he doth not
that verie thing, whereby he is forbidden to do other things. He is
fit for both chances: a gouernour of the bad, an ouercommer of the
good. So I say hath he exercised himselfe, that he sheweth vertue as
well in prosperous as in aduerse affaires; neyther looketh he upon
the matter thereof, but upon itselfe. Therefore neither pouerty nor
doulour, nor any other thing which turneth back the unskilfull, and
driuest them headlong, hindereth them. Hast thou rather he should be
pressed? He maketh use of it. Not only of iuorie did Phidias know how
to make images: he made them of brasse. If marble were unto him, if
thou hadst offered baser matter, he would haue made such a one
thereof, as could be made of that which was the best.

So a wise-man will show uertue, if he may, in wealth, if not in
pouertie: if he shall be able, in his countrie; if not in banishment;
if he can, being a commander; if not, being a souldier: if he can
being sound; if not, being weaker what fortune soeuer he shall
entertaine, he will performe some memorable thing thereby. Certain
tamers there be of wild beasts, who teach the fiercest creatures, and
which terrifie a man when they meet him, to suffer the yoake: and not
wanted to have shaken fiercenesse off, do tame them, euer to keep them
companie. The master useth often to thrust out his hand to Lions; they
kisse it. The keeper commandeth his tyger; the Ethiopian Player
commandeth his elephants to fall upon their knees, and to walke upon a
rope; so a wise-man is skilfull to subdue euil things. Dolour,
pouertie, ignominie, prison, banishment, when they come unto him, are
made tame.

V

OF A HAPPY LIFE[85]

All men, brother Gallio, wish to live happily, but are dull at
perceiving exactly what it is that makes life happy: and so far is it
from being easy to attain to happiness that the more eagerly a man
struggles to reach it the further he departs from it, if he takes the
wrong road; for, since this leads in the opposite direction, his very
swiftness carries him all the further away. We must therefore first
define clearly what it is at which we aim: next we must consider by
what path we may most speedily reach it, for on our journey itself,
provided it be made in the right direction, we shall learn how much
progress we have made each day, and how much nearer we are to the goal
toward which our natural desires urge us. But as long as we wander at
random, not following any guide exce