[29]
If you refuse to take the oath yourself, you
may argue that the oath is only taken with a view to money; that, if you had
been a scoundrel, you would have taken it at once, for it is better to be a
scoundrel for something than for nothing; that, if you take it, you will win
your case, if not, you will probably lose it; consequently, your refusal to take
it is due to moral excellence, not to fear of committing perjury. And the
apophthegm of Xenophanes1 is apposite— that “it is unfair
for an impious man to challenge a pious one,”
for it is the same as a strong man challenging a weak one to hit or be hit.
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1 Born at Colophon in Asia Minor, he migrated to Elea in Italy, where he founded the Eleatic school of philosophy.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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