DOGMAThe worth of praise is measured by the praiser. Three stepped questions that expose vanity through the quality of the source of praise. (1) Do you want praise from one who "curses himself three times an hour" (τρὶς τῆς ὥρας ἑαυτῷ καταρωμένου)? (2) Do you want to please one who "does not please himself" (οὐκ ἀρέσκει ἑαυτῷ)? (3) And does he please himself, "the one who repents of nearly everything he does" (ὁ μετανοῶν ἐφ’ ἅπασι)?

The logic of collapse. The chain reduces the wished-for praise to absurdity: approval is worth having only from one whose judgment is sound; but the man at odds with himself (cursing himself, repenting at every step) is a poor judge even of his own acts, still more of another's. To seek his "being pleased" is to beg approval from one who cannot grant approval even to himself. The argument strikes at the very mechanism of the love of fame: before craving praise, look at who praises (cf. 7.62 — what their ruling faculties are and what they flee; 8.44; 8.52 — the judges know neither where they are nor who they are). There are no term-lemmata in the text. The governing discipline is desire (not to crave the praise of those at odds with themselves).