She will not therefore neglect- as some do
who are prudent and economical enough in other matters- the
important factor of our chance of escaping detection, or at any rate
of our dying first. A reasonable virtue will give this chance its
due value, neither more nor less.
Pleasure, after all, is a safer guide than either right or duty. For
hard as it is to know what gives us pleasure, right and duty are often
still harder to distinguish and, if we go wrong with them, will lead
us into just as sorry a plight as a mistaken opinion concerning
pleasure. When men burn their fingers through following after pleasure
they find out their mistake and get to see where they have gone
wrong more easily than when they have burnt them through following
after a fancied duty, or a fancied idea concerning right virtue. The
devil, in fact, when he dresses himself in angel's clothes, can only
be detected by experts of exceptional skill, and so often does he
adopt this disguise that it is hardly safe to be seen talking to an
angel at all and prudent people will follow after pleasure as a more
homely but more respectable and on the whole much more trustworthy
guide.
Pages:
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154