ariondas/full_text_dataset · Datasets at Hugging Face

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"They think it is an evidence of true wisdom for a man to pursue his own
advantage as far as the laws allow it, they account it piety to prefer
the public good to one's private concerns, but they think it unjust for a
man to seek for pleasure by snatching another man's pleasures from him;
and, on the contrary, they think it a sign of a gentle and good soul for
a man to dispense with his own advantage for the good of others, and that
by this means a good man finds as much pleasure one way as he parts with
another; for as he may expect the like from others when he may come to
need it, so, if that should fail him, yet the sense of a good action, and
the reflections that he makes on the love and gratitude of those whom he
has so obliged, gives the mind more pleasure than the body could have
found in that from which it had restrained itself. They are also
persuaded that God will make up the loss of those small pleasures with a
vast and endless joy, of which religion easily convinces a good soul.

"Thus, upon an inquiry into the whole matter, they reckon that all our
actions, and even all our virtues, terminate in pleasure, as in our chief
end and greatest happiness; and they call every motion or state, either
of body or mind, in which Nature teaches us to delight, a pleasure. Thus
they cautiously limit pleasure only to those appetites to which Nature
leads us; for they say that Nature leads us only to those delights to
which reason, as well as sense, carries us, and by which we neither
injure any other person nor lose the possession of greater pleasures, and
of such as draw no troubles after them. But they look upon those
delights which men by a foolish, though common, mistake call pleasure, as
if they could change as easily the nature of things as the use of words,
as things that greatly obstruct their real happiness, instead of
advancing it, because they so entirely possess the minds of those that
are once captivated by them with a false notion of pleasure that there is
no room left for pleasures of a truer or purer kind.

"There are many things that in themselves have nothing that is truly
delightful; on the contrary, they have a good deal of bitterness in them;
and yet, from our perverse appetites after forbidden objects, are not
only ranked among the pleasures, but are made even the greatest designs,
of life. Among those who pursue these sophisticated pleasures they
reckon such as I mentioned before, who think themselves really the better
for having fine clothes; in which they think they are doubly mistaken,
both in the opinion they have of their clothes, and in that they have of
themselves. For if you consider the use of clothes, why should a fine
thread be thought better than a coarse one? And yet these men, as if
they had some real advantages beyond others, and did not owe them wholly
to their mistakes, look big, seem to fancy themselves to be more
valuable, and imagine that a respect is due to them for the sake of a
rich garment, to which they would not have pretended if they had been
more meanly clothed, and even resent it as an affront if that respect is
not paid them. It is also a great folly to be taken with outward marks
of respect, which signify nothing; for what true or real pleasure can one
man find in another's standing bare or making legs to him? Will the
bending another man's knees give ease to yours? and will the head's being
bare cure the madness of yours? And yet it is wonderful to see how this
false notion of pleasure bewitches many who delight themselves with the
fancy of their nobility, and are pleased with this conceit--that they are
descended from ancestors who have been held for some successions rich,
and who have had great possessions; for this is all that makes nobility
at present. Yet they do not think themselves a whit the less noble,
though their immediate parents have left none of this wealth to them, or
though they themselves have squandered it away. The Utopians have no
better opinion of those who are much taken with gems and precious stones,
and who account it a degree of happiness next to a divine one if they can
purchase one that is very extraordinary, especially if it be of that sort
of stones that is then in greatest request, for the same sort is not at
all times universally of the same value, nor will men buy it unless it be
dismounted and taken out of the gold. The jeweller is then made to give
good security, and required solemnly to swear that the stone is true,
that, by such an exact caution, a false one might not be bought instead
of a true; though, if you were to examine it, your eye could find no
difference between the counterfeit and that which is true; so that they
are all one to you, as much as if you were blind. Or can it be thought
that they who heap up a useless mass of wealth, not for any use that it
is to bring them, but merely to please themselves with the contemplation
of it, enjoy any true pleasure in it? The delight they find is only a
false shadow of joy. Those are no better whose error is somewhat
different from the former, and who hide it out of their fear of losing
it; for what other name can fit the hiding it in the earth, or, rather,
the restoring it to it again, it being thus cut off from being useful
either to its owner or to the rest of mankind? And yet the owner, having
hid it carefully, is glad, because he thinks he is now sure of it. If it
should be stole, the owner, though he might live perhaps ten years after
the theft, of which he knew nothing, would find no difference between his
having or losing it, for both ways it was equally useless to him.

"Among those foolish pursuers of pleasure they reckon all that delight in
hunting, in fowling, or gaming, of whose madness they have only heard,
for they have no such things among them. But they have asked us, 'What
sort of pleasure is it that men can find in throwing the dice?' (for if
there were any pleasure in it, they think the doing it so often should
give one a surfeit of it); 'and what pleasure can one find in hearing the
barking and howling of dogs, which seem rather odious than pleasant
sounds?' Nor can they comprehend the pleasure of seeing dogs run after a
hare, more than of seeing one dog run after another; for if the seeing
them run is that which gives the pleasure, you have the same
entertainment to the eye on both these occasions, since that is the same
in both cases. But if the pleasure lies in seeing the hare killed and
torn by the dogs, this ought rather to stir pity, that a weak, harmless,
and fearful hare should be devoured by strong, fierce, and cruel dogs.
Therefore all this business of hunting is, among the Utopians, turned
over to their butchers, and those, as has been already said, are all
slaves, and they look on hunting as one of the basest parts of a
butcher's work, for they account it both more profitable and more decent

"They think it is an evidence of true wisdom for a man to pursue his own

advantage as far as the laws allow it, they account it piety to prefer

the public good to one's private concerns, but they think it unjust for a

man to seek for pleasure by snatching another man's pleasures from him;

and, on the contrary, they think it a sign of a gentle and good soul for

a man to dispense with his own advantage for the good of others, and that

by this means a good man finds as much pleasure one way as he parts with

another; for as he may expect the like from others when he may come to

need it, so, if that should fail him, yet the sense of a good action, and

the reflections that he makes on the love and gratitude of those whom he

has so obliged, gives the mind more pleasure than the body could have

found in that from which it had restrained itself. They are also

persuaded that God will make up the loss of those small pleasures with a

vast and endless joy, of which religion easily convinces a good soul.

"Thus, upon an inquiry into the whole matter, they reckon that all our

actions, and even all our virtues, terminate in pleasure, as in our chief

end and greatest happiness; and they call every motion or state, either

of body or mind, in which Nature teaches us to delight, a pleasure. Thus

they cautiously limit pleasure only to those appetites to which Nature

leads us; for they say that Nature leads us only to those delights to

which reason, as well as sense, carries us, and by which we neither

injure any other person nor lose the possession of greater pleasures, and

of such as draw no troubles after them. But they look upon those

delights which men by a foolish, though common, mistake call pleasure, as

if they could change as easily the nature of things as the use of words,

as things that greatly obstruct their real happiness, instead of

advancing it, because they so entirely possess the minds of those that

are once captivated by them with a false notion of pleasure that there is

no room left for pleasures of a truer or purer kind.

"There are many things that in themselves have nothing that is truly

delightful; on the contrary, they have a good deal of bitterness in them;

and yet, from our perverse appetites after forbidden objects, are not

only ranked among the pleasures, but are made even the greatest designs,

of life. Among those who pursue these sophisticated pleasures they

reckon such as I mentioned before, who think themselves really the better

for having fine clothes; in which they think they are doubly mistaken,

both in the opinion they have of their clothes, and in that they have of

themselves. For if you consider the use of clothes, why should a fine

thread be thought better than a coarse one? And yet these men, as if

they had some real advantages beyond others, and did not owe them wholly

to their mistakes, look big, seem to fancy themselves to be more

valuable, and imagine that a respect is due to them for the sake of a

rich garment, to which they would not have pretended if they had been

more meanly clothed, and even resent it as an affront if that respect is

not paid them. It is also a great folly to be taken with outward marks

of respect, which signify nothing; for what true or real pleasure can one

man find in another's standing bare or making legs to him? Will the

bending another man's knees give ease to yours? and will the head's being

bare cure the madness of yours? And yet it is wonderful to see how this

false notion of pleasure bewitches many who delight themselves with the

fancy of their nobility, and are pleased with this conceit--that they are

descended from ancestors who have been held for some successions rich,

and who have had great possessions; for this is all that makes nobility

at present. Yet they do not think themselves a whit the less noble,

though their immediate parents have left none of this wealth to them, or

though they themselves have squandered it away. The Utopians have no

better opinion of those who are much taken with gems and precious stones,

and who account it a degree of happiness next to a divine one if they can

purchase one that is very extraordinary, especially if it be of that sort

of stones that is then in greatest request, for the same sort is not at

all times universally of the same value, nor will men buy it unless it be

dismounted and taken out of the gold. The jeweller is then made to give

good security, and required solemnly to swear that the stone is true,

that, by such an exact caution, a false one might not be bought instead

of a true; though, if you were to examine it, your eye could find no

difference between the counterfeit and that which is true; so that they

are all one to you, as much as if you were blind. Or can it be thought

that they who heap up a useless mass of wealth, not for any use that it

is to bring them, but merely to please themselves with the contemplation

of it, enjoy any true pleasure in it? The delight they find is only a

false shadow of joy. Those are no better whose error is somewhat

different from the former, and who hide it out of their fear of losing

it; for what other name can fit the hiding it in the earth, or, rather,

the restoring it to it again, it being thus cut off from being useful

either to its owner or to the rest of mankind? And yet the owner, having

hid it carefully, is glad, because he thinks he is now sure of it. If it

should be stole, the owner, though he might live perhaps ten years after

the theft, of which he knew nothing, would find no difference between his

having or losing it, for both ways it was equally useless to him.

"Among those foolish pursuers of pleasure they reckon all that delight in

hunting, in fowling, or gaming, of whose madness they have only heard,

for they have no such things among them. But they have asked us, 'What

sort of pleasure is it that men can find in throwing the dice?' (for if

there were any pleasure in it, they think the doing it so often should

give one a surfeit of it); 'and what pleasure can one find in hearing the

barking and howling of dogs, which seem rather odious than pleasant

sounds?' Nor can they comprehend the pleasure of seeing dogs run after a

hare, more than of seeing one dog run after another; for if the seeing

them run is that which gives the pleasure, you have the same

entertainment to the eye on both these occasions, since that is the same

in both cases. But if the pleasure lies in seeing the hare killed and

torn by the dogs, this ought rather to stir pity, that a weak, harmless,

and fearful hare should be devoured by strong, fierce, and cruel dogs.

Therefore all this business of hunting is, among the Utopians, turned

over to their butchers, and those, as has been already said, are all

slaves, and they look on hunting as one of the basest parts of a

butcher's work, for they account it both more profitable and more decent