On Book 10 of Diogenes Laertius

Various Maxims concerning the Wise Man.

§. 8. original: τότε κολάζειν οἰκέτας "To then punish servants." As for the word "then," I read it here as "not" original: οὐκ following the conjecture of Isaac Casaubon. This is supported by the contrasting particle original: μὲν τοὶ "certainly," which would not make as much sense if the reading "then" were kept. Furthermore, to speak on the matter itself: well-timed punishment seems to turn away greater sins. It is especially necessary when servants lack noble character and might become insolent if they hope for impunity. They must be kept to their duty by the fear of punishment. Certainly, Plato and other notable philosophers have confirmed this in word and deed. I will not even speak of the Stoics, who stated universally that the Wise Man never forgives original: μηδέποτε συγνώμην ἔχειν. A Wise Man can also demand punishment from others without being angry. He is like the man described in the Panegyric:

Claudian, On the Consulship of Manlius.

Who calmly subdues faults, and never with his teeth
Makes a horrific noise with a roar, nor demands lashes.
And consequently, in him:
The eyes maintain a steady temper, nor does heat
Sharpen the lights of his eyes, or draw out the rabid veins with blood;
And no storm of a changed face betrays him.

Seneca, On Anger, Book 1, Chapter 3. Horace, Epistle 18.

It should be noted that while Seneca describes the angry man in an opposite way, he proves the saying of certain Wise Men to be correct: Anger is a brief insanity (or, as the Poet says, a brief madness; original: μανίαν ὀλιγοχρόνιον). Elsewhere, Seneca teaches that it was the opinion of Epicurus that immoderate anger generates insanity. I note this to suggest what kind of emotional moderation Epicurus thought should be used when applying punishment. However, the evidence is close at hand. In the latter part of the Maxim, Epicurus wished for the Wise Man to grant pardon to those who were not of bad character, but were diligent and industrious. This differs from the Stoic view. In Epistle 95. Seneca certainly commends the original: ἡμερότητά γε πρὸς τοὺς οἰκέτας gentleness of Epicurus toward his own servants, as has been seen in the proper place. Seneca also says that Epicurus called his servants "friends." It is proven that he actually treated them as friends from the fact that Mus The name of a slave who became a philosopher in the Epicurean school. and other servants practiced philosophy with him. Thus, Seneca could not have found a more excellent example Epistle 47. for that precept: Live with your servant mercifully and also courteously; admit him to conversation, to your counsel, and to your table. Nor for what he says elsewhere: Our ancestors removed all envy from the masters and all insult from the servants when they called the Master "Father of the Family" and the Servants "Members of the Family," a custom which, he says, still survives in stage plays.

§. 11. original: ἐρασθήσεσθαί τε τὸν σοφὸν οὐ δοκεῖ "It is not thought that the Wise Man falls in love." The latter part of the Maxim, "as something sent from heaven" original: ἔκ θεοπέμπτου, seems to have been transposed in the original text after three words concerning burial. I move it back here, for it is clear enough that it refers to the same sentiment as the first part. Furthermore, concerning the first part, there is no need

to remind the reader that Epicurus understands Love On page 79. as an original: σύντονος ἀφροδισίων ὄρεξις intense desire for sexual pleasures. The lexicographer In the entry for "eros." Suidas declares this openly. Meanwhile, I observe this point because of Plato, Antisthenes, Aristotle, the Stoics, and others. These thinkers, asserting the opposite view that the Wise Man does fall in love original: τὸν σοφὸν ἐρασθῆναι, seemed to want this understood as the love of friendship, particularly regarding young boys. Cicero certainly Tusculan Disputations, Book 4. attributes this doctrine specifically to the Stoics. He interprets their distinction between "intense" and "extraordinary" love as a difference between lustful love and the love of friendship. He adds that they "quarrel with Epicurus" for this reason. Cicero says: In my opinion, Epicurus does not lie much. For what is this "love of friendship"? Why does no one love a deformed youth or a beautiful old man? Next, it is not necessary to mention what is found in Stobaeus. When someone said the Wise Man is not captured by love "as if sent by god" original: ἐκ θεοπέμπτου ὁ σοφὸς, and proposed Menedemus, Alexinus, and Epicurus as examples, Chrysippus had nothing to object against Epicurus except that he was unfeeling original: ἀναίσθητος. Chrysippus spoke as if Epicurus were made of wood or stone. We have already noted this in the Apology. It is enough to select certain lines from the poems of Lucretius which strongly support this side of the argument. These may be of the following kind:

But it is fitting to flee the images and keep away the
Fodder of Love from oneself, and turn the mind elsewhere.
For the ulcer lives and grows old by feeding,
And day by day the madness swells and the misery grows heavy.
Nor is he who avoids Love deprived of the fruit of Venus,
But rather he takes the benefits that are without penalty.
For a certain and pure pleasure is more available to the healthy.
Add that they waste their strength and perish with labor;
Add that one's life is spent under the nod of another;
Meanwhile, wealth slips away and debts are made;
Duties flag, and a wavering reputation falls ill.
Ointments and beautiful Sicyonian shoes laugh on their feet,
And large emeralds shine with green light, and so on.
In vain: since from the middle fountain of delights
Something bitter rises, which brings anguish even among the flowers:
Either because the conscious mind perhaps bites itself,
For spending a lifetime in idleness and perishing in lust;
Or because she left a word of ambiguous meaning,
Which, fixed in the desiring heart, lives like a fire;
Or because he thinks she casts her eyes too much or looks at another,
And he sees the traces of a smile on her face.
And these evils are found in a love that is steady and most successful;
But in an adverse and helpless love, there are evils
Which you can grasp with open eyes, even without number;
So that it is better to be on guard beforehand,
In the way I have taught, and take care not to be ensnared.
For to avoid the traps so that we are not drawn into Love
Is not so difficult as it is to get out once captured by the nets,
And to break through the strong knots of Venus.

Should these following lines also be added for their elegance?

And yet, even when tangled and hindered,
You can escape the mischief, unless you stand in your own way,
And overlook first all the faults of the mind,
Then those of the body of her whom you desire and want.
For men usually do this, being blind with desire,