Pecuniam contempnendam esse pro sapientia ;
The Witness of the Philosophers
Ancient philosophers like Socrates and Diogenes provide a model of detachment from worldly wealth and the vanity of self-inflicted death.
The examples of the ancient philosophers also prove this. We read that many philosophers didn't just despise wealth, but cast it aside as a hindrance to wisdom and virtue. Socrates did this, whom all the schools of philosophy revere as the sole source of prudence and truth. Antisthenes, too, after teaching rhetoric to great acclaim and hearing Socrates, is said to have told his students: "Go away and find a teacher, for I've already found one." He immediately sold everything he owned, distributed it publicly, and kept nothing for himself but a cloak. Diogenes was his most famous follower, a man more powerful than King Alexander and a victor over human nature. But when Antisthenes wouldn't accept any students and couldn't drive the persistent Diogenes away, he finally threatened him with a staff if he didn't leave. It's said that Diogenes then bowed his head and replied: "There's no staff hard enough to separate me from your company." Satirus, who chronicles the lives of famous men, reports that Diogenes wore a double cloak against the cold, carried a bag for his food, and used a staff to support his limbs, which were already frail from old age; he was commonly called 'the beggar' and would ask for and accept food from anyone at any time. He lived in the entryways of gates and in the city porticos, everywhere proclaiming the truth and either driving away those passing by or noting the vices that corrupted their morals. When he would roll around in his tub, he used to joke that he had a portable home and that he was changing along with the seasons. In the cold, he would turn the opening of his tub toward the south, and in the summer toward the north; wherever the sun moved, Diogenes' headquarters would turn as well. At one point, when he was using a wooden cup for drinking, he saw a boy drinking from his cupped hands and threw the cup to the ground, saying, 'I didn't know that nature had its own cup.' He never relaxed his mental discipline, maintaining the same composure even when faced with adversity, and—so that you might fully understand his Socratic nature—he trampled down the storms of fortune, enduring all pain and misery with a steady resolve. He used to say that these things were always foreign to a philosopher, and that the mind is powerless if it is subject to the whims of fortune. His death also bears witness to his virtue and self-control. For when he was already an old man and on his way to the Olympic games—which were being celebrated with a great gathering of Greeks—he was seized by a fever on the road and lay down on the side of the path. When his friends tried to lift him onto a pack animal or carriage, he refused; instead, he moved into the shade of a tree and said, "Please, go on and watch the games." This night will prove whether I am a victor or a loser; if I overcome the fever, I'll go to the games, but if it overcomes me, I'll descend to the underworld. And there, throughout the night, he choked himself to death, claiming he wasn't so much dying as he was shutting out the fever through death. Deceived by the opinion of strong men and their example, he believed that in a moment of extreme difficulty, one ought to choose a self-inflicted death so that it wouldn't be brought on by anything else. A preconceived notion had indeed persuaded the wiser among them that they should prefer to provoke death rather than endure anything shameful. Cato did this, and others did too, who by seizing the sword, hemlock, or some other poison, escaped what they considered to be the entire and only mark of disgrace. Ignorance of the truth seems to offer them a defense, but it is a gross and lazy ignorance that puts the certain after the uncertain, and casts out and expels whatever is held to be best for the sake of a vain cause.
Providence and the Mercy of Nature
Through the stories of Sandrococtus and Andronicus, the author illustrates that God's providence often preserves those who trust in Him rather than in their own desperate actions.
It doesn't gain the name of courage in this, even though a deceptive opinion boasts that it achieves it above all others. It is certainly fraudulent and vain, because, as he says, it is easy to despise life in adverse circumstances; he acts with more courage who can endure being miserable. No one who provokes death is excusable; those who shrink from it when it is imminent are more excusable. For who has known the counsel of the Lord, or whether one can escape impending death by any means? Sandrococtus, ordered to be killed by King Alexander, sought safety in the speed of his feet; from this exhaustion, while he lay overcome by sleep, a lion of huge size approached the sleeper, licked the flowing sweat from him with its tongue, and left him gently when he woke up. Moved by the majesty of this omen, he first began to hope for a kingdom. Later, as he was preparing for war against the prefects of Alexander, an elephant of infinite size offered itself to him of its own accord and, as if with tamed gentleness, took him upon its back, and he later stood out as a distinguished leader of war and a fighter. Andronicus, too, condemned to the beasts, escaped unharmed when he was exposed to a lion—a lion that turned the minds and eyes of everyone toward itself with the vastness of its body, the force of its heat, its terrifying roar, and the sonorous shaking of its mane—because when the lion saw him from a distance, it suddenly stood still as if in wonder, and then slowly and as if playfully, it approached the man calmly. Then it moved its tail gently and kindly in the manner and custom of fawning dogs, and joining itself to the man's body, it licked his legs and hands with its tongue, as he was already nearly dead from fear, while the man was able to recover his lost spirit amidst the caresses of the fierce beast and could barely, little by little, open his eyes to look at the lion. Apion reports that he saw this at the public games in Rome, adding that after a kind of mutual recognition, you could see the lion and the man happy and rejoicing. Because of this, and because of the massive public outcry, the man was summoned by Caesar, and a diligent investigation was conducted into why the most ferocious lion had spared him alone. The man told this remarkable story: 'When my master held the proconsular command in the province of Africa, I was driven to flee by his unjust, daily beatings. So that the hidden places of that land might be safer for me than my master, I retreated into the solitude of the plains and sands.' And as if there were no other option, my only plan was to seek death by any means possible. When, therefore, the sun was at its height, scorching and blazing... ...having found a hidden cave, I went inside and hid myself. Not long after, this lion came to that same cave with a weak and bloody paw, groaning and murmuring, moaning with the pain and torment of the wound as if seeking the pity of anyone who might be there. At the first sight of the approaching lion, I was terrified and almost completely paralyzed with fear. But after the lion entered his dwelling—as the situation made clear—and saw me hiding in the distance, he approached, mild and gentle, and seemed to show me his raised paw, offering it for help. 'There,' he said, 'I pulled out a huge thorn stuck in the sole of his foot, squeezed the pus that had formed deep in the wound, and then, without much fear, I dried it thoroughly and wiped away all the blood.' Relieved by my work and care, he rested his paw in my hands and calmed down; from that day on, the lion and I lived in the same cave and shared the same food for three whole years. For if he hunted any wild animals, he would bring the meatier parts back to the cave, and since I had no way to make a fire, I would eat them roasted by the midday sun. But when I grew tired of that wild life, I left the lion to hunt on his own and left the cave; after traveling for nearly three days, I was spotted by soldiers, captured, and taken from Africa to Rome to my master. He immediately had me condemned for a capital crime and sentenced to be thrown to the beasts. I recognize this lion, too. I was captured back then, separated from him, and now I am repaying the favor of his kindness and care. Andronicus was therefore released from his sentence, and the lion was granted to him by the vote of the entire populace. From then on, as the man and the lion walked together and wandered through the city, everyone would say, "This is the lion who was the man's guest; this is the man who was the lion's doctor."
The True Meaning of Detachment
True wisdom lies not in the total flight from the world, but in the interior mastery of one's desires and the proper use of worldly goods.
Are you looking for more well-known stories? Daniel came out of the lions' den, and the young men escaped the fiery furnace unharmed. And among all nations, many have been freed from impending evils by grace, beyond what anyone expected. Therefore, none of those who took their own lives have been sufficiently excused in my eyes, even though church history has praised some of them highly for choosing to risk their lives rather than their purity. Yet, they are excused by the weakness of the flesh, ignorance of the law, the fire of love, and perhaps a personal command from God, so that they might be saved in their simplicity, and so that what they presumed to do in their simplicity doesn't become a precedent for others. For what room is there for fortitude if the soul is so weary of its own life that, as if patience were conquered and the path of merit cut off, it either cannot or will not endure what is commanded? Among the wise, life is held in such contempt that even the price of shame is considered worthless, yet it is loved in such a way that, as long as it can be kept innocently, it isn't cast away when a moment of difficulty arises. Life, therefore, must be guarded in such a way that it is held in contempt; it must be held in contempt in such a way that it contributes to salvation. But who is there today who despises their soul, when there is no one—or at best, very few—who doesn't crave money with their whole heart? Why wouldn't they? Since Lady Money bestows status and beauty, and since Persuasion and Venus adorn the well-off, whoever is rich and prospers in their ways is judged to be wise and happy. For this reason, one man takes a wife, another buys five yoke of oxen or a farm, trading their soul for these things. They consider those to whom the world offers no smile to be blind, lame, and weak; yet Wisdom introduces these very people—once the rich have been cast out—into the wedding feast, where they are inebriated by the abundance of God's house and the elect are given to drink from the torrent of eternal pleasure. In the meantime, anyone lacking wealth is considered a fool, an ass, a block of wood, a stump, lead, or something even more senseless. If anyone is poor, then, they are a fool and a wretch. But someone crushed by bad fortune cannot be loved by anyone, because no loyalty ever chooses miserable friends; and it is rightly believed that everyone bears the evils they endure. The kingdom of money has become so powerful that people no longer trust the integrity of any judge who turns down a bribe. If you refuse to make a deal, you'll be seen as hostile to the person offering it; and if you want to stay uncorrupted, you'll likely be suspected of having already been bought off by some other bribe or influence. The wisdom of the philosophers has completely vanished, as everyone now chases after wealth as if there were no other way to find rest from labor or comfort for sorrow, and as if shipwrecked people could swim more easily to shore if they were weighed down by a heavy load. But who would ever gather thorns just to roll in them for comfort? Truly, if people actually believed the one who said, "Wealth is a bed of thorns," the wise men of our time wouldn't be so eager to pursue it. So, as Publius Carpus says, the rich are more miserable than the poor because they stray further from wisdom. The appetite for wealth is the exclusion of wisdom and the flight from virtue; poverty is fruitful in good people, imitates the best nature as a guide for living well, and is both the parent and guardian of virtues, producing a security that alone knows nothing of the incentives for war. Those who don't know the causes of contention have no quarrels. The whole world trembles, but the poor person alone does not fear the hand of Caesar. If wealth were avoided or despised for no other reason than that it blocks the paths of wisdom with thorns, it would be right not to love it. Yet, so that the opinion of philosophers doesn't become a burden to those who are ashamed to be seen in the squalor of poverty, philosophy doesn't demand the flight from wealth, but rather the restraint of desire. It seeks a mind that is master of itself and self-sufficient through every turn of fortune, yet in such a way that this sufficiency comes from God. Therefore, one should use gold as if it were earthenware, and earthenware as if it were gold. For just as riches are admitted for their use, so they are despised by the wise man for their abuse. But perhaps humble furnishings will seem shameful to the great, and a modest lifestyle tarnishes the splendor of honor; yet it is far more excellent to shine in character than in possessions, and no one is ever truly brightened by the appearance of things if the stain of his own moral corruption dishonors him. They say that King Anatoclea dined from earthenware and often filled his sideboard with Samian clay. When asked why, he replied, "Though I am King of Sicily, I was born to a potter." Whoever suddenly becomes rich from a humble home should treat fortune with reverence. The things themselves aren't the problem; it's how we use them. A noble and generous peace of mind is the fruit of a philosophical spirit; for if a person bears everything calmly out of mere numbness, that sick soul is actually falling away from the virtue of true wholeness. While there are many paths to wisdom, the one that seems nobler and more praiseworthy to me is the one that can eat simple greens with patience, knowing how to use worldly things, and that moves through the use of such things in such a way that it has learned not to turn up its nose at greens or any other meager gift of extreme poverty. The excellent fruit of wisdom is indeed knowing how to have plenty and how to suffer want, so that one may bear all things with a joyful and calm heart, and by setting up the barrier of solid virtue, disarm every turn of fortune. Truly, whoever has attained this neither hopes for nor fears anything; and whatever fortune comes, it always breaks itself against him. "What has philosophy actually given you?" a curious seeker of wisdom asked. And Aristippus replied, "That I might speak fearlessly with everyone."
The Integrity of the Judge
The author concludes by contrasting the corrupting influence of greed with the integrity of Samuel, urging leaders to maintain a clear conscience before God.
If he were greedy for honor, money, or anything else, he certainly couldn't answer this truthfully. Yet, for someone who is unburdened by wealth and other things, this is the safest path to salvation. For it's extremely difficult for people not to let their possessions hinder their progress. Who doesn't know that Hippodamia was able to win the race because she slowed down the competing suitors by throwing gold in their path? The maiden remained undefeated until they reached someone who despised money; he surpassed her by his contempt for gold, won the gold, and from it (as the story goes) made waxen axles for the racing girl, while his love of incorruption swallowed up the love of money. Doesn't this very thing commend God's judgment and make such things contemptible, that the wicked flourish while the good are in need? Yet it happens sometimes, I don't know how, that they force themselves upon the just to their ruin; and the more diligently they are turned away, the more eagerly they knock at the door of the one who despises them. The more cautiously the blessed Eugenius turned away gifts, the more they flocked to him from every side. It happens almost everywhere that things run away when they're sought, but they rush forward when they're driven away. And this is truly the most direct and honorable path to riches. For when riches are prudently cast aside, both eternal life is gained and a greater abundance of wealth follows. And if this seems too difficult to others—or to those judges, both ecclesiastical and worldly, who are bound by their profession or by an oath of justice—it must still be fulfilled. For Samuel is the model for both: he presided over sacrifices in such a way that he didn't spare the blood of the wicked, and he exercised both types of judgment so that he oppressed no one and accepted nothing from anyone's hand. The conscience of Samuel and the people attest to this, and yet it isn't enough for a scrupulous conscience unless the people confirm their testimony with an oath. For he says: 'The Lord is witness against you, and His Christ is witness this day, that you have found nothing in my hand.' And he said: 'He is witness.' Anyone who receives such a testimony from the people of their province may approach the judgment of the all-knowing, omnipotent God with confidence. For he who brings his conscience into the examination and the human day of judgment—of which God is the knowing judge on high—prepares his case with foresight. But those who do not examine their own judgments here with Samuel, but are quick to make excuses for their sins—washing their hands like Pilate and claiming, 'I am innocent of the blood of this just man'—because they have sinned against the law, they will be condemned by the law. And those who could stop them but choose not to will also share in their condemnation. For the wise, enough has been said on these matters. Therefore, let the pen move on to the comparison of hands that Plutarch introduced.
Read the original Latin
quod etiam ueterum philosophorum probatur exemplis. Leguntur plurimi philoso phorum diuitias non modo contempsisse sed abiecisse quasi impedimentum sapientiae et uirtutis. Fecit hoc Socrates, quem omnium philosophorum sectae quasi prudentiae et ueritatis unicum fontem uenerantur. Antistenes quoque, cum gloriose rethoricam docuisset audissetque Socratem, dixisse feri;ur ad discipulos suos: Abite, magistrum quaerite, ego enim iam repperi. Statimque uenditis quae habebat et publice distributis nichil sibi plus quam palliolum reseruauit. Huius Diogenes ille famosissimus sectator fuit potentior rege Alexandro 3et naturae humanae uictor. Cum autem discipulorum Antistenes nullum reciperet et perseuerantem Diogenem remouere non posset, nouissime ei minatus est claua nisi abiret. Cui tum ille subiecisse caput fertur atque dixisse: Nullus tam durus baculus erit qui me a tuo possit consortio separare.
Refert Satirus, qui uirorum iUustrium scribit historias, quod iste Diogenes palliolo duplici usus sit propter frigus, peram pro cellario habuerit secumque portauerit, et quod clauam gerebat ob corpusculi fragilitatem qua iam senex membra sustentare solitus erat, et emorathios uulgo sit appellatus in praesentem horam poscens a quolibet et accipiens cibum. Habitauit autem in portarum uestibulis et in porticibus ciuitatum, usquequaque profitens uerum et transeuntium abigens aut notans uitia quae mores fedabant. Cumque se torqueret in dolio, se domum uolubilem habere iocabatur et se cum temporibus immutantem. Frigore enim os doHi uertebat in meridiem, estate ad septentrionem; et ubicumque se sol inclinauerat, Diogenis simul praetorium uertebatur. Quodam uero tempore, cum in usum potandi caucum ligneum gereret, uidit puerum manu concaua bibere, et elisit eum in terram dicens: Nesciebam quod natura haberet poculum. Nichil umquam de animi rigore remisit, in eodem uultus tenore etiam aduersis interpellantibus perstitit et, ut plene Socraticum nosses, calcatis turbinibus fortuitorum aduersis omnem dolorem et miseriam uniformi durauit praeposito. Dicebat enim haec semper a philosopho aliena et impotem sui animum, in quem fortunae quippiam licet. Virtutem eius et continentiam mors quoque indicat.
Nam cum ad agonem Olimpiacum, qui magna frequentia Greciae celebrabatur, iam senex pergeret febri in itinere apprehensus, accubuit in crepidine uiae. Volentibus autem amicis aut in iumentum aut in uehiculum tollere non adquieuit, sed transiens ad arboris umbram ait: Abite quaeso et spectatum pergite. Haec nox aut me uictorem probabit aut uictum; si febrem uicero, ad agonem ueniam; si me uicerit, ad infema descendam. Ibique per noctem eliso gutture, non tam mori se ait quam febrem morte excludere. Deceptus opinione uirorum fortium et exemplo in extremae difficultatis articulo, ne aliunde inferretur mortem ultroneam credidit appetendam. Praeiudicata siquidem opinio sapientioribus persuaserat in commune ut mortem prouocare mallent quam turpe aliquid sustinere. Fecit hoc Cato, fecerunt et alii, qui ferrum aut cicutam aliudue toxicum praeoccupantes omnem et solam (ut putabant) turpitudinis effugiebant notam. Veritatis namque ignorantia eis patrocinari uidetur; sed crassa est -et supina quae certa postponit incertis, et quicquid habetur optimuin ex causa inani abicit et expellit.
Nec in eo fortitudinis nomen assequitur, quod se prae ceteris fraudulenta opinio consequi gloriatur. Vtique fraudulenter et uane quia, a ut ait iUe, rebus in aduersis facile est contempnere uitam; fortius ille facit qui miser esse potest. Nemo eorum qui mortem prouocat excusabilis est; excusabiliores sunt qui imminentem abhorrent; quis enim consilium Domini cognouit et an possit mortem impendentem quacumque ratione effugere Sandrococtus a rege Alexandro interfici iussus salutem celeritate pedum quaesiuit; ex qua fatigatione cum sompno captus iaceret, leo ingentis formae ad dormientem accessit sudoremque fluentem lingua ei detersit et blande expergefactum reliquit. Hoc prodigio primum ad spem regni maiestate ominis impulsus est. Molienti deinde bellum aduersus praefectos Alexandri elefantus infinitae magnitudinis ultro se obtulit et ueluti domita mansuetudine eum tergo suscepit, duxque belli et praeliator postmodum insignis extitit. Andronicus quoque dampnatus ad bestias, cum leoni obiectus esset, qui et uastitudine corporis et impetu feruoris fremituque terrifico, sonoro quoque thoro comisque ceruicum fluctuantibus animos omnium oculosque in se conuerteret, illesus euasit eo quod, ubi eum leo procul aspexit, repente quasi admirans stetit ac deinde sensim et quasi iocabundus placide accessit ad hominem. Tum caudam more atque ritu adulantium canum clementer et blande mouit hominisque se corpori adiungens crura eius et manus prope iam metu exanimati lingua leniter demulsit, cum homo inter illata atrocis ferae blandimenta amissum animum recuperare posset et uix paulatim oculos ad contuendum leonem aperire. Hoc se Apion in urbanis spectaculis Romae uidisse refert, adiciens quia tunc facta quasi recognitione mutua letos, inquit, uideres et gratulabundos leonem et hominem.
Et ob hanc rem et clamores populi maximos accersitus est homo a Cesare, et quare illi uni atrocissimus leo pepercerit, diligenter quaesitum est. Ille utique rem mirificam narrans ait: Cum prouinciam Affricam proconsulari imperio meus dominus optineret, ego ibi iniquis eius et cotidianis uerberibus ad fugam coactus sum, et quo michi latebrae terrae illius forent a domino tutiores, in camporum et arenarum solitudines concessi. Et quasi aliud defuisset, consilium fuit quocumque modo mortem petere. Cum itaque sole medio rapido et flagranti quandam pro. tempore caueam nactus essem latebrosam, in eam penetro meque recondo. Nec multo post ad eundem specum uenit hic leo, debili et cruento pede, gemitus edens et murmura, dolorem cruciatumque uulneris ingemiscens, cum miserantia auditoris, si quis adesset, Atque illic primo quidem conspectu aduenientis leonis territus sum et quasi toto animo constematus. Sed postquam introgressus leo, uti res ipsa apparuit, in habitaculum illud suum me uidet ingressum procul et delitescentem, mitis et mansuetus accessit, et a sublatum pedem ostendere michi et porrigere opis gratia uisus est. Ibi, inquit, ego stipitem ingentem uestigio pedis eius herentem reuulsi conceptamque saniem uulnere intimo expressi accuratiusque iam sine magna formidine siccaui penitus omnemque detersi cruorem.
IUe tunc mea opera et medela leuatus, pede in manibus meis posito recubuit et quieuit atque ex eo die totum triennium ego et leo in eodem specu eodemque uictu uiximus. Nam, si quas uenabatur feras, membra opimiora ad specum suggerebat, quae ego, ignis copiam non habens, meridiano sole tosta edebam. Sed ubi me, inquit, uitae iUius ferinae iam pertesum est, leone uenatum profecto reliqui specum et, uiam ferme tridui permensus, a militibus uisus apprehensus et ad dominum ex Afirica Romam deductus sum. Is me statim rei capitalis dampnandum dandumque ad bestias procurauit. Intelligo autem hunc quoque leonem. me tunc separato captum gratiam nunc beneficii referre et medelae. Solutus itaque est pena Andronicus, et eidem leo totius populi sufiragio donatus. Exinde amicantibus sibi homine et leone et urbem peragrantibus et circueuntibus dicebant omnes: Hic est leo hospes hominis, hic est homo medicus leonis.
Quaerisne historias notiores? De lacu leonum exiuit Daniel et pueri de camino ignis euaserunt illesi. Et apud omnes gentes ex gratia praeter opinionem ab imminentibus malis liberati sunt plurimi. Vnde nullus eorum qui manus iniecerunt sibi, satis exc cusatus est michi, licet magnis praeconiis ecclesiastica historia aliquos efierat prouocantes mortem quia temporariam uitam apud se quam pudicitiam pericKtari malebant. At eos sic excusant infirmitas camis et ignorantia iuris et incendium caritatis et forte mandatum familiare Dei, ut sic in simplicitate sua saluentur ut nequaquam ad consequentiam transeat quod simpliciter praesumpserunt. Quis enim locus est fortitudini, si sic tedeat animam uitae suae ut, quasi patientia uicta et praescissa semita meritorum, quod praecipitur aut nequeat aut negligat sustinere? Apud sapientes sic uita contempnitur quod turpitudinis pretium etiam etas altera sordet, sic diligitur ut, dum innocenter teneri potest, nullius difficultatis irruente articulo propellatur. Sic ergo seruanda est uita ut sit contemptui; sic contempnenda est ut proficiat saluti.
Sed quis est qui hodie contempnat animam, cum nullus aut rarus sit qui toto mentis hiatu pecuniam non concupiscat? Quidni? Cum genus et formam regina Pecunia donet, et bene nummatum decoret Suadela Venusque, qui diues est, qui prosperatur in uiis suis, sapiens et felix iudicatur. Ad hoc alius uxorem ducit, alius quinque iuga boum aut uillam emit, commutantes pro his animam suam. Cecosque et claudos et debiles reputant, quibus mundus a nequaquam arridet, quos tamen eiectis diuitibus in cenam nuptialem Sapientia introducit, ubi inebriantur ab ubertate domus Dei et torrente uoluptatis etemae potantur electi. Interim quicumque non habet diuitias stultus est, asinus, stipes, caudex, plumbum, aut si quid insensibilius est. Stultus ergo et miser est, si quis est pauper. Sed nec amari potest ab aliquo, quem mala fortuna premit, eo quod nulla fides umquam miseros elegit amicos; et iuste creditur quisque mala ferre quae sustinet.
Adeoque regnum pecuniae inualuit ut desperetur de fide iudicis qui repellit munera ofierentis. Si pascisci detrectas, pollicentis uideris odisse causam; et fortasse afiectu uel munere esse crederis praecorruptus, si permanere uis incorruptus. Sententia uel opinio philosophorum omnino euanuit, dum sic omnes post diuitias currant ac si ahbi laborum requies dolorumque solatium inueniri non posset, ac si naufragi de profundo queant enatare facilius, si praegraui sarcina fuerint onerati. Sed quis umquam ulcerosus spinas congessit ut uolutatus in eis quiescat moUiterl Profecto, si ei perfecte crederetur qui ait: Diuitiae sunt spinae, minime tanto studio a sapientibus nostri temporis quaererentur. Vt ergo Publius Carpus ait, diuites pauperibus miseriores sunt, eo quod a sapientia longius abeunt. Appetitus diuitiarum sapientiae exclusio est et fuga uirtutum; fecunda uirorum paupertas naturam optimam bene uiuendi ducem imitatur et uirtutum parens et custos est, solaque securitatem parit quae sola nescit incentiua beliorum. Non habet iurgia qui contentionis causas ignorat. Trepidat orbis, et Cesaream manum solus pauper non timet.
Vtique si ob aliam causam non fugerentur aut contempnerentur diuitiae, nisi quia sapientiae uias sepiunt spinis, eas oportuerat non amari. Ne tamen his qui paupertatis erubescunt uilitate sordescere, philosophorum sit molesta opinio; diuitiarum non indicit philosophia fugam sed inhibet appetitum. Mentem sui compotem quaerit et quae in omni fortunae calculo sufficiat sibi, ita tamen ut sufficientia eius ex Deo sit. Sic auro tamquam fictilibus, fictilibus quasi auro utatur. Nam, sicut opes admittuntur ad usimi, sic a sapiente contempnuntur abusu. Sed forte supellex uilis uidebitur ignominiosa magnatibus et honoris splendorem res tenuis decolorat; atqui longe praestantius est moribus splendere quam rebus, nec umquam rerum specie illustrabitur quem suae turpitudinis macula dehonestat. Fictilibus cenasse ferunt Anatoclea regem, atque abacum Samio saepe onerasse luto. Quaerenti causam respondit: Rex ego cum sim Siciliae, figulo sum genitore satus.
Fortunam reuerenter habe quicumque repente diues ab exili progrediere domo. a Res itaque non sunt in uitio sed usus. Et est philosophantis animi fructus nobilis generosa aequanimitas mentis; nam, si ex stupore est ut aequanimiter omnia portet, mens egra ab incolumitatis uirtute degenerat. Cum uero philosophandi sint multae semitae, illa prae ceteris michi uidetur esse nobilior et laudabilior quae sic prandet olus patienter, rebus ut uti nouerit, et rerum quae sic uersatur in usu, ut olus et quaelibet extremae paupertatis exenia edocta sit non fastidire. Fructus siquidem philosophiae eximius est ut nouerit quis abundare et penuriam pati, ut leto animo aequanimiter omnia portet, ut obiecto solidae uirtutis obice omnem fortunam exarmet. Profecto quisquis haec assecutus est non sperat aut extimescit; et in eum semper fortuna quaelibet manca ruit. Quid, inquit curiosus philosophiae perscrutator, tibi philosophia contulit? Et Aristippus: Vt cum omnibus, ait, hominibus intrepide fabularer.
Vtique, si honoris esset aut pecuniae reiue alterius cupidus, hoc minime posset ueraciter respondere. Ad salutem tamen uia tutissima est diuitiis et rebus aliis expedito. Difficillimum enim est ut possessorum sui non impediant cursum. Quis nescit Ypodamiam praeuolasse ad palmam, dum concertantium procorum cursum proiecto auro potuit retardare? Mansit itaque uirgo inuicta, donec uentum est ad pecuniae contemptorem, qui in contemptu auri uirginem superauit, aurum optinuit et ex eo (ut fingitur) certatricis puellae cereos axes fecit, dum incorruptionis amor pecuniae amorem absorbuit. Nonne hoc ipsum commendat iudicium Dei et eas contemptibiles facit, quod in egestate bonorum ipsis iniqui affluunt? Fit tamen interdum nescio quo pacto ut ad subuersionem iustorum a se eis ingerant; et quo diligentius excluduntur, ad ostium contemptoris studiosius pulsant. Quo beatus Eugenius munera cautius abigebat, ad eum undique multiplicius confluebant.
Hoc quoque fere ubique accidit, ut fugiant dum quaeruntur, dum fugantur accelerant. Et haec quidem uia compendiosissima et honestissima est ad diuitias. Cum enim diuitiae prudenter excluduntur, et uita etema adquiritur et cumulus diuitiarum accedit. Et si hoc nimis arduum uidetur aliis, uel a iudicibus tam ecclesiasticis quam mundanis, qui professione aut sacramento iustitiae obligati sunt, impleri oportet. Vtrorumque siquidem forma Samuel est, qui sie praefuit sacrificiis ut non parceret sanguini impiorum, sic iudicia utraque exercuit ut nullum opprimeret et de manu cuiusquam nichil accepit. Hoc conscientia Samuelis attestatur et populus, et tamen non satis fit conscientiae scrupulosae, nisi sacramento suum populus testimonium roboraret. Ait enim: Testis est Dominus aduersus uos et testis Christus eius in die hac quia non inueneritis in manu mea quippiam. Et dixit: Testis.
Cuicumque obtestati prouinciales tale testimonium perhibent, ad iudicium omnipotentis et omnia scientis Dei securus accedat. Prouide namque causam instruit qui in examine conscientiam producit et diem humanum, quorum i est iudex conscius in excelso. Qui uero cum Samuele non discutiunt hic iudicia sua, sed prompti ad excusationes in peccatis quasi lotis manibus cum Pilato clamant: Mundus ego sum a sanguine iusti huius; quia contra legem peccauerunt, per legem dampnabuntur. Sed et illi dami; pnationis erunt participes, qui eos possunt cohibere nee uolunt. Et de his quidem satis dictum est sapienti. Proinde ad proportionem manuum, quam Plutarcus induxit, transeat stilus.
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
Pair the outline with the Chosen Portion app, which serves short daily portions from the same royal devotional tradition — free on iOS.
John of Salisbury argued that rulers must keep the law of God before their eyes daily; Chosen Portion gives modern readers that same daily discipline in five minutes a morning.
- 8 weeks, one book per week, with the 3-4 key chapters flagged in each
- Discussion questions usable for a reading group from week one
- A daily 5-minute companion portion in the app alongside your weekly study