De Sobrietate

Philo Judaeus

The works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus, volume 1. Yonge, C. D., translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854.

The wise man having an abundance of private and public assisting circumstances by which he can display his acuteness and his wisdom; the temperate man will make riches which are usually blind and accustomed to excite and tempt men to luxury, farsighted for the future: the just man will exercise authority by which he will for the future be able to assign to each individual without any hindrance, such a share of existing things as agrees with his deserts. The practiser of virtue will display piety, holiness, and a proper care of the sacred places and of the sacred rites performed in them.

But without proper opportunities virtues indeed exist,

v.1.p.510

but they are immoveable and like silver and gold, which is of no use in the world, because it is treasured up in the secret recesses of the earth.

On the other hand again, one can see innumerable persons, unmanly, intemperate, foolish, unjust, impious in their minds, but unable fully to display the disgraceful character of all their vices by reason of the want of opportunity to sin; but if any important or frequent opportunities present themselves, then filling earth and sea to its extremest boundaries with unspeakable wickedness, and leaving nothing whether great or small uninjured, they overturn and destroy everything at one blow.