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The king remembered him. And they receive prizes from the king for having many children; and the children among them are taught to tell the truth as if it were a lesson.

Philo. A long-established character is stronger than nature; and small, unhindered sins, take root and grow, increasing to a great size.

Let us by no means blame nature; for habit makes every life pleasant or unpleasant.

Charicles. For every passion, when it is recognized quickly, (992) is easy to remedy; but that which is neglected over time, is nearly incurable.

Of Choricius. Once nature has taken hold of pleasure, it is scarcely willing to proceed to toils.

Socrates. Nothing is truly pleasant or unpleasant by nature; but all things become so by habit.

Choose the best life; for habit will make it pleasant. Menander. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .It is impossible to break a long-standing habit in a short time. For what is customary must never be overlooked. Of Polyaenus. A habit begins from small things; but if neglected, its greater strength

takes on.

Theocritus. To always have a treacherous and most malicious character against all, I do not attribute to the part of the quick-witted, as some think, but to that of the most wicked.

It is easy to praise what one ought not, and to blame; and each is of a certain wicked character.

From the works of Serinus. The kings of the Persians, before the sacrifices, discourse on piety; and before drinking, on temperance; and when about to go to war, on courage.

Herodotus. The Agathyrsi are most luxurious men and especially wearers of gold. And they have intercourse with women in common, so that they may all be brothers to one another, and being kin, they might use neither envy nor enmity towards each other.

DISCOURSE 63.

Concerning noble birth and low birth. John 3. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the

Spirit, is spirit.

Romans 9. It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

Solomon 3. The end of an unjust generation is grievous.

Children who glory in contempt and lack of discipline, pollute the nobility of their own lineage.

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αὐτοῦ ἐμνήσθη ὁ βασιλεύς. Ἆθλα δέ λαμβάνουσι παρά βασιλέως πολυτεκνίας· οἱ δέ παῖδες παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς ὥσπερ μαθήματα τό ἀληθεύειν διδάσκονται.

Φίλων. Ἐγχρονίζον ἦθος φύσεως κραταιότερόν ἐστι· καί μικρά μή κωλυόμενα ἁμαρτήματα, φύεται καί ἐπιδίδοται πρός μέγεθος συναυξάνοντα.

Μηδαμῶς τήν φύσιν αἰτιώμεθα· πάντα γάρ βίον ἡδύν ἤ ἀηδῆ ἡ συνήθεια ποιεῖ.

Χαρικλ. Πάθος γάρ ἅπαν, τό μέν ὀξέως γινωσκόμενον, (992) εὐβοήθητον· τό δέ χρόνῳ παραπεμπόμενον, ἐγγύς ἀνιάτου.

Χορικίου. Λαβομένη ἅπαξ ἡδυπαθείας ἡ φύσις, μόλις ἐθέλει πρός πόνους χωρεῖν.

Σωκράτ. Οὐδέν ὄντως ἡδύ ἤ ἀηδές τῇ φύσει ὑφέστηκεν· πάντα δέ τῇ συνηθείᾳ γίνεται.

Βίον αἱροῦ τόν ἄριστον· τοῦτον γάρ ἡδύν ἡ συνήθεια ποιήσει. Μεάνδρ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ἀμήχανον Μακράν συνήθειαν ἐν βραχεῖ λύσαι χρόνῳ. Τό γάρ σύνηθες οὐδαμοῦ παροπτέον. Πολυαίνου. Ἔθος ἄρχεται μέν ἀπό μικρῶν· ἀμελούμενον δέ, τήν ἰσχύν μείζονα

λαμβάνει.

Θεοκρίτ. Ἐπίβουλον ἦθος καί κακομηχανώτατον διαπαντός ἔχειν καί κατά πάντων, οὐχί τῇ τοῦ ἀγχινόου, ὥς τινες οἴονται, τῇ δέ τοῦ πονηροτάτου μερίδι προστίθημι.

Ῥᾴδιον μέν ἐπαινεῖν, ἅ μή χρή, καί ψέγειν· ἑκάτερον δέ, πονηροῦ τινος ἤθους.

Ἐκ τῶν Σερίνου. Οἱ Περσῶν βασιλεῖς, πρό μέν τῶν θυσιῶν, περί εὐσεβείας διαλέγονται· πρό δέ τοῦ πίνειν, περί σωφροσύνης· πολεμεῖν δέ μέλλοντες, περί ἀνδρείας.

Ἡροδότ. Ἀγάθυρσοι, ἀβρότατοι ἄνδρες εἰσί καί χρυσοφόροι τά μάλιστα. Ἐπίκοινον δέ γυναικῶν τήν μίξιν ποιοῦντα, ἵνα κασίγνητοί τε ἀλλήλων ἐῶσι, καί οἰκεῖοι ἐόντες, μήτε φθόνῳ, μήτε ἔχθει χρέωνται ἐς ἀλλήλους.

ΛΟΓΟΣ Ξ Γ´.

Περί εὐγενείας καί δυσγενείας. Ἰωαν. γ´. Τό γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκός, σάρξ ἐστι· καί τό γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ

πνεύματος, πνεῦμα ἐστιν.

Ῥωμ. θ´. Οὐ τά τέκνα τῆς σαρκός, ταῦτα τέκνα Θεοῦ· ἀλλά τά τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, λογίζεται εἰς σπέρμα.

Σολ. γ´. Γενεᾶς ἀδίκου, χαλεπά τά τέλη.

Τέκνα ἐν καταφρονήσει καί ἀπαιδευσίᾳ γαυριώμενα, συγγενείας ἑαυτῶν μολύνουσι τήν εὐγένειαν.