Category: Rooms

But we condemn those who, blinded by greed, fail to foresee the pains and troubles they will inevitably face—those who are corrupted by the allure of present pleasures—and we regard them with justifiable hatred. Equally guilty are those who abandon 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 are free to choose and nothing prevents us from doing what pleases us most, all pleasure must be embraced, and all pain must 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 matters, so that either by rejecting greater pleasures he may attain others, or by enduring harsher pains he may repel them.