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of
a great lord, of a deposed king.
399. We are not miserable without feeling it. A ruined house is not
miserable. Man only is miserable. Ego vir videns.63
400. The greatness of man.--We have so great an idea of the soul of man that
we cannot endure being despised, or not being esteemed by any soul; and all
the happiness of men consists in this esteem.
401. Glory.--The brutes do not admire each other. A horse does not admire
his companion. Not that there is no rivalry between them in a race, but that
is of no consequence; for, when in the stable, the heaviest and most
ill-formed does not give up his oats to another, as men would have others do
to them. Their virtue is satisfied with itself.
402. The greatness of man even in his lust, to have known how to extract
from it a wonderful code, and to have drawn from it a picture of
benevolence.
403. Greatness.--The reasons of effects indicate the greatness of man, in
having extracted so fair an order from lust.
404. The greatest baseness of man is the pursuit of glory. But is the
greatest mark of his excellence; for whatever possessions he may have on
earth, whatever health and essential comfort, he is not satisfied if he has
not the esteem of men. He values human reason so highly that, whatever
advantages he may have on earth, he is not content if he is not also ranked
highly in the judgement of man. This is the finest
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