Dream of Scipio and Stoic Paradoxes

Poverty despises

This is the way to laughter, that which the wise man believes, in what opinion is useful, it is named, no one has proposed, what he feels, thousand-fold, power, the word

Bias was a man and wise, now

Good and Good

with fear. In which, indeed, I often seek the prudence of our most restrained men, who thought that these weak and changeable members of money ought to be called good by a single word, although in reality and in fact they judged otherwise. Can a good thing be a bad thing to anyone, or can anyone himself be not good in an abundance of good things? And yet we see all these things are such that even the wicked have them and they harm the good. Therefore, even if anyone who wants to may laugh, true reason will nevertheless have more weight with me than the opinion of the crowd. Nor will I ever say that those who have lost their cattle or furniture have lost good things. Nor will I fail to often praise that wise man Bias, as I think, who is counted among the seven. When a certain enemy had captured his country of Priene, and the others were fleeing in such a way that they were carrying away many of their own things with them, when he was admonished by someone to do the same himself, he said, "I am indeed doing it, for I carry all my things with me." He did not think those mockeries of fortune were even his own, which we even call good. What then, someone will ask, is a good thing? If anything is done rightly and honorably, and with virtue, it is truly said to be done well. And what is right and honorable and with virtue, that alone I think is good. But these things can seem more obscure when discussed slowly; they must be illustrated by the life and deeds of the greatest men, these things which seem to be discussed more subtly by words than is fitting. For I ask of you, do those who left us this republic founded so famously seem to have had that thought, either for gold or silver for avarice, or for comforts for delight, or for furniture for luxury, or for banquets for pleasures? Place before your eyes each of the kings, do you want to start from Romulus, do you want to start after the city was freed by those very men who liberated it? By what steps did Romulus eventually ascend into heaven? By those which these people call good, or by deeds done, or by virtues? What then