re the wise man is always happy. Besides, every good is pleasant;
whatever is pleasant may he boasted and talked of; whatever may he boasted
of, is glorious, but whatever is glorious is certainly laudable, and
whatever is laudable doubtless, also, honourable; whatever, then, is good
is honourable; (but the things which they reckon as goods, they themselves
do not call honourable;) therefore what is honourable alone is good. Hence
it follows that a happy life is comprised in honesty alone. Such things,
then, are not to be called or considered goods, when a man may enjoy an
abundance of them, and yet be most miserable. Is there any doubt but that
a man who enjoys the best health, and who has strength and beauty, and his
senses flourishing in their utmost quickness and perfection; suppose him
likewise, if you please, nimble and active, nay, give him riches, honours,
authority, power, glory; now, I say, should this person, who is in
possession of all these, be unjust, intemperate, timid, stupid, or an
idiot, could you hesitate to call such an one miserable? What, then, are
those goods, in the possession of which you may be very miserable? Let us
see if a happy life is not made up of parts of the same nature, as a heap
implies a quantity of grain of the same kind. And if this be once
admitted, happiness must be compounded of different good things which
alone are honourable; if there is any mixture of things of another sort
with these, nothing honourable can proceed from such a composition; now,
take away honesty, and how can you imagine anything happy? For whatever is
good is desirable on that account; whatever is desirable must certainly be
approved of; whatever you approve of must be looked on as acceptable and
welcome. You must consequently impute dignity to this; and if so, it must
necessarily be laudable; therefore, everything that is laudable is good.
Hence it follows, that what is honourable is the only good. And should we
not look upon it in this light, there will be a great many things which we
must call good.

XVI. I forbear to mention riches, which, as any one, let him be ever so
unworthy, may have them, I do not reckon amongst goods; for what is good
is not attainable by all. I pass over notoriety, and popular fame, raised
by the united voice of knaves and fools. Even things which are absolute
nothings may be called goods; such as white teeth, handsome eyes, a good
complexion, and what was commended by Euryclea, wh