i8 BOOK I. 



The question next arises, whether we ought to count metals amongst 

 the number of good things or class them amongst the bad. The Peripatetics 

 regarded all wealth as a good thing, and merely spoke of externals as having 

 to do with neither the mind nor the body. WeU, let riches be an external 

 thing. And, as they said, many other things may be classed as good if it is 

 in one's power to use them either well or ill. For good men employ them for 

 good, and to them they are useful. The wicked use them badly, and to 

 them they are harmful. There is a saying of Socrates, that just as wine 

 is influenced by the cask, so the character of riches is like their possessors. 

 The Stoics, whose custom it is to argue subtly and acutely, though they did 

 not put wealth in the category of good things, they did not count it amongst 

 the evil ones, but placed it in that class which they term neutral. For to 

 them virtue alone is good, and vice alone evil. The whole of what remains 

 is indifferent. Thus, in their conviction, it matters not whether one be in 

 good health or seriously ill ; whether one be handsome or deformed. In 

 short : 



" Whether, sprung from Inachus of old, and thus hast Hved 



beneath the sun in wealth, or hast been poor and despised among men, 



it matters not." 



For my part, I see no reason why anything that is in itself of use should 

 not be placed in the class of good things. At all events, metals are a 

 creation of Nature, and they supply many varied and necessary needs of the 

 human race, to say nothing about their uses in adornment, which are so 

 wonderfully blended with utihty. Therefore, it is not right to degrade them 

 from the place they hold among the good things. In truth, if there is a 

 bad use made of them, should they on that account be rightly called evils ? 

 For of what good things can we not make an equally bad or good use ? Let 

 me give examples from both classes of what we term good. Wine, by far 

 the best drink, if drunk in moderation, aids the digestion of food, helps to 

 produce blood, and promotes the juices in aU parts of the body. It is of use 

 in nourishing not only the body but the mind as well, for it disperses our 

 dark and gloomy thoughts, frees us from cares and anxiety, and restores 

 our confidence. If dnmk in excess, however, it injures and prostrates the 

 body with serious disease. An intoxicated man keeps nothing to himself ; 

 he raves and rants, and commits many wicked and infamous acts. On 

 this subject Theognis wrote some very clever hnes, which we may render 

 thus : 



" Wine is harmful if taken with greedy lips, but if drunk in 



moderation it is wholesome."*^ 



But I Unger too long over extraneous matters. I must pass on to the 

 gifts of body and mind, amongst which strength, beauty, and genius 

 occur to me. If then a man, relying on his strength, toils hard to maintain 

 himself and his family in an honest and respectable manner, he uses the 

 gift aright, but if he makes a Uving out of murder and robbery, he uses it 

 wrongly. Likewise, too, if a lovely woman is anxious to please her husband 

 "Theognis. Maxims, ii., 1. 210. 



