Evening star., 1925-07-25

self as if he were somebody or knew
something" is a very interesting
| mark of a wise man, one upon which
many today rank high. it being an
essential Christian virtue.
! In all walks of life there are those
| who refrain from praising themselves,
| just as there are others of more con
ceited nature who are everlastingly
| talking about themselves. of their
| possessions, of their deeds.
! The latter never observe No. g.
| either, but continually blame others
for every i'll that happens to them
selves. although perhaps these ills
arose directly as a result of the con
ceit of the person involved.
! Mark No. Z IF man praise him,
he ridicules the praiser to himself" is
rather counsel of perfection, only
to be understood in the light of
| knowledge of the Stole doctrines, of
! which Epictetus was an expounder.
Such self-abnegation has often been
taught, and little followed, although
some do follow it to some extent, of
course.
| No. 8, IF a man censures him he
makes no defense had its highest
| eXemplification in the history Of
Jesus of Nazareth.
He goes about like weak persons, "
No. 9 of our list, is obscure. but
probably means simply quietly, with
out ostentation, avoiding rows and
quarrels. Many today find it a prac-
| tical method in our rather quarrel
! some world
! No. 10, about removing all desire
| is another counsel of perfection, which
the normal individual can only men
/ tally aspire TO, rather than personally
attain.
As to No. Il, it hinges on the
Stoical doctrine that certain things
are in our power, and certain ones are
| not. In our power, Epictetus said
are opinion, desire, aversion, our acts.
| Not in our power, he says. are the
body, property, reputation, office, in a
word, whatever are not our acts. But
even of the things within our power
one should have aversion toward
things contrary to nature. not against
| natural acts.
No. u. "He employs a moderate
movement toward everything" prob
ably means that the desires of the
wise man are temperate in all things
The Golden Mean of Epicurus, ma.
ligned philosopher, is held up as the
ideal of conduct, as, indeed, it is.
The wise man, according to No. 13,
cares not if he is considered foolish or
| ignorant. Epictetus could have i'm
proved this, it seems to me. If he
had substituted wise" for foolish, 4"
making the precept read:
"Wether he is considered wise or
ignorant he cares not"
In a word, according to the last
| mark of the wise, he watches him
self as if he were an enemy and lying
in ambush"
To lie in ambush for ones self, now
and then, is a most profitable occu-
| patton, an exciting one. too. if one
approaches the task with an open
/ mind, really intent on spying out his
lurking defects
1t is breath taking to suddenly dis
cover fault in ones self that one
hardly suspected existed How few
OF us lose our breath in this way
| II is so easy to see the faults in
others, so hard to find them in our.
selves, a S Burns said so we'll
Each person has to discover truths
for himself, or never discover them.
Because they are written in books
means nothing to the individual
Each one of US must work out his
own salvation, lin fear and trem.
bling the Bible has it; at any rate,
he must work it out by himself, for
himself, of himself. Many miss the
mark because they do not know.
How can YOU blame any one who
does not know2