Chapter 8 Title VI

Title VI 258, 355-212, 215 (339) 200-197 I can well imagine a man without hands, without feet, without a head (for only experience teaches us that the head is more necessary than the feet).However, I cannot imagine man without thought: that would be a rock or an animal. 262-231 (340) 218-198 The results of the mathematical machine are closer to thought than anything an animal can do; yet it can do nothing to enable us to say that it, too, has will as the animal does. 259-230 (341) 210-199 Liangcourt's Fish Dart and the Frog's Tale: They've always done that and never been different, nor anything else spiritual.

260-209 (342) 183-200 If an animal can do in spirit what it does instinctively, and if it can say in spirit what it says instinctively, it can warn its fellows when hunting that game is found or lost. then it must also be able to say those things it cares more about, such as: "Bite the rope that hurts me, I can't bite it." 261-211 (343) 233-203 A parrot's beak is always rubbed, even though it is clean. 272-216 (344) 231-204 Instinct and reason, two signs of nature. 266-377 (345) 203-217 Reason orders us far more imperiously than a master; for disobeying a master we are wretched, disobeying reason we are fools.

257-233 (346) 234-218 Thoughts form man's greatness. 264-391 (347) 121-219 Man is but a reed, the feeblest thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed.It does not take the whole universe to take up arms to destroy him; one breath, one drop of water is enough to kill him.Yet, even if the universe were to destroy him, man would still be more noble than that which killed him; for he knows that he dies, and the advantage the universe has over him, which the universe knows nothing of. All our dignity, then, consists in thought.It is because of it that we must improve ourselves, not because of space and time that we cannot fill.Therefore, we try to think well; this is the principle of morality.

265-217 (348) 232-220 Thinking reeds——I should pursue my own dignity, not in the space, but in the rules of my own thoughts.No matter how much land I possess, it is of no use; with space the universe encompasses me and engulfs me like a particle; with thought I encompass the universe. 356-219 (349) 239-213 The immateriality of the soul—what matter can a philosopher master his emotions? 374—284 (350) 240—212 The Stoics—they concluded that we can always do what we were once able to do, and that since the desire for glory has done something for those possessed by it, others may well do the same in this way.But these are acts of fever, which health cannot imitate.

Epictetus concluded that since there are consistent Christians, so can everyone. 321-155 (351) 262-211 Those great spiritual endeavors to which the soul now and then touches are things it does not grasp; it merely jumps to them, and does not sit forever, as on a throne, and only for a moment. 322-711 (352) 269-228 What a man can do with virtue should be measured not by his efforts, but by his daily life. 323-229 (353) 224-227 I never admire an excess of virtue, such as that of courage, unless I can also see the opposite excess, as in Ipaminondas, where both extreme bravery and extreme benevolence are combined.Because otherwise, it would not be improvement, it would be degradation.We don't represent our greatness by going to one extreme, but by touching both and being full of everything in between.

Perhaps, however, it is but a sudden movement of the soul to go from one extreme to the other, whereas in reality it is always only at a certain point, like a torch.Even so, it at least shows the activity, if not the breadth, of the soul. 318-64 (354) 812-221 Human nature does not move forward forever, it advances and retreats. Passion is hot and cold; and coldness, like heat itself, shows the greatness of the heat of passion. The same is true of the creations of men from century to century.The good and the bad in the world are, in general, the same. Plerumque gratae principibus vices. [Change almost always pleases the big guys].From Horace's Odes

319-961 (355) 268-339 Constant eloquence is boring. Princes and kings sometimes play games.They do not always sit on their thrones; they are bored on their thrones: greatness must be relinquished in order to be felt.Continuity abhors everything; cold is lovely in order to feel hot. Nature acts by progress, itus et reditus [advancing and retreating].It goes forward, then goes back, then goes further, then doubles back, then goes further than before; and so on. That's how the tides work, and the sun seems to work that way too. 320-921 (356) 696-349 The nutrition of the body comes bit by bit.Full nutrition but little food.

324-943 (357) 185-222 When we try to follow virtue to the extremity of its two sides, there arises vice, which sneaks in insensibly in its imperceptible way along the infinitesimal side; On the side of infinity, vice abounds; so that we are so caught up in vice that we no longer see virtue.We get caught up in perfection itself. 329-257 (358) 273-223 Man is neither an angel nor a beast; but the misfortune is that he who wants to appear as an angel appears as a beast. 325-166 (359) 270-224 It is not by our own strength that we keep our virtues, but by the balance of two opposite vices, as we keep our uprights in the midst of two opposite hurricanes.Take away one of these two evils, and we fall into the other.

376-282 (360) 563-225 What the Stoics put forward is so difficult and so vain. The Stoics suggested that anyone without a high degree of intelligence is equally stupid and sinful as those who sink just below the surface of the water. 375-299 (361) 261-226 perfection.Controversy about the Supreme Good - Ut sis contentus temetipso et ex te nascentibusbonis [In order that you may be content with yourself and the good that comes from you. 〕Excerpt from Seneca's "To Psyrius" Volume 20, Chapter 8, in which Seneca defended suicide; this point of view of Seneca was developed in Chapter 3 of Volume 2 of Montaigne's Collected Works.Pascal argued that this theory contradicted Stoicism. .There is a contradiction here because they end up urging people to commit suicide.what!What a blessed life, and we have to get rid of it like a plague.

371-803 (362) 384-244 Ex senatus consultis et plebiscitis…. [It is the Senate and the people...], see below No. 363 part. Similar citations are requested. 371-804 (363) 747-258 Ex senatus-consultis et plebiscitis scelera ex ercentur.Sai, 588 [It is the senate and the people that have done the evil. 〕The words come from the fifteenth volume of Seneca's "Letter to Lucilius". Nihil tam absurde dici potest quod non di catur ab aliquo philosophy. On divination. [There is nothing so absurd that it cannot be said by a philosopher. 〕The words come from Chapter 58 of Volume 2 of Cicero's "On the Gods".

Quibusdam destinatis sententiis consecrati quae non probant coguntur defendere.oo. [Those who commit themselves to prejudice are obliged to defend what they cannot prove. 〕The words come from Chapter 2 of Volume 2 of Cicero's "On Tusculan". Ut omnium rerum sic litterarum quoque in temperantia la-boramus.game. [In literature, as in everything else, we can be overworked. 〕Excerpt from Seneca's "Letters" No. 106. Id maxime quemque decet, quod est cujusque suum maxime. [What is best for each man is what is best for him. 〕The words come from Chapter 31 of Volume 1 of Cicero's "On Duty". Hos natura modos primum deedit. [Nature first gave them these limits. 〕Virgilius (Virgilius, Roman poet, 70-19 BC) "Golzhik" No. 2AE?, 20. Paucis opus est litteris ad bonam mentem. [A good mind does not require reading a lot of books. ] The words come from Seneca's "Letter Collection" No. 106. Si quando turpe non sit, tamen non est non west. 263-232 (365) 838-184 Thought—All human dignity lies in thought. Thought, therefore, by its very nature, is a marvelous and incomparable thing.It would have to have a marvelous defect in order to be contemptuous; and yet it has, so nothing could be more absurd. How great is thought by its very nature!How base is thought because of its defects! But what is this thought?How stupid it is! 95-85 (366) 255-242 Nor is the mind of this world-ruling Inquisitor so independent that he cannot be disturbed by the tiniest noise that surrounds him; no cannon-shot is needed to hinder his thoughts; only a weather-vane or The sound of a pulley is enough.You needn't be surprised if he doesn't reason properly for a moment; the very fact that a fly buzzes in his ear is enough to keep him from making a good opinion.If you want him to be able to discover the truth, drive that little animal away; it has hindered his reason and interfered with his mighty wisdom that rules so many cities and kingdoms.Here is a mischievous God! OridiH colosissimoeroe!Italian: 〔Ah, the most ridiculous hero〕. 96-59 (367) 272-389 The power of flies: they can win battles, they can hinder the activities of our souls, and they can eat our bodies. 94-937 (368) 253-426 We are astonished when it is said that heat is nothing but the movement of certain particles, and light nothing but the conatus recedendi [action of reflection] which we perceive.What?Is joy nothing but the ballet of the spirit?How different ideas we have of it!And how far apart these sensations seem from others which we may call the same when we compare them!The sensation of fire, that heat which acts upon us in a manner quite different from that of touch, the perception of sound and light; all these seem mysterious to us, yet they are as rough as a stone cast down.The subtlety of the spirit that penetrates the capillary can touch other nerves—it is true; but there must be some nerve touched. 97-228 (369) 811-469 Memory is necessary for all intellectual use. 98-952 (370) 265-425 [Chance begets thoughts, and chance cancels them; there is no way of retaining or acquiring them. The thought escapes, and I try to write it down; but what I write is that it escapes from me. 〕 99-754 (371) 947-363 [When I was a child, I hugged my books; because sometimes I felt... I believe that I hugged the book, but at this moment I hesitated... 〕 100—146 (372) 254—364 When I was about to write down my own thought, it sometimes escaped; yet it reminded me of my fragility, and my momentary tendency to forget; Thoughts of oblivion, for all I ask is to know my own nothingness. 71-44 (373) 267-461 Skepticism—I am going to write here my thoughts out of order, but perhaps not in an unplanned chaos: this is the real order, which will always show my object.If I deal with it in order, I do my subject too much credit, for it is precisely I who intend to show that order is impossible. 185-70 (374) 260-350 What amazes me most is seeing that everyone is not surprised at their own vulnerability.People are acting in earnest, each following his own case; not because there is actually any good in following it (since it is nothing but a fashion), but as if each knew with certainty where reason and justice lay.They find themselves not once cheated; yet with a ridiculous modesty they believe it to be their own fault, and not the fault of their ever-professed remedy.But the most wonderful thing is that there are so many such people in the world, who, for the glory of skepticism, are not skeptics, so as to show that man is likely to have the strangest opinions; because he can believe that he is not in that In the midst of innate and inevitable fragility, he believes himself to be in innate wisdom. Nothing strengthens skepticism more than that some people are not skeptics at all; and if everyone is a skeptic, they are wrong. 252-290 (375) 99-361 [I have believed for a long time in my life that there is justice, and in this I am not wrong; for there is justice, as God wills to reveal to us.Yet I do not understand it thus, and it is in this that I err; for I believe that our justice is essentially just, and I have a means of knowing it and judging it.However, how many times I have found that my correct judgment is wrong, and finally I have come to the point where I don't trust myself, and then I don't trust others.I saw all nations and all men changing; and after many changes in my judgment of true justice, I realized that our nature is but a constant change, and I have since But there is no change; if I had changed, I would have confirmed my opinion. The skeptical Arcesilaus becomes the dogmatist. 〕 186-71 (376) 279-360 This faction is strengthened far more by its enemies than by its friends; for human frailty is more pronounced in those who do not know it than in those who do. 187-255 (377) 345-509 Talk about humility, which is stuff of pride to the vain, stuff of humility to the humble.So talk of skepticism is the stuff of conviction to those who believe; few speak of humility in humility, few speak of chastity in chastity, few speak of skepticism in doubt.We are nothing but lies, duplicity and contradiction, we are hiding ourselves from ourselves and pretending to be ourselves. 327-289 (378) 561-462 Skepticism—an extreme spirit is accused of madness, as is an extreme lack of spirit.Nothing is good except mediocrity.It's the majority who fix it, and whoever tries to get away from it at either end, they'll cling to it.I am not opinionated in this respect, I agree with the people who put me here, and I refuse to be at the bottom, not because it is at the bottom, but because it is at the end; for I would likewise refuse to be placed at the top .To leave the middle way is to leave the way of humanity.The greatness of the human soul lies in knowing how to grasp the middle way; greatness is far from leaving the middle way, but never leaving the middle way. 326-105 (379) 604-463 Too much freedom is not a good thing.Having all the necessities is not a good thing. 229-913 (380) 547-386 There are all good maxims out there; it's just that we have to apply them.For example: We do not doubt that one's own life should be sacrificed for the sake of the public happiness; but not so for the sake of religion. It is true that inequality among men is necessary; but to admit it opens the door not only to supreme sovereignty, but also to supreme tyranny. A little relaxation of the spirit is necessary; yet this opens the door to the greatest indulgence. —Let us mark its limits. —But things have no limits at all: the law wants to place them there, but the spirit cannot bear it. 85-58 (381) 543-388 If we are too young, we judge badly; the same goes if we are too old.If we don't think enough, if we think too much, we become stubborn, we become dizzy.If we examine our work hastily after we have finished it, we remain preoccupied with it;The same is true of looking at paintings from too far away or too close; there is only one indivisible point which is the real place: the rest are either too close or too far, too high or too low.In the art of painting, perspective defines such a point.However, in terms of truth and morality, who will define such a point? 86-707 (382) 549-387 When everything is equally turbulent, nothing seems to be turbulent, as in a ship.When everyone is reduced to excess, no one seems to be reduced to it.Only those who stop can act as a fixed point to mark the madness of others. 87-706 (383) 527-392 Those who live without order tell those who live in order that it is they who have departed from nature, while they believe they are following it; just as the man in the boat believes that the man on shore is moving.This statement is similar in all respects.There must be a fixed point in order to make a judgment.A port can judge a man in a boat; but where are we to have a moral port? 250—362 (384) 98—432 Contradiction is a bad sign of truth: there are many true things that are contradictory; many false things that are not.Contradiction is neither a sign of falsehood nor the absence of contradiction a sign of truth. 228—298 (385) 208—390 Skepticism - Everything here is partly true and partly false.Fundamental truth is not like that; it is utterly pure and utterly true.This confusion defiles the truth and kills it.Nothing is purely true; and therefore nothing is true when true means purely true.It is true, they say, that killing is bad; yes, because we know bad and false very well.But what are the good things people say?Is it chaste?I say no, because the world will be extinct.Is it marriage?No; abstinence is much better.Is it quit killing?No, because disorder would be terrible, and the bad guys would kill all the good guys.Is it murder?No, because that would destroy humanity.We are only partly true and good, but mixed with evil and false. 380—261 (386) 37—51 If we dream the same thing every night, it acts on us as if it were the same object we see every day.If a craftsman must dream twelve hours every night that he is a king, I believe he is as happy as a king who dreams twelve hours every night that he is a craftsman. If we dream every night that we are pursued by the enemy and are stimulated by this painful phantom, and if we pass our days among affairs as we travel; It is probably the same when it is true; and we are as afraid of going to sleep as we are of waking up when we are afraid of such misfortune.And in fact it can have almost as bad an effect as the real thing. But since dreams are different, and the same dream is also in disorder, what we see in our dreams has much less effect than what we see when we wake up; Because, but it is not so continuous and even as to never change, just not so suddenly, unless it is very rare, such as when we travel, when we say: "I'm good It's like a dream"; for life is just a slightly less impermanent dream. 382-291 (387) 86-391 [There may be real proof; but this is not certain.This thus proves nothing but that even everything is not certain; and that is the glory of skepticism. 〕 381-89 (388) 163-431 Good sense - they are forced to have to say: "You are not acting in good faith, we are not sleeping, etc".How I love to see this haughty reason begging in humiliation.For it is not the language of a man whose rights are contested by others and who has arms and strength in his hands to defend them. It does not please him to say that men do not act according to good faith, and that he punishes this bad faith by force. 367-123 (389) 693-394 "Ecclesiastes" points out that without God, man will be reduced to ignorance of all things, and will be reduced to inevitable misfortune.For it is unfortunate to want and not be able to do it.Now he wanted to be happy and to grasp certain truths; but he could neither know nor wish to know.He couldn't even doubt it. 385-98 (390) 72-464 Oh my God!What a stupid thing to say: "Did God create the world so that it would perish? Would He demand so much from people who are so vulnerable? Wait." Skepticism is the antidote to this disease, it can Sweep away this vanity. 387-294 (391) 347-465 Talk - Great Words: Religion, I deny it. Talk - Skepticism in the Service of Religion. 383-213 (392) 206-525 Against Skepticism—[…It is therefore a curious thing that we cannot define these things without obscuring them, although we are speaking of them with perfect definiteness. ] We assume that all men understand them in the same way; yet we have no reason to assume this, since we have no evidence for it.I do see people using these words in the same situation, and whenever two people see an object change position, both of them use the same word to express the same object, they Both sides say it moved; and from this consistency of words we draw a strong inference of consistency of thought.This, however, is not absolutely convincing in the final case, though we may well wager that it is, since we know that we often draw the same conclusion from different premises. This at least suffices to confuse the matter, not that it absolutely extinguishes the radiance of genius which assures us of these things, and the academy may triumph; This is the glory of the skeptic; the skeptic lies in this ambiguity, and a certain dubious ignorance, in which our doubts cannot take away all the light, nor the light of our genius. All the haze in Qingpin. 286-205 (393) 517-693 The most interesting thing is to consider that there are many people in the world who have abandoned all the laws of God and nature, but have made their own laws, and strictly obey them, such as Muhammad's soldiers, as well as robbers, heretics, etc.So do logicians.In view of the fact that they have violated so many laws so right and so sacred, it seems as if there were no limits and no barriers to their unbridled excesses. 389-293 (394) 431-591 Skeptical, Stoic, Atheist, etc., all their principles are true.But their conclusions are false, because the opposite principle is also true. 273-287 (395) 660-590 Instinct, reason—our inability to testify is insurmountable to all dogmatism.We have, again, an idea of ​​truth which all skepticism cannot overcome. 271-243 (396) 245-592 Two things teach man all humanity: instinct and experience. 255-218 (397) 595-593 The greatness of man lies in the fact that he knows himself to be miserable.A tree does not know itself is sad. It is therefore tragic to know [ourselves] miserable; yet it is great to know what makes us miserable. 269-220 (398) 592-594 The misery of all this is itself a testament to the greatness of man.It is the tragedy of a great sovereign, of a king who has lost his throne. 256-129 (399) 489-595 We can't be sad without feeling; a broken house can't be sad.Only people are sad. Ego vir videns. 278-223 (400) 235-598 Greatness of Man—We have such a great idea of ​​the human soul that we cannot bear it to be despised, or respected by other souls; and all human happiness consists in this respect. 277-96 (401) 597-597 Glory—Beasts never envy each other.A horse never envies its fellows; it's not that they don't compete with each other in the race, but that it doesn't work; for even the stupidest horse won't put his oats in the stable The material is distributed to the other end, as one wishes others to do to oneself.Their virtue is self-sufficient in itself. 284-222 (402) 435-599 The greatness of man is that he knows how to extract a set of admirable laws even in his own desires, and paint it into a picture of benevolence. 283-210 (403) 599-600 Greatness—the cause of action marks the greatness of man who can draw such a beautiful order out of desire. 002 276-91 (404) 451-596 The greatest baseness of man is the pursuit of glory, and yet this in itself is the greatest mark of his excellence, for however much he may enjoy in the world, however much health and the greatest comforts, if he is not respected , he will not be satisfied.He venerated the reason of man so great that whatever advantage he may have in the world, he would not be content if he did not have the advantage in the reason of others.It was the best position in the world, and nothing could divert him from this desire; and this is the most indelible quality in the human heart. And those who despise man the most and equate man with beasts still desire to be admired and believed in, so they contradict themselves because of their own sentiments; their nature is more powerful than anything else, Their nature convinces them of man's greatness far more strongly than their reason convinces them of their meanness. 143-119 (405) 453-602 Contradictions - Pride can trump all pathos.Man either conceals his misery; or if he reveals his misery, he recognizes it and glorifies himself. 144-131 (406) 528-618 Pride overwhelms and sweeps away all pathos.It is a curious monster, and an obvious deviation. He tumbled from his seat, and he was anxiously seeking it again.This is what everyone is doing. Let's see who will find it. 141-137 (407) 551-619 When malice has reason on its side, it becomes arrogant and flaunts reason in all its splendor. When seriousness or severe choice does not lead to true goodness, but must fall back on nature, it becomes arrogant by this backward turn. 279-134 (408) 491-620 Evil is easy, and its number is infinite; but good is almost unique.There is, however, a certain evil which is as difficult to discover as what is called good; and that is why people tend to take that particular evil for good.It simply requires a super-great soul to achieve it as well as to achieve goodness. 268-221 (409) 433-621 Man's greatness—man's greatness is so obvious that it can be deduced even from his pathos.For what is natural in animals, we call it pathetic in man; Fallen from a better nature. For who would feel unhappy for not being a king, but a deposed king?Would it be considered unfortunate that Paul Aemilius should no longer be consul?On the contrary, all thought him happy that he had been consul, since it was his case that he should not be consul forever.Yet it was considered so unfortunate that Perseus should cease to be king—for his case was to be king forever—that people wondered that he should have lived.Who would feel unhappy because he has only one mouth?Who would not feel unhappy because he has only one eye?We may never have heard of being sorry for not having three eyes, but there is no consolation in not having one. 268(a)-52(410) 493-622 Perseus, king of Macedon, Paul Aemilius—Perseus was reproached for not committing suicide. 274-227 (411) 650-634 Though all our wretched visions suffocate us and choke us by the throat, an instinct of our own, irrepressible, draws us upward. 316-253 (412) 598-628 A civil war between man's reason and feelings. If there is only reason but no emotion,... If there is only emotion but no reason,... But since there is the one and the other, since peace with the one cannot be lived without war with the other, he cannot be without war; thus he is always divided and against himself. Own. 317-249 (413) 251-601 This civil war of reason against feeling divided the hopefuls of peace into two factions.One group is willing to deny emotion and become a god; the other is willing to deny reason and become a beast. [Dai Balu].But neither of them can do this; reason then lingers forever, accusing emotion of baseness and injustice, which disturbs the peace of those who commit themselves to it; on those who deny it. 184-127 (414) 468-629 Man is so bound to be stupid that not being stupid becomes stupid in another form of stupidity. 254-242 (415) 628-438 Human nature can be examined in two ways: one according to his purpose, when man is great; Like galloping et animation arcendi, at this time people are evil and obscene.These are the two ways in which we judge people differently and have caused so much debate among philosophers. For each side denies the assumptions of the other; the one saying: "Man was not made for that purpose, for all his actions are contrary to it"; When he acts, he departs from his purpose." 314-237 (416) 594-580 For Polo. Greatness and pathetic--pathetic from greatness, and greatness from pathetic; the one concludes pathetic all the more from greatness as evidence, the other all the more forcefully from pathetic itself. Greatness in conclusion; and all that can be said for greatness on the one side, is only an argument for pathetic conclusions in the other; Quite the opposite. Each of them is carried to the other in an endless cycle; all that is certain is that as men have light, they find both greatness and misery in man.In short, man is miserable when he knows himself: he is miserable because he is what he is; but he is great because he knows his own misery. 315-161 (417) 479-448 This duality of man is so pronounced that some people think we have two souls.A single subject seems impossible to them, and so suddenly transforms the heart from an excessive arrogance to a terrible sinking. 328-236 (418) 492-449 It is dangerous to make man see too much of his equality with the beasts without showing him his greatness.It is also dangerous to make him see too much of his greatness and not of his meanness.It is more dangerous for him to ignore both.Yet it would be very beneficial to point out both to him. Never let a man believe that he is equal to a beast or an angel, nor let him ignore both; but let him know both. 332—18（419）589—450 我不能容许人依赖自己，或者依赖别人，为的是好使他们既没有依靠又没有安宁……。 330—245（420）259—201 如果他抬高自己，我就贬低他；如果他贬低自己，我就抬高他；并且永远和他对立，直到他理解自己是一个不可理解的怪物为止。 333—39（421）593—441 我要同等地既谴责那些下定决心赞美人类的人，也谴责那些下定决心谴责人类的人，还要谴责那些下定决心自寻其乐的人；我只能赞许那些一面哭泣一面追求着的人。 693—306（422）487—439 最好是由于徒劳无功地寻求真正的美好而感到疲惫，从而好向救主伸出手去。 331—234（423）774—440 对立性。在已经证明了人的卑贱和伟大之后——现在就让人尊重自己的价值吧。让他热爱自己吧，因为在他身上有一种足以美好的天性；可是让他不要因此也爱自己身上的卑贱吧。让他鄙视自己吧，因为这种能力是空虚的；可是让他不要因此也鄙视这种天赋的能力。让他恨自己吧，让他爱自己吧：他的身上有着认识真理和可以幸福的能力；然而他却根本没有获得真理，无论是永恒的真理，还是满意的真理。 因此，我要引人渴望寻找真理并准备摆脱感情而追随真理（只要他能发见真理），既然他知道自己的知识是怎样地为感情所蒙蔽；我要让他恨自身中的欲念，——欲念本身就限定了他，——以便欲念不致于使他盲目做出自己的选择，并且在他做出选择之后也不致于妨碍他。 437—248（424）747—486 所有这些对立，看来仿佛是最使我远离对宗教的认识的，却是最足以把我引向真正宗教的东西。