Part 16
Such as you wish your neighbour to be to you, such also be you to your neighbours.
That which God gives you, no one can take away.
Neither do nor even think of that which you are not willing God should know.
Before you do any thing think of God, that his light may precede your energies.
The soul is illuminated by the recollection of deity.
The use of all animals as food is indifferent, but it is more rational to abstain from them.
God is not the author of any evil.
You should not possess more than the use of the body requires.
Possess those things which no one can take from you.
Bear that which is necessary, as it is necessary.
Ask those things of God which it is worthy of God to bestow.
The reason which is in you, is the light of your life.
Ask those things of God, which you cannot receive from man.
Wish that those things which labor ought to precede, may be possessed by you after labor.
Be not anxious to please the multitude.
It is not proper to despise those things of which we shall be in want after the dissolution[91] of the body.
You should not ask of divinity that which, when you have obtained, you will not perpetually possess.
Accustom your soul after [it has conceived all that is great of] divinity, to conceive something great of itself.
Esteem nothing to be precious, which a bad man may take from you.
He is dear to divinity, who considers those things alone to be precious, which are esteemed to be so by divinity.
Every thing which is more than necessary to man, is hostile to him.
He who loves that which is not expedient, will not love that which is expedient.
The intellect of the wise man is always with divinity.
God dwells in the intellect of the wise man.
Every desire is insatiable, and therefore is always in want.
The wise man is always similar to himself.
The knowledge and imitation of divinity, are alone sufficient to beatitude.
Use lying as poison.
Nothing is so peculiar to wisdom as truth.
When you preside over men, remember that divinity also presides over you.
Be persuaded that the end of life, is to live conformably to divinity.
Depraved affections are the beginnings of sorrows.
An evil disposition is the disease of the soul; but injustice and impiety are the death of it.
Use all men in such a way, as if you were the common curator of all things after God.
He who uses mankind badly, uses himself badly.
Wish that you may be able to benefit your enemies.
Endure all things, in order that you may live conformably to God.
By honoring a wise man, you will honor yourself.
In all your actions place God before your eyes.[92]
You are permitted to refuse matrimony, in order that you may live incessantly adhering to God.[93] If, however, as one knowing the battle, you are willing to fight, take a wife, and beget children.
To live, indeed, is not in our power, but to live rightly is.
Be unwilling to admit accusations against the man who is studious of wisdom.
If you wish to live with hilarity, be unwilling to do many things. For in a multitude of actions you will be minor.
Every cup should be sweet to you which extinguishes thirst.
Fly from intoxication as you would from insanity.
No good originates from the body.
Think that you suffer a great punishment when you obtain the object of corporeal desire; for the attainment of such objects never satisfies desire.
Invoke God as a witness to whatever you do.
The bad man does not think there is a providence.
Assert that which possesses wisdom in you, to be the [true] man.[94]
The wise man participates of God.
Where that which is wise in you resides, there also is your good.
That which is not noxious to the soul, is not noxious to man.
He who unjustly expels a wise man from the body, confers a benefit on him by his iniquity. For he thus becomes liberated as it were, from bonds.
The fear of death renders a man sad through the ignorance of his soul.
You will not possess intellect, till you understand that you have it.
Think that your body is the garment of your soul; and therefore preserve it pure.
Impure dæmons vindicate to themselves the impure soul.
Speak not of God to every man.
It is dangerous, and the danger is not small, to speak of God even things which are true.
A true assertion respecting God, is an assertion of God.
You should not dare to speak of God to the multitude.
He does not know God who does not worship him.
The man who is worthy of God is also a God among men.
It is better to have nothing, than to possess much and impart it to no one.
He who thinks that there is a God, and that nothing is taken care of by him, differs in no respect from him who does not believe that there is a God.
He honors God in the best manner who renders his intellect as much as possible similar to God.
If you injure no one, you will fear no one.
No one is wise who looks downward to the earth.
To lie is to deceive in life, and to be deceived.
Recognise what God is, and what that is in you which recognises God.
It is not death, but a bad life, that destroys the soul.
If you know him by whom you were made, you will know yourself.
It is not possible for a man to live conformable to divinity, unless he acts modestly, well, and justly.
Divine wisdom is true science.
You should not dare to speak of God to an impure soul.
The wise man follows God, and God follows the soul of the wise man.
A king rejoices in those whom he governs, and therefore God rejoices in the wise man. He who governs likewise, is inseparable from those whom he governs; and therefore God is inseparable from the soul of the wise man, which he defends and governs.
The wise man is governed by God, and on this account is blessed.
A scientific knowledge of God causes a man to use few words.
To use many words when speaking of God, produces an ignorance of God.
The man who possesses a knowledge of God, will not be very ambitious.
The erudite,[95] chaste, and wise soul, is the prophet of the truth of God.
Accustom yourself always to look to Divinity.
A wise intellect is the mirror of God.
PYTHAGORIC SENTENCES, FROM THE PROTREPTICS OF IAMBLICHUS.[96]
As we live through soul, it must be said that by the virtue of this we live well; just as because we see through the eyes, we see well through the virtue of these.
It must not be thought that gold can be injured by rust, or virtue by baseness.
We should betake ourselves to virtue as to an inviolable temple, in order that we may not be exposed to any ignoble insolence of soul with respect to our communion with, and continuance in life.
We should confide in Virtue as in a chaste wife; but trust to Fortune as to an inconstant mistress.
It is better that virtue should be received accompanied with poverty, than wealth with violence; and frugality with health, than veracity with disease.
An abundance of nutriment is noxious to the body; but the body is preserved when the soul is disposed in a becoming manner.
It is equally dangerous to give a sword to a madman, and power to a depraved man.
As it is better for a part of the body which contains purulent matter to be burnt, than to continue in the state in which it is, thus also it is better for a depraved man to die than to live.
The theorems of philosophy are to be enjoyed as much as possible, as if they were ambrosia and nectar. For the pleasure arising from them is genuine, incorruptible, and divine. They are also capable of producing magnanimity; and though they cannot make us eternal beings, yet they enable us to obtain a scientific knowledge of eternal natures.
If vigor of sensation is considered by us to be an eligible thing, we should much more strenuously endeavour to obtain prudence; for it is as it were the sensitive vigor of the practical intellect which we contain. And as through the former we are not deceived in sensible perceptions, so through the latter we avoid false reasoning in practical affairs.
We shall venerate Divinity in a proper manner, if we render the intellect that is in us pure from all vice, as from a certain stain.
A temple, indeed, should be adorned with gifts, but the soul with disciplines.
As the lesser mysteries are to be delivered before the greater, thus also discipline must precede philosophy.
The fruits of the earth, indeed, are annually imparted, but the fruits of philosophy at every part of the year.
As land is especially to be attended to by him who wishes to obtain from it the most excellent fruit, thus also the greatest attention should be paid to the soul, in order that it may produce fruit worthy of its nature.
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
P. 50. _Better worth saving than ten thousand corporeal eyes._
Iamblichus here alludes to what Plato says in the seventh book of his Republic, respecting the mathematical disciplines. For he there says, “that the soul through these disciplines has an organ purified and enlightened, which is blinded and buried by studies of another kind, an organ better worth saving than ten thousand eyes, since truth becomes visible through this alone.”
P. 58. _That in which the Sirens subsist._
“The divine Plato, (says Proclus in his MS. Scholia on the Cratylus,) knew that there are three kinds of Sirens; the _celestial_, which is under the government of Jupiter; _that which produces generation_, and is under the government of Neptune; and _that which is cathartic_, and is under the government of Pluto. It is common to all these to incline all things through an harmonic motion to their ruling Gods. Hence, when the soul is in the heavens, the Sirens are desirous of uniting it to the divine life which florishes there. But it is proper that souls living in generation should sail beyond them, like the Homeric Ulysses, that they may not be allured by generation, of which the sea is an image. And when souls are in Hades, the Sirens are desirous of uniting them through intellectual conceptions to Pluto. So that Plato knew that in the kingdom of Hades there are Gods, dæmons, and souls, who dance as it were round Pluto, allured by the Sirens that dwell there.” See more concerning the Sirens in my translation of Proclus on the Theology of Plato, Book the 6th.
P. 60. _That it is requisite to put the shoe on the right foot first._
This audition is taken from what forms the 12th Symbol in the Protreptics of Iamblichus, and is as follows: “When stretching forth your feet to have your sandals put on, first extend your right foot; but when about to use a foot bath, first extend your left foot.” “This Symbol, (says Iamblichus,) exhorts to practical prudence, admonishing us to place worthy actions about us as right-handed; but entirely to lay aside and throw away such as are base, as being left-handed.”
P. 60. _That it is not proper to walk in the public ways._
This is the 5th Symbol in the Protreptics of Iamblichus, but is there differently expressed: for it is, “Declining from the public ways, walk in unfrequented paths.” On which Iamblichus observes: “I think that this Symbol also contributes to the same thing as the preceding, [which is, ‘Disbelieve, nothing wonderful concerning the Gods, nor concerning divine dogmas’]. For this exhorts us to abandon a popular and merely human life; but thinks fit that we should pursue a separate and divine life. It also signifies that it is necessary to look above common opinions; but very much to esteem such as are private and arcane; and that we should despise merely human delight; but ardently pursue that felicitous mode of conduct which adheres to the divine will. It likewise exhorts us to dismiss human manners as popular, and to exchange for these the religious cultivation of the Gods, as transcending a popular life.”
P. 61. _Do not assist a man in laying a burden down._
This in the Protreptics is the 11th Symbol, and is explained by Iamblichus as follows: “This Symbol exhorts to fortitude; for whoever takes up a burden, signifies that he undertakes an action of labor and energy; but he who lays one down, of rest and remission. So that the Symbol has the following meaning; Do not become either to yourself or another the cause of an indolent and effeminate mode of conduct; for every useful thing is acquired by labor. But the Pythagoreans celebrate this Symbol as Herculean, thus denominating it from the labors of Hercules. For during his association with men, he frequently returned from fire and every thing dreadful, indignantly rejecting indolence. For rectitude of conduct is produced from acting and operating, but not from sluggishness.”
P. 61. _Do not draw near to a woman for the sake of begetting children, if she has gold._
In the Protreptics of Iamblichus (Symbol 35.) this is expressed as follows: “Draw not near to that which has gold, in order to produce children.” On which Iamblichus observes: “The Symbol does not here speak of a woman, but of that sect and philosophy which has much of the corporeal in it, and a gravitating tendency downwards. For gold is the heaviest of all things in the earth, and pursues a tendency to the middle, which is the peculiarity of corporeal weight. But the term to _draw near_, not only signifies to be connected with, but always to approach towards, and to be seated near another.”
P. 61. _Speak not about Pythagoric concerns without light._
This is the 13th Symbol in the Protreptics, and is thus explained by Iamblichus: “This Symbol exhorts to the possession of intellectual prudence. For this is similar to the light of the soul, to which being indefinite it gives bound, and leads, as it were, from darkness into light. It is proper, therefore, to place intellect as the leader of every thing beautiful in life, but especially in Pythagoric dogmas; for these cannot be known without light.”
P. 61. _Wear not the image of God in a ring._
This in the Protreptics is the 24th Symbol; but instead of _wear_, it is there _inscribe_. But Iamblichus’ explanation of it is as follows: “This Symbol conformably to the foregoing conception, employs the following exhortation: Philosophize, and before every thing consider the Gods as having an incorporeal subsistence. For this is the most principal root of the Pythagoric dogmas, from which nearly all of them are suspended, and by which they are strengthened even to the end. Do not therefore think that the Gods use such forms as are corporeal, or that they are received by a material subject, and by body as a material bond, like other animals. But the engravings in rings exhibit the bond which subsists through the ring, its corporeal nature and sensible form, and the view as it were of some partial animal, which becomes apparent through the engraving; from which especially we should separate the genus of the Gods, as being eternal and intelligible, and always subsisting according to the same and in a similar manner, as we have particularly, most fully, and scientifically shown in our treatise concerning the Gods.”[97]
P. 61. _Nor is it proper to sacrifice a white cock; for this also is a suppliant, and is sacred to the moon._
In the Protreptics, the 18th Symbol is partly the same with, and partly different from this. For it is, “Nourish a cock; but sacrifice it not; for it is sacred to the sun and the moon.” And Iamblichus explains it as follows: “This Symbol advises us to nourish and strengthen the body and not neglect it, dissolving and destroying the mighty tokens of the union, connexion, sympathy, and consent of the world. So that it exhorts us to engage in the contemplation and philosophy of the universe. For though the truth concerning the universe is naturally occult, and sufficiently difficult of investigation, it must, however, at the same time, be inquired into and investigated by man, and especially through philosophy. For it is truly impossible to be discovered through any other pursuit. But philosophy receiving certain sparks, and as it were viatica, from nature, excites and expands them into magnitude, rendering them more conspicuous through the disciplines which it possesses. Hence, therefore, we should philosophize.”
P. 61. _It is proper to sacrifice, and to enter temples, unshod._
This in the Protreptics is the 3rd Symbol; but is thus enunciated by Iamblichus, “Sacrifice and adore unshod.” On which Iamblichus observes: “This Symbol signifies that we ought to worship the Gods, and acquire a knowledge of them in an orderly and modest manner, and in a way not surpassing our condition on the earth. It also signifies that, in worshipping them, and acquiring this knowledge, we should be free from bonds, and properly liberated. But the Symbol exhorts that sacrifice and adoration should be performed not only in the body, but also in the energies of the soul; so that these energies may neither be detained by passions, nor by the imbecility of the body, nor by generation, with which we are externally surrounded. But every thing pertaining to us should be properly liberated, and prepared, for the participation of the Gods.”
P. 77. _Enter not into a temple negligently, nor, in short, adore carelessly, not even though you should stand at the very doors themselves._
This in the Protreptics is the 2nd Symbol, and is explained by Iamblichus as follows: “If the similar is friendly and allied to the similar, it is evident that since the Gods have a most principal essence among wholes, we ought to make the worship of them a principal object. But he who does this for the sake of any thing else, gives a secondary rank to that which takes the precedency of all things, and subverts the whole order of religious worship and knowledge. Besides, it is not proper to rank illustrious goods in the subordinate condition of human utility, nor to place our concerns in the order of an end, but things more excellent, whether they be works or conceptions, in the condition of an appendage.”
P. 79. _These, therefore, he ordered not to eat the heart._
This is the 30th Symbol in the Protreptics, and is thus explained by Iamblichus: “This Symbol signifies that it is not proper to divulse the union and consent of the universe. And still further, it signifies this, Be not envious, but philanthropic, and communicative: and from this it exhorts us to philosophize. For philosophy alone among the sciences and arts, is neither pained with the goods of others, nor rejoices in the evils of neighbours, these being allied and familiar by nature, subject to the like passions, and exposed to one common fortune. It likewise evinces that the future is equally unlooked for by all men. Hence, it exhorts us to sympathy and mutual love, and to be truly communicative, as it becomes rational animals.”
P. 79. _Nor the brain._
This is the 31st Symbol in the Protreptics, and which Iamblichus thus explains: “This Symbol also resembles the former: for the brain is the ruling instrument of intellectual prudence. The Symbol, therefore, obscurely signifies that we ought not to dilacerate nor mangle things and dogmas, which have been the objects of judicious deliberation. But these will be such as have been the subject of intellectual consideration, becoming thus equal to objects of a scientific nature. For things of this kind are to be surveyed, not through the instruments of the irrational form of the soul, such as the heart and the liver; but through the pure rational nature. Hence, to dilacerate these by opposition, is inconsiderate folly; but the Symbol rather exhorts us to venerate the fountain of intelligence, and the most proximate organ of intellectual perception, through which we shall possess contemplation, science, and wisdom; and by which we shall truly philosophize, and neither confound nor obscure the vestiges which philosophy produces.”
P. 79. _To abstain from mallows, &c._
The 38th Symbol in the Protreptics is: “Transplant mallows in your garden, but eat them not.” On which Iamblichus observes as follows: “This Symbol obscurely signifies that plants of this kind turn with the sun, and it thinks fit that this should be noticed by us. It also adds, _transplant_, that is to say, observe its nature, its tendency towards, and sympathy with, the sun; but rest not satisfied, nor dwelt upon this, but transfer, and as it were transplant your conception to kindred plants and pot-herbs, and also to animals which are not kindred, to stones and rivers, and, in short, to natures of every kind. For you will find them to be prolific and multiform, and admirably abundant; and this to one who begins from the mallows, as from a root and principle, is significant of the union and consent of the world. Not only, therefore, do not destroy or obliterate observations of this kind; but increase and multiply them as if they were transplanted.”
P. 80. _Thus too he ordered them to abstain from the fish Melanurus._[98]
The 6th Symbol in the Protreptics is, “Abstain from melanurus; for it belongs to the terrestrial Gods.” And this, according to Iamblichus, admonishes us to embrace the celestial journey, to conjoin ourselves to the intellectual Gods, to become separated from a material nature, and to be led as it were in a circular profession to an immaterial and pure life. It further exhorts us to adopt the most excellent worship of the Gods, and especially that which pertains to the primary[99] Gods.
P. 80. _And also not to receive the fish Erythynus._
This in the Protreptics is the 33rd Symbol, and which Iamblichus thus explains: “This Symbol seems to be merely referred to the etymology of the name. Receive not an unblushing and impudent man; nor on the contrary one stupidly astonished, and who in every thing blushes, and is humble in the extreme, through the imbecility of his intellect and reasoning power. Hence this also is understood, Be not yourself such a one.”
P. 80. _He likewise exhorted them to abstain from beans._
In the Protreptics this is the 37th Symbol; and Iamblichus has not developed for us the more mystical signification of this symbol. For he only says that “it admonishes us to beware of every thing which is corruptive of our converse with the Gods and divine prophecy.” But Aristotle appears to have assigned the true mystical reason why the Pythagoreans abstained from beans. For he says, (apud Laert.) “that Pythagoras considered beans as a symbol of generation [i. e. of the whole of a visible and corporeal nature,] which subsists according to a right line, and is without inflection; because a bean alone of almost all spermatic plants, is perforated through the whole of it, and is not obstructed by any intervening joints.” Hence he adds, “it resembles the gates of Hades.” For these are perpetually open without any impediment to souls descending into generation. The exhortation, therefore, to abstain from beans, is equivalent to admonishing us to beware of a continued and perpetual descent into the realms of generation. Hence the true meaning of the following celebrated lines in Virgil;
——facilis descensus Averno. Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis: Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras, Hoc opus, hic labor est.
i. e.
The gates of Hell are open night and day, Smooth the descent, and easy is the way; But to return, and view the cheerful skies, In this, the mighty task and labor lies. Dryden.
P. 98. _Such as infallible predictions of earthquakes, rapid expulsions of pestilence, &c. &c._