Book 3
1.17
Do you mean to say, then, Cyrus answered, that in one day’s time your father has become discreet when he was indiscreet before? Yes said he, I do, indeed. By that you mean to say that discretion is an affection of the soul, as sorrow is, and not an acquisition.Xenophon makes Cyrus apparently accept the Socratic doctrine that wisdom and the other virtues are matters for learning, the results of study and practice—not a mood, like sorrow, anger, or any other emotion. For I do not suppose that a man could instantly pass from being indiscreet to being discreet, if indeed the one who is to be discreet must first have become wise.
1.18
What, have you never observed, Cyrus, said he, that when a man indiscreetly ventures to fight a stronger man than himself and has been worsted, he is instantly cured of his indiscretion toward that particular man? And again, he continued, have you never seen how when one state is in arms against another it is at once willing, when defeated, to submit to the victor instead of continuing the fight?
