Cause Principle Unity

A general account of bonding
body unless they are predisposed by the soul. Thus, the famous story is told
about Socrates, who required that an attractive young boy first speak out
before he would declare his love for him.
20. The condition of the bonding agent. Flatterers give high praise to ordinary
virtues, downplay faults, excuse errors, transform evil deeds into virtues,
and act very cautiously so as not to reveal their art of flattery. As a result,
they bind to themselves people who are not very clever, for to be loved and
honoured is the most pleasing and delightful thing for anyone, and to be
able to bind someone requires a certain higher type of virtue.
21. How the bonding agent is bound. He who binds experiences joy and a certain
sense of glory, and this is greater and stronger insofar as the one who
is bound is more noble, more worthy and more excellent. The strength of
the bond by which he who binds is himself bound by the one who is bound
is located in this sense of joy and glory. In praising the vanquished, the victors
extol their own victory, and sometimes they even deceive themselves
more than others, both in their desires and in the other public consequences
of bonding. On the other hand, someone must be of a worthless
character if they are so unpleasant as not to reciprocate in spirit with someone
who loves them, when that person is honourable and distinguished, or
with someone who is bound in spirit to them in some other way.
22. The types of bonding agents. There is one type of bonding in which we
wish to become worthy, beautiful and good; there is another type in which
we desire to take command of what is good, beautiful and worthy. The first
type of bonding derives from an object which we lack, the second, from an
object which we already have. These two types bind both what is good and
what is thought to be good, although this bond always occurs in some proportional
or suitable way. Also, fantasy and opinion bind more things than
does reason, for the former are indeed stronger than the latter. To be sure,
there are many who love without a reason, although there is some cause
which motivates their love, and, as a result, they are bound but do not know
what binds them.
23. The blindness of the bonding agent. The explanation of bonds is, for the
most part, hidden, even from the wise, for what use is it to appeal to analogies,
similarities, family traits and other such meaningless words when we
see a person who hates nothing more than another person who is his genial
companion, while at the same time and without reason, he also loves that
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