HOW WE SHOULD BEAR OURSELVES TOWARDS EVIL MEN.
1. If that which the philosophers say is true--that there is one
principle in all men, as when I assent to something, the feeling that it
is so; and when I dissent, the feeling that it is not so; yea, and when
I withhold my judgment, the feeling that it is uncertain; and likewise,
when I am moved towards anything, the feeling that it is for my profit,
but it is impossible to judge one thing to be profitable and to pursue
another, to judge one thing right and be moved towards another--why have
we indignation with the multitude? _They are robbers_, one saith, _and
thieves_. And what is it to be robbers and thieves? It is to err
concerning things good and evil. Shall we, then, have indignation with
them, or shall we pity them? Nay, but show them the error, and you shall
see how they will cease from their sins. But if they see it not, they
have naught better than the appearance of the thing to them.
2. _Should not, then, this robber, or this adulterer, be destroyed?_ By
no means, but take it rather this way: _This man who errs and is
deceived concerning things of greatest moment, who is blinded, not in
the vision which distinguisheth black and white, but in the judgment
which distinguisheth Good and Evil--should we not destroy him?_ And thus
speaking, you shall know how inhuman is that which you say, and how like
as if you said, _Shall we not destroy this blind man, this deaf man?_
For if it is the greatest injury to be deprived of the greatest things,
and the greatest thing in every man is a Will such as he ought to have,
and one be deprived of this, why are you still indignant with him? Man,
you should not be moved contrary to Nature by the evil deeds of other
men. Pity him rather, be not inclined to offense and hatred, abandon the
phrases of the multitude, like "these cursed wretches." How have you
suddenly become so wise and hard to please?
3. Wherefore, then, have we indignation? Because we worship the things
which they deprive us of. Do not worship fine raiment, and you shall not
be wroth with the thief. Do not worship the beauty of a woman, and you
shall not be wroth with the adulterer. Know that the thief and the
adulterer have no part in that which is thine own, but in that which is
foreign to thee, in that which is not in thy power. These things if thou
dismiss, and count them for naught, with whom shalt thou still be wroth?
But so long as thou dost value these things, be wroth with thyself
rather than with others.
4. Look now how it stands: You have fine raiment, your neighbor has not;
you have a window, and wish to air your clothes at it. The neighbor
knoweth not what is the true good of man, but thinks it is to have fine
raiment, the same thing that you also think. Then shall he not come and
take them away? Show a cake to greedy persons, and eat it up yourself
alone, and will you have them not snatch at it? Nay, but provoke them
not. Have no window, and do not air your clothes. I also had lately an
iron lamp set beside the images of the Gods; hearing a noise at the
door, I ran down, and found the lamp carried off. I reflected that the
thief's impulse was not unnatural. What then? _To-morrow_, I said, _thou
wilt find an earthen lamp_.[2] For a man loses only what he has. _I have
lost a garment._ For you had a garment. _I have a pain in my head._ Have
you any pain in your horns? Why, then, have you indignation? For there
is no loss and no suffering save only in those things which we possess.