Most true, he replied.
In the magnificence of his contemplations he will not think much of human life. Then how can he who has magnificence of mind and is the spectator of all time and all existence, think much of human life?
He cannot.
[B] Or can such an one account death fearful?
No indeed.
Then the cowardly and mean nature has no part in true philosophy? 183
Certainly not.
Or again: can he who is harmoniously constituted, who is not covetous or mean, or a boaster, or a coward—can he, I say, ever be unjust or hard in his dealings?
Impossible.
He will be of a gentle, sociable, harmonious nature; a lover of learning, having a good memory and moving spontaneously in the world of being. Then you will soon observe whether a man is just and gentle, or rude and unsociable; these are the signs which distinguish even in youth the philosophical nature from the unphilosophical.