But it seems too superficial to be what we are looking for, since it is thought to depend on those who bestow honour rather than on him who receives it, but the good we divine to be something proper to a man and not easily taken from him. A consideration of the prominent types of life shows that people of superior refinement and of active disposition identify happiness with honour for this is, roughly speaking, the end of the political life. Now the mass of mankind are evidently quite slavish in their tastes, preferring a life suitable to beasts, but they get some ground for their view from the fact that many of those in high places share the tastes of Sardanapallus. For there are, we may say, three prominent types of life - that just mentioned, the political, and thirdly the contemplative life. To judge from the lives that men lead, most men, and men of the most vulgar type, seem (not without some ground) to identify the good, or happiness, with pleasure which is the reason why they love the life of enjoyment. Let us, however, resume our discussion from the point at which we digressed.
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