He encouraged people to behave in such a way that they would turn their enemies into friends rather than turning friends into enemies Those in the school held their possessions in common, and he advised them to consider nothing their own. He warned people not to allow anyone to persuade them by words or action to do or say that which is not best for them, thus establishing the principle of individual conscience. He taught that man is akin to the divine and that God does care about man. For Pythagoras the most important thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good. Virtue, health, all good and God are harmonious, and therefore all things are con-structed according to the laws of harmony.
Friendship is harmony and equality.
Late in life Pythagoras married Theano and had a daughter Damo and a son Telauges. Pythagoras found himself in the middle of a conflict when there was a revolution in Sybaris and five hundred refugees came to Crotona for sanctuary. The Sybarites demanded them back, which would have meant certain death for them. Having granted them political asylum the Pythagoreans refused to give them up, and a battle resulted in which Sybaris was destroyed. Pythagorean teachings were quite influential in classical Greece.