Tuesday, July 27, 2010

1a 2ae q44 a2: Whether fear makes one suitable for counsel? Yes.

Homines maxime in timoribus quaerunt consiliari quia in difficilibus, maxime in quibus nobis non confidimus, consiliamur.

Men seek for counsel especially when they are afraid because it is in matters of difficulty, especially when we distrust ourselves, that we take counsel.

Sed ex defectu rectitudinis iudicii, quaelibet passio, quantum est de se, impedit facultatem bene consiliandi.

But owing to the want of right judgment, every passion, considered in itself, hinders the faculty of giving good counsel.

Quanto aliqua passio est fortior, tanto magis homo secundum ipsam affectus, impeditur. Et ideo quando timor fuerit fortis, vult quidem homo consiliari, sed adeo perturbatur in suis cogitationibus, quod consilium adinvenire non potest.

The stronger a passion is, the greater the hindrance is it to the man who is swayed by it. Consequently, when fear is intense, man does indeed wish to take counsel, but his thoughts are so disturbed, that he can find no counsel.

Si autem sit parvus timor, qui sollicitudinem consiliandi inducat, nec multum rationem conturbet; potest etiam conferre ad facultatem bene consiliandi, ratione sollicitudinis consequentis.

If, however, the fear be slight, so as to make a man wish to take counsel, without gravely disturbing the reason; it may even make it easier for him to take good counsel, by reason of his ensuing carefulness.

Philosophus dicit, in II Rhetoric., quod timor consiliativos facit.

The Philosopher says (Rhet. ii, 5) that "fear makes men of counsel".