§4.3#2ὑπερόπται δὲ καὶ ὑβρισταὶ καὶ οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἔχοντες ἀγαθὰ γίνονται.
But those who possess such goods without virtue also become supercilious and insolent.
ἄνευ γὰρ ἀρετῆς οὐ ῥᾴδιον φέρειν ἐμμελῶς τὰ εὐτυχήματα· οὐ δυνάμενοι δὲφέρειν καὶ οἰόμενοι τῶν ἄλλων ὑπερέχειν ἐκείνων μὲν καταφρονοῦσιν, αὐτοὶ δʼ ὅ τι ἂν τύχωσι πράττουσιν.
For without virtue it is not easy to bear good fortune decorously; and being unable to bear it, and thinking themselves superior to others, they despise them, while they themselves do whatever they please.
μιμοῦνται γὰρ τὸν μεγαλόψυχον οὐχ ὅμοιοι ὄντες, τοῦτο δὲ δρῶσιν ἐν οἷς δύνανται· τὰ μὲν οὖν κατʼ ἀρετὴν οὐ πράττουσι, καταφρονοῦσι δὲ τῶν ἄλλων.
For they imitate the magnanimous person without being like him, and they do this in such ways as they can; thus, they do not act in accordance with virtue, but they despise others.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ μεγαλόψυχος δικαίως καταφρονεῖ (δοξάζει γὰρ ἀληθῶς), οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ τυχόντως.
For the magnanimous person despises others justly (since he estimates them truly), but the multitude do so at random.
οὐκ ἔστι δὲ μικροκίνδυνος οὐδὲ φιλοκίνδυνος διὰ τὸ ὀλίγα τιμᾶν, μεγαλοκίνδυνος δέ, καὶ ὅταν κινδυνεύῃ, ἀφειδὴς τοῦ βίου ὡς οὐκ ἄξιον ὂν πάντως ζῆν.
He is not given to facing minor dangers, nor is he a lover of danger, because he values few things; but he is ready to face great dangers, and when he is in danger, he is unsparing of his life, knowing that there are conditions under which life is not worth living.
καὶ οἷος εὖ ποιεῖν, εὐεργετούμενος δʼ αἰσχύνεται· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὑπερέχοντος, τὸ δʼ ὑπερεχομένου.
He is the sort of person who does benefits, but is ashamed of receiving them; for the former is the mark of a superior, the latter of an inferior.
καὶ ἀντευεργετικὸς πλειόνων· οὕτω γάρ οἱ προσοφλήσει ὁ ὑπάρξας καὶ ἔσται εὖ πεπονθώς.
And he is apt to confer greater benefits in return; for thus the original benefactor will besides become indebted to him and will be the beneficiary.
δοκοῦσι δὲ καὶ μνημονεύειν οὗ ἂν ποιήσωσιν εὖ, ὧν δʼ ἂν πάθωσιν οὔ (ἐλάττων γὰρ ὁ παθὼν εὖ τοῦ ποιήσαντος, βούλεται δʼ ὑπερέχειν), καὶ τὰ μὲν ἡδέως ἀκούειν, τὰ δʼ ἀηδῶς· διὸ καὶ τὴν Θέτιν οὐ λέγειν τὰς εὐεργεσίας τῷ Διί, οὐδʼ οἱ Λάκωνες πρὸς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, ἀλλʼ ἃ πεπόνθεσαν εὖ.
They seem also to remember any service they have done, but not those they have received (for the recipient is inferior to the benefactor, and the magnanimous person wishes to be superior), and they hear of the former with pleasure, but of the latter with displeasure; this is why, they say, Thetis did not mention her services to Zeus, nor did the Lacedaemonians mention theirs to the Athenians, but rather the benefits they had received.
μεγαλοψύχου δὲ καὶ τὸ μηδενὸς δεῖσθαι ἢ μόλις, ὑπηρετεῖν δὲ προθύμως, καὶ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἐν ἀξιώματι καὶ εὐτυχίαις μέγαν εἶναι, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς μέσους μέτριον· τῶν μὲν γὰρ ὑπερέχειν χαλεπὸν καὶ σεμνόν, τῶν δὲ ῥᾴδιον, καὶ ἐπʼ ἐκείνοις μὲν σεμνύνεσθαι οὐκ ἀγεννές, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ταπεινοῖς φορτικόν, ὥσπερ εἰς τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς ἰσχυρίζεσθαι·
It is also characteristic of the magnanimous person to ask for nothing, or but hardly, but to render service readily, and to bear himself loftily towards those of high standing and fortune, but moderately towards those of middle station; for to tower over the former is difficult and noble, but over the latter is easy, and to behave with dignity among the former is not ungenerous, but to do so among the lowly is vulgar, just like showing off one's strength against the weak.
καὶ εἰς τὰ ἔντιμα μὴ ἰέναι, ἢ οὗ πρωτεύουσιν ἄλλοι· καὶ ἀργὸν εἶναι καὶ μελλητὴν ἀλλʼ ἢ ὅπου τιμὴ μεγάλη ἢ ἔργον, καὶ ὀλίγων μὲν πρακτικόν, μεγάλων δὲ καὶ ὀνομαστῶν.
And he will not enter for public honors, or where others hold the first place; and he is idle and hesitant, except where there is great honor or a great deed, and is a doer of few things, but of great and famous ones.
ἀναγκαῖον δὲ καὶ φανερομισῆ εἶναι καὶ φανερόφιλον (τὸ γὰρ λανθάνειν φοβουμένου, καὶ ἀμελεῖν τῆς ἀληθείας μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς δόξης), καὶ λέγειν καὶ πράττειν φανερῶς (παρρησιαστὴς γὰρ διὰ τὸ καταφρονητικὸς εἶναι, καὶ ἀληθευτικός, πλὴν ὅσα μὴ διʼ εἰρωνείαν πρὸς τοὺς πολλούς), καὶ πρὸς ἄλλον μὴ δύνασθαι ζῆν ἀλλʼ ἢ φίλον· δουλικὸν γάρ· διὸ καὶ πάντες οἱ κόλακες θητικοὶ καὶ οἱ ταπεινοὶ κόλακες.
He must also be open in his hate and open in his love (for to conceal one's feelings is the mark of a timid person, and to care less for truth than for reputation), and to speak and act openly (for he is free-spoken because he is contemptuous, and he is truthful, except when he speaks with irony to the multitude), and he cannot live in adaptation to another, except it be a friend; for to do so is servile, which is why all flatterers are hirelings and people of low station are flatterers.
οὐδὲ θαυμαστικός· οὐδὲν γὰρ μέγα αὐτῷ ἐστίν.
Nor is he given to admiration, for nothing is great to him.
οὐδὲ μνησίκακος· οὐ γὰρ μεγαλοψύχου τὸ ἀπομνημονεύειν, ἄλλως τε καὶ κακά, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον παρορᾶν.
Nor does he bear grudges; for it is not the mark of a magnanimous person to retain memories of things, especially of wrongs, but rather to overlook them.
οὐδʼ ἀνθρωπολόγος· οὔτε γὰρ περὶ αὑτοῦ ἐρεῖ οὔτε περὶ ἑτέρου· οὔτε γὰρ ἵνα ἐπαινῆται μέλει αὐτῷ οὔθʼ ὅπως οἱ ἄλλοι ψέγωνται· οὐδʼ αὖ ἐπαινετικός ἐστιν· διόπερ οὐδὲ κακολόγος, οὐδὲ τῶν ἐχθρῶν, εἰ μὴ διʼ ὕβριν.
Nor is he a gossip; for he will speak neither about himself nor about another, since he cares neither to be praised himself nor that others should be blamed; nor, again, is he given to praising; and for this reason he does not speak ill of others, not even of his enemies, except in case of insolence.
καὶ περὶ ἀναγκαίων ἢ μικρῶν ἥκιστα ὀλοφυρτικὸς καὶ δεητικός· σπουδάζοντος γὰρ οὕτως ἔχειν περὶ ταῦτα.
And about things necessary or small he is least of all given to lamentation and entreaty; for to behave so about these things is the mark of one who takes them seriously.
καὶ οἷος κεκτῆσθαι μᾶλλον τὰ καλὰ καὶ ἄκαρπα τῶν καρπίμων καὶ ὠφελίμων· αὐτάρκους γὰρ μᾶλλον.
He is also the sort of person who prefers to possess beautiful and useless things rather than productive and useful ones; for this is more characteristic of a self-sufficient person.
καὶ κίνησις δὲ βραδεῖα τοῦ μεγαλοψύχου δοκεῖ εἶναι, καὶ φωνὴ βαρεῖα, καὶ λέξις στάσιμος· οὐ γὰρ σπευστικὸς ὁ περὶ ὀλίγα σπουδάζων, οὐδὲ σύντονος ὁ μηδὲν μέγα οἰόμενος· ἡ δʼ ὀξυφωνία καὶ ἡ ταχυτὴς διὰ τούτων.
Further, the movement of the magnanimous person is thought to be slow, his voice deep, and his speech measured; for he who is serious about few things is not in a hurry, and he who thinks nothing great is not tense; and a shrill voice and rapid pace are due to these.
τοιοῦτος μὲν οὖν ὁ μεγαλόψυχος· ὁ δʼ ἐλλείπων μικρόψυχος, ὁ δʼ ὑπερβάλλων χαῦνος.
Such, then, is the magnanimous person; the one who falls short is pusillanimous, and the one who exceeds is vain.
οὐ κακοὶ μὲν οὖν δοκοῦσιν εἶναι οὐδʼ οὗτοι (οὐ γὰρ κακοποιοί εἰσιν), ἡμαρτημένοι δέ.
Now, these also are not thought to be bad (for they do no evil), but only mistaken.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ μικρόψυχος ἄξιος ὢν ἀγαθῶν ἑαυτὸν ἀποστερεῖ ὧν ἄξιός ἐστι, καὶ ἔοικε κακὸν ἔχειν τι ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ἀξιοῦν ἑαυτὸν τῶν ἀγαθῶν, καὶ ἀγνοεῖν δʼ ἑαυτόν· ὠρέγετο γὰρ ἂν ὧν ἄξιος ἦν, ἀγαθῶν γε ὄντων.
For the pusillanimous person, being worthy of good things, deprives himself of what he deserves, and seems to have something bad about him from the fact of his not deeming himself worthy of good things, and to be ignorant of himself; for otherwise he would have desired the things he was worthy of, since they are good.
οὐ μὴν ἠλίθιοί γε οἱ τοιοῦτοι δοκοῦσιν εἶναι, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὀκνηροί.
Yet such people are not thought to be foolish, but rather hesitant.
ἡ τοιαύτη δὲ δόξα δοκεῖ καὶ χείρους ποιεῖν· ἕκαστοι γὰρ ἐφίενται τῶν κατʼ ἀξίαν, ἀφίστανται δὲ καὶ τῶν πράξεων τῶν καλῶν καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ὡς ἀνάξιοι ὄντες, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐκτὸς ἀγαθῶν.
And this self-evaluation seems even to make them worse; for everyone aims at what is in accordance with their worth, but these people stand aloof even from noble actions and pursuits on the ground that they are unworthy, and similarly from external goods.
οἱ δὲ χαῦνοι ἠλίθιοι καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ἀγνοοῦντες, καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐπιφανῶς· οὐ γὰρ ἄξιοι ὄντες τοῖς ἐντίμοις ἐπιχειροῦσιν, εἶτα ἐξελέγχονται· καὶ ἐσθῆτι κοσμοῦνται καὶ σχήματι καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις, καὶ βούλονται τὰ εὐτυχήματα καὶ φανερὰ εἶναι αὑτῶν, καὶ λέγουσι περὶ αὐτῶν ὡς διὰ τούτων τιμηθησόμενοι.
But vain people are foolish and ignorant of themselves, and that conspicuously; for, not being worthy, they attempt honorable undertakings and are then shown up; and they adorn themselves with fine clothes and poses and such things, and wish their good fortune to be public, and speak about it as if they would be honored because of it.
ἀντιτίθεται δὲ τῇ μεγαλοψυχίᾳ ἡ μικροψυχία μᾶλλον τῆς χαυνότητος· καὶ γὰρ γίνεται μᾶλλον καὶ χεῖρόν ἐστιν.
But pusillanimity is more opposed to magnanimity than vanity is; for it both occurs more frequently and is worse.
ἡ μὲν οὖν μεγαλοψυχία περὶ τιμήν ἐστι μεγάλην, ὥσπερ εἴρηται.
Magnanimity, then, is concerned with great honor, as has been said.