The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...

if it was altogether out of our power to do either, we ought then to consider this event as the most fortunate which could possibly have happened: Because we might be assured that it tended most to the prosperity and or|der of the whole; which was what we our|selves, if we were wise and equitable, ought most of all to desire.

In what sense, says Epictetus, are some things said to be ac|cording to our nature, and others contrary to it? It is in that sense in which we co••|sider ourselves as separated and detached from all other things. For thus it may be said to be according to the nature of the foot to be always clean. But if you con|sider it as a foot, and not as something de|tached from the rest of the body, it must behoove it sometimes to trample in the di••t, and sometimes to tread upon thorns, and sometimes too to be cut off for the sake of the whole body; and if it refuses this, it is no longer a foot. Thus too ought 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to conceive with regard to ourselves. What are you? A man. If you consider yourse•••• as something separated and detached, it i•• agreeable to your nature to live to old age▪ to be rich, to be in health. But if you consider yourself as a man and as a part 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a whole, upon account of that whole i••

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Title: The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...
Author: Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.
Canvas: Page 436
Publication: London :: printed for A. Millar; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh,; 1759.

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Collection: Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo
Link to this Item: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/k111361.0001.001
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Full citation: "The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ..." In the digital collection Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/k111361.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 12, 2025.

The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...

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