Boethius Book 4 Questions

wise; bad; brave; war; excellence; virtus; struggles; soft

"A _______ man experiencing ______ fortune ought not to take it badly, in the same way that a ________ man should not object to the sounds of _______ trumpets blaring. For each of these, after all, the obstacle is the occasion for their kinds of ___________, the latter to increase his glory and the former to refine his wisdom. And this is why virtue—________, which can also mean strength or vigor—is called by that name, because it relies on its own powers and is not undone by adversity. After all, you are set on the path to virtue, and you are not wallowing in luxury or lolling in pleasures. You are engaged in mental ____________ lest bad fortune oppress you or good fortune corrupt you and make you _______."

commanded; reason

"A free soul cannot be __________. The natural clam of a composed mind that has ___________ at its disposal cannot be disturbed."

man; divine; beast

"All those who have put goodness aside have no right to be called ___________ anymore, since there is nothing _________ about them, but they have descended to the level of ___________."

you think it is

"Almost nothing is inherently miserable, unless _______ __________ ______ ______."

yourself; trinkets; lifeless; happy; insulting

"Are you not able to find value in ____________? If you could see that, you wouldn't need all those external ___________. Is your world so topsy-turvy that a living, rational, almost godlike being would need the possession of all this___________ stuff to be happy? Other creatures are content being what they are. But men, who are rational and godlike, need to bedeck themselves with finery in order to be __________, and you don't seem to understand that this is actually __________ to your maker."

cease; human nature

"Evil men ___________ to be what they were, having by their wickedness lost their ________ __________, although they still survive in the form of the human body."

goodness; good; good

"Fortune has nothing whatever to do with ___________, since she does not confine herself to ________ men nor does she make _________ those who enjoy her favors."

rewards; punishments; delights; harsh; chance

"God gives __________ to the just and _____________ to the unjust, but he also seems to give __________ to the wicked and __________ treatment to the good. Why should this be? How is it different from pure ___________?"

wretched

"Happiness itself is ____________, inasmuch as it neither endures reliably nor, even when it is present, satisfies."

love; hearts

"How happy is mankind, if the ________ that orders the stars above rules, too, in your ___________."

death

"If _________ did not end their evil, they would be the most unfortunate of men."

torments; cures

"If criminals could glimpse at the virtue they had abandoned...they would not think of them (punishments) as _____________ but as ____________."

highest good; good fortune

"If happiness is the _________ _________ (summum bonum) of a rational man, and if whatever can be taken away cannot be the highest good, then it makes no sense to say that ________ ____________ can supply (human) happiness."

true causes; God; order; plan; doubt

"If the ______ ________ of something are not understood it can appear to be random and confused. But although you cannot understand the way things are ordered in the universe, you can rest assured that a good governor, namely, ________, does indeed keep _________ and has a ________. You should not ________ that everything happens as it should."

yourself

"If you are in possession of ____________, then you have that which you don't want to lose and which Fortune cannot take away from you."

good; false; true self; deceive; instructive; blinds; happiness

"Ill fortune is better for men than ________. When Fortune smiles, she is always _________. But when she is inconstant and whimsical, she shows her _______ ________. The first aspect (riches) will __________ people, but the second (lack of fortune) is ___________. The first _________ while the second opens men's eyes to how fragile the __________ of mortal really is."

wise; hatred

"In the hearts of the _____________, there should be no room for ____________."

high office; his virtue

"It is not that a man of virtue is honored because of ________ _________, but rather that the office is honored because of ______ ________."

man

"It therefore follows that evil thrusts a man down below the human condition, so that he no longer deserves the name of _______."

order; providence

"Now while these are different, one depends on the other, for the ________ of fate comes from the simplicity of ____________."

man

"One given over to vice is no longer to be deemed a ___________.

wise; please; desire; good

"Only __________ men can do what they desire. Wicked men can do what ____________ them but that will not get them what they _________, namely, __________."

correction; self-knowledge

"Providence brings ___________ and __________________ through suffering."

weak corrupt

"See how _______ __________ (evil) men are, who cannot even get what their natural inclination inclines them toward."

inner fortress; minds; souls

"That was the limit of Circe's power and what her herbs could do to these men: their bodies' forms could change, but their hearts stayed safe in an ________ ____________ where the strength of men lies hidden. Those poisons are much more toxic that creep within and infect the ___________ and the ___________, while they leave the outer shell untouched."

trust it; nothing in life lasts

"The beauty of the earth changes. Enjoy it but never think to ________ _____. As with the fleeting pleasures of men, a stern law decrees that _________ ____ _________ __________."

inflexible

"The best kind of government is the __________ order of causes arising from the simplicity of the mind of God, so its immutability constrains what would otherwise be mutable and in flux."

love

"The bonds of ________ hold those pieces in place, love for each other and love of the good that is their aim and only end. How else could the firmament stay firm unless the love that gave it a start did not flow in grateful return?"

order; forms; causes; unchangeable; multiplicity

"The generation of all things and the development of things that change and move take their _______ and _______ and ________ from the ____________ mind of God. That mind, in the lofty fortress of its oneness, set up the manner in which the ___________ of things behave."

virtues; desires

"The good try to get the summum bonum by the exercise of _____________ (natural) while the wicked try to get it by the whims of their ___________—which is not at all the natural way to obtain the good (imitation)."

undistinguished forebearers

"The human condition is such that even the most fortunate are not free from worry. Good fortune is not something we possess entirely or forever." One man owns a lot of property, but he is ashamed of ____________ ______________.

exist; being

"The wicked are not merely powerless but they cease to ____________, for those who do not pursue the end of all things may be said to have abandoned ____________."

wealth; power; power

"There are those who mix and match, going after _________ so that they can use it to pursue _________, or they work for ________ to get rich or increase their fame."

providence

"There is an ultimate order that governs all things, and when a thing has departed from this order it only falls into another category where a different order applies, but it is nonetheless order. So nothing governed by ______________ is left to chance."

highest good

"There is nothing more powerful than the ____________ ____________."

providence; fate

"This plan, when we think of it as the purity of God's understanding, we call _____________. But when we think of it in reference to all the things in motion that it controls, we call it _______."

need; expensive

"Those who have a lot _______ a lot. It's ___________ to be rich."

sick; malignancy

"Those who have done wrong should be treated as if they were ________ men who could have their guilt lessened by punishment as if it were some kind of __________ (illness)."

sick; pity; blame

"We feel sympathy rather than hatred for those who are ________, and those who suffer from a disability greater than any physical ailment deserve __________ rather than __________."

body; mind

"Weakness is a disease of the __________ and wickedness is a disease of the ________ (soul)."

outside; inside

"Why then do men look ___________ themselves for happiness when it is surely to be found ___________?"

mental beasts; power; destroy

"Wicked men are _________ ___________ in human bodies, and do not have the _________ to achieve their aims and ______________ the good."

immortal

"You used to maintain that the minds (souls) of men are _____________ while assuredly the bodies of men are mortal and will die."

Riches; moderation

"_________ do not get rid of avarice, nor can power give a man __________ and self-control if power is what the lusts after."

have not turned out well

A fifth man, who has children, is unhappy because his sons ______ ________ ___________ __________.

has not been blessed with children

A fourth man, happily married, is miserable because he ______ _____ ______ _________ ____________.

wicked

A judge should pity the ___________ one.

unmarried

A third man is both well born and rich, but he is ____________ (and thinks no one loves him).

humankind

It is goodness that raises a man above the level of ________________ (divine)."

He knows who and what he is

Man is better than other things only if what?

honor

Others exert themselves to be honored and respected by their fellow citizens in the hope of having titles and distinctions awarded them so they find happiness in what?

together

Providence embraces all things ___________ (unity), even though they are infinite in number and different from one another

divine reason

Providence is ________ _________ itself, established by the highest ruler of all things

wealth

Some men think that the highest good is to want nothing, so they work hard to pile up what?

power

Still others try to rule or attach themselves as closely as possible to those who rule and these seek to find happiness in what?

No

Strictly speaking, can man ever possess his riches? Are they every really a part of him? An extension of his person?

higher things; excellent

Suppose that you have devoted your mind to _________ __________, you would not then need a judge to give you some kind of prize. It is you yourself who have achieved this ______________ state (arête, virtue).

license; even unhappier; miserable

That _____________ they have to do evil does not last very long. If it lasted longer, evildoers would be ______ ____________. If eternal they would be infinitely ____________.

lion

The angry one who roars and cannot govern his anger is a ___________.

deer

The coward who is afraid of everything is a ___________.

sanctifying grace

The doctrine whereby man rises to the level of god is that of __________ _____________.

flighty bird

The fickle one who follows his whims is a ___________ ___________.

purely; simply

The majority of men, though evil, are not "________ or __________________."

wolf

The one who plunders others' wealth is burning with avarice, is now a ___________.

pig

The one who wallows in his lusts is a ___________.

love

The poem that concludes this section shows that order is ultimately an expression of ________.

nothing

The power of the wicked is really ___________.

jackass

The stupid oaf is a ___________.

fox

The trickster with his cons and scams is a ___________.

united

The unfolding of the order of time is ________ in the foresight of the mind of God

punished; restrain

The wicked are actually happier being ____________ than they would be if there were no retribution to ____________ them.

unhappy; desires

The wicked are all the more _________ as their ______________ are fulfilled.

escape; unhappy; greater

The wicked who ___________ punishment are more ___________ than if they are punished with a just and proper penalty. They are burdened with an even ____________ punishment just when they think they have got off scot-free.

paying the penalty

The wicked who go unpunished do not actually escape from ________ _____ ____________ of their wickedness.

dog

The wild one who is given to quarrels and lawsuits is a ___________.

unhappier

Those who commit injustice are ____________ than those who suffer from what they have done.

disturbed

Unity when __________ among things in the unfolding of time is what the ancients called fate

Love

What blinds people?

her inconstancy

What is Fortune's constancy?

change

What is Lady Fortune's nature?

To be happy

What is it that all men want, although they seek it by different routes and through different activities?

To be happy

What is the summum bonum or supreme good of man?

to see his two sons appointed to consulship

What was the pinnacle of achievement for Boethius' life?

The Creator that made it

When we look at a jewel or gem, are we to admire the person that wears it or the Creator that made it?

fame

Yet others work to spread their names throughout the world either as warriors or statesmen andthese find happiness in what?

Good; wicked

__________ men are powerful and ____________ men are weak.

Ordinary; certain birds

____________ people (the masses) do not see this because they are like ________ ________—they see in the dark but are blinded in the daytime.

events; plan

the haphazardness of ___________ vs. God's _______

providence; fate

the singleness of __________ vs. the vicissitudes of ______

how poor he is

Another man is of high birth (from a wealthy family) but is ashamed of _______ ________ ____ _____.

True friends

Bad fortune brings knowledge of what?

pleasure

But most men think of the good as their allotment of joy and good spirits and them abandon themselves to the pursuit of what?

corpse

Evil men are like a ___________ which is not a "man" but a "dead man."

separate

Fate arranges the motions of __________ (multiplicity) things, distributed in various places

inherent

Fate is the disposition that is __________ in each of these things

wealth and honors

Fortuna claims not to have harmed Boethius, instead she has withdrawn what things from him?

unrewarded; unpunished

Good deeds never go _____________ and wicked deeds never go _________.

The beasts

If man forgets himself, then he is lower than what?

Love

In the concluding poem of Book 2, what governs earth and sea and sky?

No

Is there anyone that is so happy that there is not a single thing he wouldn't prefer to change?