Pagina 144 di 734

Of course we fear evils of all kinds: disgrace, for instance,

poverty, disease, desolateness, death; but not all these seem to

be the object-matter of the Brave man, because there are things

which to fear is right and noble, and not to fear is base;

disgrace, for example, since he who fears this is a good man and

has a sense of honour, and he who does not fear it is shameless

(though there are those who call him Brave by analogy, because he

somewhat resembles the Brave man who agrees with him in being

free from fear); but poverty, perhaps, or disease, and in fact

whatever does not proceed from viciousness, nor is attributable

to his own fault, a man ought not to fear: still, being fearless

in respect of these would not constitute a man Brave in the

proper sense of the term.

Yet we do apply the term[16] in right of the similarity of the

cases; for there are men who, though timid in the dangers of war,

are liberal men and are stout enough to face loss of wealth.