על שכל אדם ישר הוא בן חורין ד׳Every Good Man is Free 4
א׳
1IV. [23] But we must reflect that exemption from slavery belongs to him who takes no thought not only of death but also of poverty, disrepute and pain and all the other things which the mass of men count as evil, though the evil lies in themselves and in their judgement, which makes them test the slave by the tasks he performs and fix their eyes on the services he renders instead of on his unenslaved character.
ב׳
2[24] For he who with a mean and slavish spirit puts his hand to mean and slavish actions contrary to his own proper judgement is a slave indeed. But he who adjusts himself and his to fit the present occasion and willingly and also patiently endures the blows of fortune, who holds that there is nothing new in human circumstances, who has by diligent thought convinced himself that, while what is God’s has the honour of possessing eternal order and happiness, all mortal things are carried about in the tossing surge of circumstance and sway unevenly on the balance, who nobly endures whatever befalls him—he indeed needs no more to make him a philosopher and a free man.
ג׳
3[25] And, therefore, he will not obey just anyone who gives him orders, even though he menaces him with outrage and tortures and threats however dreadful, but will openly and boldly defy him thus:
Roast and consume my flesh, and drink thy fill
Of my dark blood; for sooner shall the stars
Go ’neath the earth and earth go up to heaven
Than thou shalt from my lips meet fawning word.
Roast and consume my flesh, and drink thy fill
Of my dark blood; for sooner shall the stars
Go ’neath the earth and earth go up to heaven
Than thou shalt from my lips meet fawning word.