[This great philosopher and Halakist, who is usually called Maimonides, was born at Cordova in 1135, and died at Cairo in 1204. He was endowed with a very clear and systematic mind, and exercised the greatest influence as philosopher and authority on the Talmud and Jewish jurisprudence. He was a very prolific writer, but his most important works are his _Guide of the Perplexed_, which was written in Arabic, his _Code_, written in Hebrew and known as the _Yad ha-Hazakah_ (Mighty Hand), or _Mishneh Torah_ (Repetition of the Law), and his Arabic commentary on the Mishnah. He was a physician by profession, and wrote several essays on medicine and astronomy.] A Man Should Choose the Golden Mean[145] Men have various dispositions, which are different from, and diametrically opposed to, one another. There is one man who is irascible, and is continually angry; while there is another who is of a calm disposition and does not get angry at all; and even if he gets angry, his wrath is mild, and this only happens once in several years. There is one man who is exceedingly haughty, while there is another who is exceedingly meek. There is one man who is voluptuous, whose soul can never be satisfied with indulging in pleasures; while there is another whose heart is so pure, that he desires not even the bare necessities which the body requires. There is one man who is exceedingly avaricious, whose soul cannot be satisfied with all the riches of the world, as it is written: ‘He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver;’[146] while there is another who is so unambitious, that he is content with a small thing which is hardly sufficient for him, and does not strive to obtain all that he needs. There is one man who emaciates himself by starvation, and saves all his money, and is very grieved when he has to spend a Perutah for his food; while there is another who wilfully squanders all his possessions. And in the same manner are all other dispositions, as for instance, one man is hilarious, while another is melancholy; one is niggardly, while another is generous; one is cruel, while another is merciful; one is faint-hearted, while another is courageous, and so forth.