Liber I, Pars IV — Qui mores senum sunt laudabiles, et qui sunt mores eorum qui sunt in statu: et qualiter reges et principes ad huiusmodi mores debeant se habere. Cap. IIII.

Liber I, Pars IV — Qui mores senum sunt laudabiles, et qui sunt mores eorum qui sunt in statu: et qualiter reges et principes ad huiusmodi mores debeant se habere. Cap. IIII.

When the morals of the elderly are criticized, it remains to enumerate their commendable qualities. However, it seems that the philosopher speaks to this. In the Rhetoric, four qualities of the elderly are discussed that can be commendable. First, the elderly have desires that are relaxed and moderate. Second, they are compassionate. Third, they do not stubbornly assert doubtful things. Fourth, they do not act excessively. For the desires of the elderly (especially regarding sexual matters) are moderate and restrained, because (as was said earlier) when the body is warm, there is an incitement to lust and desires. Therefore, when the body is cooled, the passions of lust and desire are diminished. It is clear that those who desire sexual pleasures extend themselves into other things. This, however, is contrary to the nature of coldness. For cold things do not properly extend themselves outward, but rather contract within themselves. Therefore, the elderly are constrained within themselves due to coldness, so they have diminished and moderate desires. From this, it can be seen how the elderly are often illiberal. For it often happens that through illiberality, they sin in two ways. First, if they hold onto what they have beyond what reason dictates. Second, if someone desires to have what they do not possess, contrary to reason. Older people tend to sin more through illiberality by clinging to what they have than by improperly desiring what they do not have, because they are more constrained within themselves due to their coldness than they extend themselves to others. For when there is no action of the soul that does not use some bodily organ in some way, just as in an artificial work, if the organ is varied, the work is varied; so in the actions of the soul, when the body is transformed, the soul follows the conditions of the body, and there is a variation in its actions. Therefore, when the body is cold, the soul inclines through desire to follow the nature of the cold. And because the cold is restrained, condensed, and released within itself, therefore older people have their desires relaxed due to their coldness, as the Philosopher says in the Rhetoric. Secondly, older people are compassionate; but (as the Philosopher says) they are not compassionate for the same reason as younger people. Young people are compassionate because of friendship; older people, however, are compassionate because of their weakness. For everyone has compassion for a friend and for someone they believe is suffering unjustly. Young people, therefore, because they are lovers of friendships and measure others by their own innocence, think that everyone is good. For this reason, if they suffer, they think it unfair for others: therefore, they easily feel compassion. However, old people are not compassionate because they believe others are good, or because they are lovers of friendships; rather, it is because everyone, when in weakness or deficiency, desires that others feel compassion for them and show them mercy. For this reason, they also easily incline to feel compassion for others and to show mercy. Therefore, old people, because of their weakness, desire that others feel compassion for them and show them mercy, and they easily feel compassion for and show mercy to others. Thirdly, they assert nothing with certainty. For, as the philosopher says, the Rhetorician. Older people have lived many years and have seen that they are often deceived; therefore, they don't dare to assert anything with certainty, fearing that things may not be as they seem and that they might be misled. For this reason, the philosopher says that old people are uncertain in their judgments and always add phrases like 'perhaps' or 'maybe,' and they never make firm declarations. When something is in question regarding a matter, they say, 'It may be so,' or 'In some way, it was like that,' fearing they might be deceived, and they do not express any firm opinions. Fourth, they do not act with great intensity, but in all their actions, they seem to be moderate. For just as young people are full of desires and passions, holding extremes in everything and acting with great fervor, so old people, having weaker passions and desires, generally act to moderate everything. It can be seen what the behaviors of the young and the old are; it can be easily discerned what the behaviors are of those who are in a balanced state. For those who are in a balanced state, as the philosopher says in the second book of Rhetoric, possess whatever is commendable in the old or the young. For they are neither excessively passionate like the young nor cold like the old; they are not so bold and rash as the young, nor so timid and cowardly as the old; but they hold a middle ground between both, being timid when caution is needed and bold when courage is required. So too, because they are neither completely inexperienced like the young nor completely deceived like the old, they don't believe everything that young people do out of inexperience, nor do they entirely disbelieve what old people do because they have been deceived many times; rather, they find a middle ground. Therefore, it is said. In the Rhetoric, it is stated that those who are in a position of authority neither believe everything nor disbelieve everything; rather, they judge more according to the truth. Moreover, because they are in between the old and the young, they are neither intemperate like the young nor fearful and weak like the old; instead, they are strong with moderation and moderate with strength. Thus, to summarize, whatever is commendable in the old or in the young is fully found in those who are in a position of authority. Whatever faults exist in them are completely removed from those in authority. For (as was said above many times) extremes are always blameworthy, while the middle ground is commendable. If, therefore, there is anything commendable in the old or in the young, it is because they do not completely stray from the middle ground. If there is anything blameworthy in them, it is because they have it in extremes. Therefore, if there is anything moderate in the elderly or the young, it is found in a fuller and more perfect way in those who are in a stable position: whatever is commendable in them should be found in those who are in a stable position. Again, whatever extremes exist in them will be removed from those who are in a stable position: whatever is blameworthy in them will be removed from those who are in a stable position. Thus, it is fitting to speak about the morals of people. However, such matters should not be understood as if there were an absolute necessity that the elderly cannot be generous and magnanimous, or that the young cannot be temperate and stable: rather, they should be understood according to a certain inclination and tendency, because according to the natural course and the order we observe, the young, the elderly, and those who are in a stable position have a certain inclination and tendency toward morals that are suitable for them, as is manifest from experience. From these observations, it can be seen in a simple way how kings and princes should conduct themselves regarding such morals. For the commendable morals of the elderly (as they are of this kind) ought to be theirs. For when kings and princes ought to live more by reason than by passion, it is fitting for them to have tempered desires: because (as was said above) if desires are violent, they strike at reason. It's fitting for them to be merciful, not out of weakness or frailty, but for the good of the kingdom, so that they may be more loved by those who are in the kingdom. For the whole kingdom is drawn to the king's love if he is seen to be merciful and compassionate. Third, it's not fitting for kings and princes to stubbornly assert dubious matters in the opposite direction, lest they be judged as frivolous and indiscreet. Fourth, in their actions, they should have moderation and temperance, because (as has been said) they ought to be a model of living and a rule for others. Therefore, some behaviors of the elderly and the young are to be imitated, while others are to be avoided. But among those who are in a certain state, in a way, all behaviors are to be imitated. We say, in a way, that just as the elderly and the young have a certain natural inclination and tendency toward blameworthy behaviors, they can, however, act against that inclination to achieve commendable behaviors. Likewise, those who are in a certain state, even if they have a tendency toward commendable behaviors, can still act against that tendency, so that through the corruption of their desires they follow blameworthy behaviors. Therefore, if it is fitting for rulers to dominate according to reason and intellect, it is proper for kings and princes, who hold authority over others, to follow commendable morals in accordance with reason's guidance and order.