The Religion of Nature Delineated by William Wollaston (mystery books to read .txt) 📕

some measure felt the ails or wants of the other, I scarce know how he should come to take him for an object of his charity. ↩

Ὁ μὲν ἐφ᾿ οἷς δεῖ, καὶ ὁις δεῖ ὀργιζόμενος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ὡς δεῖ, καὶ ὅτε, καὶ ὅσον χρόνον, ἐπαινεῖται: “He is to be commended, who is angry with those persons that he ought to be angry with, and for such things as he ought to be angry for, and in such a manner, and in the proper time, and only for so long, as he ought.” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics.) To be angry under these conditions is a different thing from rage, and those transports which perhaps scarce comply with any one of them: such as that of Alexander, who, because his ἐρώμενος, “beloved friend,” died, commanded the Ἀσκληπεῖα, “temples of Æsculapius,” to be all burnt. (Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander.) ↩

There is, according to Cicero, Civile odium, quo omnes improbos odimus: “a public hatred, by which we hate all wicked persons in general.” (Pro Milone.) ↩

Φοβούμεθα δηλονότι τὰ φοβερά⁠ ⁠… φοβούμεθα οὖν πάντα τὰ κακά· οἷον ἀδοξίαν, πενίαν, νόσον, ἀφιλίαν, θάνατον⁠ ⁠… ἔνια γὰρ καὶ δεῖ φοβεῖσθαι, καὶ καλόν· τὸ δὲ μὴ, αἰσχρόν, κ.τ.λ.: “We are afraid, indeed, of such things as are really dreadful;⁠ ⁠… and therefore we are afraid of all real evils, such as disgrace, poverty, diseases, want of friends, and death⁠ ⁠… It is right to be afraid of some things, and wicked not to be afraid of them.” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics.) When one called Xenophanes coward, because he would not play at dice with him, ὁμολογεῖ πάνυ δειλὸς εἶναι πρὸς τὰ αἰσχρὰ καὶ ἄτολμος: “he owned that he was a coward, and had no courage with regard to things that are wicked.” (Plutarch, Moralia.) ↩

A wise man is not ἀπαθὴς, “entirely without passions,” but μετριοπαθής, “has them in a moderate degree.” (Aristotle, in Diogenes Laërtius.) ↩

Δεῖ τὸν στοχαζόμενον τοῦ μέσου ἀποχωρεῖν τοῦ μᾶλλον ἐναντίου⁠ ⁠… τῶν γὰρ ἄκρων, τὸ μέν ἐστιν ἁμαρτωλότερον· τὸ δ’ ἧττον: “He who aims at a medium should depart from that (extreme) which is most contrary;⁠ ⁠… for one of the two extremes has more of vice in it than the other.” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics.) In the same chapter he gives two other excellent rules, which I cannot but set down here: Σκοπεῖν δεῖ πρὸς ἃ αὐτοὶ εὐκατάφοροί ἐσμεν⁠ ⁠… εἰς τοὐναντίον δ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς ἀφέλκειν·⁠ ⁠… ὅπερ οἱ τὰ διεστραμμένα τῶν ξύλων ὀρθοῦντες ποιοῦσιν: “We ought to consider what (vices) we are most inclined to,⁠ ⁠… and to bend ourselves to the contrary;⁠ ⁠… as they do, who endeavor to make crooked sticks straight.” And after, Ἐν παντὶ δὲ μάλιστα φυλακτέον τὸ ἡδὺ καὶ τὴν ἡδονήν· οὐ γὰρ ἀδέκαστοι κρίνομεν αὐτήν: “In everything, we should take great care as to the pleasure of it; for we are very apt to have our judgment corrupted by pleasure.” ↩

Ἀγεσιλάῳ μέχρι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ὁ ἔρως, ἐντᾶυθα ἔστη ἐπὶ θύραις τῆς ψυχῆς: “When love was got to the eyes of Agesilaus, it stood then at the door of his mind.” (Maximus Tyrius, De Eodem Amore.) To appoint things, as the Jewish doctors have done, to be סייג לתורה, “a fence for the law,” or כדי להרחיק את האדם מן העבירה, “to remove men as far as can be from sin,” would be right, if they were judiciously chosen, and not so very particular and trifling (Mishnah, Abot I, 1). Some of their cautions are certainly just, as that לא יסתכל אדם באשת איש ובשאר עריות פן ינקש גם: “A man should not trifle with another man’s wife, nor with nakedness, lest he be ensnared by them.” (Mishnah Berakhot I, 1.) ↩

What should a man do to live? ימית עצמו: “Should he destroy himself?” (Mishnah, Tamid.) ↩

No monkery, no superstitious or fantastical mortifications, are here recommended. ↩

חסיד עושה טובה לפנים משורח הרין: “the merciful man does good according to the best of his judgment,” (which words I understand in the sense that Rashi seems to put upon them, in his commentary on Genesis 44:10). ↩

Πῇ παρέβην; τι δ᾿ ἔρεξα; τί μοι δέον οὐκ ἐτελέσθη: “have I transgressed? and what have I done? wherein have I failed in what was my duty?” (Pythagoreorum Aureum Carmen.) ↩

Τίς γὰρ εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦ βίου παρ παρελθὼν ἄπτωτος ἔμεινε; τίς δ᾿ οὐχ ὑπεσκελίσθη; εὐδαίμων ὁ μὴ πολλάκις.: “For who has gone through the circuit of life and kept his legs? nay, who is there that has not fallen quite down? He is a happy man if if he has not done so a great many times.” (Philo Judaeus, De Somniis.) ↩

Quem pœnitet peccasse, penè est innocens: “He that repents of his crime is almost innocent.” (Seneca, Agamemnon.) ↩

Even a Jew says, [תשובה] שקולה כנגד כל הקרבנות: “that repentance may be weighed against any sacrifice.” (Judah ben Samuel, Sefer Hasidim.) ↩

Ἐλοιδόρησας; ἐυλόγησον· ἐπλεονέκτησας; ἀπόδος· ἐμεθύσθης; νήστενσον: “Have you spoke evil of any man? speak well of him for the future. Have you overreached any man? make him satisfaction. Have you been drunk? then fast.” (St. Basil, Homilae super Psalmos.) ↩

Ἔστι γὰρ τῷ ὄντι φιλοσοφία μέγιστον κτῆμα: “For philosophy is really the best of all possessions.” (Justin Martyr, Dialogus cum Tryphone Judaeo.) ↩

And