Sed tamen et amicum habere vult et vicinum et contubernalem, quamvis sibi ipse sufficiat.Et hoc, quod dico possit, tale est: amissum aequo animo fert.Consider, therefore, whether it is not better to say a soul that cannot be harmed, or a soul entirely beyond the realm of suffering.
![]() There is this difference between ourselves and the other school a: our ideal wise man feels his troubles, but overcomes them; their wise man does not even feel them. But we and they alike hold this idea,that the wise man is self-sufficient. Nevertheless, he desires friends, neighbours, and associates, no matter how much he is sufficient unto himself. And mark how self-sufficient he is; for on occasion he can be content with a part of himself. If he lose a hand through disease or war, or if some accident puts out one or both of his eyes, he will be satisfied with what is left, taking as much pleasure in his impaired and maimed body as he took when it was sound. ![]() In this sense the wise man is self-sufficient, that he can do without friends, not that he desires to do without them. ![]() Just as Phidias, if he lose a statue, can straightway carve another, even so our master in the art of making friendships can fill the place of a friend he has lost. If you ask how one can make oneself a friend quickly, I will tell you, provided we are agreed that I may pay my debt b at once and square the account, so far as this letter is concerned. Hecato c says: I can show you a philtre, compounded without drugs, herbs, or any witchs incantation: If you would be loved, love.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |