And we can reason thus about many features. But the hand? You will
find that whole armies perished in the same hour by the sword in which
no two men had similar marks in their hands, and the same argument
applies to a shipwreck.
[Sidenote: Of Pain]
82.
Nature has placed in the front part of man, as he moves, all those
parts which when struck cause him to feel pain; and this is felt in the
joints of the legs, the forehead and the nose, and has been so devised
for the preservation of man, because {34} if such pain were not felt in
these limbs they would be destroyed by the many blows they receive.
[Sidenote: Why Plants do not feel Pain]
83.
While nature has ordained that animals should feel pain in order that
the instruments which might be liable to be maimed or marred by motion
may be preserved, plants do not come into collision with the objects
which are before them; whence pain is not a necessity for them, and
therefore when they are broken they do not feel pain, as animals do.
84.
Lust is the cause of generation.
Appetite is the support of life.
Fear or timidity is the prolongation of life.
Pain is the preserver of the instrument (of the human frame).
[Sidenote: Fear]
85.
Just as courage is the danger of life, so is fear its safeguard.
[Sidenote: Body and Soul]
86.
Let him who wishes to see how the soul inhabits its body observe what
use the body makes of its daily habitation; that is to say, if the soul
is full of confusion and disorder the body will be kept in disorder and
confusion by the soul.
{35}
87.
The soul can never be corrupted with the corruption of the body, but it
is like the wind which causes the sound of the organ, and which ceases
to produce a good effect when a pipe is spoilt.
[Sidenote: Memory]
88.
Every loss which we incur leaves behind it vexation in the memory, save
the greatest loss of all, that is, death, which annihilates the memory,
together with life.
[Sidenote: Spirit]
89.
Our body is subject to Heaven, and Heaven is subject to the Spirit.
[Sidenote: Sense and Reason]
90.
The senses are earthly; reason lies outside them when in contemplation.
91.
Where most feeling exists, there amongst martyrs is the greatest martyr.
92.
That which can be lost cannot be deemed riches. Virtue is our true
wealth and the true reward of its possessor; it cannot be lost, it
never deserts us until life leaves us. Hold property and external
riches with fear; they often leave their possessor scorned and mocked
at for having lost them.
{36}
[Sidenote: Flight of Time]
93.
Men wrongly lament the flight of time, blaming it for being too swift;
they do not perceive that its passage is sufficiently long, but a good
memory, which nature has given to us, causes things long past to seem
present.
[Sidenote: Illusions]
94.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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