eign land, and wandering
about with the name of exile, causing laughter to your enemies and
disgrace to your connections."

"Not a trace of evil, so far as I can see," declared Philiscus. "There
are two elements of which we are constituted,--soul and body,--and
definite blessings and evils are given to each of the two by Nature
herself. Now if there should be any failure in these details, it might
properly be considered hurtful and base, but if all should be right it
would be advantageous rather. This, at the outset, is your condition.
Those things which you mentioned, cases of dishonor among them, and
everything else of the sort are disgraceful and evil only through law
and a kind of notion, and work no injury to either body or soul. What
body could you cite that has fallen sick or perished and what spirit
that has grown wickeder or even more ignorant through dishonor and exile
and anything of that sort? I see none. And the reason is that no one of
these accidents is by nature evil, just as neither honorable position
nor residence in one's country is by nature excellent, but whatever
opinion each one of us holds about them, such they seem to be. For
instance, mankind do not universally apply the term 'dishonor' to the
same conditions, but certain deeds which are reprehensible in some
regions are praised in others and various actions honored by this people
are punishable by that. Some do not so much as know the name, nor the
fact which it implies. This is quite natural. For whatever does not
touch what belongs to man's nature is thought to have no bearing upon
him. Just exactly as it would be most ridiculous, surely, if some
judgment or decree were delivered that so-and-so is sick or so-and-so is
base, so does the case stand regarding dishonor.

[-24-] "The same thing I find to be true in regard to exile. Living
abroad is somehow in a way dishonorable, so that if dishonor pure and
simple contains no evil, surely an evil reputation can not be attached
to exile either. You know at any rate that many live abroad the longest
possible time, some unwillingly and others willingly; and some even
spend their whole life traveling about, just as if they were expelled
from every place: and yet they do not regard themselves as being injured
in doing so. It makes no difference whether a man does it voluntarily or
not. The person who trains unwillingly gets no less strong than he who
is willing about it, and the person who navigates