Objects near our view are apt to be thought
greater than those of a larger size that are more remote. And so it is
with pleasures and pains: the present is apt to carry it; and those at
a distance have the disadvantage in the comparison. Thus most men,
like spendthrift heirs, are apt to judge a little in hand better
than a great deal to come; and so, for small matters in possession,
part with greater ones in reversion. But that this is a wrong judgment
every one must allow, let his pleasure consist in whatever it will:
since that which is future will certainly come to be present; and
then, having the same advantage of nearness, will show itself in its
full dimensions, and discover his wilful mistake who judged of it by
unequal measures. Were the pleasure of drinking accompanied, the
very moment a man takes off his glass, with that sick stomach and
aching head which, in some men, are sure to follow not many hours
after, I think nobody, whatever pleasure he had in his cups, would, on
these conditions, ever let wine touch his lips; which yet he daily
swallows, and the evil side comes to be chosen only by the fallacy
of a little difference in time. But, if pleasure or pain can be so
lessened only by a few hours' removal, how much more will it be so
by a further distance, to a man that will not, by a right judgment, do
what time will, i.
Pages:
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392