The Cure of Souls: Ethical Sayings

1. When one of the trained moralists, who are famous for their piety, was asked: “What was the happiest day in your life?,” he replied: “Travelling on a boat one day, dressed in shabby clothes, I was seated in the lowest and most unpleasant part of the boat. I was lying on my back when a passenger stood up to pass water, and directed the urine at my face because he despised me and regarded my state with contempt. I was shocked by the extreme insolence and the ignorance of the realities of his soul, but I was very pleased with my soul for not being pained by his deed and that no anger stirred within me in response to this act which generally excites souls. I was extremely happy that my soul had attained such a degree of training.” [ . . . ]

7. Galen said in his Book of the Faculties of the Soul: The rational soul is not capable of restraining the appetitive soul from going to excess in its activities unless it seeks assistance from the strength of the latter. For firmness and strength belong only to the [appetitive] soul. The relations between the appetitive and the rational soul are like those between the dog and the hunter. Generally, the dog starts neither at the right time nor with the required speed. The determination of the time of these actions rests in the hands of the hunter in proportion to his skill in the art of hunting and the readiness with which the dog obeys him. [ . . . ]

17. One of the trained moralists of another faith said: One learned man chose to maintain silence so consistently that he almost lost his power of speech. Asked for the reason, he replied: I have analyzed speech and found it divisible into four parts. One part consists of such speech as vilification, immoral talk, etc., which is entirely injurious, devoid of any beneficial element. Such talk is pure insanity. The second part is made up of speech which is partly harmful and partly beneficial. A man may praise a person for the purpose of deriving some benefit from it. But there may be something about this praise which will provoke his enemy to injure the one he praised. The one part must therefore be avoided because of the other. The third part is neither injurious nor helpful. Such is the character of the conversation of the common people. [They discuss] how the wall of this or that city was constructed, or this castle; or they describe that pretty home, figure out the population of that city, or chatter about similarly useless stuff. This too is superfluous speech, devoid of all advantage. The fourth part consists of speech which is entirely useful, such as conversation about virtues and sciences, or about the distinctive features of man, which are the mainstay of his life and preservative force of his existence. This talk ought properly to be cultivated. Now, wherever I heard a conversation, I weighed it. If I could classify it in the fourth category, I joined it; if it belonged with the other groups, I held my peace. [ . . . ]

107. A member of another religion said: the dead and the lying persons are alike, for the virtue of the living being is speech and when a person’s speech cannot be relied upon his life is reduced to nothing. [ . . . ]

123. He said: The world is like a fire burning on a thoroughfare. He who takes enough of it to have his road lighted escapes its evil, but he who sits down to warm up by it is smitten by its heat. [ . . . ]

132. He said: This world is a bridge to the next. He who prepares the provisions for his journey feels safe in the deserts which others fear, but he who is remiss in preparing them is stopped on the way and is not capable of overtaking those who preceded him. [ . . . ]

152. He said to his disciple: My son, be content in this world with sufficient to feed you; be satisfied with drink sufficient to slake your thirst; be pleased with a cloak which covers you, and get along with a house which shelters you. Be the servant of your soul; you will be guided and will be relieved of taking care of others. Make the shade of the earth your bed, the moon and stars your light, knowledge your quest and occupation, and the acquisition of wisdom your trade. You will be the most excellent of your generation, and will join the company of your praiseworthy fellow-men who preceded you. Beware of the trap which the women set up for the men on this earth, for it spoils wisdom, corrupts philosophy, demolishes the highway, lowers the rank, bequeaths hatred, and brings about a destruction of the mind. [ . . . ]

163. He said: Man’s life in this world is like a shadow which has no reality. It retires from one place to another, and when one seizes it one finds nothing. [ . . . ]

190. He said: Death is a cup which only he is glad to drink whose heart is pure and whose deeds are good. [ . . . ]

225. He said: Death deserves praise under all circumstances, whether it takes a virtuous or a wicked person. For the virtuous person is rewarded according to all his previous works, and is reunited with his praiseworthy brethren. As for the wicked, the world is rid of all his wickedness. [ . . . ]

277. Plato said: It is not proper to prevent the mutual love of souls, but it is fitting to prevent the mutual love of bodies.

278. He said: When love stirs within a lover and a beloved on an intellectual plane, it endures and remains. It does not die in one except with the death of the other, and when the lover begins to extinguish his love, the beloved begins to do likewise proportionately. Similarly, when it starts within the beloved, the lover and the beloved begin it simultaneously. But bodily love has neither root nor branch, but is merely in proportion to the raging of the animal passion. [ . . . ]

285. It is said: A man’s nobility does not attain perfection until he can be the friend of two mutually hostile individuals.

286. In this connection we said:

When told a friend is faithful, loyal, a friend of right, of truth a brother,

Ask: Can this be true of man? If they say yes, they utter lies. [ . . . ]

292. Let one follow the precept of R. Jehuda Ha-Levi,

They said: Have you not planted love? Yes, I replied, but it prospered not.

They said: What joy without friend? In me, I said, I find my joy.