E4P35S
Scholium — Part IV
Latin
Quæ modo ostendimus, ipsa etiam experientia quotidie tot tamque luculentis testimoniis testatur ut omnibus fere in ore sit : hominem homini Deum esse. Fit tamen raro ut homines ex ductu rationis vivant sed cum iis ita comparatum est ut plerumque invidi atque invicem molesti sint. At nihilominus vitam solitariam vix transigere queunt ita ut plerisque illa definitio quod homo sit animal sociale, valde arriserit et revera res ita se habet ut ex hominum communi societate multo plura commoda oriantur quam damna. Rideant igitur quantum velint res humanas satyrici easque detestentur theologi et laudent quantum possunt melancholici vitam incultam et agrestem hominesque contemnant et admirentur bruta; experientur tamen homines mutuo auxilio ea quibus indigent multo facilius sibi parare et non nisi junctis viribus pericula quæ ubique imminent, vitare posse; ut jam taceam quod multo præstabilius sit et cognitione nostra magis dignum hominum quam brutorum facta contemplari. Sed de his alias prolixius.
English (Elwes 1883)
What we have just shown is attested by experience so conspicuously, that it is in the mouth of nearly everyone: "Man is to man a God." Yet it rarely happens that men live in obedience to reason, for things are so ordered among them, that they are generally envious and troublesome one to another. Nevertheless they are scarcely able to lead a solitary life, so that the definition of man as a social animal has met with general assent; in fact, men do derive from social life much more convenience than injury. Let satirists then laugh their fill at human affairs, let theologians rail, and let misanthropes praise to their utmost the life of untutored rusticity, let them heap contempt on men and praises on beasts; when all is said, they will find that men can provide for their wants much more easily by mutual help, and that only by uniting their forces can they escape from the dangers that on every side beset them: not to say how much more excellent and worthy of our knowledge it is, to study the actions of men than the actions of beasts. But I will treat of this more at length elsewhere.
Modern English
What we have just shown is confirmed so conspicuously by daily experience, with so many clear instances, that it is in nearly everyone's mouth: man is a god to man. Yet it rarely happens that people live under the guidance of reason; they are arranged in such a way that most are generally envious and troublesome to one another. Still, they can barely manage a solitary life, so the definition of man as a social animal has met with nearly universal assent. And indeed things are so arranged that many more advantages arise from common human society than harms.
Let satirists laugh as much as they wish at human affairs, let theologians rail, let melancholics praise the uncultivated and rustic life to the skies and hold other people in contempt while marveling at the beasts — they will still find that people can far more easily provide what they need with each other's help, and that only by joining forces can they avoid the dangers that threaten everywhere. To say nothing of how much more excellent and worthy of our knowledge it is to contemplate human deeds than those of beasts. But I will treat this at greater length elsewhere.