§10Ἀλλ’ οὗτοι μέν, ἐπειδήπερ οὐ τοὺς ὁμοφύλους μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πλησιάζοντας ἀναπιμπλᾶσι φλυαρίας, ἀθεράπευτοι διατελείτωσαν ὄψιν, τὴν ἀναγκαιοτάτην τῶν αἰσθήσεων, πεπηρωμένοι· λέγω δὲ οὐ τὴν σώματος, ἀλλὰ τὴν ψυχῆς, ᾗ τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος μόνῃ γνωρίζεται.
But let these, since they infect not only their compatriots but also their neighbors with folly, continue uncured, being blinded in their sight, the most necessary of the senses; I mean not that of the body, but that of the soul, by which alone truth and falsehood are recognized.
§11τὸ δὲ θεραπευτικὸν γένος βλέπειν ἀεὶ προδιδασκόμενον τῆς τοῦ ὄντος θέας ἐφιέσθω καὶ τὸν αἰσθητὸν ἥλιον ὑπερβαινέτω καὶ μηδέποτε τὴν τάξιν ταύτην λειπέτω πρὸς τελείαν ἄγουσαν εὐδαιμονίαν.
But let the therapeutic class, being constantly trained to see, aim at the contemplation of the Existent, and let them transcend the sensible sun, and never leave this rank which leads to perfect happiness.
§12οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ θεραπείαν ἰόντες οὔτε ἐξ ἔθους οὔτε ἐκ παραινέσεως ἢ παρακλήσεώς τινων, ἀλλ’ ὑπ’ ἔρωτος ἁρπασθέντες οὐρανίου, καθάπερ οἱ βακχευόμενοι καὶ κορυβαντιῶντες ἐνθουσιάζουσι, μέχρις ἂν τὸ ποθούμενον ἴδωσιν.
And those who enter upon this service do so neither from custom nor from the exhortation or appeal of others, but being seized by a heavenly love, they are inspired like Bacchic revelers and Corybantes until they see the object of their desire.
§13εἶτα διὰ τὸν τῆς ἀθανάτου καὶ μακαρίας ζωῆς ἵμερον τετελευτηκέναι νομίζοντες ἤδη τὸν θνητὸν βίον ἀπολείπουσι τὰς οὐσίας υἱοῖς ἢ θυγατράσιν εἴτε καὶ ἄλλοις συγγενέσιν, ἑκουσίῳ γνώμῃ προκληρονομούμενοι, οἷς δὲ μὴ συγγενεῖς εἰσιν, ἑταίροις καὶ φίλοις· ἔδει γὰρ τοὺς τὸν βλέποντα πλοῦτον ἐξ ἑτοίμου λαβόντας τὸν τυφλὸν παραχωρῆσαι τοῖς ἔτι τὰς διανοίας τυφλώττουσιν.
Then, because of their longing for the immortal and blessed life, thinking that their mortal life is already ended, they leave their possessions to their sons or daughters, or to other relatives, voluntarily anticipating their inheritance, or to their companions and friends if they have no relatives; for it was necessary that those who have received the seeing wealth ready to hand should yield the blind wealth to those who are still blind in their minds.
§14Ἀναξαγόραν καὶ Δημόκριτον Ἕλληνες ᾄδουσιν, ὅτι φιλοσοφίας ἱμέρῳ πληχθέντες μηλοβότους εἴασαν γενέσθαι τὰς οὐσίας· ἄγαμαι τοὺς ἄνδρας καὶ αὐτὸς γενομένους χρημάτων κρείττονας.
Anaxagoras and Democritus are celebrated by the Greeks because, struck by the desire for philosophy, they allowed their estates to become sheep-pastures; I myself admire these men who proved superior to money.
ἀλλὰ πόσῳ βελτίονες οἱ μὴ θρέμμασιν ἐμβόσκεσθαι τὰς κτήσεις ἀνέντες, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἀνθρώπων ἐνδείας, συγγενῶν ἢ φίλων, ἐπανορθωσάμενοι καὶ ἐξ ἀπόρων εὐπόρους ἀποφήναντες;
But how much better are those who did not abandon their possessions to be grazed by cattle, but relieved the needs of human beings, whether relatives or friends, and turned them from needy to wealthy?
ἐκεῖνο μὲν γὰρ ἀπερίσκεπτον — ἵνα μὴ μανιῶδες ἐπ’ ἀνδρῶν, οὓς ἡ Ἑλλὰς ἐθαύμασεν, εἴπω τὸ ἔργον —, τοῦτο δὲ νηφάλιον καὶ μετὰ φρονήσεως ἠκριβωμένον περιττῆς.
For the former action was thoughtless—not to use the word "insane" for the deed of men whom Greece admired—while the latter was sober and accurate with extraordinary wisdom.
§15οἱ πολέμιοι τί πλέον δρῶσιν ἢ κείρουσι καὶ δενδροτομοῦσι τὴν τῶν ἀντιπάλων χώραν, ἵνα σπάνει τῶν ἀναγκαίων πιεσθέντες ἐνδῶσι;
What more do enemies do than ravage and cut down the trees of their opponents' land, so that, pressed by the lack of necessaries, they may yield?
τοῦτο οἱ περὶ Δημόκριτον τοῖς ἀφ’ αἵματος εἰργάσαντο χειροποίητον ἔνδειαν καὶ πενίαν αὐτοῖς κατασκευάσαντες, οὐκ ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς ἴσως, ἀλλὰ τῷ μὴ προϊδέσθαι καὶ περιαθρῆσαι τὸ τοῖς ἄλλοις συμφέρον.
This is what Democritus and his followers did to their own blood relatives, preparing a man-made need and poverty for them, not perhaps out of malice, but through failing to foresee and look around at what was advantageous to others.
§16πόσῳ δὴ κρείττους οὗτοι καὶ θαυμασιώτεροι, χρησάμενοι μὲν οὐκ ἐλάττοσι ταῖς πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν ὁρμαῖς, μεγαλόνοιαν δὲ ὀλιγωρίας προτιμήσαντες καὶ χαρισάμενοι τὰς οὐσίας, ἀλλὰ μὴ διαφθείραντες, ἵνα καὶ ἑτέρους καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ὠφελήσωσι, τοὺς μὲν ἐν ἀφθόνοις περιουσίαις, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ ἐν τῷ φιλοσοφεῖν;
How much better indeed and more admirable are these, who, having used no less impulses toward philosophy, preferred greatness of mind to neglect, and made a gift of their estates instead of destroying them, so that they might benefit both others and themselves— the former with abundant resources, and themselves in the practice of philosophy?
αἱ γὰρ χρημάτων καὶ κτημάτων ἐπιμέλειαι τοὺς χρόνους ἀναλίσκουσι· χρόνου δὲ φείδεσθαι καλόν, ἐπειδὴ κατὰ τὸν ἰατρὸν Ἱπποκράτην „ὁ μὲν βίος βραχύς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή. “ §17τοῦτό μοι δοκεῖ καὶ Ὅμηρος αἰνίξασθαι ἐν Ἰλιάδι κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς τρισκαιδεκάτης ῥαψῳδίας διὰ τούτων τῶν ἐπῶν· „Μυσῶν τ’ ἀγχεμάχων καὶ ἀγαυῶν Ἱππημολγῶν,
γλακτοφάγων ἀβίων τε, δικαιοτάτων ἀνθρώπων,“
ὡς τῆς μὲν περὶ βίον σπουδῆς καὶ χρηματισμὸν ἀδικίαν γεννώσης διὰ τὸ ἄνισον, δικαιοσύνην δὲ τῆς ἐναντίας προαιρέσεως ἕνεκα ἰσότητος, καθ’ ἣν ὁ τῆς φύσεως πλοῦτος ὥρισται καὶ παρευημερεῖ τὸν ἐν ταῖς κεναῖς δόξαις.
For the care of money and possessions consumes time; and it is good to spare time, since according to the physician Hippocrates, "life is short, but art is long." This also Homer seems to me to have hinted at in the Iliad at the beginning of the thirteenth book through these lines: "And of the close-fighting Mysians and the noble Hippemolgi, milk-feeders, lacking livelihood, most just of men," implying that concern for livelihood and money-making breeds injustice through inequality, but justice arises from the opposite choice for the sake of equality, according to which the wealth of nature is defined and surpasses that which is in empty opinions.
ὅταν οὖν ἐκστῶσι τῶν οὐσιῶν, §18ὑπ’ οὐδενὸς ἔτι δελεαζόμενοι φεύγουσιν ἀμεταστρεπτὶ καταλιπόντες ἀδελφούς, τέκνα, γυναῖκας, γονεῖς, πολυανθρώπους συγγενείας, φιλικὰς ἑταιρείας, τὰς πατρίδας, ἐν αἷς ἐγεννήθησαν καὶ ἐτράφησαν, ἐπειδὴ τὸ σύνηθες ὁλκὸν καὶ δελεάσαι δυνατώτατον.
When, therefore, they divest themselves of their estates, enticed no longer by anything, they flee without turning back, leaving brothers, children, wives, parents, numerous kindreds, friendly companionships, and the native lands in which they were born and reared, since custom is attractive and most capable of enticing.
§19μετοικίζονται δὲ οὐκ εἰς ἑτέραν πόλιν, ὥσπερ οἱ πρᾶσιν αἰτούμενοι παρὰ τῶν κεκτημένων ἀτυχεῖς ἢ κακόδουλοι δεσποτῶν ὑπαλλαγήν, οὐκ ἐλευθερίαν, αὑτοῖς ἐκπορίζοντες — πᾶσα γὰρ πόλις, καὶ ἡ εὐνομωτάτη, γέμει θορύβων καὶ ταραχῶν ἀμυθήτων, ἃς οὐκ ἂν ὑπομείναι τις ἅπαξ ὑπὸ σοφίας ἀχθείς —, §20ἀλλὰ τειχῶν ἔξω ποιοῦνται τὰς διατριβὰς ἐν κήποις ἢ μοναγρίαις ἐρημίαν μεταδιώκοντες, οὐ διά τινα ὠμὴν ἐπιτετηδευμένην μισανθρωπίαν, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἀνομοίων τὸ ἦθος ἐπιμιξίας ἀλυσιτελεῖς καὶ βλαβερὰς εἰδότες.
And they migrate, not to another city, like unfortunate or bad slaves who ask for a sale from their owners, procuring for themselves a change of masters, not freedom—for every city, even the best governed, is full of unspeakable noises and disturbances, which no one who has once been guided by wisdom would endure— but they make their abodes outside the walls, pursuing solitude in gardens or lonely properties, not because of any harsh, practiced misanthropy, but knowing that the mixtures with those who are unlike in character are unprofitable and harmful.
§21Πολλαχοῦ μὲν οὖν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐστὶ τὸ γένος — ἔδει γὰρ ἀγαθοῦ τελείου μετασχεῖν καὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὴν βάρβαρον —, πλεονάζει δὲ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καθ’ ἕκαστον τῶν ἐπικαλουμένων νόμων καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν.
This class, then, is found in many parts of the inhabited world—for it was necessary that both Greece and the barbarian lands should share in perfect good—but it abounds in Egypt in each of the so-called nomes, and especially around Alexandria.