ese I have mentioned will adhere to the truth, than that the
opposite characters will: since one has no anxiety about the honor or
the opinion of such as one greatly despises, children and animals, for
instance, not at least for the sake of such opinion itself; but if one
is anxious about it, then it is on account of something else.

A friend, too, ranks among things pleasant; for the affection of love
is pleasant; since there is no lover of wine who does not delight in
wine: also the having affection felt toward one is pleasant; for there
is in this case also an idea of one's being an excellent person, which
all who have any sensibility to it are desirous of; now the having
affection felt for you is the being beloved yourself, on your own
account. Also the being held in admiration is pleasant, on the very
account of being honored by it. Flattery and the flatterer are
pleasant; since the flatterer is a seeming admirer and a seeming
friend. To continue the same course of action is also pleasant; for
what is habitual was laid down to be pleasant. To vary is also
pleasant; for change is an approach to what is natural: for sameness
produces an excess of a stated habit; whence it has been said, "In
everything change is pleasant." For on this principle, whatever occurs
at intervals of time is pleasant, whether persons or things; for it is
a variation of present objects; and at the same time that which
occurs merely at intervals possesses the merit of rarity. Also
learning and admiration, generally speaking, are pleasant; for under
admiration exists a desire [to learn], so that what is admired is
desired; and in the act of learning there is a settlement into a state
conformable to nature. To benefit and to be benefited are also of the
number of pleasant things; for to be benefited is to get what people
desire; but to benefit is to possess and abound; things, the both of
which men desire. And because a tendency to beneficence is pleasant,
it is also pleasant to a man to set his neighbor on his legs again,
and to put a finish to that which was deficient in some particular.

II

THE LIFE MOST DESIRABLE[76]

He who proposes to make the fitting inquiry as to which form of
government is the best, ought first to determine what manner of living
is most eligible; for while this remains uncertain, it will also be
equally uncertain what government is best. For, unless some unexpected
accident interfere, it is probable that th