CHAPTER XI.[1
HOW WE SHOULD BEAR OURSELVES TOWARDS EVIL MEN.
1. If that which the philosophers say is true--that there is one principle in all men, as when I assent to something, the feeling that it is so; and when I dissent, the feeling that it is not so; yea, and when I withhold my judgment, the feeling that it is uncertain; and likewise, when I am moved towards anything, the feeling that it is for my profit, but it is impossible to judge one thing to be profitable and to pursue another, to judge one thing right and be moved towards another--why have we indignation with the multitude? _They are robbers_, one saith, _and thieves_. And what is it to be robbers and thieves? It is to err concerning things good and evil. Shall we, then, have indignation with them, or shall we pity them? Nay, but show them the error, and you shall see how they will cease from their sins. But if they see it not, they have naught better than the appearance of the thing to them.
2. _Should not, then, this robber, or this adulterer, be destroyed?_ By no means, but take it rather this way: _This man who errs and is deceived concerning things of greatest moment, who is blinded, not in the vision which distinguisheth black and white, but in the judgment which distinguisheth Good and Evil--should we not destroy him?_ And thus speaking, you shall know how inhuman is that which you say, and how like as if you said, _Shall we not destroy this blind man, this deaf man?_ For if it is the greatest injury to be deprived of the greatest things, and the greatest thing in every man is a Will such as he ought to have, and one be deprived of this, why are you still indignant with him? Man, you should not be moved contrary to Nature by the evil deeds of other men. Pity him rather, be not inclined to offense and hatred, abandon the phrases of the multitude, like "these cursed wretches." How have you suddenly become so wise and hard to please?
3. Wherefore, then, have we indignation? Because we worship the things which they deprive us of. Do not worship fine raiment, and you shall not be wroth with the thief. Do not worship the beauty of a woman, and you shall not be wroth with the adulterer. Know that the thief and the adulterer have no part in that which is thine own, but in that which is foreign to thee, in that which is not in thy power. These things if thou dismiss, and count them for naught, with whom shalt thou still be wroth? But so long as thou dost value these things, be wroth with thyself rather than with others.
4. Look now how it stands: You have fine raiment, your neighbor has not; you have a window, and wish to air your clothes at it. The neighbor knoweth not what is the true good of man, but thinks it is to have fine raiment, the same thing that you also think. Then shall he not come and take them away? Show a cake to greedy persons, and eat it up yourself alone, and will you have them not snatch at it? Nay, but provoke them not. Have no window, and do not air your clothes. I also had lately an iron lamp set beside the images of the Gods; hearing a noise at the door, I ran down, and found the lamp carried off. I reflected that the thief's impulse was not unnatural. What then? _To-morrow_, I said, _thou wilt find an earthen lamp_.[2] For a man loses only what he has. _I have lost a garment._ For you had a garment. _I have a pain in my head._ Have you any pain in your horns? Why, then, have you indignation? For there is no loss and no suffering save only in those things which we possess.