§1.6"o(/ti mo/non to\ kalo\n a)gaqo/n. "
vereor ne cui vestrum ex Socraticorum hominum disputationibus, non ex meo sensu deprompta haec videatur oratio;
"o(/ti mo/non to kalo\n a)gaqo/n." I fear lest to any of you this discourse may seem to be drawn from the discussions of the Socratic school, and not from my own feeling; yet I will say what I think, and I will say it more briefly than so great a matter can be discussed.
dicam quod sentio tamen et dicam brevius quam res tanta dici potest. numquam hercule ego neque pecunias istorum neque tecta magnifica neque opes neque imperia neque eas, quibus maxime astricti sunt, voluptates in bonis rebus aut expetendis esse duxi, quippe cum viderem rebus his circumfluentis ea tamen desiderare maxime, quibus abundarent; neque enim umquam expletur nec satiatur cupiditatis sitis, neque solum ea qui habent libidine augendi cruciantur, sed etiam amittendi metu.
By Hercules, I have never regarded either the money of those men, nor their magnificent houses, nor their wealth, nor their power, nor those pleasures to which they are especially enslaved, as being among good things or things to be desired; since indeed I saw that men overflowing with these things still especially desired those very things in which they abounded; for the thirst of desire is never filled or satisfied, and those who possess them are tormented not only by the passion for increasing them, but also by the fear of losing them.
§1.7in quo equidem continentissimorum hominum, maiorum nostrorum, saepe requiro prudentiam, qui haec inbecilla et conmutabilia verbo
"bona"
putaverunt appellanda, cum re ac factis longe aliter iudicavissent.
In which matter indeed I often regret the lack of prudence in our ancestors, those most continent of men, who thought that these weak and changeable things should be called "good" in word, although in fact and deed they had judged far otherwise.
potestne bonum cuiquam malo esse aut potest quisquam in abundantia bonorum ipse esse non bonus? atqui ista omnia talia videmus, ut et inprobi habeant et absint probis.
Can anything good be an evil to anyone, or can anyone in an abundance of good things be himself not good? And yet we see that all those things are of such a nature that both the wicked possess them and they are absent from the good.
§1.8quam ob rem licet inrideat si qui volt, plus apud me tamen vera ratio valebit quam volgi opinio;
Wherefore, let anyone laugh who wishes; yet with me true reason will have more weight than the opinion of the common people.
neque ego umquam bona perdidisse dicam, si quis pecus aut supellectilem amiserit, nec non saepe laudabo sapientem illum, Biantem, ut opinor, qui numeratur in septem: cuius cum patriam Prienam cepisset hostis ceterique ita fugerent, ut multa de suis rebus asportarent, cum esset admonitus a quodam ut idem ipse faceret,
"ego vero"
inquit
"facio; nam omnia mecum porto mea. " §1.9ille haec ludibria fortunae ne sua quidem putavit, quae nos appellamus etiam bona.
Nor will I ever say that anyone has lost good things if he has lost his cattle or furniture; and I will often praise that famous wise man, Bias, I believe, who is numbered among the Seven: when the enemy had captured his homeland, Priene, and the others were fleeing in such a way as to carry away many of their goods, when he was advised by someone to do the same himself, he said, "But I am indeed doing so; for I carry all my things with me." He did not even consider as his own these playthings of fortune, which we even call "goods".
quid est igitur, quaeret aliquis, bonum? si, quod recte fit et honeste et cum virtute, id bene fieri vere dicitur, quod rectum et honestum et cum virtute est, id solum opinor bonum.
What then, someone will ask, is good? If that which is done rightly, honorably, and with virtue is truly said to be done "well", then that which is right, honorable, and with virtue is, in my opinion, the only good.
§1.10sed haec videri possunt odiosiora, cum lentius disputantur: vita atque factis inlustrata sunt summorum virorum;
But these things may seem somewhat tedious when they are discussed too leisurely; they have been illustrated by the life and deeds of the greatest men.
quaero enim a vobis, num ullam cogitationem habuisse videantur ii, qui hanc rein publicam tam praeclare fundatam nobis reliquerunt, aut argenti ad avaritiam aut amoenitatum ad delectationem aut supellectilis ad delicias aut epularum ad voluptates? ponite ante oculos unum quemque.
For I ask of you, whether those who left us this republic so excellently founded seem to have had any thought either of silver for avarice, or of pleasant places for delight, or of furniture for luxury, or of banquets for pleasures? Place each one of them before your eyes.
§1.11voltis a Romulo? voltis post liberam civitatem ab iis ipsis, qui liberaverunt? quibus tandem Romulus gradibus escendit in caelum? iisne, quae isti bona appellant, an rebus gestis atque virtutibus? quid? a Numa Pompilio minusne gratas dis inmortalibus capudines ac fictilis urnulas fuisse quam felicatas Saliorum pateras arbitramur? omitto reliquos; sunt enim omnes pares inter se praeter Superbum.
Do you wish to begin with Romulus? Or, after the free state was established, with those very men who liberated it? By what steps, pray, did Romulus ascend to heaven? By those things which those men call "goods", or by his deeds and virtues? What? Do we believe that the ladles and clay urns of Numa Pompilius were less pleasing to the immortal gods than the gilded bowls of the Salii? I omit the rest; for they are all equal among themselves except for the Proud One.