 914.] "Life in itself is neither good nor evil; it is the scene of good or evil as you make it.' And, if you have lived a day, you have seen all: one day is equal and like to all other days. There is no other light, no other shade; this very sun, this moon, these very stars, this very order and disposition of things, is the same your ancestors enjoyed, and that shall also entertain your posterity: "'Non alium videre patres, aliumve nepotes Aspicient.' ["Your grandsires saw no other thing; nor will your posterity." --Manilius, i. 529.] "And, come the worst that can come, the distribution and variety of all |
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