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the spark of anger for us, so that it may be kindled at the right time, not against ourselves, nor that it may surround us with countless evils. Do you not see in houses the fire set apart, and not thrown everywhere, neither in the grass, nor in clothing, nor just anywhere? so that it is not kindled when the wind blows on it; but whether a handmaid holds a lamp, or the cook lights a fire, there is much instruction, not to do this near the wind, nor near a plank, nor at night; but when night has fallen, we put it to sleep, fearing lest at some time, while we are sleeping and there is no one to help, it might be kindled, and set everyone on fire? Let this also be done in the case of anger; let it not be scattered everywhere in our thoughts, but in some depth of our mind, so that the wind from the words of an adversary may not easily reach it, but that it may receive the wind from us, who know how to stir it moderately and safely. If it receives wind from without, it knows no measure, but will set everything on fire; often even while we are sleeping this wind will fall upon it, and will burn everything down. Let it be for us then only for kindling a light; for anger kindles a light, when it arises properly; and let us have torches against those who wrong others, against the devil. Let it not lie everywhere, nor let the spark be cast about, but let us keep it in ashes; in humble thoughts let us put it to sleep. We do not always need it, but when something needs to be worked out, and made gentle; when hardness needs to be softened, when to condemn the soul. 4. How many terrible things have passions and angers wrought! And the difficult thing is, when we are divided, we are no longer masters of coming together, but we wait for others; each one is ashamed and blushes to return and be reconciled to the other. See, he is not ashamed to be divided and torn apart, but becomes the author of the evil; but he is ashamed to approach and sew up what is torn; and the same thing happens, as if someone would not hesitate to cut off a limb, but would be ashamed to join it together. What are you saying, man? you have done great wrong, and you yourself were the cause of the fight? Therefore it would be right for you to go first and be reconciled, since you yourself provided the cause. But they have wronged me, and he is the cause, Therefore for this reason also, that they may admire you more, that in addition to the first matter you may also have the first place in the second, just as you were not the cause of the enmity arising, so also you are not the cause of the enmity being extended further; perhaps he too, being conscious of countless things in himself, is ashamed and blushes. But is he desperate? For this reason especially do not hesitate to run to him; for his suffering is twofold, both despair and anger. You have stated the cause for which you ought to go first, you who are healthy, who are able to see; for he is in darkness; for such is anger and arrogance. But you who are free from these things and are healthy, approach, as a physician to the one who is sick. Does any physician say, "Because he is sick, I will not go"? But for this reason especially they go, when they see he has not been able to come. For of those who are able, they take less care 60.350, as not being very sick, but not so of those who are bedridden. Or does it not seem to you that despair and anger are more grievous than sickness? does not the one resemble a violent fever, and the other an inflamed and swollen body? Consider how great a thing it is to have a fever and a swelling; go, quench the fire; for you are able by the grace of God; as with water, suppress the inflammation. What then, he says, if he is lifted up the more by this very thing? It is nothing to you; for you have done your part, but let him reckon it to himself; let not our conscience condemn us, that because we have failed in some duty, this happens. Feed, he says, your enemy; for in doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head. And yet, even though this is so, he commands us to go and be reconciled and do good, not that we may heap coals of fire, but that he, knowing this, may be subdued, that he may tremble, that he may fear the good deeds and friendships more than the enemies and the plots. For an enemy bearing a grudge does not so harm the one who hates him, as one who helps and does good. For by bearing a grudge, both himself and the other

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ἡμῖν ὁ τῆς ὀργῆς σπινθὴρ, ὥστε εὐκαίρως ἀνάπτεσθαι, μὴ καθ' ἡμῶν αὐτῶν, μηδὲ ἵν' ἡμᾶς μυρίοις περιβάλῃ κακοῖς. Οὐχ ὁρᾶτε ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις τὸ πῦρ ἀποτεταγμένον, καὶ οὐ πανταχοῦ ἐῤῥιμμένον, οὔτε ἐν χόρτῳ, οὔτε ἐν ἱματίοις, οὔτε ἁπλῶς; ὥστε μὴ ἀνέμου ἐμπνέοντος ἐξάπτεσθαι· ἀλλὰ κἂν θεράπαινα λύχνον ἔχῃ, κἂν ὁ μάγειρος ἀνακαίῃ, παραγγελία πολλὴ, μὴ παρ' ἄνεμον, μηδὲ σανίδος ἐγγὺς, μηδὲ ἐν νυκτὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖν· ἀλλ' ὅταν καταλάβῃ ἡ νὺξ, ἐκοιμίσαμεν αὐτὸ, δεδιότες μή ποτε, καθευδόντων ἡμῶν καὶ οὐδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ ἐπικουροῦντος, ἀναφθῇ, καὶ πάντας ἐμπρήσῃ; Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ γινέσθω· μὴ πανταχοῦ διεσπάρθω τῶν ἡμετέρων λογισμῶν, ἀλλ' ἔν τινι βάθει τῆς διανοίας, ὥστε μὴ τὸν ἄνεμον τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ῥημάτων τοῦ δι' ἐναντίας εὐκόλως ἐφικνεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ παρ' ἡμῶν δέχεσθαι τὸν ἄνεμον, τῶν εἰδότων συμμέτρως αὐτὸ κινεῖν καὶ ἀσφαλῶς. Ἂν ἔξωθεν ἄνεμον δέχηται οὐκ οἶδε τὸ μέτρον, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐμπρήσει· πολλάκις καὶ καθευδόντων ἡμῶν ὁ ἄνεμος οὗτος ἐμπεσεῖται, καὶ τὰ πάντα κατακαύσει. Ἔστω οὖν ἡμῖν ὥστε φῶς ἀνάπτειν μόνον· ἀνάπτει γὰρ φῶς ὁ θυμὸς, ὅταν προσηκόντως γένηται· καὶ λαμπάδας ἔχωμεν κατὰ τῶν ἀδικούντων ἑτέρους, κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου. Μὴ πανταχοῦ κείσθω, μηδὲ ἐῤῥίφθω σπινθὴρ, ἀλλ' ἐν τέφρᾳ φυλάττωμεν· ἐν τοῖς λογισμοῖς τοῖς ταπεινοῖς κοιμίζωμεν αὐτόν. Οὐ πάντοτε αὐτοῦ δεόμεθα, ἀλλ' ὅταν κατεργάσασθαί τι δέῃ, καὶ ποιῆσαι ἁπαλόν· ὅταν πώρωσιν μαλάξαι δέῃ, ὅταν τῆς ψυχῆς καταγνῶναι. δʹ. Πόσα θυμοὶ καὶ ὀργαὶ δεινὰ κατειργάσαντο! Καὶ τὸ δὴ χαλεπὸν, ὅταν διαναστῶμεν, οὐκ ἔτι τοῦ συνελθεῖν ἐσμεν κύριοι, ἀλλ' ἑτέρους ἀναμένομεν· ἕκαστος αἰσχύνεται καὶ ἐρυθριᾷ ἐπανελθὼν καταλλάξαι τὸν ἕτερον. Ὅρα, διαστῆναι μὲν καὶ διασχισθῆναι οὐκ αἰσχύνεται, ἀλλὰ τοῦ κακοῦ γίνεται ἀρχηγός· προσελθεῖν δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐσχισμένον ῥάψαι αἰσχύνεται· καὶ ταυτὸν συμβαίνει, οἷον ἂν εἴ τις ἀποκόψαι μὲν τὸ μέλος μὴ ὀκνοίη, συναγαγεῖν δὲ αἰσχύνοιτο. Τί λέγεις, ἄνθρωπε; ἠδίκησας μεγάλα, καὶ αὐτὸς αἴτιος ἐγένου τῆς μάχης; Οὐκοῦν δίκαιος ἂν εἴης πρότερος ἀπελθεῖν καὶ καταλλαγῆναι, ἅτε τὴν αἰτίαν αὐτὸς παρασχών. Ἀλλ' ἠδίκησαν, κἀκεῖνος αἴτιός ἐστιν, Οὐκοῦν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο, ἵνα μᾶλλόν σε θαυμάσωσιν, ἵνα πρὸς τῷ προτέρῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ τὰ πρωτεῖα ἔχῃς, ὥσπερ οὐ τοῦ γενέσθαι τῆς ἔχθρας αἴτιος, οὕτως οὐδὲ τοῦ ἐκταθῆναι ἐπὶ πλέον τὴν ἔχθραν· ἴσως καὶ ἐκεῖνος μυρία συνειδὼς ἑαυτῷ αἰσχύνεται καὶ ἐρυθριᾷ. Ἀλλ' ἀπονενόηται; Ταύτῃ μάλιστα μὴ ὀκνήσῃς προσδραμεῖν· καὶ γὰρ διπλοῦν παρ' αὐτῷ τὸ πάθος, καὶ ἀπόνοια καὶ ὀργή. Σὺ τὴν αἰτίαν εἶπας, δι' ἣν ὀφείλεις πρότερος ἀπελθεῖν, ὁ ὑγιαίνων, ὁ δυνάμενος βλέπειν· ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ἐν σκότῳ ἐστί· τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ ὀργὴ καὶ ἡ ἀλαζονεία. Σὺ δὲ ὁ τούτων ἀπηλλαγμένος καὶ ὑγιαίνων πρόσελθε, πρὸς τὸν κάμνοντα ὁ ἰατρός. Μή τις λέγει τῶν ἰατρῶν, Ἐπειδὴ ἀσθενεῖ οὐκ ἀπέρχομαι; Ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα βαδίζουσιν, ὅταν ἴδωσι μὴ δυνηθέντα ἐλθεῖν. Τῶν μὲν γὰρ δυναμένων καὶ ἐλάττονα φροντίζου 60.350 σιν, ὡς οὐ νοσούντων σφόδρα, τῶν δὲ κατακειμένων οὐκέτι. Ἢ οὐ δοκεῖ σοι ἀῤῥωστίας εἶναι χαλεπώτερον ἀπόνοια καὶ θυμός; οὐχ ὁ μὲν πυρετῷ τινι ἔοικε σφοδρῷ, ἡ δὲ φλεγμαίνοντι σώματι καὶ οἰδαίνοντι; Ἐννόησον ὅσον ἐστὶ πυρετὸν ἔχειν καὶ οἴδημα· ἄπελθε, σβέσον τὸ πῦρ· δύνασαι γὰρ τῇ χάριτι τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὥσπερ ὕδατι κατάστειλον τὴν φλεγμονήν. Τί οὖν, ἂν αὐτῷ τούτῳ πλέον ἐπαίρεται, φησίν; Οὐδὲν παρὰ σέ· σὺ μὲν γὰρ τὸ σαυτοῦ ἐποίησας, ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἑαυτῷ λογιζέσθω· μὴ καταγινωσκέτω ἡμῶν τὸ συνειδὸς, ὅτι ἡμῶν ἐλλειπόντων τι τῶν δεόντων τοῦτο γίνεται. Ψώμιζε, φησὶ, τὸν ἐχθρόν σου· τοῦτο γὰρ ποιῶν ἄνθρακας πυρὸς σωρεύσεις ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ὅμως, καὶ τούτου ὄντος, κελεύει ἀπελθεῖν καὶ καταλλαγῆναι καὶ εὐεργετεῖν, οὐχ ἵνα ἄνθρακας πυρὸς σωρεύωμεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα εἰδὼς ἐκεῖνος τοῦτο καταστέλληται, ἵνα τρέμῃ, ἵνα φοβῆται τὰς εὐεργεσίας μᾶλλον τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ τὰς φιλίας ἢ τὰς ἐπιβουλάς. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἐχθρὸς μνησικακῶν βλάπτει τὸν μισοῦντα, ὡς ὁ ὠφελῶν καὶ εὐεργετῶν. Μνησικακῶν γὰρ, καὶ ἑαυτὸν κἀκεῖνον