5p41sc.md (1514B)
1 The general belief of the multitude seems to be 2 different. Most people seem to believe that they are free, in so 3 far as they may obey their lusts, and that they cede their 4 rights, in so far as they are bound to live according to the 5 commandments of the divine law. They therefore believe that 6 piety, religion, and, generally, all things attributable to 7 firmness of mind, are burdens, which, after death, they hope to 8 lay aside, and to receive the reward for their bondage, that is, 9 for their piety and religion; it is not only by this hope, but 10 also, and chiefly, by the fear of being horribly punished after 11 death, that they are induced to live according to the divine 12 commandments, so far as their feeble and infirm spirit will carry 13 them. 14 15 If men had not this hope and this fear, but believed that the 16 mind perishes with the body, and that no hope of prolonged life 17 remains for the wretches who are broken down with the burden of 18 piety, they would return to their own inclinations, controlling 19 everything in accordance with their lusts, and desiring to obey 20 fortune rather than themselves. Such a course appears to me not 21 less absurd than if a man, because he does not believe that he 22 can by wholesome food sustain his body for ever, should wish to 23 cram himself with poisons and deadly fare; or if, because he 24 sees that the mind is not eternal or immortal, he should prefer 25 to be out of his mind altogether, and to live without the use of 26 reason; these ideas are so absurd as to be scarcely worth 27 refuting. 28 29