[38,10] ὁμόνοιαν τοίνυν πάντες μὲν ἐπῄνεσαν ἀεὶ καὶ λέγοντες καὶ γράφοντες, καὶ μεστὰ τῶν ἐγκωμίων αὐτῆς ἐστι καὶ τὰ ποιήματα καὶ τὰ τῶν φιλοσόφων συγγράμματα, καὶ ὅσοι τὰς ἱστορίας ἐξέδοσαν ἐπὶ παραδείγματι αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων ἀπέδειξαν αὐτὴν μέγιστον οὖσαν τῶν ἀνθρωπείων ἀγαθῶν, καὶ πολλοὶ τολμήσαντες ἤδη τῶν σοφιστῶν παραδόξους εἰπεῖν λόγους μόνον τοῦτον οὐκ ἐπενοήθησαν ἐξενεγκεῖν, ὡς οὐ καλὸν ἡ ὁμόνοια καὶ σωτήριόν ἐστιν· τοῖς τε νῦν βουλομένοις αὐτὴν ἐγκωμιάζειν {καὶ τοῖς ἀεὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖν} ἄφθονος ἡ τῶν λόγων ὕλη, καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ πλείω καὶ κρείττω περὶ αὐτῆς ἐξέσται λέγειν. (11) εἴτε γὰρ ὑπὲρ γενέσεως αὐτῆς πολυπραγμονεῖν ἐθέλοι τις, ἀνάγκη τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτῆς ἐπανάγειν ἐπὶ τὰ μέγιστα τῶν θείων πραγμάτων. ἡ γὰρ αὐτὴ καὶ φιλία ἐστὶ καὶ καταλλαγὴ καὶ συγγένεια, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα περιείληφεν. καὶ τὰ στοιχεῖα δὲ τί ἄλλο ἢ ὁμόνοια ἑνοῖ; καὶ δι´ οὗ σῴζεται πάντα τὰ μέγιστα, τοῦτό ἐστι, καὶ δι´ οὗ πάντα ἀπόλλυται, τοὐναντίον. εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ θνητὸν ἦμεν οἱ ἄνθρωποι γένος μηδ´ ἔδει πολλὰ εἶναι τὰ φθείροντα ἡμᾶς, οὐκ ἂν ἦν οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις ἡ στάσις, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς θείοις ἔνεστιν. ᾧ δὲ μόνῳ τῆς εὐδαιμονίας ἀπολειπόμεθα τῆς θείας καὶ τῆς ἀφθάρτου διαμονῆς ἐκείνων, τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι μὴ πάντες ὁμονοίας αἰσθανόμεθα, ἀλλ´ εἰσὶν οἱ καὶ τὴν ἐναντίαν αὐτῇ φιλοῦντες, τὴν στάσιν, ἧς μέρη καὶ ὑπουργήματα πόλεμοι καὶ μάχαι, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν τοῖς δήμοις ἀναστρέφεται καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς σώμασιν αἱ νόσοι. (12) καὶ γὰρ τὴν ὑγείαν ἐπιστάμενοι μέγιστον οὖσαν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀγαθῶν ὅμως αὐτῇ πολλάκις αὐτοὶ καθ´ αὑτῶν ἐπιβουλεύομεν, οἱ μὲν ἡδοναῖς πεισθέντες, οἱ δὲ πόνους φεύγοντες ὑγιεινοὺς καὶ διαίτας σώφρονας. εἰ δὲ μὴ τοῦτο τοῖς μεγίστοις τῶν κακῶν ὑπῆρχε βοήθημα, ἡ παραυτίκα ἡδονή, δύναμιν ἂν οὐδ´ ὅλως εἶχε βλάπτειν· νῦν δὲ αὐτοῖς ἔδωκεν ἡ φύσις, ὥστε ἐξαπατᾶν δύνασθαι καὶ τέρπειν τοὺς ἀδικουμένους. (13) καὶ ἐπί γε ᾧ τις ἂν καὶ μάλιστα φθονήσειεν αὐτοῖς, ἐκεῖνό ἐστιν ὅτι {πάντα τὰ κακὰ} λυπεῖ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὁποῖά ἐστιν ἐπισταμένους. εἰ μὲν οὖν τις ἐρωτήσειεν ἕνα ἄνδρα ἢ πολλοὺς ὁμοῦ περὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων αὐτῶν, ἐν ποίῳ δὴ μέρει τὰ τοιαῦτα κατατάττεται, πόλεμοι καὶ στάσεις καὶ νόσοι καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὁμότροπα, οὐδὲν ἂν μελλήσας ἀποκρίναιτο {οὐδεὶς} ὅτι ταῦτα ἐν τοῖς κακοῖς τάττεται καὶ οὕτως ὡς ἔχει καὶ νενόμισται καὶ καλεῖται κακά. (14) τὰ δ´ ἐναντία τούτοις, εἰρήνη καὶ ὁμόνοια καὶ ὑγεία, καὶ ταῦτα οὐδεὶς ἂν ἀντείποι μὴ οὐχὶ ἀγαθὰ καὶ εἶναι καὶ λέγεσθαι. φανερᾶς δὲ οὕτως οὔσης τῆς μάχης τῶν κακῶν καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ὅμως εἰσί τινες, μᾶλλον δὲ πολλοί, οἵτινες τῶν κακῶν τοῖς ὁμολογουμένοις χαίρομεν. καὶ περὶ δὲ τῆς νεὼς πάντες οἱ πλέοντες ἐπιστάμενοι διότι μία αὕτη ἐστὶ σωτηρία, τὸ τοὺς ναύτας ὁμονοεῖν καὶ τῷ κυβερνήτῃ πείθεσθαι, γενομένης δὲ στάσεως ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ ἀπειθείας διότι καὶ τὰ δεξιὰ πολλάκις τῶν πνευμάτων εἰς ἐναντίον τῇ νηὶ περιίσταται καὶ τῶν λιμένων ἀποτυγχάνουσιν ἐγγὺς ὄντων, ὅμως στασιάζουσιν ἔστιν ὅτε ὑπὸ ἀφροσύνης {οἱ ναῦται}, καὶ τοῦτο ἀπόλλυσιν αὐτοὺς ἐπισταμένους τοῦ ὀλέθρου τὴν αἰτίαν.

[38,10] Well then, concord has been lauded by all men always in both speech and writing. Not only are the works of poets and philosophers alike full of its praises, but also all who have published their histories to provide a pattern for practical application have shown concord to be the greatest of human blessings, and, furthermore, although many of the sophists have in the past ventured to make paradoxical statements, this is the only one it has not occurred to them to publish—that Concord is not a fine and salutary thing. Therefore, not only for those who now desire to sing its praises, but also for those who at any time would do so, the material for their use is abundant, and it will ever be possible to say more and finer things about it. (11) For example, if a man should wish to delve into its origin, he must trace its very beginning to the greatest of divine things. For the same manifestation is both friendship and reconciliation and kinship, and it embraces all these. Furthermore, what but concord unites thé elements ? Again, that through which all the greatest things are preserved is concord, while that through which everything is destroyed is its opposite. If, then, we human beings were not by nature a race of mortals, and if the forces which destroy us were not bound to be numerous, there would not be strife even in human affairs, just as also there is not in things divine. However, the only respect in which we fall short of the blessedness of the gods and of their indestructible permanence is this—that we are not all sensitive to concord, but, on the contrary, there are those who actually love its opposite, strife, of which wars and battles constitute departments and subsidiary activities, and these things are continually at work in communities and in nations, just like the diseases in our bodies. For in fact, though we know full well that health is the greatest of human blessings, still many times we ourselves plot against it to our own undoing, some yielding to the seduction of pleasures and some shirking labours which are healthful and habits which are prudent. On the other hand, if the greatest of our evils did not have for their support the pleasure of the moment, they would have no power at all to harm us ; yet as it is, Nature has given that to them, and so they can deceive and delight their victims. (13) Moreover, what might actually make one most indignant toward mankind is this—that all the evils afliict them though knowing well their nature. At any rate, if one were to question a single person, or a company of persons, about the terms themselves, asking in what category are to be placed such terms as wars, factions, diseases, and the like, no one would hesitate a moment to reply that these are classed among the evils, and that they not only are so but have been so considered and are called evils. (14) And as for their opposites, peace and concord and health, no one would deny that they likewise both are and are called goods. But though the conflict between the evil things and the good is so manifest, yet these are some among us—or rather a good many—who delight in the things which are admittedly evil. And take, for example, a ship—though all on board are well aware that the one hope of reaching port in safety lies in having the sailors on good terms with one another and obedient to the skipper, but that when strife and mutiny arise in it, even the favourable winds often veer round to oppose the ship's course and they fail to make their harbours, even when close at hand, still the sailors sometimes foolishly quarrel, and this works their ruin, though they know the cause of their destruction.