111
1017 Solom. 4. A handful of rest is better than two handfuls of toil.
Sirach 16. Better is one righteous man than ten thousand transgressors; and to die childless than to have ungodly children.
By one prudent man a city will be populated; but a tribe of the lawless will be quickly made desolate.
Of Basil. For often the one in the midst who has achieved some small thing is greater than the one who in abundance has achieved everything.
For if bread strengthens a man's heart, one must not irrationally take more relish than is necessary for nourishment.
Of the Theologian. Better is a short-lived kingdom than a long tyranny, and a small, honorable portion than a large, dishonorable and precarious possession, and a little light than much darkness.
(15Ε_486> Chrysostom. Charity is judged not by the measure of what is given, but by the generosity of the will.
In wicked contests, the winner is more wretched, because he departs having the greater share of sin.
Of Plato. Instead of a longer and worse life, one must by all means choose the shorter and better one.
Isocrates. A moderate life with justice is to be preferred over great wealth with injustice.
Demosthenes. He, seeing a certain inept demagogue shouting loudly, said, But it is not the great that is good; rather, the good is great.
Of Epictetus. Of pleasant things, those which occur most rarely give the most delight. Alexander. Alexander, having heard that Darius was leading thirty myriads into
battle-line, said: one butcher is not afraid of many sheep. The same, when a scout told him that Darius's men were more numerous, said: And
the sheep, being more numerous, are overcome by one or a second wolf. TO THE MOST DIVINE KING OF ACHRIS * From the 63) difficulties, To the most divine king of Achris. (15Ε_488> For the Holy Spirit, just as it is by nature according to essence of God
and the Father, so also it exists by nature according to essence of the Son, as proceeding essentially from the Father through the Son who was ineffably begotten. It is not possible, therefore, to conceive of a cut or division in any way, such that either the Father could be conceived without the Son, or the Son without the Spirit, but there is a certain ineffable and incomprehensible union and division in them, with neither the difference of the hypostases rending the continuity of the natures [natural things], nor the conjunction according to essence confusing the particularity of the properties; and there is in these. . . a conjoined distinction, and a distinguished conjunction. And there will be set forth also a certain faint example for comprehension; or rather a shadow of the truth, the many-colored rainbow. For the rays of all the colors in it, both appear distinct, by being far-shining,
111
1017 Σολομ. δ´. Ἀγαθόν πλήρωμα δρακός ἀναπαύσεως, ὑπέρ πληρώματος δύο δρακῶν ἐν μόχθῳ.
Σιράχ ις´. Κρεῖσσον εἷς δίκαιος , ἤ μύριοι παράνομοι· καί ἀποθανεῖν ἄτεκνον, ἤ ἀσεβῆ τέκνα ἔχειν.
Ἀπό ἑνός συνετοῦ συνοικισθήσεται πόλις· φυλή δέ ἀνόμων ἐρημωθήσεται ἐν τάχει.
Βασιλείου. Πολλάκις γάρ ὁ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ μικρόν τι κατορθώσας, μείζων ἐστί τοῦ ἐν ἀφθονίᾳ τό πᾶν κατορθώσαντος.
Εἰ γάρ ἄρτος τήν καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου στηρίζει, οὐ δεῖ πλέον τοῦ ἀναγκαίου τῆς τροφῆς τό προσόψημα ἀλόγως προσφέρεσθαι.
Θεολόγου. Κρείσσων ὀλιγοχρόνιος βασιλεία μακρᾶς τυραννίδος, καί ὀλίγη μερίς τιμία, πολλῆς κτήσεως ἀτίμου καί σφαλερᾶς, καί πολλοῦ σκότους ὀλίγον φῶς.
(15Ε_486> Χρυσοστ. Οὐ τῷ μέτρῳ τῶν διδομένων ἐλεημοσύνη κρίνεται, ἀλλά τῇ δαψιλείᾳ τῆς γνώμης.
Ἐν ἁμίλλαις πονηραῖς ἀθλιώτερος ὁ νικήσας, διότι ἀπέρχεται τό πλέον ἔχων τῆς ἁμαρτίας.
Πλάτωνος. Τοῦ πλείονος βίου καί φαυλοτέρου, τόν ἐλάσσω καί ἀμείνονα ὄντα παντί πάντως προαιρετέον.
Ἰσοκράτ. Προαιρετέον μέτριον μετά δικαιοσύνης μᾶλλον, ἤ μέγαν πλοῦτον μετ᾿ ἀδικίας.
∆ημοσθ. Οὗτος θεασάμενός τινα δημαγωγόν ἀφυῆ μέγα βοῶντα, ἔφη, Ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τό μέγα, εὖ ἐστι· τό δέ εὖ, μέγα.
Ἐπικτήτου. Τῶν ἡδέων τά σπανιώτατα γινόμενα μάλιστα τέρπει. Ἀλέξανδρ. Ἀλέξανδρος ἀκούσας ὅτι ∆αρεῖος τριάκοντα μυριάδας εἰς
παράταξιν ἄγει, ἔφη· εἷς μάγειρος οὐ φοβεῖται πολλά πρόβατα. Ὁ αὐτός, κατασκόπου λέγοντος αὐτῷ, πλείους εἶναι τούς ∆αρεῖου, ἔφη· Καί
τά πρόβατα πλείονα ὄντα, ἑνός ἤ δευτέρου λύκου χειροῦνται. ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΘΕΙΟΤΑΤΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΑ ΤΟΝ ΑΧΡΙ∆ΗΝ * Ἐκ τῶν ξγ΄) ἀπόρων, Πρός τόν θειότατον βασιλέα τόν Ἀχριδήν. (15Ε_488> Τό γάρ Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον, ὥσπερ φύσει κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ἐστί τοῦ Θεοῦ
καί Πατρός, οὕτως καί τοῦ Υἱοῦ φύσει κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ὑπάρχει, ὡς ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός οὐσιωδῶς δι᾿ Υἱοῦ τοῦ γεννηθέντος ἀφράστως ἐκπορευόμενον. Οὐκ ἔστιν οὖν ἐπινοῆσαι τομήν ἤ διαίρεσιν κατ᾿ οὐδένα τρόπον, ὡς ἤ τόν Πατέρα χωρίς τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐπινοηθῆναι, ἤ τόν Υἱόν χωρίς τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἀλλ᾿ ἔστι τις ἄῤῤητος καί ἀκατανόητος ἐν τούτοις καί ἕνωσις καί διαίρεσις, οὔτε τῆς τῶν ὑποστάσεων διαφορᾶς τό συνεχές τῶν φύσεων [φυσικῶν] διασπώσης, οὔτε τῆς κατά τήν οὐσίαν συναφείας τό ἴδιον τῶν γνωρισμάτων ἀναχεούσης· καί ἔστιν ἐπί τούτων. . . διάκρισις συνημμένη, καί διακεκριμένη συνάφεια. Προκείσεται δέ καί τι πρός ἐπίγνωσιν ἀμυδράν ὑπόδειγμα· μᾶλλον δέ σκιά τῆς ἀληθείας, ἡ πολύχρονος ἴρις. Πάντων γάρ τῶν ἐν ταύτῃ χρωμάτων αἱ αὐγαί, καί διακεκριμέναι φαίνονται, τῷ τηλαυγεῖς εἶναι,