Pagina 422 de 734

But to resume. Since the man of Imperfect Self-Control is of such

a character as to follow bodily pleasures in excess and in

defiance of Right Reason, without acting on any deliberate

conviction, whereas the man utterly destitute of Self-Control

does act upon a conviction which rests on his natural inclination

to follow after these pleasures; the former may be easily

persuaded to a different course, but the latter not: for Virtue

and Vice respectively preserve and corrupt the moral principle;

now the motive is the principle or starting point in moral

actions, just as axioms and postulates are in mathematics: and

neither in morals nor mathematics is it Reason which is apt to

teach the principle; but Excellence, either natural or acquired

by custom, in holding right notions with respect to the

principle. He who does this in morals is the man of Perfected

Self-Mastery, and the contrary character is the man utterly

destitute of Self-Control.