[142]
40. Next, then, we must discuss orderliness of1
conduct and seasonableness of occasions. These two
qualities are embraced in that science which the
Greeks call εὐταξία—not that εὐταξία which we
translate with moderation [modestia], derived from
moderate; but this is the εὐταξία by which we understand orderly conduct. And so, if we may call it
also moderation, it is defined by the Stoics as follows:
“Moderation is the science of disposing aright
everything that is done or said.” So the essence
of orderliness and of right-placing, it seems, will be
the same; for orderliness they define also as “the
arrangement of things in their suitable and appropriate places.” By “place of action,” moreover,
they mean seasonableness of circumstance; and the
seasonable circumstance for an action is called in
Greek εὐκαιρία, in Latin occasio (occasion). So it
comes about that in this sense moderation, which we
[p. 147]
explain as I have indicated, is the science of doing
the right thing at the right time.
1 Orderliness— the right thing at the right time.
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