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of things that are not good. Associating with evil men, you too will certainly be evil. May you never receive a good thing from an evil man. For he seeks to have pardon for the life he has lived. I choose some profit even from an enemy. For those who flee the opportunities for attack, safer I advise to be, and the bitter medicine I nevertheless fear, and I blame what is sweet. Repay the good, despise the evil; And let the thanks for suffering nothing lie with these; So that in time you may make these also good. To the long-suffering, goodness is a good gift. Be good to all, if you have this strength, But more so to those nearest. Why do I say this? 943 Who would believe you to be good to strangers, You who are not just to whom it is owed? Why do we blame the wretched enemy for everything, Giving him power over our lives? Blame yourself, either for all of it, or for most of it. The fire is from us, but the flame from the Spirit. Do not follow too closely the games of dreams; Nor have a mind easily startled at everything; Nor be winged by favorable phantoms. This is often an ambush of the enemy. Let hope be set forth for every good end; For if someone is a co-worker of the worse, 944 how is it not just for there to be one of the good, and more so? For I cannot bear being conquered by evil. Consider prudence safer than chance; For the one is a light course of events, But the other is steering. And nothing of education Consider better, which alone belongs to those who possess it. Show your effectiveness not by doing evil, But by doing some good, if you wish to be a god. This belongs to a man who knows what is akin to him. But both a turtledove and a scorpion kill most easily. It is shameful for a young man to be weaker than an old one, And for an old man to be more foolish than a young one. 945 Likewise, let the one be all-wise in his season; But it is best to be wise even before one's season. Always work out your salvation; But the most opportune time is the dissolution of life. Old age has come; a herald cries out the exodus. Everyone, be prepared; for the judgment is near. In conclusion, there is a twofold denial of God, In deed, and in word. Do not be deceived, look around (He always pursues with secret wrestlings), Lest you somehow need the final purifications.
34. Rough Definitions. God is substance, the first good. 946 And the cosmos,
a bond of flowing and intelligible things. And for each thing to be of this or that kind, is nature. And immaterial nature, an angel, is the first creation. And those who turned away from the good, what are they? Demons; Of whom the first is he who once was Lucifer, The inventor and chief of misshapen darkness. And matter is the seat of forms, the second creation. And the beauty of matter is the form of that which is being formed. And the boundary of flowing and intelligible things is the celestial sphere. And the nature of stars is fire revolving in a circle. And light is a radiance from fire, for the soul it is reason. And darkness is twofold, the dissolution of a twofold radiance. Eternity, an interval timelessly ever flowing, 947 And time, a measure of the sun's motion. Earth, the solidification of matter circled by the celestial sphere. And fire, a nature that burns and flows upward. And water, a flowing and downward-tending nature. And air is the filling of a void and a blowing current. I am a human, a creation and image of God. And the body is matter, and extended density. An element is the first part of a body. And soul is a life-giving nature, and that which bears; And reason and mind were mixed with my soul. And life is the bond of both body and soul, So that death is the separation of these. And mind is an inner sight, not circumscribed. And the work of the mind is thought, and an impression. And reason is the investigation of the mind's impressions, 948 Which you will speak out with the organs of voice. Sensation is a certain reception from without. Memory, the retention of the mind's impressions. And forgetting, the casting out of memory. And of forgetting there is a memory again, which I call recollection. I know will, the inclination and concurrence of the mind Concerning those things which are in our power; but the rest are not objects of will. And the movement to where I will, is free will. And I call this intense and eager; And the involuntary, the tyranny of will. I know calculation, the division of things. And desire is the appetite for either good or not good things. And love is a warm and unrestrainable desire. Anger is a sudden boiling of the mind; And wrath is abiding anger. And that which towards evil 949 is mindful and lies in wait, happens to be malice. And I know long-suffering as the digestion of grief; And that which is calm in the face of insolence, freedom from anger, which indeed it was the custom of the ancients to call meekness. And the disposition for good things, the
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τῶν μὴ καλῶν. Κακοῖς ὁμιλῶν, καὶ κακὸς πάντως ἔσῃ. Κακοῦ παρ' ἀνδρὸς μή ποτε χρηστὸν πάθῃς. Ζητεῖ γὰρ ὧν βεβίωκε συγγνώμην ἔχειν. Ἐγώ τι κέρδος ἐκλέγω καὶ δυσμενοῦς. Τὰς γὰρ λαβὰς φεύγοντας, ἀσφαλεστέρους Εἶναι παραινῶ, καὶ τὸ πικρὸν φάρμακον Ὅμως δέδοικα, καὶ τὸ ἡδὺ μέμφομαι. Καλοὺς ἀμείβου, τοὺς κακοὺς περιφρόνει· Κἂν τοῖσδε κείσθω, τοῦ παθεῖν μηδὲν, χάρις· Ὣς ἂν καλοὺς καὶ τούσδε ποιήσῃς χρόνῳ. Τῷ μακροθύμῳ χρηστότης καλὴ δόσις. Πᾶσιν μὲν ἴσθι χρηστὸς, εἰ τοῦτο σθένος, Πλέον δὲ τοῖς ἔγγιστα. Τοῦ χάριν λέγω; 943 Τίς ἄν σε πιστεύσειε τοῖς ξένοις καλὸν Εἶναι τὸν οὐ δίκαιον οἷς ὀφείλεται; Τί πάντα τὸν δύστηνον αἰτιώμεθα Ἐχθρὸν, διδόντες τῷ βιοῦν ἐξουσίαν; Μέμφου σεαυτὸν, ἢ τὸ πᾶν, ἢ τὸ πλέον. Τὸ πῦρ παρ' ἡμῶν, ἡ δὲ φλὸξ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Μὴ σφόδρ' ἕπεσθαι παιγνίοις ἐνυπνίων· Μηδ' εὐπτόητον εἰς ἅπαντ' ἔχειν φρένα· Μηδὲ πτεροῦ μοι δεξιοῖς φαντάσμασι. Λόχος τάδ' ἐστὶ πολλάκις τοῦ δυσμενοῦς. Ἐλπὶς προκείσθω δεξιοῦ παντὸς τέλους· Εἰ γὰρ συνεργός ἐστί τις τοῦ χείρονος, 944 Πῶς οὐ καλοῦ δίκαιον εἶναι καὶ πλέον; Οὐ γὰρ φέρω γε τῷ κακῷ νικώμενος. Ἡγοῦ τύχης φρόνησιν ἀσφαλεστέραν· Ἡ μὲν γάρ ἐστι πραγμάτων κούφη φορὰ, Ἡ δ' οἰακισμός. Μηδὲ ἒν παιδεύσεως Νόμιζε κρεῖσσον, ἣ μόνη κεκτημένων. Τὸ δραστικὸν δείκνυε μὴ τῷ δρᾷν κακῶς, Τῷ δ' εὖ τι ποιεῖν, εἰ θέλεις εἶναι θεός. Τόδ' ἐστὶν ἀνδρὸς εἰδότος τὸ συγγενές. Κτείνει δὲ ῥᾷστα καὶ τρυγὼν καὶ σκορπίος. Αἰσχρὸν νέον γέροντος ἀσθενέστερον Εἶναι, γέροντα δ' ἀφρονέστερον νέου. 945 Ὁμῶς ὁ μὲν καθ' ὥραν ἔστω πάνσοφος· Τὸν δὲ κράτιστον καὶ πρὸ ὥρας σωφρονεῖν. Ἀεὶ μὲν ἐργάζοιο τὴν σωτηρίαν· Καιρὸς δὲ δὴ μάλιστα, ἡ βίου λύσις. Τὸ γῆρας ἦλθεν· ἔξοδον κήρυξ βοᾷ. Πᾶς εὐτρεπίζου· πλησίον γὰρ ἡ κρίσις. Πέρας λόγου, δισσή τις ἄρνησις Θεοῦ, Ἔργῳ, λόγῳ τε. Μὴ κλαπῇς, περισκόπει (Ἀεὶ διώκῃ λαθρίοις παλαίσμασι), Μή πως δεηθῇς ἐσχάτων καθαρσίων.
Λ∆ʹ. Ὅροι παχυμερεῖς. Θεὸς μέν ἐστιν οὐσία, πρῶτον καλόν. 946 Κόσμος δὲ,
ῥευστῶν καὶ νοουμένων δέσις. Τὸ δ' εἶν' ἕκαστον τοῖον ἢ τοῖον, φύσις. Φύσις δ' ἄϋλος, ἄγγελος, πρώτη κτίσις. Οἱ δ' ἐκτραπέντες τοῦ καλοῦ τί; δαίμονες· Ὧν πρῶτός ἐστιν, ὅς ποτ' ἦν Ἑωσφόρος, Σκότους δυσειδοῦς εὑρέτης καὶ προστάτης. Ὕλη δὲ μορφῶν ἕδρα, δευτέρα κτίσις. Ὕλης δὲ κάλλος, εἶδος ἐκμορφουμένης. Ὅρος δὲ ῥευστῶν καὶ νοουμένων, πόλος. Ἄστρων δὲ φύσις, πῦρ κύκλῳ περίδρομον. Φῶς δ' ἔστι λάμψις ἐκ πυρὸς, ψυχῇ λόγος. Σκότος δὲ δισσὸν, λάμψεως δισσῆς λύσις. Αἰὼν, διάστημ' ἀχρόνως ἀεὶ ῥέον, 947 Χρόνος δὲ, μέτρον ἡλίου κινήσεως. Γῆ, πῆξις ὕλης τῷ πόλῳ κυκλουμένης. Πῦρ δὲ, φλέγουσα καὶ ῥέουσ' ἄνω φύσις. Ὕδωρ δὲ, ῥευστὴ καὶ κατάῤῥοπος φύσις. Κενοῦ δ' ἀὴρ πλήρωμα καὶ πνευστὴ ῥύσις. Ἄνθρωπός εἰμι, πλάσμα καὶ εἰκὼν Θεοῦ. Τὸ σῶμα δ' ὕλη, καὶ διαστατὸν πάχος. Στοιχεῖόν ἐστι σώματος πρῶτον μέρος. Ψυχὴ δὲ, φύσις ζωτικὴ, φέρουσά τε· Λόγος δὲ καὶ νοῦς τῇ γ' ἐμῇ συνεκράθη. Ζωὴ δὲ, σώματός τε καὶ ψυχῆς δέσις, Ὡς θάνατον εἶναι, τῶν δὲ τὴν διάστασιν. Νοῦς δ' ἔστιν ὄψις ἔνδον, οὐ περίγραφος. Νοῦ δ' ἔργον, ἡ νόησις, ἐκτύπωμά τε. Λόγος δ' ἔρευνα τῶν νοὸς τυπωμάτων, 948 Ὃν ἐκλαλήσεις ὀργάνοις φωνητικοῖς. Αἴσθησίς ἐστιν εἰσδοχή τις ἔκτοθεν. Μνήμη, κάθεξις τῶν νοὸς τυπωμάτων. Λήθη δὲ, μνήμης ἐκβολή. Λήθης δέ γε Μνήμη τις αὖθις, ἣν ἀνάμνησιν λέγω. Βούλησιν οἶδα, νοῦ ῥοπὴν καὶ συνδρομὴν Τῶν ὅσσ' ἐφ' ἡμῖν· τἄλλα δ' οὐ θελητέα. Ἡ δ' οἷ θέλω κίνησις, ἐξουσιότης. Τὴν σύντονον δὲ καὶ προσθυμίαν λέγω· Τὸ δὲ ἀκούσιον, βουλήσεως τυραννίδα. Λογισμὸν οἶδα πραγμάτων διαίρεσιν. Πόθος δ' ὄρεξις ἢ καλῶν ἢ μὴ καλῶν. Ἔρως δὲ θερμὸς δυσκάθεκτός τε πόθος. Θυμὸς μέν ἐστιν ἀθρόος ζέσις φρενός· Ὀργὴ δὲ θυμὸς ἐμμένων. Ὁ δ' εἰς κακὸν 949 Μνήμων, λοχῶν τε, μνησικακία τυγχάνει. Πέψιν δὲ λύπης οἶδα μακροθυμίαν· Τὸ δὲ πρὸς ὕβριν ἤρεμον, ἀοργησίαν, Ἣν δὴ πραότητα τοῖς πάλαι καλεῖν ἔθος. Ἕξιν δὲ καλῶν, τὴν