Bonaventure

Secundo proponuntur documenta sapientiae, per quae adhibetur remedium contra vanitatem stultitiae.

Melius est nomen bonum. Supra posuit modum addiscendi; hic secundo subiungit documenta sapientiae, per quae adhibetur remedium contra vanitatem stultitiae. Et quoniam, sicut dicitur Sapientiae octavo², « sapientia docet sobrietatem, prudentiam, iustitiam et virtutem » sive fortitudinem; ideo habet haec pars quatuor partes. In prima ponit documenta ad habendam modestiam; in secunda, ad habendam constantiam, ibi: Calumnia etc.; in tertia, ad habendam prudentiam, ibi: Ne dicas, quid causae est quod etc.; in quarta, ad habendam iustitiam, ibi: Noli esse multum iustus etc.

Primo ponuntur documenta quinque ad habendam modestiam.

Ad habendam autem modestiam quinque tribuit documenta. In primo docet praeferre honestum suavi; in secundo, vitam futuram praesenti; in tertio, afflictionem voluptati; in quarto, tristitiam iucunditati; in quinto, severitatem mollitiei sive adulationi.

(Vers. 2.). Ponit igitur documentum, in quo docet praeferre honestum, ut puta est nomen bonum, suavi, ut puta est unguentum; ideo dicit: Melius est nomen bonum, id est bona fama a bonis exhibita, de quo Ecclesiastici quadragesimo primo³: « Curam habe de bono nomine, hoc enim magis permanebit tibi quam mille thesauri pretiosi et magni ». Quam unguenta pretiosa, quae scilicet multum redolent, secundum quod dicitur Ioannis duodecimo: « Maria accepit libram unguenti nardi pistici pretiosi et unxit pedes Iesu; et domus impleta est ex odore unguenti »; et licet unguenta redoleant, tamen bonum nomen magis, ideo melius; secundae ad Corinthios secundo: « Christi bonus odor sumus Deo in omni loco », scilicet quantum ad bonam famam.

Et dies mortis. Hic notatur secundum documentum, in quo praefert vitam futuram praesenti, et ita ingressum in aliam vitam ingressui in hanc. Et propterea dicit: Et dies mortis, supple: melior est die nativitatis, quia moritur ad quiescendum; Apocalypsis decimo quarto⁴: « Beati mortui, qui in Domino moriuntur; amodo dicit Spiritus, ut requiescant a laboribus suis ». Sed hic nascitur ad laborandum; Iob quinto: « Homo ad laborem nascitur, et avis ad volatum »; et ideo melior; unde Ecclesiastici trigesimo: « Melior est mors quam vita amara, et requies aeterna quam languor perseverans ».

(Vers. 3.). Melius est ire ad domum luctus etc. Hic tertium notatur documentum, in quo praefert afflictionem voluptati, ut puta luctum convivio. Propter quod dicit: Melius est ire ad domum luctus, ubi lugentur peccata, quia Matthaei quinto⁵: « Beati, qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur »; quam ad domum convivii, ubi inveniuntur oblectamenta; Proverbiorum vigesimo tertio: « Noli esse in conviviis potatorum » etc. Et ratio huius est: quia in conviviis obliviscitur homo sui, in domo luctus recordatur iudicii sui; et ideo subdit: In illa enim, scilicet in domo luctus, finis cunctorum admonetur hominum; Ecclesiastici trigesimo octavo⁶: « Memor esto iudicii mei; sic enim erit et tuum. Mihi est hodie, tibi erit cras ». Et vivens cogitat, quid futurum sit. Et istud est utilissimum; unde Ecclesiastici septimo: « Memorare novissima tua, et in aeternum non peccabis »; et ideo dicitur Ecclesiastici trigesimo octavo: « Memento novissimorum et noli oblivisci », quia, sicut dicit Hieronymus, « facile contemnit omnia qui se semper cogitat moriturum ».

(Vers. 4. 5.). Melior est ira risu. Hic notatur quartum documentum, in quo praefert tristitiam iucunditati; quia illa, scilicet tristitia, corrigit, et iucunditas decipit. Et propterea dicit: Melior est ira risu, ira scilicet, qua peccatis quis irascitur alienis; ad Hebraeos duodecimo⁷: « Flagellat omnem filium, quem recipit »; et Apocalypsis tertio: « Ego quos amo arguo et castigo ». Haec ira melior est risu dissimulationis; Ecclesiastici trigesimo: « Lude cum filio tuo, et contristabit te » etc.; et ideo: Melior est ira. Et redditur ratio: Quia per tristitiam vultus corrigitur animus delinquentis; Proverbiorum vigesimo quinto: « Ventus aquilo dissipat pluvias, et facies tristis linguam detrahentem ». — Et hoc documentum confirmat iudicio sapientis; unde dicit: Cor sapientium, ubi tristitia est; sed econtra: Cor stultorum, ubi laetitia; illi requirunt tristia in praesenti, isti iucunda; Ioannis decimo sexto⁸: « Plorabitis et flebitis vos, mundus autem gaudebit ». Et quod illi sapienter, hi stulte, patet ex eventu, quia dicitur tristibus Lucae sexto: « Beati, qui nunc p. 56 fletis, quia ridebitis »; e contrario gaudentibus: « Vae vobis, qui ridetis, quia flebitis ».

(Vers. 6. 7.). Melius est a sapiente corripi. Notatur hic quintum documentum, quo praefertur severitas mollitiei, ut puta dura correptio adulationi. Propter quod dicit: Melius est a sapiente corripi quam stultorum adulatione decipi; Proverbiorum vigesimo septimo¹: « Melior est manifesta correptio quam amor absconditus », quia correptio dirigit, sed adulatio decipit; Proverbiorum decimo sexto: « Vir iniquus lactat amicum suum et ducit eum per viam non bonam »; et Isaiae tertio: « Popule meus, qui beatum te dicunt, ipsi te decipiunt » etc. — Et reddit rationem per similitudinem: quia adulatio fatui parum durat et multum sonat, sicut spinae accensae sub olla; propterea dicit: Quia sicut sonitus spinarum sub olla, alte sonat, sic risus stulti. Ad litteram, stultus alte ridet; Ecclesiastici vigesimo primo²: « Fatuus in risu exaltat vocem suam, vir autem sapiens vix tacite ridebit ». Vel: risus altus, quando adulatio clamosa; Proverbiorum vigesimo septimo: « Qui benedicit proximo suo voce grandi, de nocte consurgens, maledicenti similis erit ». Sed et hoc vanitas, scilicet talis adulatio; in Psalmo: « Vani filii hominum, mendaces filii hominum ».

Quaestiones.

I. Quaeritur de hoc quod dicitur: Melior est dies mortis die nativitatis.

Contra: 1. Mors est privatio, vita est habitus; sed habitus semper plus habet de entitate et bonitate quam privatio³: ergo vita quam mors melior: ergo dies nativitatis melior.

2. Praeterea, regula⁴ est, quod « cuius corruptio bona, generatio mala »; sed mors est corruptio vitae: ergo cuius mors est bona, vita mala est. Sed nullius nisi peccatoris est vita mala: ergo nullius nisi peccatoris mors melior quam vita; sed hoc est falsum, quia peccator moriendo tendit ad infernum.

Respondeo: dicendum, quod aliquid praefertur alii aliquando ratione sui, aliquando ratione consequentis ad ipsum. Illud praeferendum est alii ratione sui, quod de se dicit plus de bono, sicut homo est melior equo. Alio modo ratione consequentis, et sic mors praefertur vitae, et dissolutio illa, scilicet mors, ad quam consequitur quies et esse cum Christo⁵. Et de hac morte hic loquitur, quia in vita est homo in periculo, in labore et dolore; post mortem iustus est in gaudio, securitate et tranquillitate.

1. Et patet responsio ad primum, quia mors non praefertur ratione sui.

2. Quod obiicit secundo similiter solvi potest. Mors enim dupliciter dicitur mala: aut quia adimit bonum magnum, scilicet bonam vitam, ut boni veri et utilis; aut quia ad malum finem ducit. Primo modo mala est mors iustorum, id est damnosa, sed secundo modo valde bona; et quantum ad hoc praefertur.

II. Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Melior est ira risu.

Contra: 1. Matthaei quinto⁶: Qui irascitur fratri suo reus erit iudicio; sed qui corridet non est reus alicuius poenae: ergo peius est irasci quam ridere.

2. Item, ridere potest esse sine culpa; sed irasci, cum dicat perturbationem rationis, vix est sine culpa veniali, nunquam autem est sine poena⁷: ergo multo peior est risu.

Respondeo: dicendum, quod est irasci vitio et irasci naturae; primum est virtutis et bonum⁸, secundum vitii et malum. Similiter est arridere bono et corridere peccato; primum, bonum; secundum, malum. Et loquitur de ira et risu, secundum quod respicitur malum.

Sed tunc similiter posset dare aliam regulam respectu boni: melior est risus quam ira. — Et dicendum, quod in praesenti plura sunt mala quam bona: ideo plures oportet tristari quam gaudere, ideo praefert iram risui⁹.

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Secondly are set forth the teachings of wisdom, through which a remedy is applied against the vanity of folly.

A good name is better. Above he set down the manner of learning; here, secondly, he subjoins the teachings of wisdom, through which a remedy is applied against the vanity of folly. And since, as is said in Wisdom, the eighth chapter², « wisdom teacheth sobriety, prudence, justice and virtue », or fortitude; therefore this part has four parts. In the first he sets down teachings for having modesty; in the second, for having constancy, at: Calumny etc.; in the third, for having prudence, at: Say not, What thinkest thou is the cause that etc.; in the fourth, for having justice, at: Be not over just etc.

First are set down five teachings for having modesty.

Now for having modesty he gives five teachings. In the first he teaches to prefer the honourable to the sweet; in the second, the future life to the present; in the third, affliction to pleasure; in the fourth, sadness to pleasantness; in the fifth, severity to softness or flattery.

(Vers. 2.). He sets down, then, the teaching in which he teaches to prefer the honourable, as for instance a good name is, to the sweet, as for instance ointment is; therefore he says: A good name is better, that is, good repute shown forth by the good, of which Ecclesiasticus, the forty-first chapter³: « Take care of a good name: for this shall continue with thee more than a thousand treasures precious and great ». Than precious ointments, which, namely, are very fragrant, according to what is said in John, the twelfth chapter: « Mary took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment »; and although ointments are fragrant, yet a good name is more so, therefore better; the second epistle to the Corinthians, the second chapter: « We are the good odour of Christ unto God in every place », namely as to good repute.

And the day of death. Here is noted the second teaching, in which he prefers the future life to the present, and so the entrance into the other life to the entrance into this one. And therefore he says: And the day of death, supply: is better than the day of one's birth, because one dies in order to rest; the Apocalypse, the fourteenth chapter⁴: « Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; from henceforth, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours ». But here one is born in order to labour; Job, the fifth chapter: « Man is born to labour, and the bird to fly »; and therefore it is better; whence Ecclesiasticus, the thirtieth chapter: « Death is better than a bitter life, and everlasting rest than continual sickness ».

(Vers. 3.). It is better to go to the house of mourning etc. Here is noted the third teaching, in which he prefers affliction to pleasure, as for instance mourning to feasting. On account of which he says: It is better to go to the house of mourning, where sins are mourned, because Matthew, the fifth chapter⁵: « Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted »; than to the house of feasting, where delights are found; Proverbs, the twenty-third chapter: « Be not in the feasts of great drinkers » etc. And the reason for this is: because at feasts a man forgets himself, in the house of mourning he remembers his judgement; and therefore he adds: For in that, namely in the house of mourning, the end of all men is called to mind; Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-eighth chapter⁶: « Be mindful of my judgement; for so shall thine also be. Today is mine, tomorrow shall be thine ». And the living thinketh what is to come. And this is most useful; whence Ecclesiasticus, the seventh chapter: « Remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin »; and therefore it is said in Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-eighth chapter: « Remember the last things and forget not », because, as Jerome says, « he easily despises all things who always thinks that he is to die ».

(Vers. 4. 5.). Anger is better than laughter. Here is noted the fourth teaching, in which he prefers sadness to pleasantness; because the former, namely sadness, corrects, and pleasantness deceives. And therefore he says: Anger is better than laughter, anger, namely, by which one is angry at the sins of others; to the Hebrews, the twelfth chapter⁷: « He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth »; and the Apocalypse, the third chapter: « Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise ». This anger is better than the laughter of dissimulation; Ecclesiasticus, the thirtieth chapter: « Play with thy son, and he will make thee sorrowful » etc.; and therefore: Anger is better. And the reason is given: Because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected; Proverbs, the twenty-fifth chapter: « The north wind driveth away rain, and a sad countenance a backbiting tongue ». — And he confirms this teaching by the judgement of the wise man; whence he says: The heart of the wise is where there is sadness; but on the contrary: The heart of fools where there is mirth; the former seek sad things in the present, the latter pleasant things; John, the sixteenth chapter⁸: « You shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice ». And that the former act wisely, the latter foolishly, is clear from the outcome, because it is said to the sad in Luke, the sixth chapter: « Blessed are ye that now p. 56 weep, for you shall laugh »; on the contrary, to those who rejoice: « Woe to you that laugh, for you shall weep ».

(Vers. 6. 7.). It is better to be rebuked by a wise man. Here is noted the fifth teaching, by which severity is preferred to softness, as for instance harsh rebuke to flattery. On account of which he says: It is better to be rebuked by a wise man than to be deceived by the flattery of fools; Proverbs, the twenty-seventh chapter¹: « Better is open rebuke than hidden love », because rebuke directs, but flattery deceives; Proverbs, the sixteenth chapter: « An unjust man allureth his friend and leadeth him into a way that is not good »; and Isaias, the third chapter: « O my people, they that call thee blessed, the same deceive thee » etc. — And he gives the reason through a likeness: because the flattery of a fool lasts little and sounds much, like thorns kindled under a pot; therefore he says: For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, it sounds loudly, so is the laughter of a fool. According to the letter, the fool laughs loudly; Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-first chapter²: « A fool lifteth up his voice in laughter, but a wise man will scarce laugh silently ». Or: the laughter is loud when the flattery is clamorous; Proverbs, the twenty-seventh chapter: « He that blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the night, shall be like to him that curseth ». But this also is vanity, namely such flattery; in the Psalm: « Vain are the sons of men, the sons of men are liars ».

Questions.

I. It is asked concerning what is said: The day of death is better than the day of birth.

On the contrary: 1. Death is a privation, life is a habit; but a habit always has more of entity and goodness than a privation³: therefore life is better than death: therefore the day of birth is better.

2. Likewise, there is a rule⁴ that « of that whose corruption is good, the generation is bad »; but death is the corruption of life: therefore of the one whose death is good, the life is bad. But the life of no one but a sinner is bad: therefore of no one but a sinner is death better than life; but this is false, because the sinner by dying tends to hell.

I respond: It must be said that one thing is preferred to another sometimes by reason of itself, sometimes by reason of what follows upon it. That is to be preferred to another by reason of itself which of itself bespeaks more of good, as a man is better than a horse. In the other way, by reason of what follows, and thus death is preferred to life, and that dissolution, namely death, upon which follows rest and to be with Christ⁵. And it is of this death that he speaks here, because in life man is in danger, in labour and sorrow; after death the just man is in joy, security and tranquillity.

1. And the response to the first is clear, because death is not preferred by reason of itself.

2. What he objects secondly can be solved likewise. For death is called bad in two ways: either because it takes away a great good, namely a good life, as of the true and useful good; or because it leads to a bad end. In the first way the death of the just is bad, that is, damaging, but in the second way very good; and as to this it is preferred.

II. Likewise it is asked concerning what he says: Anger is better than laughter.

On the contrary: 1. Matthew, the fifth chapter⁶: Whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgement; but one who laughs along is not liable to any penalty: therefore it is worse to be angry than to laugh.

2. Likewise, to laugh can be without fault; but to be angry, since it bespeaks a disturbance of reason, is scarcely without venial fault, and never without penalty⁷: therefore it is much worse than laughter.

I respond: It must be said that there is being angry at vice and being angry at nature; the first is of virtue and good⁸, the second of vice and bad. Likewise there is smiling upon the good and laughing along with sin; the first, good; the second, bad. And he speaks of anger and laughter according as evil is regarded.

But then he could likewise give another rule with respect to the good: laughter is better than anger. — And it must be said that in the present there are more evil things than good: therefore one ought to be sad more than to rejoice, therefore he prefers anger to laughter⁹.

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