Kitap 7
1
The profligate, as we said,7.2. does not feel remorse, for he abides by his choice; the unrestrained man on the other hand invariably repents his excesses afterwards. Hence the objection that we stated2.10. does not hold good; on the contrary, it is the profligate who cannot be cured, whereas the unrestrained man can; for Vice resembles diseases like dropsy and consumption, whereas Unrestraint is like epilepsy, Vice being a chronic, Unrestraint an intermittent evil. Indeed Unrestraint and Vice are entirely different in kind, for Vice is unconscious, whereas the unrestrained man is aware of his infirmity.
2
Among the unrestrained themselves, the impulsiveἐκστατικός is here used as equivalent to προπετής, impetuous, in 7.8; whereas below, 8.5, as in 1.6 and 2.7, it denotes the quality with which it is here contrasted. sort are better than those who know the right principle but do not keep to it; for these succumb to smaller temptations, and they do not yield without deliberation, as do the impulsive; the unrestrainedi.e., the feeble sort who stop to think and yet succumb; the impulsive man is not the typical unrestrained man. man is like people who get drunk quickly, and with a small amount of wine, or with less than most men.
