There are some persons who pretend that life is only a succession of
misfortunes, which is as much as to say that life itself is a misfortune;
but if life is a misfortune, death must be exactly the reverse and
therefore death must be happiness, since death is the very reverse of
life. That deduction may appear too finely drawn. But those who say that
life is a succession of misfortunes are certainly either ill or poor;
for, if they enjoyed good health, if they had cheerfulness in their heart
and money in their purse, if they had for their enjoyment a Cecilia, a
Marinetta, and even a more lovely beauty in perspective, they would soon
entertain a very different opinion of life! I hold them to be a race of
pessimists, recruited amongst beggarly philosophers and knavish,
atrabilious theologians. If pleasure does exist, and if life is necessary
to enjoy pleasure, then life is happiness. There are misfortunes, as I
know by experience; but the very existence of such misfortunes proves
that the sum-total of happiness is greater. Because a few thorns are to
be found in a basket full of roses, is the existence of those beautiful
flowers to be denied? No; it is a slander to deny that life is happiness.
When I am in a dark room, it pleases me greatly to see through a window
an immense horizon before me.