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I will give eagerly; which Dung you give to those below; may you receive it, but nevertheless not a rich one. But if you should hold on, let us also give
a rich one.
For to me, incontinence is everything superfluous and beyond need, and this, while others are hungry and in need, who are from the same clay and mixture.
Nothing is so contentious and quarrelsome as the stomach.
Chrysostom. Having eaten and drunk and been filled, pay attention to yourself. For the place of luxury is precipitous.
John Climacus. When the belly is afflicted, the heart is humbled; but when it is cared for, reason becomes arrogant.
Nyssen. Let want be your relish; and not to add satiety to satiety, nor to blunt appetite with surfeiting.
The root of the transgressions in life is the preoccupation with the throat.
The sensation of seasonings has its limit as far as the palate; but from the palate on, the difference of things put in is indistinguishable, as nature similarly changes everything to a foul smell.
Of Philo. The property of self-control is health (876) and strength; but of incontinence, weakness and sickness bordering on death.
Plutarch. People ask to have health from God; but having the power for it within themselves, they do not know it. For by doing the opposite through incontinence, they themselves become betrayers of their health.
Just as with ointment, not that which is sweet is good, nor that which is long-lasting, but that which is healthy; so also with food, not that which is pleasant is good, nor that which is abundant, but that which is healthy.
Let speed and haste be absent from eating; for this is dog-like, and befitting a beast more than a human.
Of Cato. This man, attacking extravagance, said, "How difficult it is to speak to a belly that has no ears."
Antisthenes. Antisthenes, when asked, "What is a festival?" said, "An occasion for gluttony."
Of Epictetus. Take care that the food in your stomach does not fatten you, but the gladness in your soul. Since the former is turned to dung, and the praise flows away with it; but the soul, when separated, remains forever pure.
At feasts, remember that two are being received: both the body and the soul. And whatever you give to the body, this you immediately pour out; but whatever you give to the soul, you keep forever.
Diogenes. In houses where there is much food, there are many mice and weasels; and bodies that receive much food draw to themselves an equal number of diseases.
Crates. Crates, seeing a golden statue of Phryne the courtesan standing in Delphi, cried out that, "This stands as a trophy of the incontinence of the Greeks."
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∆ώσω προθύμως· ἥν δέ τοῖς κάτω δίδως Κόπρον· λάβοις μέν, ἀλλ᾿ ὅμως μή πλουσίαν. Εἰ δ᾿ οὖν κατάσχοις, δώσωμεν καί
πλουσίαν.
Ἀκρασία γάρ ἐμοί, πᾶν τό περιττόν καί ὑπέρ τήν χείαν καί ταῦτα, πεινόντων ἄλλων καί δεομένων, τῶν ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πηλοῦ καί κράματος.
Οὐδέν οὕτω ἐπίμαχόν τε καί φιλόνεικον, ὡς ἡ γαστήρ.
Χρυσοσ. Φαγών καί πιών καί ἐμπλησθείς, πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ. Ἀπόκρημνος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τόπος τῆς τρυφῆς.
Ἰω. Κλίμ. Θλιβομένης κοιλίας ταπεινοῦται καρδία· θεραπευομένης δέ, γαυριᾷ λογισμός.
Νύσσ. Ὄψον σοι γενέσθω ἔνδεια· καί τό μή ἐπιβάλλειν κόρον τῷ κόρῳ, μηδέ ἀμβλύνειν τῇ κραιπάλῃ ὄρεξιν.
Ῥίζα τῶν περί τόν βίον πλημμελημάτων ἐστίν, ἡ περί τόν λαιμόν ἀσχολία.
Μέχρι τῆς ὑπερώας ἡ τῶν ἡδυσμάτων αἴσθησις τόν ὅρον ἔχει· ἀπό δέ ὑπερώας, ἀδιάκριτος ἡ τῶν ἐμβαλλομένων διαφορά, ὁμοτίμως τά πάντα τῆς φύσεως πρός δυσωδίαν ἀλλοιούσης.
Φίλωνος. Ἐγκρατείας μέν ἴδιον, ὑγίεια (876) καί ἰσχύς· ἀκρασίας δέ, ἀσθένεια καί νόσος γειτνιῶσα θανάτῳ.
Πλουτάρχ. Ὑγείαν ἔχειν παρά Θεοῦ αἰτοῦνται οἱ ἄνθρωποι· τήν δέ ταύτης δύναμιν παρ᾿ ἑαυτοῖς ἔχοντες, οὐκ ἴσασιν. Ἀκρασίᾳ γάρ τά ἐναντία πράσσοντες, αὐτοί προδόται τῆς ὑγείας γίνονται.
Ὥσπερ ἄλειμμα οὐ τό ἡδύ καλόν, οὐδέ τό μακρόν, ἀλλά τό ὑγιεινόν· οὕτω καί τροφή, οὐχ ἡ ἡδεῖα καλή, οὐδέ ἡ πολλή, ἀλλ᾿ ἡ ὑγιεινή.
Τάχος καί ἔπειξις ἀπέστω τοῦ ἐσθίειν· κυνῶδες γάρ τοῦτο, καί θηρίῳ μᾶλλον ἤ ἀνθρώπῳ πρέπον.
Κάτωνος. Οὗτος τῆς πολυτελείας καθαπτόμενος, εἶπεν, Ὡς χαλεπόν ἐστι λέγειν πρός γαστέρα, ὦτα μή ἔχουσαν.
Ἀντισθέν. Ἀντισθένης ἐρωτηθείς, Τί ἐστιν ἑορτή, εἶπε, Γαστριμαργίας ἀφορμή.
Ἐπικτήτου. Φρόντιζε ὅπως σε μή τά ἐν τῇ γαστρί σιτία πιαίνει, ἀλλ᾿ ἡ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ εὐφρασία. Ἐπεί τά μέν ἀποσκυβαλίζεται, καί συνεκρεῖ ὁ ἔπαινος· ἡ δέ ψυχή χωρισθεῖσα, διαπαντός ἀκήρατος μένει.
Ἐν ταῖς ἑστιάσεσι, μέμνησο ὅτι δύο ὑποδέχονται· τό τε σῶμα καί ἡ ψυχή· καί ὅ τι ἄν τῷ σώματι δῷς, τοῦτο εὐθύ ἐξέχεας· ὅ τι δ᾿ ἄν τῇ ψυχῇ διαπαντός τηρεῖς.
∆ιογένης. Τῶν οἰκιῶν ἔνθα πλείστη τροφή, πολλούς μῦς εἶναι καί γαλάς· καί σώματα δέ τά πολλήν τροφήν δεχόμενα, καί νόσους ἴσας ἐφέλκεσθαι.
Κράτης. Κράτης ἰδών χρυσῆν εἰκόνα Φρύνης τῆς ἑταίρας ἐν ∆ελφοῖς ἑστῶσαν, ἀνέκραγεν, ὅτι Τοῦτο τῆς Ἑλλήνων ἀκρασίας τρόπαιον ἕστηκεν.