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Isidore. Having been born mortal, try to look at the things behind. Euripides. Nothing is certain in the mortal race, For no one lives the way he chooses. Anonymous. There is no man who is esteemed in everything. And consider yourself also to be one of the many. Diogenes. O mortal and miserable race of men, How we are nothing except like shadows, Wandering about as a useless burden of the earth. Apelles the painter, having been asked why he painted Fortune seated, said, She is not
for she is not standing. Bias. The same said to measure life thus, as if one will live both a long and a short time.
(1009) Sophocles in Ajax. As a day both brings down and brings up again, So it is with all human affairs.
DISCOURSE 68.
Concerning that it is necessary to honor virtue and to punish vice. John 5. They will come forth who have done good things, to a resurrection of life; but they who have done
evil things, to a resurrection of judgment. 2 Peter 2. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation; but the unrighteous for the day
of judgment to be kept for punishment. Proverbs 22. A cunning man, having seen an evil man being punished, is himself strongly chastened. Sirach 10. It is not right to dishonor a poor man who is wise, and it is not fitting to glorify a sinner. Basil. If the prudent see the wicked being dishonored, much
more readily will they hold fast to virtue. Let another, therefore, be daring and noble in these matters; or rather, let no one be. But I
hesitate to give to vice the punishment hence, of all things, or to piety the respite. But there are times when it is also for some useful purpose, either when vice is cut off, the suffering of the wicked; or when virtue's way is being prepared, the well-being of the better people; but not always, nor in every case; but this is only for the time to come, at which the one group will receive the prizes of virtue, and the other the penalties of vice.
Chrysostom. Give to the one who is in need, and do not give to the one who is dancing, so that with your money you do not also destroy that man's soul. For you are the cause of his destruction, through ill-timed love of honor. For if those in the orchestra knew that their pursuit was going to be unprofitable, they would have long ago ceased pursuing these things.
Isaiah 3. He who spares the wicked wrongs the good. As many as punish the wrongdoers, these prevent others from being wronged. He who honors virtue, honors truth first, and especially as of all good
that which leads.
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Ἰσιδώρου. Θνητός πεφυκώς, τά ὀπίσω πειρῶ βλέπειν. Εὐριπίδου. Βέβαιον οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐν θνητῷ γένει, Βιοῖ γάρ οὐδείς ὅν προαιρεῖται τρόπον. Ἀνωνύμου. Οὐκ ἔστιν ὅστις πάντ᾿ ἀνήρ εὐδοκιμεῖ. Εἶναι δ᾿ ὑπόλαβε καί σέ τῶν πολλῶν ἕνα. ∆ιογένης. Ὁ θνητόν ἀνδρῶν καί ταλαίπωρον γένος, Ὡς οὐδέν ἐσμεν πλήν σκιαῖς ἐοικότες, Βάρος περισσόν γῆς ἀναστροφώμενοι. Ὁ Ἀπελλῆς ὁ ζωγράφος ἐρωτηθείς, διατί τήν Τύχην καθημένην ἔγραψεν, εἶπεν, Οὐχ
ἕστηκε γάρ. Βίας. Ὁ αὐτός ἔλεγε, τόν βίον οὕτω μετρεῖν, ὡς καί πολύν, καί ὀλίγον χρόνον
βιωσόμενος. (1009) Σοφοκλ. ἐν Αἴαντι. Ὡς ἡμέρα κλίνει τε κἀνάγει πάλιν, Οὕτως ἅπαντα τά ἀνθρώπινα.
ΛΟΓΟΣ Ξ Η´.
Περί τοῦ, ὅτι δεῖ τιμᾷν ἀρετήν καί κολάζειν κακίαν. Ἰωάν. ε´. Ἐκπορεύσονται οἱ τά ἀγαθά ποιήσαντες, εἰς ἀνάστασιν ζωῆς· οἱ δέ τά
φαῦλα πράξαντες, εἰς ἀνάστασιν κρίσεως. Β´ Πέτρ. β´. Οἴδεν Κύριος εὐσεβεῖς ἐκ πειρασμοῦ ῥύεσθαι· ἀδίκους δέ εἰς ἡμέραν
κρίσεως κολαζομένους τηρεῖν. Παροιμ. κβ´. Πανοῦργος, ἰδών πονηρόν τιμωρούμενον, κραταιῶς αὐτός παιδεύεται. Σιράχ ι´. Οὐ δίκαιον ἀτιμάσαι πτωχόν συνετόν, καί οὐ καθῆκον δοξάσαι ἁμαρτωλόν. Βασιλείου. Ἐάν οἱ σωφρονοῦντες τούς φαύλους ἴδωσιν ἀτιμαζομένους, πολύ
προθυμότερον τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀνθέξονται. Ἄλλος μέν οὖν εἴη περί ταῦτα τολμηρός καί γεννάδας· μᾶλλον δέ εἴη μηδείς. Ἐγώ
δέ ὀκνῶ κακίᾳ δοῦναι πάντων τήν ἐντεῦθεν κόλασιν, ἤ εὐσεβείᾳ τήν ἄνεσιν. Ἀλλ᾿ ἔστι μέν ὅτε καί πρός τι χρήσιμον, ἤ κακίας ἐγκοπτομένης, δυσπάθεια τῶν πονηρῶν· ἤ ἀρετῆς ὁδοποιουμένης, εὐπάθεια τῶν βελτιόνων· οὐκ ἀεί δέ, οὐδέ πάντως· ἀλλ᾿ εἶναι τοῦτο μόνον καιροῦ τοῦ μέλλοντος, καθ᾿ ὅν οἱ μέν τά τῆς ἀρετῆς ἆθλα, οἱ δέ τά τῆς κακίας ἐπιτίμια δέξονται.
Χρυσοστ. ∆ός τῷ δεομένῳ, καί μή δῷς τῷ ὀρχουμένῳ, ἵνα μή μετά τῶν σῶν χρημάτων καί τήν ψυχήν ἀπολέσῃς τήν ἐκείνου. Σύ γάρ αἴτιος εἶ τῆς ἐκείνου ἀπωλείας, διά τῆς ἀκαίρου φιλοτιμίας. Εἰ γάρ οἱ ἐπί τῆς ὀρχήστρας ᾔδεσαν, ὅτι τό ἐπιτήδευμα αὐτοῖς ἀκερδές ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι, πάλαι ἄν ἐπαύσαντο ταῦτα ἐπιτηδεύοντες.
Ἡσαΐ. γ´. Ἀδικεῖ τούς ἀγαθούς, ὁ φειδόμενος τῶν κακῶν. Ὅσοι τούς ἀδικοῦντας κολάζουσιν, οὗτοι τούς ἄλλους ἀδικεῖσθαι κωλύουσιν. Ὁ ἀρετήν τιμῶν, πρώτην ἀλήθειαν τιμᾷ, καί μάλιστα ὡς ἀγαθοῦ παντός
ἡγεμονεύουσαν.