Memorabilia

Nor are the parents content just to supply food, but so soon as their children seem capable of learning they teach them what they can for their good, and if they think that another is more competent to teach them anything, they send them to him at a cost, and strive their utmost that the children may turn out as well as possible.To this the young man replied:

Nay, but even if she has done all this and far more than this, no one could put up with her vile temper.Which, think you, asked Socrates, is the harder to bear, a wild beast’s brutality or a mother’s?I should say a mother’s, when she is like mine.Well now, many people get bitten or kicked by wild beasts; has she ever done you an injury of that sort?

Oh no, but she says things one wouldn’t listen to for anything in the world.Well, how much trouble do you think you have given her by your peevish words and froward acts day and night since you were a little child; and how much pain when you were ill?But I have never yet said or done anything to cause her shame.

Now do you really think it harder for you to listen to what she says than for actors when they abuse one another in a tragedy?But an actor, I suppose, doesn’t think that a question put to him will lead to punishment, or that a threat means any harm: and so he makes light of it.And why should you be annoyed? You know well that there is no malice in what your mother says to you; on the contrary, she wishes you to be blessed above all other beings — unless, indeed, you suppose that your mother is maliciously set against you?Oh no, I don’t think that.Then Socrates exclaimed:

So this mother of yours is kindly disposed towards you; she nurses you devotedly in sickness and sees that you want for nothing; more than that, she prays the gods to bless you abundantly and pays vows on your behalf; and yet you say she is a trial! It seems to me that, if you can’t endure a mother like her, you can’t endure a good thing.

Now tell me, is there any other being whom you feel bound to regard? Or are you set on trying to please nobody, and obeying neither general nor other ruler?Of course not!

Do you want to please your neighbour, for instance, so that he may kindle a fire for you at your need, may support you in prosperity, and in case of accident or failure may be ready to hold out a helping hand?Yes, I do.When you find yourself with a travelling companion on land or at sea, or happen to meet anyone, is it a matter of indifference to you whether he prove a friend or an enemy? Or do you think his goodwill worth cultivating?Yes, I do.