09/08/2026
First honor the immortal gods, as they are established and ordained by the Law.
Reverence your oath, and next the heroes, full of goodness and light.
Honor likewise the terrestrial spirits, rendering them the worship lawfully due to them.
Honor also your parents and your nearest kindred.
Of all the rest of mankind, make him your friend who distinguishes himself by virtue.
Listen to his gentle remonstrances and profitable actions, and imitate his virtuous and useful examples.
Avoid as much as possible hating your friend for slight faults.
Remember that these things are as near as possible to what we have said:
Power is the nearest neighbor to necessity.
Know that all these things are as I have told you; and accustom yourself to overcome and vanquish these passions:
First, gluttony; then indolence, lust, and anger.
Do nothing shameful, either in the presence of others or privately.
Above all things, respect yourself.
In the next place, observe justice in your actions and words.
Do not accustom yourself to behave without reason, but always consider that you must die.
Use not your possessions with extravagance, nor wastefully; like a good guardian, use them with moderation.
Whatever misfortune may befall you, bear it patiently, and never give way to despondency.
Reasonable men are permitted to know that there are many kinds of evil, and that the evils of mankind are numerous.
If evils appear to be approaching you, endure them patiently; and when you have an opportunity to remove them, do so gently.
The gods do not give the greatest share of happiness to those who are wicked.
As much as you can, before acting, consider carefully what you are going to do.
Never let sleep close your eyes, after you went to bed, until you have examined all your actions of the day.
Where have I gone wrong? What have I done? What duty have I omitted?
Beginning with the first of your actions, examine them all, and afterward, if you have done anything wrong, reprove yourself severely; and if you have done anything good, rejoice.
Practice thoroughly all these things; meditate upon them well; you ought to love them with all your heart.
It is they that will place you in the path of divine virtue.
I swear by Him who has given to our souls the sacred Tetrad, the source and root of all our knowledge.
But never begin to put into ex*****on any undertaking until you have first prayed to the gods to accomplish what you are going to begin.
When you have made these habits familiar to you, you will know the constitution of immortal gods and mortal men, and how far they extend, and what contains and binds them together.
You shall likewise know that according to the order of destiny, the nature of this universe is alike in all things.
Therefore you will neither hope for what you ought not to hope for, nor will anything be concealed from you.
You will know also that men bring upon themselves their own misfortunes, voluntarily and of their own free choice.
Unhappy people! They neither see nor understand that the good is near them.
Few know how to deliver themselves from their evils.
Such is the fate that blinds the minds of men.
Like cylinders rolling to and fro, they are continually crushed beneath innumerable evils;
for a fatal contention, naturally implanted in them at their birth, pursues and torments them without their perceiving it.
Instead of provoking and stirring up this contention, they ought to avoid and fly from it.
O Jupiter, our Father! If you would deliver men from the evils which oppress them, show them what daemon they make use of.
But take courage; the race of mortals is divine.
Sacred Nature reveals to them the most hidden mysteries.
She will instruct you in everything that it is lawful for you to know.
If she reveals her secrets to you, you will easily perform all the things that I have ordained for you.
And by healing your soul, you will free it from all these evils and troubles.
Abstain from the meats that we have forbidden in the purifications and deliverance of the soul.
Make a just distinction in all things, and examine them well.
Leave yourself always to be guided and directed by the understanding which comes from above.
And when, after having divested yourself of your mortal body, you arrive at the most pure ether,
you shall become a god, immortal and incorruptible,
and death shall have no more dominion over you.