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Book I Chapter 19 · I.19.9.4
Ancient Greek
p. 4529 Ἐν ταὐτῷ · 4
Τί δέ; ἡ τῶν σωμάτων ἕξις οὐχ ὑπὸ ἡσυχίας μὲν καὶ ἀργίας διόλλυται, ὑπὸ γυμνασίων δὲ καὶ κινήσεως ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ σῴζεται;
Ναί.
Ἡ δ’ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἕξις οὐχ ὑπὸ μαθήσεως μὲν καὶ μελέτης, κινήσεων ὄντων, κτᾶται μαθήματα καὶ σῴζεται καὶ γίγνεται βελτίων, ὑπὸ δ’ ἡσυχίας, ἀμελετησίας τε καὶ ἀμαθίας οὔσης οὔτε τι μανθάνει ἅ τε ἂν μάθῃ ἐπιλανθάνεται;
Καὶ μάλα.
Τὸ μὲν ἄρα ἀγαθὸν κίνησις κατά τε ψυχὴν καὶ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα, τὸ δὲ τοὐναντίον;
Ἔοικεν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 19
p. 4539 Plato: Exercise of body and soul
And what of bodily condition? Is it not ruined by stillness and idleness, but generally preserved by exercise and motion?
Yes.
And the state of the soul: does it not acquire knowledge, preserve itself, and improve through learning and practice, which are motions, while through stillness, which is lack of practice and learning, it learns nothing and forgets whatever it has learned?
Certainly.
Then motion is the good for both soul and body, and the opposite is the contrary?
So it seems.558
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 19 · I.19.9.4
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Stobaeus gathered Greek philosophy and poetry for his son Septimius. Volume I presents the dedication testimony, On Arithmetic, Book I through chapter 60, and the ancient contents of all four books. This complete bilingual edition includes an introduction and 2,117 explanatory notes.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek follows Curt Wachsmuth’s 1884 Volume I, checked against the supplied scan. Gaps, lost-chapter headings, and uncertain attributions remain visible. Chapter 2 includes a labeled proposed reconstruction. The appendix outlines Books I–IV; the full texts of Books II–IV are outside this volume. Reader pages preserve the companion PDF’s numbering.
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