_Not_ to rise again; there is the point, and there is the difficulty.
Death is simply a beginning again, whereas it is annihilation that we
have to aim at. Personal consciousness being the root of all our
troubles, we ought to avoid the temptation to it and the possibility of
it as diabolical and abominable. What blasphemy! And yet it is all
logical; it is the philosophy of happiness carried to its farthest
point. Epicurism must end in despair. The philosophy of duty is less
depressing. But salvation lies in the conciliation of duty and
happiness, in the union of the individual will with the divine will, and
in the faith that this supreme will is directed by love.
* * * * *
It is as true that real happiness is good, as that the good become
better under the purification of trial. Those who have not suffered are
still wanting in depth; but a man who has not got happiness cannot
impart it. We can only give what we have. Happiness, grief, gayety,
sadness, are by nature contagious. Bring your health and your strength
to the weak and sickly, and so you will be of use to them. Give them,
not your weakness, but your energy, so you will revive and lift them up.
Life alone can rekindle life. What others claim from us is not our
thirst and our hunger, but our bread and our gourd.
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