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← ExitStobaeus, Volume II

Reading language

Book II Chapter 46

Apollonius to Herodian

Do not avoid being useful to good people on account of insignificant people.¹⁵³⁶ For the good are able to repay favors even on the others’ behalf.¹⁵³⁷

Apollonius to Numenius

Not among many people does kindness beget gratitude.¹⁵³⁸

Xenophon, Education of Cyrus

... They judge cases of ingratitude least of all.¹⁵³⁹ And whenever they find someone able to repay a favor but not repaying it, they punish him severely. For they believe that the ungrateful would be especially neglectful toward the gods as well, and toward their country, parents and friends.¹⁵⁴⁰ Shamelessness seems especially to follow ingratitude, for it too seems to be the greatest guide to all shameful acts.¹⁵⁴¹

1536.The printed ἀσημάντους means insignificant or unremarkable. The translation retains it rather than adopting the apparatus’s proposed alternatives referring to ingratitude or forgetfulness.

1537.Οὗτοι refers to the good people, while ἐκείνων refers back to the insignificant people. The good can offer repayment even on behalf of those others; the saying therefore urges continued usefulness.

1538.The same noun χάρις serves first for kindness bestowed and then for the gratitude it produces in return. The printed attribution to Apollonius is retained.

1539.Wachsmuth cites Education of Cyrus I.2.7. The initial dots are retained. He rejects [οὐχ], not; the English therefore follows the remaining ἥκιστα, least of all, without silently restoring not least from a familiar wording.

1540.Severe punishment is conditional on finding someone able to repay who nevertheless does not do so. The broader claim about neglect is presented as their belief and retains the potential force of ἄν through would.

1541.Supplied ⟨ἡ⟩ marks shamelessness as the subject; English does not require a separate article here. Both occurrences of δοκεῖ, seems, are retained. The passage ends with shamelessness as a guide toward shameful acts.