§4.1ἢ τοῦτο πρῶτον ἀμφιλογίαν ἔχει;
Or is this first point open to dispute?
πενία γὰρ αἰσχρὸν οὐδαμοῦ μὲν διʼ αὑτήν, ἀλλʼ ὅπου δεῖγμα ῥᾳθυμίας ἐστίν, ἀκρασίας, πολυτελείας, ἀλογιστίας, ἀνδρὶ δὲ σώφρονι καὶ φιλοπόνῳ καὶ δικαίῳ καὶ ἀνδρείῳ καὶ δημοσιεύοντι ταῖς ἀρεταῖς άπάσαις συνοῦσα μεγαλοψυχίας ἐστὶ καὶ μεγαλοφροσύνης σημεῖον.
For poverty is nowhere a disgraceful thing in itself, but only where it is a sign of laziness, intemperance, extravagance, and thoughtlessness; whereas, when it accompanies a man who is temperate, industrious, just, brave, and who employs all his virtues for the public good, it is a sign of magnanimity and high-mindedness.
§4.2οὐ γὰρ ἔστι πράττειν μεγάλα φροντίζοντα μικρῶν, οὐδὲ πολλοῖς δεομένοις βοηθεῖν πολλῶν αὐτὸν δεόμενον.
For it is impossible to achieve great things while worrying about small matters, nor to help many who are in need when one is himself in need of many things.
μέγα δʼ εἰς πολιτείαν ἐφόδιον οὐχὶ πλοῦτος, ἀλλʼ αὐτάρκεια, τῷ μηδενὸς ἰδίᾳ τῶν περιττῶν δεῖσθαι πρὸς οὐδεμίαν ἀσχολίαν ἄγουσα τῶν δημοσίων, ἀπροσδεὴς μὲν γὰρ ἁπλῶς ὁ θεὸς, ἀνθρωπίνης δʼ ἀρετῆς, ᾧ συνάγεται πρὸς τὸ ἐλάχιστον ἡ χρείᾳ, τοῦτο τελειότατον καὶ θειότατον.
And a great resource for public life is not wealth, but self-sufficiency, which, by requiring nothing of superfluous things for oneself, leads to no distraction from public affairs; for God is absolutely free from want, and of human virtue, that in which need is brought down to the minimum is the most perfect and divine.
§4.3ὡς γὰρ σῶμα τὸ καλῶς πρὸς εὐεξίαν κεκραμένον οὔτʼ ἐσθῆτος οὔτε τροφῆς δεῖται περιττῆς, οὕτω καὶ βίος καὶ οἶκος ὑγιαίνων ἀπὸ τῶν τυχόντων διοικεῖται.
For just as a body well-tempered for health needs neither superfluous clothing nor food, so also a healthy life and household are managed with ordinary means.
δεῖ δὲ τῇ χρείᾳ σύμμετρον ἔχειν τὴν κτῆσιν· ὡς ὅ γε πολλὰ συνάγων, ὀλίγοις δὲ χρώμενος οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτάρκης, ἀλλʼ εἴτε μὴ δεῖται, τῆς παρασκευῆς ὧν οὐκ ὀρέγεται μάταιος, εἴτʼ ὀρέγεται, μικρολογίᾳ κολούων τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν ἄθλιος.
And one must keep one's acquisition proportionate to one's need; for he who gathers much but uses little is not self-sufficient, but either, if he does not need them, he is foolish in providing things he does not desire, or, if he does desire them, he is wretched in cutting short his enjoyment through stinginess.
αὐτοῦ γέ τοι Κάτωνος ἡδέως ἂν πυθοίμην· §4.4εἰ μὲν ἀπολαυστὸν ὁ πλοῦτός ἐστι, τί σεμνύνῃ τῷ πολλὰ κεκτημένος ἀρκεῖσθαι μετρίοις;
Indeed, I would gladly ask Cato himself: "If wealth is something to be enjoyed, why do you pride yourself on being content with moderate things while possessing much?
εἰ δὲ λαμπρόν ἐστιν, ὥσπερ ἐστίν, ἄρτῳ τε χρῆσθαι τῷ προστυχόντι καὶ πίνειν οἷον ἐργάται πίνουσι καὶ θεράποντες οἶνον καὶ πορφύρας μὴ δεηθῆναι μηδὲ οἰκίας κεκονιαμένης, οὐδὲν οὔτʼ Ἀριστείδης οὔτʼ Ἐπαμεινώνδας οὔτε Μάνιος Κούριος οὔτε Γάιος Φαβρίκιος ἐνέλιπον τοῦ προσήκοντος, χαίρειν ἐάσαντες τὴν κτῆσιν ὧν τὴν χρῆσιν ἀπεδοκίμαζον. §4.5οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀναγκαῖον ἀνθρώπῳ γογγυλίδας ἥδιστον ὄψον πεποιημένῳ καὶ διʼ αὑτοῦ ταύτας ἕψοντι, ματτούσης ἅμα τῆς γυναικὸς ἄλφιτα, τοσαῦτα περὶ ἀσσαρίου θρυλεῖν καὶ γράφειν ἀφʼ ἧς ἄν τις ἐργασίας τάχιστα πλούσιος γένοιτο, μέγα γὰρ τὸ εὐτελὲς καὶ αὔταρκες, ὅτι τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἅμα καὶ τῆς φροντίδος ἀπαλλάττει τῶν περιττῶν.
But if it is noble—as indeed it is—to use whatever bread comes to hand, and to drink such wine as laborers and servants drink, and not to need purple robes or a plastered house, then neither Aristides nor Epaminondas nor Manius Curius nor Gaius Fabricius fell short in any way of what was fitting, since they bid farewell to the possession of those things whose use they rejected." For it was not necessary for a man who made turnips his most delicious meal and boiled them himself, while his wife at the same time kneaded barley-meal, to prate so much about an assarion and to write about by what sort of work one might quickest become rich; for frugality and self-sufficiency are great because they free a person from both desire and care for superfluous things.
§4.6διὸ καὶ τοῦτό φασιν ἐν τῇ Καλλίου δίκῃ τὸν Ἀριστείδην εἰπεῖν, ὡς αἰσχύνεσθαι πενίαν προσήκει τοῖς ἀκουσίως πενομένοις, τοῖς δʼ, ὥσπερ αὐτὸς, ἑκουσίως, ἐγκαλλωπίζεσθαι.
Therefore they say that Aristides also said this in the trial of Callias: that it is fitting for those to be ashamed of poverty who are poor against their will, but for those who, like himself, are poor voluntarily, to pride themselves on it.
γελοῖον γὰρ οἴεσθαι ῥᾳθυμίας εἶναι τὴν Ἀριστείδου πενίαν, ᾧ παρῆν αἰσχρὸν εἰργασμένῳ μηδέν, ἀλλʼ ἕνα σκυλεύσαντι βάρβαρον ἢ μίαν σκηνὴν καταλαβόντι πλουσίῳ γενέσθαι, ταῦτα μὲν οὖν περὶ τούτων.
For it is ridiculous to think that the poverty of Aristides was due to laziness, since it was in his power, without doing anything disgraceful, but merely by despoiling a single barbarian or by seizing a single wealthy tent, to become rich. So much, then, for these matters.