festina lente - erasmo

8/9/2019 Festina Lente - Erasmo

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[from http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/speude/, along with the Latin and notes; please cite that URL and not this one]

Desiderius Erasmus : Adagia II, 1, 1: Festina Lente[[ Related online discussion ]] [[ llustrations ]]

Speude bradeos, i.e. festina lente, !"ake haste slowl#.! $his charming pro%erb appears at

first glance a riddle, because it is made up of words which contradict each other. t is

therefore to be classed with those which e&press their meaning through enantiosin, that is,

contrariety, as we e&plained in the beginning of the Adages. 'f this genus is the sa#ing

dusdaimon eudaimonia, unfortunate good fortune. (or does it seem a groundless con)ecturethat our present pro%erb was created from a phrase which appears in *ristophanes+ Knights:

speude tacheos, hasten hastily, so that the person who made the allusion, whoe%er he was,

con%erted the anadiaplosin, or doubling, into contrariet#, enantiosin. $he apt and absolute

bre%it# of the phrase gi%es a superlati%e grace to the rhetorical figuration and to the humor

of the allusion, a gemlike grace that seems to me to be especiall# beautiful in pro%erbs, and

to make them gemlike mar%els of price.

-. f #ou weigh carefull# the force and the sentiment of our pro%erb, its succinct bre%it#,

how fertile it is, how serious, how beneficial, how applicable to e%er# acti%it# of life, #ou

will easil# come to the opinion that among the huge number of sa#ings #ou will find none

of greater dignit#. Speude bradeos ought to be car%ed on columns. t ought to be written on

the archwa#s of churches, and indeed in letters of gold. t ought to be painted on the gates

of great men+s palaces, engra%ed on the rings of cardinals and primates, and chased on the

scepters of kings. $o go further, it ought to be seen on all monuments e%er#where,

published abroad and multiplied so that e%er#one will know it and it will be before e%er#

mortal e#e, and there will be no one who doesn+t hold it of greatest use especiall#

princes, and to those to whom, to uote 0omer

Laoi t' epitetraphatai kai tossa memele

[!$he people are entrusted, and the care of much.!]

1. 2eople of pri%ate station, if the# ha%e omitted something b# la3iness, or committed

something through rashness, face lighter conseuences, for the damage that is done can be

remedied b# smaller means. 4ut princes... * single instance of neglect, or one counsel too

hastil# put into effect, dear 5od6 what hurricanes ha%e the# not often e&cited, what huge

disasters ha%e the# not let loose upon humanit#7 4ut, if our speudein bradeos were there to

help that is, a certain ripening of action and moderation blended together from both

wakefulness and gentleness so that kings would commit nothing through rashness the#

would regret, nor pass o%er through la3iness an#thing that would tend to the wellbeing of

the state, ask #ou, what could be more prosperous, better grounded, and more stable than

this kind of rule7 $he happiness of such a go%ernment would hardl# be contained b# the

boundaries of a countr#, but would e&tent far and wide to neighboring peoples, nor could

the line of 0esiod be better applied than here:

Pema kakos geiton, hosson t' eus meg' oneiar.

[!*n e%il neighbor is a curse, as much as a good one is a benefit.!]

8. consider this pro%erb has better right to be called basilikon, i.e. ro#al, than an#

other, not so much because ro#alt# could best use it, but because the minds of princes seem

to be peculiarl# prone to the two %ices of sloth and hotheadedness. 9ortune+s fa%or, the

abundance of wealth, the read# allurements to amusements, the abilit# to do whate%er one

pleases, and finall# that most pestilent euge6, !bra%o6!, of #esmen, and the e%erlastingl#

read# smiles, applause, and congratulations for a king, whate%er he does or sa#s in an# wa#

it+s no wonder if all these things, and others of the same nature, persuade man# princes tola3iness, especiall# if the person e&posed to these temptations is #oung and ine&perienced.

et on the contrar#, it often happens that the natural and !lionlike! might call it

%igor of some princes+ minds, when inflated b# limitless wealth, whipped up b# the

prospects of great things, inflammed with anger, ambition or other desires of that t#pe, and


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egged on b# flattering counsels, first charges out in one wrong direction, then in another,

and then carries the whole state with it into the ab#ss.

%en this was the action of a mind out of control, and *chilles, in the midst of crowded

assembl# of leaders, rants and ra%es with shabb# and shameful abuse against the man who

holds the supreme authorit#. *le&ander the 5reat imitated *chilles, and, to be sure,

surpassed him, since his soul+s uncontrolled %iolence would dri%e him to the point where he

drew his sword against his dearest friends. ?ardanapalus emulated *gamemnon, and outdid

him in torpidit#. 'ne could find numberless e&amples of both t#pes, those who e&hibited

the sloth of the latter, or the ferocit# of the former. ou will find %er# few great men who

followed our pro%erb and mingled a timel# speediness with a thoughtful slowness. 'f

course one man ma# suffice to represent those who succeeded, 9abius "a&imus, whomthe# called Cunctator , !the @ela#er.! 9abius gained himself und#ing praise when cunctando

restituit rem, !he restored safet# b# dela#,! to the Roman state which had been brought to

desperate circumstances b# the illad%ised rashness of lesser leaders.

A. Bith good cause, therefore, our pro%erb Speude bradeos benefitted the two most

praised Roman emperors, *ugustus and $itus Cespasian. 4oth of these men possessed a

uniue greatness of soul, and with an incredible gentleness )oined with courtes# and the

amiable popularit# of their manners, the# bound the hearts of all to them. 4ut, nonetheless,

when affairs demanded force, the# accomplished the greatest actions with diligence eual to

their gentleness. *ugustus was so greatl# delighted with this sa#ing as *ulus 5ellius

relates in the ele%enth chapter of the tenth book of his Attic ights Dwhom "acrobius

follows in the si&th book of his SaturnaliaE that he not onl# used it %er# often in hisdail# con%ersation, but also freuentl# inserted it into the language of his official letters,

ad%ising b# these two words that his ministers in carr#ing out their duties should emplo#

both the despatch of efficient business, and the slowness of careful reflection. 5ellius

thought that this concept could be e&pressed in a single Latin word, matura; for maturari

means that something should happen neither too soon, nor later than it ought, but at the

e&act right moment. 5ellius sa#s that Cergil uses the %erb in this sense when he writes in

the first book of the Aeneid

!aturate fugam.

[!(ow is the time for escape.!]

*lthough maturari signifies in Latin authors the same thing as festinare, it means to hasten

so as not to anticipate the proper time. ou ma# use festinata correctl# as a s#non#m for

praeproperata, but not for maturata. (one of this conflicts with what ?uetonius sa#s in his

life of *ugustus: !*ugustus thought nothing less appropriate,! he sa#s, !for a perfect leader

than a combination of hastiness and rashness. 0e often uoted these words:

Speude bradeos, asphales gar est' ameinon e thrasus

strategos.

[!"ake haste slowl#, for a general who makes no mistakes is better than a

bra%e one.!]

F. $hus ?uetonius [-.-


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things safel# out of reach of disaster, is better than one who is blustering and

o%erconfident.! $hings that are foreseen and pro%ided for b# slow and gentle forethought

are safer than what is hurried into action b# hot and hast# heads.

G. 9rom the ancient coins minted b# $itus Cespasian we can easil# gather that this same

pro%erb pleased him, too. *ldus "anutius showed me a specimen, a sil%er piece of old and

clearl# Roman workmanship, which he said was sent to him as a gift b# the Cenetian

nobleman 2ietro 4embo, who honored the #outhful *ldus as an e&ample of the foremost

students and diligent in%estigators of literar# antiuities in his time. $he impressionstamped on the coin was like this. 'n the ob%erse was the portrait of $itus Cespasian with

his titles; on the re%erse was a dolphin cur%ing around and embracing the shank of an

anchor. $his de%ice means e&actl# the same thing as the sa#ing of *ugustus =Hsar, Speude

bradeos, and the e%idence is in the monuments written in hierogl#phic letters.

I. !0ierogl#phic! is the name gi%en to the enigmatic characters which the earliest ages

used in writing, especiall# the >g#ptian priests and theologians, who considered it

forbidden to di%ulge the m#steries of wisdom to the profane crowd as we do in

ordinar# letters. f the# )udged something worth# of the name of wisdom, the >g#ptians

wrote it down in pictures of %arious animals, so that not e%er#one could guess the

significance. 0owe%er, if #ou knew and understood the properties of all things, and the

strengths and natures of animals, #ou could then put together the hints gi%en b# the s#mbolsand grasp the meaning of the riddle. n this wa#, when the >g#ptians wished to signif#

'siris, whom the# belie%ed to be the same as the sun, the# car%ed a scepter with an e#e on

top of it, hinting that this is the god, sublime in ro#al power, who looks down on e%er#thing

because antiuit# called the sun the !e#e of Jo%e.! $hus "acrobius relates in the first

book of his Saturnalia.

K. Likewise the# wrote !#ear! in this fashion: the# painted a serpent, rolled in a hoop,

holding its tail in its mouth, hinting that the #ear alwa#s returned to the same points

re%isiting the same recurrences of seasons. 0ence ?er%ius asserts that in 5reek eniautos is a

word applied to the #ear, and that Cergil is looking to this when he sa#s:

At"ue in se sua per #estigia #ol#itur annus.[!*nd the #ear too rolls in upon itself through its own wa#marks.!]

0owe%er, 0orus the >g#ptian, of whom there sur%i%e two s#mbolic books of this t#pe, sa#s

that the hierogl#ph of the serpent does not represent the #ear, but rather eternit#, and that

!#ear! is written b# an image of sis, or of a phni&. *mong the 5reeks, 2lutarch

commented on these things in his book $e %siride, and =haeremon wrote also on the

testimon# of the Suda le&icon. t is from =haeremon+s books, suspect, that the e&amples of

this kind of hierogl#phic writing which we ha%e )ust seen were e&cerpted, and along with

these there was also this picture.

. 9irst, a circle, then an anchor, whose shank, as ha%e said, is entwined b# a dolphin.

$he ad)oined written interpretation e&plains that the circle stands for eternal time, as a circlehas no beginning or end. $he anchor, which sta#s and moors a ship and keeps it in place,

indicates slowness. $he dolphin, the fastest of all animals, and the animal of keenest

refle&es, e&presses speed. f #ou connect all of this s#mbolism intelligentl#, it forms the

following sentence: aei speude bradeos, !*lwa#s make haste slowl#.! 9urthermore, this

s#mbolic method of writing possesses not onl# the greatest dignit#, but also pro%ides a great

deal of pleasure to a person who can look deepl# into the ualities of things; because this

s#mbolic representation mingles the scientific contemplation of things and natural causes

with the stud# of literature.

-. f #ou ha%e the books which *ristotle entitled his Physics, #ou will see clearl# that

there is a certain analog# or likeness between space, motion, and time. 9or all of these three

e&ist together in the same relation. *s time inheres in motion, so motion inheres in space.

Bhat is a point in space, is an instant in time, and an impulse in motion that which in

motion is its least and indi%isible part Dlet us term it that for nowE. Be do not ha%e to

elaborate words, if it fits in actualit#. f #ou consider the e&tension of a straight line, #ou

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will find two points, of which one is simpl# the beginning, and the other the end. $his is

whence the length arises, and how the length is defined. f #ou anal#3e motion in the same

wa#, #ou will find two impulses, one from which the motion arises, and the other in which

it subsides. $here is the same reasoning behind both of these. Bhat is the beginning of the

line is simpl# the beginning of the motion, and what is the end of the line is the end of the

motion. $ime necessaril# accompanies motion. f #ou contemplate time separatel# from

e&tension and motion, the same principle applies to it also, and #ou will see two instants

Dthus we shall call themE, one of which is the beginning of the time, and the other the end.*gain, if #ou were to consider the points of space, the impulses of motion, and the instants

of time which fill the middle between the beginning and the end in the same line, #ou will

see that the nature of each one of these is double. n relation to the beginning, the middle

elements are ends; in relation to the end, beginnings. ?o, where the space is finite, there too

the motion is finite, and it follows that the time is finite. $hat space, then, is finite which

possesses a beginning such that it could not also be an ending, and also an ending which

could not be b# the same reasoning a beginning. $his happens in all plane and solid figures

e&cept the circle and the sphere. 9or in these there is no fi&ed point which can properl# be

called a beginning, and no point which an ending occurs, and can therefore be called the

end. Likewise, then, there is no instant or impulse that can be called a beginning or an end.

0ence it follows that here neither the space, nor the motion, nor the time is finite. *gain,where%er there is a point of space on the circle or sphere, it is capable of being both a

beginning and an end. $herefore it is necessar# that the space of the circle or sphere is

infinite. 4# the same rule, since whate%er impulse on the circle can be a source of motion or

an end of motion, here the motion is infinite. 9inall#, since each instant can be a beginning

of time or an end, then the time ought to be infinite. 4ut we call infinite time !eternit#,! and

eternit# corresponds to eternal motion. >ternal motion likewise reuires eternal space. *ll

these elements are not able to coe&ist e&cept in a spherical or circular form. 9rom this the

philosophers ha%e deduced the eternit# of the world, because the# saw the shape of the

whole sk# and of the stars to be spherical, and also its motion to be spherical. 9urthermore,

the idea of a circle suares not onl# with a space of this t#pe, but the motion that inheres in

this figure is in fact a circle also. 4# the same token the time that measures this motion doesnot re)ect the name of circle, as *ristotle testifies in the fourth book of his Physics.

Bhoe%er percei%es these things and others of the same kind from the doctrines of the

philosophers will easil# figure out wh# the >g#ptians decided to e&press e%erlasting time b#

a circle.

1. (ow let us look a little at the faculties and nature of the dolphin. 'ur authors sa#

that this animal lea%es the whole race of animals far behind it in its unbelie%able speed and

wonderful force. 'ppian, in his second book %n the ature of &ishes, does not compare

dolphins with an# old bird, but with eagles:

osson gar kouphoisi met oionoisin anaktes

aietoi e theressi met omesteisi leontes,

hosson aristeuousin en herpustersi drakontes,

tosson kai delphines en ichthusin hegemones.

[!*s much as eagles are the kings of aer# birds,or lions those o%er flesheating

beasts, as much as dragons e&cel among serpents, b# so much are the dolphins

leaders among fishes.!]

0e [


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allote men bathu kuma diatreche eute lailaps

[!?ometimes he rushes through the deep wa%es like a storm.!]

8. 2lin# the >lder, in his atural istory, book nine, chapter eight, follows the opinion

of *ristotle and conforms closel# to his relation. 2lin# sa#s that the dolphin is the swiftest

of all animals, not onl# of seacreatures, but also faster than an# bird and speedier than an#

arrow. 2lin# confirms the dolphin+s remarkable speed particularl# b# this proof. $he

dolphin has its mouth, which it uses in hunting fishes, sited a long wa# behind its beak,almost in the middle of its bell#. $his must strongl# hinder its swimming. (or does the

dolphin snatch fishes e&cept turned o%er l#ing on its back. 0owe%er, there is no pre# at all

that can escape the dolphin+s speed. $he dolphin itself is uite aware of this natural gift, and

either for the sake of praise or because of high spirits, it often races ships that scud under

full sail. $he dolphin is especiall# fond of human beings [ philanthropos]. ?ome e%en sa# it

lo%es bo#s [ paiderasten], and for this reason it is a deadl# enem# to the crocodile, which

hates human beings more than an# other animal. $hus, the dolphin is not afraid of man, but

comes right up to ships. t )umps up and pla#s, it will race an# %essel and outstrip e%en

those mo%ing under full sail. n the catching of mullets in the Laternan 4a# the dolphin

makes it magnificentl# clear how he e&cels in speed, the power of his intellect, and finall#

how great a wellwisher he is to human beings. Bhat, indeed, can sa# about hisunbelie%able power7 f he is dri%en b# hunger, he will pursue a fish to the deepest depths,

and hold in his breath a %er# long time. Bhen he darts out of the water to breathe, like an

arrow from a bow, he )umps up with such force that his leap has capsi3ed man# a ship of

billowing sail. $herefore, what s#mbol could be more perfectl# suited to e&pressing the

sharp and indefatigable impulse of the mind, than the dolphin7 'n the contrar#, for thesignif#ing of slowness and dela#, the echeneis fish, which the Romans call a remora, is not

inappropriate. 0owe%er, since its appearance is unfamiliar and hard to recogni3e Dbesides

that it is uite small and is not marked b# an# striking featuresE, the s#mbol of the anchor

lends itself much more pleasing for this purpose, because if a ship is sailing dangerousl#

fast because of strong winds astern !fa%oring! winds the anchor will sa%e the ship and

restrain its immoderate course. ?o, this sa#ing, speude bradeos, appears to ha%e deri%edfrom the genuine m#steries of primiti%e philosoph#, whence it was taken up b# the two

most praised emperors, so that it holds a place both in the rank of pro%erbs and of imperial

de%ices, since it conforms so well with the character and genius of both.


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=haldean, and that students would ha%e each one of these works in full and correct te&t, and

no one would lack for the least crumb of the feast of literature. *t the same time the true

number of good manuscripts still hidden would come to light, codices so far either

oppressed b# the neglect or suppressed b# the ambition of certain people, whose onl# desire

is that the# alone ma# seem to know an#thing. $hen at last it will be known )ust how man#

horrendous mistakes pullulate in the te&ts of the classics, e%en those which we now think

sufficientl# emended. f an#one would like to make an e&periment to gauge the enormit# of

the labor in%ol%ed, the letters of the ounger 2lin# are soon to see the light from the *ldine2ress, and when our e&perimenter compares *ldus+s te&t with the %ulgate editions, whate%er

he finds in them to deplore, he should e&pect in other authors also.

A. 4# 0ercules, it is a herculean task and worth# of some ro#al spirit, to restore to the

world a thing so di%ine collapsed in ruin down to its foundations, to track down the hidden,

to dig up what is buried, to call things e&tinct back to life, to make the mutilated whole, and

to emend te&ts depra%ed in so man# wa#s and especially b# the %iciousness of those

apologists for common slo%enliness who find more antiuit# in the glint of a little gold

piece in than the entire bod# of literature.

F. 9urthermore, people pile heap on heap of praise upon those who b# their prowess

defended their countries or merel# e&tended their boundaries, e%en though these heroes

were engaged in a merel# secular affair and in a narrowl# limited field. 4ut whoso fromnear e&tinction rescues the Republic of Letters a task almost more difficult than

establishing it in the first place he labors on something hol# and immortal, and he

sustains the hopes not of )ust one pro%ince or another, but of all humanit# and all ages. $his

dut# was once the special gift of princes, among whom the glor# of 2tolem# shines

brightest. *nd although 2tolem#+s librar# was confined within the narrow walls of his

d#nastic palace, *ldus toils so that his librar# shall be contained b# no limits other than

those of the world.

G. do not feel that ha%e wandered impertinentl# into this little digression, since

scholars will greater %alue, re%erence, and delight in the dolphin and anchor de%ice when

the# know what famous men authored it and understand its significance, and last, when the#

remember the great good the @olphin promises them, if onl# 5od will assist and fa%or these beautiful attempts.

I. Later, after this detour, will pick up our stor# again, as soon as shall ha%e laid out

m# complaint against certain printers who ha%e merited e&tremel# ill of literature. $his is

not a new complaint, but it has ne%er been more )ustified than now, when am now

preparing the fourth Dif +m not mistakenE edition of these Adages, that is, in


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mere cop#ing of books as now emplo#ed b# sworn public notaries. =ertainl# more scruples

were needed, for the contamination of books has reach its present astonishing le%el for no

other reason than because the transmission of these hol# te&ts was entrusted to an# old

obscure and uneducated monks, and e%en to little nuns, without an# attempt at choosing

those suited for the work. et how small is the damage which the negligent or unlearned

scribe commits, when #ou compare the printer7 *nd on this point the laws lie asleep.

Bhoe%er sells cloth d#ed in 4ritain as cloth d#ed in Cenice is punished; but the printer who

sells unmi&ed te&tual cruces, and other engines of torture for the wit, as !good authors,!en)o#s the fruits of his shamelessness. ou ma# sa# that it is not much of a fault in a seller

to tr# to get something out of the bu#er. 4ut it certainl# ought to be a fault, if the titlepage

promises !e&acting diligence! and the book is riddled with mistakes. $here are, indeed,

errors which are not readil# caught b# e%en the e&pert. (ow the numberless crowd of

printers has thrown e%er#thing into confusion, especiall# in 5erman#. (ot e%er#one is

allowed to be a baker; making mone# b# printing is forbidden to nobod#. t+s not safe to

paint or e%en to sa# man# things; but an# kind of matter is allowed to be printed. $o what

part of the world ha%e new books not flown in swarms7 f one or another of these books

offers something worth knowing, nonetheless their %er# multitude %iolentl# hinders liberal

studies b# the surfeit it induces and surfeit in good things is e&tremel# harmful or b#

the %er# fact that the human mind is b# nature greed# of newness and prone to be wa#laid b# these temptations and to be distracted from the reading of ancient authors, who are the

best that can be recommended, though do not intimate that there ma# be something found

in the moderns which escaped them. t is possible there e&ists someone who can teach what

*ristotle didn+t know. 0owe%er, do not belie%e that there will e%er arise an#one who will

define the bod# of philosoph# more absolutel# than he did. $hen perhaps there will be

someone who sees things in 0ol# ?cripture which eluded =hr#sostom or Jerome; but do

not think there will e%er arise an#one who will pro%ide, all in all, what the# did.

--. (ow as for these 9amous =ontemporaries, these Almost Classics, we waste our

hours with their mindless tunes; we neglect the genuine stud# of literature and its authors,

and the authorit# of senates, councils, schools, law#ers and theologians lies in ruin. f this

situation continues as it has begun, and the ?um of $hings is brought under the control of afew, we will wind up burdened with a barbarous t#rann# like the $urks. $he world will

obe# the whims of one man, or of a few, all traces of ci%il polit# will %anish, and the world

will be ruled b# militar# %iolence. *ll decent studies will cease, and one law onl# will

sur%i%e. ?uch is the wish of whoe%er would be ) kosmokrator , the Uni%ersal @ictator. $he

proponents of religion will be held in contempt, or, if the# retain an# power or dignit#, that

will be totall# at the ser%ice of those who rule all things, not b# their )udgment, but b# their

frowns and nods.

-1. n the four elements that make up the uni%erse, each one is mi&ed in with the others

and tempered b# them so that the# e&ist in an e%erlasting alliance. 0ow much better would

humankind be pro%ided for, if in the same wa# e%er#one retained the powers legitimatel#

assigned to them6 $he people would recei%e their )ust portion. Law, euit#, and their own

capacities would determine what powers are to be designated to the senate and magistrates.

4ishops and priests would keep their honor. (ot e%en monks would be denied what is owed

them. $he concors discordia, the harmonious dissonance, of all these estates and their man#

colors of opinion would more faithfull# preser%e the state than what pre%ails now, when

e%er#one tries to snatch e%er#thing for himself. (ot e%en a famil# can sur%i%e unless the

husband delegate part of his authorit# to his wife, unless there be a distinction between free

persons and sla%es, and unless the sla%es themsel%es are not treated as beasts but as human

beings. 9inall#, there must be a distinction between one sla%e and another, so that those

who ser%e more willingl# ma# be treated more indulgentl# and e&pect freedom as the

reward of their work. -8. 4ut here someone might sa#: !0e# there, #ou blithering prophet, what+s this got to

do with printers7! t+s got to do with that a lot of our present e%ils is caused b# them and

their rampant licentiousness. $he# fill the world with books and pamphlets. $hese are

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don+t call them trifling things, such as perhaps write, but rather stupid, unfactual,

slanderous, scandalous, obscene, pestilent, blasphemous, and seditious, and the# come forth

in such a crowd that the good fruit of wholesome books perishes. ?ome of these indecent

writings fl# out under no title, or, what is more criminal, under false titlepages. Bhen

caught in the act these prostitute publishers sa#, !5i%e me the means to support m# famil#,

and +ll cease to print such books!. * thief, conman, or pimp when arraigned could with

much better face repl#, !5i%e me the means to li%e, and +ll lea%e off this trade! if it is a

lesser crime secretl# to make off with someone else+s goods than publicl# to usurp someoneelse+s good name, or if it is a smaller sin to make bad use of #ourself and wrong someone

else for gain, than to destro# another+s li%elihood and reputation, things that are dearer than

life.

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books the# brought me were 2lato+s works in 5reek, 2lutarch+s Li#es and his oralia,

which began to be printed as m# work drew to a close. $here was *thenaeus+

$eipnosophistae, *phthonius, 0ermogenes with his commentators, *ristotle+s *hetorica

with the scholia of 5regor# (a3ia3enus, *ristides complete with the scholia, the short

commentaries on 0esiod and $heocritus, >ustathius on the whole of 0omer, 2ausanias, and

2indar with accurate commentar#. $here was the collection of pro%erbs attributed to

2lutarch, and another attributed to *postolius, which 0ieron#mus *leander loaned to us.

$here were other smaller items, too, which either offered no materials, or did not pertain tothe work. (one of these, howe%er, had e%er #et been published in printed form.

-F. (ow in its turn e&amine the !singular humanit#! of a certain (orth >uropean

friend of mine, whom ha%e counted among m# principal friends, nor ha%e discarded,

since !Be ought to know the characters of our friends, not hate them.! Bhen was

enlarging the Cenetian edition, happen to see at his house a cop# of the Suda le&icon

whose margins were filled with annotated pro%erbs. t was a huge work, and one most

important to be studied. @esirous therefore of enriching m# labor with this %olume, asked

him to let me ha%e the use of it, e%en for )ust a few hours, so m# secretar# could cop# out

the marginalia for me. *gain and again begged him, and he refused me. Bhen tried

e%er# possible approach with him, and could not get him to grant m# pra#er, asked him

whether he himself intended to publish a collection of pro%erbs, and said would happil##ield to him so he could work on it more succesfull#. 0e swore there was nothing such.

!Bhat then,! said, !moti%ates #ou7! 9inall# he confessed, as if it had been dragged out of

him b# torture, that he feared the open populari3ing of things which until now had made

learned men seem prodigies to ordinar# people. inc illae lacrimae6 !0ence those tears.!

n the colleges and monasteries of 5erman#, 9rance, and >ngland lie hidden manuscripts of

the greatest antiuit#. $heir keepers allow no one with e&tremel# few e&ceptions

access to them, or e%en if someone asks about them, the# hide then, or den# their e&istence,

or sell the use of them at an unfairl# high price, double that of professional bookdealers. *t

length these carefully preser#ed manuscripts are destro#ed b# mildew and sil%erfish, or

thie%es make off with them. Rich people not onl# do not help literar# affairs with their

generosit#, the# belie%e that no mone# is worse wasted than what is spent on such things,nor do the# care in the least about things from which the# can make no profit. 4ut if the

princes of (orth >urope would pursue liberal studies with the same enthusiasm as the

talians, the ?erpents of 9roben+s de%ice would not lag far behind *ldus+ @olphin in wealth.

*ldus, hastening slowl#, has gained no less mone# than glor#, and he has deser%ed both.

9roben carries his staff upright, seeking no end but the public good, while he clea%es to

do%elike mildness and e&presses the wisdom of serpents better in his printer+s de%ice than in

his deeds. 4ut 9roben is richer in fame than in mone#.

-G. 4ut let us limit our digressions, and turn our essa# back to the elucidation of our

pro%erb. Speude bradeos ma# be used in three wa#s. 9irst, whene%er we admonish someone

to think carefull# a little longer before rushing into action but then after he has decided what

to do, to perform it uickl#. n this wa# the *nchor refers to the slowness of deliberation,

and the @olphin to the speed of performance. ?allust+s phrase is pertinent: +efore you begin,

think when you ha#e thought, you need to act "uickly. *ristotle re%iews this sentiment in

the si&th book of his >thics, though he calls it !commonl#! uoted: -hey say, he sa#s, that

once you ha#e decided on something, you should do it "uickly, but that you should make

decisions hesitantly. Laertius witnesses that the author of this idea was 4ias, who was

accustomed to ad%ise people bradeos encheirein tois prattomenois, hot' an ele bebaios

teronte diamenein: to be slow to put your hand to affairs, but once you ha#e started to see

them through #igorously. $he writer of mimes, 2ublianus, belie%e, pla#s with this idea

similarl#: ou should make long preparations for a war, so you can win it more "uickly.

*gain, he sa#s: /n deciding what's useful, delay is safest. *dd to these this pro%erb: en nuktiboule, a council in the night. *nd then this line of ?ophocles from his %edipus the King :

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phronein gar hoi tacheis ouk asphaleis

[!$oohast# decisions are dangerous.!]

$o be added to these is 2lato+s dictum, which we ha%e cited elsewhere: 0ho hastens too

much at the beginning, comes to the end too late. $ending in a slightl# other direction, but

nonetheless N propos, is what Muintilian sa#s: -hat type of mind which de#elops too early

hardly e#er comes to bear fruit. *lso what people commonl# sa#, that bo#s who are wise

before their time turn into stupid old men. *ctius seems to agree with this when he sa#s, ashe is uoted b# 5ellius, that in #oung minds as in earl# apples it was the sourness that

pleased him, for it showed the# were on the wa# to ripening. ndeed, timel# maturit# brings

sweetness; the others rot on the tree.

-I. Be use our pro%erb in a second wa# when we ad%ise that the passions of the mind

should be restrained b# the reason as b# reins. 2lato di%ides the mind into three parts

reason, capacit# for anger, and desires, and he belie%es philosoph# reaches its highest le%el

when the passions obe# reason as sub)ects obe# a king. 4ecause of this he locates reason in

the brain, as a palace assigned to it. $he 2eripatetics, whose standardbearer is *ristotle,

consider the passions to be certain impulses or stimuli of the soul placed there b# nature, b#

which we are incited to the practice of %irtue. 0owe%er, the ?toics den# this, and

particularl# ?eneca in his books %n Anger which he wrote to (ero. $he ?toics belie%e thatthe passions not onl# do not conduce to %irtue but in fact are obstacles, though the# do not

den# that the primiti%e impulses remain in the mind of their h#pothetical wise man who has

trained them to take orders from reason because he cannot get rid of passion root and

branch. Rather, reason, when it does not gi%e its assent, re)ects these impulses. 0omer hints

at this in the first book of the /liad . *thena stands behind *chilles, and holds him back ashe mo%es his hand toward his swordhilt. $hus, #ou could correctl# call the %iolent motions

of the mind the @olphin, and the *nchor the moderating influence of wisdom. ?eneca

writes that hesitanc# is a benefit in nothing e&cept in anger. 9urther, whene%er we

immoderatel# desire or hate something, dela# brings us to safet#. 2lutarch in his Sayings of

the *omans tells the stor# of the philosopher *thenodorus. 'n the occasion when he sought

to obtain lea%e of *ugustus to return home on account of old age, he ad%ised him that whenangered he should sa# and do nothing until he had recited the twent#four letters of the

5reek alphabet. Bhen *ugustus heard this he replied that *thenodorus himself ought to

ha%e used that method and learned the art of keeping uiet, and on that prete&t he detained

*thenodorus a whole other #ear with him. $he %erse of $erence looks to the same thing:

See that this is not 1ust too cle#er. $here are minds which need spurs and those which need

bridles. $hus the ancients correctl# intended the anchor entwined b# the dolphin to mean

that the one ualit# must be tempered b# the other in the same wa# 2lato belie%es the soul

ma# be trained b# mi&ture of music and athletics, if the# are practiced together.

1K. $he third wa# of using our pro%erb is when we warn that headlong speed must be

a%oided in e%er# kind of business, because it is the peculiar %ice of certain minds that in

e%er#thing the# do an# dela#, no matter how small, seems long. "istakes and regret are

prone to be the companions of this sort of haste, according to the famous %erse in 5reek:

propeteia pollois estin aitia kakon

[!9or man# people haste is the source of troubles.!]

1. $he noble sa#ing of =ato concords with this: &ast enough, if done well enough,

which the di%ine Jerome mentions in a letter written to 2ammachius: 2ery wise also is that

bit of Cato, &ast enough, if done well enough. %nce as teenagers we used to laugh at it

when it was repeated by an accomplished orator in his introduction to classes. / think you

recall our mutual blunder here, when around us the entire Atheneum resounded with

students' #oices chanting '&ast enough, if done well enough.'

1-. $hus far Jerome. 0is words fit those who too hastil# grasp at fame and prefer an

instant offtheshelf reputation, if big, to a fame that is solid and lasting. $hings that ripen

prematurel# are wont suddenl# to go limp. Bhat grows slowl# and steadil# can endure.

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0orace: -he fame of !arcellus grows like a tree as time passes unobser#ed. *nd 2indar in

emean C:

au3etai d' areta,

chlorais eersais hos ote dendron aissei

sophois andron aertheisa en dikaiois te pros hygron aethera

[!Cirtue increases, as a tree surges up with the refreshing dew, and rises up

among wise and )ust men towards the liuid hea%en.!]

n sum, whosoe%er errs b# la3iness or b# impulsi%eness should keep this sa#ing, first of

*ugustus =aesar, then the s#mbol of $itus Cespasian, and now of *ldus, SP45$4

+*A$4%S , fore%er before their mind+s e#e, and remember the significance of the @olphin

and the *nchor.

$0> >(@

festina lente - erasmo

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