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and from choice, for their own sakes and
not for the sake of some ulterior consequence, is a profligate; for a man of this
character is certain to feel no regret for his excesses afterwards, and this being so, he
is incurable,1 since there is no cure for one who does not regret his error. The man
deficient in the enjoyment of pleasures is the opposite of the profligate; and the middle
character is the temperate man. And similarly, he who avoids bodily pains not because his
will is overpowered but of deliberate choice, is also profligate.
[3]
(Those on the other hand who yield not from choice, are
prompted either by the pleasure of indulgence, or by the impulse to avoid the pain of
unsatisfied desire. Hence there is a difference between deliberate and non-deliberate
indulgence. Everyone would think a man worse if he did something disgraceful when he felt
only a slight desire, or none at all, than if he acted from a strong desire, or if he
struck another in cold blood than if he did so in anger; for what would he have done had
his passions been aroused? Hence the profligate man is worse than the
unrestrained.)
Of the dispositions described above, the deliberate avoidance of pain is rather a
kind2 of Softness; the deliberate pursuit of
pleasure is Profligacy in the strict sense.
[4]
Self-restraint is the opposite of Unrestraint, Endurance of Softness; for Endurance means
only successful resistance, whereas Restraint implies mastery, which is a different
matter: victory is more glorious than the mere avoidance of defeat. Hence self-restraint
is a more valuable quality than Endurance.