על החוקים לפרטיהם, ספר ד ל״בOn the Special Laws, Book IV 32
א׳
1[160] From the day that he enters upon his office the lawgiver bids him write out with his own hand this sequel to the laws which embraces them all in the form of a summary. He wishes hereby to have the ordinance cemented to the soul. For the thoughts swept away by the current ebb away from the mere reader, but are implanted and set fast in one who writes them out at leisure. For the mind can dwell at its ease on each point and fix itself upon it, and does not pass on to something else until it has securely grasped what goes before.
ב׳
2[161] Still after writing he must endeavour every day to read and familiarize himself with what he has written, so that he may have a constant and unbroken memory of ordinances so good and profitable to all, and thus conceive an unswerving love and yearning for them by perpetually training and habituating his soul to companionship with holy laws. For prolonged associations produce a pure and sincere affection not only for men but for writings of such kinds as are worthy of our love.
ג׳
3[162] And this will be the case if the ruler studies not the writings and notes of another but the work of his own pen, for everyone is more familiar with his own writing and takes in its meaning more readily.
ד׳
4[163] Further when he reads he will reason thus with himself. “I have written these words, I, a ruler of such eminence, without employing another though I have a host of servants. Have I done it to fill the pages of a book like those who write for hire or to train their eyes and hands, the first to sharpen the sight, the second to make themselves swift writers? No, surely not. I write them in a book in order to rewrite them straightway in my soul, and receive in my mind the imprints of a script more divine and ineffaceable.
ה׳
5[164] Now other kings carry rods in their hands as sceptres but my sceptre is the book of the Sequel to the law, my pride and my glory, which nothing can rival, an ensign of sovereignty which none can impeach, formed in the image of its archetype the kingship of God.
ו׳
6[165] And if I ever keep the holy laws for my staff and support I shall win two things better than all else. One is the spirit of equality, and no greater good can be found than this, for arrogance and insolence belong to a soul of mean capacity which does not foresee the future. Equality will earn its just reward,
ז׳
7[166] repaid in the goodwill and safety of my subjects, while inequality will create the gravest perils and pitfalls. These I shall escape if I hate inequality, the bestower of darkness and wars, while I shall have a life proof against the malice of enemies if I honour equality who eschews sedition and is the mother of light and settled order.
ח׳
8[167] The other thing that I shall win is that I shall not sway to either side as on a balance, deflecting the ordinances and turning them awry, but I shall try to take them along the central highway marching with firm straightforward steps to ensure a life that never stumbles.”
ט׳
9[168] Now the name of “royal” which Moses is wont to give to the central road which lies midway between excess and deficiency, is also given because in a set of three the midmost holds the leading place, joining in union with itself by an indissoluble bond those on either side of it, which also serve as bodyguards to it as to a king.
י׳
10[169] A law-abiding ruler who honours equality, who is impervious to bribes and gives just judgements justly and ever exercises himself in the laws has, he tells us, for his reward that the days of his government shall be long, not meaning that he grants him long years of life spent in presiding over the State, but to teach the ignorant that the law-abiding ruler, even when deceased, lives an age-long life through the actions which he leaves behind him never to die, monuments of high excellence which can never be destroyed.