Looking at the turmoil of life from this standpoint we find all occupied with its want and misery, exerting all their strength in order to satisfy its endless needs and avert manifold suffering, without, however, daring to expect anything else in return than merely the preservation of this tormented individual existence for a short span of time.  And yet, amid all this turmoil we see a pair of lovers exchanging longing glances—­yet why so secretly, timidly, and stealthily?  Because these lovers are traitors secretly striving to perpetuate all this misery and turmoil that otherwise would come to a timely end.

FOOTNOTES: 

[17] Ch. xxvi. 23.

[18] De vita longa i. 5.

PHYSIOGNOMY.

That the outside reflects the inner man, and that the face expresses his whole character, is an obvious supposition and accordingly a safe one, demonstrated as it is in the desire people have to see on all occasions a man who has distinguished himself by something good or evil, or produced some exceptional work; or if this is denied them, at any rate to hear from others what he looks like.  This is why, on the one hand, they go to places where they conjecture he is to be found; and on the other, why the press, and especially the English press, tries to describe him in a minute and striking way; he is soon brought visibly before us either by a painter or an engraver; and finally, photography, on that account so highly prized, meets this necessity in a most perfect way.

It is also proved in everyday life that each one inspects the physiognomy of those he comes in contact with, and first of all secretly tries to discover their moral and intellectual character from their features.  This could not be the case if, as some foolish people state, the outward appearance of a man is of no importance; nay, if the soul is one thing and the body another, and the latter related to the soul as the coat is to the man himself.

Rather is every human face a hieroglyph, which, to be sure, admits of being deciphered—­nay, the whole alphabet of which we carry about with us.  Indeed, the face of a man, as a rule, bespeaks more interesting matter than his tongue, for it is the compendium of all which he will ever say, as it is the register of all his thoughts and aspirations.  Moreover, the tongue only speaks the thoughts of one man, while the face expresses a thought of nature.  Therefore it is worth while to observe everybody attentively; even if they are not worth talking to.  Every individual is worthy of observation as a single thought of nature; so is beauty in the highest degree, for it is a higher and more general conception of nature:  it is her thought of a species.  This is why we are so captivated by beauty.  It is a fundamental and principal thought of Nature; whereas the individual is only a secondary thought, a corollary.