Book: The man who laughs. Page 1

Bestial egoism is the essence of the envious person.

He constantly restrained himself. Under the guise of hostile submission, offended feelings were seething within him. He was indignant, as if scoundrels had a right to be indignant. The rage that never gave him a moment's peace never showed itself outwardly. He was able to endure any insult. He was tormented by dark gusts of anger and devoured by the ever-smoldering flame in his soul, but no one even knew about it. Barkilphedro was secretly choleric, but he always smiled. He was courteous, helpful, courteous and obsequious. He bowed to everyone and everyone. The slightest breath of wind would bend him to the ground. It is easy to achieve happiness for someone who has a flexible reed instead of a spinal column.

The unexpected strikes from nowhere. The deep sources of life are terrible. There is no small hatred. Hatred is always huge. It retains its size even in the most insignificant creature and remains monstrous. All hatred is strong because it is hatred. The elephant, which the ant hates, is in danger.

Who is the envious person? Ungrateful. He hates the sun, which illuminates and warms him. So Zoilus hates Homer.

By causing harm to your neighbor, you take responsibility for yourself. By exposing another to danger, you risk yourself, since the combination of various circumstances can lead to an unexpected crash and your fate. A truly evil person does not stop even before this. He is pleased by the torment of the sufferer. These torments tickle him pleasantly. The villain's fun is terrible. He feels great at the sight of torture. The Duke of Alba warmed his hands at the fires on which people were burned. Fire is suffering, its reflection is joy. One involuntarily shudders at the thought of what conclusions can be drawn from such contrasts. The dark sides of the soul are incomprehensible. The expression “sophisticated execution” found in Bodin has, perhaps, a triple terrible meaning: refined torture, the suffering of the tortured, the pleasure of the torturer.

"Greed", "ambition" - these words mean that someone is sacrificed to satisfy the appetite of another. How sad that even the concept of “hope” can be perverted! To harbor a grudge against someone means to wish him harm. Why not good? Is it because our will is directed primarily towards evil? The most difficult task is to constantly suppress in your soul the desire for evil, which is so difficult to fight. Almost all of our desires, if you look closely at them, contain something that cannot be admitted. But a complete villain - and such vile perfection exists - develops a rule: the worse for others, the better for me. His conscience is a gloomy den.

Justifying himself, the envious person mixes his personal grievances with social evil. All kinds of evil passions boil violently in a bloodthirsty heart. Fifteenth-century maps depicted a large unnamed space in the corner, on which were inscribed three words: Hie sunt leones [here are the lions]. There are similar unexplored areas in the human soul. Somewhere inside us passions are agitated and seething, and about this dark corner of our soul we can also say: “Hie sunt leones.”

It's scary to think, but our reason is not always the voice of justice. Judgment is something relative. Justice is something unconditional. Consider the difference between court and justice.

Some sophist, who delights fools, is famous only for the fact that he covered the human conscience with bruises.

The proud beast feels the bite and expends its furious fury, falling on an insignificant atom. A meeting with a tiger would have caused him less annoyance. And so the roles changed. A humiliated lion feels the sting of an insect in his body, and a flea has the right to declare: “Lion’s blood flows in me.”

Envy is an excellent means of arousing jealousy: it brings it out, just as a rat drives a crocodile out of its lair.

The germs of feelings and the larvae of thoughts were stirring in her dull brain.

OCULOS NON HABET, ET VIDET - DOES NOT HAVE EYES, BUT SEES.

- To be aware is to see.