“Edite, bibite, post mortem nulla voluptas” was the motto of German students, greedy for pleasure, and unknowing that a love of life develops with age in every human being. On the other hand, in order to keep the balance between joy and sorrow, youth, true to its instincts, undervalues the former and exaggerates the latter, thus arriving at a pessimistic view of life, and declaring that existence is a misfortune in itself. It is significant that Schopenhauer published his theory of pessimism at the age of thirty-one. His successor, R. Hartmann, when twenty-six years old, proclaimed that human existence is an evil which one should get rid of at all costs. Optimistic theories, on the other hand, have been set forth either by persons advanced in years or by persons whom special circumstances have caused to appreciate the joy of living. As a counterbalance to the pessimism of German philosophers, Duhring formulated a theory of optimism in his book “Der Wert des Lebens,” but was himself blind at the time. Sir John Lubbock published some years ago a book entitled “The Pleasures of Life,” which opens with the following sentence: “Life is a great gift.” His attitude towards life is entirely opposed to that of the pessimists, but then he formulated it at the age of fifty-three. It has long been recognised that the old attach a higher value to life than do the young. J. J. Rousseau, for instance, says: “Life becomes dearer to us as its joys pass away. The old cling to it more closely than the young.”[132] This reflection is absolutely correct, and is proved by a number of facts. I once knew very intimately a scientific man who had passed a very unhappy youth. Being hypersensitive to pain, he tried to assuage it by every means in his power. Some trifling annoyance sufficing to throw him into a state of utter prostration, he was in the habit of resorting to the aid of narcotics. In order to escape from mental anguish he inoculated himself with poisons. By the time he had arrived at an advanced age his hypersensitiveness gave place to feelings much less acute. He ceased to resent the ills of life so bitterly as he did in his youth; while he came to appreciate better the positive side of life, and even in moments of unhappiness he did not contemplate putting an end to his existence. In youth he was pessimistic, and insisted upon the preponderance of evil over good. As he became older, his attitude towards existence became entirely modified. I do not say, however, that it is necessary to be old in order to realise the misfortune of death. “He who pretends to face death without fear is a liar,” said J. J. Rousseau. “That all men fear to die is the great law dominating the thinking world, and without which all living things would soon cease to exist. This fear is a natural impulse, and is not merely an accident but an important factor in the whole order of things.”[133]