§5.731ΑΘ. καὶ τὸν μὲν μεταδιδόντα ὡς ἀκρότατον χρὴ τιμᾶν, τὸν δʼ αὖ μὴ δυνάμενον, ἐθέλοντα δέ, ἐᾶν δεύτερον, τὸν δὲ φθονοῦντα καὶ ἑκόντα μηδενὶ κοινωνὸν διὰ φιλίας γιγνόμενον ἀγαθῶν τινων αὐτὸν μὲν ψέγειν, τὸ δὲ κτῆμα μηδὲν μᾶλλον διὰ τὸν κεκτημένον ἀτιμάζειν, ἀλλὰ κτᾶσθαι κατὰ δύναμιν.
ATH. And we must honor the one who shares as being at the very peak, but in turn, the one who is not able but willing, we must let him be second, and the one who is envious and willingly becomes a partner through friendship in no good things with anyone, we must blame him himself, but not dishonor his possession any the more on account of the possessor, but acquire it according to our power.
φιλονικείτω δὲ ἡμῖν πᾶς πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἀφθόνως.
And let everyone among us compete for virtue without envy.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ τοιοῦτος τὰς πόλεις αὔξει, ἁμιλλώμενος μὲν αὐτός, τοὺς ἄλλους δὲ οὐ κολούων διαβολαῖς· ὁ δὲ φθονερός, τῇ τῶν ἄλλων διαβολῇ δεῖν οἰόμενος ὑπερέχειν, αὐτός τε ἧττον συντείνει πρὸς ἀρετὴν τὴν ἀληθῆ, τούς τε ἀνθαμιλλωμένους εἰς ἀθυμίαν καθίστησι τῷ ἀδίκως ψέγεσθαι, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ἀγύμναστον τὴν πόλιν ὅλην εἰς ἅμιλλαν ἀρετῆς ποιῶν, σμικροτέραν αὐτὴν πρὸς εὐδοξίαν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ μέρος ἀπεργάζεται.
For such a man increases cities, competing himself but not hindering others with slanders; but the envious man, thinking that he must excel by slandering others, himself strives less toward true virtue, and reduces those who compete with him to despondency by slandering them unjustly, and through these things, making the whole city unexercised in the competition for virtue, he works it smaller with respect to reputation as far as his own part is concerned.
θυμοειδῆ μὲν δὴ χρὴ πάντα ἄνδρα εἶναι, πρᾷον δὲ ὡς ὅτι μάλιστα.
Indeed, every man must be high-spirited, but as gentle as possible.
τὰ γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων χαλεπὰ καὶ δυσίατα ἢ καὶ τὸ παράπαν ἀνίατα ἀδικήματα οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἐκφυγεῖν ἢ μαχόμενον καὶ ἀμυνόμενον νικῶντα καὶ τῷ μηδὲν ἀνιέναι κολάζοντα, τοῦτο δὲ ἄνευ θυμοῦ γενναίου ψυχὴ πᾶσα ἀδύνατος δρᾶν.
For there is no other way to escape the difficult and hard-to-cure, or even altogether incurable, injustices of others than by fighting and defending oneself, conquering and punishing by letting go of nothing, and without a noble spirit every soul is unable to do this.
τὰ δʼ αὖ τῶν ὅσοι ἀδικοῦσιν μέν, ἰατὰ δέ, γιγνώσκειν χρὴ πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ἄδικος οὐχ ἑκὼν ἄδικος· τῶν γὰρ μεγίστων κακῶν οὐδεὶς οὐδαμοῦ οὐδὲν ἑκὼν κεκτῇτο ἄν ποτε, πολὺ δὲ ἥκιστα ἐν τοῖς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ τιμιωτάτοις.
On the other hand, concerning the actions of those who do injustice but are curable, one must first recognize that every unjust man is not unjust willingly; for no one anywhere would ever willingly possess any of the greatest evils, and least of all in those things of his that are most honorable.
ψυχὴ δʼ, ὡς εἴπομεν, ἀληθείᾳ γέ ἐστιν πᾶσιν τιμιώτατον· ἐν οὖν τῷ τιμιωτάτῳ τὸ μέγιστον κακὸν οὐδεὶς ἑκὼν μή ποτε λάβῃ καὶ ζῇ διὰ βίου κεκτημένος αὐτό.
And the soul, as we said, is in truth most honorable to all; therefore, in that which is most honorable, let no one ever willingly receive the greatest evil and live through life possessing it.
ἀλλὰ ἐλεεινὸς μὲν πάντως ὅ γε ἄδικος καὶ ὁ τὰ κακὰ ἔχων, ἐλεεῖν δὲ τὸν μὲν ἰάσιμα ἔχοντα ἐγχωρεῖ καὶ ἀνείργοντα τὸν θυμὸν πραΰνειν καὶ μὴ ἀκραχολοῦντα γυναικείως πικραινόμενον διατελεῖν, τῷ δʼ ἀκράτως καὶ ἀπαραμυθήτως πλημμελεῖ καὶ κακῷ ἐφιέναι δεῖ τὴν ὀργήν· διὸ δὴ θυμοειδῆ πρέπειν καὶ πρᾷόν φαμεν ἑκάστοτε εἶναι δεῖν τὸν ἀγαθόν.
But although the unjust man and the one who has evils is altogether pitiable, it is permitted to pity the one who has curable evils, and by restraining one's anger, to be gentle and not to continue acting with feminine bitterness and irritability, but one must let loose one's anger against the one who errs without restraint and without remedy, and is evil; wherefore we say that the good man must be high-spirited and gentle on each occasion.
πάντων δὲ μέγιστον κακῶν ἀνθρώποις τοῖς πολλοῖς ἔμφυτον ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἐστιν, οὗ πᾶς αὑτῷ συγγνώμην ἔχων ἀποφυγὴν οὐδεμίαν μηχανᾶται· τοῦτο δʼ ἔστιν ὃ λέγουσιν ὡς φίλος αὑτῷ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος φύσει τέ ἐστιν καὶ ὀρθῶς ἔχει τὸ δεῖν εἶναι τοιοῦτον.
But the greatest of all evils is inborn in the souls of most men, for which everyone, holding indulgence for himself, devises no escape; and this is what they say, that every man is by nature a friend to himself and that it is right that one must be such.
τὸ δὲ ἀληθείᾳ γε πάντων ἁμαρτημάτων διὰ τὴν σφόδρα ἑαυτοῦ φιλίαν αἴτιον ἑκάστῳ γίγνεται ἑκάστοτε.
But in truth, excessive love of oneself becomes on each occasion the cause of all errors for each.
§5.732ΑΘ. τυφλοῦται γὰρ περὶ τὸ φιλούμενον ὁ φιλῶν, ὥστε τὰ δίκαια καὶ τὰ ἀγαθὰ καὶ τὰ καλὰ κακῶς κρίνει, τὸ αὑτοῦ πρὸ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ἀεὶ τιμᾶν δεῖν ἡγούμενος· οὔτε γὰρ ἑαυτὸν οὔτε τὰ ἑαυτοῦ χρὴ τόν γε μέγαν ἄνδρα ἐσόμενον στέργειν, ἀλλὰ τὰ δίκαια, ἐάντε παρʼ αὑτῷ ἐάντε παρʼ ἄλλῳ μᾶλλον πραττόμενα τυγχάνῃ.
ATH. For the lover is blinded concerning the beloved, so that he judges unjustly what is just, good, and beautiful, thinking that he must always honor his own before the truth; for he who is to be a great man must love neither himself nor his own things, but what is just, whether it happens to be done rather by himself or by another.
ἐκ ταὐτοῦ δὲ ἁμαρτήματος τούτου καὶ τὸ τὴν ἀμαθίαν τὴν παρʼ αὑτῷ δοκεῖν σοφίαν εἶναι γέγονε πᾶσιν· ὅθεν οὐκ εἰδότες ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν οὐδέν, οἰόμεθα τὰ πάντα εἰδέναι, οὐκ ἐπιτρέποντες δὲ ἄλλοις ἃ μὴ ἐπιστάμεθα πράττειν, ἀναγκαζόμεθα ἁμαρτάνειν αὐτοὶ πράττοντες.
And from this same error, the appearance of one's own ignorance as wisdom has also arisen for all; whence knowing virtually nothing, we think we know everything, and by not permitting others to do what we do not understand, we are compelled to err by doing it ourselves.
διὸ πάντα ἄνθρωπον χρὴ φεύγειν τὸ σφόδρα φιλεῖν αὑτόν, τὸν δʼ ἑαυτοῦ βελτίω διώκειν ἀεί, μηδεμίαν αἰσχύνην ἐπὶ τῷ τοιούτῳ πρόσθεν ποιούμενον.
Therefore every man must flee the excessive loving of himself, and always pursue the one who is better than himself, making no shame before such a thing.
ἃ δὲ σμικρότερα μὲν τούτων καὶ λεγόμενα πολλάκις ἐστίν, χρήσιμα δὲ τούτων οὐχ ἧττον, χρὴ λέγειν ἑαυτὸν ἀναμιμνῄσκοντα· ὥσπερ γάρ τινος ἀπορρέοντος ἀεὶ δεῖ τοὐναντίον ἐπιρρεῖν, ἀνάμνησις δʼ ἐστὶν ἐπιρροὴ φρονήσεως ἀπολειπούσης.
And those things which are smaller than these and are often spoken of, but are no less useful than these, one must speak of, reminding oneself; for just as when something is always flowing out, the opposite must flow in, and recollection is the inflow of departing wisdom.
διὸ δὴ γελώτων τε εἴργεσθαι χρὴ τῶν ἐξαισίων καὶ δακρύων, παραγγέλλειν δὲ παντὶ πάντʼ ἄνδρα, καὶ ὅλην περιχάρειαν πᾶσαν ἀποκρυπτόμενον καὶ περιωδυνίαν εὐσχημονεῖν πειρᾶσθαι, κατά τε εὐπραγίας ἱσταμένου τοῦ δαίμονος ἑκάστου, καὶ κατὰ τύχας οἷον πρὸς ὑψηλὰ καὶ ἀνάντη δαιμόνων ἀνθισταμένων τισὶν πράξεσιν, ἐλπίζειν δʼ ἀεὶ τοῖς γε ἀγαθοῖσι τὸν θεὸν ἃ δωρεῖται πόνων μὲν ἐπιπιπτόντων ἀντὶ μειζόνων ἐλάττους ποιήσειν τῶν τʼ αὖ νῦν παρόντων ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον μεταβολάς, περὶ δὲ τὰ ἀγαθὰ τὰ ἐναντία τούτων ἀεὶ πάντʼ αὐτοῖς παραγενήσεσθαι μετʼ ἀγαθῆς τύχης.
Wherefore indeed one must restrain oneself from excessive laughter and tears, and every man must charge everyone, and by hiding all extreme joy and extreme pain, try to behave with decorum, both when each person's deity stands in prosperity, and when deities oppose certain actions with fortunes like high and steep paths, and always hope that for the good, the god, in the face of falling labors, will make them smaller instead of greater, and make changes for the better from those now present, and that concerning good things, the opposites of these will always be present to them with good fortune.
ταύταις δὴ ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ἕκαστον χρὴ ζῆν καὶ ταῖς ὑπομνήσεσι πάντων τῶν τοιούτων, μηδὲν φειδόμενον, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ κατά τε παιδιὰς καὶ σπουδὰς ἀναμιμνῄσκοντα ἕτερόν τε καὶ ἑαυτὸν σαφῶς.
In these hopes indeed each must live, and in the recollections of all such things, sparing nothing, but always clearly reminding both another and oneself, during both play and seriousness.
νῦν οὖν δὴ περὶ μὲν ἐπιτηδευμάτων, οἷα χρὴ ἐπιτηδεύειν, καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἑκάστου, ποῖόν τινα χρεὼν εἶναι, λέλεκται σχεδὸν ὅσα θεῖά ἐστι, τὰ δὲ ἀνθρώπινα νῦν ἡμῖν οὐκ εἴρηται, δεῖ δέ· ἀνθρώποις γὰρ διαλεγόμεθα ἀλλʼ οὐ θεοῖς.
Now indeed, concerning practices, what kind one must practice, and concerning each person himself, what kind of person he must be, almost all that is divine has been spoken, but the human things have not been spoken by us now, though they must be; for we are conversing with men and not with gods.
ἔστιν δὴ φύσει ἀνθρώπειον μάλιστα ἡδοναὶ καὶ λῦπαι καὶ ἐπιθυμίαι, ἐξ ὧν ἀνάγκη τὸ θνητὸν πᾶν ζῷον ἀτεχνῶς οἷον ἐξηρτῆσθαί τε καὶ ἐκκρεμάμενον εἶναι σπουδαῖς ταῖς μεγίσταις·
There is indeed by nature a very human element in pleasures, pains, and desires, from which all mortal living things are of necessity absolutely suspended, as it were, and hanging, with the greatest seriousness;