Robinson Crusoe Excerpt by Daniel Defoe My father told me it was men of desperate fortunes on one hand or of aspiring superior fortune on the other who went abroad upon adventures to rise by enterprise and make themselves famous in undertakings of a nature out of the common road that these things were all either toc far above me or too far below me that mine was the middle state or what might be called the upper station of low life which he had found by long experience was the best state in the world the most suited to human happiness not exposed to the miseries and hardships the labor and sufferings of the mechanic part of mankind and not embarrassed with the pride luxury ambition and envy of the upper part of mankind He told me I might judge of the happiness of this state by this one thing that this was the state of life which all other people envied that kings have frequently lamented the miserable consequence of being born to great things and wishec they had been placed in the middle of the two extremes between the mean and the great that the wise man gave his testimony to this as the standard of felicity when he prayed to have neither poverty nor riches He bade me observe it and I should always find that the calamities of life were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind but that the middle station had the fewest disasters and was not exposed to so many vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of mankind nay they were not subjected to so many distempers either of body or mind as those were who by vicious living luxury and extravagances on the one hand or by hard labor want of necessaries and mean or insufficient diet on the other hand bring distemper upon themselves by the natural consequences of their way of living that the middle station of life was calculated for all kind of virtue and all kind of enjoyments that peace and plenty were the handmaids of a middle fortune that temperance moderation quietness health society all agreeable diversions and all desirable pleasures were the blessings attending the middle station of life tha this way men went silently and smoothly through the world and comfortably out of it not embarrassed with the labors of the hands or of the head not sold to a life of slavery for daily bread nor harassed with perplexed circumstances which rob the soul of peace and the body C rest nor enraged with the passion of envy or the secret burning lust of ambition for great things but in easy circumstances sliding gently through the world and sensibly tasting the sweets of living without the bitter feeling that they are happy and learning by every day s experience to know it more sensibly 39 What message is the father trying to convey Being poor comes with hardships and a struggle for survival 8 The rich are unhappy because they lust for greater things Making a living for yourself will bring you happiness in life Living in the middle class means less hardships and high expectations 40 Based on details in the excerpt the reader can conclude that the father A use to be poor and now has a better understanding of how life works B is happy with his life but wishes his son would aspire for more in life does not understand why his con u