a way of having
neither eyes nor heart offended by the sight of people in tears; it is
the eliciting of an agreeable joy, whose rays will shed a golden light
over our life; is it not more pleasing to hear the ring of laughter than
to listen to painful sobs?"

So, we should never lose an opportunity of being good and that without
mental reservation.

Gratitude is not the possession of every soul and he who does good may
expect to receive ingratitude.

He will not suffer from it, if he has done good, not in the way a
creditor does who intends to come on the very day appointed to claim his
debt, but as a giver who fulfils his mission from which he is expecting
a personal satisfaction, without thinking of any acknowledgment for what
he has done.

If the debtor is filled with gratitude, the joy of being good is that
much increased.

There is a species of common sense of a particularly noble quality that
is called moral sense and which the Shogun defines thus:

"The moral sense is the common sense of the soul; it is the superior
power of reasoning which stands before us that we may be prevented from
passively following our instincts; it is by its assistance that we
succeed without too much difficulty in climbing the steep paths of duty.

"This sense discerns an important quality, which puts us on our guard
against the danger of certain theories, whose brilliancy might seduce us.

"It is the moral sense which indicates to us the point of delimitation
separating legitimate concessions from forbidden license.

"It allows us to go as far as the dangerous place where the understanding
with conscience might become compromised and, by reasoning, proves to us
that there would be serious danger in proceeding further.

"It is the moral sense which distinguishes civilized man from the brute;
it is the regulator of the movements of the soul and the faithful
indicator of the actions which depend on it."

We must really pity those who are deprived of moral sense for they are
the prey of all the impulses created in them by the brute-nature, which
sleeps in the depths of each human creature.

The man whose moral sense is developed will live at peace with himself,
for he will only know the evil of doubt when he realizes the satisfaction
of having conquered it.

Moral sense, like common sense, is formed by reasoning and is fostered by
the practise of constant application.

It is the property of those who avoid evil, as others