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the power, I recover my soul. It follows that these things happen in the case of all others. For Paul was not in need, but said these things to uplift them. You, therefore, in the case of all others, silence those who wish to speak evil of him, make admirers for him, receive him when he goes out with great attentiveness; thus you will share in the crowns, thus in the glory; and if you do nothing else, but rejoice at what has happened, even so you have shared not in a chance way; for you have contributed love, the chief of all good things. For if those who weep seem to share in the grief, and grant a great favor to those who mourn, and take away much of the pain, much more do those who rejoice make the pleasure greater. For how great an evil it is not to have those who grieve with you, hear the Prophet saying: And I waited for one to grieve with me, but there was none. For this reason Paul also says: Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Increase the pleasure; if you see your brother held in high esteem, do not say, 'The good repute is his, why should I rejoice?' These are not the words of a brother, but of an enemy. If you wish, it is not his, but yours; you have the power to make it greater, if you are not downcast, but rejoice, if you become cheerful, if you are gladdened. And that the matter is so, is clear from this: Those who are envious are not envious only of those who are held in high esteem, but also of those who rejoice in their high esteem; so well do they know that these too are in the state of good repute, and these especially are the ones who take pride. For that one even blushes when excessively praised; but this one glories in it with great pleasure. Do you not see in the case of athletes how one is crowned, but the other is not crowned? But the pain and joy belong to the admirers and the haters; the former leap, the former jump for joy. See how great a thing it is not to be envious; the labor is another's, and the pleasure is yours; another wears the crown, and you leap for joy, you glory in it. Tell me, another has won, why do you leap? But they too know well that what has happened is common property. For this reason the envious do not accuse this man, but they try to overthrow the victory; and you hear them saying such words as: 'I have wiped you out,' and, 'I have thrown you down'; and yet the deed is another's, but the praise is yours. If, then, in external things it is so great a good not to be envious, but to appropriate the good things of another, much more so in the victory over the devil; for then he breathes more against us, clearly because we take more pleasure. And yet, though he is foul, he knows precisely that this pleasure is great. Do you want to grieve him? Be pleased and rejoice. Do you want to gladden him? Become gloomy; you lighten the grief that came to him from your brother's victory by your own despondency; you stand with him, having been torn away from your brother; you do a greater evil than he. For it is not the same thing for one who is an enemy to do the deeds of enemies, and for one who is a friend to stand with the enemies; this one is more foul than the enemies. If the brother has gained a good reputation, either by speaking, or by displaying, or by succeeding, 62.379 become a sharer of the good reputation, show that he is a member of you. 4. And how, he says? For I am not held in high esteem. Never utter this word; bring your lips together. If the one saying these things were near me, I would have even put my hand on his lips, lest the enemy should ever hear. Often we have enmities toward one another, and we do not show them to our enemies; you, therefore, show them to the devil. Do not say this, do not even think it; but on the contrary: 'He is a member of me; the glory passes to the body.' What then, he says, that those outside are not so disposed? Because you are the cause; when they see you alienating yourself from his pleasure, they too are alienated; but when they see you making it your own, they do not dare; but you too are similarly brilliant. You have not gained a good reputation by speaking, but you have gained a greater good reputation by rejoicing with him, than he has. For if love is a great thing and the chief of all things, you have received the crown from it; he, the one from rhetoric, you, the one from

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τὴν δύναμιν, ἀνακτῶ τὴν ψυχήν. Ταῦτα ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων γίνεσθαι ἀκόλουθον. Παῦλος γὰρ οὐκ ἐδεῖτο, ἀλλ' ἐκείνους ἐπαίρων ἔλεγε ταῦτα. Σὺ τοίνυν ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων τοὺς βουλομένους κακίζειν ἐπιστόμιζε, κατασκεύαζε αὐτῷ ἐραστὰς, ὑπόδεξαι ἐξιόντα μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς θεραπείας· οὕτω κοινωνήσεις τῶν στεφάνων, οὕτω τῆς δόξης· κἂν μηδὲν ἕτερον ποιήσῃς, ἡσθῇς δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς γενομένοις, καὶ οὕτως ἐκοινώνησας οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχεν· εἰσήνεγκας γὰρ ἀγάπην, τὸ πάντων κεφάλαιον τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Εἰ γὰρ οἱ κλαίοντες δοκοῦσι τοῦ πένθους κοινωνεῖν, καὶ μεγάλα χαρίζονται τοῖς πενθοῦσι, καὶ τὸ πολὺ τῆς ὀδύνης ἀφαιροῦσι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον καὶ οἱ χαίροντες μείζονα ποιοῦσι τὴν ἡδονήν. Ὅσον γὰρ κακὸν τὸ μὴ ἔχειν τοὺς συλλυπουμένους, ἄκουε τοῦ Προφήτου λέγοντος· Καὶ ὑπέμεινα συλλυπούμενον, καὶ οὐχ ὑπῆρξε. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ Παῦλός φησι· Χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων, καὶ κλαίειν μετὰ κλαιόντων. Αὔξησον τὴν ἡδονήν· ἂν ἴδῃς τὸν ἀδελφὸν εὐδοκιμοῦντα, μὴ εἴπῃς, Ἐκείνου ἡ εὐδοκίμησις, ἐγὼ τίνος ἕνεκεν χαίρω; οὐκ ἀδελφοῦ ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα, ἀλλὰ πολεμίου. Ἂν θέλῃς, οὐκ ἐκείνου ἐστὶν, ἀλλὰ σοῦ· σὺ κύριος ποιῆσαι αὐτὴν μείζονα, ἂν μὴ κατηφὴς ᾖς, ἀλλ' ἡσθῇς, ἂν φαιδρὸς γένῃ, ἂν γεγανωμένος. Καὶ ὅτι οὕτως ἔχει τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἐκεῖθεν δῆλον· Οἱ φθονοῦντες οὐκ ἐκείνοις φθονοῦσι μόνοις τοῖς εὐδοκιμοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ταῖς ἐκείνων εὐδοκιμήσεσι χαίρουσιν· οὕτως ἴσασιν ὅτι καὶ οὗτοι ἐν τῇ εὐδοκιμήσει εἰσὶ, καὶ οὗτοι μάλιστά εἰσιν οἱ σεμνυνόμενοι. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἐρυθριᾷ σφόδρα ἐγκωμιαζόμενος· οὗτος δὲ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἡδονῆς ἐγκαλλωπίζεται. Οὐχ ὁρᾶτε ἐπὶ τῶν ἀθλητῶν πῶς ὁ μὲν στεφανοῦται, ὁ δὲ οὐ στεφανοῦται; ἡ δὲ ὀδύνη καὶ χαρὰ τῶν ἐραστῶν ἐστι καὶ τῶν μισούντων· ἐκεῖνοι πηδῶσιν, ἐκεῖνοι σκιρτῶσιν. Ὅρα πόσον ἐστὶ τὸ μὴ φθονεῖν· ἑτέρου ὁ πόνος, καὶ σοῦ ἡ ἡδονή· ἕτερος τὸν στέφανον περίκειται, καὶ σὺ σκιρτᾷς, σὺ ἐγκαλλωπίζῃ. Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι, ἄλλος νενίκηκε, σὺ τί πηδᾷς; Ἀλλ' ἴσασι κἀκεῖνοι καλῶς, ὅτι κοινὸν τὸ γενόμενον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τούτῳ μὲν οὐκ ἐγκαλοῦσιν οἱ φθονοῦντες, πειρῶνται δὲ καταβάλλειν τὴν νίκην· καὶ ἀκούεις ῥήματα τοιαῦτα λεγόντων αὐτῶν· Ἐξήλειψά σε, καὶ, Κατέβαλόν σε· καίτοι γε ἑτέρου τὸ ἔργον, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐγκώμιον σόν. Εἰ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἔξωθεν τοσοῦτον ἀγαθὸν τὸ μὴ φθονεῖν, ἀλλ' οἰκειοῦσθαι τὰ ἑτέρου ἀγαθὰ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ τοῦ διαβόλου· τότε γὰρ καθ' ἡμῶν πλέον πνεῖ, δηλονότι ὡς πλέον ἡδομένων. Καίτοι γε μιαρὸς ὢν οἶδεν ἀκριβῶς ὅτι μεγάλη αὕτη ἡ ἡδονή. Θέλεις αὐτὸν λυπῆσαι; ἥσθητι καὶ χάρηθι. Θέλεις αὐτὸν εὐφρᾶναι; σκυθρωπὸς γενοῦ· τὴν ἐκ τῆς νίκης τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ γενομένην αὐτῷ λύπην ἐπικουφίζεις διὰ τῆς σῆς ἀθυμίας· μετ' ἐκείνου ἵστασαι ἀποσχισθεὶς τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ· μεῖζον ἢ ἐκεῖνος ποιεῖς κακόν. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἴσον ἐχθρὸν ὄντα τὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ποιεῖν, καὶ φίλον ὄντα μετὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἵστασθαι· οὗτος τῶν ἐχθρῶν μιαρώτερος. Εἰ εὐδοκίμησεν ὁ ἀδελφὸς, ἢ λέγων, ἢ ἐπιδεικνύμενος, ἢ κατορθῶν, 62.379 γενοῦ κοινωνὸς τῆς εὐδοκιμήσεως, δεῖξον ὅτι μέλος ἐστὶ σόν. δʹ. Καὶ πῶς, φησίν; ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐκ εὐδοκιμῶ. Μὴ φθέγξῃ ποτὲ τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο· σύνελε τὰ χείλη. Εἴ γε πλησίον μου ἦς ὁ ταῦτα λέγων, ἐπέθηκα ἂν καὶ τὴν χεῖρα τοῖς χείλεσι, μή ποτε ἀκούσῃ ὁ ἐχθρός. Πολλάκις πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔχθρας ἔχομεν, καὶ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς οὐκ ἐπιδεικνύμεθα· τῷ διαβόλῳ οὖν ἐπιδείκνυσαι σύ. Μὴ εἴπῃς τοῦτο, μὴ ἐννοήσῃς· ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὐναντίον· Μέλος ἐστὶν ἐμόν· εἰς τὸ σῶμα διαβαίνει ἡ δόξα. Τί οὖν, φησὶν, ὅτι οἱ ἔξωθεν οὐχ οὕτω διάκεινται; Ὅτι σὺ αἴτιος· ὅταν ἴδωσί σε ἀλλοτριούμενον αὐτοῦ τὴν ἡδονὴν, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀλλοτριοῦνται· ὡς ἂν ἴδωσί σε οἰκειούμενον, οὐ τολμῶσιν· ἀλλ' ὁμοίως εἶ καὶ σὺ λαμπρός. Οὐκ εὐδοκίμησας λέγων, ἀλλ' εὐδοκίμησας συνηδόμενος μειζόνως, ἢ ἐκεῖνος. Εἰ γὰρ ἡ ἀγάπη μέγα καὶ πάντων κεφάλαιον, σὺ τὸν ἐκ ταύτης ἔλαβες στέφανον· ἐκεῖνος τὸν ἐκ τῆς ῥητορείας, σὺ τὸν ἐκ