The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

pure as we imagine them to be. Love of power is
insidious; it has many disguises, and is often the
source of the pleasure we derive from doing what
we believe to be good to other people. Not
infrequently, yet another element enters in. ‘Doing
good’ to people generally consists in depriving
them of some pleasure: drink, or gambling, or
idleness, or what not. In this case there is an
element which is typical of much social morality,
namely envy of those who are in a position to
commit sins from which we have to abstain if we
are to retain the respect of our friends. Those who
vote, let us say, for law against cigarette smoking
(such laws exist, or existed, in several American
States) are obviously non-smokers to whom the
pleasure which others derive from tobacco is a
source of pain. If they expect those who were
previously cigarette fiends to come in a deputation
and thank them for emancipation from this odious
vice, it is possible that they may be disappointed.
They may then begin to reflect that they have given
their lives for the public good, and that those who
have most reason for thanking them for their