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IV. THE PATH OF VIRTUE.
“Know well that evil we have power to seize
“In cumulative fulness and with ease;
“For short the way, she dwelleth ever nigh;
“But before Virtue have the Gods on high
“Sweat of the brow ordain'd, much toil precedes,
“And long and steep the path that to her leads;
“Arduous at first—until it reach the height,
“Easy thenceforth the way, and fair the sight.”
“In cumulative fulness and with ease;
“For short the way, she dwelleth ever nigh;
“But before Virtue have the Gods on high
“Sweat of the brow ordain'd, much toil precedes,
“And long and steep the path that to her leads;
“Arduous at first—until it reach the height,
“Easy thenceforth the way, and fair the sight.”
[_]
ST. BASIL ON THE ABOVE PASSAGE.
“What else can we suppose was the intention of Hesiod in
composing those verses which are in the mouths of all, but that
of exhorting young men to virtue? It appears to me that in
such a description he is but exhorting us all to be good, and not
to be so disheartened by the toils as to fall away from the end.
And in truth if there is any one else who hath written strains
like these in the praise of virtue, we may well receive his
sayings as tending to the same end as ourselves.”
Basil. De leg. lib. Gen.
The Christian Scholar | ||