Book 4, Chapter 12

“To come to the analogy with bodily health, and at last make use of that comparison, though more sparingly than the Stoics usually do: just as different people are more prone to different diseases—we call some people prone to colds, <others> to colic, not because they have these conditions now but because they often do—<so> some are prone to fear, others to some other disturbance. Hence we speak of anxiety in some, and call them anxious, and of irascibility in others. Irascibility differs from anger: being irascible is one thing, being angry another, just as anxiety differs from anguish. Not everyone who sometimes feels anguish is anxious, nor are anxious people always in anguish. In the same way there is a difference between drunkenness <and habitual drunkenness>, and between being a womanizer and being in love. This tendency of different people toward different diseases has a wide scope, for it extends to every disturbance.

28 “It appears in many vices too, but has no name of its own. People are called envious, malicious, lustful, timid, and compassionate because they <are> prone to those disturbances, not because they are always carried away by them. Let this tendency toward each particular kind be called an infirmity, by analogy with the body, provided it is understood as a tendency to become ill. In good things, however, when different people have greater aptitude for different goods, let it be called a facility; in bad things, a proclivity, to suggest a downward slide; in neutral things, let it keep the earlier name.”

“Now let’s try that comparison with physical health, though we won’t lean on it as heavily as the Stoics do. Certain bodies tend to catch certain diseases. Calling someone subject to colds or colic doesn’t mean they have one now: it means they often do. Likewise, one person tends toward fear, another toward some other disturbance. Hence we speak of anxiety and anxious people, or of a bad temper in others. Having a bad temper and being angry are different things. Anxiety and anguish differ too: occasional anguish doesn’t make everyone anxious, and an anxious person needn’t be constantly in anguish. Being drunk differs from habitual drunkenness; being inclined to love differs from actually being in love. This pattern, in which different people tend toward different diseases, has a wide reach. It extends to all the disturbances.

28 “It also appears in many defects for which there’s no name for the condition. People are called envious, ill-willed, prone to craving, fearful, and pitying because they’re disposed to those disturbances, not because they’re always carried away by them. By analogy with the body, let’s call this tendency toward each particular kind an ‘illness,’ as long as we understand that it means a tendency to become ill. But in good matters, since some people are better suited to one good thing and some to another, let’s call it an ‘aptitude.’ In bad matters, let’s call it a ‘proneness,’ to suggest slipping downward; in matters neither good nor bad, let it keep the earlier name.”