MÁXIMAS DÉLFICAS ou CÂNONES DE APOLO - Lúcia Helena Galvão

New Acropolis New Acropolis Presents Comments on the Delphic Maxims Lúcia Helena Galvão 2019 Hello, welcome. Today we will have a little chat about something that maybe many of you have already heard of, but that I would like to add some details. Let's talk about the Delphic Maximums. It is not difficult to find this subject on the internet, but I would like to share with you a little of the research I did on this, of the study I did on this, and how this element is interesting, is strong, and shows us that behind a great civilization,

there is always a great moral base, an ethical base, a base of values. I would like to reflect a little about this with you. The Delphic Maximums. What is this? Everyone knows that there was, and still exists in Greece, as an archaeological remain, the Temple of Delphi, the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, which was a meeting point for all the Greek city-states, built around the 6th century BC. That is, something between 599 and 500 BC. What we often do not know is that in front of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, there was a large

stone, a large rock, with 147 small inscribed phrases. These phrases would have come from the so-called Seven Wise Men of Greece. These seven wise men would have met at some point, if they did it together, or if someone took these maxims from them. We do not know how far history goes, from where the legend begins, but the fact is that 147 phrases of these seven wise men of Greece were inscribed on a large stone in three columns. And these 147 maxims, we will see that they are mentioned by Plutarch, by Plato, by Aristotle. And according

to these great names, they would have been these seven wise men, with their teachings inscribed on this stone, the pedagogical, moral, civilizatory basis of Greece as a whole. It is said that the boys, when they were going to learn grammar and ethics, they went to Delphi and copied these 147 maxims. They learned to write like this. They were the basis of commercial, political transactions, of life as a whole in Greece. As time went by, obviously, today Delphi is a ruin, not much was left, this stone also left. We will see that in the third century

BC, there was a man named Soziades, who transcribed these maxims, which would still exist in his time. And these 147 maxims would have been, in the 4th century AD, transcribed by a Macedonian named Stobeus. And this Macedonian would be this version that would have come to our days. It occurs that a very long distance between the 6th century, then the 2nd century, where Soziades lived, before Christ, and the time of Stobeus, which is the 5th century AD. And this was generating, as time went by, the first time this is printed is in the 15th century,

in Italy, at the beginning, in the period of the Renaissance. And this whole distance, until it was compiled, then it was transcribed in the anthology of Stobeus, this generated a doubt in the scientific environment, among history students, that these maxims would have really existed, or not. Or it would have been another Greek myth, since nothing was found. However, as time went by, some archaeological findings, important, which transcribed part of these maxims, were found around the world. From the oldest, in the 4th century BC, in Thera, to a little more recent, in the 3rd century BC,

where today is Afghanistan. And a compilation of these historical remains, showed that all this was copied from a single source. Certainly, this is a proof that there was really this monument, that these phrases were really there, in addition to the quotes of several men. What I find curious, is that even in our historical moment, this is not very assimilated, or, let's say, recognized, that these maxims actually existed in Delphi, and were in fact the basis of the Greek civilization. I worked collecting a series of documents, and impressions of several writers, especially from a Greek writer,

Professor Oikonomides, who was a professor who lived in Chicago, also taught at the University of Athens, and leaves some very interesting things about this subject. Anyway, let's get to know a little better about these 147 maxims. All of them of moral content, of civilizing content, that were left by these seven Greek sages, who were men who lived in their totality, between the 7th and 6th centuries BC. It seems that one of their most late is Thales of Miletus. Let's talk about it then? We know that Greece has a chronological division in its history. The first

period, which ranges from 1100 to 800, would be the Homeric period, a little, let's say, full of myths, and a somewhat nebulous story. After that comes the Archaic period, which would go from 800 to 500 BC. This archaic period would be the period of the seven wise men, and would also be the period of the Delphi maxims, and the period of the pre-Socratics. Then comes the classic period, 500 to 400 BC, that we will see these great Greek philosophers, that we recognize to this day, around that. That would be that axis, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. And

then the Hellenistic period, which goes from 400 BC to about 146 BC. We will see that within this long line, which portrays most of the ancient Greek history, we will have Homer, it is more or less calculated that he would have lived between 928 and 898. Very remote, and this date is very dubious. Some say that Homer would not even have existed. After that, we will have, as one of the most, let's say, the oldest of the pre-Socratic philosophers, Thales of Miletus, lived in 624 to 546. That is, he was the first of the pre-Socratics.

He lived from the 7th century to the 6th century. And he is included among the seven wise men of Greece. And then in a sequence we will have Heraclitus, Parmenides, and then, within the classical period, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. What is interesting to know, then, these wise men, who in our historical moment, are practically unknown. They were not all philosophers. This is a curiosity. There is a list that is considered more official, in quotes, yes, you can say that, the best known, which is the list of Hygine. Hygine is a historian, an ancient writer, who

I will put as the seven wise men of Greece. Thales of Miletus, Solon of Athens, Pithacus of Mytilene, Pryaneus of Bia, who is considered one of the wisest, Cleobulus of Lindos, Periandru of Corinth, and Cylon of Lacedaemonia. These seven, we will see that in some lists, these names vary. The first four are always present. That is, Thales, Solon, Pithacus and Bias, are always present. Now, the other three, vary from list to list. Plato himself, in his list, he does not put, for example, the name of Periandru of Corinth. He will include Mison, another thinker. So,

in all, there were about 22 names, that at certain times, some lists were included within these seven wise men of Athens. But the most stable list, as we speak, are these seven of Hygiene. Well, who were these seven men? We know that Thales of Miletus was a philosopher. The oldest of the pre-Socratic philosophers. Bias of Pryaneus, who has great prestige among this group, said that he was also a philosopher. Now, all the other five were not philosophers. They were men of state. Statists, councilors, legislators and poets. They were men who exercised their wisdom in action.

Ruling, legislating, advising kings. That is, leaving states very well governed. Governing in a very human way, very humanistic. They left their wisdom through the footprints of good government, or good counseling, or the good laws they generated. They were not philosophers themselves. They were men of action. And their life was a testimony of their wisdom. And the sentences attributed to them, were not sentences that they have left written somewhere. They were sentences pronounced throughout their life. This is very curious. So, for them, it was interesting men, who not only had spoken about ideas, but men who

had lived them. Men who were worthy of being remembered. Already in this ancient moment of Greece, sixth century BC, it was known that the best men in history had to be taken as a mirror, as a base, for the orientation of the entire history of the Greek cities-states. Because you know that Delphi and its maxima were an element recognized by all the Greek cities-states. Not just Athens. This is interesting because it was a common civilizing point. And these men, the city where they were, is their nickname, you know that. So, for example, Bias was from

Priene, Pitaco from Mytilene. These men were from several cities-states. And this wisdom was collected as a testimony to the future of how great man can be. And Greece as a whole, was civilized, culturally, pedagogically, by these examples for many centuries. The influence of these seven wise men is very great. Look, a civilization built on the testimony of wise men. This is very beautiful and very interesting. It is an almost founding reference of the Greek spirit. The wisdom. It is said, many stories are told, that the seven would have been invited to take a position of

the greatest wise man in Greece. And all seven would have refused. It seems that a ceremonial amphora was found somewhere, and it was decided that this amphora would be given to the greatest wise man in Greece. And they were successively offering these men. Until the last of them, whose names vary a little, but many say it would have been Bias, would have said, the wisest is Apollo. And he would have offered this amphora to the god Apollo. Hence the importance of them being placed, with their teachings, in front of the temple of Apollo in Delphi.

And many other stories are told, but without any certainty that this is true, or a mere Greek anecdote. What is known is that these men existed, these men performed several functions, and were exemplary in what they did. To the point that their example was a mirror to a civilization. Stop to think a little about it. If our civilization were a mirror of the wisest we have ever known in history. If we also had our seven wise men from the West, and our children were alphabetized, copying the maxims of these men. If our justice, our politics,

our social life, were inspired by the maxims and the example of life of these men. Can you imagine something like this happening in practice? That's why we say, well, Greece was great, in fact. It was a great civilization. One of the cradles of the West. But it is not great for nothing. It has very well chosen roots. It is based on very well chosen principles. That is, it has northeastern principles, based on wisdom. That is why it is a civilization that seeks wisdom as a reference. And always from there, philosophy and love for wisdom are

born. Do not forget your roots. And always take into consideration, even in the greatest moments of decline, the testimony of the wise men. Present in all its principles. We know, then, I already told you, that this original inscription is lost. That other inscriptions, as I said, are being found by archeology, and are adding testimonies in favor of the existence of the 147 maxims of the wise men of Delphi. So, as I told you, Aldus Manutius publishes this in the middle of the Cinquecento, in Venice, 1495. It is the first publication of this list of principles,

based on the list of names of Aegino. With the passage of time, this is being published by many works, by many historians, by many writers, but as a minor text, and of dubious origin. Although other inscriptions are being found. But when you find an inscription within Greece, if you believe that these maxims are a Greek myth, it may be that these inscriptions were born from this same myth. With a compilation of people's belief in something that never existed. The curious fact will be when, in 1966, an inscription is found in the current territory of Afghanistan.

Where was the territory of Bactria? In a city called Aikanum. A part of these maxims is found. Imagine what a distant place! Totally out of that Greek culture. There was a supposed disciple, direct or indirect, of Aristotle, probably indirect, one of the so-called peripatetic. And this disciple, Clearchus, in the current territory of Afghanistan, in the city of Aikanum, leaves a kind of a base, a stone, with a dedication of those principles to the founder of that city of Aikanum, who would have been a Greek named Clinicus. He makes a dedication and puts there five principles.

This is something that impacted a lot in 1966. It is something very outside the Greek circle, which still repeats the same story. It is curious that this Greek teacher, whom I mentioned, Economides, he publishes several things about it, he says, despite this finding, bringing evidence that makes the reality of the 147 maxims almost unquestionable, there was no reaction in the sense of people starting to popularize it, to value it, it remained as a minor text. As if there was still doubt, as if there was still doubt about the veracity of these 147 Delphic principles. And

he very vehemently defends, it is necessary to take this as a true historical thing, for us to realize that a civilization can be built on ethical principles, from ethical principles, from the guidance of wisdom. He was a vehement defender of this. I find this position very interesting, I really liked everything I read. There are several other authors who speak about it, but in general they refer to it. Or they deny the story and put the text as a secondary text. This discredit of the antiquity of the maxims is no longer justified today. There is an

almost certain probability that there was really a meeting of these 147 moral maxims, maxims of wisdom, and that they were the inspiring basis for the history of Greece. So let's talk a little about these discoveries, which are very interesting. The inscription on the island of Santorini, which the Greeks call Tera, this inscription brought four Delphic precepts, it is the oldest of them, it is from the 4th century BC. That is, 300 and something. This inscription was found on the island that we call in the West of Santorini, but as a very reduced inscription, with only

four principles, it was not taken seriously. It would have been made only two centuries after the Delphic inscription. And there are only four sentences that are placed there. Then, in the sequence, a much larger find is found, which is in Misia, in the ancient city of Miletopolis, Asia Minor. An inscription from the 3rd century BC. In Miletopolis there was a stele with 55 principles. 55 of the 147. This already has a much greater weight. 55 principles very similar to those that Soziades writes in the 3rd century BC. In fact, Soziades is contemporary of this inscription

from Miletopolis. This has already given a greater weight. But still, they even found that all subsequent transcriptions would start from this inscription from Miletopolis, which is a stele. A stele with 55 written principles. Then, a Greek papyrus was found. Written somewhere in Egypt, but written in Greek. This papyrus 2782, which exists in the library of Athens, in Facsimile, in the library of the University of Athens. The famous papyrus 2782. There is the facsimile, but the original has been lost. This is curious, because the professor Oikonomidis, he finds this material inside a monograph. He looks for

the original to see, because the photo was not so good. He does not find it. And he says that with a Greek friend of his, he finds a much better photo than the one at the University of Athens. And he can better transcribe this papyrus. That is, there in Egypt, in a papyrus written in Greek, a papyrus that is probably from the third century BC, there were also the first eight commandments of the seven wise men of Greece. Of the 147, the first eight, transcribed there. And then, finally, what I was telling you, that everything

was to be considered a minor discovery, because there are only five principles. But the distance that this was found, made it very relevant. In the Greco-Bactrian region, the city of Aikanum, where today is Afghanistan. Everyone should know a little about the history of Bactria, the history of the Greco-Bactrian territory, how the generals of Alexander divided this territory, until Greece loses its possession. This is well known history. This city of Aikanum would then have been founded by a certain Greek, who is called Kines. And this Kines, when Clearchus arrives there, before the funeral memorial of Kines,

he would have written on a stone, the last five precepts of Sozias. But before that, a dedication. The last five precepts are even very obscure, very difficult to read, but his dedication is still there. That is, before the funeral of Kines, Clearchus writes the following. These wise commandments of ancient men, words of well-known thinkers, were recorded in the most sacred sanctuary of Pitya, there in Delphi. From there, Clearchus sculpted them very carefully, and brought them here to the sanctuary of Kines, to shine so far. That is, his intention is to bring a little of the

wisdom of Pitya, of the oracle of Delphi, of the great wise men, very recognized in Greece, to such a faraway territory, to also illuminate that territory, as illuminated Greece. This stone, which today seems to have been taken to Turkey, it is preserved there. This stone is the witness, let's say, more outside the area of influence of Greece, although it contains only five of the commandments. But very important, for being so far away, it is difficult that they have been, in some way, let's say, motivated by some kind of myth. There was a philosopher, because Clearchus

was a philosopher, who brought with him these decorated masks, and made a point of communicating to foreign peoples the knowledge that was the basis of Greece, of the Greek civilization. So this is a statement that has a lot of historical importance. Comparing all these findings, the professor Oikonomides, he makes a version of these 147 principles. And I started to look at these versions that are out there, I made a list, and I was very impressed, because we sometimes imagine that in the 6th century BC, Egypt was still very bright, but Greece was not so much.

And the maxims are of a depth, of a weight, I know that soon after the pre-Socratics begin, but the seven wise men are still, in their vast majority, prior to the pre-Socratics. And they already had a practical wisdom, a very deep life wisdom, to the point of inspiring the philosophy that comes later. Plato quotes a passage in his book Protagoras, I copied two paragraphs here, which is 343a and 343b, where he quotes the name of the seven wise men of Greece, speaks of the Delphic maxims, and says that they were of a laconic brevity, in

fact, they are very small sentences, but of a huge depth, that story that things do not need to be extensive, they need to be deep, and that they were guides of the entire social structure of Greece. He even quotes one of the maxims of Pythagoras, of Mytilene, which says, it is difficult to be noble. There is another passage from another book, which is attributed to Plato, but today is already considered as an apocryphal, which is the Hipparchus. Whoever wrote this Hipparchus, this pseudo-Plato, he also speaks of the Delphic maxims. He says, so that in the

first place the people do not stop admiring the wise Delphic inscriptions, such as, know thyself, and nothing in excess, and other proverbs of this type. See how funny, because we hear a lot about this maxim, know thyself, but we do not know that it probably would have come, not from a Delphic priest, but according to what is said, from Thales of Miletus. Nothing in excess, that sometimes we think they came, have come from some later philosopher, said it would have come from Cylon, the Spartan, Cylon of Lacedaemon. That is, these phrases already existed long before,

let's say, not long before, but at least a few decades, before the dawn of philosophy, still pre-Socratic. The pre-Socratic that is born with Thales, who is one of the seven wise men. As I already told you, also Plutarch, much later talks about it, he talks about it, that is, many references in the doxography of several authors of the time. But still, this was not considered as a reliable testimony that these maxims really existed. It was said that it was the first school book in Greece, as I already told you. Plato said that they were the

basis of education in Athens in the time of the norms of Pisistratus, around the 6th century BC. They were called Palaeologos, the teaching of the ancients. And it was the basis for the development of the Greek paideia, Greek education. It was the basis of customs, thesmon, of the elad. And it was the essence of what they call Arete, virtue. So it was... We even hear sometimes about the canons of Apollo. Many times, ancient philosophers, like Simonides of Cels, talk about the canons of Apollo. And we don't really know what these canons were. They are exactly

the Delphic maxims, which are said to have been all inspired by the god Apollo. They were little apollo maxims. So, for Greece, we already understand. They are almost the skeleton, the ark of the cross on which this civilization was built. And then I brought to you, obviously, I can't talk here in this little introduction, maybe at another time, we can't talk about 147 maxims. Most of them are self-explanatory, very simple. There are two or three that are taken as controversial. For example, it is said, and this is another anecdote, another anecdote of the time, this

was much commented, although we do not know the veracity of it, probably a legend, said that that sentence that generates a certain controversy, which would have been pronounced by Bias of Priene, Bias would have said, that most men are perverse. There is a little story that tells how Bias would have said it, and why he would have said it. I repeat, probably not historical, but in any way interesting. It is said that these wise men of Greece would have been invited to write their maxims in Delphi, and that Bias would have been waiting for everyone

to finish. Bias was considered the wisest of all. And he, when the others finished, he said, well, I have nothing to say. You know that story we usually use, I make my own, your words. That is, you have already said everything, I have nothing to say. And the others would have been outraged. How so, Bias? You are the wisest of all. You will not leave a sentence for posterity? And then he would have had to write it. Most men are perverse. Of course this is not true, because there are several maxims that are attributed to

Bias. But when he sends to write this, the others question, but most men are perverse, Bias. Are you going to leave this for posterity? Will not this discourage future generations? Will not it make men lose faith in humanity? So can't man be good? Then Bias says, of course man can be good, but when he lets himself be dragged by the majority, he becomes perverse. When man is himself, he can be good. When he lets himself be dragged by the majority, he will probably be perverse. I think this story, although it is a very educational and

very interesting anecdote, whoever created it, when man does not acquire his identity, his individuality, is dragged by the majority, he has a high probability, despite his good nature, to become perverse, prejudiced, superficial, judge things by appearance, judge things by just one side of the issue, without hearing both, that is, what is so common in the collective passions. Well, anyway, I will mention to you just a few of these principles, just so you have an idea. Some of the ones I found most beautiful, so you have a sense that this was the moral basis of men

in the 6th century BC, maybe even in the 7th. It is likely that some of these wise men are from the 7th century BC, that is, 600 and something. Let's go. Honor the Divine. You will say, but weren't they thinkers, statists, it looks like a religious mass. No, it is not a religious mass. Honor the Divine is not simply worshiping a God outside, but also, for these men, worshiping a God inside. What man has of higher, nobler, purifier, the highest point that his consciousness reached. For them, it is the Divine within man. And by honoring

this, man acquires dignity, man acquires reliability, acquires respect, not only of the other, but of himself, he learns to respect himself. So the first thing is to honor the Divine. Yes, in nature, outside, but also within us. Hence the beauty of this principle, which is placed as the first on the list. The sixth principle says, this sentence seems paradoxical, see how interesting, know what you have learned. And the seventh says, notice what you heard. Isn't it curious? Observe all the things that were taught to you in life. How much did you actually know? How much

did that interest you to the point of you diving and wanting to know where it came from, who said it, why he said it, the context, and then try to find practical use of this teaching in your life. How much did you deepen or just extended? It became a quantitative knowledge, but not qualitative, not transformative, not generating a new posture in front of life. So realize the depth of the principle. Know what you learned. Realize what you heard. Don't be superficial in relation to what nature offers you of knowledge. Learn to transmute knowledge into wisdom.

It is basically what is behind these maxims. They seem paradoxical and so simple, but tremendously profound. As I said in other conferences, the wise of the old days used to speak very little and want to say a lot. Today we talk too much and this has almost no depth. The idea of ​​the pyrus, the plate, very extensive, not deep. The 13 says, honor the central fire, the fire of East. It is very curious, and then it will be copied by the Romans, the altar of Vesta, in the center of the city, the altars inside the

houses, the homes, the penances. That is, this idea of ​​the central fire was not only in external environments, but also in the internal environment. The idea of ​​the center, the idea that in the center of man there is something luminous, vertical, transformative. And you have to honor this center, which is your own identity, which is the divine itself. If man loses the center, he no longer knows who he is and what he lives for. Remember the phrase of Julius Caesar in the comments of the Gallic War, of us, who conquer the world and lose ourselves.

Continuing... 21. Attach to discipline. Discipline is the manifestation, it is the tool of will. And will is the most transformative attribute that man has. Through will, man recreates himself and recreates the world in the direction that his principles point. So honor, attach to discipline. Then, in 22, follow the honor. It is a sequence of virtues considered fundamental, that they leave as a testimony to the future. So attach to discipline, follow the honor, yearn for wisdom. Yearning, seeking, loving wisdom is philosophos. Loving wisdom, philosophy, is the basis of philosophy. Praise the good. Know how to recognize

and encourage what is good within any human being. Instead of just criticizing his defects, praise, recognize, value the good so that he prospers. Today we have the opposite habit, we criticize evil. And we are sometimes so unaware that we don't even know what evil is. Sometimes we criticize good, we don't know how to recognize it. So value, find and praise the good so that he prospers within man and within society. 30 Exercise the nobility of character. That is, the character, as Plato will say later, as that tendency to reject some things and lean towards others.

When he is educated, we reject what animalizes us and lean towards what humanizes us, towards human values. So it is very important to sculpt your own character. To work on the character is to build on yourself. Even if there is no social context that gives you that, work on yourself, do it for your own taste. Exercise the nobility of character as one of the most precious gifts of man. Continuing, they will talk about 35. Listen to everyone. Isn't that curious? There are some who were kings, who were leaders, who were legislators, who were men of

great importance within society. And why were they? Because they had a spirit of learning and listened to everyone. In the sense of knowing that even those who criticize him have something important to say. Even those who are wrong, in their mistake, there is some basis of dissatisfaction that has to be considered. I remember once again the story I always tell, of the Scandinavian god Odin, who was great, the great lord of Asgard, exactly because he asked everything to everyone. This spirit of learning, not to simply accept, but to analyze, take into consideration and find the

truth that may have been hidden there. Because even in a very wrong rhetoric, there may be something of truth. Everything in the world is dual. The basis on which that error was inspired may have some truth. It is no wonder that we say that we should listen to what our enemies say about us. Because it is more likely that, distributed by affection for us, they perceive certain things that our friends do not perceive. So it's not to take everything seriously, but to listen and consider. To intellect, to choose between, between mistakes, mistakes, prejudices, because everything

in the world is dual. Intelligence is the root of the word intelligence. So listen to everyone. They were great sages and had this amnium of learning, of learning with every human being who passed by them. The 38th speaks of nothing in excess. The search for balance, the search for the right medium, which will later be so strongly exercised by the Stoic philosophers. The search for nothing in excess. The search for the center, the balance, the serenity, the peace of spirit. Not to be dragged down by anger or apathy. Avoid the extremes, seek the center. The

43rd says, be adaptable to everything. How curious! This, if I'm not mistaken, is from Kilon, from the ceremony. And it simply said, man is the lord of forms and not their slave. You have to preserve your essence. The forms use those that are most appropriate so as not to hurt the environment and not to hurt yourself and reach a good term in what you need. That is, do not use forms, do not be a slave of forms. Use the forms properly, according to the law of necessity, according to the minimum damage to others and to

yourself. Do not define yourself by forms. Man is the lord of forms and not his slave. What else? 48th. Some are a little repetitive, but they reiterate an important idea. This 48th will repeat something we talked about back there. Be a lover, a friend of wisdom. Do not have another goal in your life than not to seek it. Be an aspirant to wisdom. If you seek wisdom, everything else comes by accretion. Do not have goals greater than that. Leave here a little wiser than you came. This is the priority in the life of the human

being. 53th. Consult the wise. Isn't that interesting? You who are an apprentice, when you feel lost, when you can't visualize well how to apply your principles in this setting, go to the tutorial of the human condition, go to those who lived well, go to those who overcame adversities well. And see what they say. Many of these instructions may not be adapted to what you are experiencing. The seeds of greatness in man need images to flourish and germinate. This will say epithet much later. Great historical philosopher epithet. That is, look for images that inspire you. This

is the image of men who knew how to live without denigrating the human condition. Worthy men, to see how they lived, to see what they thought. Take this as inspiration. They show you how great you can become. They are a reference. It would be very immature of humanity. It is very immature of humanity. Imagine the effort that a man came to make to leave a life that is a testimony of his wisdom, to leave teachings. And when we want to learn about life, we disregard what we had. We had better? It's like you enter a

college and despise the best teachers. You take the most recent, the youngest. This is illogical in any area of ​​knowledge. But as for the art of living, we think it is fitting. The wisest men in humanity, about our practical problems, we think they have nothing to teach us. See how beautiful this 62 is. Praise the hope. These commandments that start with praise, I want to show what within society should be encouraged. Man cannot lose the dream of being better than he is now. He cannot lose hope. I told you in a lecture last year, a

scientific experiment that was done. I don't like it very much because it's a little cruel, but it's a good example. It is said that tests were done with guinea pigs, putting some of them in the water. I don't know if this is true, but even if it's just a story, it's interesting. And checking how long they resisted before giving up and drowning. Then they took one of these guinea pigs, put it in the water, and when it was about to give up, they took it out, put it in a dry place and left it without

recovering. When they put this guinea pig in the water again, it would have resisted twice as much as the previous guinea pigs. That is, if the previous ones resisted for 10 minutes, it resisted for 20 minutes, if it was in the water. Do you know why? Because it had hope. It had already been saved before. Even if it's a little animal that you consider good, such a precarious intelligence, but enough to nurture some hope. And this greatly increases your possibility of fighting against adversity. Although cruel, I think the example is pertinent. Hope gives us an

energy to double our resistance against adversity. And these wise men knew that. Disdain a deceiver. Consider that all human beings, somehow, within what they conceive, are trying to do what seems good to them. Although their vision of good is very wrong. When we take someone, a human being who is dual, as Plato said, it is always a mixture of one and the other, and considers only what he has of worse, this is a carcinogen, a morbid. And by doing this, he values what is worse, not only in man, but in society, in the world, in

humanity as a whole. We live the age of morbidity. We live one chasing the defects of the other. So if a person makes a mistake, if an institution makes a mistake, no one will say, it was fantastic for decades, today it made a mistake. No, it is infamous because it made this mistake. A person, the same thing, it hit for decades, today it made a mistake. It is infamous because it made this mistake. We all make mistakes. And we would not like that our whole life was marked by this mistake, in the worst moment. We

are all a mixture of one and the other. Because this morbid tendency to always believe in the worst. And look how funny, because a slanderer tells you, such a person, such an institution did something serious. You immediately believe. If someone told you, such a person, such an institution did something very good, you go after it to verify. This is usually what happens in our historical moment. Did he really do it? Is he exaggerating? Is there something bad about it? It's funny. If someone tells you something good, you go after it to verify. If he says

bad, you believe immediately. Realize that this morbidity, when it comes to yourself, will destroy you. It's always like this. The weapons we use outside, we also use inside. The terrible feelings we have, we do not forgive ourselves. And we have a loss of self-esteem that practically makes our life useless. Be careful, as the Indians say, with the karma of cruelty. 64 Get possessions legitimately. That is, it is necessary to have things in the world. Your life should not be guided by having, but in the middle of the way, you will need to have things. Do

not pay too expensive a price for it. Do not pay the price of your dignity, of your honor, of your human essence, of your human nature. Do not profane your life for one thing. They are not good or bad. They can be both, depending on the use you make of them. But none of them is enough to be worth more than your dignity, your honor, your identity as a human being and the trace you will leave in the world. Your life as a whole. There is nothing that has such a great value. This exchange is

an unworthy exchange. It is too expensive. Do not pay. Having things is not a mistake. But when you start to be a slave to them, as Voltaire said, yes, having things, ok. When things have you, then no more. Honor what is good. Precept 65 Another reinforcement of what is behind. Go after good things. Do the opposite of the slanderer. Be the good propagator. See the good things that are being done in all corners of the world. Bring light. Look for the best of each being. Disclose it. Return the faith of man in himself and in

humanity. This is precious. Honor what is good. Disclose what is good. Praise what is good. This is reiterated by them. I made a point of putting this principle very similar to the previous one. That is, they insist on this same point. The 80 will say, despise discord. It's interesting. It has always been like this. There are people who develop a morbid taste for discord, who feel a certain pleasure in it. It must have some level of adrenaline discharge that gives it a state of satisfaction. It's always generating some kind of discord. And if it doesn't,

it has almost an abstinence syndrome. It didn't fight anyone. It didn't throw anyone against anyone. It didn't generate any kind of slander. Be careful, because this is an addiction. They are talking here, which I find curious. Because today we have too much of this. But it seems that we always had. It seems that this accompanies man like a shadow. A highly harmful addiction. That is, run away from those who satisfy and promote discord. Instead of valuing good. 82. Shut up your tongue. This is an interesting thing. If we had a notion of what India says,

for example, about the law of karma, cause and effect. Of negative karma. Karma of cruelty that our words generate. Words are taken like the wind. To the four corners of the world. And suddenly it causes a tremendous level of pain. For something you said unthinkingly. It can cause a lot of damage to people. It can paralyze many good initiatives. It can stop a lot of good things that were being done. Simply because you didn't know how to use this Delphic precept. Think well. Use the three pines that are attributed to Socrates. Although we know that

this is not really Socratic. But use that. It's a good example, whether it's Socrates or not. Think about what you're going to say. Is it useful? Is it good? Is it true? Check before you say. If your word adds value to the world. It's curious how today there is a whole wave within society. Let's stop with social networks. Let's stop with this, with that, with the internet. Why? Because so much garbage is spread. That it reached a point that people, with all the value that the internet has, prefer not to have it. Because the damage

is being greater than the benefit. Why? Because men don't control their language. I don't think the problem is the internet or social networks. Through the internet I entered the library of the University of Athens to get some documents and give this lecture I'm giving you. I think it's sensational the amount of things it gives us access. Imagine having a social network where you only speak constructive things that add value to those who listen. Can't you do it? Look, I've tried. I believe that to a certain extent I have succeeded. Our YouTube channel, NovaCroft, has also

tried. I don't think it's impossible. If you put this as a principle and become aware of the harm that your words can cause, look, just in this you already guarantee that your life is endowed with some value. My words did not pollute, they did not destroy. Remember that principle that I already told you, that says that there have always been builders of pyramids and destroyers of pyramids. Choose which group you want to be in. Well, it may be that I'm not a great pyramid builder, but I'm not going to destroy any. I'm going to take

a pebble to build one. And my life will be worth it. 89. Don't depend on force. Today we know that. We are not a very strong being, we don't have many self-defense mechanisms like a ferocious animal has. We are endowed with intelligence and we create a lot of things. That's right, that's very good. But it's not just intelligence, it's wisdom. Let's see what things are worth doing, considering that the goal of human life is to become a little closer to the human ideal. That is, to leave ignorance and reach wisdom. What is worth using as

energy, considering that this is the meaning of life, to leave ignorance and reach a step that is closer to wisdom. That is, what makes us replace force with advantages, is not just rationality, it is not just intelligence, it is also wisdom. Wisdom gives us discernment to know where it is worth investing our energy and life, which is so limited, so small, so fleeting. Not to leave here without giving a real value to life. Something that makes men be invited to take a step towards the best of themselves. Something like that we have to leave in

the world. 90. Live without suffering. This is a very interesting thing within this cultural context of Greece. Very associated with happiness, serenity, peace of mind, more than joys and euphoria. That is, you can choose to see all the circumstances of life as a learning. Redeem the arbitrariness of facts when you learn from them, from the moment they help you grow. So you choose not to suffer with things, learn from things. Well, there are certain experiences that are cruel. There are. But if we develop principles that give us a certainty that what is essential will never

be taken away from us, we are increasingly resistant to adversity. Instead of taking it as a great bad luck, we take it as a great teaching. And some of them, when we look at the past, will say, near what gave me was not expensive, I would pay more. This means you limited the minimum suffering. Of course we all have limits of what we can or cannot bear at this moment. But the more we face life as a sequence of learning to lead us to our best, to lead us to good, the more we begin to

reduce our despair, our anguish, and learn from the facts of life. But we are developing confidence that life is cosmos and not chaos. This is reducing our suffering. Nothing more painful than suffering with something and thinking that it is arbitrary. That we were unjustly caught. And not because we had something to learn from it. Well, already closing in the 106, already close to closing, the 106 of Be Grateful. I find it curious to put this principle as one of the fundamentals. And it is, in fact. It is not just them, several wise men in the

history of the Far East, of the Middle East, talk about it. Gratitude as an element that makes us enter into harmony with life. Well, okay, there were pains, there were sufferings, but realize how beautiful it was too. When you have the temptation to look back and remember your sufferings, do the opposite. I will remember and I will write it down. Because when we write it down, we concentrate more. My moments of greatest achievement, joy, happiness, well-being. All that I remember. Write it down so you can see how many beautiful things there were in life. You

have complained a thousand times about a suffering. How many times have you thanked for the beautiful things? Realize that where our consciousness focuses, it develops, it gives life. We focus on an misunderstood suffering, taken as an unjust element. And we inflate it in such a way that we compromise our entire existence from a fact. We could also put this focus on the good things. And with the same intensity with which we practice anguish, or even more, that this is ideal, we practice gratitude for what was good. Give relief to this, give value to this. 107

Seek harmony. Inside you, first of all. Each thing in its place, emotions under the command of principles that command reason, command emotions, seek to depur emotions in feelings, higher, nobler, more constant, more balanced. Thoughts in nobler, more universal thoughts, that consider the other more than oneself. Anyway, seek harmony first inside you. If you can get this state of harmony inside, it is a harmonizing factor in society. There is no way to be the opposite. Those who have harmony, provide harmony. Those who have conflict, provide conflict. And this is evident. It's a matter of parallelism, there's

no way to change. Be a factor of harmonization. Work for life. Life harmonizes. Nature harmonizes. Nature unifies. Work for them. Intelligently. 118 Don't abandon honor. Interesting, right? Once again, we go back to that. Honor is to be proud of your human condition, to know it, to know the value it has, to be grateful for the opportunity to be in the world as a human being and all the potentials that a human being has, all the possibilities of imagination, of creativity, of intelligence, of goodness, of love. To be able to exercise all this for the sake

of humanity, for the sake of nature. To be proud of having been given this opportunity. Therefore, nothing that dishonors your human condition. Nothing that you, in front of your own consciousness, can be ashamed of. When we keep a conduct that, in front of our conscience, is shameful, we will never have self-esteem. We will always be jealous, competitive, factors of disharmony. Those who always think that we have to follow dodgy paths to obtain something in life, are beings who do not believe in their own human potentials. And this is very problematic and a factor of much

suffering. 125. Do not oppose someone absent. I always joke with this idea in several Minha's lectures. I say that in every social meeting, someone has to be missing, or the subject is missing for the group. Imagine everyone present and who will you talk about? The most common thing in our historical moment is that we talk about people, and in general not well. Remember that principle that says that vulgar men talk about people, normal men talk about things, noble men talk about ideas. That is, this idea that when someone turns his back, you cast a lot

of doubt on this person, and you take advantage of the absence of a person to talk about it, is a level of disloyalty. You may have seen something curious that exists in our historical moment. Someone talking on the phone with a loved one. All right, all right. When he hangs up, he criticizes that person. That is, we almost trivialize the act of hypocrisy. And no one feels very confident to turn their back on us. Imagine that you can be contemplated all the time by those people who love you and have nothing to be ashamed of.

What you say in your absence is what you say in your presence. And what you say in your presence are not just things highlighting qualities. Often they are good advice to fight against defects, because a friend is honest, helps the other to grow. But nothing to be ashamed of. One of the symptoms of character weakness is exactly to expect the person to be absent to point out their worst defects. On the contrary, when people are absent, they remember what they have best. They notice the references. You know, that one who always arrives late. Ah, it's

this one. Does that one only have this attribute? What do you remember about this? Softness. Our favorite habit, our favorite sport. Do not trust wealth. This is Precept 128. It may be that when you are, as Buddhism says, facing the most critical factors of your life, they are useless. As Buddhism said, facing death, facing serious illness, facing extreme old age, wealth is absolutely worthless. Facing the most fundamental pains of life, facing the loss of a loved one, facing these lancinating pains, wealth will not help you at all. Wisdom, yes. So, have wealth, no problem, if

you know how to use it. They are good, if you know how to use them. Now, do not trust them, and do not think that they will help you in the most critical moments of your life. If you only count on that, you are in bad luck. Respect yourself. That is, the old history of dignity and honor, which are an axis within these Delphic maxims. Dignity, honor, respect for yourself. That is, nothing that profanes the fire of the East that exists within you. Nothing that profanes your human condition. It is not worth it. Anything that

requires it, I reiterate, it is too expensive. 131 Crown, honor your ancestors. That's exactly what we're doing here. Take what they had best, the teachings they left you, leave the defects there. Honor that learning that they left you, that cost their lives. Kao Yung said that when we learn from our ancestors, we give them a breath of life. We justify their lives. And even if they are small things, small attitudes, they all left something valuable for us. And take valuable models too. Take those models and leave a greater amount of things that help us in

critical moments of life. That is, seek the wise. 133 Do not be discontent with life. Understand that life has its rules, has its rules, has its laws. And if you adjust to them, understanding the purposes of the laws of life, where they want to take you, nothing will make you discontent. I understood the laws of life. Kao Yung said that all laws must have a long explanatory preamble, because what evolves is the human consciousness. Man has to understand the purpose of the laws, which then evolves when he fulfills them. The same is true of the

laws of life. Observe the laws of life, understand, perceive your purpose, realize where they want to take you, and evaluate. Well, I agree with life, this is good. So you stop fighting with it and begin to realize that it has very effective methods, that it knows more than you, that life has a meaning, has intelligence, it is cosmos and does not cause. And finally, these last five principles, which are all concatenated, are very interesting, from 143 to 147. When a child is well behaved, has adequate behavior, all the rules that were put for the child,

respect for the elderly, the principles of education. When the young man is self-disciplined, it is the moment when you have the most energy, do not waste it with chaotic and animalizing things. Enjoy this energy, for things that make you advance in what is important in life. Do not surrender to laziness, nor the dilapidation of your own energy to life, at the moment you have it so much. You will regret it at the end, when you do not have so much energy. This waste committed. When you are mid-age, be fair. It is not enough time for

you to understand the laws of life and be coherent with them within your own life. Be coherent with your human nature, be coherent with nature as a whole, be fair. When the elderly is sensitive, it is not because you have suffered all your life that you stop feeling the pain of the other. Be sensitive, learn to understand the soul of the other. Sensitive not in the sense of susceptible, but in the sense of empathy, to understand the motivations of the other, to be able to shine when the other is lost in a dark labyrinth. Be

sensitive to the need of the human being to grow. And reach the end without sadness. As the poet Amado Nervo said, Life, you owe me nothing. Life, we are at peace. Finally, what I would like to pass on to you with all this story is that wisdom always guided all those who were great, both men and civilizations. And that's why they were great. Everything that seeks wisdom, everything that is inspired by the wisdom that is heard on earth, rises above banality and justifies its existence and becomes great thanks to it. Great men sought wisdom and

thanks to wisdom they were great. And the civilizations that were expressive, the same thing applies. In some part of their history, in some important episode, or sometimes throughout their history, they had wisdom as the most expensive gift. And that's why they left footprints in history of such depth that we still learn from it today. I hope this is a good reflection for you. These maxims you find, as I said, the Delphic maxims, you find very easily on the internet, although maybe the version is not exactly mine. Reflect on them. Realize that it is necessary to

build our moral, psychological, spiritual life, manage it, organize it, guide it according to values, so that we do not waste our time without doing what we came to do, which is the construction of ourselves. Thank you all very much. A hug. New Acropolis is an international, independent and non-profit philosophical movement based on Culture, Philosophy and Volunteering. There are countless schools all over the world. Find one near you, we look forward to your visit!