Ethics 229
They say that sometimes suicide is appropriate for virtuous men, in
many ways; but that for base men, [it is appropriate] to remain alive
even for those who would never be wise; for in [their mode of] living
they neither possess virtue nor expel vice.^54 And [the value of] life and
death is measured by [a reckoning of] appropriate and inappropriate ac-
tions.
They say that the wise man is free of arrogance; for he neither suffers
arrogant behaviour nor inflicts it, since arrogance is a shameful act of
injustice and harm. And the virtuous man does not suffer injustice or
harm (although [it is true that] some people behave unjustly and arro-
gantly towards him), and in this he acts justly. In addition, arrogance is
no ordinary form of injustice, but one which is shameful and arrogant.
And the sensible man is immune from these things and is never shamed.
For he has the good and divine virtue within himself, which is why he
escapes all vice and harm.
And the sensible man will sometimes be a king and live with a king
if he shows natural ability and a love of learning. We said^55 that it is
possible for him to participate in political life in accordance with the
principal reason, but that he will not do so if there is a
especially if it is going to provide no benefit to his fatherland and he
supposes that great and difficult risks will follow from political activity.
They say that the wise man does not lie, but is truthful in all [circum-
stances]; for lying does not consist in saying something false, but in
saying something false in order to make someone be in error and with
intent to mislead one's neighbours. They believe, however, that he will
sometimes employ falsehood in several ways without assenting [to it];
for [he will do so] when a general, against his adversaries, and in the
provision of what is advantageous and in many other aspects of managing
life. They say that wise man will never believe a falsehood, nor indeed
will he assent at all to anything which is not graspable, because he neither
holds [mere] opinions nor is ignorant in any respect. For ignorance is a
changeable and weak assent. Nor does he hold any belief weakly, but
rather securely and stably, and that is why the wise man holds no [mere]
opinion. For there are two [kinds of] opinion: one is assent to something
which is not graspable; the other is weak belief. And these are alien to
the disposition of the wise man, and that is why hastiness and assenting
- The base should refrain from suicide since it is in general appropriate for all animals
to maintain their own lives, and the base (who are not wise) could not know when suicide
would be appropriate for them. The wise, however, could recogoize the exceptional circum-
stances which justify suicide. - lib. above.