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Untitled Article
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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iad £ ke * # toi * at ; ' tx * apply it steadily Wid ^ flfeHiiaHy Requires often a great share * £ * f * self-government and selfdaiial , and tile frequent mortification jand' disij >^ ointoent of our stron gest propensities ; By dlfe Irarefleeting at al ) times , and
by some sects among philosophers , much more tfrW their < > tv * weight is attributed to original differences in irtental and bodily constitutions . That such differences do exist , no one I A ink can doubt who observes the very great variety of character and disposition , which frequently appear in persons whose circumstances and
education , so far as we have been able to trace , or as human means were able tocontroul them , have been as nearly similar as possible . We are not either formed or educated after one common standard ; nor is it desirable that we should : a -dull , uniform sameness
would doubtless take away greatly from the enjoynifent of hum gin life , and would be inconsistent with the proper discharge of the various duties which the convenience or the
subsistence of m&hkind requires . Though however we admit that snch original diversities do exist , yet by much the greater part of the actual diversity observable in human character is to be
ascribed" to those circumstances which we call accidental or adventitious ; that is they are the result of education and experience , and are in some considerable measure subject to government and controul . 1 he contrary opinion appears hot only inconsistent with a just theory of the history of the Iranian mind , but also leads to
dangerous practical consequences , and ought therefore to be diligently guarded against . But to return to our proper subject . The weakness and irritability of temper which 1 have alluded to , is so
inconsistent with our happiness , that rt is necessary to take all possible mefnpds to restrain it . For this purpose JJJf Vcrjr desirable to cultivate a habit wldbking always -in preference on the tpgkt&ifolit every character , and indeed of ' every object which attracts our n *? i Cfe * ^ T $ titeti& < ftot recommend a ^« lblindhteS 3 U >; the d efects and errors Vttjheft , for thfrt ^ inight be fatal to X £ * j ^ i ^ r ^ nia V s ^^ ur itj ^ , and inju-SW'tfr thW ftnfcport ^ nU interests of P *^^ itrt la <> ur- more •^ iitediate duty t <* promote i bur a
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disposition to observe with satisfaction and duly to appreciate such good qualities as are possessed even by the worst men , and to place in their due light all the excellencies of the really deserving , and , which when justly estimated are sufficient to cast into the
shade the infirmities or failings b y which they may be accompanied . Candour in acknowledging all these would greatly contribute to the formation of an even and gentle disposition . Again , a habit , which may soon be
acquired by care and practice , of checking the external signs of those emotions of contempt and anger to which we feel ourselves peculiarly liable , will succeed in time in preventing the inordinate rise of the emotions
themselves . Such efforts at first produce nothing more than the external appearance of decorum and propriety of behaviour ; but the influence soon becomes more extensive . Between the outward signs and the feelings which are represented by them , there is a
surprising connection ; and as , on the one fUmd , the assumed language of violent emotion will , in many cases , excite a considerable degree of the emotion itself-r-so , on the other , the constant endeavour to check the external symptoms , soon chokes up and even
entirely removes the source from whence they flow . The species of ill-humour which arises from a morbid sensibility to our own miseries , is equally inconsistent with re&l enjoyment . Nothing tb more destructive < of pleasure than a
constant habit of complaining and grumbling ; which leads a man to look in preference on those circumstanced of his lot which are the least inviting , and is eternally brooding over them so as to preclude all attention to those , which are more favourable and
encouraging , and to magni fy the others to such a degree in his disordered imagination , th * at what might havebeeri but trifling grievances iire exalted into evils of trie first magnitude . A habit
therefore of dwelling on whatever is in its nature fitted ta give pleasure , and of endeavouring to look out for the beneficial consequences which are to flow even from ihbae which cannot *
in the first instance , be regarded with , satisfaction , is exceedingl y well catculated to secure fend increase ouj happiness . This is the disposition , which tnteiy sincere Christian / eVery
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On the Sources 4 f Human Happiness . 3 if
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1816, page 317, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2453/page/9/
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