Temperance

Temperance is the agreement of the whole soul and city that reason should rule — not the destruction of desire but its proper ordering.

The temperate person takes pleasure in the right things in the right measure — and feels no pull toward excess.

True temperance is freedom through non-attachment — the Stoic does not moderate desire but refuses to depend on its objects.

Temperance moderates the appetite for bodily pleasures — the creation is good, and ordered enjoyment is virtue, not sin.

The natural pleasures are good: temperance means enjoying without needing, not abstaining from what nature offers.

Self-mastery is a duty, not a pleasure: the moral worth of temperance lies in willing it from principle rather than inclination.

Temperance is a personal virtue, not a political program: the state has no right to coerce self-regarding conduct.

Civilization is built on instinctual renunciation — the temperate behavior it demands is purchased with chronic unhappiness.