BOOK I PART III
culty in explaining its effects on the imagina-
tion, however extraordinary they may appear.
It is certain we cannot take pleasure in any dis-
course, where our judgment gives no assent to
those images which are presented to our fancy.
The conversation of those who have acquired a
habit of lying, though in affairs of no moment,
never gives any satisfaction; and that because
those ideas they present to us, not being at-
tended with belief, make no impression upon
the mind. Poets themselves, though liars by
profession, always endeavour to give an air of
truth to their fictions; and where that is totally
neglected, their performances, however inge-
nious, will never be able to afford much plea-
sure. In short, we may observe, that even when
ideas have no manner of influence on the will
and passions, truth and reality are still requi-
site, in order to make them entertaining to the