| The subject of the human mind being so copious and various, I shall here take advantage of this vulgar and spacious division, that I may proceed with the greater order; and having said ali I thought necessary concerning our ideas, shall now explain those violent emotions or passions, their nature, origin, causes, and effects. |
| When we take a survey of the passions, there occurs a division of them into DIRECT and INDIRECT. |
| By direct passions I understand such as arise immediately from good or evil, from pain or pleasure. |
| By indirect such as proceed from the same principles, but by the conjunction of other qualities. |
| This distinction I cannot at present justify or explain any farther. |
| I can only observe in general, that under the indirect passions I comprehend pride, humility, ambition, vanity, love, hatred, envy, pity, malice, generosity, with their dependants. |
| And under the direct passions, desire, aversion, grief, joy, hope, fear, despair and security. |
| I shall begin with the former. |
| SECT. II OF PRIDE AND HUMILITY, THEIR OBJECTS AND CAUSES |
| The passions of PRIDE and HUMILITY being simple and uniform impressions, it is impossible we can ever, by a multitude of words, give a just definition of them, or indeed of any of the passions. |
| The utmost we can pretend to is a description of them, by an enumeration of such circumstances, as attend them: But as these words, PRIDE and humility, are of general use, and the impressions they represent the most common of any, every one, of himself, will be able to form a just idea of them, without any danger of mistake. |
| For which reason, not to lose time upon preliminaries, I shall immediately enter upon the examination of these passions. |
| It is evident, that pride and humility, though directly contrary, have yet the same OBJECT. |
| This object is self, or that succession of related ideas and impressions, of which we have an intimate memory and consciousness. |
| Here the view always fixes when we are actuated by either of these passions. |
| According as our idea of ourself is more or less advantageous, we feel either of those opposite affections, and are elated by pride, or dejected with humility. |
| Whatever other objects may be comprehended by the mind, they are always considered with a view to ourselves; otherwise they would never be able either to excite these passions, or produce the smallest encrease or diminution of them. |
| When self enters not into the consideration, there is no room either for pride or humility. |
| But though that connected succession of perceptions, which we call SELF, be always the object of these two passions, it is impossible it can be their CAUSE, or be sufficient alone to excite them. |
| For as these passions are directly contrary, and have the same object in common; were their object also their cause; it coued never produce any degree of the one passion, but at the same time it must excite an equal degree of the other; which opposition and contrariety must destroy both. |
| It is impossible a man can at the same time be both proud and humble; and where he has different reasons for these passions, as frequently happens, the passions either take place alternately; or if they encounter, the one annihilates the other, as far as its strength goes, and the remainder only of that, which is superior, continues to operate upon the mind. |