"The vine bears three clusters: the first of pleasure; the second of drunkenness; the third of insult."
"He is a drunkard who drinks more than three cups; even if he be not drunken, he has exceeded moderation."
Our own George Herbert has laid down the same limit:--
"Be not a beast in courtesy, but stay,
Stay at the third cup, or forego the place,
Wine above all things doth God's stamp deface."
"Like the beacon-lights in harbours, which, kindling a great blaze by means of a few fagots, afford sufficient aid to vessels that wander over the sea, so, also, a man of bright character in a storm-tossed city, himself content with little, effects great blessings for his fellow-citizens."
The thought is not unlike that of Shakespeare:
"How far yon little candle throws its beams,
So shines a good deed in a naughty world."
But the metaphor which Epictetus more commonly adopts is one no less beautiful. "What good," asked some one, "did Helvidius Priscus do in resisting Vespasian, being but a single person?" "What good," answers Epictetus, "does the purple do on the garment? Why, it is splendid in itself, and splendid also in the example which it affords."