John Chrysostom, On Empty Glory and Child-rearing

let us apply a lever, let us make the citizens worthy; what kind of citizens are these? by teaching the child to speak words that are reverent and pious. And let us practice a great expulsion of strangers, so that some promiscuous and corrupting people may not enter in to these citizens; insolent and abusive words, foolish words, shameful words, worldly words, secular words, let us drive them all out. And let no one walk through these gates, but the king alone. And for him and for all his own let this gate be open, so that it may be said of it: "This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter into it." And according to the blessed Paul: "If any word is good for edification, that it may give grace to those who hear." Let the words be thanksgiving, reverent hymns; let them always speak about God, about the philosophy from above. How then shall this be? And whence shall we teach them? If we are strict judges of what is done; for the child has great ease. How? He does not fight for money, nor for glory; he is still a child; not for a wife, not for children, not for a house. So what cause could he have for insolence and blasphemy? All his struggle is with his peers. Immediately establish a law: to insult no one, to blaspheme no one, not to swear, to be peaceable. And if you see the law being transgressed, punish him, sometimes with a stern look, sometimes with words that can bite, sometimes with reproaches; sometimes flatter him and make promises. But not with continual beatings, nor should you accustom him to be disciplined in this way; for if he learns to be disciplined continually, he will also learn to be contemptuous; and having learned to be contemptuous he has overturned everything. But let him always be afraid of beatings, but not receive them; and let the strap be shaken at him, but not brought down on him. And let threats proceed but not into action; but let this not be clear, that the words are only threats; for a threat is then good, when it is believed that it will come to action; since if the one who has sinned learns the strategy, he will be contemptuous. But let him expect to be disciplined, but not be disciplined, so that the fear may not be extinguished, but that it may remain like a blazing fire, pulling up all the thorns from every side, or like a sharp and deep mattock digging into the very depth. However, when you see that he has profited from the fear, relax; for our nature has need of some relaxation. Teach him to be gentle and humane. And if you see an attendant being insulted, do not overlook it, but punish the freeman. For he who knows that it will not be permitted to insult even his own servant, much more will not blaspheme or revile the freeman and his equal. Sew up his mouth from evil. If you see him slandering someone, silence him and turn his tongue against his own sins. Advise the mother also about these things to speak to the child, and the tutor and the attendant, so that all together may be guardians and may watch that none of those evil thoughts leap forth from that child and that mouth and those golden doors. And do not think that the matter requires much time. If from the beginning you apply it strictly and you threaten and you set up so many guardians, two months are sufficient, and the whole thing has been set right and the matter is established into the firmness of nature. This gate, therefore, would thus become worthy of the Lord, when it utters neither obscenity, nor coarse jesting, nor foolishness, nor anything else, but all things that are fitting for the Master. For if those training their own children for physical warfare immediately teach the enlisted ones to shoot with the bow and to put on a cloak and to mount a horse, and age is no hindrance, much more must those who are enlisted for service above put on this whole royal adornment.

μοχλὸν ἐπιθῶμεν, ἀξίους καὶ τοὺς πολίτας κατασκευάσωμεν· ποίους δὴ τούτους; ῥήματα παιδεύοντες τὸ παιδίον φθέγγεσθαι σεμνὰ καὶ εὐσεβῆ. Καὶ ξενηλασίαν ποιῶμεν πολλήν, ὥστε μὴ μιγάδας τινὰς καὶ φθόρους ἀνθρώπους ἐπεισιέναι τοῖς πολίταις τούτοις· τοὺς ὑβριστικοὺς λόγους καὶ λοιδόρους, τοὺς ἀνοήτους, τοὺς αἰσχρούς, τοὺς βιωτικούς, τοὺς κοσμικούς, πάντας ἐξελάσωμεν. Καὶ μηδεὶς διὰ τούτων βαδιζέτω τῶν πυλῶν, ἀλλ' ὁ βασιλεὺς μόνος. Καὶ αὐτῷ καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ πᾶσιν ἔστω ἀνεῳγμένη αὕτη ἡ πύλη, ἵνα καὶ περὶ αὐτῆς λέγηται· «Αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ Κυρίου, δίκαιοι εἰσελεύσονται ἐν αὐτῇ.» Καὶ κατὰ τὸν μακάριον Παῦλον· «Εἴ τις ἀγαθὸς λόγος πρὸς οἰκοδομήν, ἵνα δῷ χάριν τοῖς ἀκούουσιν.» Εὐχαριστία ἔστωσαν οἱ λόγοι, ὕμνοι σεμνοί· περὶ Θεοῦ διαλεγέσθωσαν ἀεί, περὶ φιλοσοφίας τῆς ἄνω. Πῶς οὖν ἔσται τοῦτο; καὶ πόθεν αὐτοὺς παιδεύσομεν; Ἂν σφοδροὶ κριταὶ τῶν γινομένων ὦμεν· καὶ γὰρ τῷ παιδὶ πολλὴ ἡ εὐκολία. Πῶς; οὐχ ὑπὲρ χρημάτων μάχεται, οὐχ ὑπὲρ δόξης· ἔτι παιδίον ἐστίν· οὐχ ὑπὲρ γυναικός, οὐχ ὑπὲρ παίδων, οὐχ ὑπὲρ οἰκίας. Ὥστε ποίαν ἂν ἔχοι ὕβρεως καὶ βλασφημίας τὴν αἰτίαν; πρὸς ὁμήλικας ὁ ἀγὼν ἅπας αὐτῷ. Θὲς νόμον εὐθέως, μηδένα ὑβρίζειν, μηδένα βλασφημεῖν, μὴ ὀμνύναι, ἄμαχον εἶναι. Κἂν ἴδῃς τὸν νόμον παραβαινόμενον, κόλασον, ποτὲ μὲν ὄψει σφοδρᾷ, ποτὲ δὲ λόγοις δακεῖν δυναμένοις, ποτὲ δὲ ὀνειδισμοῖς· ποτὲ δὲ κολάκευσον καὶ ἐπαγγέλλου. Πληγὰς δὲ μὴ συνεχῶς, μηδὲ ἐθίσῃς αὐτὸν οὕτω παιδεύεσθαι· ἂν γὰρ μάθῃ παιδεύεσθαι συνεχῶς, καὶ καταφρονεῖν μαθήσεται· μαθὼν δὲ καταφρονεῖν τὰ πάντα ἀνέτρεψεν. Ἀλλὰ φοβείσθω μὲν ἀεὶ πληγάς, μὴ λαμβανέτω δέ· καὶ ἐπισειέσθω μὲν τὸ σκῦτος, μὴ καταφερέσθω δέ. Καὶ ἀπειλαὶ προχωρείτωσαν μὴ εἰς ἔργον· τοῦτο δὲ μὴ ἔστω δῆλον, ὅτι μέχρις ἀπειλῶν ἐστι τὰ ῥήματα· ἀπειλὴ γὰρ τότε καλόν, ὅταν πιστεύηται, ὅτι εἰς ἔργον ἔλθῃ· ἐπεὶ ἐὰν τὴν οἰκονομίαν ὁ ἡμαρτηκὼς μάθῃ, καταφρονήσει. Ἀλλὰ προσδοκάτω μὲν παιδεύεσθαι, μὴ παιδευέσθω δέ, ἵνα μὴ σβεννύηται ὁ φόβος, ἀλλ' ἵνα μένῃ καθάπερ πῦρ ἐνακμάζον καὶ πάσας πάντοθεν ἀνέλκον τὰς ἀκάνθας ἢ καθάπερ μάκελλα ὀξεῖα καὶ βαθεῖα εἰς αὐτὸ σκάπτουσα τὸ βάθος. Ὅταν μέντοι ἴδῃς ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου κερδάναντα, ἄνες· δεῖ γάρ τινος φύσει τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ καὶ ἀνέσεως. ∆ίδαξον αὐτὸν ἐπιεικῆ εἶναι καὶ φιλάνθρωπον. Κἂν ἀκόλουθον ἴδῃς ὑβριζόμενον, μὴ περιίδῃς, ἀλλὰ κόλασον τὸν ἐλεύθερον. Ὁ γὰρ εἰδὼς ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸν οἰκέτην ἐξέσται ὑβρίζειν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὸν ἐλεύθερον καὶ ὁμότιμον οὐ βλασφημήσει οὐδὲ λοιδορήσεται. Ἀπὸ κακίας τὸ στόμα ἀπόρραψον. Ἂν ἴδῃς διαβάλλοντά τινα, ἐπιστόμισον καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν κατὰ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τῶν αὑτοῦ μετάστησον. Ταῦτα καὶ τῇ μητρὶ παραίνει διαλέγεσθαι τῷ παιδὶ καὶ τῷ παιδαγωγῷ καὶ τῷ ἀκολούθῳ, ὥστε πάντας ὁμοῦ φύλακας εἶναι καὶ παρατηρεῖν μηδένα προπηδᾶν τῶν λογισμῶν ἐκείνων τῶν πονηρῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ παιδίου καὶ τοῦ στόματος ἐκείνου καὶ τῶν θυρῶν τῶν χρυσῶν. Καὶ μή μοι νομίσῃς πολλοῦ τὸ πρᾶγμα δεῖσθαι καιροῦ. Ἂν παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν σφοδρῶς ἐπιθῇ καὶ ἀπειλήσῃς καὶ τοσούτους ἐπιστήσῃς φύλακας, δύο μῆνες ἀρκοῦσι, καὶ τὸ πᾶν κατώρθωται καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα εἰς φύσεως βεβαιότητα καθίσταται. Αὕτη μὲν οὖν ἡ πύλη οὕτως ἀξία γένοιτ' ἂν τοῦ Κυρίου, ὅταν μήτε αἰσχρότης, μήτε εὐτραπελία, μήτε ἀνόητον, μήτε ἄλλο μηδὲν φθέγγηται, ἀλλὰ πάντα τὰ τῷ ∆εσπότῃ πρέποντα. Εἰ γὰρ οἱ τὴν σωματικὴν στρατείαν παιδεύοντες τοὺς ἑαυτῶν παῖδας εὐθέως τοὺς στρατευομένους καὶ τοξεύειν διδάσκουσι καὶ χλανίδα ἀμφιέννυσθαι καὶ ἵππον ἀναβαίνειν καὶ οὐδὲν ἡ ἡλικία κώλυμα γίνεται, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοὺς ἄνω στρατευομένους τὸν κόσμον ἅπαντα περιτίθεσθαι χρὴ τοῦτον τὸν βασιλικόν.