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himself, not, as they say, being mad, but freed from the unstable and changeable corruption concerning the manifold variety of error, through the simple and ever-constant truth. I consider doing well, O men, to be nothing other than living according to truth; and living well or according to truth is not without understanding the nature of things. The inexperience of the teacher destroys the students, and the carelessness of the students brings danger to the teacher, and especially when they are lazy in addition to his ignorance. To fall under and yield to the passions is the utmost slavery, just as to have mastery over them is the only freedom. While the greatest good is not to sin, a second good is to be justified; but whoever does wrong for a long time and remains unpunished, this one must be considered the most unfortunate. It is necessary by the inexperience and wickedness of a charioteer for the team yoked under him to be carried over cliffs, just as by experience and virtue to be saved. The goal for the one who philosophizes is likeness to God, as far as possible. There is neither constraint with God nor anything innumerable. He speaks not of foreign nations, but of that which agrees with the nations according to what was said by Jeremiah: It is a bitter thing for you to have forsaken me, says the Lord your God, for of old you have broken your yoke and burst your bonds and you said: I will not serve you, but I will go upon every high mountain and under every tree, and there I will be dissolved in my fornication.

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ἑαυτόν, οὐχ, ὅ φασιν ἐκεῖνοι, μαινόμενον, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀστάτου καὶ ἀλλοιωτῆς περὶ τὴν παντοδαπῆ τῆς πλάνης ποικιλίαν φθορᾶς διὰ τῆς ἁπλῆς καὶ ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἐχούσης ἀληθείας ἠλευθερωμένον. Τὸ εὖ πράττειν ἡγοῦμαι, ὦ ἄνδρες, οὐκ ἄλλο τι εἶναι ἢ τὸ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ζῆν· τὸ δὲ εὖ ζῆν ἢ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν οὐκ ἄνευ τοῦ κατανοῆσαι τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων φύσιν. Ἡ τοῦ διδασκάλου ἀπειρία ἀπολλύει τοὺς μαθητευομέ νους, καὶ ἡ τῶν μαθητευομένων ἀμέλεια κίνδυνον φέρει τῷ δι δασκάλῳ, καὶ μάλιστα ὅταν παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀνεπιστημοσύνην ῥᾴθυμοι εἶεν ἐκεῖνοι. Τὸ ὑποπεσεῖν καὶ παραχωρῆσαι τοῖς πάθεσιν ἐσχάτη δουλεία, ὥσπερ τὸ κρατεῖν τούτων ἐλευθερία μόνη. Μεγίστου ὄντος ἀγαθοῦ τὸ μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν, δεύτερον ἀγα θὸν τὸ δικαιωθῆναι· ὅστις δὲ πολὺν χρόνον ἀδικῶν ἀκόλαστος μένει, τοῦτον δεῖ νομίζειν τὸν ἀτυχέστατον. Ἀνάγκη ἀπειρίᾳ καὶ κακίᾳ ἡνιόχου τὰ ὑπεζευγμένα κατὰ κρημνῶν φέρεσθαι, ὥσπερ ἐμπειρίᾳ καὶ ἀρετῇ διασώζεσθαι. Τέλος τῷ φιλοσοφοῦντι ἡ πρὸς θεὸν ὁμοίωσις κατὰ τὸ δυνατόν. Oὔτε στενοχωρία παρὰ θεῷ οὔτε ἀναρίθμητόν τι. Oὐ περὶ ἐθνῶν ἀλλοφύλων φησίν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τοῦ συμ φωνοῦντος τοῖς ἔθνεσιν κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ Ἱερεμίου· Πι κρόν σοι τὸ καταλιπεῖν ἐμέ, λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός σου, ὅτι ἀπ' αἰῶνος συνέτριψας ζυγόν σου καὶ διέῤῥηξας τοὺς δεσμούς σου καὶ εἶπας· Oὐ δουλεύσω σοι, ἀλλὰ πορεύσομαι ἐπὶ πᾶν ὄρος ὑψηλὸν καὶ ὑποκάτω παντὸς ξύλου, καὶ ἐκεῖ διαλυθήσομαι ἐν τῇ πορνείᾳ μου.