“The only worthwhile thing is education,” writes one follower of this cult in the second century. “All other riches are trivial and human and are not worth the effort to seek them. Noble titles belong to our ancestors. Wealth is a gift of fate, who gives it and takes it away. Glory is fickle. Beauty is fleeting. Health, inconstant. Physical strength falls prey to illness and old age. Instruction is the only thing we have that is immortal and divine. Because only intelligence is rejuvenated by years and time, which steals away all things, but adds wisdom to age. Not even war, which sweeps and
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