3p39sc.md (1576B)
1 By good I here mean every kind of pleasure, and all 2 that conduces thereto, especially that which satisfies our 3 longings, whatsoever they may be. By evil, I mean every kind of 4 pain, especially that which frustrates our longings. For I have 5 shown (III. ix. note) that we in no case desire a thing because 6 we deem it good, but, contrariwise, we deem a thing good because 7 we desire it: consequently we deem evil that which we shrink 8 from; everyone, therefore, according to his particular emotions, 9 judges or estimates what is good, what is bad, what is better, 10 what is worse, lastly, what is best, and what is worst. Thus a 11 miser thinks that abundance of money is the best, and want of 12 money the worst; an ambitious man desires nothing so much as 13 glory, and fears nothing so much as shame. To an envious man 14 nothing is more delightful than another's misfortune, and nothing 15 more painful than another's success. So every man, according to 16 his emotions, judges a thing to be good or bad, useful or 17 useless. The emotion, which induces a man to turn from that 18 which he wishes, or to wish for that which he turns from, is 19 called timidity, which may accordingly be defined as the fear 20 whereby a man is induced to avoid an evil which he regards as 21 future by encountering a lesser evil (III. xxviii.). But if the 22 evil which he fears be shame, timidity becomes bashfulness. 23 Lastly, if the desire to avoid a future evil be checked by the 24 fear of another evil, so that the man knows not which to choose, 25 fear becomes consternation, especially if both the evils feared 26 be very great. 27 28