Chapter XI.—Truth
and Custom.
“There is a certain great difference, O men of
Greece, between truth and custom. For truth is found when it is
honestly sought; but custom, whatsoever be the character of the custom
received, whether true or false, is strengthened by itself without the
exercise of judgment; and he who has received it is neither pleased
with it as being true, nor grieved with it as false. For such an
one has believed not by judgment, but by prejudice, resting his own
hope on the opinion of those who have lived before him on a mere
peradventure. And it is not easy to cast off the ancestral
garment, though it be shown to himself to be wholly foolish and
ridiculous.