§52.8Ex his autem, qui sunt, eligamus non eos, qui verba magna celeritate praecipiant et communes locos volvunt et in privato circulantur,sed eos, qui vita docent, qui cum dixerunt, quid faciendum sit, probant faciendo, qui docent, quid vitandum sit, nec umquam in eo, quod fugiendum dixerunt, deprehenduntur.
But from those who are alive, let us choose not those who pour forth words with great speed, roll out commonplaces, and hawk their wares in private circles, but those who teach by their life, who, when they have said what must be done, prove it by doing, and who teach what must be avoided, yet are never caught in that which they have said should be shunned.
Eum elige adiutorem, quem magis admireris, cum videris quam cum audieris.
Choose that helper whom you admire more when you have seen him than when you have heard him.
§52.9Nec ideo te prohibuerim hos quoque audire, quibus admittere populum ac disserere consuetudo est, si modo hoc proposito in turbam prodeunt, ut meliores fiant faciantque meliores, si non ambitionis hoc causa exercent.
Nor for that reason would I forbid you to listen to these men as well, whose custom it is to admit the public and hold discussions, provided they go out into the crowd with this purpose, that they themselves may become better and make others better, and if they do not practice this for the sake of ambition.
Quid enim turpius philosophia captante clamores? Numquid aeger laudat medicum secantem?
For what is baser than philosophy hunting for applause? Does a sick man praise the surgeon who is cutting him?
§52.10Tacete, favete et praebete vos curationi.
Be silent, show favor, and offer yourselves to the cure.
Etiam si exclamaveritis, non aliter audiam, quam si ad tactum vitiorum vestrorum ingemescatis.
Even if you cry out, I shall not hear it otherwise than as if you were groaning at the touch of your vices.
Testari vultis adtendere vos moverique magnitudine rerum? Sane liceat; ut quidem iudicetis et feratis de meliore suffragium, quidni non permittam? Apud Pythagoram discipulis quinque annis tacendum erat; numquid ergo existimas statim illis et loqui et laudare licuisse?
Do you wish to bear witness that you are paying attention and are moved by the greatness of the subject? By all means, let it be allowed; but as for your judging and casting a vote on the better man, why indeed should I not disallow it? Under Pythagoras, the disciples had to keep silent for five years; do you think, then, that they were immediately allowed both to speak and to praise?
§52.11Quanta autem dementia eius est, quem clamores inperitorum hilarem ex auditorio dimittunt? Quid laetaris, quod ab hominibus his laudatus es, quos non potes ipse laudare? Disserebat populo Fabianus, sed audiebatur modeste.
But how great is the madness of him whom the shouts of the ignorant dismiss joyful from the lecture-room! Why do you rejoice that you have been praised by these men whom you yourself cannot praise? Fabianus used to hold discussions before the people, but he was listened to with restraint.
Erumpebat interdum magnus clamor laudantium, sed quem rerum magnitudo evocaverat, non sonus inoffense ac molliter orationis elapsae.
Occasionally a great shout of praise would break out, but it was one which the greatness of the subject-matter had called forth, not the smooth and soft sound of a speech flowing without obstacle.
§52.12Intersit aliquid inter clamorem theatri et scholae; est aliqua et laudandi decentia.
Let there be some difference between the shout of the theater and that of the school; there is also a certain decency in praising.
Omnia rerum omnium, si observentur, indicia sunt et argumentum morum ex minimis quoque licet capere: inpudicum et incessus ostendit et manus mota et unum interdum responsum et relatus ad caput digitus et flexus oculorum.
All things of all things, if they are observed, are indications, and it is permitted to grasp proof of character even from the smallest things: the shameless man is revealed by his gait, the movement of his hand, sometimes a single answer, the scratching of his head with a finger, and the glance of his eyes.
Inprobum risus, insanum vultus habitusque demonstrat.
Laughter reveals the wicked man, the face and bearing reveal the madman.
Illa enim in apertum per notas exeunt; qualis quisque sit, scies, si quemadmodum laudet, quemadmodum laudetur, aspexeris.
For those qualities come out into the open through signs; you will know what sort of person each one is if you look at how he praises and how he is praised.
§52.13Hinc atque illinc philosopho manus auditor intentat et super ipsum caput mirantium turba consistit; non laudatur ille nunc, si intellegis, sed conclamatur.
From this side and that, the listener stretches out his hands toward the philosopher, and a crowd of admirers stands over his very head; he is not being praised now, if you understand, but is being shouted at.
Relinquantur istae voces illis artibus, quae propositum habent populo placere; philosophia adoretur.
Let those voices be left to those arts which have the purpose of pleasing the populace; let philosophy be worshipped.
§52.14Permittendum erit aliquando iuvenibus sequi impetum animi, tunc autem, cum hoc ex impetu facient, cum silentium sibi imperare non poterunt.
Sometimes young men must be allowed to follow the impulse of their mind, but only then, when they do this from impulse, when they cannot command silence for themselves.
Talis laudatio aliquid exhortationis adfert ipsis audientibus et animos adulescentium exstimulat.
Such praise brings some encouragement to the hearers themselves and stimulates the minds of the young.
Ad rem commoveantur, non ad verba conposita; alioquin nocet illis eloquentia, si non rerum cupiditatem facit, sed sui.
Let them be moved by the matter, not by well-arranged words; otherwise eloquence harms them, if it does not create a desire for things, but for itself.
§52.15Differam hoc in praesentia; desiderat enim propriam et longam exsecutionem, quemadmodum populo disserendum, quid sibi apud populum permittendum sit, quid populo apud se.
I shall defer this for the present; for it requires a specific and long discussion, namely, how one should hold discussions before the people, what should be permitted to oneself before the people, and what to the people before oneself.
Damnum quidem fecisse philosophiam non erit dubium, postquam prostituta est.
Indeed there will be no doubt that philosophy has suffered damage since it has been prostituted.
Sed potest in penetralibus suis ostendi, si modo non institorem, sed antistitem nancta est.
But it can be shown in its inner sanctuaries, if only it has found not a retailer, but a priest.
VALE.
FAREWELL.