The Consolation of Philosophy

by Boethius

What we want is the fruits of reason, while all they have is the useless thorns of intemperate passion. If he listens to their nonsense, he will accustom himself to depression instead of trying to find a cure.”

blandishments

while my eyes filled with tears at the departure of my companions.

He who has seen into Nature’s secrets now lies prostrate, his mind bowed down by heavy chains that hang from his neck.

Did I not prepare you with such weapons as you could now use in your difficulties if you had not chosen to discard them?

“He is in no real danger. He merely suffers from a lethargy, a sickness that is common among the depressed. He has forgotten who he really is, but he will recover, for he used to know me, and all I have to do is clear the mist that beclouds his vision.”

and I beheld the nurse who had reared me and whose house I had visited from my earliest youth, none other than the lady Philosophy.

Unlike Fortune

I have been doing battle forever against proud stupidity.

?

From our ramparts we look down and laugh at them as they busy themselves carrying away their pointless, cumbersome trophies.

He whose heart is fickle is not his own master, has thrown away his shield, deserted his post, and he forges the links of the chain that holds him.

rapacious

inveterate

How could any sensible person looking at who I was and who they were have trouble deciding whom to believe?

You would think that Fortune herself would blush in shame for innocence to be accused by such villains as these!

“Every now and then, I lay down my quill and ask myself what is the point of this exercise.

?

“In this sad business, I am not so much overwhelmed by my grief as I am amazed by the idea of wicked men attempting to do evil to virtue.

The secret pleasure of doing the right thing is vitiated if a man brags about it.

epou theo (follow God).

The world judges actions not on their merit but on their results, which are often a matter of pure chance.

of calumny and innuendo, where the glow of goodness cannot be glimpsed.

You seem to have forgotten what your native country is. It is not a democracy like old Athens, but as Homer says, ‘There is one rule, the one king,’* and he is a friend to his subjects and never sends them into exile.

But if anyone no longer wants to live there, then he no longer deserves to do so.

I don’t need a library with comfortable chairs, ivory gewgaws, and big glass windows, but rather the workroom of your mind,

“I used to know that, but in my grief, I can’t remember.”

It is what you cannot remember that causes you to feel lost and to grieve about your exile and the loss of your property.

“Take heart,” she said, “for there is still a spark of life in you that we can rekindle and restore so that it is a healthy fire.

The way men’s minds work is that when they lose sight of some correct opinion, a false one comes to take its place, and confusion arises, a kind of fog that obscures clear vision.

Cast out your doubts, your fears and desires, let go of grief and of hope as well, for where these rule the mind is their subject.

She was silent for quite a while, which was perhaps a show of modesty but in fact served to focus my attention so that I was waiting with particular concentration for what she might say next.

you spoke often about her treacheries and produced arguments from our own sanctum that you delivered in the strongest possible language.

You have had a sharp bump, and you think that Fortune’s attitude toward you has changed. But you’re wrong. She hasn’t changed a bit. She was always whimsical, and she remains constant to her inconstancy.

But maybe this time...no. But... 😖

If you want to be one of her followers, then follow, but without complaint. If you spurn her treachery, then reject her absolutely as one who plays such games with men’s lives.

You blame her for your sorrows, but your heart ought to be at rest, for, now that she has left you, you know not to trust her.

I wonder what Boethius would have done, had he suddenly been pardoned. I guess the fact he is not trying to desperately appeal this, shows he’s being true. Or perhaps it’s beside the point—there’s no chance of pardon, and it’s that he’s thankful for (sort of like how that Wizard didn’t trust himself to hold the ring of power).

It’s the realization that good, pleasant things don’t stay. I’m sad they don’t stay. Why can’t they stay!

You knew the mutability of Fortune and you should have inured yourself against her constant threats of betrayal that too often inspire fear and flattery from those she has momentarily graced.

If you spread your sails before the wind, then you must go where the wind takes you and not where you might wish to go.

If those things you complain about losing were really yours, you’d still have them.

You were not unaware of how a wheel works.

Do not be happy bc you know pain, and therefore appreciate happiness. צ״ע.

What else is tragedy but the sad story of happy men who are overthrown by the blows of fortune?

but even now I have not deserted you entirely, for my mutability still gives you reason to hope for better things to come.

Don’t hope.

“What you have said,” I answered, “is all rhetoric. It is a plausible series of high-sounding phrases. A man can listen to them and even be beguiled, but his sense of having been injured lies much deeper than that. He listens to the arguments and follows along, but the moment they stop, he is again reminded of the grief that gnaws at his heart.”

And I ask you, if any happiness can come from success in the affairs of men, then how could the weight of your present misfortunes obliterate the memory of that spectacular day

“You had nothing but praise then for the works of Fortune, when she was coddling you as her pet.

For some reason I’m not consoled by this

But you can also take comfort in the likelihood that what is now making you miserable will also pass away.

:**(

Even a man who never has the kind of catastrophe that befell you comes to the last days of his life when he sees that his good fortune is finally ending.

Damn. Later edit: At the same time, they might feel peace at having made it. It’s why R’ Yochanan stood for the Elders.