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The second rule is to notice what are the errors to which we are ourselves most prone
(as different men are inclined by nature to different
faults)—and we shall discover what these are by observing the pleasure
or pain that we experience—;
[5]
then we must drag
ourselves away in the opposite direction, for by steering wide of our besetting error we
shall make a middle course. This is the method adopted by carpenters to straighten warped
timber
[6]
Thirdly, we must in everything be most of all on our guard against what is pleasant and
against pleasure; for when pleasure is on her trial we are not impartial judges. The right
course is therefore to feel towards pleasure as the elders of the people felt towards
Helen,1 and to apply2 their words to her on every occasion; for if we
roundly bid her be gone, we shall be less likely to err.
[7]
These then, to sum up the matter, are the precautions that will best enable us to hit the
mean. But no doubt it is a difficult thing to do, and especially in particular cases: for
instance, it is not easy to define in what manner and with what people and on what sort of
grounds and how long one ought to be angry; and in fact we sometimes praise men who err on
the side of defect in this matter and call them gentle, sometimes those who are quick to a
anger and style them manly.
[8]
However, we do not blame one
who diverges a little from the right course, whether on the side of the too much or of the
too little, but one who diverges more widely, for
his error is noticed. Yet to what degree and how seriously a man must err to be blamed is
not easy to define on principle. For in fact no object of perception is easy to define;
and such questions of degree depend on particular circumstances, and the decision lies
with perception.
[9]
Thus much then is clear, that it is the middle disposition in each department of conduct
that is to be praised, but that one should lean sometimes to the side of excess and
sometimes to that of deficiency, since this is the easiest way of hitting the mean and the
right course.
2 Or ‘repeat’.