Page:An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798).djvu/399

 of an uniform course of prosperity is, rather to degrade, than exalt the character. The heart that has never known sorrow itself, will seldom be feelingly alive, to the pains and pleasures, the wants and wishes, of its fellow beings. It will seldom be overflowing with that warmth of brotherly love, those kind and amiable affections, which dignify the human character, even more than the possession of the highest talents. Talents, indeed, though undoubtedly a very prominent and fine feature of mind, can by no means be considered as constituting the whole of it. There are many minds which have not been exposed to those excitements, that usually form talents, that have yet been vivified to a high degree, by the excitements of social sympathy. In every rank of life, in the lowest, as frequently as in the highest, characters are to be found, overflowing with the