Pleasure is always linked with gratitude ; if this gratitude is deeply felt it includes the desire to return the kindness received and is, therefore, the basis of generosity. There is always a close link between being able to accept and giving, and both are part of the relationship with the good object and, therefore, fighting loneliness. In addition, the feeling of generosity underlies creativity, and this applies to the most primitive constructive activities of the infant as well as the creativity of the adult.
The capacity for pleasure is also the precondition for a measure of renunciation that allows pleasure in what is available without much greed for inaccessible gratifications and without excessive resentment about frustration. Such adaptation can already be seen in some young infants. Renunciation is linked with tolerance and with the feeling that destructive impulses will not overwhelm love, and that therefore goodness and life can be preserved.
