Metrodorus said, "That he had learnt [Greek text], to give his
belly just thanks for all his pleasures." This by the calumniators
of Epicurus his philosophy was objected as one of the most
scandalous of all their sayings, which, according to my charitable
understanding, may admit a very virtuous sense, which is, that he
thanked his own belly for that moderation in the customary appetites
of it, which can only give a man liberty and happiness in this
world. Let this suffice at present to be spoken of those great
trinmviri of the world; the covetous man, who is a mean villain,
like Lepidus; the ambitious, who is a brave one, like Octavius; and
the voluptuous, who is a loose and debauched one, like Mark Antony.
Quisnam igitur Liber? Sapiens, sibi qui Imperiosus. Not Oenomaus,
who commits himself wholly to a charioteer that may break his neck,
but the man
Who governs his own course with steady hand,
Who does himself with sovereign power command;
Whom neither death nor poverty does fright,
Who stands not awkwardly in his own light
Against the truth: who can, when pleasures knock
Loud at his door, keep firm the bolt and lock.
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