§14ἐκ τῶν Ἐπικτήτου ἀπομνημονευμάτων.
From the memoirs of Epictetus.
τοὺς δυσχερεῖς δὲ φιλοσόφους εἰς μέσον ἄγοντες, οἷς οὐ δοκεῖ κατὰ φύσιν ἡδονὴ εἶναι, ἀλλʼ ἐπιγίγνεσθαι τοῖς κατὰ φύσιν, δικαιοσύνῃ, σωφροσύνῃ, ἐλευθερίᾳ.
If we bring forward the severe philosophers, to whom pleasure does not seem to be according to nature, but to supervene upon the things according to nature, such as justice, temperance, and freedom.
τί ποτʼ οὖν ἡ ψυχὴ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῖς τοῦ σώματος ἀγαθοῖς μικροτέροις οὖσι χαίρει καὶ γαληνιᾷ, ὥς φησιν Ἐπίκουρος, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῖς αὑτῆς ἀγαθοῖς μεγίστοις οὖσιν οὐχ ἥδεται;
Why on earth then does the soul rejoice and become tranquil in the case of the goods of the body, which are smaller, as Epicurus says, but does not take pleasure in its own goods, which are greatest?
καίτοι καὶ δέδωκέ μοι ἡ φύσις αἰδῶ καὶ πολλὰ ὑπερυθριῶ, ὅταν τι ὑπολάβω αἰσχρὸν λέγειν.
And yet nature has given me a sense of shame, and I blush deeply whenever I perceive myself to be saying something shameful.
τοῦτό με τὸ κίνημα οὐκ ἐᾷ τὴν ἡδονὴν θέσθαι ἀγαθὸν καὶ τέλος τοῦ βίου.
This movement does not allow me to set down pleasure as a good and the end of life.
§15ἐκ τῶν Ἐπικτήτου ἀπομνημονευμάτων.
From the memoirs of Epictetus.
ἐν Ῥώμῃ αἱ γυναῖκες μετὰ χεῖρας ἔχουσι τὴν Πλάτωνος Πολιτείαν, ὅτι κοινὰς ἀξιοῖ εἶναι τὰς γυναῖκας.
In Rome, the women have Plato's Republic in their hands, because he deems it right that women should be common.
τοῖς γὰρ ῥήμασι προσέχουσι τὸν νοῦν, οὐ τῇ διανοίᾳ τἀνδρός, ὅτι οὐ γαμεῖν κελεύων καὶ συνοικεῖν ἕνα μιᾷ εἶτα κοινὰς εἶναι βούλεται τὰς γυναῖκας, ἀλλʼ ἐξαιρῶν τὸν τοιοῦτον γάμον καὶ ἄλλο τι εἶδος γάμου εἰσφέρων.
For they pay attention to the words, not to the thought of the man, because he does not, while bidding one man marry and live with one woman, then wish women to be common, but by abolishing this kind of marriage and introducing another kind of marriage.
καὶ τὸ ὅλον οἱ ἄνθρωποι χαίρουσιν ἀπολογίας τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ἁμαρτήμασι πορίζοντες· ἐπεί τοι φιλοσοφία φησίν, ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸν δάκτυλον ἐκτείνειν εἰκῇ προσήκει.
And on the whole, people rejoice in providing defenses for their own sins; since indeed philosophy says that it is not fitting even to stretch out one's finger at random.
§16ἐκ τῶν Ἐπικτήτου ἀπομνημονευμάτων.
From the memoirs of Epictetus.
εἰδέναι χρή, ὅτι οὐ ῥᾴδιον δόγμα παραγενέσθαι ἀνθρώπῳ, εἰ μὴ καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ λέγοι τις καὶ ἀκούοι καὶ ἅμα χρῷτο πρὸς τὸν βίον.
One must know that it is not easy for a principle to be present in a man, unless every day one both says and hears the same things and at the same time applies them to life.
§17Ἐπικτήτου.
Of Epictetus.
εἰς συμπόσιον μὲν οὖν παρακληθέντες τῷ παρόντι χρώμεθα· εἰ δέ τις κελεύοι τὸν ὑποδεχόμενον ἰχθῦς αὐτῷ παρατιθέναι ἢ πλακοῦντας, ἄτοπος ἂν δόξειεν.
When we are invited to a banquet, we enjoy what is set before us; but if anyone should order the host to set fish or cakes before him, he would seem absurd.
ἐν δὲ τῷ κόσμῳ αἰτοῦμεν τοὺς θεούς, ἃ μὴ διδόασι, καὶ ταῦτα πολλῶν ὄντων, ἅ γε ἡμῖν δεδώκασι.
But in the world we ask the gods for things which they do not give, and that too when there are many things which they have actually given us.
§18τοῦ αὐτοῦ.
Of the same author.
χαρίεντες, ἔφη, εἰσὶν οἱ μέγα φρονοῦντες ἐπὶ τοῖς οὐκ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν. ἐγώ,
φησί,
κρείττων εἰμί σου· ἀγροὺς γὰρ ἔχω πολλούς, σὺ δὲ λιμῷ παρατείνῃ. ἄλλος λέγει
ἐγὼ ὑπατικός εἰμι. ἄλλος
ἐγὼ ἐπίτροπος· ἄλλος
ἐγὼ οὔλας τρίχας ἔχω. ἵππος δʼ ἵππῳ οὐ λέγει ὅτι
κρείττων εἰμί σου· πολὺν γὰρ κέκτημαι χιλὸν καὶ κριθὰς πολλὰς καὶ χαλινοί μοί εἰσι χρυσοῖ καὶ ἐφίππια ποικίλα,
ἀλλʼ ὅτι
ὠκύτερός σου εἰμί. καὶ πᾶν ζῷον κρεῖττον καὶ χεῖρόν ἐστιν ἐκ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας.
"Witty," he said, "are those who pride themselves on things not in our power." "I," says one, "am better than you; for I have many fields, while you are wasting away with hunger." Another says, "I am an ex-consul." Another, "I am a procurator." Another, "I have curly hair." But a horse does not say to a horse, "I am better than you; for I possess much fodder and much barley, and I have golden bridles and variegated saddles," but, "I am swifter than you." And every living being is better and worse according to its own virtue and vice.
ἆρʼ οὖν ἀνθρώπου μόνου ἀρετὴ οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ δεῖ ἡμᾶς εἰς τρίχας ἀφορᾶν καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια καὶ τοὺς πάππους;
Is there then no virtue of man alone, but must we look to hair and clothes and grandfathers?
§19τῷ μὲν ἰατρῷ μηδὲν συμβουλεύοντι ἄχθονται οἱ κάμνοντες καὶ ἡγοῦνται ἀπεγνῶσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ· πρὸς δὲ τὸν φιλόσοφον διὰ τί οὐκ ἄν τις οὕτω διατεθείη, ὥστε οἰηθῆναι ἀπεγνῶσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ σωφρονήσειν, εἰ μηδὲν λέγοι πρὸς αὐτὸν τῶν χρησίμων;
When the physician gives no advice, the sick are displeased and think they have been given up by him; but toward the philosopher, why should one not be so disposed as to think that they have been despaired of by him as to whether they will ever be wise, if he should say nothing useful to them?
§20τοῦ αὐτοῦ.
Of the same author.
οἱ τὸ σῶμα εὖ διακείμενοι καὶ καύματα καὶ ψύχη ὑπομένουσιν· οὕτω δὲ καὶ οἱ τὴν ψυχὴν καλῶς διακείμενοι καὶ ὀργὴν καὶ λύπην καὶ περιχάρειαν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάθη φέρουσιν.
Those who are in good bodily condition endure both heat and cold; so also those who are in a good state of soul bear anger, grief, excessive joy, and the other passions.
§21Ἐπικτήτου.
Of Epictetus.
διὰ τοῦτο ἐπαινεῖν Ἀγριππῖνον δίκαιον, ὅτι πλείστου ἄξιος ἀνὴρ γενόμενος οὐδεπώποτε ἐπῄνεσεν ἑαυτόν, ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ ἄλλος τις αὐτὸν ἐπῄνει, ἠρυθρία.
For this reason it is right to praise Agrippinus, because, though he became a man of the greatest worth, he never praised himself, but even if someone else praised him, he used to blush.
οὗ τος δʼ, ἔφη, ὁ ἀνὴρ τοιοῦτος ἦν, ὥστε τοῦ συμβαίνοντος ἀεὶ ἑαυτῷ δυσκόλου ἔπαινον γράφειν· εἰ μὲν πυρέττοι, πυρετοῦ· εἰ δὲ ἀδοξοῖ, ἀδοξίας· εἰ δὲ φεύγοι, φυγῆς.
"And this man," he said, "was of such a character as to write a praise of whatever difficulty happened to him: if he had a fever, of the fever; if he fell into disrepute, of disrepute; if he were exiled, of exile.
καί ποτε μέλλοντι, ἔφη, αὐτῷ ἀριστήσειν ἐπέστη ὁ λέγων, ὅτι φεύγειν αὐτὸν κελεύει Νέρων, καὶ ὃς
οὐκοῦν,
εἶπεν,
ἐν Ἀρικίᾳ ἀριστήσομεν.
And once," he said, "when he was about to have breakfast, there stood by him someone saying that Nero ordered him into exile; and he said, 'Well then, we will breakfast in Aricia.'"