But as pain is stronger in its operation than pleasure, so death is in general a much more affecting idea than pain; because there are very few pains, however exquisite, which are not preferred to death: nay, what generally makes pain itself, if I may say so, more painful, is, that it is considered as an emissary of this king of terrors.

When danger or pain press too nearly, they are incapable of giving any delight, and are simply terrible; but at certain distances, and with certain modifications, they may be, and they are, delightful, as we every day experience.

The cause of this I shall endeavor to investigate hereafter.
SECTION VIII.
OF THE PASSIONS WHICH BELONG TO SOCIETY.
The other head under which I class our passions, is that of _society_, which may be divided into two sorts.1.The society of the _sexes_, which answers the purpose of propagation; and next, that more _general society_, which we have with men and with other animals, and which we may in some sort be said to have even with the inanimate world.

The passions belonging to the preservation of the individual turn wholly on pain and danger: those which belong to _generation_ have their origin in gratifications and _pleasures_; the pleasure most directly belonging to this purpose is of a lively character, rapturous and violent, and confessedly the highest pleasure of sense; yet the absence of this so great an enjoyment scarce amounts to an uneasiness; and, except at particular times, I do not think it affects at all.

When men describe in what manner they are affected by pain and danger, they do not dwell on the pleasure of health and the comfort of security, and then lament the _loss_ of these satisfactions: the whole turns upon the actual pains and horrors which they endure.