---
title: "On the Control of Anger · De cohibenda ira"
author: "Plutarch"
translator: "William Clark Helmbold"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Philosophy"
section: 2 of 2
url: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-control-of-anger/2/
cite: "Plutarch, tr. William Clark Helmbold, On the Control of Anger · De cohibenda ira, section 2. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-control-of-anger/2/"
---

# On the Control of Anger · De cohibenda ira

*Plutarch, tr. William Clark Helmbold*

A dialogue on how one man learned to master his temper.

> Greek: ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0007.tlg095, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: William Clark Helmbold, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0007.tlg095.perseus-eng3). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 2. Sections 11–16

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-control-of-anger/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-control-of-anger/2/#p-N

[¶0] 11. FUNDANUS. But however true it is that all the passions have need of a process of habituation, which tames as it were and subdues by rigorous training the irrational and obstinate element of the soul, there is no passion that we can better learn to control by practising on servants than temper. For no envy or fear or rivalry enters into our relations with them, but frequent fits of anger bring about many conflicts and errors, and because of the absolute power we possess, there being no one to oppose or prevent us, these cause us to slide and fall, since we are, as it were, on slippery ground. For it is impossible that irresponsible power under the influence of passion should be free from error, unless he who wields this power shall encompass it with a bulwark of gentleness, and shall hold out against many pleas of wife and friends, all charging him with laxity and easy-going ways. By such charges I myself used to be very greatly exasperated against my slaves, in the conviction that they were being ruined by not being punished. At long last, however, though late it was, I came to perceive that, in the first place, it is better to make them worse by forbearance than by harshness and anger to pervert my own self for the correction of the others. In the second place, when I observed that many, just because they were not being punished, were often ashamed to be bad, and made pardon, rather than correction, the starting-point of reformation, and, I swear, performed their duties more zealously for the kind of master who gave orders silently with a nod than for the others who used blows and branding-irons, I began to be convinced that reason is more fit than anger to govern. For it is not as the Poet has said, “Where fear is, there is also reverence;” but, on the contrary, in those who revere there is engendered the kind of fear that corrects behaviour, whereas continual and unmerciful beating produces, not repentance for wrongdoing, but rather the farsighted cunning to do wrong without detection. In the third place, I always keep in mind and reflect in privacy that he who taught us the use of the bow did not forbid us to shoot, but only to miss the mark, and that the infliction of punishment will not be hindered by our teaching how to inflict it at the right time, with moderation, and in a useful and suitable manner; and, remembering these things, I try to get rid of my anger, if possible, by not depriving those who are to be punished of the right to speak in their defence, but by listening to their plea. For both the passage of time gives a pause to passion and a delay which dissolves it, and also the judgement discovers a suitable manner of punishment and an adequate amount; furthermore, the man who suffers punishment has no pretext left for opposing the correction if punishment is inflicted, not in anger, but after the accused has been proved guilty; and finally, the most shameful thing is avoided-that the slave should seem to be making a juster plea than his master. FUNDANUS. And so, just as Phocion after Alexander’s death, trying to keep the Athenians from revolting prematurely or believing the report too quickly, said to them, “If, men of Athens, he is dead to-day, he will be dead to-morrow also, and the day after”; in like manner, I think, the man who, urged on by anger, is in a hurry for vengeance, should suggest to himself, “If this person is guilty of wronging you to-day, he will still be guilty to-morrow also, and the day after; no harm will be done if he shall be punished somewhat late, but if he is punished in haste he will always be thought to have suffered without offending; and this has happened many times in the past.” For which of us is so harsh that he scourges and chastises a slave because five or ten days ago he overroasted the meat or upset the table or carne too slowly at our bidding? And yet these are the very things which cause us to be excited and in a cruel and implacable mood at the moment they happen and are still fresh in our memory. For as the shapes of persons seen through a fog, so things seen through a mist of rage appear greater than they are. FUNDANUS. These are the reasons why we should immediately call to mind such instances and precepts; and when we are free from all suspicion of passion, if the offence still appears evil to the clear and settled judgement, we should attend to it then and not dismiss or abandon the punishment, as we leave food when we have lost our appetite. And nothing is so much the cause of our punishing in a rage as that, when our anger is over, we do not punish, but leave things alone. We are very much like lazy oarsmen, who during calm weather lie in port, and later, at the risk of their lives, avail themselves of a wind to go sailing. And so do we condemn reason for remissness and softness in punishment and hasten on to the deed rashly and to our peril when anger, like a gale, is upon us. For while a hungry man indulges in food as nature dictates, yet punishment is indulged in by one who is not hungry or thirsty for it, nor does he need anger as a relish to stimulate him to punish; on the contrary, when he finds himself very far removed from the desire to punish, he brings up reason to reinforce him and punishes under compulsion. Aristotle relates that in Etruria in his day slaves were scourged to the music of pipes. But one should not, in that spirit, through a craving for the punishment as for a kind of enjoyment, gorge oneself with it, and rejoice while inflicting chastisement and after inflicting it repent - of these the first is bestial, the second womanish - but without either sorrow or pleasure one should mete out punishment in reason’s own good time, leaving anger no excuse.

> Greek: 11. ΦΟΥΝΔ.πάντων δὲ τῶν παθῶν ἐθισμοῦ δεομένων, οἷον δαμάζοντος καὶ καταθλοῦντος ἀσκήσει τὸ ἄλογον καὶ δυσπειθές, οὐ πρὸς ἄλλο μᾶλλον ἔστιν ἐγγυμνάσασθαι τοῖς οἰκέταις ἢ πρὸς τὸν θυμόν. οὔτε γὰρ φθόνος οὔτε φόβος οὔτε φιλοτιμία τις ἐγγίγνεται πρὸς αὐτούς· ὀργαὶ δὲ συνεχεῖς πολλὰ ποιοῦσαι προσκρούματα καὶ σφάλματα διὰ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ὥσπερ ἐν ὀλισθηρῷ χωρίῳ, μηδενὸς ἐνισταμένου μηδὲ κωλύοντος, ὑποφέρουσιν. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἀναμάρτητον ἐν πάθει τὸ ἀνυπεύθυνον κατασχεῖν, μὴ πολλῇ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἐμπεριλαβόντα πραότητι μηδὲ πολλὰς ὑπομείναντα φωνὰς γυναικὸς καὶ φίλων ἐγκαλούντων ἀτονίαν καὶ ῥᾳθυμίαν. οἷς μάλιστα παρωξυνόμην καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τοὺς οἰκέτας ὡς τῷ μὴ κολάζεσθαι διαφθειρομένους. ὀψὲ μέντοι συνεῖδον, ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν ἐκείνους ἀνεξικακίᾳ χείρονας ποιεῖν βέλτιόν ἐστιν ἢ πικρίᾳ καὶ θυμῷ διαστρέφειν ἑαυτὸν εἰς ἑτέρων ἐπανόρθωσιν ἔπειτα πολλοὺς ὁρῶν αὐτῷ τῷ μὴ κολάζεσθαι πολλάκις αἰδουμένους κακοὺς εἶναι καὶ μεταβολῆς ἀρχὴν τὴν συγγνώμην μᾶλλον ἢ τὴν τιμωρίαν λαμβάνοντας, καὶ νὴ Δία δουλεύοντας ἑτέροις ἀπὸ νεύματος καὶ σιωπῇ καὶ προθυμότερον ἢ μετὰ πληγῶν καὶ στιγμάτων ἑτέροις, ἐπειθόμην ἡγεμονικώτερον εἶναι τοῦ θυμοῦ τὸν λογισμόν. οὐ γάρ, ὡς ὁ ποιητὴς εἶπεν ἵνα γὰρ δέος, ἔνθα καὶ αἰδώς· ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον αἰδουμένοις ὁ σωφρονίζων ἐγγίγνεται φόβος. ἡ δὲ συνεχὴς πληγὴ καὶ ἀπαραίτητος οὐ μετάνοιαν ἐμποιεῖ τοῦ κακουργεῖν ἀλλὰ τοῦ λανθάνειν πρόνοιαν μᾶλλον. τρίτον ἀεὶ μνημονεύων καὶ διανοούμενος πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, ὡς οὔθʼ ὁ τοξεύειν ἡμᾶς διδάξας ἐκώλυσε βάλλειν ἀλλὰ μὴ διαμαρτάνειν, οὔτε τῷ κολάζειν ἐμποδὼν ἔσται τὸ διδάσκειν εὐκαίρως τοῦτο ποιεῖν καὶ μετρίως καὶ ὠφελίμως καὶ πρεπόντως πειρῶμαι τὴν ὀργὴν ἀφαιρεῖν μάλιστα τῷ μὴ παραιρεῖσθαι τῶν κολαζομένων τὴν δικαιολογίαν ἀλλʼ ἀκούειν. ὅ τε γὰρ χρόνος ἐμποιεῖ τῷ πάθει διατριβὴν καὶ μέλλησιν ἐκλύουσαν ἥ τε κρίσις εὑρίσκει καὶ τρόπον πρέποντα καὶ μέγεθος ἁρμόττον κολάσεως· ἔτι δʼ οὐχ ὑπολείπεται πρόφασις τῷ διδόντι δίκην ἀντιτείνειν πρὸς τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν, ἂν μὴ κατʼ ὀργὴν ἀλλʼ ἐξελεγχθεὶς κολάζηται τὸ τʼ αἴσχιστον οὐ πρόσεστι, φαίνεσθαι δικαιότερα τοῦ δεσπότου λέγοντα τὸν οἰκέτην. ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ Φωκίων μετὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τελευτὴν οὐκ ἐῶν προεξανίστασθαι τοὺς Ἀθηναίους οὐδὲ ταχὺ πιστεύειν, εἰ σήμερον εἶπεν ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι τέθνηκε, καὶ αὔριον ἔσται καὶ εἰς τρίτην τεθνηκώς οὕτως οἶμαι δεῖν ὑποβάλλειν ἑαυτῷ τὸν σπεύδοντα διʼ ὀργὴν ἐπὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν, εἰ σήμερον οὗτος ἠδίκηκε, καὶ αὔριον ἔσται καὶ εἰς τρίτην ἠδικηκώς· καὶ δεινὸν οὐδέν, εἰ δώσει δίκην βράδιον, ἀλλʼ εἰ ταχὺ παθὼν ἀεὶ φανεῖται μὴ ἀδικῶν· ὅπερ ἤδη συμβέβηκε πολλάκις. τίς. γὰρ ἡμῶν οὕτω δεινός ἐστιν, ὥστε μαστιγοῦν καὶ κολάζειν δοῦλον, ὅτι πέμπτην ἢ δεκάτην ἡμέραν προσέκαυσε τοὖψον ἢ κατέβαλε τὴν τράπεζαν ἢ βράδιον ὑπήκουσε; καὶ μὴν ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν ἐφʼ οἷς εὐθὺς γενομένοις καὶ προσφάτοις οὖσι ταραττόμεθα καὶ πικρῶς καὶ ἀπαραιτήτως ἔχομεν. ὡς γὰρ διʼ ὁμίχλης τὰ σώματα, καὶ διʼ ὀργῆς τὰ πράγματα μείζονα φαίνεται. διὸ δεῖ ταχὺ συμμνημονεύειν τῶν ὁμοίων, καὶ τοῦ πάθους ἔξωθεν ὄντας ἀνυπόπτως, ἂν καθαρῷ τῷ λογισμῷ καὶ καθεστῶτι φαίνηται μοχθηρόν, ἐπιστραφῆναι, καὶ μὴ προέσθαι τότε μηδʼ ἀφεῖναι τὴν κόλασιν ὥσπερ σιτίον ἀνορέκτους γεγονότας. οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως αἴτιόν ἐστι τοῦ παρούσης ὀργῆς κολάζειν, ὡς τὸ παυσαμένης μὴ κολάζειν ἀλλʼ ἐκλελύσθαι, καὶ ταὐτὸ πεπονθέναι τοῖς ἀργοῖς κωπηλάταις, οἳ γαλήνης ὁρμοῦσιν εἶτα κινδυνεύουσιν ἀνέμῳ πλέοντες. καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς τοῦ λογισμοῦ κατεγνωκότες ἀτονίαν καὶ μαλακίαν ἐν τῷ κολάζειν, σπεύδομεν παρόντι τῷ θυμῷ καθάπερ πνεύματι παραβόλως. τροφῇ μὲν γὰρ ὁ πεινῶν κατὰ φύσιν χρῆται τιμωρίᾳ δʼ ὁ μὴ πεινῶν μηδὲ διψῶν αὐτῆς, μηδʼ ὥσπερ ὄψου πρὸς τὸ κολάσαι τοῦ θυμοῦ δεόμενος, ἀλλʼ ὅταν πορρωτάτω τοῦ ὀρέγεσθαι γένηται προσάγων τὸν λογισμὸν ἀναγκαίως. οὐ γάρ, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης ἱστορεῖ κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐν Τυρρηνίᾳ μαστιγοῦσθαι τοὺς οἰκέτας πρὸς αὐλόν, οὕτω πρὸς ἡδονὴν δεῖ καθάπερ ἀπολαύσματος ὀρέξει τῆς τιμωρίας ἐμφορεῖσθαι καὶ χαίρειν κολάζοντας εἶτα μετανοεῖν· ὧν τὸ μὲν θηριῶδες τὸ δὲ γυναικῶδες· ἀλλὰ καὶ λύπης καὶ ἡδονῆς χωρὶς ἐν τῷ τοῦ λογισμοῦ χρόνῳ τὴν δίκην κομίζεσθαι μὴ ὑπολείποντας τῷ θυμῷ πρόφασιν.

[¶1] 12. FUNDANUS. However this, perhaps, will not appear to be a cure for anger, but a temporary reprieve and prophylactic against those errors which some men commit in anger. And yet, though the swelling of the spleen is but a symptom of fever, reducing it assuages the fever, as Hieronymus says. But when I contemplated the origin of anger itself, I observed that different persons are liable to anger from different causes; yet in the case of practically all of them there is present a belief that they are being despised or neglected. For this reason we should assist those who endeavour to avoid anger, by removing as far as possible the act that rouses wrath from any suspicion of contempt or arrogance and by imputing it to ignorance or necessity or emotion or mischance. So Sophocles:
O king, not even the reason Nature gives
Stays with the unfortunate, but goes astray;
and so likewise Agamemnon ascribes the taking away of Briseis to divine infatuation:
I wish again to make amends, to give
You countless ransom.
Supplication, indeed, is the act of one who does not despise; and when he that has done an injury shows himself humble, he removes all notion of contempt. But the man in a rage should not wait for such humility, but should take to himself the reply of Diogenes: when someone said to him, “They are laughing at you, Diogenes,” he answered, “But I am not laughed down.” Just so the angry man should not consider himself despised, but rather despise the man who gave the offence as acting from weakness or rashness, carelessness or illiberality, dotage or childishness. But such a notion must not on any account be entertained toward servants or friends; for our servants presume on our upright character, our friends on our affection, and both disregard us, not as being impotent or ineffectual, but because of our reasonableness or our goodwill. As it is, thinking ourselves despised, we not only treat harshly wife and slaves and friends, but also through rage often fall out with innkeepers and sailors and drunken muleteers; we even rage against dogs that bark at us and asses that jostle us, like the man who wished to beat the assdriver, but when the driver cried out, “I am an Athenian,” indicated the ass and said, “You at any rate are not an Athenian,” and fell to beating it with many blows.

> Greek: 12. ΦΟΥΝΔ.αὕτη μὲν οὖν ἴσως οὐκ ὀργῆς ἰατρεία φανεῖται, διάκρουσις δὲ καὶ φυλακὴ τῶν ἐν ὀργῇ τινος ἁμαρτημάτων. καίτοι καὶ σπληνὸς οἴδημα σύμπτωμα μέν ἐστι πυρετοῦ πραϋνόμενον δὲ κουφίζει τὸν πυρετόν, ὥς φησιν Ἱερώνυμος. ἀλλʼ αὐτῆς γε τῆς ὀργῆς ἀναθεωρῶν τήν γένεσιν ἄλλους ὑπʼ ἄλλων αἰτιῶν ἐμπίπτοντας εἰς αὐτὴν ἑώρων, οἷς ἐπιεικῶς ἅπασι τοῦ καταφρονεῖσθαι καὶ ἀμελεῖσθαι παραγίγνεται. διὸ καὶ τοῖς παραιτουμένοις δεῖ βοηθεῖν πορρωτάτω τὴν πρᾶξιν ὀλιγωρίας ἀπάγοντας καὶ θρασύτητος, εἰς ἄγνοιαν ἢ ἀνάγκην ἢ πάθος ἢ δυστυχίαν τιθεμένους ὡς Σοφοκλῆς
ἀλλʼ οὐ γάρ, ὦ ʼναξ, οὐδʼ ὃς ἂν βλάστῃ μένει
νοῦς τοῖς κακῶς πράξασιν, ἀλλʼ ἐξίσταται.
καὶ τῆς Βρισηΐδος τὴν ἀφαίρεσιν εἰς τὴν Ἄτην ἀναφέρων ὁ Ἀγαμέμνων, ὅμως ἂψ ἐθέλει ἀρέσαι, δόμεναὶ τʼ ἀπερείσιʼ ἄποινα. καὶ γὰρ τὸ δεῖσθαι τοῦ μὴ καταφρονοῦντός ἐστι, καὶ ταπεινὸς; φανεὶς ὁ ἀδικήσας ἔλυσε τὴν τῆς ὀλιγωρίας δόξαν. οὐ δεῖ δὲ ταῦτα περιμένειν τὸν ὀργιζόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸ τοῦ Διογένους οὗτοί σου καταγελῶσιν ὦ Διόγενες· ἐγὼ δʼ οὐ καταγελῶμαι λαμβάνειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, καὶ καταφρονεῖσθαι μὴ νομίζειν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἐκείνου καταφρονεῖν, ὡς διʼ ἀσθένειαν ἢ πλημμέλειαν ἢ προπέτειαν ἢ ῥᾳθυμίαν ἢ ἀνελευθερίαν ἢ γῆρας ἢ νεότητα πλημμελοῦντος. οἰκέταις δὲ καὶ φίλοις ἀφετέον τὸ τοιοῦτο παντάπασιν. οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἀδυνάτων οὐδʼ ὡς ἀπράκτων, ἀλλὰ διʼ ἐπιείκειαν ἢ διʼ εὔνοιαν οἱ μὲν ὡς χρηστῶν οἱ δʼ ὡς φιλούντων καταφρονοῦσι· νυνὶ δʼ οὐ μόνον πρὸς γυναῖκα καὶ δούλους καὶ φίλους ὡς καταφρονούμενοι τραχέως ἔχομεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πανδοκεῦσι καὶ ναύταις καὶ ὀρεωκόμοις μεθύουσι πολλάκις ὑπʼ ὀργῆς συμπίπτομεν οἰόμενοι καταφρονεῖσθαι, καὶ κυσὶν ὑλακτοῦσι καὶ ὄνοις ἐμβάλλουσι χαλεπαίνομεν ὡς ἐκεῖνος ὁ βουλόμενος τύπτειν τὸν ὀνηλάτην, εἶτʼ ἀνακραγόντος ὅτι Ἀθηναῖός εἰμι, σὺ δὲ μὲν οὐκ εἶ Ἀθηναῖος τὸν ὄνον λέγων ἔτυπτε καὶ πολλὰς ἐνεφόρει πληγάς.

[¶2] 13. FUNDANUS. Furthermore it is especially selfishness and peevishness, together with luxury and softness, which beget in us those continuous or oft-recurring fits of anger that are gathered together in the soul little by little, like a swarm of bees or wasps. And so there is nothing more conducive to gentleness than graciousness and simplicity toward servants and wife and friends if a man is able to get along with what comforts he has and is in no need of many superfluities:
But he who liked his meat not overdone
Nor underdone, nor medium, nor boiled
Too much; and liked no food enough to praise
who will drink no wine if there is no snow with it, nor eat bread purchased in the market, nor touch food served on cheap or earthenware dishes, nor sleep upon a bed that does not billow like the sea stirred to its depths; he who with rods and blows makes his servants at table hasten about running and crying out and sweating as though they were bringing poultices for boils, such a man is enslaved to an impotent, querulous, and discontented mode of life. His many shocks of anger are like a chronic cough by which he reduces himself to a condition where anger becomes a running sore. We must, therefore, accustom the body to contentment by plain living and to self-sufficiency, for those who need but little are not disappointed of much. FUNDANUS. And, to begin with our food, it is no great hardship if we partake in silence of whatever is set before us and do not, by being repeatedly choleric and peevish, thrust upon ourselves and our friends the worst sauce for meat, anger. “No more unpleasant supper could there be ” than that wherein servants are beaten and wife is reviled because something is burned or smoked or not salted enough, or because the bread is too cold. FUNDANUS. Arcesilaüs was once entertaining his friends and with them some foreign guests, and when dinner was served, there was no bread, since the slaves had neglected to buy any. In such a predicament which one of us would not have rent the walls asunder with outcries? But Arcesilaus merely smiled and said, “How lucky it is that the wise man takes to the flowing bowl!” FUNDANUS. Once when Socrates took Euthydemus home with him from the palaestra, Xanthippe came up to them in a rage and scolded them roundly, finally upsetting the table. Euthydemus, deeply offended, got up and was about to leave when Socrates said, “At your house the other day did not a hen fly in and do precisely this same thing, yet we were not put out about it?” FUNDANUS. For we should receive our friends affably and with laughter and cheerful friendliness, not with frowning brows, or striking fear and trembling into our servants. We must, further, accustom ourselves to make cheerful use of any kind of table utensils and not to prefer this service to that, as some men do who select one goblet or horn out of the many they have, and will drink from no other, as they relate of Marius. Some have this same feeling about oil-flasks and strigils, of which they have a liking for but one out of many; and so when one of these preferred objects is broken or lost, they take it hard and punish severely. Therefore anyone who is prone to anger should abstain from rare and curiously wrought things, like drinking-cups and seal-rings and precious stones; for their loss drives their owner out of his senses more than do objects which are easily procured and may be seen everywhere. This is the reason why, when Nero had had an octagonal tent built, a huge structure which was a sight to be seen because of its beauty and costliness, Seneca remarked, “You have proved yourself a poor man, for if you ever lose this you will not have the means to procure another like it,” And indeed it did so happen that the ship which conveyed it was sunk and the tent lost. But Nero remembered Seneca’s saying and bore his loss with greater moderation. FUNDANUS. A cheerful behaviour toward the affairs of life makes a master cheerful and gentle toward his slaves also; and if to slaves, he will evidently be so to his friends as well as to those who are subject to his rule. And in fact we observe that ne wly purchased slaves inquire about their new master, not whether he is superstititious or envious, but whether he is ill-tempered; and, speaking generally, we see that if anger is present in a home, husbands cannot endure even their wives’ chastity, nor wives even their husbands’ love, nor friends even familiar intercourse with one another. Thus neither marriage nor friendship is tolerable if anger is there, but without anger even drunkenness is easily borne. For the wand of Dionysus suffices to punish the drunkard, unless hot temper is added and makes the undiluted drink cause of savagery and madness instead of a dispeller of care and an inspirer of the dance. Madness pure and simple can indeed be cured by Anticyra; but if madness is mingled with anger, it produces tragedies and tales of horror.

> Greek: 13. ΦΟΥΝΔ.>καὶ μὴν τάς γε συνεχεῖς καὶ πυκνὰς καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ συλλεγομένας ὀργὰς μάλιστα φιλαυτία καὶ δυσκολία μετὰ τρυφῆς, καὶ μαλακίας οἷον σμῆνος ἢ σφηκιὰν ἡμῖν ἐντίκτουσι. διὸ μεῖζον οὐδὲν εὐκολίας καὶ ἀφελείας ἐφόδιον εἰς πραότητα πρὸς οἰκέτας καὶ γυναῖκα καὶ φίλους τῷ δυναμένῳ συμφέρεσθαι τοῖς παροῦσι καὶ μὴ δεομένῳ πολλῶν καὶ περιττῶν
ὁ δʼ οὔτʼ ἄγαν ὀπτοῖσιν οὔθʼ ἑφθοῖς ἄγαν,
οὔθʼ ἧττον οὔτε μᾶλλον οὔτε διὰ μέσου
ἠρτυμένοισι χαίρων ὥστʼ ἐπαινέσαι
χιόνος δὲ μὴ παρούσης οὐκ ἂν πιὼν, οὐδʼ ἄρτον ἐξ ἀγορᾶς φαγὼν οὐδʼ ὄψου γευσάμενος ἐν λιτοῖς ἢ κεραμεοῖς σκεύεσιν, οὐδὲ κοιμηθεὶς ἐπὶ στρωμνῆς μὴ οἰδούσης μηδʼ ὥσπερ θαλάττης διὰ βάθους κεκινημένης, ῥάβδοις δὲ καὶ πληγαῖς τοὺς περὶ τράπεζαν ὑπηρέτας ἐπιταχύνων μετὰ δρόμου καὶ βοῆς καὶ ἱδρῶτος, ὥσπερ φλεγμοναῖς καταπλάσματα κομίζοντας, ἀσθενεῖ καὶ φιλαιτίῳ καὶ μεμψιμοίρῳ δουλεύων διαίτῃ, καθάπερ ὑπὸ βηχὸς ἐνδελεχοῦς προσκρουμάτων πολλῶν ἔλαθεν ἑλκώδη καὶ καταρροϊκὴν διάθεσιν περὶ τὸ θυμοειδὲς ἀπεργασάμενος. ἐθιστέον οὖν τὸ σῶμα διʼ εὐτελείας πρὸς εὐκολίαν αὔταρκες ἑαυτῷ γιγνόμενον· οἱ γὰρ ὀλίγων δεόμενοι πολλῶν οὐκ ἀποτυγχάνουσι. καὶ δεινὸν οὐδὲν ἀρξαμένους ἀπὸ τῆς τροφῆς σιωπῇ χρήσασθαι τοῖς παρατυγχάνουσι, καὶ μὴ πολλὰ χολουμένους καὶ δυσκολαίνοντας ἀτερπέστατον ὄψον ἐμβαλεῖν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ φίλοις τὴν ὀργήν· δόρπου δʼ οὐκ ἄν πως ἀχαρίστερον ἄλλο γένοιτο· διὰ πρόσκαυσιν ἢ καπνὸν ἢ ἁλῶν ἔνδειαν ἢ ψυχρότερον ἄρτον οἰκετῶν τυπτομένων καὶ λοιδορουμένης γυναικός. Ἀρκεσιλάου δὲ μετὰ ξένων τινῶν ἑστιῶντος· τοὺς φίλους παρετέθη τὸ δεῖπνον, ἄρτοι δʼ οὐκ ἦσαν ἀμελησάντων πρίασθαι τῶν παίδων. ἐφʼ ᾧ τίς οὐκ ἂν ἡμῶν διέστησε τοὺς τοίχους κεκραγώς; ὁ δὲ μειδιάσας οἷόν ἐστιν ἔφη τὸ συμποτικὸν εἶναι τὸν σοφόν τοῦ δὲ Σωκράτους ἐκ παλαίστρας παραλαβόντος. τὸν Εὐθύδημον, ἡ Ξανθίππη μετʼ ὀργῆς ἐπιστᾶσα καὶ λοιδορηθεῖσα τέλος ἀνέτρεψε τὴν τράπεζαν, ὁ δʼ Εὐθύδημος ἐξαναστὰς ἀπῄει περίλυπος γενόμενος· καὶ ὁ Σωκράτης παρὰ σοὶ δʼ εἶπεν οὐ πρῴην ὄρνις τις εἰσπτᾶσα ταὐτὸ τοῦτʼ ἐποίησεν, ἡμεῖς δʼ οὐκ ἠγανακτήσαμεν; δεῖ γὰρ σὺν εὐκολίᾳ καὶ γέλωτι καὶ φιλοφροσύνῃ τοὺς φίλους δέχεσθαι, μὴ τὰς ὀφρῦς συνάγοντας μηδὲ φρίκην καὶ τρόμον ἐμβάλλοντας τοῖς ὑπηρετοῦσιν. ἐθιστέον δὲ καὶ σκεύεσιν εὐκόλως ὁμιλεῖν ἅπασι καὶ μὴ τῷδε μᾶλλον ἢ τῷδε χρῆσθαι· καθάπερ ἔνιοι πολλῶν παρόντων ἓν ἐξελόμενοι κανθάριον, ὡς Μάριον ἱστοροῦσιν, ἢ ῥυτὸν οὐκ ἂν ἑτέρῳ πίοιεν. οὕτω δὲ καὶ πρὸς ληκύθους ἔχουσιν καὶ πρὸς στλεγγίδας, ἀγαπῶντες ἐκ πασῶν μίαν· εἶθʼ ὅταν συντριβῇ τι τούτων ἢ ἀπόληται, βαρέως φέρουσι καὶ κολάζουσι. ἀφεκτέον οὖν τῷ πρὸς ὀργὴν φαύλως ἔχοντι τῶν σπανίων καὶ περιττῶν, οἷον ἐκπωμάτων καὶ σφραγίδων καὶ λίθων πολυτελῶν· ἐξίστησι γὰρ ἀπολλύμενα μᾶλλον τῶν εὐπορίστων καὶ συνήθων. διὸ καὶ τοῦ Νέρωνος ὀκτάγωνόν τινα σκηνὴν ὑπερφυὲς κάλλει καὶ πολυτελείᾳ θέαμα κατασκευάσαντος, ἤλεγξας ἔφη ὁ Σενέκας πένητα σεαυτόν· ἐὰν γὰρ ταύτην ἀπολέσῃς, ἑτέραν οὐ κτήσῃ τοιαύτην καὶ μέντοι καὶ συνέπεσε τοῦ πλοίου καταδύντος ἀπολέσθαι τὴν σκηνήν· ὁ δὲ Νέρων ἀναμνησθεὶς τοῦ Σενέκα μετριώτερον ἤνεγκεν., ἡ δὲ πρὸς; τὰ πράγματʼ εὐκολία καὶ πρὸς οἰκέτας εὔκολον ποιεῖ καὶ πρᾶον· εἰ δὲ πρὸς οἰκέτας, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ πρὸς φίλους καὶ πρὸς ἀρχομένους. ὁρῶμεν δὲ καὶ δούλους νεωνήτους περὶ τοῦ πριαμένου πυνθανομένους, οὐκ εἰ δεισιδαίμων οὐδʼ εἰ φθονερὸς ἀλλʼ εἰ θυμώδης καὶ ὅλως σὺν ὀργῇ μηδὲ σωφροσύνην ἄνδρας γυναικῶν μηδʼ ἔρωτα γυναῖκας ἀνδρῶν ὑπομένειν δυναμένας μηδὲ συνήθειαν ἀλλήλων φίλους. οὕτως οὔτε γάμος οὔτε φιλία μετʼ ὀργῆς ἀνεκτόν, ἀλλὰ χωρὶς ὀργῆς καὶ μέθη κοῦφόν ἐστιν· ὁ γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ νάρθηξ ἱκανὸς κολαστὴς τοῦ μεθύοντος, ἂν μὴ προσγενόμενος ὁ θυμὸς ὠμηστὴν καὶ μαινόλην ἀντὶ λυαίου καὶ χορείου ποιήσῃ τὸν ἄκρατον. καὶ τὴν μανίαν αὐτὴν καθʼ αὑτὴν ἡ Ἀντίκυρα θεραπεύει, μιχθεῖσα δʼ ὀργῇ τραγῳδίας ποιεῖ καὶ μύθους.

[¶3] 14. FUNDANUS. Surely we should allow no place to anger even in jest, for that brings enmity in where friendliness was; nor in learned discussions, for that turns love of learning into strife; nor when rendering judgement, for that adds insolence to authority; nor in teaching, for that engenders discouragement and hatred of learning; nor in prosperity, for that increases envy; nor in adversity, for that drives away compassion when men become irritable and quarrel with those who sympathize with them, as Priam did:
Be gone, you wretched, shameful men! Have you
No cause for grief at home that you have come
To trouble me?
But a cheerful disposition in some circumstances is helpful, others it adorns, and still others it helps to sweeten; by its gentleness it overcomes both anger and all moroseness. Thus Eucleides, when his brother said to him after a quarrel, “Damned if I don’t get even with you!” answered, “But as for me, may I be damned if I don’t convince you!” and so at once turned him from his purpose and won him over. And Polemon, when a man who was fond of precious stones and quite mad about expensive seal-rings reviled him, made no answer, but fixed his gaze on one of the seal-rings and eyed it closely. The man, accordingly, was pleased and said to him, “Do not look at it in this light, Polemon, but under the sun’s rays, and it will appear to you far more beautiful.” Aristippus, again, when anger had arisen between him and Aeschines and someone said, “Where now, Aristippus, is the friendship of you two?” replied, “It is asleep, but I shall awaken it”; and, going to Aeschines, he said, “Do I appear to you so utterly unfortunate and incurable as not to receive correction from you?” And Aeschines replied, “No wonder if you, who are naturally superior to me in all things, should in this matter also have discerned before I did the right thing to do.”
For not a woman only, even a child,
Tickling the bristly boar with tender hand,
May throw him easier than a wrestler might.
But we who tame wild beasts and make them gentle and carry about in our arms young wolves and lions’ cubs, then under the impulse of rage cast off children, friends, and companions and let loose our wrath, like some wild beast, on servants and fellow-citizens - we, I say, do not well to use a cozening word for our anger by calling it “righteous indignation,” but it is with anger, I believe, as with the other passions and diseases of the soul: we can rid ourselves of none of them by calling one “foresight,” another “liberality,” another “piety.”

> Greek: 14. ΦΟΥΝΔ.δεῖ δὲ μήτε παίζοντας αὐτῇ διδόναι τόπον, ἔχθραν γὰρ ἐπάγει τῇ φιλοφροσύνῃ· μήτε κοινολογουμένους, φιλονεικίαν γὰρ ἐκ φιλολογίας ἀπεργάζεται· μήτε δικάζοντας, ὕβριν γὰρ τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ προστίθησι· μήτε παιδεύοντας, ἀθυμίαν γὰρ ἐμποιεῖ καὶ μισολογίαν μήτʼ εὐτυχοῦντας, αὔξει γὰρ τὸν φθόνον· μήτε δυστυχοῦντας, ἀφαιρεῖ γὰρ τὸν ἔλεον, ὅταν δυσκολαίνωσι καὶ μάχωνται τοῖς συναχθομένοις· ὡς ὁ Πρίαμος
ἔρρετε, λωβητῆρες, ἐλεγχέες· οὔ νυ καὶ ὑμῖν
ἔστι γόος, ὅτι μʼ ἤλθετε κηδήσοντες;
ἡ δʼ εὐκολία τοῖς μὲν βοηθεῖ τὰ δʼ ἐπικοσμεῖ τὰ δὲ συνηδύνει, περιγίγνεται δὲ τῇ πραότητι καὶ θυμοῦ καὶ δυσκολίας ἁπάσης· ὥσπερ Εὐκλείδης, τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκ διαφορᾶς εἰπόντος ἀπολοίμην, εἰ μή σε τιμωρησαίμην· ἐγὼ δέ φήσας ἀπολοίμην, εἰ μή σε πείσαιμι διέτρεψε παραχρῆμα καὶ μετέθηκε. πολέμων δέ, λοιδοροῦντος αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπου φιλολίθου καὶ περὶ σφραγίδια πολυτελῆ νοσοῦντος, ἀπεκρίνατο μὲν οὐδὲν τῶν σφραγιδίων δʼ ἑνὶ προσεῖχε τὸν νοῦν καὶ κατεμάνθανεν· ἡσθεὶς οὖν ὁ ἄνθρωπος μὴ οὕτως εἶπεν ὦ Πολέμων, ἀλλʼ ὑπʼ αὐγὰς θεῶ, καὶ πολύ σοι βέλτιον φανεῖται ὁ δʼ Ἀρίστιππος, ὀργῆς αὐτῷ πρὸς Αἰσχίνην γενομένης καί τινος εἰπόντος ὦ Ἀρίστιππε, ποῦ ὑμῶν ἡ φιλία; καθεύδει φησὶν ἐγὼ δʼ αὐτὴν ἐγερῶ· καὶ τῷ Αἰσχίνῃ προσελθὼν εἶπεν οὕτω σοι δοκῶ παντάπασιν ἀτυχής τις εἶναι καὶ ἀνήκεστος, ὥστε μὴ νουθεσίας τυχεῖν; ὁ δʼ Αἰσχίνης οὐδέν ἔφη θαυμαστόν, εἰ πρὸς πάντα μου τῇ φύσει διαφέρων κἀνταῦθα τὸ δέον πρότερος συνεῖδες.
καὶ γὰρ κάπρον φριξαύχενʼ οὐ μόνον γυνή,
παῖς δʼ ἂν νεογνὸς χειρὶ προσκνήθων νέᾳ
κλίναι παλαιστοῦ παντὸς εὐμαρέστερον.
ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς ἀγριαίνοντα τιθασεύομεν ζῷα καὶ πραΰνομεν, λυκιδεῖς καὶ σκύμνους λεόντων ἐν ταῖς ἀγκάλαις περιφέροντες, εἶτα τέκνα καὶ φίλους καὶ συνήθεις ἐκβάλλομεν ὑπʼ ὀργῆς· οἰκέταις δὲ καὶ πολίταις τὸν θυμὸν ὥσπερ θηρίον ἐφίεμεν οὐ καλῶς ὑποκοριζόμενοι μισοπονηρίαν, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ, οἶμαι, τῶν ἄλλων παθῶν τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ νοσημάτων τὸ μὲν πρόνοιαν τὸ δʼ ἐλευθεριότητα τὸ δʼ εὐσέβειαν καλοῦντες οὐδενὸς ἀπαλλαγῆναι δυνάμεθα.

[¶4] 15. FUNDANUS. And yet, as Zeno used to say that the seed was a mixture and compound drawn from all the faculties of the soul, so temper appears to be a mixture of seeds drawn from all the passions. For it is drawn from pain and pleasure, and from insolence; and although it has envy’s malicious joy in the ills of others, it is even worse than envy; for the object of its striving is, not that it may itself avoid suffering evil, but that at the cost of suffering evil, it may utterly ruin its antagonist; and the most unlovely kind of desire is innate in it, inasmuch as it is a craving to pain someone else. And that is why, when we approach the houses of profligates, we hear a flute-girl still playing in the early morning, and we see “muddy dregs of wine,” as someone has said, “and mangled fragments of garlands,” and tipsy servants reeling at the doors; but the tokens of savage and irascible men you will see on the faces of their servants and in the marks branded upon them and their fetters. “The only music heard within the house” of an angry man “Is wailing cries,” as the stewards are being lashed within and the serving-maids being tortured, so that those who witness the anguish caused by anger in gratifying its desires and ministering to its pleasures must feel pity.

> Greek: 15. ΦΟΥΝΔ.καίτοι, καθάπερ ὁ Ζήνων ἔλεγε τὸ σπέρμα σύμμιγμα καὶ κέρασμα τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς δυνάμεων ὑπάρχειν ἀπεσπασμένον, οὕτως ἔοικε τῶν παθῶν πανσπερμία τις ὁ θυμὸς εἶναι· καὶ γὰρ λύπης ἀπέσπασται καὶ ἡδονῆς καὶ ὕβρεως· καὶ φθόνου μὲν ἔχει τὴν ἐπιχαιρεκακίαν, φθόνου δὲ καὶ χείρων ἐστίν· ἀγωνίζεται γὰρ οὐχὶ μὴ παθεῖν αὐτὸς ἀλλὰ παθεῖν κακῶς ἐπιτρίψας ἕτερον· ἐπιθυμίας δʼ αὐτῷ τὸ ἀτερπέστατον ἐμπέφυκεν, εἴ γε δὴ τοῦ λυπεῖν ἕτερον ὄρεξίς ἐστι. διὸ τῶν μὲν ἀσώτων ταῖς οἰκίαις προσιόντες αὐλητρίδος ἀκούομεν ἑωθινῆς, καὶ πηλόν ὣς τις εἶπεν οἴνου καὶ σπαράγματα στεφάνων καὶ κραιπαλῶντας ὁρῶμεν ἐπὶ θύραις ἀκολούθους· τὰ δὲ τῶν πικρῶν ἐκκαλύμματα καὶ δυσκόλων ἐν τοῖς προσώποις τῶν οἰκετῶν ὄψει καὶ τοῖς στίγμασι καὶ ταῖς πέδαις· ἀεὶ δʼ ἀοιδῶν μοῦνος ἐν στέγαις ὀργίλου ἀνδρός κωκυτὸς ἐμπέπτωκε, μαστιγουμένων ἔνδον οἰκονόμων καὶ στρεβλουμένων θεραπαινίδων, ὥστε τοῦ θυμοῦ τὰς λύπας ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις καὶ ταῖς ἡδοναῖς οἰκτίρειν ὁρῶντας.

[¶5] 16. FUNDANUS. However, those of whom it is true that righteous indignation causes them frequently to be overwhelmed by anger should get rid of its excessive and violent form, together with their extreme confidence in those with whom they live. For such confidence more than any other cause increases the spirit of wrath, when, for example, one who has been accounted honourable proves to be base, or one whom we have supposed a true friend quarrels and finds fault with us. As for my own temperament, you doubtless know how strong are the impulses which incline it to be of goodwill toward my fellowmen and to trust them. Consequently, like men who attempt to walk on empty air, the more I give myself up to loving a person the more I go astray, and when I stumble and fall, the greater my distress; and although I may no longer be able to reduce my too great propensity and eagerness to love, yet I may perhaps be able to use Plato’s caution as a curb against excessive trust. For Plato says that he praises Helicon the mathematician in such terms as he uses because man is by nature an animal readily subject to change; and that he does well to fear those who have been educated in the city lest, being men and the seeds of men, they may reveal somewhere the weakness inherent in their nature. But when Sophocles says “Search out most human traits; you’ll find them base,” he seems to go too far in trampling upon and belittling us. This peevish and censorious judgement does, however, tend to make us more considerate in our outbursts of temper; for it is the sudden and the unexpected that throw men off their bearings. But we should, as Panaetius also has somewhere remarked, make use of the precept of Anaxagoras, and just as he, at the death of his son, said, “I knew that I had begotten a mortal”; so on each occasion we should remark with reference to the faults which exasperate us: “I knew that I had not bought a philosopher for a slave,” “I knew that the friend I had made was not incapable of error,” “I knew that my wife was a woman.” And if we keep repeating to ourselves Plato’s question, “Can it be that I am like that?” and turn our reason inward instead of to external things, and substitute caution for censoriousness, we shall no longer make much use of “righteous indignation” toward others when we observe that we ourselves stand in need of much indulgence. But as it is, everyone of us, when we are angry and inflicting punishment, brings out the injunctions of an Aristeides or a Cato: “Do not steal!” “Do not lie!” “Why are you so lazy?”; and - what is most disgraceful of all - while angry we chide others for being angry and punish by rage faults which have been committed in a rage, not like physicians, who “With bitter drugs can purge the bitter bile;” but rather make more intense the malady and aggravate it. FUNDANUS. Whenever, therefore, I have become engaged in these reflections, at the same time I try to do away with some part of my inquisitiveness. For to search I out with great precision and detect and drag into the light every little concern of a slave, every action of a friend, every pastime of a son, every whisper of a wife, produces frequent, or rather continual and daily, fits of anger, of which the sum total is a morose and intractable disposition. It may be, as Euripides says, that God
Will intervene in matters grown too great,
But small things he lets pass and leaves to Fate;
but I am of the opinion that a man of sense should commit nothing to Fate, nor overlook anything at all, but should trust and use for some things his wife, for others servants, for others friends, as a ruler makes use of overseers and accountants and administrators, but himself keeps under his own control the most important and weighty matters by the use of reason. For as small writing strains the eyes, so do trifling matters, by causing a greater strain, prick and stir up anger, which becomes a bad habit that affects more important matters. FUNDANUS. Accordingly, in addition to all these considerations, I have been wont to regard as great and divine that saying of Empedocles, “Fast from evil,” and to applaud also those other vows made in prayer as being neither ungracious nor inappropriate to a philosopher: to abstain from love and wine for a year, honouring God by continence; or again to refrain from lying for a stated time, paying close heed to ourselves that we shall be truthful always whether In jest or earnest. Then with these I compared my own vow, thinking it no less sacred and pleasant in the sight of God: first, to pass a few days without anger, sober and wineless days, as it were, as though I were offering a sacrifice of honey unmixed with wine; then I would do so for a month or two, and so, making trial of myself little by little, in time I made some progress in my forbearance, continently observing and keeping myself courteous in speech, placid, and free from anger, and pure of the taint of evil words and offensive actions and of passion which, at the price of a little unsatisfying pleasure, brings great perturbations of spirit and the most shameful repentance. By such means, I think - and God also gave me help - experience has shown the truth of that judgement: this placid and gentle and humane spirit is not so agreeable and pleasant and free from sorrow to any of those brought in contact with it as it is to those who themselves possess it.

> Greek: 16. ΦΟΥΝΔ.οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ὅσοις γε συμβαίνει διὰ μισοπονηρίαν ἀληθῶς ἁλίσκεσθαι πολλάκις ὑπʼ ὀργῆς, τὸ ἄγαν ἀφαιρετέον αὐτῆς καὶ τὸ ἄκρατον ἅμα τῇ σφοδρᾷ πίστει περὶ τῶν συνόντων. αὕτη γὰρ αὔξει μάλιστα τῶν αἰτιῶν τὸν θυμόν, ὅταν ἢ χρηστὸς ὑποληφθεὶς ἀναφανῇ μοχθηρὸς ἢ φιλεῖν δόξας ἐν διαφορᾷ τινι καὶ μέμψει γένηται. τὸ δʼ ἐμὸν ἦθος οἶσθα δήπουθεν ἡλίκαις ῥοπαῖς φέρεται πρὸς εὔνοιαν ἀνθρώπων καὶ πίστιν· ὥσπερ οὖν οἱ κατὰ κενοῦ βαίνοντες, ὅσῳ μᾶλλον ἐπερείδω τῷ φιλεῖν ἐμαυτόν, ἁμαρτάνω μᾶλλον καὶ σφαλλόμενος ἀνιῶμαι· καὶ τοῦ μὲν φιλεῖν ἀπαρύσαι τὸ ἐμπαθὲς ἄγαν καὶ πρόθυμον οὐκ ἂν ἔτι δυνηθείην τοῦ δὲ πιστεύειν σφόδρα χρησαίμην ἂν ἴσως χαλινῷ τῇ Πλάτωνος; εὐλαβείᾳ. καὶ γὰρ Ἑλίκωνα τὸν μαθηματικὸν οὕτως ἐπαινεῖν φησιν, ὡς φύσει εὐμετάβολον ζῷον, καὶ τοὺς τεθραμμένους ἐν τῇ πόλει· καλῶς δεδιέναι, μὴ ἄνθρωποι καὶ σπέρματα ἀνθρώπων ὄντες ἐκφήνωσί που τῆς φύσεως τὴν ἀσθένειαν. ὁ δὲ Σοφοκλῆς λέγων ὅτι τὰ πλεῖστα φωρῶν αἰσχρὰ φωράσεις βροτῶν ἄγαν ἔοικεν ἡμῖν ἐπεμβαίνειν καὶ κολούειν. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τὸ δύσκολον τοῦτο τῆς κρίσεως καὶ φιλαίτιον εὐκολωτέρους ποιεῖ ταῖς ὀργαῖς ἐκστατικὸν γάρ ἐστι τὸ ἄφνω καὶ ἀπροσδόκητον δεῖ δʼ, ὥς που καὶ Παναίτιος ἔφη, χρῆσθαι τῷ Ἀναξαγόρᾳ, καὶ καθάπερ ἐκεῖνος ἐπὶ τῇ τελευτῇ τοῦ παιδὸς εἶπεν ᾔδειν ὅτι θνητὸν ἐγέννησα τοῦτο τοῖς παροξύνουσιν ἕκαστον ἐπιφωνεῖν ἁμαρτήμασιν ᾔδειν ὅτι σοφὸν οὐκ ἐπριάμην δοῦλον ᾔδειν ὅτι ἀπαθῆ τὸν φίλον οὐκ ἐκτησάμην ᾔδειν ὅτι τὴν γυναῖκα γυναῖκʼ εἶχον. ἂν δὲ κἀκεῖνό τις ἐπιφθεγγόμενος ἀεὶ τὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος μήπου ἄρʼ ἐγὼ τοιοῦτος; ἔξωθεν εἴσω τὸν λογισμὸν ἀναστρέφῃ καὶ παρεμβάλλῃ ταῖς μέμψεσι τὴν εὐλάβειαν, οὐ πολλῇ χρήσεται μισοπονηρίᾳ πρὸς ἑτέρους πολλῆς ὁρῶν ἑαυτὸν συγγνώμης δεόμενον. νῦν δʼ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν ὀργιζόμενος καὶ κολάζων Ἀριστείδου φωνὰς ἐπιφέρει καὶ Κάτωνος μὴ κλέπτε μὴ ψεύδου διὰ τί ῥᾳθυμεῖς; καὶ ὃ δὴ πάντων αἴσχιστόν ἐστιν, ὀργιζομένοις ἐπιτιμῶμεν μετʼ ὀργῆς καὶ τὰ διὰ θυμὸν ἡμαρτημένα θυμῷ κολάζομεν, οὐχ ὥσπερ οἱ ἰατροί πικρῷ πικρὰν κλύζουσι φαρμάκῳ χολήν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἐπιτείνοντες καὶ προσεκταράττοντες ὅταν οὖν ἐν τούτοις γένωμαι τοῖς ἐπιλογισμοῖς, ἅμα τι πειρῶμαι καὶ τοῦ πολυπράγμονος ἀφαιρεῖν. τὸ γὰρ ἐξακριβοῦν ἅπαντα καὶ φωρᾶν καὶ πᾶσαν ἕλκειν εἰς μέσον ἀσχολίαν οἰκέτου καὶ πρᾶξιν φίλου καὶ διατριβὴν υἱοῦ καὶ ψιθυρισμὸν γυναικός, ὀργὰς φέρει πολλὰς καὶ συνεχεῖς καὶ καθημερινάς, ὧν δυσκολία τρόπου καὶ χαλεπότης τὸ κεφάλαιόν ἐστι. ὁ μὲν οὖν θεός, ὡς Εὐριπίδης φησί,
τῶν ἄγαν ἅπτεται,
τὰ μικρὰ δʼ εἰς τύχην ἀφεὶς ἐᾷ
ἐγὼ δὲ τῇ τύχῃ μὲν οὐδὲν οἶμαι δεῖν ἐπιτρέπειν οὐδὲ παρορᾶν τὸν νοῦν ἔχοντα, πιστεύειν δὲ καὶ χρῆσθαι τὰ μὲν γυναικὶ· τὰ δʼ οἰκέταις τὰ δὲ φίλοις οἷον ἄρχοντʼ, ἐπιτρόποις τισὶ καὶ λογισταῖς καὶ διοικηταῖς, αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῶν κυριωτάτων ὄντα τῷ λογισμῷ· καὶ μεγίστων. ὡς γὰρ τὰ λεπτὰ γράμματα τὴν ὄψιν, οὕτω τὰ μικρὰ πράγματα μᾶλλον ἐντείνοντα νύττει καὶ ταράττει τὴν ὀργήν, ἔθος πονηρὸν ἐπὶ τὰ μείζονα λαμβάνουσαν. ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοίνυν τὸ μὲν τοῦ Ἐμπεδοκλέους μέγα καὶ θεῖον ἡγούμην, τὸ νηστεῦσαι κακότητος· ἐπῄνουν δὲ κἀκείνας ὡς οὐκ ἀχαρίστους οὐδʼ ἀφιλοσόφους τὰς ἐν εὐχαῖς ὁμολογίας, ὁμιλίας ἀφροδισίων ἐνιαυτὸν ἁγνεῦσαι καὶ οἴνου, τιμῶντας ἐγκρατείᾳ τὸν θεόν· ἢ ψευδολογίας πάλιν ἀπέχεσθαι χρόνον ὡρισμένον, αὑτοῖς προσέχοντας πῶς ἀληθεύσομεν ἔν τε παιδιᾷ καὶ μετὰ σπουδῆς ἁπάσης. εἶτα ταύταις τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ παρέβαλλον εὐχὴν ὡς οὐχ ἧττον θεοφιλῆ καὶ ἱεράν· ἡμέρας πρῶτον ὀλίγας ἀοργήτους ἔγνων οἷον ἀμεθύστους καὶ ἀοίνους διαγαγεῖν ὥσπερ νηφάλια καὶ μελίσπονδα θύων· εἶτα μῆνʼ ἕνα καὶ δύο πειρώμενος ἐμαυτοῦ κατὰ μικρόν, οὕτω τῷ χρόνῳ προύβαινον εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν τῆς ἀνεξικακίας, ἐγκρατῶς προσέχων καὶ διαφυλάττων μετʼ εὐφημίας ἵλεων καὶ ἀμήνιτον ἐμαυτόν, ἁγνεύοντα καὶ λόγων πονηρῶν καὶ πράξεων ἀτόπων καὶ πάθους ἐφʼ ἡδονῇ μικρᾷ καὶ ἀχαρίστῳ ταραχάς τε μεγάλας καὶ μεταμέλειαν αἰσχίστην φέροντος. ὅθεν, οἶμαι, καὶ θεοῦ τι συλλαμβάνοντος, ἐσαφήνιζεν ἡ πεῖρα τὴν κρίσιν ἐκείνην, ὅτι τὸ ἵλεων τοῦτο καὶ πρᾶον καὶ φιλάνθρωπον οὐδενὶ τῶν συνόντων εὐμενές ἐστιν οὕτω καὶ φίλον καὶ ἄλυπον ὡς αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἔχουσιν.