Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt.
But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain
was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual
teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one
rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who
do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely
painful.
At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium
voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati
cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollitia animi, id
est laborum et dolorum fuga. Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio.
On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled
and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they
cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to
those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through
shrinking from toil and pain.
These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of
choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best,
every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and
owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that
pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds
in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other
greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.
