Note 202 — Chapter III
Henry P. (Henry Pomeroy) Horton translation
“Many persons, belonging for the most part to the well-to-do classes, have no fixed occupation and feel the need of none. These persons do not know what it is to love work for work’s sake. Having all that they need to live upon they imagine that work exists only for those who have to earn their bread, and they themselves are created for ‘dolce far niente.’ Unfortunately the ‘far niente’ is not always sweet! Having nothing to do, these individuals do not know how to use their time; they are bored, they seek distractions and pleasures. Alcohol presents itself to them as procuring the pleasure sought for, but as this enjoyment is only momentary, they are forced to renew it and to prolong it.…”202