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The words of a foolish man are like the sounds of the sea, Beating the shores, but not enriching the green grass. Chrysost. Nothing so makes men fools as wickedness. For when he is treacherous, when

ungrateful, when he causes grief though having been wronged in nothing, how will he not bring forth a sample of the utmost foolishness? Philo. It is the nature of a fool to perceive nothing or to stand still;

and their whole life is in suspense, having no unshakable foundation. There is no greater evil for man than foolishness, for one whose mind, the property of the rational

race, has been damaged. It is the nature of the fool to be always moved to upright [idle] speech, to be hostile to tranquility and

rest. One must be wary of neither the blow of a sick man, nor the threat of a foolish one. Plutarch. To take a blind guide and a foolish counselor, is the same thing. Not so much for orphan children as for foolish men should guardians be

present. Frivolous men, like empty vessels, are easily carried by the

ears. The soul of the foolish is ill-disposed toward beneficial reason, not

receiving the saving mind, as if it were a medicine. Crates. Crates compared foolish men to augers; for without

a bond and necessity, they are unwilling to do any of the things that are needful. Sextus. One should seek neither a voice in fish, nor virtue in the uneducated. (15Ε_428> Zeno. One of the young men in the academy about pursuits

was discoursing foolishly. But Zeno said, "Unless you dip your tongue in your mind before you speak, you will make many more mistakes even in your words."

Demades. Demades compared the Athenians to flutes, from which if one removes the tongue, what is left is nothing.

DISCOURSE 61. Concerning Prodigality. (15Ε_430> Luke 15. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together,

and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

Eph. 5. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. 985 Prov. 29. He who from a child squanders prodigally, shall be a servant;

and at last he shall be grieved for himself. Sirach 6. You will eat up your leaves prodigally, and your fruits you will

destroy, and you will leave yourself as a dry leaf. Basil. For neither sparing wealth at all do we run past brothers cast upon the ground,

nor preserving our abundance for our children or other relatives, do we close our ears to those in need; but transferring our expenditure to worse things, and making ambition a whetstone of wickedness for those who practice it. For how many men or women of some stand around a table? Some charming the host with shameful words, others with unseemly glances and gestures kindling the fire of intemperance; others with jests against one another willing to produce laughter for the one who has called them; and these, not only do they gain from being splendidly feasted, but they also bring down their hands filled with costly gifts.

The Theologian. It is of the same difficulty both to acquire some good thing that one does not have, and to preserve it once it is acquired.

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Ἦχοι θαλάσσης ἀνδρός ἄφρονος λόγοι, Θλίβοντες ἀκτάς, οὐ πιαίνουσι χλόαν. Χρυσοστ. Οὐδέν οὕτω ποιεῖ μωρούς ὡς πονηρία. Ὅταν γάρ ὕπουλος ᾖ, ὅταν

ἀχάριστος, ὅταν οὐδέν ἠδικημένος λυπῇ, πῶς οὐκ ἐσχάτης ἀνοίας ἐξοίσει δεῖγμα; Φίλωνος. Πέφυκεν ἄφρων ἐπί μηδενός αἰσθάνεσθαι πράγματος ἤ ἑστάναι·

καί ἔστιν αὐτῶν ζωή πᾶσα κρεμαμένη, βάσιν ἀκράδαντον οὐκ ἔχουσα. Μεῖζον ἀνθρώπῳ κακόν ἀφροσύνης, οὐδέν ἐστι, τῷ ἴδιον τοῦ λογιστικοῦ

γένους τόν νοῦν ζημιωθέντι. Πέφυκεν ὁ ἄφρων ἀεί ἐπί τόν ἀρθόν [ἀργόν] λόγον κινούμενος, ἠρεμίᾳ καί

ἀναπαύσει δυσμενής εἶναι. Οὔτε ἀῤῥώστου πληγήν, οὔτε ἀνοήτου ἀπειλήν δεῖ εὐλαβεῖσθαι. Πλουτάρχ. Ὁδηγόν τυφλόν λαβεῖν καί σύμβουλον ἀνόητον, ἴσον ἐστίν. Οὐχ οὕτω τοῖς ὀρφανοῖς παισίν, ὡς τοῖς ἀνοήτοις ἀνδράσιν ἐπιτρόπους δεῖ

παρεῖναι. Οἱ ἐλαφροί τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὥσπερ τά κενά τῶν ἀγγείων, εὐβάστακτοι τοῖς

ὠτίοις εἰσίν. Κακόσιτός ἐστι πρός τόν συμφέροντα λόγον ἡ τῶν ἀνοήτων ψυχή, οὐ

παραδεχομένη τόν σώζοντα νοῦν, ὥσπερ φάρμακον. Κράτης. Κράτης ἀπείκαζε τούς ἀνοήτους τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῖς τρυπάνοις· ἄνευ

γάρ δεσμοῦ καί ἀνάγκης, μηδέν ἐθέλειν τῶν δεόντων ποιεῖν. Σέξτον. Οὔτε ἐν ἰχθύσι φωνήν, οὔτε ἐν ἀπαιδεύτοις ἀρετήν δεῖ ἐπιζητεῖν. (15Ε_428> Ζήνων. Τῶν τις ἐν ἀκαδημίᾳ νεανίσκων περί ἐπιτηδευμάτων

διαλέγετο ἀφρονῶν. Ὁ δέ Ζήνων, Ἐάν μή τήν γλῶσσαν, ἔφη, εἰς νοῦν ἀποβρέξας διαλέγῃς, πολύ πλείω ἔτι καί ἐν τοῖς λόγοις πλημελήσεις.

∆ημάδης. ∆ημάδης τούς Ἀθηναίους εἴκαζεν αὐλοῖς, ὧν εἴ τις ἀφέλοι τήν γλῶτταν, τό λοιπόν οὐδέν ἐστιν.

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΞΑ´. Περί ἀσωτίας. (15Ε_430> Λουκ. ιε´. Καί μετ᾿ οὐ πολλάς ἡμέρας συναγαγών ἅπαντα ὁ

νεώτερος υἱός ἀπεδήμησεν εἰς χώραν μακράν, καί ἐκεῖ διεσκόρπισε τήν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ, ζῶν ἀσώτως.

Ἐφεσ. ε΄. Μή μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀσωτία. 985 Παροι. κθ´. Ὅς κατασπαταλᾷ ἐκ παιδός ἀσώτως, οἰκέτης ἔσται·

ἔσχατον δέ ὀδυνηθήσεται ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτῷ. Σιράχ στ´. Τά φύλλα σου καταφάγεσαι ἀσώτως, καί τούς καρπούς σου

ἀπολέσεις, καί ἀφήσεις σεαυτῷ ὡς φύλλον ξηρόν. Βασιλείου. Οὐδέ γάρ φειδόμενα καθάπαξ πλούτου, ἐῤῥιμένους χαμαί

παρατρέχομεν ἀδελφούς, οὐδέ τοῖς παισίν ἤ τοῖς ἄλλοις οἰκείοις τήν εὐπορίαν φυλάττοντες, ἀποκλείομεν τοῖς δεομένοις τάς ἀκοάς· ἀλλά τήν δαπάνην μετατιθέντες ἐπί τοῖς χείρουσι, καί τό φιλότιμον ἀκόμην πονηρίας ποιούμενοι τοῖς ταύτην ἐπιτηδεύουσι. Πόσαι γάρ ἤ πόσοι τῶν ἐνίων περιεστήκασι τράπεζαν; Οἱ μέν αἰσχροῖς ῥήμασι τόν ἑστιάτορα θέλγοντες, οἱ δέ ἀτόποις βλέμμασί τε καί σχήμασι τό τῆς ἀκρασίας ἐκκαίουσι πῦρ· οἱ δέ τοῖς εἰς ἀλλήλους σκώμμασι γέλωτα τῷ κεκληκότι κατασκευάζειν ἐθέλοντες· καί οὗτοι δέ, οὐ τό ἑστιαθῆναι λαμπρῶς μόνον κερδαίνουσιν, ἀλλά καί τάς χεῖρας πεπληρωμένας πολυτελῶν δώρων κατάγουσιν.

Θεολόγου. Τῆς αὐτῆς δυσχερείας ἐστί, καί κτήσασθαί τι τῶν ἀγαθῶν οὐχ ὑπάρχον, καί κτηθέν διασώσασθαι.