he be without what is called
diversion, he is unhappy and more unhappy than the least of his subjects who
plays and diverts himself.
Hence it comes that play and the society of women, war and high posts, are
so sought after. Not that there is in fact any happiness in them, or that
men imagine true bliss to consist in money won at play, or in the hare which
they hunt; we would not take these as a gift. We do not seek that easy and
peaceful lot which permits us to think of our unhappy condition, nor the
dangers of war, nor the labour of office, but the bustle which averts these
thoughts of ours and amuses us.
Reasons why we like the chase better than the quarry.
Hence it comes that men so much love noise and stir; hence it comes that the
prison is so horrible a punishment; hence it comes that the pleasure of
solitude is a thing incomprehensible. And it is, in fact, the greatest
source of happiness in the condition of kings that men try incessantly to
divert them and to procure for them all kinds of pleasures.
The king is surrounded by persons whose only thought is to divert the king
and to prevent his thinking of self. For he is unhappy, king though he be,
if he think of himself.
This is all that men have been able to discover to make themselves happy.
And those who philosophise on the matter, and who think men unreasonable for
spending a whole day in chasing a hare which they would not have bought,
scarce know our nature. The hare in itself would