§17καθόλου δʼ ἐπεὶ τῶν ἀβουλήτων τὰ μὲν φύσει τὸ λυποῦν καὶ βαρῦνον ἐπιφέρει, τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα δόξῃ δυσχεραίνειν ἐθιζόμεθα καὶ μανθάνομεν, οὐκ ἄχρηστόν ἐστι πρὸς ταῦτα μὲν ἔχειν ἀεὶ τὸ τοῦ Μενάνδρου πρόχειρον
"οὐδὲν πέπονθας δεινὸν ἂν μὴ προσποιῇ· "
τί γὰρ πρὸς σέ ἐστι, φησίν, ἂν μήτε σαρκὸς ἅπτηται μήτε ψυχῆς, οἷόν ἐστι δυσγένεια πατρὸς ἢ μοιχεία γυναικὸς ἢ στεφάνου τινὸς ἢ προεδρίας ἀφαίρεσις, ὧν οὐ κωλύεται καὶ μὴ παρόντων ἄνθρωπος καὶ τὸ σῶμα βέλτιστα διακείμενον ἔχειν καὶ τὴν ψυχήν;
In general, since some of the unwanted events bring pain and distress by nature, while as to most of them we are accustomed and learn to be displeased by opinion, it is not useless against the latter always to have at hand that saying of Menander: "You have suffered nothing terrible, unless you make believe so." For what is it to you, he says, if it touches neither flesh nor soul? Such as a father's low birth, or a wife's adultery, or the loss of some crown or front seat, in the absence of which a man is not prevented from keeping both his body and his soul in the best condition.
πρὸς δὲ τὰ φύσει δοκοῦντα λυπεῖν, οἷα νόσοι καὶ πόνοι καὶ θάνατοι φίλων καὶ τέκνων, ἐκεῖνο τὸ Εὐριπίδειον
"οἴμοι·
But against those things which seem to bring pain by nature, such as diseases, pains, and deaths of friends and children, we should employ that saying of Euripides: "Alas!
τί δʼ οἴμοι;
But why 'alas'?
θνητά τοι πεπόνθαμεν. "
οὐδεὶς; γὰρ οὕτω τοῦ παθητικοῦ καταφερομένου καὶ ὀλισθάνοντος ἀντιλαμβάνεται λόγος, ὡς ὁ τῆς κοινῆς καὶ φυσικῆς ἀνάμνησιν ποιῶν ἀνάγκης, ᾗ διὰ τὸ σῶμα μεμειγμένος ὁ ἄνθρωπος μόνην ταύτην τῇ τύχῃ λαβὴν δίδωσιν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς κυριωτάτοις καὶ μεγίστοις ἀσφαλὴς ἕστηκεν.
We have suffered only what is mortal." For no reason so supports the emotional part of us when it is falling and slipping as that which recalls the common and natural necessity, with which man, being mixed through his body, gives to Fortune this sole hold upon him, while in his most sovereign and greatest parts he stands secure.
ὁ Δημήτριος τὴν Μεγαρέων πόλιν καταλαβὼν ἠρώτησε τὸν Στίλπωνα, μή τι τῶν ἐκείνου διήρπασται καὶ ὁ Στίλπων ἔφη μηδένʼ ἰδεῖν
τἀμά
φέροντα. καὶ τοίνυν τῆς τύχης πάντα τἄλλα λεηλατούσης καὶ περιαιρουμένης, ἔχομέν τι τοιοῦτον. ἐν ἑαυτοῖς
"οἷόν κʼ οὔτε φέροιεν Ἀχαιοὶ οὔτε ἂν ἄγοιεν. "
ὅθεν οὐ δεῖ παντάπασιν ἐκταπεινοῦν οὐδὲ καταβάλλειν τὴν φύσιν, ὡς μηδὲν ἰσχυρὸν μηδὲ μόνιμον μηδʼ ὑπὲρ τὴν τύχην ἔχουσαν· ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον εἰδότας, ὅτι μικρόν ἐστι μέρος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ σαθρὸν καὶ τὸ ἐπίκηρον, ὃ δέχεται τὴν τύχην, τῆς δὲ βελτίονος μερίδος αὐτοὶ κρατοῦμεν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ μέγιστα τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἱδρυθέντα, δόξαι τε χρησταὶ καὶ μαθήματα καὶ λόγοι τελευτῶντες εἰς ἀρετήν, ἀναφαίρετον ἔχουσι τὴν οὐσίαν καὶ ἀδιάφθορον, ἀηττήτους πρὸς τὸ μέλλον εἶναι καὶ θαρραλέους, πρὸς τὴν τύχην λέγοντας, ἃ Σωκράτης δοκῶν πρὸς τοὺς κατηγόρους λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς δικαστὰς ἔλεγεν, ὡς ἀποκτεῖναι μὲν Ἄνυτος καὶ Μέλητος δύνανται, βλάψαι δʼ οὐ δύνανται.
Demetrius, when he took the city of Megara, asked Stilpo whether any of his things had been plundered, and Stilpo said that he saw no one carrying away "my own things." And indeed, though Fortune plunders and strips away all other things, we have within ourselves something of such a kind "as the Achaians could neither carry off nor drive away." Hence we must not completely degrade or cast down our nature, as if it possessed nothing strong, permanent, or superior to Fortune; but, on the contrary, knowing that the rotten and perishable part of man, which receives Fortune, is small, and that we ourselves rule over the better part, in which the greatest of goods are established—namely, good opinions, learning, and reasons tending ultimately to virtue, which possess an inalienable and indestructible essence—we must be unconquered and courageous towards the future, saying to Fortune what Socrates, though seeming to speak to his accusers, said to his judges: that Anytus and Meletus can kill, but cannot hurt.
καὶ γὰρ ἡ τύχη δύναται νόσῳ περιβαλεῖν, ἀφελέσθαι χρήματα, διαβαλεῖν πρὸς δῆμον ἢ τύραννον κακὸν δὲ καὶ δειλὸν καὶ ταπεινόφρονα καὶ ἀγεννῆ καὶ φθονερὸν οὐ δύναται ποιῆσαι τὸν ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἀνδρώδη καὶ μεγαλόψυχον καὶ γενναῖον καὶ ἐλευθέριον οὐδὲ παρελέσθαι τὴν διάθεσιν, ἧς ἀεὶ παρούσης, πλέον ἢ κυβερνήτου πρὸς θάλατταν ὄφελὸς ἐστι πρὸς τὸν βίον.
For Fortune can indeed surround us with disease, take away our wealth, or slander us to the people or a tyrant; but it cannot make a good, manly, magnanimous, noble, and free man bad, cowardly, mean, ignoble, and envious, nor can it take away that disposition, whose constant presence is of more help to life than a pilot is to a ship at sea.
κυβερνήτῃ γὰρ οὔτε κῦμα πραῧναι τραχὺ καὶ πνεῦμα δυνατόν ἐστιν, οὔτε ὅποι βούλεται δεομένῳ λιμένος· τυχεῖν οὔτε θαρραλέως καὶ ἀτρόμως ὑπομεῖναι τὸ συμβαῖνον ἀλλʼ ἓως οὐκ ἀπέγνωκε τῇ τέχνῃ χρώμενος
φεύγει μέγα λαῖφος ὑποστολίσας,
ἓως
ἐνέρτερον ἱστὸν, ἐρεβώδεος ἐκ θαλάσσης ὑπέρσχῃ
, τρέμων κάθηται καὶ παλλόμενος, ἡ δὲ τοῦ φρονίμου διάθεσις τοῖς τε σωματικοῖς παρέχει γαλήνην, ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐκλύουσα τὰς τῶν νόσων κατασκευὰς ἐγκρατείᾳ καὶ διαίτῃ σώφρονι καὶ μετρίοις πόνοις·
For a pilot can neither smooth a rough wave and wind, nor reach the harbor he desires when in need of it, nor withstand what happens courageously and without trembling, but as long as he has not given up hope, using his skill, "he flees, having furled his great sail," and as long as "the lower mast holds up above the murky sea," he sits trembling and shaking; but the disposition of the wise man affords tranquility even to bodily states, by largely neutralizing the preparations of diseases through self-control, temperate diet, and moderate labors.
κἄν τις ἔξωθεν ἀρχὴ πάθους ὥσπερ διαδρομὴ γένηται σπιλάδος,
εὐσταλεῖ καὶ κούφῃ κεραίᾳ παρήνεγκεν
ὥς φησιν Ἀσκληπιάδης παραλόγου δέ τινος καὶ μεγάλου καταλαβόντος καὶ κρατήσαντος, ἐγγὺς ὁ λιμὴν καὶ πάρεστιν ἀπονήξασθαι τοῦ σώματος ὥσπερ ἐφολκίου μὴ στέγοντος
And if some beginning of passion comes from without like the sweeping over of a reef, "he passes it by with a well-trimmed and light yard-arm," as Asclepiades says; and if some unexpected and great disaster overtakes and overpowers him, the harbor is near and he can swim away from the body as from a leaking boat.