"They feel uneasy," he says, "because many things pull their thoughts in different directions. Their minds are troubled by conflicting ideas." I agree this is true. But these same foolish, inconsistent people — who will surely regret their choices later — still get great pleasure from what they do. We have to admit that while they feel this pleasure, they are just as far from real peace as they are from good judgment. Like many people, they are caught up in a crazy kind of happiness. They laugh while they go insane. The pleasures of wise people, on the other hand, are gentle and proper. They are almost boring — kept under control and barely noticeable. Wise people don't chase after these pleasures or celebrate them when they arrive on their own. They don't welcome them with excitement. Instead, they mix them into their daily lives and use them to fill empty moments, like watching a light comedy between serious work.
"They are ill at ease," replies he, "because many things arise which distract their thoughts, and their minds are disquieted by conflicting opinions." I admit that this is true: still these very men, foolish, inconsistent, and certain to feel remorse as they are, do nevertheless receive great pleasure, and we must allow that in so doing they are as far from feeling any trouble as they are from forming a right judgment, and that, as is the case with many people, they are possessed by a merry madness, and laugh while they rave. The pleasures of wise men, on the other hand, are mild, decorous, verging on dulness, kept under restraint and scarcely noticeable, and are neither invited to come nor received with honour when they come of their own accord, nor are they welcomed with any delight by those whom they visit, who mix them up with their lives and fill up empty spaces with them, like an amusing farce in the intervals of serious business.