s bad)
and laughter; for laughter and merriment are nothing but joy, and
therefore, provided they are not excessive, are in themselves good.
Nothing but a gloomy and sad superstition forbids enjoyment. For why is
it more seemly to extinguish hunger and thirst than to drive away
melancholy? My reasons and my conclusions are these: No God and no human
being, except an envious one, is delighted by my impotence or my
trouble, or esteems as any virtue in us tears, sighs, fears, and other
things of this kind, which are signs of mental impotence; on the
contrary, the greater the joy with which we are affected, the greater
the perfection to which we pass thereby, that is to say, the more do we
necessarily partake of the divine nature. To make use of things,
therefore, and to delight in them as much as possible (provided we do
not disgust ourselves with them, which is not delighting in them), is
the part of a wise man. It is the part of a wise man, I say, to refresh
and invigorate himself with moderate and pleasant eating and drinking,
with sweet scents and the beauty of green plants, with ornament, with
music, with sports, with the theater, and with all things of this kind
which one man can enjoy without hurting another. For the human body is
composed of a great number of parts of diverse nature, which constantly
need new and varied nourishment, in order that the whole of the body may
be equally fit for everything which can follow from its nature, and
consequently that the mind may be equally fit to understand many things
at once. This mode of living best of all agrees both with our
principles and with common practice; therefore this mode of living is
the best of all, and is to be universally commended. There is no need,
therefore, to enter more at length into the subject.

All emotions of hatred are evil and therefore the man who lives
according to the guidance of reason will strive as much as possible to
keep himself from being agitated by the emotions of hatred and,
consequently, will strive to keep others from being subject to the same
emotions. But hatred is increased by reciprocal hatred, and, on the
other hand, can be extinguished by love, so that hatred passes into
love. Therefore he who lives according to the guidance of reason will
strive to repay the hatred of another, etc., with love, that is to say,
with generosity. He who wishes to avenge injuries by hating in return
does indeed live miserably. But he who, on the