Schulz Hotel Berlin

Schulz Hotel Berlin

We do indeed accuse them, and rightly so

Room

“We condemn those who, blinded by greed, fail to foresee the pains and troubles they will inevitably face—those who are corrupted by the fleeting pleasures of the present—and we regard them with justifiable hatred. Equally culpable are those who shirk their duties out of a softness of spirit, that is, a flight from labor and pain. And indeed, a clear and straightforward distinction between these matters is easy to make. For in our free time, when we have the freedom to choose and nothing prevents us from doing what pleases us most, every pleasure should be embraced, and every pain should be rejected. However, in certain times, whether due to duties or the necessities of life, it will often happen that pleasures must be rejected and pains cannot be avoided. Therefore, the wise person must choose between these two: either to reject greater pleasures in order to attain others, or to endure harsher pains in order to repel them.”

1914 translation by H. Rackham
“On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and disdain those who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of momentary pleasure, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents us from doing what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the demands of duty or the obligations of business, it will frequently occur that pleasures must be rejected and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always adheres to this principle of selection in such matters: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.”