f such an Artist, wilt thou dishonor
Him? Ay, when he not only fashioned thee, but placed thee, like a ward,
in the care and guardianship of thyself alone, wilt thou not only forget
this, but also do dishonour to what is committed to thy care! If God had
entrusted thee with an orphan, wouldst thou have thus neglected him? He
hath delivered thee to thine own care, saying, I had none more faithful
than myself: keep this man for me such as Nature hath made him--modest,
faithful, high-minded, a stranger to fear, to passion, to perturbation.
. . .

Such will I show myself to you all.--"What, exempt from sickness also:
from age, from death?"--Nay, but accepting sickness, accepting death as
becomes a God!

LXII

No labour, according to Diogenes, is good but that which aims at
producing courage and strength of soul rather than of body.

LXIII

A guide, on finding a man who has lost his way, brings him back to the
right path--he does not mock and jeer at him and then take himself off.
You also must show the unlearned man the truth, and you will see that he
will follow. But so long as you do not show it him, you should not mock,
but rather feel your own incapacity.

LXIV

It was the first and most striking characteristic of Socrates never to
become heated in discourse, never to utter an injurious or insulting
word--on the contrary, he persistently bore insult from others and thus
put an end to the fray. If you care to know the extent of his power
in this direction, read Xenophon's Banquet, and you will see how many
quarrels he put an end to. This is why the Poets are right in so highly
commending this faculty:--

Quickly and wisely withal even bitter feuds would he settle.

Nevertheless the practice is not very safe at present, especially in
Rome. One who adopts it, I need not say, ought not to carry it out in an
obscure corner, but boldly accost, if occasion serve, some personage of
rank or wealth.

"Can you tell me, sir, to whose care you entrust your horses?"

"I can."

"Is it to the first corner, who knows nothing about them?"

"Certainly not."

"Well, what of the man who takes care of your gold, your silver or your
raiment?"

"He must be experienced also."

"And your body--have you ever considered about entrusting it to any
one's care?"

"Of course I have."

"And no doubt to a person of experience as a trainer, a physician?"

"Surely."

"And these things the best you possess, or