Layman

μέμνησο, ὅτι ὑποκριτὴς εἶ δράματος, οἵου ἂν θέλῃ ὁ διδάσκαλος· ἂν βραχύ, βραχέος· ἂν μακρόν, μακροῦ· ἂν πτωχὸν ὑποκρίνασθαί σε θέλῃ, ἵνα καὶ τοῦτον εὐφυῶς ὑποκρίνῃ ἂν χωλόν, ἂν ἄρχοντα, ἂν ἰδιώτην. σὸν γὰρ τοῦτ’ ἔστι, τὸ δοθὲν ὑποκρίνασθαι πρόσωπον καλῶς· ἐκλέξασθαι δ’ αὐτὸ ἄλλου.

Remember that you are an actor in a play, and the director chooses the kind of play: short if he wants it short, long if he wants it long. If he wants you to play a beggar, play even that part skillfully – or a cripple, or a ruler, or a private citizen. For this is yours: to play the assigned role well. Choosing the role belongs to someone else.

ταῦτα ἐπίσκεψαι. εἰ θέλεις ἀντικαταλλάξασθαι τούτων ἀπάθειαν, ἐλευθερίαν, ἀταραξίαν· εἰ δὲ μή, μὴ προσάγαγε. μὴ ὡς τὰ παιδία νῦν φιλόσοφος, ὕστερον δὲ τελώνης, εἶτα ῥήτωρ, εἶτα ἐπίτροπος Καίσαρος. ταῦτα οὐ συμφωνεῖ. ἕνα σε δεῖ ἄνθρωπον ἢ ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακὸν εἶναι· ἢ τὸ ἡγεμονικόν σε δεῖ ἐξεργάζεσθαι τὸ σαυτοῦ ἢ τὸ ἐκτὸς ἢ περὶ τὰ ἔσω φιλοτεχνεῖν ἢ περὶ τὰ ἔξω· τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἢ φιλοσόφου τάξιν ἐπέχειν ἢ ἰδιώτου.

Think all this over – and decide whether you want to trade it for equanimity, freedom, and tranquility. If not, don’t come near it. Don’t be like a child: now a philosopher, later a tax collector, then an orator, then one of Caesar’s administrators. These don’t go together. You must be one person, good or bad. You must cultivate either your own ruling mind or externals – apply your craft either to what is inside or to what is outside. That is: hold the position of a philosopher, or of a layman.

ὅρκον παραίτησαι, εἰ μὲν οἷόν τε, εἰς ἅπαν, εἰ δὲ μή, ἐκ τῶν ἐνόντων. ἑστιάσεις τὰς ἔξω καὶ ἰδιωτικὰς διακρούου·

Refuse to swear oaths – entirely if possible; otherwise, as far as circumstances allow. Decline dinner parties with outsiders and laymen.

ἐὰν δέ ποτε γίνηται καιρός, ἐντετάσθω σοι ἡ προσοχή, μήποτε ἄρα ὑπορρυῇς εἰς ἰδιωτισμόν. ἴσθι γάρ, ὅτι, ἐὰν ὁ ἑταῖρος ᾖ μεμολυσμένος, καὶ τὸν συνανατριβόμενον αὐτῷ συμμολύνεσθαι ἀνάγκη, κἂν αὐτὸς ὢν τύχῃ καθαρός.

But if the occasion arises, keep your attention stretched tight so that you never slip into the layman’s ways. Understand this: if your companion is dirty, whoever rubs up against him is bound to get dirty too, however clean he happens to be.

ὅταν φοιτᾷς πρός τινα τῶν μέγα δυναμένων, πρόβαλε, ὅτι οὐχ εὑρήσεις αὐτὸν ἔνδον, ὅτι ἀποκλεισθήσῃ, ὅτι ἐντιναχθήσονταί σοι αἱ θύραι, ὅτι οὐ φροντιεῖ σου. κἂν σὺν τούτοις ἐλθεῖν καθήκῃ, ἐλθὼν φέρε τὰ γινόμενα καὶ μηδέποτε εἴπῃς αὐτὸς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ὅτι «οὐκ ἦν τοσούτου·» ἰδιωτικὸν γὰρ καὶ διαβεβλημένον πρὸς τὰ ἐκτός.

When you call on a powerful man, put before your mind that you will not find him at home, that you will be shut out, that the doors will be slammed in your face, that he will pay no attention to you. And if, despite all that, it is your duty to go – go, and bear what happens, and never say to yourself, “It wasn’t worth all that.” That is the layman’s line, the mark of someone worked up over externals.

ἀπέστω δὲ καὶ τὸ γέλωτα κινεῖν· ὀλισθηρὸς γὰρ ὁ τρόπος εἰς ἰδιωτισμὸν καὶ ἅμα ἱκανὸς τὴν αἰδῶ τὴν πρὸς σὲ τῶν πλησίον ἀνιέναι.

Stay away, too, from stirring up laughter. It is a manner that slides easily into the layman’s ways, and at the same time it can loosen your neighbors’ respect for you.

μηδαμοῦ σεαυτὸν εἴπῃς φιλόσοφον μηδὲ λάλει τὸ πολὺ ἐν ἰδιώταις περὶ τῶν θεωρημάτων, ἀλλὰ ποίει τὸ ἀπὸ τῶν θεωρημάτων· οἷον ἐν συμποσίῳ μὴ λέγε, πῶς δεῖ ἐσθίειν, ἀλλ’ ἔσθιε, ὡς δεῖ. μέμνησο γάρ, ὅτι οὕτως ἀφῃρήκει πανταχόθεν Σωκράτης τὸ ἐπιδεικτικόν, ὥστε ἤρχοντο πρὸς αὐτὸν βουλόμενοι φιλοσόφοις ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ συσταθῆναι, κἀκεῖνος ἀπῆγεν αὐτούς.

Never call yourself a philosopher, and do not talk much among laymen about philosophical principles – act from them. At a dinner party, do not talk about how one ought to eat. Eat as one ought. Remember that Socrates had so completely stripped away showing off that people came to him wanting introductions to philosophers, and he took them along himself.

οὕτως ἠνείχετο παρορώμενος. κἂν περὶ θεωρήματός τινος ἐν ἰδιώταις ἐμπίπτῃ λόγος, σιώπα τὸ πολύ· μέγας γὰρ ὁ κίνδυνος εὐθὺς ἐξεμέσαι, ὃ οὐκ ἔπεψας. καὶ ὅταν εἴπῃ σοί τις, ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶσθα, καὶ σὺ μὴ δηχθῇς, τότε ἴσθι, ὅτι ἄρχῃ τοῦ ἔργου. ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ πρόβατα οὐ χόρτον φέροντα τοῖς ποιμέσιν ἐπιδεικνύει πόσον, ἔφαγεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν νομὴν ἔσω πέψαντα ἔρια ἔξω φέρει καὶ γάλα· καὶ σὺ τοίνυν μὴ τὰ θεωρήματα τοῖς ἰδιώταις ἐπιδείκνυε, ἀλλ’ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν πεφθέντων τὰ ἔργα.

That is how well he tolerated being overlooked. So if talk of some principle arises among laymen, stay mostly silent – for there is great danger of immediately vomiting up what you have not digested. And when someone tells you that you know nothing, and it does not sting you – then know that the work has begun. Sheep do not bring their grass to the shepherds to show how much they have eaten; they digest their feed inside, and on the outside produce wool and milk. So you too: do not display your principles to laymen. Display the actions that come from those principles, once digested.

ἰδιώτου στάσις καὶ χαρακτήρ· οὐδέποτε ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ προσδοκᾷ ὠφέλειαν ἢ βλάβην, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξω. φιλοσόφου στάσις καὶ χαρακτήρ· πᾶσαν ὠφέλειαν καὶ βλάβην ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ προσδοκᾷ.

The position and character of a layman: he never expects benefit or harm from himself, but from outside. The position and character of a philosopher: he expects every benefit and every harm from himself.

εἰς ποῖον ἔτι χρόνον ἀναβάλλῃ τὸ τῶν βελτίστων ἀξιοῦν σεαυτὸν καὶ ἐν μηδενὶ παραβαίνειν τὸν διαιροῦντα λόγον; παρείληφας τὰ θεωρήματα, οἷς ἔδει σε συμβάλλειν, καὶ συμβέβληκας. ποῖον οὖν ἔτι διδάσκαλον προσδοκᾷς, ἵνα εἰς ἐκεῖνον ὑπερθῇ τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν ποιῆσαι τὴν σεαυτοῦ; οὐκ ἔτι εἶ μειράκιον, ἀλλὰ ἀνὴρ ἤδη τέλειος. ἂν νῦν ἀμελήσῃς καὶ ῥᾳθυμήσῃς καὶ ἀεὶ προθέσεις ἐκ προθέσεως ποιῇ καὶ ἡμέρας ἄλλας ἐπ’ ἄλλαις ὁρίζῃς, μεθ’ ἃς προσέξεις σεαυτῷ, λήσεις σεαυτὸν οὐ προκόψας, ἀλλ’ ἰδιώτης διατελέσεις καὶ ζῶν καὶ ἀποθνῄσκων.

How much longer will you put off demanding the best of yourself, and never overstepping the distinctions that reason draws? You have received the principles you were bound to accept, and you have accepted them. What teacher, then, are you still waiting for, that you postpone your own correction until he arrives? You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man. If you are careless now, and lazy, and always piling intention on intention, and setting day after day on which you will finally attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress – and you will go on living and dying as a layman.