On the Causes of Frequent Suicide: A Psychological Treatise

has its limit and its goal; only within these does every thing possess value and utility. If it goes beyond the boundaries of duty and law, then it loses its purpose and inevitably brings destruction, not a blessing. It is the same with passion, of which there is a noble, an ignoble, and an overwrought kind. Woe to the son of earth who is seized and dominated by an overwrought passion; it can even lead gradually to suicide. We find this, for example, in the person who undertakes an important but arduous office with more than permissible passion, defying the dangers of a comprehensive business with an iron brow and striving to work his way up through both to attain reputation, significance, and