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Select Works of Plotinus · 43 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 48

Section 15 15. But suppose two wise men, one of them possessing all that is supposed to be naturally welcome, while the other meets only with the very reverse: do we assert that they have an equal happiness? We do, if they are equally wise. What though the one be favoured in body and in all else that does not help towards wisdom, still less towards virtue, towards the vision of the noblest, towards being the highest, what does all that amount to? The man commanding all such practical advantages cannot flatter himself that he is more truly happy than the man without them: the utmost profusion of such boons would not help even to make a flute-player. We discuss the happy man after our own feebleness; we count alarming and grave what his felicity takes lightly: he would be neither wise nor in the state of happiness if he had not quitted all trifling with such things and become as it were another being, having confidence in his own nature, faith that evil can never touch him. In such a spirit he can be fearless through and through; where there is dread, there is not perfect virtue; the man is some sort of a half-thing. As for any involuntary fear rising in him and taking the judgement by surprise, while his thoughts perhaps are elsewhere, the Sage will attack it and drive it out; he will, so to speak, calm the refractory child within him, whether by reason or by menace, but without passion, as an infant might feel itself rebuked by a glance of severity. This does not make the Sage unfriendly or harsh: it is to himself and in his own great concern that he is the Sage: giving freely to his intimates of all he has to give, he will be the best of friends by his very union with the Intellectual-Principle.
Themes
◆Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

The Sage has 'quitted all trifling with such things' and maintains confidence in his own nature regardless of external circumstances.

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◆Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

The text asserts that 'evil can never touch him', implying evil lacks power over the perfected soul.

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◆Love Of Neighbourethics

Active compassionate care for others as a central spiritual obligation or expression of divine love.

The Sage is described as 'giving freely to his intimates' and being the 'best of friends'.

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◆Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

Union with the Intellectual-Principle implies a reconnection with the divine origin of the soul.

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◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

References to the 'vision of the noblest' and 'being the highest' imply an upward movement toward a higher reality.

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◆Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

The text describes the wise man as having 'become as it were another being' through wisdom and virtue.

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◇Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

[auto] The passage dismisses bodily advantages as irrelevant to wisdom and virtue, implying the body is an obstacle to true happiness.

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◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] Happiness is described as internal confidence in one's own nature, immune to external evil or fortune.

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◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The sage becomes 'as it were another being' through the vision of the noblest, suggesting a transformation or union with the divine.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

[auto] The wise man transcends the binary of fortune and misfortune, remaining fearless regardless of external conditions.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The passage uses the paradox of two wise men with opposite fortunes having equal happiness to challenge ordinary understanding.

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◇Renunciation Of Wealthethics

The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.

[auto] The text advocates quitting 'trifling' with practical advantages and boons to achieve true happiness.

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◇Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

[auto] The wise man possesses confidence in his own nature, recognizing his true self beyond external circumstances.

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Related passages · 6 parallels
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 6 (part 1)
“p. 18 THE GOLDEN SENTENCES OF DEMOCRATES 1. If anyone will give his mind to these sentences, he will obtain many things worthy of a man, and be free from many things that are base. 2. The perfection of the soul will correct the depravit…”
Both passages emphasize the importance of inner virtue and wisdom over external circumstances and material wealth. They share a common theme of the Sage or wise individual who achieves true happiness and felicity through inner virtue and alignment with higher principles.
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 9 (part 2)
“Or in the third place, it is impelled when it is not proper, and to objects to which it ought not to tend. 22. Endeavour not to conceal your errors p. 49 by words, but to remedy them by reproof. 23. It is not so difficult to err, as no…”
Both passages emphasize the importance of wisdom and virtue over material possessions and external circumstances. They share a common theme of inner strength and the pursuit of a higher, more virtuous life, which is central to both Platonic and Pythagorean thought.
◆platonism|Plato: Phaedrus|Section 1i
“But hear what follows, and Perhaps the fit may be averted; all is in their hands above. I will go on talking to my youth. Listen: Thus, my friend, we have declared and defined the nature of the subject. Keeping the definition in view, le…”
Both passages discuss the nature of wisdom and the detachment from worldly concerns. They emphasize the importance of inner virtue and the irrelevance of external advantages or disadvantages to true happiness and wisdom.
◆platonism|Plato: Symposium|Section 1v
“"And you mean by the happy, those who are the possessors of things good or fair?" "Yes." "And you admitted that Love, because he was in want, desires those good and fair things of which he is in want?" "Yes, I did." "But how can he be a god…”
Both passages explore the nature of a divine or spiritual intermediary (Love in Plato's Symposium and the Sage in Plotinus' Select Works) and their relationship to wisdom, happiness, and the divine. Both emphasize the transcendent nature of these figures and their role in bridging the gap between the human and the divine.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Second Dialogueb
“On the contrary, I mean that there is in these another species of foolishness and a worse. Cic. Who, then, is wise, if foolish is he who is content, and foolish he who is sad? Tans. He who is neither merry nor sad. Cic. Who? He who s…”
Both passages discuss the concept of wisdom and the ideal state of mind for a sage. They emphasize the importance of moderation, indifference to external circumstances, and the ability to rise above pleasure and pain. The passages share a common theme of achieving a state of equilibrium and virtue through reason and self-control.
◆taoism|The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters)|Book 128 (part 2)
“Hence he who tries to share his joys with others is not a sagely man; he who manifests affection is not benevolent; he who observes times and seasons (to regulate his conduct) is not a man of wisdom; he to whom profit and injury are not the…”
Both passages discuss the qualities and behaviors of the wise or sagely person, emphasizing inner virtue, detachment from external circumstances, and alignment with a higher principle or nature. They share a focus on the sage's equanimity and self-mastery, though they come from different mystical traditions.