The Good Book (87 page)

  5. Of all kinds of love, that which is engendered in states and peoples for an individual because of his virtue is at once the strongest and best;

  6. But those falsely named and falsely granted honours derived from giving theatrical performances, making distributions of money or offering gladiatorial shows, are like harlots’ flatteries,

  7. Since the masses always smile upon him who gives to them and does them favours, granting him an ephemeral and uncertain reputation.

  8. And so he who first said that the people were ruined by the first man who bought his favour was well aware that the multitude loses its strength when it succumbs to bribe-taking;

  9. But those also who give such bribes should bear in mind that they are destroying themselves when they purchase reputation by great expenditures,

10. Thus making the multitude strong and bold in the thought that they have power to give and take away something important.

11. We ought not, however, on this account to be niggardly about the customary public contributions, if we are in prosperous circumstances;

12. Since the masses are more hostile to a rich man who does not give them a share of his private possessions than to a poor man who steals from the public funds,

13. For they think the former’s conduct is due to arrogance and contempt of them, but the latter’s to necessity.

14. First, then, let the gifts be made without bargaining for anything; for so they gladden the recipients more completely;

15. And secondly they should be given for a worthwhile reason connected with the public good, for example, education;

16. For at the same time there springs up in the minds of the masses a strong disposition to associate the benefaction with real benefit.

17. Just as Plato wished to withhold the Lydian and the Ionian musical modes from the education of the young,

18. Because the first arouses a sense of mourning and grief, and the second arouses feelings of pleasure and lasciviousness,

19. So you must, if possible, remove from the state all those free exhibitions which excite and nourish the murderous and brutal or the scurrilous and greedy appetites,

20. Or if you cannot do that, avoid them and oppose the multitude when they demand them.

21. But always make the objects of your expenditures useful and moderate, having as their purpose either what is good or what is necessary,

22. Or at any rate what is pleasant and agreeable without anything harmful or outrageous in it.

23. But if your property is moderate and in relation to your needs strictly circumscribed,

24. It is neither ignoble nor humiliating at all to confess your poverty and to withdraw from among those who have the means for public expenditures,

25. Instead of borrowing money and making yourself at once a pitiful and a ridiculous object in the matter of your public contributions;

26. For men are plainly seen to lack resources when they keep annoying their friends or truckling to money-lenders;

27. So that it is not reputation or power, but rather shame and contempt, which they acquire by such expenditures.

28. And therefore it is always desirable in connection with such things to remember Lamachus and Phocion;

29. For the latter, when the Athenians called upon him to contribute and repeatedly raised a clamour, said,

30. ‘I should be ashamed if I gave you a contribution and did not pay Callicles here what I owe him,’

31. Pointing to his money-lender. And Lamachus always, when he was general, entered in his accounts money for shoes and a cloak for himself.

32. It is not ignoble to confess poverty, and poor men, if by reason of their virtue they enjoy freedom of speech and public confidence,

33. Have no less influence in their cities than those who give public entertainments and exhibitions.

34. The statesman must, then, do his best to control himself in such matters and not go down into the plain on foot to fight with cavalry;

35. If he is poor, he must not produce foot-races, theatrical shows and banquets in competition with the rich for reputation and power,

36. But he should vie with those who try always to lead the state on the strength of virtue and wisdom, combined with reason,

37. For in such are found not only nobility and dignity, but also the power to win and attract the people, a thing ‘more desirable than gold coins of Croesus’.

Chapter 31

  1. For the good man is neither presumptuous nor offensive, and the prudent man is not over-blunt in his speech,

  2. But in the first place he is affable and generally accessible and approachable for all,

  3. Keeping his house always unlocked as a harbour of refuge for those in need, and showing his solicitude and friendliness,

  4. Not only by acts of service, but also by sharing the griefs of those who fail and the joys of those who succeed;

  5. And he is in no way disagreeable or offensive by reason of the number of servants who attend him at the bath or by appropriating seats at the theatre,

  6. Nor is he conspicuous for invidious exhibitions of luxury and extravagance;

  7. But he is on an equal level with others in his clothing and daily life,

  8. In the bringing up of his children and as regards the servants who wait upon his wife,

  9. As one who wishes to live like the masses and be friendly with them.

10. And, moreover, he shows himself a kindly counsellor, an advocate who accepts no fee, and a kind-hearted conciliator when husbands are at variance with their wives or friends with one another.

11. He spends no small part of the day engaged in the public business on the orators’ platform of the senate or the assembly,

12. And thenceforth all the rest of his life he draws services and commissions from every quarter.

13. But since he is always devoting his thoughts to the public weal and regards public office as his life and his work, not, like most people, as an interruption to leisure and a compulsory expense,

14. By all these and similar qualities he turns and attracts the people towards himself,

15. For they see that the flatteries and enticements of others are spurious and counterfeit when compared with his care and forethought.

16. The multitude, even if at first they reject a good and wise man,

17. Afterwards, when they have become acquainted with his truthfulness and his character, consider him alone a statesmanlike, public-minded man and a ruler,

18. Whereas they consider and call the others, one a provider of choruses, one a giver of banquets, and one a director of athletics.

19. Then, just as at banquets, though Callias or Alcibiades pay the bill, it is Socrates to whom they listen, and Socrates on whom all eyes are turned,

20. So in states in which the conditions are sound Ismenias makes contributions, Lichas gives dinners and Niceratus provides choruses,

21. But it is Epameinondas, Aristeides and Lysander who are the rulers, public men and generals.

22. So, observing these things, we must not be humiliated or overwhelmed by the reputation with the masses gained from theatres, kitchens and assembly halls,

23. Remembering that it lasts but a short time and ends the minute the gladiatorial and dramatic shows are over, since there is nothing honourable or dignified in it.

Chapter 32

  1. Those who are skilled in keeping bees think that the hive which hums loudest is thriving and in good condition;

  2. But he who has the care of the rational and political swarm will judge its happiness chiefly by their quietness and tranquillity.

  3. He will accept and imitate to the best of his ability the other precepts of Solon,

  4. But will wonder in great perplexity why that great man prescribed that in case of factional disorder whoever joined neither faction should be deprived of civic rights.

  5. For in a body afflicted with disease, the beginning of a change to health does not come from the diseased parts,

  6. But it comes when the condition in the healthy parts gains strength and drives out that which is contradictory to nature;

  7. And in a people afflicted with faction, if it is not dangerous and destructive but is destined to cease sometime, there must be a strong and permanent admixture of sanity and soundness;

  8. For to this element there flows from the men of understanding what is akin to it, and then it permeates the part which is diseased;

  9. But states which have fallen into disorder are ruined unless they meet with some external necessity and chastisement,

10. And are thus forcibly compelled by their misfortunes to be reasonable.

11. Yet certainly it is not fitting in time of disorder to sit without feeling or grief,

12. Singing the praises of your own impassiveness and of the inactive and blessed life, and rejoicing in the follies of others;

13. On the contrary, at such times you should by all means put on the buskin of Theramenes, conversing with both parties and joining neither;

14. For you will appear to be, not an outsider by not joining in wrongdoing,

15. But a common partisan of all by coming to their aid;

16. And your not sharing in their misfortunes will not arouse envy, if it is plain that you sympathise with all alike.

17. But the best thing is to see to it in advance that factional discord shall never arise, and to regard this as the noblest function of what may be called the art of statesmanship.

18. For observe that the greatest blessings which states can enjoy – peace, liberty, plenty and concord – are not the easiest to achieve for long periods; and yet they are the most desirable and productive.

19. At such times the arts flourish, the young are educated, trade increases and with it prosperity for all,

20. The health of the people and the land increases, and the wise statesman who maintains equilibrium within the state and among its neighbours is praised by all, so long as the people count their blessings;

21. For the long continuance of such times makes the people grow lazy, restless, self-indulgent and ungrateful.

22. There remains, then, for the statesman, of those activities which fall within his province, only this – and it is the equal of any of the other good things:

23. Always to instil concord among those who dwell with him, and to remove strifes, discords and all enmity.

24. He will talk, as in the case of quarrels among friends, first with the persons who think they are the more aggrieved,

25. And will appear to share their feeling of wrong and anger;

26. Then he will try in this way to mollify them and teach them that those who let wrongs go unheeded are superior to those who are quarrelsome and try to compel and overcome others,

27. Not only in reasonableness and character, but also in wisdom and greatness of heart,

28. And that by yielding in a small thing they gain their point in the best and most important matters.

29. Then he will instruct his people both individually and collectively and will call attention to the weak condition of affairs,

30. In which it is best for wise men to accept one advantage. For what dominion, what glory is there for those who are victorious?

31. What sort of power is it which a small edict of a proconsul may annul or transfer to another man and which, even if it last, has nothing in it seriously worthwhile?

Chapter 33

  1. For just as a conflagration does not often begin in public spaces, but some lamp left neglected in a house or some burnt rubbish in a back yard causes a great flame and works public destruction,

  2. So disorder in a state is not always kindled by contentions about public matters,

  3. But frequently differences arising from private affairs and offences pass thence into public life and throw the whole state into confusion.

  4. Therefore it behoves the statesman above all things to remedy or prevent these,

  5. That some of them may not arise at all and some may be quickly ended, and others may not grow great and extend to public interests,

  6. But may remain merely among the persons who are at odds with one another.

  7. He should do this by noticing himself and pointing out to others that private troubles become the causes of public ones and small troubles of great ones,

  8. If they are overlooked and do not in the beginning receive treatment or soothing counsel.

  9. For example, at Syracuse there were two young men, intimate friends,

10. One of whom, being entrusted with his friend’s beloved for safe keeping, seduced him while the other was away;

11. Then the latter, as if to repay outrage with outrage, committed adultery with the offender’s wife.

12. Thereupon one of the elder men came forward in the senate and moved that both be banished before the state reap the result and be infected with enmity through them.