Book 4, Chapter 29

62 “Therefore, as I said before, all philosophers have a single method of healing: we should discuss not the character of the thing that disturbs the soul, but the disturbance itself. First, then, in the case of desire, when our sole aim is to remove it, we should not ask whether what stirs lust is good or not; lust itself must be removed. Whether the highest good is the honorable, or pleasure, or the combination of the two, or those three classes of goods, even if the excessively strong impulse is toward virtue itself, everyone must use the same argument to discourage it. The whole calming of the soul, however, rests on keeping human nature in view. To make its outlines easier to discern, we must explain in our discourse the common condition and law of life.

63 “So it was not without reason that, when Euripides was presenting his Orestes, Socrates is said to have called for the first three lines to be repeated:

“‘No tale is so terrible to tell,“‘Nor any evil brought by fate or heaven’s wrath,“‘That human nature cannot bear it through endurance.’

“To persuade people that what has happened can and ought to be borne, it is useful to list those who have borne it. The calming of distress was explained both in yesterday’s discussion and in my book Consolation, which I wrote in the midst of grief and pain—for I was not wise. Chrysippus forbids applying a remedy to the soul’s swellings while they are still fresh; yet that is what I did, bringing force to bear upon nature so that the greatness of the pain would yield to the greatness of the medicine.”

62 “As I said earlier, there’s therefore a treatment common to every philosopher: leave aside the character of what unsettles the mind and address the disturbance alone. Take desire first. If removing it is our only task, whether its object is good or not is beside the point; craving itself needs eliminating. Moral goodness might be the supreme good, or pleasure, or a combination of both, or the three categories of good. Whichever account you adopt, the argument for discouraging excessive desire must stay the same—even when virtue itself is desired excessively. Seeing human nature clearly is the whole basis for peace of mind. We should describe the condition we all share and the law governing life, making that nature stand out more plainly before our eyes.

63 “Hence the story about Socrates has a point: at a performance of Euripides’ Orestes, he asked to hear its first three verses again: “‘No tale told aloud can be so dreadful, “‘Nor chance nor heaven’s wrath bring such an evil, “‘That human nature won’t bear its way through it.’ “Listing people who have endured their troubles helps persuade us that we too both can and ought to endure what comes. I’ve already set out the relief of distress in yesterday’s talk and in Consolation, my book written in the thick of grief and pain. I wasn’t a wise man. Chrysippus says not to treat mental swellings, so to speak, while still fresh. I did precisely that, forcing nature’s hand until the power of the medicine overcame the power of pain.”