Now let the deriders of this sentiment and principle come forward; let even them take their choice, whether they would rather resemble the man who is rich in marble palaces, adorned with ivory, and shining with gold, in statues, in pictures, in embossed gold and silver plate, in the workmanship of Corinthian brass, or if they will resemble Fabricius, who had, and who wished to have, none of these things.
And yet they are readily prevailed upon to admit that those things which are transferred, now hither, now thither, are not to be ranked among good things, while at the same time they strongly maintain, and eagerly dispute, that pleasure is the highest good; a sentiment that to me seems to be that of a brute, rather than that of a man.
Shall you, endowed as you are by God or by nature, whom we may term the mother of all things, with a soul (than which there exists nothing more excellent and more divine), so degrade and prostrate yourself as to think there is no difference between yourself and any quadruped?
Is there any real good that does not make him who possesses it a better man? For in proportion as every man has the greatest amount of excellence, he is also in that proportion most praiseworthy; nor is there any excellence on which the man who possesses it may not justly value himself.
But what of these qualities resides in pleasure? Does it make a man better, or more praiseworthy? Does any man extol himself in boasting or self-recommendation for having enjoyed pleasures? Now if pleasure, which is defended by the advocacy of many, is not to be ranked among good things, and if the greater it is the more it dislodges the mind from its habitual and settled position; surely to live well and happily, is nothing else than to live virtuously and rightly.
And yet they are readily prevailed upon to admit that those things which are transferred, now hither, now thither, are not to be ranked among good things, while at the same time they strongly maintain, and eagerly dispute, that pleasure is the highest good; a sentiment that to me seems to be that of a brute, rather than that of a man.
Shall you, endowed as you are by God or by nature, whom we may term the mother of all things, with a soul (than which there exists nothing more excellent and more divine), so degrade and prostrate yourself as to think there is no difference between yourself and any quadruped?
Is there any real good that does not make him who possesses it a better man? For in proportion as every man has the greatest amount of excellence, he is also in that proportion most praiseworthy; nor is there any excellence on which the man who possesses it may not justly value himself.
But what of these qualities resides in pleasure? Does it make a man better, or more praiseworthy? Does any man extol himself in boasting or self-recommendation for having enjoyed pleasures? Now if pleasure, which is defended by the advocacy of many, is not to be ranked among good things, and if the greater it is the more it dislodges the mind from its habitual and settled position; surely to live well and happily, is nothing else than to live virtuously and rightly.
—from Cicero, Stoic Paradoxes 1
Now if you wish to follow the path of improving your character, be prepared to face the mockery of the cynics—not from the courage of the ancient cynics, but from the bitterness of the modern cynics. It’s such a shame when good words go bad.
It helps me to remember how a man who loves to scorn is also a man who is terrified of commitment. Perhaps he has been gravely disappointed, but he hides away from his responsibilities by simply despising everyone and everything. If you wonder why I am so certain of this, I only have to look within my former self.
Behind the snark, the critic cannot avoid the challenge: will he choose to define himself by the character on the inside or by the circumstances on the outside? It doesn’t take much to discover where a man’s true loyalties lie.
The Romans had a particular way of describing their heroes as modest, temperate, and totally incorruptible, like Gaius Fabricius, who would not allow himself to be bribed by Pyrrhus, and then refused to be intimated when placed before an elephant. I also think of Manius Curius, who thought nothing of the gifts offered by the Samnites, preferring to be happy with his roasted turnips.
When they are put on the spot, the ambitious and the greedy will praise the virtues to high heaven, which only makes sense if you understand how this is one of their clever methods for winning fame and fortune. Behind the posturing, they just wish to be gratified, and there is no need to be outraged at this, because you can continue to treat them with human decency, even if they are behaving like brutes.
I know the temptations of comfort and convenience all too well, and then I recall why my happiness is in what I do, not from what is done to me. How does it reflect well upon me if I happen to have received this or that pleasure? If such diversions have become my measure, I have made myself a slave to the very luxuries I so desperately crave, and if I somehow grab hold of them for a moment, my longing will only increase.
Nature makes virtue our natural limit, because it leaves nothing more to desired, while pleasure alone, divorced from an excellence of action, cannot fill the emptiness within our souls. Since there is nothing within it to make us better, there is nothing within it to bring us joy.
Even as riches and renown can be employed for the sake of the good, they are not in and of themselves goods. It is a rightly formed conscience that provides our lives with true meaning and value, and it therefore becomes the standard by which any other benefits are judged.
Now if you wish to follow the path of improving your character, be prepared to face the mockery of the cynics—not from the courage of the ancient cynics, but from the bitterness of the modern cynics. It’s such a shame when good words go bad.
It helps me to remember how a man who loves to scorn is also a man who is terrified of commitment. Perhaps he has been gravely disappointed, but he hides away from his responsibilities by simply despising everyone and everything. If you wonder why I am so certain of this, I only have to look within my former self.
Behind the snark, the critic cannot avoid the challenge: will he choose to define himself by the character on the inside or by the circumstances on the outside? It doesn’t take much to discover where a man’s true loyalties lie.
The Romans had a particular way of describing their heroes as modest, temperate, and totally incorruptible, like Gaius Fabricius, who would not allow himself to be bribed by Pyrrhus, and then refused to be intimated when placed before an elephant. I also think of Manius Curius, who thought nothing of the gifts offered by the Samnites, preferring to be happy with his roasted turnips.
When they are put on the spot, the ambitious and the greedy will praise the virtues to high heaven, which only makes sense if you understand how this is one of their clever methods for winning fame and fortune. Behind the posturing, they just wish to be gratified, and there is no need to be outraged at this, because you can continue to treat them with human decency, even if they are behaving like brutes.
I know the temptations of comfort and convenience all too well, and then I recall why my happiness is in what I do, not from what is done to me. How does it reflect well upon me if I happen to have received this or that pleasure? If such diversions have become my measure, I have made myself a slave to the very luxuries I so desperately crave, and if I somehow grab hold of them for a moment, my longing will only increase.
Nature makes virtue our natural limit, because it leaves nothing more to desired, while pleasure alone, divorced from an excellence of action, cannot fill the emptiness within our souls. Since there is nothing within it to make us better, there is nothing within it to bring us joy.
Even as riches and renown can be employed for the sake of the good, they are not in and of themselves goods. It is a rightly formed conscience that provides our lives with true meaning and value, and it therefore becomes the standard by which any other benefits are judged.
—Reflection written in 5/1999
IMAGE: Ferdinand Bol, Fabricius and Pyrrhus (1656)
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