[4,125] ἐχέτω δὴ καὶ οὗτος ἡμῖν ὁ δαίμων τέλος, ἵνα μὴ νῦν στολάς τε καὶ μορφὰς προστιθέντες αὐτῷ καὶ τἄλλα τὰ προσήκοντα πολὺν καὶ ἄπειρον εἰσφερώμεθα λόγων ὄχλον. (126) εἴη δ´ ἂν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἦθος, ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ περιλαβεῖν, φιλόνικον, ἀνόητον, χαῦνον, ἀλαζονείᾳ καὶ ζηλοτυπίᾳ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔγγιστα χαλεποῖς καὶ ἀγρίοις πάθεσιν. ἅπαντα γὰρ ταῦτα φιλοτίμῳ τρόπῳ ψυχῆς ἀκοινώνητα καὶ ἄγρια καὶ χαλεπὰ ἀνάγκη πᾶσα συνέπεσθαι, ἔτι δὲ αὐτὸν πολὺ μεταλλάττειν καὶ ἀνώμαλον ἔχειν τὴν διάνοιαν, ἅτε ἀνωμάλῳ δουλεύοντα καὶ προσέχοντα πράγματι, πυκνότερον καὶ συνεχέστερον ἢ τοὺς κυνηγέτας φασὶ χαίροντα καὶ λυπούμενον· ἐκείνοις γὰρ δὴ μάλιστα τοῦτο πλεῖστον καὶ συνεχέστατον συμβαίνειν λέγουσι, φαινομένης τε καὶ ἀπολλυμένης τῆς (128) ἄγρας· ὅταν μὲν γὰρ εὐδοκιμήσεις τε καὶ ἔπαινοι συμβαίνωσιν αὐτοῖς, ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ τοιούτου ἀνδρὸς αὔξει καὶ βλαστάνει καὶ θαυμαστὸν ἴσχει μέγεθος, καθάπερ Ἀθήνησί φασι τὸν ἱερὸν τῆς ἐλαίας θαλλὸν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ βλαστῆσαι καὶ τέλειον γενέσθαι· ταχὺ δὲ αὖ πάλιν συστέλλεται καὶ ταπεινοῦται καὶ φθίνει, ψόγου τινὸς (129) προσπεσόντος ἢ δυσφημίας. ἀπάτη δὲ καὶ τούτῳ παρέπεται τῷ δαίμονι ἁπασῶν πιθανωτάτη. οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἡ τοῦ φιλαργύρου καὶ φιληδόνου λαμπρὸν μὲν οὐδὲν λόγῳ ἐδύναντο ὑποσχέσθαι, οὐδ´ ὡς ἐπὶ σεμνὰ καὶ λαμπρὰ προήγαγον τοὺς ἀπατωμένους ὑπ´ αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ μόνον τὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν αὐτοῖς ὄνομα ἐπεφήμιζον καὶ προσετίθεσαν, οὕτως ἡ τοῦδε ἀπάτη, ἀλλ´ ἐπᾴδουσα καὶ γοητεύουσά φησι φιλόκαλον αὐτὸν εἶναι καὶ ὡς ἐπ´ ἀρετήν τινα ἢ εὔκλειαν ἄγει τὴν δόξαν.

[4,125] " Let us, then, come to an end with this spirit, too, for I should prefer at the present time not to provide him with clothing and shape, and his other appurtenances, and thus add a great and endless throng of words. Put briefly, then, he could be characterized as contentious, foolish, and conceited, and a prey to vainglory, jealousy, and all such difficult and savage emotions. For it is quite inevitable that all these unsociable and savage and difficult feelings should accompany the honour-seeking type of soul, and it is natural that he should change his mind often and be inconsistent—inasmuch as he serves and courts so fickle a thing—alternating between joy and sorrow more often and continuously than hunters are said to do. For they say this is their especial and most continuous expérience, when they sight the game and then lose it again. So it is with the ambitious : When good repute and praise corne their way, their souls are magnified and swell and show a wondrous burgeoning, just like the shoot of the sacred olive that they tell of at Athens, which swelled and grew to full size in a single day. But, alas ! they soon wither again and droop and die when censure and obloquy overtake them. And Delusion, the most convincing thing imaginable, besets this spirit also. For while the miser's delusion and the hedonist's were not able to promise them definitely a brilliant fruition, and did not open the door for their dupes to exalted and splendid destinies, but merely whispered and suggested to them the names of the blessings in prospect, it is otherwise with the Delusion of ambition. Fascinating her victim with her charms and spells, she tells him he is a lover of all that is good and leads him towards notoriety as to some virtue or fair renown.