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

perhaps as if our own minds were not what they are. For πάντες ἄνθρωποι τοῦ εἰδέναι ὀρέγονται φύσει: “all men have naturally a thirst after knowledge.” (Aristotle, Metaphysics.) ↩

Aristotle, being asked “what he got by philosophy,” answered, Τὸ ἀνεπιτάκτως ποιεῖν ἅ τινες διὰ τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων φόβον ποιοῦσιν: “To do that without being commanded, which other people do out of fear of the laws.” And another time, “how the learned differed from the unlearned,” said Ὅσῳ οἱ ζῶντες τῶν τηθνηκότων· τὴν παιδέιαν ἔλεγεν ἐν μὲν ἐυτυχίαις εἶναι κόσμον, ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἀτυχίαις καταφυγήν: “As much as the living do from the dead. Learning, he said, was an ornament to men when they were in prosperity, and a refuge for them to flee to when they were in adversity.” (Diogenes Laërtius, Life of Aristotle.) ↩

Ἀδύνατον γὰρ, ἢ οὐ ῥᾴδιον, τὰ καλὰ πράττειν ἀχορήγητον ὄντα. Πολλὰ μὲν γὰρ πράττεται καθάπερ δι᾽ ὀργάνων, κ.τ.λ.: “It is impossible, at least it is very difficult, for a man to do much good if he want the necessaries of life; for many things are done as it were by instruments.” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics.) ↩

Nam fuit quoddam tempus, cum in agris himines passime bestiarum modo vagabantur, etc.: “For there was a time when men wandered about the fields, just as the beasts do now, etc.” (Cicero, De Inventione.) ↩

The effect which Xenocrates’s lecture had upon Polemo is remarkable: unius orationis saluberrima medicina sanatus, ex infami ganeone maximus philosophus evasit: “He was restored by the most wholesome physic of one oration, and from an infamous debauchee became a very great philosopher.” (Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia.) ↩

Like them, who submit to their Hhakamim, “wise men,” אפילו יאמרו על ימין שהוא שמאל וכו׳: “though they should affirm a man’s right hand to be his left.” (In Joseph Albo, Sefer ha-Ikkarim.) Many more instances might easily be given. ↩

Not only we. Τῆς ῥινὸς ἕλκεσθαι: “To lead a man by the nose,” was used in the same sense by the Greeks. ↩

Nihil magis præstandum est, quàm ne, pecorum ritu, sequamur antecedentium gregem, pergentes non qua eundem est, sed qua itur: “We ought to take the greatest care, not like cattle to follow the crowd that go before, and so go where others go, and not where we should go.” (Seneca, De Vita Beata.) Something may perhaps be expected in this place concerning vogue and fashion, which seem to be public declarations of some general opinion; showing how far they ought to sway with us. I think: so far as to keep us from being contemned, derided, or marked, where that may lawfully and conveniently be done; especially in respect of trifling and little matters. But further, a wise man will scarce mind them. That is a good sentence in Demophilus, Ποίει ἃ κρίνεις εἶναι καλὰ, κᾄν ποιῶν μέλλῃς ἀδοξησειν· φᾶυλος γὰρ κριτὴς καλοῦ πράγματος ὄχλος: “Do those things that you yourself judge to be right, though men may have an ill opinion of you for so doing; for the multitude are very ill judges of what is right.” (Carmen Aureum.) ↩

Ipsa virtus brevissimè recta ratio dici potest: “Virtue may briefly be called right reason.” (Cicero, Tusculan Disputations.) Quæ non aliud est quàm recta ratio: “It is nothing else but right reason.” (Seneca, Epistles.) ↩

Idem esse dicebat Socrates veritatem et virtutem: “Socrates said that virtue and truth were the same thing.” (Seneca, Epistles.) ↩

Viz. That a man cannot practice reason without practicing them. ↩

Τά τ᾿ ἐόντα, τά τ᾿ ἐσσόμενα, πρό τ᾿ ἐόντα: “The things that are, the things that will be, and the things that have been.” (Homer, Iliad.) ↩

That saying of Timotheus to Plato, with whom he had supped the night before in the Academy, should be remembered: Ὑμεῖς εὖ δειπνεῖτε⁠ ⁠… εἰς τὴν ὑστερᾶιαν⁠ ⁠… ἡμέραν: “This supper will be of great use to us tomorrow (from the conversation we have had).” (In Athenæus, Deipnosophistae.) ↩

Corpus onustum Hesternis vitiis animum quoque prægravat unà, etc.: “A body overcharged with yesterday’s vices is a load upon the mind also, etc.” (Horace, Satires.) ↩

Quibus in solo vivendi causa palato est: “Who live only to please their palates.” (Juvenal, Satires.) Sic prandete commilitones tanquam apud inferos cœnaturi: “Come, fellow-soldiers, let us dine today in such a manner as if we expected to sup amongst the dead,” (Leonidas, according to Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia) may be turned to a general memento, no man knowing how near his death may be. ↩

Τί εἶδες;⁠ ⁠… καλήν; Ἔπαγε τὸν κανόνα: “What is it you look upon?⁠ ⁠… a beautiful woman. Observe the rule (of right).” (Arrian, Discourses of Epictetus.) ↩

Venerem incertam rapientes, more ferarum: “Laying hold of any women they meet, like beasts.” (Horace, Satires.) ↩

In which words are comprehended naturally (Τὸ μὴ τὰς παρὰ φύσιν ἡδονὰς διώκειν: “not to pursue pleasures in an unnatural way”). ↩

Not as Crates and Hipparchia (of whom see Diogenes Laërtius, Sextus Empiricus, et al.), and indeed the Cynics in general are said to have done: quibus in propatulo coire cum conjugibus mos fuit: “who used to lie with their wives in public.” (Lactantius, De Falsa Sapientia.) Of