Confessions

From Confessions - Saint Augustine (p. 29)

"... in the theaters I sympathized with lovers when they sinfully enjoyed one another, although this was done ficticiously in the play. And when they lost one another, I grieved with them, as if pitying them, and yet had delight in both grief and pity. Nowadays I feel much more pity for one who delights in his wickedness than for one who counts himself unfortunate because he fails to obtain some harmful pleasure or suffers the loss of some miserable felicity. "