oneself to the point of not allowing oneself to become the
slave of miserable contingencies which appear as temptations to
self-indulgence, and conceal from their pettiness the beauty of the
consistent action--this is only given to the chosen few and can only be
understood by those who cultivate common sense."

Is this to say that reasoning should be a school for abnegation.

Such a thought is far from our minds.

Neither habitual abnegation nor modesty is among the militant virtues,
and for this reason the critics ought often to relegate them to their
proper place, which is the last, very close to defects to which they
closely approach and among whose ranks one must sometimes go in order to
discover them.

But, apart from the question of a sterile abnegation, we must foresee
that it may be important not to overestimate one's individual interests,
to the visible detriment of the general interest.

This is a fault common to all those who have not been initiated into the
practise of self-control by means of reasoning based on solid premises.

They are ready to sacrifice very great interests, which do not seem to
concern them directly, for some immediate paltry gratification.

"They act," said the philosopher, "like a peasant who should risk
his harvest in order to avoid paying the prince the rent which
belongs to him.

"Common sense teaches us that we should call to our assistance
self-control, in order to repress the tendencies which tempt men to
sacrifice the general interest to some personal and vehement desire.

"Rarely do these people find their advantage in separating themselves
from the mass, and the prosperity of the greatest number is always the
cradle of individual fortunes."

Leaving questions of primary importance to come to the subtleties of
detail in which, he delights, Yoritomo speaks to us of self-control
allied to common sense, extolling to us its good effects in practical
questions of our every-day life.

"We too often confound," said he, "self-control and liberty.

"We are tempted to believe that a slave can not possess it, inasmuch as
it is the special possession of all those to whom riches give a superior
position in the world.

"How profound is this error!

"The lowest slave can enjoy this liberty, which is worth all others:
self-control, which confers intellectual independence more precious than
the most precious of possessions, whereas the most powerful prince may be
altogether ig