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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 410 of 879
Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.1.2–I.41.1.3
Ancient Greek
p. 8161.2
⟨ΤΑΤ⟩ Τί οὖν ἄν τις πράττων, ὦ πάτερ, εἰ μηδέν ἐστιν ἀληθὲς ἐνθάδε, καλῶς διαγάγοι τὸν βίον;
⟨ΕΡΜ.⟩ Εὐσέβει, ὦ τέκνον. Ὁ δὲ εὐσεβῶν ἄκρως φιλοσοφήσει· χωρὶς γὰρ φιλοσοφίας ἄκρως εὐσεβῆσαι ἀδύνατον· ὁ δὲ μαθὼν οἷά ἐστι καὶ πῶς διατέτακται καὶ ὑπὸ τίνος καὶ ἕνεκεν τίνος, χάριν εἴσεται ὑπὲρ πάντων τῷ δημιουργῷ ὡς πατρὶ ἀγαθῷ καὶ τροφεῖ χρηστῷ καὶ ἐπιτρόπῳ πιστῷ· ὁ δὲ χάριν ὁμολογῶν εὐσεβήσει· ὁ δὲ εὐσεβῶν εἴσεται καὶ ποῦ ἐστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ τίς ἐστιν ἐκείνη, καὶ μαθὼν ἔτι μᾶλλον εὐσεβέστερος ἔσται.
1.3
Οὐδέποτε γάρ, ὦ τέκνον, ψυχὴ ἐν σώματι οὖσα καὶ κουφίσασα ἑαυτὴν ἐπὶ τὴν κατάληψιν τοῦ ὄντως ἀγαθοῦ καὶ ἀληθοῦς ὀλισθῆσαι δύναται ἐπὶ τὸ ἐναντίον· δεινὸν γὰρ ἔρωτα ἴσχει καὶ λήθην πάντων τῶν κακῶν ψυχὴ μαθοῦσα ἑαυτῆς τὸν προπάτορα, καὶ οὐκέτι ἀποστῆναι δύναται τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 41
p. 8171.2 · Philosophy and gratitude
⟨TAT⟩ What, then, should one do, father, to live well, if nothing here is true?
⟨HERMES⟩ Practice piety, my child. Whoever practices piety will pursue philosophy to the fullest; for without philosophy it is impossible to be fully pious. One who has learned what things are, how they are ordered, by whom, and for what purpose will feel gratitude for everything to the maker, as to a good father, a kindly nurturer, and a faithful guardian. Whoever acknowledges gratitude will be pious; whoever is pious will know where truth is and what it is, and through that knowledge will become still more pious.1058
1.3 · The soul’s love of the good
For a soul that is in a body, my child, and has lifted itself toward the apprehension of what is truly good and true can never slip toward the opposite. A soul that has come to know its own forefather is seized by a powerful love and forgets every evil; it can no longer depart from the good.1059
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 41 · I.41.1.2–I.41.1.3
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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.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Prose and verse retain their distinct forms, with mixed passages preserving their quoted verse. Every passage is paired with its Greek and identified by the edition’s reference number. All 2,117 notes remain linked to their passages, with continuous numbering across the introduction and text.
Rights
Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 printing are in the public domain. The independent English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The complete supplied edition is available as PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown. The PDF retains the fixed page locations used by the companion lexicon.