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remaining; but frequently turning, and changing because of the unsettled nature of the mind. This life we find in many places called waters and sea by the divine Scripture; as in the psalm, He sent from on high, and took me; he drew me out of many waters. For it is clear, that he calls the tumult of life, waters 95.1121. For neither do the prosperous things and those highly sought after by the many have stability and permanence, nor are the unfortunate and gloomy circumstances of affairs firmly established; but all things are subject to a certain surge and swell, and to unexpected changes. Just as then it is impossible for the sea to remain the same for long; for the one that is now very calm you will see a little later violently roughened by the winds, and again the one growing wild, and boiling with the surge, he has quickly smoothed over with a deep calm; so also the affairs of life easily take turns in either direction. Nothing of human affairs is certain, nor is it its nature to remain completely with those who have acquired it. These human things are fainter than a shadow, and more deceptive than dreams; for youth fades more quickly than spring flowers, and the prime of the body is withered either by time, or by sickness. And wealth is untrustworthy, and glory easily overturned, and the labors in the arts are completed in this time, but also that which is sought after by all, few have its charm even by hearsay. Do you pride yourself on wealth? And are you greatly proud of your ancestors, and do you exult in your homeland, and in the beauty of your body, and in the honors from all? pay attention to yourself, that you are mortal, and to earth you shall depart. Look around at those before you who have been displayed in similar conspicuous positions. Where are those who were clothed in political powers? where are the most invincible orators? where are those who arranged the public festivals? the splendid horse-breeders? the generals? the satraps? the tyrants? is not everything dust, is not everything a myth? are not the memorials of their life in a few bones? stoop down to the tombs, if you are able to distinguish, who is the servant, and who is the master; who is the poor man, and who is the rich man. Distinguish, if you have any power, the prisoner from the king, the strong from the weak, the comely from the unsightly. Being mindful therefore of nature, you will never be lifted up. Men are like clouds, being carried at different times to a different part of the air according to the changes of the winds. By nature indeed nothing of human affairs is certain, nor smooth, nor self-sufficient, nor standing on the same things; but a certain cycle of our affairs runs around, bringing different changes, often on a single day, and sometimes even of an hour, and it is possible to trust more in breezes that do not stand still, and in the tracks of a sea-faring ship, and in the deceptive dreams of night, whose charm is for a little while, and in what children make playing in the sands, than in the prosperity of men. For these things are fleeting and temporary, and as in a game of dice, at different times are thrown to different people; and nothing is so the possession of the one who holds it, as not to be stopped by time, or to be transferred by envy. 95.1124 Nothing is immovable, as I said, nor smooth, nor self-sufficient, nor the same to the end; neither good cheer, not wealth, not poverty, not power, not weakness, not humility, not dominion, not present things, not future things, not our own things, not another's thing, not a small or a greater thing, not whatever one might say. And this equality it has, the change concerning all things. For all things easily revolve, and move from place to place, and are replaced; so that one can rather trust in breezes, and in letters upon water, than in the prosperity of men. I have died to this miserable life, Which is carried up and down in the manner of the Euripus, Bringing nothing certain, not even for a day. Such is our life, brethren; such is the plaything on earth, for non-existent things to come to be, and having come to be, to be dissolved. We are a dream that does not stand still, a phantom that cannot be held, the flight of a bird passing by, a ship upon the sea leaving no trace; dust, vapor, morning dew, a flower growing in its season, and in its season fading; Man, his days are like grass, as a flower of the field, so he will flourish. Well did the divine David concerning weakness

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μένουσα· ἀλλὰ πυκνὰ τρεπομένη, καὶ μεταβαλλομένη διὰ τὸ τῆς γνώμης ἀνίδρυτον. Τὸν βίον τοῦτον πολλαχοῦ εὑρίσκομεν ὑπὸ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς ὕδατα καὶ θάλασσαν ὀνομαζόμενον· ὡς ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ, Ἐξαπέστειλεν ἐξ ὕψους, καὶ ἔλαβέ με· προσελάβετό με ἐξ ὑδάτων πολλῶν. Πρόδηλον γὰρ, ὅτι τὴν ταραχὴν τοῦ βίου, ὕδατα 95.1121 λέγει. Οὔτε γὰρ τὰ δεξιὰ καὶ περισπούδαστα τοῖς πολλοῖς τὸ ἑστὸς καὶ μόνιμον ἔχει, οὔτε τὰ περιστατικὰ τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ κατηφῆ, παγίως ἥδρασται· ἀλλὰ πάντα σάλῳ τινὶ καὶ κλύδωνι, καὶ μεταβολαῖς ἀδοκήτοις ὑπόκειται. Ὥσπερ οὖν θάλασσαν ἀμήχανον τὴν αὐτὴν ἐπὶ πολὺ διαρκέσαι· τὴν γὰρ νῦν λίαν σταθερὰν μικρὸν ὕστερον ὄψει βιαίως ὑπὸ ἀνέμων τραχυνομένην, καὶ πάλιν τὴν ἀγριαίνουσαν, καὶ βρασσομένην τῷ κλύδωνι, βαθείᾳ γαλήνῃ ταχὺ κατεστόρεσεν· οὕτως καὶ τὰ τοῦ βίου πράγματα ῥᾳδίως λαμβάνει περιστροφὰς ἐφ' ἑκάτερα. Οὐδὲν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων βέβαιον, οὐδὲ εἰς τὸ παντελὲς παραμένειν τοῖς κτησαμένοις πέφυκεν. Τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ταῦτα σκιᾶς ἐστιν ἀδρανέστερα, καὶ ὀνείρων ἀπατηλότερα· εἴτε γὰρ νεότης ἐαρινῶν ἀνθῶν ὀξύτερον καταῤῥεῖ, καὶ ὥρα σώματος, ἢ χρόνῳ, ἢ νόσῳ μαραίνεται. Καὶ πλοῦτος μὲν ἄπιστος, δόξα δὲ εὐπερίτρεπτος, αἵ τε παρὰ τὰς τέχνας διαπονήσεις τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ ἀπαρτίζονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ περισπούδαστον ἅπασιν, ὀλίγοι ἄχρι ἀκοῆς τὴν χάριν ἔχουσιν. Πλούτῳ κομᾷς; καὶ ἐπὶ προγόνοις μέγα φρονεῖς, καὶ ἐπαγάλλῃ πατρίδι, καὶ κάλλει σώματος, καὶ ταῖς παρὰ πάντων τιμαῖς; πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ, ὅτι θνητὸς εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ. Περίβλεψαι τοὺς πρὸ σοῦ ἐν ταῖς ὁμοίαις περιφανείαις ἐξετασθέντας. Ποῦ οἱ εἰς τὰς πολιτικὰς δυναστείας περιβεβλημένοι; ποῦ οἱ δυσμαχώτατοι ῥήτορες; ποῦ οἱ τὰς πανηγύρεις διατιθέντες; οἱ λαμπροὶ ἱπποφόροι; οἱ στρατηγοί; οἱ σατράπαι; οἱ τύραννοι; οὐ πάντα κόνις, οὐ πάντα μῦθος; οὐκ ἐν ὀλίγοις ὀστέοις τὰ μνημόσυνα τῆς ζωῆς αὐτῶν; ἔγκυψον τοῖς τάφοις, εἰ δυνήσῃ διακρῖναι, τίς ὁ οἰκέτης, καὶ τίς ὁ δεσπότης· τίς ὁ πτωχὸς, καὶ τίς ὁ πλούσιος. ∆ιάκρινον, εἴ τις σοι δύναμις, τὸν δέσμιον ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως, τὸν ἰσχυρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀσθενοῦς, τὸν εὐπρεπῆ ἀπὸ τοῦ δυσειδοῦς. Μεμνημένος οὖν τῆς φύσεως, οὐκ ἐπαρθήσῃ ποτέ. Οἱ ἄνθρωποι ταῖς νεφέλαις ἐοίκασιν, πρὸς τὰς τῶν πνευμάτων μεταβολὰς ἄλλοτε κατ' ἄλλο μέρος τοῦ ἀέρος ἐμφερομέναις. Φύσει μὲν οὐδὲν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων βέβαιον, οὐδὲ ὁμαλὸν, οὐδὲ αὔταρκες, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἱστάμενον· ἀλλὰ κύκλος τις τῶν ἡμετέρων περιτρέχει πραγμάτων, ἄλλοτε ἄλλας ἐπὶ μιᾶς ἡμέρας πολλάκις, ἔστι δὲ ὅτε καὶ ὥρας φέρων μεταβολὰς, καὶ αὔραις μᾶλλον πιστεύειν αὐτὸν ἔστιν οὐχ ἱσταμέναις, καὶ νηὸς ποντοπορούσης ἴχνεσι, καὶ νυκτὸς ἀπατηλοῖς ὀνείρασι, ὧν πρὸς ὀλίγον ἡ χάρις, καὶ κατὰ ψαμάθων παῖδες τυποῦσι παίζοντες, ἢ ἀνθρώπων εὐημερίᾳ. Τὰ μὲν γάρ ἐστι ῥευστὰ καὶ πρόσκαιρα, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν παιδιᾷ ψήφων, ἄλλοτε εἰς ἄλλους μεταῤῥιπτούμενα· καὶ οὐδὲν οὕτως τοῦ κατέχοντος ἴδιον, ὡς ἢ μὴ χρόνῳ παυσθῆναι, ἢ φθόνῳ μετατεθῆναι. 95.1124 Οὐδὲν ἀκίνητον, ὅπερ ἔφην, οὐδὲ ὁμαλὸν, οὐδὲ αὔταρκες, οὐδὲ εἰς τέλος ὅμοιον· οὔτε εὐθυμεῖν, οὐ πλοῦτος, οὐ πενία, οὐ δύναμις, οὐκ ἀσθένεια, οὐ ταπεινότης, οὐ δυναστεία, οὐ τὰ παρόντα, οὐ τὰ μέλλοντα, οὐ τὰ ἡμέτερα, οὐ τὸ ἀλλότριον, οὐ μικρὸν ἢ μεῖζον, οὐχ ὅ τι ἂν εἴπῃ τις. Καὶ τοῦτο ἴσον κἂν ἰσότης ἔχει, τὴν περὶ πάντων μεταβολήν. Περιχωρεῖ γὰρ τὰ πάντα ῥᾳδίως, καὶ μεταχωρεῖ, καὶ ἀντικαθίσταται· ὡς αὔραις εἶναι μᾶλλον πιστεύειν, καὶ γράμμασι τοῖς καθ' ὕδατος, ἢ ἀνθρώπων εὐημερίᾳ. Τέθνηκα τῷδε τῷ ταλαιπώρῳ βίῳ, Ὃς φέρεται ἄνω καὶ κάτω Εὐρίπου δίκην, Βέβαιον οὐδὲν, οὐδὲ ἐφ' ἡμέραν φέρων. Τοιοῦτος ὁ βίος ἡμῶν, ἀδελφοί· τοιοῦτον τὸ ἐπὶ γῆς παίγνιον, οὐκ ὄντα γενέσθαι, καὶ γενομένους ἀναλυθῆναι. Ὄναρ ἐσμὲν οὐχ ἱστάμενον, φάσμα τι μὴ κρατούμενον, πτῆσις ὀρνέου παρερχομένου, ναῦς ἐπὶ θαλάσσης ἴχνος οὐκ ἔχουσα· κόνις, ἀτμὶς, ἑωθινὴ δρόσος, ἄνθος καιρῷ φυόμενον, καὶ καιρῷ λυόμενον· Ἄνθρωπος, ὡσεὶ χόρτος αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ, ὡσεὶ ἄνθος τοῦ ἀγροῦ, οὕτως ἐξανθήσει. Καλῶς ὁ θεῖος ∆αβὶδ περὶ ἀσθενείας