On Anger Chapter 7

Et quid indignius quam sapientis adfectum ex aliena pendere nequitia ? Desinet ille Socrates posse eundem vultum domum referre, quem domo extulerat ? Atqui si irasci sapiens turpiter factis debet et concitari contristarique ob scelera, nihil est aerumnosius sapiente ; omnis illi per iracundiam maeroremque vita transibit. Quod enim momentum erit, quo non improbanda videat ? Quotiens processere domo, per sceleratos illi avarosque et prodigos et impudentis et ob ista felices incedendum erit ; nusquam oculi eius flectentur, ut non quod indignentur inveniant. Deficiet, si totiens a se iram quotiens causa poscet exegerit. Haec tot milia ad forum prima luce properantia quam turpes lites, quanto turpiores advocatos habent ! Alius iudicia patris accusat, quae vereri satius fuit, alius cum matre consistit, alius delator venit eius criminis, cuius manifestior reus est; et iudex damnaturus quae fecit eligitur et corona pro mala causa stat bona patroni voce corrupta.

What, too, can be more unworthy of the wise man, than that his passions should depend upon the wickedness of others? If so, the great Socrates will no longer be able to return home with the same expression of countenance with which he set out. Moreover, if it be the duty of the wise man to be angry at base deeds, and to be excited and saddened at crimes, then is there nothing more unhappy than the wise man, for all his life will be spent in anger and grief. What moment will there be at which he will not see something deserving of blame? whenever he leaves his house, he will be obliged to walk among men who are criminals, misers, spendthrifts, profligates, and who are happy in being so: he can turn his eyes in no direction without their finding something to shock them. He will faint, if he demands anger from himself as often as reason calls for it. All these thousands who are hurrying to the law courts at break of day, how base are their causes, and how much baser their advocates? One impugns his father’s will, when he would have done better to deserve it; another appears as the accuser of his mother; a third comes to inform against a man for committing the very crime of which he himself is yet more notoriously guilty. The judge, too, is chosen to condemn men for doing what he himself has done, and the audience takes the wrong side, led astray by the fine voice of the pleader.

VII. D’ailleurs si le sage doit s’emporter contre les actions honteuses, et s’émouvoir et s’attrister de tous les crimes, rien n’est plus misérable que lui. Toute sa vie se passera dans l’irritation et le chagrin. Peut-il faire un pas sans heurter quelque scandale ? Peut-il sortir de chez lui, qu’il ne traverse une foule de pervers, d’avares, de prodigues, d’impudents, tous triomphants par leurs vices mêmes ? Nulle part ses yeux ne tomberont sans découvrir de quoi s’indigner. Il ne suffira pas aux transports sans fin qu’exigeront ces incessantes rencontres. Ceux qui dès l’aurore courent par milliers au forum, quels honteux procès, quels défenseurs plus infâmes ne suscitent-ils pas ? L’un accuse les rigueurs du testament paternel, que c’était bien assez d’avoir méritées ; l’autre plaide contre sa mère ; un troisième se fait délateur d’un crime visiblement commis par lui seul ; on élit magistrat tel autre pour condamner ce que lui-même a fait ; et la foule est gagnée à la mauvaise cause par les belles paroles d’un avocat. Pourquoi m’arrêter à des faits spéciaux ? Quand tu vois le forum inondé de citoyens, le champ de Mars où court s’entasser la multitude, et ce cirque où s’étale la majeure partie du peuple de Rome, sache bien que là sont réunis autant de vices que d’hommes . Entre tous ces gens qui portent le costume de paix, nulle paix n’existe : ils sont prêts à s’entre-détruire pour le plus mince profit.