§28οὐ χρὴ οὖν τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας νέους θρηνεῖν ὅτι τῶν ἐν τῷ μακρῷ βίῳ νομιζομένων ἀγαθῶν ἀπεστέρηνται·
Therefore, one must not mourn those who die young on the grounds that they have been deprived of the supposed goods in a long life.
τοῦτο γὰρ ἄδηλον, ὡς πολλάκις εἴπομεν, εἴτʼ ἀγαθῶν ἀπεστερημένοι τυγχάνουσιν εἴτε κακῶν· πολλῷ γὰρ πλείονα τὰ κακά.
For this is unclear, as we have often said, whether they happen to have been deprived of goods or of evils; for the evils are far more numerous.
καὶ τὰ μὲν μόγις καὶ διὰ πολλῶν φροντίδων κτώμεθα, τὰ δὲ κακὰ πάνυ ῥᾳδίως στρογγύλα γὰρ εἶναί φασι ταῦτα καὶ συνεχῆ καὶ πρὸς ἄλληλα φερόμενα κατὰ πολλὰς αἰτίας, τὰ δʼ ἀγαθὰ διεχῆ τε καὶ δυσκόλως συνερχόμενα πρὸς αὐτοῖς τοῦ βίου τοῖς τέρμασιν.
And we acquire goods with difficulty and through many cares, but evils very easily; for they say that these are round, continuous, and rushing toward one another for many reasons, while goods are scattered and with difficulty coming together at the very ends of life.
ἐπιλελησμένοις οὖν ἐοίκαμεν ὅτι οὐ μόνον, ὥς φησιν Εὐριπίδης,
τὰ χρήματα
οὐκ
ἴδια κέκτηνται βροτοί,
ἀλλʼ ἁπλῶς τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων οὐδέν.
We seem, therefore, to have forgotten that not only, as Euripides says, "mortals do not possess wealth as their own," but simply nothing of human affairs.
διὸ καὶ ἐπὶ πάντων λέγειν χρὴ
"
τὰ τῶν θεῶν δʼ ἔχοντες ἐπιμελούμεθα. ὅταν δὲ χρῄζωσʼ αὔτʼ ἀφαιροῦνται πάλιν. "
οὐ δεῖ οὖν δυσφορεῖν, ἐὰν ἃ ἔχρησαν ἡμῖν πρὸς ὀλίγον, ταῦτʼ ἀπαιτῶσιν οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ τραπεζῖται, καθάπερ εἰώθαμεν λέγειν πολλάκις, ἀπαιτούμενοι τὰ θέματα δυσχεραίνουσιν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀποδόσει, ἐάνπερ εὐγνωμονῶσι.
Therefore, one must say in all cases: "We take care of the things of the gods, holding them; and when they wish, they take them away again." One must not, therefore, be displeased if they demand back what they lent us for a short time; for even bankers, as we are often accustomed to say, when asked for deposits, do not complain at returning them, provided they are reasonable.
πρὸς γὰρ τοὺς οὐκ εὐμαρῶς ἀποδιδόντας εἰκότως ἄν τις εἴποι
ἐπελάθου ὅτι ταῦτʼ ἔλαβες ἐπὶ τῷ ἀποδοῦναι; τοῦτο δὴ τοῖς θνητοῖς ἅπασι συμβέβηκεν.
For to those who do not return them easily, one might reasonably say: "Have you forgotten that you received these on the condition of returning them?" This indeed has happened to all mortals.
ἔχομεν γὰρ τὸ ζῆν ὥσπερ παρὰ καταθεμένοις θεοῖς ἐξ ἀνάγκης, καὶ τούτου χρόνος οὐδείς ἐστιν ὡρισμένος τῆς ἀποδόσεως, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τοῖς τραπεζίταις τῆς τῶν θεμάτων, ἀλλʼ ἄδηλον πόθʼ ὁ δοὺς ἀπαιτήσει.
For we hold life, as it were, of necessity from the gods who deposited it, and there is no fixed time for its return, just as there is none for bankers regarding deposits, but it is unclear when the giver will demand it back.
ὁ οὖν ἢ αὐτὸς μέλλων ἀποθνήσκειν ἢ τέκνων ἀποθανόντων ὑπεραγανακτῶν πῶς οὐ καταφανῶς ἐπιλέλησται ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς ἄνθρωπός ἐστι καὶ τὰ τέκνα θνητὰ ἐγέννησεν;
How, then, is he who is about to die himself, or who is excessively grieved when his children die, not clearly forgetful that he himself is a human being and has begotten mortal children?
οὐ γάρ ἐστι φρένας ἔχοντος ἀνθρώπου ἀγνοεῖν ὅτι ὁ ἄνθρωπος ζῷόν ἐστι θνητόν, οὐδʼ ὅτι γέγονεν εἰς τὸ ἀποθανεῖν.
For it is not the part of a man of sense to be ignorant that man is a mortal animal, nor that he is born to die.
εἰ γοῦν ἡ Νιόβη κατὰ τοὺς μύθους πρόχειρον εἶχε τὴν ὑπόληψιν ταύτην ὅτι καὶ ἡ
"
θαλέθοντι βίῳ
βλάσταις τε τέκνων βριθομένα γλυκερὸν
φάος ὁρῶσα
"
τελευτήσει, οὐκ ἂν οὕτως ἐδυσχέραινεν ὡς καὶ τὸ ζῆν ἐθέλειν ἐκλιπεῖν διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς συμφορᾶς, καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ἐπικαλεῖσθαι ἀνάρπαστον αὐτὴν γενέσθαι πρὸς ἀπώλειαν τὴν χαλεπωτάτην.
If indeed Niobe, according to the myths, had had ready at hand this assumption, that she too, "with a flourishing life and weighed down by the offspring of children, beholding the sweet light," would end her life, she would not have grieved so much as even to wish to leave life because of the magnitude of her misfortune, and to call upon the gods to snatch her away to the most painful destruction.
δύʼ ἐστὶ τῶν Δελφικῶν γραμμάτων τὰ μάλιστʼ ἀναγκαιότατα πρὸς τὸν βίον, τὸ
γνῶθι σαυτὸν
καὶ τὸ μηδὲν
ἄγαν· ἐκ τούτων γὰρ ἤρτηται καὶ τἄλλα πάντα.
There are two of the Delphic inscriptions that are most highly necessary for life: "Know thyself" and "Nothing too much"; for on these all other things depend.
ταῦτα γάρ ἐστιν ἀλλήλοις συνῳδὰ καὶ σύμφωνα, καὶ διὰ θατέρου θάτερον ἔοικε δηλοῦσθαι κατὰ δύναμιν. ἔν τε γὰρ τῷ γιγνώσκειν ἑαυτὸν· περιέχεται τὸ μηδὲν ἄγαν, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τὸ γιγνώσκειν ἑαυτόν.
For these are harmonious and in agreement with each other, and through the one the other seems to be manifested as far as possible.
διὸ καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτου φησὶν ὁ Ἴων οὕτως
"
τὸ γνῶθι σαυτὸν τοῦτʼ ἔπος μὲν οὐ μέγα,
ἔργον δʼ ὅσον Ζεὺς μόνος· ἐπίσταται θεῶν,
"
ὁ δὲ Πίνδαρος
"
σοφοὶ δέ φησὶ καὶ τὸ μηδὲν ἄγαν ἔπος αἴνησαν
περισσῶς
" §29ταῦτʼ οὖν ἐν διανοίᾳ τις ἔχων ὡς πυθόχρηστα παραγγέλματα πρὸς πάντα τὰ τοῦ βίου πράγματα ῥᾳδίως ἐφαρμόζειν δυνήσεται καὶ φέρειν αὐτὰ δεξιῶς, εἴς τε τὴν αὑτοῦ φύσιν ἀφορῶν καὶ εἰς τὸ μὴ πέρα τοῦ προσήκοντος ἐν τοῖς προσπίπτουσιν ἢ διαίρεσθαι πρὸς ἀλαζονείαν ἢ ταπεινοῦσθαι καὶ καταπίπτειν πρὸς οἴκτους καὶ ὀλοφυρμοὺς διὰ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσθένειαν καὶ τὸν ἐμφυόμενον ἡμῖν τοῦ θανάτου φόβον παρὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τῶν εἰωθότων ἐν τῷ βίῳ συμβαίνειν κατὰ τὴν τῆς ἀνάγκης ἢ πεπρωμένης μοῖραν.
For in "know thyself" is included "nothing too much," and in the latter "know thyself." Therefore, concerning the former Ion speaks thus: "This word, 'know thyself,' is indeed not large, but how great a deed, which Zeus alone of the gods understands," and Pindar says: "And the wise have exceedingly praised the saying, 'nothing too much'." Keeping these things in mind, then, as Pythian-oracle-decreed precepts, one will be able easily to apply them to all the affairs of life and to bear them adroitly, looking both to one's own nature and to not being, beyond what is fitting in the things that befall us, either elevated to pride or humbled and cast down to laments and wailings, on account of the weakness of the soul and the fear of death implanted in us through ignorance of what is accustomed to happen in life according to the portion of necessity or fate.
καλῶς δʼ οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι παρεκελεύσαντο λέγοντες
"
ὅσσα δὲ δαιμονίῃσι τύχαις βροτοὶ ἄλγεʼ ἔχουσιν,
ἣν ἂν μοῖραν ἔχῃς, ταύτην ἔχε μηδʼ ἀγανάκτει
"
καὶ ὁ τραγικὸς Αἰσχύλος
"
ἀνδρῶν γάρ ἐστιν ἐνδίκων τε καὶ σοφῶν
κἀν τοῖσι δεινοῖς μὴ τεθυμῶσθαι θεοῖς
"
καὶ ὁ Εὐριπίδης
"
ὅστις δʼ ἀνάγκῃ συγκεχώρηκεν βροτῶν
σοφὸς παρʼ ἡμῖν καὶ τὰ θεῖʼ ἐπίσταται
"
καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις
"
τὰ προσπεσόντα δʼ ὅστις εὖ φέρει βροτῶν,
ἄριστος εἶναι σωφρονεῖν τέ μοι δοκεῖ
"
And well did the Pythagoreans exhort, saying: "Whatever pains mortals have by divine fortunes, bear the lot you have, and do not be angry," and the tragic poet Aeschylus: "For it is the part of just and wise men not to be angry with the gods even in terrible times," and Euripides: "Whoever among mortals has yielded to necessity is wise in our eyes and knows divine things," and in other verses: "Whoever of mortals bears well the things that befall him, seems to me to be the best and to be wise."