in the death of the
tyrant, but by their abuse of Timoleon for having done an unholy and
impious deed, reduced him to a state of great melancholy. Hearing that
his mother took it greatly to heart, and that she used harsh words and
invoked terrible curses upon him, he went to her to try to bring her to
another state of mind, but she would not endure the sight of him, but
shut the door against him. Then indeed he became very dejected, and
disordered in his mind, so as to form an intention of destroying himself
by starvation; but this his friends would not permit, but prevailed on
him by force and entreaty so that he determined to live, but alone by
himself. He gave up all interest in public affairs, and at first did not
even enter the city, but passed his time wandering in the wildest part
of the country in an agony of mind.

VI. Thus our judgments, if they do not borrow from reason and philosophy
a fixity and steadiness of purpose in their acts, are easily swayed and
influenced by the praise or blame of others, which make us distrust our
own opinions.

For not only, it seems, must the deed itself be noble and just, but also
the principle from which we do it must be stable and unchangeable, so
that we may make up our minds and then act from conviction. If we do
not, then like those epicures who most eagerly seize upon the daintiest
food and soonest become satiated and nauseate it, so we become filled
with sorrow and remorse when the deed is done, because the splendid
ideas of virtue and honour which led us to do it fade away in our minds
on account of our own moral weakness. A remorseful change of mind
renders even a noble action base, whereas the determination which is
grounded on knowledge and reason cannot change even if its actions fail.
Wherefore Phokion the Athenian, who opposed the measures of Leosthenes,
when Leosthenes seemed to have succeeded, and he saw the Athenians
sacrificing and priding themselves on their victory, said that he should
have wished that he had himself done what had been done, but he should
wish to have given the same counsel that he did give. Aristeides the
Lokrian, one of the companions of Plato, put this even more strongly
when Dionysius the elder asked for one of his daughters in marriage. "I
had rather," he said, "see the girl a corpse, than the consort of a
despot." A short time afterwards when Dionysius put his sons to death
and insultingly asked him whether he were still of the same m