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| Concerning Events.
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Chapter
XXVI.—Concerning Events1878
.
Of events1879
, some are in
our hands, others are not. Those then are in our hands which we
are free to do or not to do at our will, that is all actions that are
done voluntarily (for those actions are not called voluntary the doing
of which is not in our hands), and in a word, all that are followed by
blame or praise and depend on motive and law. Strictly all
mental1880
and
deliberative acts are in our hands. Now deliberation is concerned
with equal possibilities: and an ‘equal possibility’
is an action that is itself within our power and its opposite, and our
mind makes choice of the alternatives, and this is the origin of
action. The actions, therefore, that are in our hands are these
equal possibilities: e.g. to be moved or not to be moved, to
hasten or not to hasten, to long for unnecessaries or not to do so, to
tell lies or not to tell lies, to give or not to give, to rejoice or
not to rejoice as fits the occasion, and all such actions as imply
virtue or vice in their performance, for we are free to do or not to do
these at our pleasure. Amongst equal possibilities also are
included the arts, for we have it in our power to cultivate these or
not as we please.
Note, however, that while the choice of what is to
be done is ever in our power, the action itself often is prevented by
some dispensation of the divine Providence1881
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