such a man; for he asks for nothing at all, but only acts his
prayers and adorations for fear of the public, and utters
expressions contradictory to his philosophy. And when he
sacrifices, he stands by and looks upon the priest as he kills the
offering but as he doth upon a butcher; and when he hath done, he
goes his way, saying with Menander,

To bribe the gods I sacrificed my best,
But they ne'er minded me nor my request.

For so Epicurus would have us arrange ourselves, and neither to
envy nor to incur the hatred of the common herd by doing ourselves
with disgust what others do with delight. For, as Evenus saith,

No man can love what he is made to do.

For which very reason they think the superstitious are not pleased
in their minds but in fear while they attend at the sacrifices and
mysteries; though they themselves are in no better condition, if
they do the same things our of fear, and partake not either of as
great good hope as the others do, but are only fearful and uneasy
lest they should come to be discovered as cheating and abusing the
public, upon whose account it is that they compose the books they
write about the gods and the divine nature,

Involved, with nothing truly said.
But all around enveloped;

hiding out of fear the real opinions they contain.