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is established. For in the light we see all things clearly; but in the same way, those who have occupied themselves with the foolishness of life are able to see nothing of divine things nor to look through to intelligible things, but what they see, they do not see rightly but see them very much defeated; for they consider things that are not beautiful to be beautiful, and they consider those poor in virtue to be rich, and they regard as seemly those who are full of all unseemliness from their deeds. But those who obey the wisdom of God know what is truly beautiful and what is wicked, and what things that exist are good; wherefore they also regulate their own lives according to these things. 2.14 The eyes of the wise man are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness [always looking down and having his ruling faculty darkened]. {Of Dionysius.} And yet all we humans have our eyes in our head, according to the position of the body; but he speaks of the eyes of the mind. For just as the eyes of a pig do not look up to heaven, because it is naturally formed to look down to its belly, so the mind of one who has once been sweetened by pleasures is with difficulty drawn away from them, because of not looking to the commandments of the Lord in all things. And again, the head of the church is Christ. And wise are those who walk in his way, because he said: I am the way. Therefore, the wise man must always direct the eyes of his mind to Christ himself, so that in nothing, neither in the prosperity of a matter may he be lifted up, nor in misfortune may he be neglectful, because his judgments are abysses, which you will know more accurately from the things that follow. And I also knew that one event will happen to them all. And I said in my heart: as the event of the fool will happen to me, and to what purpose was I wise? And I spoke a superfluous thing in my heart, because the fool speaks out of abundance, and this too is vanity. That there is no remembrance of the wise with the fool forever, inasmuch as already the coming days have forgotten all things; and how will the wise man die with the fool? {Of Dionysius and Nilus.} The sequence of the argument through the following words heals those who are fainthearted concerning this life, for whom the matter of death and bodily infirmities are considered something difficult, and for this reason they reckon no gain from the virtuous life, because there is no difference in these events between the wise and the foolish. He speaks then the words of a wandering thought that has inclined towards foolishness, whence he also adds: that the fool speaks out of abundance, calling himself a fool or anyone who reasons thus. Therefore, condemning this absurd notion—for which reason he also spoke it reservedly in his heart, certainly fearing the just condemnation from those who were about to hear—he resolves the objection of the difficulty by reasoning. For the "to what purpose was I wise?" was of one who is hesitant and doubtful, whether he has spent himself well or in vain on wisdom, if indeed he has no advantages over the fool, being subject to the same passions as him in the present age. And for this reason, he says, I spoke a superfluous thing in my heart, thinking there to be nothing between a wise man and a fool, since there is no remembrance of the wise with the fool forever. For the events of life are transient, whether they be grievous or not, about which he says: inasmuch as all things are already forgotten, since after a short time has passed, the things that happen in life are extinguished by forgetfulness for men. And they themselves, to whom these things have happened, are not remembered in the same way, even if they encountered similar life events. For they are not remembered from these things, but according to whether they had wisdom or foolishness, virtue or vice. For the memories of these things are not extinguished for men, because of the rewards for them. For this reason he consistently added: and how will the wise man die with the fool? For the death of sinners is evil, but the memory of the righteous is with praise, and the name of the ungodly is extinguished. 2.2223 That which comes to a man in all his toil and in the choice of his heart, in which he toils under the sun; that all his days are of pain and of distraction of anger

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καθέστηκε. Ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ φωτὶ πάντα τηλαυγῶς βλέπομεν· τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον, οἱ περὶ τὴν ἀφροσύνην τοῦ βίου ἑαυτοὺς ἀσχολήσαντες οὐδὲν μὲν ἰδεῖν τῶν θείων οὐδὲ διαβλέψαι πρὸς τὰ νοητὰ δύνανται, ἃ δὲ βλέπουσιν οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν ἡττημένοι βλέπουσιν· καλὰ γὰρ νομίζουσι τὰ μὴ καλά, καὶ πλουσίους νομίζουσι τοὺς κατ' ἀρετὴν πένητας, εὐπρεπεῖς ἡγοῦνται τοὺς πάσης ἀπρεπείας ἐκ τῶν πράξεων γέμοντας. Οἱ δὲ τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ πειθόμενοι τί καλὸν ἀληθῶς καὶ τί πονηρὸν ἴσασιν, ποῖά τε τῶν ὄντων ἀγαθά· διὸ καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα τὸν ἑαυτῶν βίον ῥυθμίζουσιν. 2.14 Τοῦ σοφοῦ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἐν κεφαλῇ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁ ἄφρων ἐν σκότει πορεύεται [κάτω νεύων ἀεὶ καὶ ἐσκοτισμένον ἔχων τὸ ἡγεμονικόν]. {∆ιονυσίου.} Καὶ μὴν πάντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς κεκτήμεθα, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος θέσιν· ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν τῆς διανοίας ὀφθαλμῶν λέγει. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ τοῦ χοίρου εἰς οὐρανὸν οὐκ ἀνανεύουσιν, διὰ τὸ φυσικῶς πεπλάσθαι ἐπὶ γαστέρα νεύειν, οὕτως ὁ νοῦς τοῦ ἅπαξ ἐγγλυκανθέντος ταῖς ἡδοναῖς δυσαποσπάστως ἐκεῖθεν ἔχει διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐπιβλέπειν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ κυρίου. Καὶ πάλιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν. Σοφοὶ δὲ οἱ τῇ ὁδῷ αὐτοῦ πορευόμενοι, διὰ τὸ εἰπεῖν αὐτόν· ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδός. ∆εῖ οὖν πάντοτε τοὺς τῆς διανοίας ὀφθαλμοὺς τὸν σοφὸν εἰς αὐτὸν τείνειν τὸν Χριστόν, ἵνα ἐπὶ μηδενί, μήτε ἐπὶ εὐημερίᾳ πράγματος ἐπαίρηται, μήτε ἐπὶ κακοπραγίᾳ ὀλιγωρῇ, τῷ τὰ κρίματα αὐτοῦ ἀβύσσους εἶναι, ὅπερ ἀκριβέστερον γνώσῃ ἐκ τῶν ἑπομένων. Καὶ ἔγνων καί γε ἐγὼ ὅτι συνάντημα ἓν συναντήσεται τοῖς πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς. Καὶ εἶπα ἐγὼ ἐν καρδίᾳ μου· ὡς συνάντημα τοῦ ἄφρονος συναντήσεταί μοι, καὶ ἵνα τί ἐσοφισάμην ἐγώ; Καὶ ἐγὼ περισσὸν ἐλάλησα ἐν καρδίᾳ μου, διότι ἄφρων ἐκ περισσεύματος λαλεῖ, καί γε τοῦτο ματαιότης. Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ μνήμη τοῦ σοφοῦ μετὰ τοῦ ἄφρονος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καθότι ἤδη αἱ ἡμέραι ἐπερχόμεναι τὰ πάντα ἐπελήσθησαν· καὶ πῶς ἀποθανεῖται ὁ σοφὸς μετὰ τοῦ ἄφρονοσ; {∆ιονυσίου καὶ Νείλου.} Ἡ ἀκολουθία τοῦ λόγου διὰ τῶν ἑπομένων θεραπεύει τοὺς μικροψύχως διακειμένους περὶ ταύτην τὴν ζωήν, οἷς χαλεπόν τι τὸ τοῦ θανάτου νομίζεται καὶ αἱ σωματικαὶ ἀνωμαλίαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο κέρδος οὐδὲν τίθενται τοῦ κατ' ἀρετὴν βίου, διὰ τὸ μηδὲν διαφέρειν ἐν τοῖς συμπτώμασι τούτοις ἐπὶ σοφοῦ τε καὶ ἄφρονος. Τῆς περιφορᾶς οὖν ῥήματα λέγει ῥεψάσης ἐπὶ τὴν ἀφροσύνην, ὅθεν καὶ ἐπιφέρει· ὅτι ἄφρων ἐκ περισσεύματος λαλεῖ, ἄφρονα ἑαυτὸν ἢ καὶ πάντα τὸν οὕτω λογιζόμενον εἰπών. Καταγινώσκων οὖν τῆς ἀτόπου ἐννοίας ταύτηςδιὸ καὶ ἐν καρδίᾳ ὑποστελλόμενος εἶπεν αὐτήν, δεδοικὼς πάντως τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἀκούσεσθαι μελλόντων δικαίαν κατάγνωσινἐπὶ λογισμῷ λύει τῆς ἀπορίας τὴν ἔνστασιν. Τὸ γὰρ "ἵνα τί ἐσοφισάμην;" ἐνδυάζοντος ἦν καὶ ἀμφιβάλλοντος, ἢ καλῶς τῇ σοφίᾳ ἢ μάτην προσανάλωμα, εἴ γε τοῦ ἄφρονος οὐδὲν διαφέρει πλεονεκτήματα, τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι ὁμοίως αὐτῷ πάθεσιν ὑποκείμενος. ∆ιὰ δὲ τοῦτο περισσόν, φησίν, ἐλάλησα ἐν καρδίᾳ μου, μηδὲν νομίσας εἶναι μέσον σοφοῦ καὶ ἄφρονος, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἔστι μνεία τοῦ σοφοῦ μετὰ τοῦ ἄφρονος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Παροδικὰ μὲν γὰρ τὰ τοῦ βίου συμπτώματα, εἴτε καθέστηκε λυπηρὰ εἴτε μή, περὶ ὧν φησιν· καθότι ἤδη τὰ πάντα ἐπελήσθη, ἐπειδὴ χρόνου μικροῦ παραδραμόντος λήθῃ τὰ συμβαίνοντα βιωτικὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις σβέννυται. Καὶ αὐτοὶ δέ, οἷς ταῦτα συμβέβηκεν, οὐχ ὁμοίως μνημονεύονται, εἰ καὶ συμπτώμασι βιωτικοῖς παραπλησίως ὑπήντησαν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπὸ τούτων μνημονεύονται, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἂν σοφίας ἔσχον ἢ ἀφροσύνης, ἀρετῆς ἢ κακίας. Τούτων γὰρ αἱ μνῆμαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, διὰ τὰς ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἀμοιβάς, οὐ σβέννυνται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀκολούθως ἐπήγαγε· καὶ πῶς ἀποθανεῖται ὁ σοφὸς μετὰ τοῦ ἄφρονος; Θάνατος μὲν γὰρ ἁμαρτωλῶν πονηρός, μνήμη δὲ δικαίου μετ' ἐγκωμίων γίνεται, ὄνομα δὲ ἀσεβοῦς σβέννυται. 2.2223 Ὅτι γίνεται τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐν παντὶ μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ προαιρέσει καρδίας αὐτοῦ, ὡς αὐτὸς μοχθεῖ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον· ὅτι πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ἀλγημάτων καὶ θυμοῦ περισπασμός