This should be our study from morning till night beginning with the least and frailest things, as with earthenware, with glassware. Afterwards proceed to a suit of clothes, a dog, a horse, an estate; thence to yourself, body, members, children, wife, brothers.
— ἐπὶ τί οὖν εἴληφα ταῦτα; — χρησόμενος. — μέχρι τίνος; — μέχρις ἂν ὁ χρήσας θέλῃ. — ἂν οὖν ἀναγκαῖά μοι ᾖ; — μὴ πρόσπασχε αὐτοῖς καὶ οὐκ ἔσται. σὺ αὐτὰ αὑτῷ μὴ εἴπῃς ἀναγκαῖα καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν.
Look everywhere around you, and be able to detach yourself from these things. Correct your principles. Permit nothing to cleave to you that is not your own; nothing to grow to you that may give you agony when it is torn away. And say, when you are daily training yourself as you do here, not that you act the philosopher, which may be a presumptuous claim, but that you are asserting your freedom.
ταύτην τὴν μελέτην ἕωθεν εἰς ἑσπέραν μελετᾶν ἔδει. ἀπὸ τῶν μικροτάτων, ἀπὸ τῶν εὐεπηρεαστοτάτων ἀρξάμενος, ἀπὸ χύτρας, ἀπὸ ποτηρίου, εἶθʼ οὕτως ἐπὶ χιτωνάριον πρόσελθε, ἐπὶ κυνάριον, ἐπὶ ἱππάριον, ἐπὶ ἀγρίδιον· ἔνθεν ἐπὶ σαυτόν, τὸ σῶμα, τὰ μέρη τοῦ σώματος, τὰ τέκνα, τὴν γυναῖκα, τοὺς ἀδελφούς.
For this is true freedom. This is the freedom that Diogenes gained from Antisthenes, and declared it was impossible that he should ever after be a slave to any one.
πανταχοῦ περιβλέψας ἀπόρριψον ἀπὸ σεαυτοῦ· κάθηρον τὰ δόγματα, μή τι προσήρτηταί σοι τῶν οὐ σῶν, μή τι συμπέφυκεν, μή τι ὀδυνήσει σʼ ἀποσπώμενον.
Hence, when he was taken prisoner, how did he treat the pirates? Did he call any of them master? I do not mean the name, for I am not afraid of a word, but of the disposition from whence the word proceeds.
καὶ λέγε γυμναζόμενος καθʼ ἡμέραν, ὡς ἐκεῖ, μὴ ὅτι φιλοσοφεῖς (ἔστω φορτικὸν τὸ ὄνομα), ἀλλʼ ὅτι καρπιστὴν δίδως. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ταῖς ἀληθείαις ἐλευθερία.
How did he reprove them for feeding their prisoners ill? How was he sold?
ταύτην ἠλευθερώθη Διογένης παρʼ Ἀντισθένους καὶ οὐκέτι ἔφη καταδουλωθῆναι δύνασθαι ὑπʼ οὐδενός.
Did he seek a master? No, but a slave. And when he was sold, how did he converse with his lord? He immediately disputed with him whether he ought to be dressed or shaved in the manner he was; and how he ought to bring up his children.
διὰ τοῦτο πῶς ἑάλω, πῶς τοῖς πειραταῖς ἐχρῆτο· μή τι κύριον εἶπέν τινα αὐτῶν; καὶ οὐ λέγω τὸ ὄνομα· οὐ γὰρ τὴν φωνὴν φοβοῦμαι, ἀλλὰ τὸ πάθος, ἀφʼ οὗ ἡ φωνὴ ἐκπέμπεται.
And where is the wonder? For if the same master had bought some one to instruct his children in gymnastic exercises, would he in those exercises have treated him as a servant or as a master? And so if he had bought a physician or an architect. In every department the skilful must necessarily be superior to the unskilful.
πῶς ἐπιτιμᾷ αὐτοῖς, ὅτι κακῶς ἔτρεφον τοὺς ἑαλωκότας· πῶς ἐπράθη· μή τι κύριον ἐζήτει; ἀλλὰ δοῦλον. πῶς δὲ πραθεὶς ἀνεστρέφετο πρὸς τὸν δεσπότην· εὐθὺς διελέγετο πρὸς αὐτόν, ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως ἐστολίσθαι δεῖ αὐτόν, οὐχ οὕτως κεκάρθαι, περὶ τῶν υἱῶν, πῶς δεῖ αὐτοὺς διάγειν.
What else, then, can he be but master, who possesses the universal knowledge of life? For who is master in a ship? The pilot. Why? Because whoever disobeys him is a loser. “But a master can put me in chains.” Can he do it, then, without being a loser?
καὶ τί θαυμαστόν; εἰ γὰρ παιδοτρίβην ἐώνητο, ἐν τοῖς παλαιστρικοῖς ὑπηρέτῃ ἂν αὐτῷ ἐχρῆτο ἢ κυρίῳ; εἰ δʼ ἰατρόν, ὡσαύτως, εἰ δʼ ἀρχιτέκτονα. καὶ οὕτως ἐφʼ ἑκάστης ὕλης τὸν ἔμπειρον τοῦ ἀπείρου κρατεῖν πᾶσα ἀνάγκη.
“I think not, indeed.” But because he must be a loser, he evidently must not do it; for no one acts unjustly without being a loser. “And how does he suffer, who puts his own slave in chains?” What think you? From the very fact of chaining him.
ὅστις οὖν καθόλου τὴν περὶ βίον ἐπιστήμην κέκτηται, τί ἄλλο ἢ τοῦτον εἶναι δεῖ τὸν δεσπότην; τίς γάρ ἐστιν ἐν νηὶ κύριος; — ὁ κυβερνήτης. — διὰ τί; ὅτι ὁ ἀπειθῶν αὐτῷ ζημιοῦται.
This you yourself must grant, if you would hold to the doctrine that man is not naturally a wild, but a gentle, animal. For when is it that a vine is in a bad condition?
— ἀλλὰ δεῖραί με δύναται. — μή τι οὖν ἀζημίως; — οὕτως μὲν κἀγὼ ἔκρινον. — ἀλλʼ ὅτι οὐκ ἀζημίως, διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔξεστιν· οὐδενὶ δʼ ἀζήμιόν ἐστι τὸ ποιεῖν τὰ ἄδικα.
“When it is in a condition contrary to its nature.” How is it with a cock? “The same.” It is therefore the same with a man also. What is his nature,—to bite and kick and throw into prison and cut off heads?
— καὶ τίς ἡ ζημία τῷ δήσαντι τὸν αὑτοῦ δοῦλον, ἣν δοκεῖς; — τὸ δῆσαι· τοῦτο ὃ καὶ σὺ ὁμολογήσεις, ἂν θέλῃς σῴζειν, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἔστι θηρίον, ἀλλʼ ἥμερον ζῷον.
No, but to do good, to assist, to indulge the wishes of others. Whether you will or not, then, he is in a bad condition whenever he acts unreasonably.
ἐπεὶ πότʼ ἄμπελος πράσσει κακῶς; ὅταν παρὰ τὴν ἑαυτῆς φύσιν πράσσῃ. πότʼ ἀλεκτρυών;
“And so was not Socrates in a bad condition?” No, but his judges and accusers. “Nor Helvidius, at Rome?” No, but his murderer. “How do you talk?” Why, just as you do. You do not call that cock in a bad condition which is victorious, and yet wounded;
ὡσαύτως. οὐκοῦν καὶ ἄνθρωπος. τίς οὖν αὐτοῦ ἡ φύσις; δάκνειν καὶ λακτίζειν καὶ εἰς φυλακὴν βάλλειν καὶ ἀποκεφαλίζειν; οὔ· ἀλλʼ εὖ ποιεῖν, συνεργεῖν, ἐπεύχεσθαι. τότʼ οὖν κακῶς πράσσει, ἄν τε θέλῃς ἄν τε μή, ὅταν ἀγνωμονῇ.
but that which is conquered and comes off unhurt. Nor do you call a dog happy which neither hunts nor toils; but when you see him perspiring, and distressed, and panting with the chase.
ὥστε Σωκράτης οὐκ ἔπραξε κακῶς;— οὔ, ἀλλʼ οἱ δικασταὶ καὶ οἱ κατήγοροι. — οὐδʼ ἐν Ῥώμῃ Ἑλουίδιος; — οὔ, ἀλλʼ ὁ ἀποκτείνας αὐτόν. — πῶς λέγεις;
In what do we talk paradoxes? If we say that the evil of everything consists in what is contrary to its nature, is this a paradox? Do you not say it with regard to other things? Why, therefore, in the case of man alone, do you take a different view?
— ὡς καὶ σὺ ἀλεκτρυόνα οὐ λέγεις κακῶς πρᾶξαι τὸν νικήσαντα καὶ κατακοπέντα, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀπλῆγα ἡττηθέντα· οὐδὲ κύνα εὐδαιμονίζεις τὸν μήτε διώκοντα μήτε πονοῦντα, ἀλλʼ ὅταν ἱδρῶντα ἴδῃς, ὅταν ὀδυνώμενον, ὅταν ῥηγνύμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ δρόμου.
But further, it is no paradox to say that by nature man is gentle and social and faithful. “This is none.” How then [is it a paradox to say] that, when he is whipped, or imprisoned, or beheaded, he is not hurt? If he suffers nobly, does he not come off even the better and a gainer?
τί παραδοξολογοῦμεν, εἰ λέγομεν παντὸς κακὸν εἶναι τὸ παρὰ τὴν ἐκείνου φύσιν; τοῦτο παράδοξόν ἐστιν; σὺ γὰρ αὐτὸ ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν ἄλλων οὐ λέγεις; διὰ τί ἐπὶ μόνου οὖν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἄλλως φέρῃ;
But he is the person hurt who suffers the most miserable and shameful evils; who, instead of a man, becomes a wolf, a viper, or a hornet.
ἀλλʼ ὅτι λέγομεν ἥμερον εἶναι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὴν φύσιν καὶ φιλάλληλον καὶ πιστήν, τοῦτο παράδοξον οὐκ ἔστιν; — οὐδὲ τοῦτο.
Come, then; let us recapitulate what has been granted. The man who is unrestrained, who has all things in his power as he wills, is free; but he who may be restrained or compelled or hindered, or thrown into any condition against his will, is a slave. “And who is unrestrained?” He who desires none of those things that belong to others.
— πῶς οὖν ἔτι οὐ δερόμενος βλάπτεται ἢ δεσμευόμενος ἢ ἀποκεφαλιζόμενος; οὐχὶ οὕτως μέν· εἰ γενναίως πάσχει, καὶ προσκερδαίνων καὶ προσωφελούμενος ἀπέρχεται, ἐκεῖνος δὲ βλαπτόμενός ἐστιν ὁ τὰ οἰκτρότατα πάσχων καὶ αἴσχιστα, ὁ ἀντὶ ἀνθρώπου λύκος γινόμενος ἢ ἔχις ἢ σφήξ;
“And what are those things which belong to others?” Those which are not in our own power, either to have or not to have; or to have them thus or so. Body, therefore, belongs to another; its parts to another; property to another.
ἄγε οὖν ἐπέλθωμεν τὰ ὡμολογημένα. ὁ ἀκώλυτος ἄνθρωπος ἐλεύθερος, ᾧ πρόχειρα τὰ πράγματα ὡς βούλεται. ὃν δʼ ἔστιν ἢ κωλῦσαι ἢ ἀναγκάσαι ἢ ἐμποδίσαι ἢ ἄκοντα εἴς τι ἐμβαλεῖν, δοῦλός ἐστιν.
If, then, you attach yourself to any of these as your own, you will be punished as he deserves who desires what belongs to others.
τίς δʼ ἀκώλυτος; ὁ μηδενὸς τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐφιέμενος. τίνα δʼ ἀλλότρια; ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐφʼ ἡμῖν οὔτʼ ἔχειν οὔτε μὴ ἔχειν οὔτε ποιὰ ἔχειν ἢ πῶς ἔχοντα.
This is the way that leads to freedom, this the only deliverance from slavery, to be able at length to say, from the bottom of one’s soul,—Conduct me, Zeus, and thou, O Destiny,Wherever your decrees have fixed my lot.-H. But what say you, philosopher?
οὐκοῦν τὸ σῶμα ἀλλότριον, τὰ μέρη αὐτοῦ ἀλλότρια, ἡ κτῆσις ἀλλοτρία. ἂν οὖν τινι τούτων ὡς ἰδίῳ προσπαθῇς, δώσεις δίκας ἃς ἄξιον τὸν τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐφιέμενον.
A tyrant calls upon you to speak something unbecoming you. Will you say it, or will you not? “Stay, let me consider.” Would you consider now? And what did you use to consider when you were in the schools?
αὕτη ἡ ὁδὸς ἐπʼ ἐλευθερίαν ἄγει, αὕτη μόνη ἀπαλλαγὴ δουλείας, [μόνῃ] τὸ δυνηθῆναί ποτʼ εἰπεῖν ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς τὸ ἄγου δέ μʼ, ὦ Ζεῦ, καὶ σύ γʼ ἡ Πεπρωμένη, ὅποι ποθʼ ὑμῖν εἰμι διατεταγμένος.
Did you not study what things were good and evil, and what indifferent? “did.” Well, and what were the opinions which pleased us? “That just and fair actions were good; unjust and base ones, evil.” Is living a good? “No.” Dying, an evil? “No.” A prison? “No.” And what did a mean and dishonest speech, the betraying a friend, or the flattering a tyrant, appear to us?
ἀλλὰ τί λέγεις, φιλόσοφε; καλεῖ σε ὁ τύραννος ἐροῦντά τι ὧν οὐ πρέπει σοι. λέγεις ἢ οὐ λέγεις; εἰπέ μοι. — ἄφες σκέψωμαι. — νῦν σκέψῃ; ὅτε δʼ ἐν τῇ σχολῇ ἦς, τί ἐσκέπτου; οὐκ ἐμελέτας, τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ ἀγαθὰ καὶ τὰ κακὰ καὶ τίνα οὐδέτερα; — Ἐσκεπτόμην. — τίνα οὖν ἤρεσκεν ὑμῖν;
“Evils.” Why, then, are you still considering, and have not already considered and come to a resolution? For what sort of a consideration is this: “Whether I ought, when it is in my power, to procure myself the greatest good, instead of procuring myself the greatest evil.”
— τὰ δίκαια καὶ καλὰ ἀγαθὰ εἶναι, τὰ ἄδικα καὶ αἰσχρὰ κακά. — μή τι τὸ ζῆν ἀγαθόν; — οὔ. — μή τι τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κακόν; — οὔ. — μή τι φυλακή; — οὔ. — λόγος δʼ ἀγεννὴς καὶ ἄπιστος καὶ φίλου προδοσία καὶ κολακεία τυράννου τί ὑμῖν ἐφαίνετο;
A fine and necessary consideration, truly, and deserving mighty deliberation! Why do you trifle with us, man? No one ever needed to consider any such point; nor, if you really imagined things fair and honest to be good, things base and dishonest to be evil, and all other things indifferent, would you ever be in such a perplexity as this, or near it;
— κακά. — τί οὖν; οὐχὶ σκέπτῃ, οὐχὶ δʼ ἔσκεψαι καὶ βεβούλευσαι. ποία γὰρ σκέψις, εἰ καθήκει μοὶ δυναμένῳ τὰ μέγιστα ἀγαθὰ ἐμαυτῷ περιποιῆσαι, τὰ μέγιστα κακὰ μὴ περιποιῆσαι; καλὴ σκέψις καὶ ἀναγκαία, πολλῆς βουλῆς δεομένη. τί ἡμῖν ἐμπαίζεις, ἄνθρωπε;
but you would presently be able to distinguish by your understanding as you do by your sight. For do you ever have to consider whether black is white, or whether light is heavy? Do you not follow the plain evidence of your senses?
οὐδέποτε τοιαύτη σκέψις γίνεται. οὐδʼ εἰ ταῖς ἀληθείαις κακὰ μὲν ἐφαντάζου τὰ αἰσχρά, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα οὐδέτερα, ἦλθες ἂν ἐπὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐπίστασιν, οὐδʼ ἐγγύς· ἀλλʼ αὐτόθεν διακρίνειν εἶχες, ὥσπερ ὄψει τῇ διανοίᾳ.
Why, then, do you say that you are now considering whether things indifferent are to be avoided, rather than evils? The truth is, you have no principles; for things indifferent do not impress you as such, but as the greatest evils;
πότε γὰρ σκέπτῃ, εἰ τὰ μέλανα λευκά ἐστιν, εἰ τὰ βαρέα κοῦφα; οὐχὶ δὲ τοῖς ἐναργῶς φαινομένοις ἐπακολουθεῖς; πῶς οὖν νῦν σκέπτεσθαι λέγεις, εἰ τὰ οὐδέτερα τῶν κακῶν φευκτότερα;
and these last, on the other hand, as things of no importance. For thus has been your practice from the first. “Where am I?
ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔχεις τὰ δόγματα ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ φαίνεταί σοι οὔτε ταῦτα οὐδέτερα, ἀλλὰ τὰ μέγιστα κακά, οὔτʼ ἐκεῖνα κακά, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς.
If I am in the school and there is an audience, I talk as the philosophers do; but if I am out of the school, then away with this stuff that belongs only to scholars and fools.” This man is accused by the testimony of a philosopher, his friend; this philosopher turns parasite; another hires himself out for money;
οὕτως γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἴθισας σεαυτόν· ποῦ εἰμι; ἐν σχολῇ. καὶ ἀκούουσί μου τίνες; λέγω μετὰ τῶν φιλοσόφων. ἀλλʼ ἐξελήλυθα τῆς σχολῆς· ἆρον ἐκεῖνα τὰ τῶν σχολαστικῶν καὶ τῶν μωρῶν. οὕτως καταμαρτυρεῖται φίλος ὑπὸ φιλοσόφου, οὕτως παρασιτεῖ φιλόσοφος,
a third does that in the very senate. When one is not governed by appearances, then his principles speak for themselves.
οὕτως ἐπʼ ἀργυρίῳ ἐκμισθοῖ ἑαυτόν, οὕτως ἐν συγκλήτῳ τις οὐ λέγει τὰ φαινόμενα· ἔνδοθεν τὸ δόγμα αὐτοῦ βοᾷ,
You are a poor cold lump of prejudice, consisting of mere phrases, on which you hang as by a hair. You should preserve yourself firm and practical, remembering that you are to deal with real things.
οὐ ψυχρὸν καὶ ταλαίπωρον ὑποληψείδιον ἐκ λόγων εἰκαίων ὡς ἐκ τριχὸς ἠρτημένον, ἀλλὰ ἰσχυρὸν καὶ χρηστικὸν καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ διὰ τῶν ἔργων γεγυμνάσθαι μεμυημένον.
In what manner do you hear,—I will not say that your child is dead, for how could you possibly bear that?—but that your oil is spilled, your wine consumed?
παραφύλαξον σαυτόν, πῶς ἀκούεις — οὐ λέγω, ὅτι τὸ παιδίον σου ἀπέθανεν· πόθεν σοι; ἀλλʼ ὅτι σου τὸ ἔλαιον ἐξεχέθη, ὁ οἶνος ἐξεπόθη,
Would that some one, while you are bawling, would only say this: “Philosopher, you talk quite otherwise when in the schools. Why do you deceive us? Why, when you are a worm, do you call yourself a man?”
ἵνα τις ἐπιστὰς διατεινομένῳ σοι τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ μόνον εἴπῃ φιλόσοφε, ἄλλα λέγεις ἐν τῇ σχολῇ· τί ἡμᾶς ἐξαπατᾷς; τί σκώληξ ὢν λέγεις, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος εἶ;
I should be glad to be near one of these philosophers while he is revelling in debauchery, that I might see how he demeans himself, and what sayings he utters; whether he remembers the title he bears and the discourses which he hears, or speaks, or reads.
ἤθελον ἐπιστῆναί τινι αὐτῶν συνουσιάζοντι, ἵνα ἴδω, πῶς τείνεται καὶ ποίας φωνὰς ἀφίησιν, εἰ μέμνηται τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ, τῶν λόγων οὓς ἀκούει ἢ λέγει ἢ ἀναγιγνώσκει.
“And what is all this to freedom?” It lies in nothing else than this,—whether you rich people approve or not.
καὶ τί ταῦτα πρὸς ἐλευθερίαν;— οὐκ ἄλλα μὲν οὖν ἢ ταῦτʼ, ἄν τε θέλητε ὑμεῖς οἱ πλούσιοι ἄν τε μή.
“And who affords evidence of this?” Who but yourselves? You who have a powerful master, and live by his motion and nod, and faint away if he does but look sternly upon you, who pay your court to old men and old women, and say, “cannot do this or that, it is not in my power.” Why is it not in your power? Did you not just now contradict me, and say you were free?
— καὶ τί[ς] σοι μαρτυρεῖ ταῦτα; — τί γὰρ ἄλλο ἢ αὐτοὶ ὑμεῖς οἱ τὸν κύριον τὸν μέγαν ἔχοντες καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐκείνου νεῦμα καὶ κίνημα ζῶντες, κἄν τινα ὑμῶν ἴδῃ μόνον συνεστραμμένῳ βλέμματι, ἀποψυχόμενοι, τὰς γραίας θεραπεύοντες καὶ τοὺς γέροντας καὶ λέγοντες ὅτι οὐ δύναμαι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι· οὐκ ἐξεστί μοι;
“But Aprylla has forbidden me.” Speak the truth, then, slave, and do not run away from your masters nor deny them, nor dare to assert your freedom, when you have so many proofs of your slavery.
διὰ τί οὐκ ἔξεστίν σοι; οὐκ ἄρτι ἐμάχου μοι λέγων ἐλεύθερος εἶναι; ἀλλὰ Ἄπρυλλά με κεκώλυκεν. λέγε οὖν τὰς ἀληθείας, δοῦλε, καὶ μὴ δραπέτευέ σου τοὺς κυρίους μηδʼ ἀπαρνοῦ μηδὲ τόλμα καρπιστὴν διδόναι τοσούτους ἔχων τῆς δουλείας ἐλέγχους.
One might indeed find some excuse for a person compelled by love to do something contrary to his opinion, even when at the same time he sees what is best without having resolution enough to follow it, since he is withheld by something overpowering, and in some measure divine. But who can bear with you, who are in love with old men and old women, and perform menial offices for them, and bribe them with presents, and wait upon them like a slave when they are sick;
καίτοι τὸν μὲν ὑπʼ ἔρωτος ἀναγκαζόμενόν τι ποιεῖν παρὰ τὸ φαινόμενον καὶ ἅμα μὲν ὁρῶντα τὸ ἄμεινον, ἅμα δʼ οὐκ ἐξευτονοῦντα ἀκολουθῆσαι αὐτῷ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἄν τις συγγνώμης ἄξιον ὑπολάβοι, ἅθʼ ὑπό τινος βιαίου καὶ τρόπον τινὰ θείου κατεσχημένον.
at the same time wishing they may die, and inquiring of the physician whether their distemper be yet mortal? And again, when for these great and venerable magistracies and honors you kiss the hands of the slaves of others; so that you are the slave of those who are not free themselves! And then you walk about in state, a praetor or a consul. Do I not know how you came to be praetor;
σοῦ δὲ τίς ἀνάσχοιτο τῶν γραῶν ἐρῶντος καὶ τῶν γερόντων καὶ ἐκείνας ἀπομύσσοντος καὶ ἀποπλύνοντος καὶ δωροδοκοῦντος καὶ ἅμα μὲν νοσούσας θεραπεύοντος ὡς δούλου, ἅμα δʼ ἀποθανεῖν εὐχομένου καὶ τοὺς ἰατροὺς διακρίνοντος, εἰ ἤδη θανασίμως ἔχουσιν; ἢ πάλιν ὅταν ὑπὲρ τῶν μεγάλων τούτων καὶ σεμνῶν ἀρχῶν καὶ τιμῶν τὰς χεῖρας τῶν ἀλλοτρίων δούλων καταφιλῇς, ἵνα μηδʼ ἐλευθέρων δοῦλος ᾖς;
whence you received the consulship; who gave it to you? For my own part, I would not even live, if I must live by Felicio’s means, and bear his pride and slavish insolence.
εἶτά μοι σεμνὸς περιπατεῖς στρατηγῶν, ὑπατεύων, οὐκ οἶδα, πῶς ἐστρατήγησας, πόθεν τὴν ὑπατείαν ἔλαβες, τίς σοι αὐτὴν ἔδωκεν;
For I know what a slave is, blinded by what he thinks good fortune. “Are you free yourself, then?” you may ask. By Heaven, I wish and pray for it. But I own I cannot yet face my masters.
ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδὲ ζῆν ἤθελον, εἰ διὰ Φηλικίωνα ἔδει ζῆσαι τῆς ὀφρύος αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ δουλικοῦ φρυάγματος ἀνασχόμενον. οἶδα γάρ, τί ἐστι δοῦλος εὐτυχῶν ὡς δοκεῖ καὶ τετυφ[λ]ωμένος.
I still pay a regard to my body, and set a great value on keeping it whole; though, for that matter, it is not whole. But I can show you one who was free, that you may no longer seek an example. Diogenes was free. “How so?” Not because he was of free parents, for he was not;
σὺ οὖν, φησίν, ἐλεύθερος εἶ;— θέλω νὴ τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ εὔχομαι, ἀλλʼ οὔπω δύναμαι ἀντιβλέψαι τοῖς κυρίοις, ἔτι τιμῶ τὸ σωμάτιον, ὁλόκληρον αὐτὸ ἔχειν ἀντὶ πολλοῦ ποιοῦμαι καίτοι μηδʼ ὁλόκληρον ἔχων.
but because he was so in himself; because he had cast away all which gives a handle to slavery; nor was there any way of getting at him, nor anywhere to lay hold on him, to enslave him. Everything sat loose upon him; everything only just hung on. If you took hold on his possessions, he would rather let them go than follow you for them;
ἀλλὰ δύναμαί σοι δεῖξαι ἐλεύθερον, ἵνα μηκέτι ζητῇς τὸ παράδειγμα. Διογένης ἦν ἐλεύθερος. πόθεν τοῦτο; οὐχ ὅτι ἐξ ἐλευθέρων ἦν (οὐ γὰρ ἦν), ἀλλʼ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἦν, ὅτι ἀποβεβλήκει πάσας τὰς τῆς δουλείας [β]λαβὰς οὐδʼ ἦν, ὅπως τις προσέλθῃ πρὸς αὐτὸν οὐδʼ ὅθεν λάβηται πρὸς τὸ καταδουλώσασθαι.
if on his leg, he let go his leg; if his body, he let go his body; acquaintance, friends, country, just the same. For he knew whence he had them, and from whom, and upon what conditions he received them. But he would never have forsaken his true parents, the gods, and his real country [the universe]; nor have suffered any one to be more dutiful and obedient to them than he;
πάντα εὔλυτα εἶχεν, πάντα μόνον προσηρτημένα. εἰ τῆς κτήσεως ἐπελάβου, αὐτὴν ἀφῆκεν ἄν σοι μᾶλλον ἢ ἠκολούθησεν διʼ αὐτήν· εἰ τοῦ σκέλους, τὸ σκέλος· εἰ ὅλου τοῦ σωματίου, ὅλον τὸ σωμάτιον· οἰκείους, φίλους, πατρίδα ὡσαύτως. ᾔδει, πόθεν ἔχει καὶ παρὰ τίνος καὶ ἐπὶ τίσιν λαβών.
nor would any one have died more readily for his country than he. He never had to inquire whether he should act for the good of the whole universe; for he remembered that everything that exists belongs to that administration, and is commanded by its ruler.
τοὺς μέν γʼ ἀληθ[ε]ινοὺς προγόνους, τοὺς θεούς, καὶ τὴν τῷ ὄντι πατρίδα οὐδεπώποτʼ ἂν ἐγκατέλ[ε]ιπεν οὐδὲ παρεχώρησεν ἄλλῳ μᾶλλον πείθεσθαι αὐτοῖς καὶ ὑπακούειν οὐδʼ ὑπεραπέθανεν ἂν εὐκολώτερον τῆς πατρίδος ἄλλος.
Accordingly, see what he himself says and writes. “Upon this account,” said he, “Diogenes, it is in your power to converse as you will with the Persian monarch and with Archidamus, king of the Lacedemonians.”
οὐ γὰρ ἐζήτει ποτὲ δόξαι τι ποιεῖν ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων, ἀλλʼ ἐμέμνητο, ὅτι πᾶν τὸ γενόμενον ἐκεῖθέν ἐστιν καὶ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνης πράττεται καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ διοικοῦντος αὐτὴν παρεγγυᾶται.
Was it because he was born of free parents? Or was it because they were descended from slaves, that all the Athenians, and all the Lacedemonians, and Corinthians, could not converse with them as they pleased;
τοιγαροῦν ὅρα, τί λέγει αὐτὸς καὶ γράφει· διὰ τοῦτό σοι, φησίν, ἔξεστιν, ὦ Διόγενες, καὶ τῷ Περσῶν βασιλεῖ καὶ Ἀρχιδάμῳ τῷ Λακεδαιμονίων ὡς βούλει διαλέγεσθαι.
but feared and paid court to them? Why then is it in your power, Diogenes? “Because I do not esteem this poor body as my own. Because I want nothing. Because this and nothing else is a law to me.”
ἆρά γʼ ὅτι ἐξ ἐλευθέρων ἦν; πάντες γὰρ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ πάντες Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ Κορίνθιοι διὰ τὸ ἐκ δούλων εἶναι οὐκ ἠδύναντο αὐτοῖς ὡς ἠβούλοντο διαλέγεσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐδεδοίκεσαν καὶ ἐθεράπευον;
These were the things that enabled him to be free. And that you may not urge that I show you the example of a man clear of incumbrances, without a wife or children or country or friends or relations, to bend and draw him aside, take Socrates, and consider him, who had a wife and children, but held them not as his own;
διὰ τί οὖν, φησίν, ἔξεστιν; ὅτι τὸ σωμάτιον ἐμὸν οὐχ ἡγοῦμαι, ὅτι οὐδενὸς δέομαι, ὅτι ὁ νόμος μοι πάντα ἐστὶ καὶ ἄλλο οὐδέν. ταῦτα ἦν τὰ ἐλεύθερον ἐκεῖνον ἐάσαντα.
had a country, friends, relations, but held them only so long as it was proper, and in the manner that was proper; submitting all these to the law and to the obedience due to it. Hence, when it was proper to fight, he was the first to go out, and exposed himself to danger without the least reserve.
καὶ ἵνα μὴ δόξῃς, ὅτι παράδειγμα δείκνυμι ἀνδρὸς ἀπεριστάτου μήτε γυναῖκα ἔχοντος μήτε τέκνα μήτε πατρίδα ἢ φίλους ἢ συγγενεῖς, ὑφʼ ὧν κάμπτεσθαι καὶ περισπᾶσθαι ἠδύνατο, λάβε Σωκράτη καὶ θέασαι γυναῖκα καὶ παιδία ἔχοντα, ἀλλὰ ὡς ἀλλότρια[ν], πατρίδα, ἐφʼ ὅσον ἔδει καὶ ὡς ἔδει, φίλους, συγγενεῖς, πάντα ταῦτα ὑποτεταχότα τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τῇ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον εὐπειθείᾳ.
But when he was sent by the thirty tyrants to apprehend Leon, because he esteemed it a base action, he did not even deliberate about it; though he knew that, perhaps, he might die for it. But what did that signify to him? For it was something else that he wanted to preserve, not his mere flesh;
διὰ τοῦτο, στρατεύεσθαι μὲν ὁπότʼ ἔδει, πρῶτος ἀπῄει κἀκεῖ ἐκινδύνευεν ἀφειδέστατα· ἐπὶ Λέοντα δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν τυράννων πεμφθείς, ὅτι αἰσχρὸν ἡγεῖτο, οὐδʼ ἐπεβουλεύσατο εἰδώς, ὅτι ἀποθανεῖν δεήσει, ἂν οὕτως τύχῃ.
but his fidelity, his honor, free from attack or subjection. And afterwards, when he was to make a defence for his life, does he behave like one having children, or a wife?
καὶ τί αὐτῷ διέφερεν; ἄλλο γάρ τι σῴζειν ἤθελεν· οὐ τὸ σαρκίδιον, ἀλλὰ τὸν πιστόν, τὸν αἰδήμονα.
No, but like a single man. And how does he behave, when required to drink the poison? When he might escape, and Crito would have him escape from prison for the sake of his children, what says he?
ταῦτα ἀπαρεγχείρητα, ἀνυπότακτα. εἶθʼ ὅτʼ ἀπολογεῖσθαι ἔδει ὑπὲρ τοῦ ζῆν, μή τι ὡς τέκνα ἔχων ἀναστρέφεται, μή τι ὡς γυναῖκα; ἀλλʼ ὡς μόνος. τί δʼ, ὅτε πιεῖν ἔδει τὸ φάρμακον, πῶς ἀναστρέφεται;
Does he esteem it a fortunate opportunity? How should he? But he considers what is becoming, and neither sees nor regards anything else. “For I am not desirous,” he says, “to preserve this pitiful body; but that part which is improved and preserved by justice, and impaired and destroyed by injustice.” Socrates is not to be basely preserved. He who refused to vote for what the Athenians commanded;
δυνάμενος διασωθῆναι καὶ τοῦ Κρίτωνος αὐτῷ λέγοντος ὅτι ἔξελθε διὰ τὰ παιδία τί λέγει; ἕρμαιον ἡγεῖτο αὐτό; πόθεν; ἀλλὰ τὸ εὔσχημον σκοπεῖ, τἆλλα δʼ οὐδʼ ὁρᾷ, οὐδʼ ἐπιλογίζεται. οὐ γὰρ ἤθελεν, φησίν, σῶσαι τὸ σωμάτιον, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο, ὃ τῷ δικαίῳ μὲν αὔξεται καὶ σῴζεται, τῷ δʼ ἀδίκῳ μειοῦται καὶ ἀπόλλυται.
he who contemned the thirty tyrants; he who held such discourses on virtue and moral beauty,—such a man is not to be preserved by a base action, but is preserved by dying, instead of running away.
Σωκράτης δʼ αἰσχρῶς οὐ σῴζεται, ὁ μὴ ἐπιψηφίσας Ἀθηναίων κελευόντων, ὁ τοὺς τυράννους ὑπεριδών, ὁ τοιαῦτα περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ καλοκἀγαθίας διαλεγόμενος·
For even a good actor is preserved as such by leaving off when he ought; not by going on to act beyond his time. “What then will become of your children?”
τοῦτον οὐκ ἔστι σῶσαι αἰσχρῶς, ἀλλʼ ἀποθνῄσκων σῴζεται, οὐ φεύγων. καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἀγαθὸς ὑποκριτὴς παυόμενος ὅτε δεῖ σῴζεται μᾶλλον ἢ ὑποκρινόμενος παρὰ καιρόν.
“If I had gone away into Thessaly, you would have taken care of them; and will there be no one to take care of them when I am departed to Hades?” You see how he ridicules and plays with death.
τί οὖν ποιήσει τὰ παιδία; εἰ μὲν εἰς Θετταλίαν ἀπῄειν, ἐπεμελήθητε αὐτῶν· εἰς Ἅιδου δέ μου ἀποδημήσαντος οὐδεὶς ἔσται ὁ ἐπιμελησόμενος; ὅρα, πῶς ὑποκορίζεται καὶ σκώπτει τὸν θάνατον.
But if it had been you or I, we should presently have proved by philosophical arguments that those who act unjustly are to be repaid in their own way; and should have added, “If I escape I shall be of use to many; if I die, to none.” Nay, if it had been necessary, we should have crept through a mouse-hole to get away.
εἰ δʼ ἐγὼ καὶ σὺ ἦμεν, εὐθὺς ἂν καταφιλοσοφήσαντες ὅτι τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας δεῖ τοῖς ἴσοις ἀμύνεσθαι καὶ προσθέντες ὅτι ὄφελος ἔσομαι πολλοῖς ἀνθρώποις σωθείς, ἀποθανὼν δʼ οὐδενί, εἰ [γ]ἄρʼ ἔδει διὰ τρώγλης ἐκδύντας, ἐξήλθομεν ἄν.
But how should we have been of use to any? Where must they have dwelt? If we were useful alive, should we not be of still more use to mankind by dying when we ought and as we ought?
καὶ πῶς ἂν ὠφελήσαμέν τινα; ποῦ γὰρ ἂν ἔτι ἔμενον ἐκεῖνοι; ἢ οἳ ὄντες ἦμεν ὠφέλιμοι, οὐχὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἀποθανόντες ἂν ὅτε ἔδει καὶ ὡς ἔδει ὠφελήσαμεν ἀνθρώπους;
And now the remembrance of the death of Socrates is not less, but even more useful to the world than that of the things which he did and said when alive.
καὶ νῦν Σωκράτους ἀποθανόντος οὐθὲν ἧττον ἢ καὶ πλεῖον ὠφέλιμός ἐστιν ἀνθρώποις ἡ μνήμη ὧν ἔτι ζῶν ἔπραξεν ἢ εἶπεν.
Study these points, these principles, these discourses; contemplate these examples if you would be free, if you desire the thing in proportion to its value.
ταῦτα μελέτα, ταῦτα τὰ δόγματα, τούτους τοὺς λόγους, εἰς ταῦτα ἀφόρα τὰ παραδείγματα, εἰ θέλεις ἐλεύθερος εἶναι, εἰ ἐπιθυμεῖς κατʼ ἀξίαν τοῦ πράγματος.
And where is the wonder that you should purchase so good a thing at the price of other things, be they never so many and so great? Some hang themselves, others break their necks, and sometimes even whole cities have been destroyed for that which is reputed freedom;
καὶ τί θαυμαστόν, εἰ τηλικοῦτο πρᾶγμα τοσούτων καὶ τηλικούτων ὠνῇ; ὑπὲρ τῆς νομιζομένης ἐλευθερίας ταύτης οἱ μὲν ἀπάγχονται, οἱ δὲ κατακρημνίζουσιν αὑτούς, ἔστι δʼ ὅτε καὶ πόλεις ὅλαι ἀπώλοντο·
and will not you for the sake of the true and secure and inviolable freedom, repay God what he hath given when he demands it? Will you not study not only, as Plato says, how to die, but how to be tortured and banished and scourged; and, in short, how to give up all that belongs to others?
ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθ[ε]ινῆς καὶ ἀνεπιβουλεύτου καὶ ἀσφαλοῦς ἐλευθερίας ἀπαιτοῦντι τῷ θεῷ ἃ δέδωκεν οὐκ ἐκστήσῃ; οὐχ, ὡς Πλάτων λέγει, μελετήσεις οὐχὶ ἀποθνῄσκειν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ στρεβλοῦσθαι καὶ φεύγειν καὶ δέρεσθαι καὶ πάνθʼ ἁπλῶς ἀποδιδόναι τἀλλότρια;
If not, you will be a slave among slaves, though you were ten thousand times a consul; and even though you should rise to the palace, you will never be the less so. And you will feel that, though philosophers (as Cleanthes says) do, perhaps, talk contrary to common opinion, yet it is not contrary to reason.
ἔσει τοίνυν δοῦλος ἐν δούλοις, κἂν μυριάκις ὑπατεύσῃς, κἂν εἰς τὸ παλάτιον ἀναβῇς, οὐδὲν ἧττον· καὶ αἰσθήσει, ὅτι παράδοξα μὲν ἴσως φασὶν οἱ φιλόσοφοι, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ Κλεάνθης ἔλεγεν, οὐ μὴν παράλογα.
For you will find it true, in fact, that the things that are eagerly followed and admired are of no use to those who have gained them; while they who have not yet gained them imagine that, if they are acquired, every good will come along with them; and then, when they are acquired, there is the same feverishness, the same agitation, the same nausea, and the same desire for what is absent.
ἔργῳ γὰρ εἴσῃ, ὅτι ἀληθῆ ἐστι καὶ τούτων τῶν θαυμαζομένων καὶ σπουδαζομένων ὄφελος οὐδέν ἐστι τοῖς τυχοῦσι· τοῖς δὲ μηδέπω τετευχόσι φαντασία γίνεται, ὅτι παραγενομένων αὐτῶν ἅπαντα παρέσται αὐτοῖς τὰ ἀγαθά· εἶθʼ ὅταν παραγένηται, τὸ καῦμα ἴσον, ὁ ῥιπτασμὸς ὁ αὐτός, ἡ ἄση, ἡ τῶν οὐ παρόντων ἐπιθυμία.
For freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.
οὐ γὰρ ἐκπληρώσει τῶν ἐπιθυμουμένων ἐλευθερία παρασκευάζεται, ἀλλὰ ἀνασκευῇ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας.
And in order to know that this is true, take the same pains about these which you have taken about other things. Hold vigils to acquire a set of principles that will make you free.
καὶ ἵνʼ εἰδῇς, ὅτι ἀληθῆ ταῦτά ἐστιν, ὡς ἐκείνων ἕνεκα πεπόνηκας, οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ ταῦτα μετάθες τὸν πόνον· ἀγρύπνησον ἕνεκα τοῦ δόγμα περιποιήσασθαι ἐλευθεροποιόν,
Instead of a rich old man, pay your court to a philosopher. Be seen about his doors. You will not get any disgrace by being seen there. You will not return empty or unprofited if you go as you ought. However, try at least. The trial is not dishonorable.
θεράπευσον ἀντὶ γέροντος πλουσίου φιλόσοφον, περὶ θύρας ὄφθητ[α]ι τὰς τούτου· οὐκ ἀσχημονήσεις ὀφθείς, οὐκ ἀπελεύσῃ κενὸς οὐδʼ ἀκερδής, ἂν ὡς δεῖ προσέλθῃς. εἰ δὲ μή, πείρασόν γʼ· οὐκ ἔστιν αἰσχρὰ ἡ πεῖρα.
2. To this point you must attend before all others: not to be so attached to any one of your former acquaintances or friends as to condescend to behavior like his; otherwise you will undo yourself. But if it comes into your head, “shall appear odd to him, and he will not treat me as before,” remember that there is nothing to be had for nothing; nor is it possible that he who acts in the same manner as before should not remain the same person. Choose, then, whether you will be loved by those who formerly loved you, and be like your former self; or be better, and not meet with the same treatment. For if this last is preferable, immediately incline altogether this way, and let no other kind of reasoning draw you aside; for no one can improve while he is wavering. If, then, you prefer this to everything, if you would be fixed only on this, and employ all your pains about it, give up everything else. Otherwise this wavering will affect you in both directions; you will neither make a due improvement, nor preserve the advantages you had before. For before, by setting your heart entirely on things of no value, you were agreeable to your companions. But you cannot excel in both styles; you must necessarily lose as much of the one as you partake of the other. If you do not drink with those with whom you used to drink, you cannot appear equally agreeable to them. Choose, then, whether you would be. a drunkard, and agreeable to them, or sober, and disagreeable to them. If you do not sing with those with whom you used to sing, you cannot be equally dear to them. Here too, then, choose which you will. For if it is better to be modest and decent than to have it said of you “what an agreeable fellow,” give up the rest; renounce it; withdraw yourself; have nothing to do with it. But if this does not please you, incline with your whole force the contrary way. Be one of the debauchees; one of the adulterers. Act all that is consistent with such a character, and you will obtain what you would have. Jump up in the theatre, too, and roar out in praise of the dancer. But characters so different are not to be confounded You cannot act both Thersites and Agamemnon. If you would be Thersites, you must be hump-backed and bald; if Agamemnon, great and noble, and faithful to those who are under your care When you have lost anything external, have always at hand the consideration of what you have got instead of it; and if this be of more value, do not by any means call yourself a loser,—whether it be a horse for an ass; an ox for a sheep; a good action for a piece of money; a due composure of mind for a dull jest; or modesty for indecent talk.
2. τούτῳ τῷ τόπῳ πρὸ πάντων σε δεῖ προσέχειν, μή ποτε ἄρα τῶν προτέρων συνήθων ἢ φίλων ἀνακραθῇς τινι οὕτως, ὥστʼ εἰς τὰ αὐτὰ συγκαταβῆναι αὐτῷ· εἰ δὲ μή, ἀπολεῖς σεαυτόν. ἂν δέ σʼ ὑποτρέχῃ ὅτι ἀδέξιος αὐτῷ φανοῦμαι καὶ οὐχ ὁμοίως ἕξει ὡς πρότερον, μέμνησο, ὅτι προῖκα οὐδὲν γίνεται οὐδʼ ἔστι δυνατὸν μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ ποιοῦντα [μὴ] τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι τῷ ποτέ. ἐλοῦ οὖν πότερον θέλεις, ὁμοίως φιλεῖσθαι ὑφʼ ὧν πρότερον ὅμοιος ὢν τῷ πρότερον σεαυτῷ ἢ κρείσσων ὢν μὴ τυγχάνειν τῶν ἴσων. εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο κρεῖσσον, αὐτόθεν ἀπόνευσον ἐπὶ τοῦτο μηδέ σε περισπάτωσαν οἱ ἕτεροι διαλογισμοί. οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐπαμφοτερίζων δύναται προκόψαι, ἀλλʼ εἰ τοῦτο πάντων προκέκρικας, εἰ πρὸς τούτῳ μόνῳ θέλεις εἶναι, εἰ τοῦτο ἐκπονῆσαι, ἄφες ἅπαντα τἆλλα· εἰ δὲ μή, οὗτος ὁ ἐπαμφοτερισμὸς ἑκάτερόν σοι ποιήσει, οὔτε προκόψεις κατʼ ἀξίαν οὔτʼ ἐκείνων τεύξῃ, ὧν πρότερον ἐτύγχανες. πρότερον γὰρ εἰλικρινῶς ἐφιέμενος τῶν οὐδενὸς ἀξίων ἡδὺς ἦς τοῖς συνοῦσιν. οὐ δύνασαι δʼ ἐν ἀμφοτέρῳ τῷ εἴδει διενεγκεῖν· ἀλλʼ ἀνάγκη, καθόσον ἂν τοῦ ἑτέρου κοινωνῇς, ἀπολείπεσθαί σʼ ἐν θατέρῳ. οὐ δύνασαι μὴ πίνων μεθʼ ὧν ἔπινες ὁμοίως ἡδὺς αὐτοῖς φαίνεσθαι· ἑλοῦ οὖν, πότερον μεθυστὴς εἶναι θέλεις καὶ ἡδὺς ἐκείνοις ἢ νήφων ἀηδής. οὐ δύνασαι μὴ ᾁδων μεθʼ ὧν ᾖδες ὁμοίως φιλεῖσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτῶν· ἑλοῦ οὖν καὶ ἐνταῦθα, πότερον θέλεις. εἰ γὰρ κρεῖσσον τὸ αἰδήμονα εἶναι καὶ κόσμιον τοῦ εἰπεῖν τινα ἡδὺς ἄνθρωπος, ἄφες τὰ ἕτερα, ἀπόγνωθι, ἀποστράφηθι, μηδὲν σοὶ καὶ αὐτοῖς. εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀρέσει ταῦτα, ὅλος ἀπόκλινον ἐπὶ τἀναντία· γενοῦ εἷς τῶν κιναίδων, εἷς τῶν μοιχῶν καὶ ποίει τὰ ἑξῆς καὶ τεύξῃ ὧν θέλεις. καὶ ἀναπηδῶν ἐπικραύγαζε τῷ ὀρχηστῇ. διάφορα δʼ οὕτως πρόσωπα οὐ μίγνυται· οὐ δύνασαι καὶ Θερσίτην ὑποκρίνασθαι καὶ Ἀγαμέμνονα. ἂν Θερσίτης εἶναι θέλῃς, κυρτόν σε εἶναι δεῖ, φαλακρόν· ἂν Ἀγαμέμνων, μέγαν καὶ καλὸν καὶ τοὺς ὑποτεταγμένους φιλοῦντα.
3. By continually remembering this, you will preserve your character such as it ought to be. Otherwise, consider that you are spending your time in vain; and all that to which you are now applying your mind, you are about to spill and overturn. And there needs but little, merely a small deviation from reason, to destroy and overset all. A pilot does not need so much apparatus to overturn a ship as to save it; but if he exposes it a little too much to the wind, it is lost; even if he should not do it by design, but only for a moment be thinking of something else, it is lost. Such is the case here too. If you do but nod a little, all that you have hitherto accomplished is gone. Take heed, then, to the appearances of things. Keep yourself watchful over them. It is no inconsiderable matter that you have to guard; but modesty, fidelity, constancy, docility, innocence, fearlessness, serenity,—in short, freedom. For what will you sell these? Consider what the purchase is worth. “But shall I not get such a thing instead of it?” Consider, if you do not get it, what it is that you have instead. Suppose I have decency, and another the office of tribune; I have modesty, and he the praetorship? But I do not applaud where it is unbecoming; I will pay no undeserved honor; for I am free, and the friend of God, so as to obey him willingly; and I must not value anything else, neither body, nor possessions, nor fame,—in short, nothing. For it is not his will that I should value them. If this had been his pleasure, he would have placed in them my good, which now he has not done; therefore I cannot transgress his commands. Seek in all things your own highest good; and for other aims, recognize them so far as the case requires, and in accordance with reason, contented with this alone. Otherwise you will be unfortunate, disappointed, restrained, hindered. These are the established laws, these the statutes. Of these one ought to be an expositor, and to these obedient, rather than to those of Masurius and Cassius.
3. ἐκεῖνο πρόχειρον ἔχε, ὅταν τινὸς ἀπολείπῃ τῶν ἐκτός, τί ἀντʼ αὐτοῦ περιποιῇ· κἂν ᾖ πλείονος ἄξιον, μηδέποτʼ εἴπῃς ὅτι ἐζημίωμαι· οὐδʼ ἂν ἀντὶ ὄνου ἵππον, οὐδʼ ἀντὶ προβάτου βοῦν, οὐδʼ ἀντὶ κέρματος πρᾶξιν καλήν, οὐδʼ ἀντὶ ψυχρολογίας ἡσυχίαν οἵαν δεῖ, οὐδʼ ἀντὶ αἰσχρολογίας αἰδῶ. τούτων μεμνημένος πανταχοῦ διασώσεις τὸ σαυτοῦ πρόσωπον οἷον ἔχειν σε δεῖ. εἰ δὲ μή, σκόπει, ὅτι ἀπόλλυνται οἱ χρόνοι εἰκῇ καὶ ὅσα νῦν προσέχεις σεαυτῷ, μέλλεις ἐκχεῖν ἅπαντα ταῦτα καὶ ἀνατρέπειν. ὀλίγου δὲ χρεία ἐστὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀπώλειαν τὴν πάντων καὶ ἀνατροπήν, μικρᾶς ἀποστροφῆς τοῦ λόγου. ἵνα ὁ κυβερνήτης ἀνατρέψῃ τὸ πλοῖον, οὐ χρείαν ἔχει τῆς αὐτῆς παρασκευῆς, ὅσης εἰς τὸ σῶσαι· ἀλλὰ μικρὸν πρὸς τὸν ἄνεμον ἂν ἐπιστρέψῃ, ἀπώλετο· κἂν μὴ αὐτὸς ἑκών, ὑποπαρενθυμηθῇ δʼ, ἀπώλετο. τοιοῦτόν ἐστί τι καὶ ἐνθάδε· μικρὸν ἂν ἀπονυστάξῃς, ἀπῆλθεν πάντα τὰ μέχρι νῦν συνειλεγμένα. πρόσεχε οὖν ταῖς φαντασίαις, ἐπαγρύπνει. οὐ γὰρ μικρὸν τὸ τηρούμενον, ἀλλʼ αἰδὼς καὶ πίστις καὶ εὐστάθεια, ἀπάθεια, ἀλυπία, ἀφοβία, ἀταραξία, ἁπλῶς ἐλευθερία. τίνων μέλλεις ταῦτα πωλεῖν; βλέπε, πόσου ἀξίων. — ἀλλʼ οὐ τεύξομαι τοιούτου τινὸς ἀντʼ αὐτοῦ. — βλέπε καὶ τυγχάνων πάλιν ἐκείνου, τί ἀντʼ αὐτοῦ λαμβάνεις. ἐγὼ εὐκοσμίαν, ἐκεῖνος δημαρχίαν· ἐκεῖνος στρατηγίαν, ἐγὼ αἰδῶ. ἀλλʼ οὐ κραυγάζω, ὅπου ἀπρεπές· ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀναστήσομαι, ὅπου μὴ δεῖ. ἐλεύθερος γάρ εἰμι καὶ φίλος τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵνʼ ἑκὼν πείθωμαι αὐτῷ. τῶν δʼ ἄλλων οὐδενὸς ἀντιποιεῖσθαί με δεῖ, οὐ σώματος, οὐ κτήσεως, οὐκ ἀρχῆς, οὐ φήμης, ἁπλῶς οὐδενός· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος βούλεταί μʼ ἀντιποιεῖσθαι αὐτῶν. εἰ γὰρ ἤθελεν, ἀγαθὰ πεποιήκει αὐτὰ ἂν ἐμοί. νῦν δʼ οὐ πεποίηκεν· διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲν δύναμαι παραβῆναι τῶν ἐντολῶν. τήρει τὸ ἀγαθὸν τὸ σαυτοῦ ἐν παντί, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων κατὰ τὸ διδόμενον μέχρι τοῦ εὐλογιστεῖν ἐν αὐτοῖς, τούτῳ μόνῳ ἀρκούμενος. εἰ δὲ μή, δυστυχήσεις, ἀτυχήσεις, κωλυθήσῃ, ἐμποδισθήσῃ. οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐκεῖθεν ἀπεσταλμένοι νόμοι, ταῦτα τὰ διατάγματα· τούτων ἐξηγητὴν δεῖ γενέσθαι, τούτοις ὑποτεταγμένον, οὐ τοῖς Μασουρίου καὶ Κασσίου.
4. Remember that it is not only the desire of riches and power that debases us and subjects us to others, but even that of quiet, leisure, learning, or travelling. For, in general, reverence for any external thing whatever makes us subject to others.
4. μέμνησο, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἐπιθυμία ἀρχῆς καὶ πλούτου ταπεινοὺς ποιεῖ καὶ ἄλλοις ὑποτεταγμένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡσυχίας καὶ σχολῆς καὶ ἀποδημίας καὶ φιλολογίας. ἁπλῶς γὰρ οἷον [ε]ἂν ᾖ τὸ ἐκτός, ἡ τιμὴ αὐτοῦ ὑποτάσσει ἄλλῳ.
Where is the difference, then, whether you desire to be a senator or not to be a senator? Where is the difference, whether you desire power or to be out of power? Where is the difference, whether you say, “am in a wretched way, I have nothing to do; but am tied down to books, as inactive as if I were dead;” or “am in a wretched way, I have no leisure to read”?
τί οὖν διαφέρει συγκλήτου ἐπιθυμεῖν ἢ τοῦ μὴ εἶναι συγκλητικόν; τί διαφέρει ἀρχῆς ἐπιθυμεῖν ἢ ἀναρχίας; τί διαφέρει λέγειν ὅτι κακῶς μοί ἐστιν, οὐδὲν ἔχω τί πράξω, ἀλλὰ τοῖς βιβλίοις προσδέδεμαι ὡς νεκρὸς ἢ λέγειν κακῶς μοί ἐστιν, οὐκ εὐσχολῶ ἀναγνῶναι;
For as levees and power are among things external and uncontrollable by will, so likewise is a book.
ὡς γὰρ ἀσπασμοὶ καὶ ἀρχὴ τῶν ἐκτός ἐστι καὶ ἀπροαιρέτων, οὕτως καὶ βιβλίον.
For what purpose would you read? Tell me. For if you rest merely in being amused and learning something, you are insignificant and miserable. But if you refer it to the proper end, what is that end but a life truly prosperous? And if reading does not procure you a prosperous life, of what use is it? “But it does procure a prosperous life (say you);
ἢ τίνος ἕνεκα θέλεις ἀναγνῶναι; εἰπέ μοι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐπʼ αὐτὸ[υ] καταστρέφεις [ἐπʼ αὐτὸ] τὸ ψυχαγωγηθῆναι ἢ μαθεῖν τι, ψυχρὸς εἶ καὶ ταλαίπωρος. εἰ δʼ ἐφʼ ὃ δεῖ ἀναφέρεις, τί τοῦτʼ ἔστιν ἄλλο ἢ εὔροια; εἰ δέ σοι τὸ ἀναγιγνώσκειν εὔροιαν μὴ περιποιῇ, τί ὄφελος αὐτοῦ;
and therefore I am.uneasy at being deprived of it.” And what sort of prosperity is that which everything can hinder,—I do not say Caesar alone, or Caesar’s friend, but a crow, a man practising the flute, a fever, or ten thousand other things? Nothing is so essential to prosperity as that it should be permanent and unhindered.
— ἀλλὰ περιποιεῖ, φησίν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀγανακτῶ ὡς ἀπολειπόμενος αὐτοῦ. — καὶ τίς αὕτη ἡ εὔροια, ἣν ὁ τυχὼν ἐμποδίσαι δύναται, οὐ λέγω Καῖσαρ ἢ Καίσαρος φίλος, ἀλλὰ κόραξ, αὐλητής, πυρετός, ἄλλα τρισμύρια; ἡ δʼ εὔροια οὐδὲν οὕτως ἔχει ὡς τὸ διηνεκὲς καὶ ἀνεμπόδιστον.
Suppose I am now called to do something. I go, therefore, and will be attentive to the bounds and measures which ought to be observed; that I may act modestly, steadily, and without desire or aversion as to externals.
νῦν καλοῦμαι πράξων τι, ἄπειμι νῦν προσέξων τοῖς μέτροις ἃ δεῖ τηρεῖν, ὅτι αἰδημόνως, ὅτι ἀσφαλῶς, ὅτι δίχα ὀρέξεως καὶ ἐκκλίσεως τῆς πρὸς τὰ ἐκτός,
In the next place, I am attentive to other men, what they say, and how they are moved; and that not from ill-nature, nor that I may have an opportunity for censure or ridicule; but I turn to myself. “Am I also guilty of the same faults; and how then shall I leave them off?”
καὶ λοιπὸν προσέχω τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, τίνα φασί, πῶς κινοῦνται, καὶ τοῦτο οὐ κακοήθως οὐδʼ ἵνα ἔχω ψέγειν ἢ καταγελῶ, ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ ἐμαυτὸν ἐπιστρέφω, εἰ ταὐτὰ κἀγὼ ἁμαρτάνω. πῶς οὖν παύσωμαι; τότε καὶ ἐγὼ ἡμάρτανον· νῦν δʼ οὐκέτι, χάρις τῷ θεῷ.
or, “once thus erred, but, God be thanked, not now.” Well, when you have done thus, and been employed on such things, have you not done as good a work as if you had read a thousand lines or written as many? For are you uneasy at not reading while you are eating?
ἄγε, ταῦτα ποιήσας καὶ πρὸς τούτοις γενόμενος χεῖρον ἔργον πεποίηκας ἢ χιλίους στίχους ἀναγνοὺς ἢ γράψας ἄλλους τοσούτους; ὅταν γὰρ ἐσθίῃς, ἄχθῃ, ὅτι μὴ ἀναγιγνώσκεις; οὐκ ἀρκῇ τῷ καθʼ ἃ ἀνέγνωκας ἐσθίειν;
When you eat, or bathe, or exercise, are you not satisfied with doing it in a manner corresponding to what you have read? Why, then, do you not reason in like manner about everything?
ὅταν λούῃ; ὅταν γυμνάζῃ; διὰ τί οὖν ἐπὶ πάντων οὐχ ὁμαλίζεις, καὶ ὅταν Καίσαρι προσίῃς καὶ ὅταν τῷ δεῖνι; εἰ τὸν ἀπαθῆ τηρεῖς, εἰ τὸν ἀκατάπληκτον,
When you approach Caesar or any other person, if you preserve yourself dispassionate, fearless, sedate; if you are rather an observer of what is done than the subject of observation; if you do not envy those who are preferred to you;
εἰ τὸν κατεσταλμένον, εἰ βλέπεις μᾶλλον τὰ γινόμενα ἢ βλέπῃ, εἰ μὴ φθονεῖς τοῖς προτιμωμένοις, εἰ μὴ ἐκπλήσσουσίν σε αἱ ὗλαι, τί σοι λείπει; βιβλία; πῶς ἢ ἐπὶ τί;
if you are not overcome by the occasion, what need you more? Books? How, or to what end? For these are not the real preparation for living, but living is made up of things very different.
οὐχὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸ βιοῦν παρασκευή τίς ἐστιν αὕτη; τὸ βιοῦν δʼ ἐξ ἄλλων τινῶν ἢ τούτων συμπληροῦται. οἷον ἂν εἰ ὁ ἀθλητὴς κλαίῃ εἰς τὸ στάδιον εἰσιών, ὅτι μὴ ἔξω γυμνάζεται.
Just as if a champion, when he enters the lists, should begin crying because he is not still exercising in advance. It was for this that you were exercised.
τούτων ἕνεκα ἐγυμνάζου, ἐπὶ τοῦτο οἱ ἁλτῆρες, ἡ ἁφή, οἱ νεανίσκοι. καὶ νῦν ἐκεῖνα ζητεῖς, ὅτε τοῦ ἔργου καιρός ἐστιν;
For this were the dumb-bells, the dust, and your young antagonists. And do you now seek for these when it is the time for actual business?
οἷον εἰ ἐπὶ τοῦ συγκαταθετικοῦ τόπου παρισταμένων φαντασιῶν τῶν μὲν καταληπτικῶν, τῶν δʼ ἀκαταλήπτων μὴ ταύτας διακρίνειν θέλοιμεν, ἀλλʼ ἀναγιγνώσκειν τὰ Περὶ καταλήψεως.
This is just as if, in forming our opinions, when perplexed between true and false semblances, we should, instead of practically distinguishing between them, merely peruse dissertations on evidence. What, then, is the trouble? That we have neither learned by reading, nor by writing, how to deal practically with the semblances of things according to the laws of nature. But we stop at learning what is said, and, being able to explain it to others, at solving syllogisms and arranging hypothetical arguments.
τί οὖν τὸ αἴτιον; ὅτι οὐδέποτε τούτου ἕνεκα ἀνέγνωμεν, οὐδέποτε τούτου ἕνεκα ἐγράψαμεν, ἵνʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων κατὰ φύσιν χρώμεθα ταῖς προσπιπτούσαις φαντασίαις, ἀλλʼ αὐτοῦ καταλήγομεν μαθεῖν, τί λέγεται, καὶ ἄλλῳ δύνασθαι ἐξηγήσασθαι, τὸν συλλογισμὸν ἀναλῦσαι καὶ τὸν ὑποθετικὸν ἐφοδεῦσαι.
Hence where the study is, there, too, is the hindrance. Do you desire absolutely what is out of your power?
διὰ τοῦτο ὅπου ἡ σπουδή, ἐκεῖ καὶ ὁ ἐμποδισμός. θέλεις τὰ μὴ ἐπὶ σοὶ ἐξ ἅπαντος; κωλύου τοίνυν, ἐμποδίζου, ἀποτύγχανε.
Be restrained then, be hindered, be disappointed. But if we were to read dissertations about the exertion of our efforts, not merely to see what might be said about our efforts, but to exert them well; on desire and aversion, that we might not be disappointed of our desires, nor incur our aversions; on the duties of life, that mindful of our relations, we might do nothing irrational nor inconsistent with them;
εἰ δὲ τὰ Περὶ ὁρμῆς τούτου ἕνεκα ἀναγιγνώσκοιμεν, οὐχ ἵνα ἴδωμεν, τί λέγεται περὶ ὁρμῆς, ἀλλʼ ἵνα ὁρμῶμεν· τὰ Περὶ ὀρέξεως δὲ καὶ ἐκκλίσεως, ἵνα μήποτʼ ὀρεγόμενοι ἀποτυγχάνωμεν μήτʼ ἐκκλίνοντες περιπίπτωμεν· τὰ Περὶ καθήκοντος δʼ, ἵνα μεμνημένοι τῶν σχέσεων μηδὲν ἀλογίστως μηδὲ παρʼ αὐτὰ ποιῶμεν·
then we should not be provoked at being hindered in our reading; but should be contented with the performance of actions suitable to us, and should learn a new standard of computation. Not, “To-day I have perused so many lines; I have written so many;”
οὐκ ἂν ἠγανακτοῦμεν πρὸς τὰ ἀναγνώσματα ἐμποδιζόμενοι, ἀλλὰ τῷ τὰ ἔργα ἀποδιδόναι τὰ κατ[α]άλληλα ἠρκούμεθα καὶ ἠριθμοῦμεν ἂν οὐ ταῦτα, ἃ μέχρι νῦν ἀριθμεῖν εἰθίσμεθα σήμερον ἀνέγνων στίχους τοσούσδε, ἔγραψα τοσούσδε,
but, “To-day I have used my efforts as the philosophers direct. I have restrained my desire. absolutely; I have applied my aversion only to things controllable by will. I have not been terrified by such a one, nor put out of countenance by such another. I have exercised my patience, my abstinence, my beneficence.” And thus we should thank God for what we ought to thank him.
ἀλλὰ σήμερον ὁρμῇ ἐχρησάμην, ὡς παραγγέλλεται ὑπὸ τῶν φιλοσόφων, ὀρέξει οὐκ ἐχρησάμην, ἐκκλίσει πρὸς μόνα τὰ προαιρετικά, οὐ κατεπλάγην τὸν δεῖνα, οὐκ ἐδυσωπήθην ὑπὸ τοῦ δεῖνος, τὸ ἀνεκτικὸν ἐγύμνασα, τὸ ἀφεκτικόν, τὸ συνεργητικόν καὶ οὕτως ἂν ηὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ θεῷ ἐφʼ οἷς δεῖ εὐχαριστεῖν.
But now we resemble the crowd in another way also, and do not know it. One is afraid that he shall not be in power; you, that you shall.
νῦν δʼ ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἴσμεν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἄλλον τρόπον ὅμοιοι τοῖς πολλοῖς γινόμεθα. ἄλλος φοβεῖται, μὴ οὐκ ἄρξῃ· σύ, μὴ ἄρξῃς.
By no means be afraid of it, man; but as you laugh at him, laugh at yourself. For there is no difference, whether you thirst like one in a fever, or dread water like him who is bit by a mad dog.
μηδαμῶς, ἄνθρωπε. ἀλλʼ ὡς καταγελᾷς τοῦ φοβουμένου μὴ ἄρξαι, οὕτως καὶ σαυτοῦ καταγέλα. οὐδὲν γὰρ διαφέρει ἢ διψῆν πυρέσσοντα ἢ ὡς λυσσώδη ὑδροφόβον εἶναι.