Scepticism has ever been the bugbear of youthful vanity, and it is
considered knowing to quarrel with existing institutions and established
truths; our experienced reflection regrets this inclination and we become
weary of distracting ourselves with endless difficulties.
In dreaming, it is remarkable how easily and yet imperceptibly the mind
connects events altogether differing in their nature; and if we hear any
noise during sleep, how instantaneously the sound is woven in with the
events of our dream and as satisfactorily accounted.
The unpleasant sensation that is produced by modesty, is amply compensated
by the prepossession it creates in our favour.
Public virtue prospers by the vices of individuals. The spendthrift gives
a circulation to the coin of the realm, while the miser is equally useful
in gleaning and scraping together what others have too profusely scattered.
Luxury gives a livelihood to thousands, and the numbers supported by
vanity are beyond calculation.
There is a distinction to be drawn between self-love and selfishness,
though they are usually confounded. Self-love is the effect of instinct,
and is necessary for our preservation in common with other animals; but
selfishness is a mental defect and is generated by narrowness of soul.
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