Note 82 — Chapter XI · THE KINGDOM OF THE SOUL.
Reading edition
Though Lucretius laughs at the idea of attributing laughter and tears to the elements (‘hac ratione tibi pereunt primordia rerum: | fiet, uti risu tremulo concussa cachinnent, | et lacrumis salsis umectent ora genasque’ R. N. i 917-919), yet he attributes to them the essential power of free-will: ‘si ... nec declinando faciunt primordia motus | principium quoddam, quod fati foedera rumpat, | unde est haec, inquam, fatis avolsa voluntas?’ R. N. ii 253-257.