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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident; sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
But so that you may understand where all this error originates—those who condemn pleasure and those who praise pain—I will lay bare the whole matter, and I will explain those very things that were spoken by the inventor of truth and, as it were, the architect of the blessed life. For no one would ever endure, hate, or flee pleasure itself simply because it is pleasure, but rather because great pains follow those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally. Nor is there anyone who loves pain itself—simply because it is pain—or who seeks to attain it; rather, there are times when such circumstances arise that one seeks great pleasure through toil and pain.
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For, to put it mildly, who among us would undertake any strenuous physical exercise unless it brought some benefit? But who would justly condemn the one who seeks to find pleasure in it, provided that no discomfort results, or the one who flees from pain because no pleasure can equal it? But we both condemn and regard with just hatred those who, blinded by greed, fail to foresee the pains and troubles they will inevitably face—those who are corrupted by the allure of present pleasures—and those who are equally at fault for abandoning their duties out of a softness of spirit, that is, the avoidance of labor and pain.
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And indeed, it is easy and expedient to distinguish between these things. For in our free time, when we are free to choose and nothing prevents us from doing what we most desire, all pleasure should be embraced, and all pain should be rejected. However, in certain times—whether due to necessary duties or the demands of life—it will often happen that pleasures must be rejected and hardships cannot be avoided. Therefore, the wise person is bound by these considerations: either to reject certain pleasures in order to attain greater ones, or to endure harsher pains in order to ward off even greater ones.