BOOK II PART I
pleasure, nothing can be more probable, than
its existence when there is no external obstacle
to the producing it, and men perceive no dan-
ger in following their inclinations. In that case
their imagination easily anticipates the satisfac-
tion, and conveys the same joy, as if they were
persuaded of its real and actual existence.
But this accounts not sufficiently for the sat-
isfaction, which attends riches. A miser re-
ceives delight from his money; that is, from
the power it affords him of procuring all the
pleasures and conveniences of life, though
he knows he has enjoyed his riches for forty
years without ever employing them; and con-
sequently cannot conclude by any species of
reasoning, that the real existence of these plea-
sures is nearer, than if he were entirely de-
prived of all his possessions. But though he