Ch. 9
To a person who had been changed to a character of shamelessness.
753
WHEN you see another man in the possession of power
(magistracy), set against this the fact that you have not
the want (desire) of power; when you see another rich,
see what you possess in place of riches: for if you possess
nothing in place of them, you are miserable; but if you
have not the want of riches, know that you possess more
than this man possesses and what is worth much more.
Another man possesses a handsome woman (wife): you
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have the satisfaction of not desiring a handsome wife. Do
these things appear to you to be small? And how much
would these persons give, these very men who are rich, and
in possession of power, and live with handsome women, to
be able to despise riches, and power and these very women
whom they love and enjoy? Do you not know then what
is the thirst of a man who has a fever? He possesses that
which is in no degree like the thirst of a man who is in
health: for the man who is in health ceases to be thirsty
after he has drunk; but the sick man being pleased for a
short time has a nausea, he converts the drink into bile,
vomits, is griped, and more thirsty. It is such a thing to
have desire of riches and to possess riches, desire of power
and to possess power, desire of a beautiful woman and to
sleep with her: to this is added jealousy, fear of being
deprived of the thing which you love, indecent words,
indecent thoughts, unseemly acts.
And what do I lose? you will say. My man, you were
modest, and you are so no longer. Have you lost nothing?
In place of Chrysippus and Zeno you read Aristides and
Evenus;754 have you lost nothing? In place of Socrates
and Diogenes, you admire him who is able to corrupt and
seduce most women. You wish to appear handsome and
try to make yourself so, though you are not. You like to
display splendid clothes that you may attract women;
and if you find any fine oil (for the hair),755 you imagine
that you are happy. But formerly you did not think of
any such thing, but only where there should be decent
talk, a worthy man, and a generous conception. Therefore you slept like a man, walked forth like a man, wore a
manly dress, and used to talk in a way becoming a good
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man; then do you say to me, I have lost nothing? So do
men lose nothing more than coin? Is not modesty lost?
Is not decent behaviour lost? is it that he who has lost
these things has sustained no loss? Perhaps you think
that not one of these things is a loss. But there was a
time when you reckoned this the only loss and damage,
and you were anxious that no man should disturb you
from these (good) words and actions.
Observe, you are disturbed from these good words and
actions by nobody, but by yourself. Fight with yourself,
restore yourself to decency, to modesty, to liberty. If any
man ever told you this about me, that a person forces me
to be an adulterer, to wear such a dress as yours, to perfume myself with oils, would you not have gone and with
your own hand have killed the man who thus calumniated
me? Now will you not help yourself? and how much
easier is this help? There is no need to kill any man,
nor to put him in chains, nor to treat him with contumely
nor to enter the Forum (go to the courts of law), but it is
only necessary for you to speak to yourself who will be
most easily persuaded, with whom no man has more power
of persuasion than yourself. First of all, condemn what
you are doing, and then when you have condemned it, do
not despair of yourself, and be not in the condition of
those men of mean spirit, who, when they have once
given in, surrender themselves completely and are carried
away as if by a torrent. But see what the trainers of boys
do. Has the boy fallen? Rise, they say, wrestle again
till you are made strong. Do you also do something of
the same kind: for be well assured that nothing is more
tractable than the human soul. You must exercise the
Will,756 and the thing is done, it is set right: as on the
other hand, only fall a nodding (be careless), and the
thing is lost: for from within comes ruin and from within
comes help. Then (you say) what good do I gain? And
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what greater good do you seek than this?757 From a shameless man you will become a modest man, from a disorderly
you will become an orderly man, from a faithless you will
become a faithful man, from a man of unbridled habits a
sober man. If you seek any thing more than this, go on doing
what you are doing: not even a God can now help you.