And, finally, what good to us is a long life if it is difficult and barren of joys, and if it is so full of misery that we can only welcome death as a deliverer?
Life is a series of "little joys" and I understand Freud saying in this moment, but then that goes into the argument of why is Suicide illegal? Why if life can be so filled with misery, we can't make choice to enjoy death?
But here the voice of pessimistic criticism makes itself heard and warns us that most of these satisfactions follow the model of the ȁcheap enjoyment
I think it's interesting that he listed these great human accomplishments but dumbed them down to cheap enjoyment. He uses these accomplishments to say if they had never happen these small moments of joy wouldn't be needed and I can see that view, kind of traditional but makes sense.
has not increased the amount of pleasurable satisfaction which they may expect from life and has not made them feel happier.
This goes into putting stock into materialistic things. Pure happiness doesn't stem from power or conquering something. It comes from being happy with yourself and actual beings.
It arose when people came to know about the mechanism of the neuroses, which threaten to undermine the modicum of happiness enjoyed by civilized men.
I interpret this sentence as, the introduction of declining mental health threatened the happines that "the little things" of life brought. I agree as in today's depression can rob a person of the old small pleasures they used to enjoy.
We do not admit it at all; we cannot see why the regulations made by ourselves should not, on the contrary, be a protection and a benefit for every one of us.
This statement hit because it is soooo true. We're constantly regulating ourselves and just deeming that others will accept that and refuse to think otherwise. There are so many regulations going on today (although I think the vaccine mandate is important it's also a prime example) that we just threw out there and hoped it would stick. Obviously not
f we cannot remove all suffering, we can remove some, and we can mitigate some: the experience of many thousands of yean has convinced us of that.
I agree that there is constant suffering. That saying "If it's not one things it's another" is prime example of the human race rolling with the punches and just blocking or dodging as we go along. Life is a constant battle and either you win some or lose some.