Book 5, Chapter 2

5 But the cure for this fault, and for all our other vices and failings, must be sought from philosophy. Our own inclination and enthusiasm drove us into her embrace in our earliest years; now, in these most grievous disasters, battered by a mighty storm, we have fled back to the same harbor from which we once sailed. Philosophy, guide of life, seeker of virtue, banisher of vice! What could we have been without you—not merely we, but human life itself? You gave birth to cities; you called scattered human beings into a shared life. You bound them to one another first through homes, then through marriage, then through the fellowship of writing and speech. You invented laws; you taught conduct and civilization. To you we flee, from you we seek help; as we once surrendered ourselves largely to you, so now we surrender ourselves entirely, without reserve. One day lived well according to your teachings is worth more than an eternity of wrongdoing.

6 Whose resources, then, should we draw upon rather than yours? You have bestowed tranquility of life on us and taken away the terror of death. Yet philosophy is so far from receiving the praise its services to human life deserve that most people neglect it, and many even abuse it. Does anyone dare to abuse the parent of life, to stain himself with such parricide? Can anyone be so impiously ungrateful as to accuse her whom he ought to revere, even if he had been unable to understand her fully? But this error, I think, this darkness spread over uneducated minds, arises because they cannot look far enough back. They do not believe that the first people to bring order to human life were philosophers.

5 We must look to philosophy to put this fault right, along with every other failing and wrong of ours. Our own inclinations and enthusiasm drew us into her arms when we were young. Now, after a terrible storm has battered us with these very serious misfortunes, we’ve fled back to the same harbor we once sailed out of. Philosophy, you guide our lives, you seek out virtue and drive out our faults! What could we have been without you? What could human life itself have been? You brought cities into being. You called scattered human beings together into a shared life. You first joined them through homes, then through marriage, then through common writing and speech. You discovered laws. You taught us decent behavior and an ordered way of life. We run to you for shelter and ask you for help. Before, we gave ourselves largely to you; now we give ourselves completely, holding nothing back. One day lived well, following your teaching, is worth more than an eternity spent doing wrong.

6 Who else could give us the help you give? It was you who made our lives peaceful and freed us from being terrified of death. But people don’t praise philosophy as her service to humanity deserves. Far from it: most neglect her, and many actually speak against her. Who would dare speak against the mother of human life and make himself guilty of killing a parent? How could anyone be so wickedly ungrateful that he brings charges against her? Even if he couldn’t understand her very well, he ought to hold her in respect. I suppose ignorance explains this mistake, this darkness covering people’s minds. They can’t see far enough into the past to recognize that philosophers were the first to give human life its organized form.