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290 The one end comes before us when we put happiness and misery aside, and look at man simply as man. In this case the proper end of all his actions and aspirations will be to maintain and strengthen his true being; that is to say, his rational nature. The other end comes before us when we take happiness and misery into account, and view man as susceptible of these qualities. In this case, the proper end and aim of man's existence will be the attainment and the diffusion of happiness. Both should be treated and adjusted in a complete system of moral philosophy.

24. Now it may often happen that there will be no discrepancy between these two ends. We may admit that they are usually in harmony with one another, and that in attaining the one end we attain the other as well. But cases must, and do, occur in which both of these cannot be attained; cases may occur in which a man, in attaining what he conceives to be, and what indeed is, his happiness, must sacrifice the perfection of his rational being; or again, cases may occur in which a man, in maintaining the perfection of his rational being, must sacrifice what he feels to be his happiness. In these cases, which end must he cling to, and which end must he give up? I answer that he must cling to that end which consists in the preservation and perfecting of his rational nature, and must give up that end which consists in happiness or pleasure, whether that