All of us know: nothing can overrule fate. A feeling of satiety is characteristic man; it does not come of one’s own volition, but is predestined by fate. Having once experienced satiety, one will no longer be able to get rid of it. Even if you do your utmost and manage to shake it off, it will pursue and overwhelm you nonethe­less.

A good many things cause satiety and surfeit. There is noth­ing more or less with which a man cannot be sated: food, amuse­ments, fashion, feasts and parties, the desire to excel others, and women. Sooner or later, discovering the vanity and viciousness of all that, he will become disenchanted and indifferent. Like eve­rything else in this world, man’s life and his destiny are subject to change. No living creature on earth can remain quiescent. So where could the constancy of feelings come from?

Satiety is the lot even of clever people who seek perfection in life, who know the worth of many things, who are fastidious and can perceive the vanity of human existence. He who has realised the transitory nature of earthly joys will grow weary of life.

I think to myself: blessed is he who is silly and carefree.