THE LAW OF COMPENSATION
When Azaïs, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, published his Compensations dans les Destinées Humaines, he stated, in principle, this proposition: “The lot of man, considered in its entirety, is the work of the whole of Nature, and all men are equal by their lot.”
La Rochefoucauld, long before him, said: “Whatsoever difference may appear between fortunes, there is, nevertheless, a certain balancing of good and evil which makes them equal.”
One sees that compensation is a principle of optimism. Whatever may be advanced by the many makers of systems, this law is manifest amongst all peoples as in all individuals, including those who, whilst ceaselessly regretting their ill-fortune, yet taste, relatively, a little of the sweetness of compensation if only in their own prudence and courage.
The law of compensation is certainly the most consoling that we can desire, and to it all human morality is allied.
It is surprising to read these words from the pen of Droz: “The absurd system of compensation, would have, as its result, apathy, contempt for the troubles of others, and the most odious selfishness.” The conviction that sorrow has joy on the reverse side, that suffering makes health prized, that regret is doubled by memory, is no hindrance, that I am aware of, to sharing in the griefs and joys of others.
Altruism, besides, which so many teachers practise so ill, is nothing but the perfection of egoism, paradoxical though this may seem to some.
Nietzsche says: “An altruistic morality, a morality in which selfishness dies, is in every case a bad sign. It is so in the case both of individuals and peoples. We lose the best of our instincts when we begin to fail in egoism. The instinctive selection of that which is detrimental to us, the allowing ourselves to be deluded by ‘disinterested’ motives, is almost the doctrine of decadence.”