Unhappy is he of whom we say, how lucky he is! Adversity is more easily

resisted than prosperity. We rise more perfect from ill fortune than

from good. There is a Charybdis in poverty, and a Scylla in riches.

Those who remain erect under the thunderbolt are prostrated by the

flash. Thou who standest without shrinking on the verge of a precipice,

fear lest thou be carried up on the innumerable wings of mists and

dreams. The ascent which elevates will dwarf thee. An apotheosis has a

sinister power of degradation.

It is not easy to understand what is good luck. Chance is nothing but a

disguise. Nothing deceives so much as the face of fortune. Is she

Providence? Is she Fatality?

A brightness may not be a brightness, because light is truth, and a

gleam may be a deceit. You believe that it lights you; but no, it sets

you on fire.

At night, a candle made of mean tallow becomes a star if placed in an

opening in the darkness. The moth flies to it.

In what measure is the moth responsible?

The sight of the candle fascinates the moth as the eye of the serpent

fascinates the bird.

Is it possible that the bird and the moth should resist the attraction?

Is it possible that the leaf should resist the wind? Is it possible that

673

The Man Who Laughs