1Next we must speak of the order of things and the timeliness of occasions. 1These are contained in that science which the Greeks call eutaxia, not the one we translate as modestia, a word in which modus is contained; but that is eutaxia in which the keeping of order is understood. 1And so, so that we may call this too modestia, it is defined by the Stoics thus: that modestia is the knowledge of placing the things that are done or said in their proper place. 1Thus the meaning of order and of arrangement seems to be the same; 1for they also define order thus: the arrangement of things in fit and suitable places; 1and they say that the place of an action is the timeliness of the occasion; 1and the proper time for an action is called eukairia in Greek, in Latin occasio.
1So it comes about that this modestia, which we interpret in the way I have said, is the knowledge of the right timing of occasions suited for action. 143But the same may be the definition of prudence, of which we spoke at the beginning; 143here, however, we are inquiring about moderation and temperance and virtues akin to them. 143Therefore what belonged to prudence was discussed in its own place; 143but what belongs to these virtues of which we have been speaking for some time now, which concern modesty and the approval of those with whom we live, must now be discussed. 144Such an order of actions, then, must be observed that, as in a consistent speech, so in life all things are suited to one another and in harmony; 144for it is shameful and very faulty, in a serious matter, to introduce talk fit for a dinner party or some frivolous remark.
144Pericles answered well when he had the poet Sophocles as his colleague in the praetorship, and they had met to discuss their common duty, and a handsome boy happened to pass by, and Sophocles said: 'What a beautiful boy, Pericles!' 144'But a praetor, Sophocles, ought to keep not only his hands but his eyes too under restraint.' 144Yet if Sophocles had said this same thing at a trial of athletes, he would have escaped just reproof. 144So great is the force of both place and time. 144So, if someone who is about to plead a case rehearses it to himself on a journey or on a walk, or if he thinks about something else more intently, he is not blamed; but if he did this same thing at a dinner party, he would seem ill-bred through ignorance of the occasion.
145But things that are greatly at odds with good manners, such as singing in the forum, or any other gross perversity, are easily evident and do not much need admonition and rules; 145but what seem to be small faults and cannot be perceived by many, these must be avoided more carefully. 145As with lyres or flutes, however slightly they are out of tune, this is still usually noticed by an expert, so we must see that nothing in our life is by chance out of tune, or rather much more so, inasmuch as the harmony of actions is greater and better than that of sounds.