It is by this mystical doctrine, and by this alone, that Buddhism gains a hold on the common heart of man.

This is the great fulcrum of its lever.

Then further--and this is more important still--whereas the doctrine of Western positivism is that human life is good, or may be made good; and that in the possibility of the enjoyment of it consists the great stimulus to action; the doctrine of Buddhism is that human life is evil, and that man's right aim is not to gratify, but to extinguish, his desire for it.

Love, for instance, as I have said before, is by most Western positivists held to be a high blessing.
Buddhism tells us we should avoid it '_as though it were a pit of burning coals_.' The most influential positive writer in England[7] has said: '_I desire no future that will break the ties of the past_.' Buddhism says that we should desire no present that will create any ties for the future.

The beginning of the Buddhist teaching is the intense misery of life; the reward of Buddhist holiness is to, at last, live no longer.