Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Maria Cosway
| Paris Octob. 12. 1786. |
the art of life is the art of avoiding pain: & he is the best pilot who steers clearest of the rocks & shoals with which it is beset. pleasure is always before us; but misfortune is at our side: while running after that, this arrests us. the most effectual means of being secure against pain is to retire within ourselves, & to suffice for our own happiness.
PrC (DLC). Published in PTJ, 10:443–55.
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October 12, 1786
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