Page:Ferrier Works vol 2 1888 LECTURES IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY.pdf/473

418 which is thought naturally to rule, and to lead, and to conceive of noble and divine things; whether being in its own nature divine, or the most divine of all our internal principles, the working of this principle in accordance with its own proper excellence, or the working of this principle in the best way possible, must be the most perfect happiness.

"That this happiness is contemplative, has been already said, and this would seem to be consistent with truth, for this, in the first place, contemplative working is of the highest kind, our intellect being the highest of our internal principles; and the subjects, moreover, with which it is conversant, are the highest that fall within the range of our knowledge.

"Next, this happiness is also the most continuous, for we are better able to contemplate than to do anything else whatever continuously.

"Again, pleasure must be in some way an ingredient of happiness, but speculation, and the pursuit of science, contain pleasures admirable for purity and permanence.

"Self-sufficiency, too, will attach chiefly to the activity of contemplation; for while all other men require companionship and co-operation, the man of pure science can contemplate and speculate even when quite alone, and the more entirely he deserves this appellation, the more able is he to do so; it may be he can do better for having fellow-workers, but still he is certainly most self-sufficient.

"Again, contemplation alone seems to be desired