from doing what’s proper to human beings as far as
circumstances—inherent or fortuitous—allow. “Enjoyment”
means doing as much of what your nature requires as you
can. And you can do that anywhere. A privilege not granted
to a cylinder—to determine its own action. Or to water, or
fire, or any of the other things governed by nature alone, or
by an irrational soul. Too many things obstruct them and get
in their way. But the intellect and logos are able to make
their way through anything in their path—by inborn capacity
or sheer force of will. Keep before your eyes the ease with
which they do this—the ease with which the logos is carried
through all things, as fire is drawn upward or a stone falls to
earth, as a cylinder rolls down an inclined plane.
That’s all you need. All other obstacles either affect the
lifeless body, or have no power to shake or harm anything
unless misperception takes over or the logos surrenders
voluntarily. Otherwise those they obstruct would be
degraded by them immediately. In all other entities, when
anything bad happens to them, it affects them for the worse.
Whereas here a person is improved by it (if I can put it like
that)—and we admire him for reacting as a person should.
And keep in mind that nothing can harm one of nature’s
citizens except what harms the city he belongs to. And
nothing harms that city except what harms its law. And there
is no so-called misfortune that can do that. So long as the law
is safe, so is the city—and the citizen.