"Good men get angry when their friends are wronged." When you say this, Theophrastus, you're trying to discredit stronger principles. You're ignoring the judge and appealing to the crowd instead. Since everyone gets angry when bad things happen to their friends, you assume people will decide this anger is their duty. After all, we usually think any emotion we recognize in ourselves must be righteous. But the same person gets angry if his hot water isn't ready, if a glass breaks, or if mud splashes his shoe. This isn't devotion to family — it's weakness of mind. It's like children who cry just as hard when they lose their parents as when they lose their toys.
“Good men are made angry by injuries done to their friends.” When you say this, Theophrastus, you seek to throw discredit upon more manly maxims; you leave the judge and appeal to the mob: because every one is angry when such things befall his own friends, you suppose that men will decide that it is their duty to do what they do: for as a rule every man considers a passion which he recognises to be a righteous one. But he does the same thing if the hot water is not ready for his drink, if a glass be broken, or his shoe splashed with mud. It is not filial piety, but weakness of mind that produces this anger, as children weep when they lose their parents, just as they do when they lose their toys.