Book 2, Chapter 13

30 “What a wealth of words: to be able to describe in so many ways what we all call by the single word ‘evil’! You define pain for me, you do not remove it, when you call it harsh, contrary to nature, barely possible to bear and endure. Nor are you lying. But after boasting in words, you ought not to have surrendered in substance. ‘Provided that nothing is good except what is honorable, nothing evil except what is disgraceful—’ That is wishing, not teaching. Better and truer to say that everything nature rejects belongs among evils, and everything she welcomes among goods. Once this is established and the battle over words is put aside, what those thinkers rightly embrace—what we call honorable, right, and fitting, and sometimes include under the name of virtue—will still tower so high that everything else considered a good of body or fortune will seem tiny and insignificant. Thus no evil either, not even all evils gathered together, can compare with the evil of moral disgrace.

31 “So if disgrace is worse than pain, as you conceded at the outset, pain is simply nothing. So long as you think it shameful and unworthy of a man to groan, cry out, lament, be broken or crippled by pain; so long as honor, dignity, and decency stand before you, and you keep yourself in hand with your eyes upon them, pain will assuredly yield to courage and grow feeble before your resolve.

“Either there is no virtue, or all pain must be despised. Do you wish there to be practical wisdom, without which no virtue can even be conceived? What then? Will it let you act to no purpose, struggling in vain? Will self-control allow you to do anything without restraint? Can justice be honored by a man who, under the force of pain, discloses confidences, betrays his associates, abandons many duties? And what answer will you give to courage and its companions—greatness of spirit, steadfastness, endurance, indifference to human affairs?

32 “Will you hear ‘What a brave man!’ while you lie broken and prostrate, bewailing your fate in a pitiful voice? In such a state, no one would even call you a man. You must therefore either abandon courage or bury pain.”

30 “What a rich vocabulary! You can say in so many ways what we all call bad with one word. When you call pain harsh, against nature, and barely possible to bear or endure, you’re defining it for me, not taking it away. And you’re not lying. But you shouldn’t boast in words and give in when you face the thing itself. ‘Provided that nothing is good except what’s morally right, and nothing bad except what’s shameful—’ That’s a wish, not a lesson. This would be better and truer: everything nature rejects counts as bad, and everything it welcomes counts as good. Accept that and drop the battle over words. Even then, what these people rightly value—what we call morally right, correct, and fitting, and sometimes include under the name of virtue—will stand so far above everything else that the supposed goods of body and fortune will look tiny and trivial. And no bad thing, not even all of them piled together in one place, will compare with the badness of shameful conduct.

31 “So if shameful conduct is worse than pain, as you agreed at the start, pain really amounts to nothing. As long as you think it’s shameful and unworthy of a man to groan, howl, weep, break down, and be crippled by pain, and as long as moral goodness, dignity, and honor stay before you, you’ll keep yourself in check by looking to them. Pain will certainly give way to courage and weaken as you resolve to bear it.

“Either virtue doesn’t exist, or all pain must be treated as beneath our concern. Do you want practical wisdom to exist? Without it, no virtue can even be understood. Well, will it let you do something that achieves nothing and wastes your effort? Will self-control let you act without restraint in anything? Can someone practice justice while the force of pain makes him reveal what’s been entrusted to him, betray his associates, and abandon many of his duties? And what answer will you give courage and its companions—greatness of spirit, firmness, endurance, and disregard for human troubles?

32 “Will you hear people say, ‘What a brave man!’ when you’re crushed, lying on the ground, and crying in a pitiful voice? No one would even call you a man in that state. So either you must throw away courage, or bury pain.”