nnot read these Lives without being the better for it: his
detestation of all that is mean and disingenuous will be increased; his
admiration of whatever is truthful and generous will be strengthened and
exalted.

The translation of these Lives is difficult. Plutarch's text is
occasionally corrupted; and where it is not corrupted, his meaning is
sometimes obscure. Many of the sentences are long and ill-constructed;
the metaphors often extravagant; and the just connection of the parts is
sometimes difficult to discover. Many single words which are or ought to
be pertinent in Plutarch, and which go towards a description of
character in general or of some particular act, can hardly be rendered
by any English equivalent; and a translator often searches in vain for
something which shall convey to the reader the exact notion of the
original. Yet Plutarch's narrative is lively and animated; his anecdotes
are appropriately introduced and well told; and if his taste is
sometimes not the purest, which in his age we could not expect it to be,
he makes amends for this by the fulness and vigour of his expression. He
is fond of poetical words, and they are often used with striking effect.
His moral reflections, which are numerous, have the merit of not being
unmeaning and tiresome, because he is always in earnest and has got
something to say, and does not deal in commonplaces. When the reflection
is not very profound, it is at least true; and some of his remarks show
a deep insight into men's character.

I have attempted to give Plutarch's meaning in plain language; to give
all his meaning, and neither more nor less. If I have failed in any
case, it is because I could do no better. But, though I have not always
succeeded in expressing exactly what I conceive to be the meaning of the
original, I have not intentionally added to it or detracted from it. It
may be that there are passages in which I have mistaken the original;
and those who have made the experiment of rendering from one language
into another, know that this will sometimes happen even in an easy
passage. A difficult passage attracts more than usual of a translator's
attention, and if he fails there, it is either because the difficulty
cannot be overcome, or because he cannot overcome it. Mere inadvertence
or sleepiness may sometimes cause a translator to blunder, when he would
not have blundered if any friend had been by to keep him awake.

The best thing that a man can