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God has fixed in nature the laws that distinguish what is good and what is evil, ask our very way of life. How is it that all who do evil things flee from being called evil? The adulterer commits adultery; but hearing "adulterer," he is ashamed. Say to the confessed adulterer, "Adulterer," and what he enjoys doing, he is ashamed to hear; say to the perjurer, "Perjurer," and he takes the name for his own works as an insult. If, then, you consider sin a good thing, why do you flee from its name? But say to the temperate man, "Temperate," and he who delights in the deed is not ashamed of the name; call the just man "just," and he is crowned by the deed and takes pride in the name; for even if out of piety he declines the name, yet in his soul he accepts the praise. And again, one will find no evil appearing in its own character, unless it borrows the appearance of virtue; and hear how. The one who lies does not lie by confessing the lie, but deceives by feigning the truth; the deceitful man does not show his deceit, but puts on the guise of friendship and carries out his wickedness; the slanderer, when he enters a court of law, does not enter by confessing what he is, but by putting on the appearance of a witness for the truth, through falsehood he shows himself a witness for evil. But also our soul, even if it is steeped in evils, embraces a good name. For often many powerful men, breathing covetousness, and thinking of nothing other than plunder and injustice, are moved by some to either release the poor man from the necessity weighing 63.758 upon him, or to forgive some of the debt, or not to take revenge on those who have offended them, or were thought to have offended. And he who has come to plead well before a powerful and wicked man does not begin immediately from the truth and tell him what he is, but attaches to him a name of virtue. "You are a good man," he says; "your name is renowned; all sing of your successes"; and he adds many such things, so that he might be swayed by the praise and flee from wickedness. See how evil is overcome by the praises of virtue; no evil man wants to be spoken of badly; for nature embraces its own, even if the choice chooses the opposite. Let us not say, then, that "So-and-so is good by nature, and so-and-so is evil by nature"; for if he were good by nature, he would never be able to become evil; and if evil by nature, he would never become good. For if it were not in our choice to be evil and good, and if the loving God had not made our nature self-determining, it would be necessary for all who share the same nature, and are subject to the same passions, to be evil, or for all to be virtuous. But when we see those of our own kind, who are troubled by the same passions, not enduring the same things as we do, but with resolute reasoning guiding their nature, and overcoming disordered impulses, and scorning all the prosperity of the present life, and being devoted to true glory, is it not evident that by their own earnestness they are able to accomplish these things with grace from above; and we, by using our own laziness, betray our salvation, making ourselves destitute of the goodwill from there? Let no one, therefore, blame anyone else for hindering him in the labors of virtue, but let him attribute the whole to his own despondency. And why do I say another? Let no one think that the devil himself is able to be powerful enough to hinder the path that leads to virtue; but he deceives and trips up the more slothful, yet he does not hinder and compel. And experience of the facts itself shows this, that whenever we wish to be sober, we exhibit so much vigor that, even when there are many urging us onto the path of evil, we do not tolerate their counsel, but become firmer than any adamant, and shut our ears to those who advise base things. But when we are slothful, even when there is no one advising or tripping us up, being moved from within we rush toward evil. Virtue, then, is admirable even in itself; but when in the midst of

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ἐν τῇ φύσει ἔπηξεν ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς νόμους, τοὺς διακρίνοντας τί καλὸν καὶ τί πονηρὸν, αὐτὴν τὴν ἡμῶν ἀναστροφὴν ἐρώτησον· πῶς ἅπαντες οἱ ποιοῦντες τὰ κακὰ, φεύγουσι τῶν κακῶν τὴν προσηγορίαν; ὁ μοιχὸς μοιχεύει· μοιχὸς δὲ ἀκούων αἰσχύνεται. Εἰπὲ τῷ ὁμολογουμένῳ μοιχῷ, Μοιχὲ, καὶ ὃ ποιῶν ἥδεται, ἀκούων αἰσχύνεται· εἰπὲ τῷ ἐπιόρκῳ, Ἐπίορκε, καὶ εἰς ὕβριν λαμβάνει τὴν προσηγορίαν τῶν ἰδίων ἔργων. Εἰ οὖν καλὸν ἡγῇ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, τί φεύγεις τὴν προσηγορίαν; Ἀλλ' εἰπὲ τῷ σώφρονι, Σῶφρον, καὶ οὗ τῷ ἔργῳ ἥδεται, οὐδὲ τὴν προσηγορίαν αἰσχύνεται· κάλεσον τὸν δίκαιον δίκαιον, καὶ τῷ ἔργῳ στεφανοῦται, καὶ τῇ προσηγορίᾳ σεμνύνεται· κἂν γὰρ δι' εὐλάβειαν παραιτήσηται τὸ ὄνομα, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ δέχεται τὴν εὐφημίαν. Καὶ οὐδεμίαν δὲ πάλιν εὑρήσει τις κακίαν ἐξ οἰκείου προσώπου φαινομένην, ἐὰν μὴ δανείσηται πρόσωπον ἀρετῆς· καὶ πῶς ἄκουε. Ὁ ψευδόμενος οὐχ ὁμολογῶν τὸ ψεῦδος ψεύδεται, ἀλλ' ἀλήθειαν ὑποκρινόμενος ἀπατᾷ· ὁ δόλιος οὐ δείκνυσι τὸν δόλον, ἀλλὰ σχηματίζεται τὴν φιλίαν καὶ πραγματεύεται τὴν πονηρίαν· ὁ συκοφάντης, ὅταν εἰσέλθῃ εἰς δικαστήριον, οὐ τοῦτο ὁμολογήσας ὅπερ ἐστὶν, εἰσέρχεται, ἀλλὰ μάρτυρα ἀληθείας προστησάμενος τῷ σχήματι, διὰ τοῦ ψεύδους τὸν μάρτυρα τῆς κακίας ἐνδείκνυται. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ ἡ ἡμετέρα, κἂν ἐν κακίαις ἐμφύρηται, τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἀσπάζεται. Πολλοὶ γὰρ πολλάκις δυνάσται πλεονεξίαν πνέοντες, καὶ μηδὲν ἕτερον ἐννοοῦντες ἢ ἁρπαγὴν καὶ ἀδικίαν, δυσωποῦνται παρά τινων, ἢ ἀνιέναι τῷ πένητι τὴν ἐπικειμέ 63.758 νην ἀνάγκην, ἢ συγχωρῆσαί τι τοῦ χρέους, ἢ μὴ ἀμύνασθαι τοὺς λυπήσαντας, ἢ λυπεῖν νομισθέντας. Καὶ ὁ ἐλθὼν καλῶς πρεσβεῦσαι παρὰ ἀνδρὶ δυνάστῃ καὶ πονηρῷ, οὐκ εὐθέως ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ἄρχεται, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὅ ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ προστίθησιν αὐτῷ ὄνομα ἀρετῆς· Ἀνὴρ εἶ, φησὶν, ἀγαθός· διαβεβόηταί σου τὸ ὄνομα· πᾶντες σου τὰς εὐπραγίας ᾄδουσι· καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα συνάπτει, ἵνα καμφθῇ τῇ εὐφημίᾳ, καὶ φύγῃ τὴν πονηρίαν. Ὅρα πῶς ἡ κακία νικᾶται ταῖς εὐφημίαις τῆς ἀρετῆς· οὐδεὶς κακὸς, κακῶς ἀκούειν βούλεται· ἡ γὰρ φύσις τὸ ἴδιον ἀσπάζεται, εἰ καὶ ἡ προαίρεσις τοὐναντίον αἱρεῖται. Μὴ τοίνυν λέγωμεν, ὅτι Ὁ δεῖνα φύσει καλὸς, καὶ ὁ δεῖνα φύσει κακός· εἰ γὰρ φύσει ἀγαθὸς, οὐδέποτε δυνήσεται γενέσθαι κακός· καὶ εἰ φύσει κακὸς, οὐκ ἄν ποτε γενήσεται ἀγαθός. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐν τῇ προαιρέσει ἡμῶν ἔκειτο τὸ πονηροὺς εἶναι καὶ ἀγαθοὺς, μηδὲ αὐτεξούσιον ἡμῶν τὴν φύσιν ὁ φιλάνθρωπος κατεσκεύασεν, ἐχρῆν ἅπαντας εἶναι κακοὺς τοὺς τῆς φύσεως κοινωνοῦντας, καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς πάθεσιν ὑποκειμένους, ἢ πάντας εἶναι ἐναρέτους· ὅταν δὲ ἴδωμεν τοὺς ὁμογενεῖς ἡμῶν, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν παθῶν ἐνοχλουμένους, οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ ἡμῖν ὑπομένοντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐῤῥωμένῳ τῷ λογισμῷ ἡνιοχοῦντας τὴν φύσιν, καὶ περιγενομένους τῶν ἀτάκτων σκιρτημάτων, καὶ πάσης τῆς τοῦ παρόντος βίου εὐημερίας καταγελῶντας, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀληθῆ δόξαν ἐπτοημένους, οὐκ εὔδηλον ὅτι τῇ οἰκείᾳ σπουδῇ ταῦτα κατορθοῦν δύνανται μετὰ τὴν ἄνωθεν χάριν· καὶ ἡμεῖς τῇ οἰκείᾳ ῥᾳθυμία κεχρημένοι προδιδόαμεν ἡμῶν τὴν σωτηρίαν, ἐρήμους ἑαυτοὺς καθιστῶντες τῆς ἐκεῖθεν εὐνοίας; Μηδεὶς τοίνυν ἕτερόν τινα αἰτιάσθω, ὡς πρὸς τοὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς πόνους αὐτὸν ἐμποδίζοντα, ἀλλὰ τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἀθυμίᾳ τὸ πᾶν ἐπιγραφέτω· καὶ τί λέγω ἕτερον; μηδὲ αὐτὸν τὸν διάβολον νομιζέτω τις ἱκανὸν εἶναι κωλῦσαι τὴν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν φέρουσαν ὁδὸν δύνασθαι· ἀλλ' ἀπατᾷ μὲν καὶ ὑποσκελίζει τοὺς ῥᾳθυμοτέρους, οὐ μὴν κωλύει καὶ βιάζεται. Καὶ τοῦτο αὐτὴ τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ πεῖρα δείκνυσιν, ὅτι ἡνίκα ἂν βουλώμεθα νήφειν, τοσοῦτον τὸν τόνον ἐπιδεικνύμεθα, ὡς μηδὲ πολλῶν ὄντων τῶν προτρεπόντων ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς κακίας ὁδὸν ἀνέχεσθαι τῆς συμβουλῆς, ἀλλὰ παντὸς ἀδάμαντος στεῤῥοτέρους ἡμᾶς γίνεσθαι, καὶ ἀποφράττειν τοῖς τὰ φαῦλα συμβουλεύουσι τὰς ἀκοάς. Ὅταν δὲ ῥᾳθυμῶμεν, καὶ μηδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ συμβουλεύοντος ἢ ὑποσκελίζοντος, οἴκοθεν κινούμενοι ἐπὶ τὴν κακίαν ὁρμῶμεν. Ἔστι μὲν οὖν καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὴν ἡ ἀρετὴ θαυμαστή· ὅταν δὲ ἐν μέσῳ τῶν