Shall I say thou art a man, that hast all the symptoms of a beast? How shall I know thee to be a man? By thy shape? That affrights me more, when I see a beast in likeness of a man.
If the news this week has you feeling down, remember to look at photos of Joe Biden with Biden the puppy: “As soon as I told him his name was Biden, he started kissing the dog, which is like exactly what I expected Biden would do.”
He is wise that can command his own will,
Valiant and constant to himself still,
Whom poverty nor death, nor bands can fright,
Checks his desires, scorns honours, just and right.
(Horace)
But where shall such a man be found? But no man is happy in this life, none good, therefore no man wise.
Of course Burton thinks that there is no man wise. Maybe he will feel better about things in another 500 pages.
I think Joe Biden, specifically Joe Biden in that precise moment – kissing Biden the puppy – might be the epitome of a wise man who is happy in this life. When Biden kisses Biden the puppy, it’s like a happy mis en abyme of goodness reflecting upon itself, like two happy mirrors facing each other with a pile of lollipops, roses, and sunshine in between.
So let’s just focus on that today.
This post is part of a long, tedious, and illustrated read-along of Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy – more info here and follow along on Facebook here.