But if he sits by like a stone or a
tuft of grass, how can he rouse a man's desire?"
"Then you will say nothing to me?"
"I can only tell you this: that one who knows not who he is and to
what end he was born; what kind of world this is and with whom he is
associated therein; one who cannot distinguish Good and Evil, Beauty and
Foulness, . . . Truth and Falsehood, will never follow Reason in shaping
his desires and impulses and repulsions, nor yet in assent, denial, or
suspension of judgement; but will in one word go about deaf and blind,
thinking himself to be somewhat, when he is in truth of no account. Is
there anything new in all this? Is not this ignorance the cause of all
the mistakes and mischances of men since the human race began? . . ."
"This is all I have to say to you, and even this against the grain. Why?
Because you have not stirred my spirit. For what can I see in you to
stir me, as a spirited horse will stir a judge of horses? Your body?
That you maltreat. Your dress? That is luxurious. You behavior, your
look?--Nothing whatever. When you want to hear a philosopher, do not
say, You say nothing to me'; only show yourself worthy or fit to hear,
and then you will see how you will move the speaker."
LXXXII
And now, when you see brothers apparently good friends and living in
accord, do not immediately pronounce anything upon their friendship,
though they should affirm it with an oath, though they should declare,
"For us to live apart in a thing impossible!" For the heart of a bad
man is faithless, unprincipled, inconstant: now overpowered by one
impression, now by another.
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