§10καίτοι καὶ τοῦτο μέγα πρὸς εὐθυμίαν ἐστί, τὸ μάλιστα μὲν αὑτὸν ἐπισκοπεῖν καὶ τὰ καθʼ αὑτόν, εἰ δὲ μή, τοὺς ὑποδεεστέρους ἀποθεωρεῖν καὶ μή, καθάπερ οἱ πολλοί, πρὸς τοὺς ὑπερέχοντας ἀντιπαρεξάγουσιν.
And yet this also is a great thing for cheerfulness, namely, to look especially at oneself and one's own affairs, or, if not, to look at those who are inferior, and not, as the majority do, compare themselves to those who excel.
οἷον εὐθύς, οἱ δεδεμένοι εὐδαιμονίζουσι τοὺς λελυμένους, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ τοὺς ἐλευθέρους οἱ δʼ ἐλεύθεροι. τοὺς πολίτας, οὗτοι δὲ πάλιν αὖ τοὺς πλουσίους, οἱ δὲ πλούσιοι τοὺς σατράπας οἱ δὲ σατράπαι τοὺς βασιλεῖς, οἱ δὲ βασιλεῖς τοὺς θεούς, μονονοὺ βροντᾶν καὶ ἀστράπτειν θέλοντες.
For example, immediately, those in bonds call happy those who are released; those, in turn, the free; and the free, the citizens; these, in turn, the rich; the rich, the satraps; the satraps, the kings; and the kings, the gods, wishing almost to thunder and lighten.
εἷθʼ οὕτως ἀεὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοὺς ἐνδεεῖς ὄντες οὐδέποτε τοῖς καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς χάριν ἔχουσιν.
Then, in this way, always feeling lack of those things above themselves, they never feel gratitude for their own circumstances.
"οὔ μοι τὰ Γύγεω τοῦ πολυχρύσου μέλει· "
καί
"
οὐδʼ εἷλὲ πώ με ζῆλος, οὐδʼ ἀγαίομαι
θεῶν ἔργα, μεγάλης δʼ οὐκ ἐρέω τυραννίδος
ἀπόπροθεν γάρ ἐστιν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐμῶν.
"The affairs of Gyges rich in gold do not concern me," and "nor has envy yet seized me, nor do I admire the works of the gods, nor do I desire a great tyranny; for it is far from my eyes," as he said.
"
Θάσιος γὰρ ἦν ἐκεῖνος· ἄλλος δέ τις Χῖος, ἄλλος δὲ Γαλάτης ἢ Βιθυνὸς οὐκ ἀγαπῶν, εἴ τινος μερίδος ἦν ἢ δόξαν ἢ δύναμιν ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ πολίταις εἴληχεν, ἀλλὰ κλαίων ὅτι μὴ φορεῖ πατρικίους ἐὰν δὲ καὶ φορῇ, ὅτι μηδέπω στρατηγεῖ Ῥωμαίων ἐὰν δὲ καὶ στρατηγῇ, ὅτι μὴ ὑπατεύει· καὶ ὑπατεύων, ὅτι μὴ πρῶτος ἀλλʼ ὕστερος ἀνηγορεύθη.
For that man was a Thasian; but some other Chian, or Galatian, or Bithynian is not content if he has obtained some share of honor or power among his own citizens, but weeps because he does not wear patrician shoes; and if he does wear them, because he is not yet a Roman praetor; and if he is a praetor, because he is not consul; and when consul, because he was not declared first, but later.
τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶ τί ἄλλο ἢ συλλέγοντα προφάσεις ἀχαριστίας ἐπὶ τὴν τύχην αὐτὸν ὑφʼ αὑτοῦ κολάζεσθαι καὶ διδόναι δίκην;
And what else is this than that, by gathering pretexts of ingratitude against fortune, he is punished by himself and pays the penalty?
ἀλλʼ ὅ γε νοῦν ἔχων σωτήρια φρονοῦντα τοῦ ἡλίου μυριάδας ἀνθρώπων ἐφορῶντος
"εὐρυεδοῦς ὅσοι καρπὸν αἰνύμεθα χθονός,"
οὐκ εἴ τινων ἧττον ἔνδοξός ἐστι καὶ πλούσιος, ὀδυρόμενος κάθηται καὶ ταπεινούμενος, ἀλλʼ ὅτι μυρίων μυριάκις ἐν τοσούτοις εὐσχημονέστερον ζῇ καὶ βέλτιον, ὑμνῶν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ δαίμονα καὶ τὸν βίον ὁδῷ πρόεισιν.
But he who has sense, keeping saving thoughts while the sun looks down upon myriads of men— "as many of us as reap the fruit of the wide-wayed earth"— does not sit weeping and humbled if he is less famous and rich than some, but because among so many myriads he lives more decently and better than tens of thousands, praising his own guardian spirit and his life, he goes on his way.
ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι νικᾶν ἐκ λεγόμενον ἀντιπάλους· ἐν δὲ τῷ βίῳ τὰ πράγματα δίδωσι περιόντα πολλῶν μέγα φρονεῖν, καὶ ζηλωτὸν εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ ζηλοῦν ἑτέρους· ἄν γε δὴ μὴ τοῦ Βριάρεω μηδὲ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ποιήσῃς σεαυτὸν ἀνταγωνιστήν.
For in Olympia it is not possible to win by selecting one's opponents; but in life, circumstances allow us to excel many and to be proud, and to be envied rather than to envy others—at least if you do not make yourself a rival of Briareus or Heracles.
ὅταν οὖν πάνυ θαυμάσῃς ὡς κρείττονα τὸν ἐν τῷ φορείῳ κομιζόμενον, ὑποκύψας θέασαι καὶ τοὺς βαστάζοντας· καὶ ὅταν διαβαίνοντα τὴν σχεδίαν μακαρίσῃς τὸν Ξέρξην ἐκεῖνον, ὡς ὁ Ἑλλησπόντιος, ἴδε καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ μάστιξι διορύττοντας τὸν Ἄθω καὶ τοὺς περικοπτομένους ὦτα καὶ ῥῖνας ἐπὶ τῷ διαλυθῆναι τὴν γέφυραν ὑπὸ τοῦ κλύδωνος, ἅμα καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων ἀποθεωρῶν διάνοιαν ὅτι τὸν σὸν βίον καὶ τὰ σὰ πράγματα μακαρίζουσιν.
So when you admire greatly the man carried in a litter as superior, look down and observe also those who carry it; and when you call happy that famous Xerxes crossing on his raft, as the Hellespontian did, look also at those digging through Athos under the whip, and those whose ears and noses were cut off because the bridge was broken by the swell, while at the same time observing their mindset, that they call happy your life and your circumstances.
ὁ Σωκράτης ἀκούσας τινὸς τῶν φίλων λέγοντος ὡς πολυτελὴς ἡ πόλις
μνᾶς ὁ Χῖος οἶνος, ἡ πορφύρα τριῶν μνῶν, τοῦ μέλιτος ἡ κοτύλη πέντε δραχμῶν· λαβὼν αὐτὸν προσήγαγε τοῖς ἀλφίτοις ὀβολοῦ
τὸ ἡμίεκτον, εὐτελὴς ἡ πόλις· εἶτα ταῖς ἐλαίαις
δυεῖν χαλκοῖν ἡ χοῖνιξ, εὐτελὴς ἡ πόλις· εἶτα ταῖς ἐξωμίσι
δέκα δραχμῶν, εὐτελὴς ἡ πόλις. οὐκοῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς, ὅταν ἀκούσωμεν ἑτέρου λέγοντος, ὡς μικρὰ τὰ καθʼ ἡμᾶς πράγματα καὶ λυπρὰ δεινῶς, μὴ ὑπατευόντων μηδʼ ἐπιτροπευόντων, ἔξεστιν εἰπεῖν
λαμπρὰ τὰ καθʼ ἡμᾶς πράγματα καὶ ζηλωτὸς ἡμῶν ὁ βίος, οὐ προσαιτοῦμεν οὐκ ἀχθοφοροῦμεν οὐ κολακεύομεν.
Socrates, hearing one of his friends saying how expensive the city was— "A mina for Chian wine, three minas for purple, five drachmas for a cotyle of honey"— took him and led him to the barley meal: "An obol for a half-hekteus, the city is cheap"; then to the olives: "Two chalcoi for a choenix, the city is cheap"; then to the exomises: "Ten drachmas, the city is cheap." Therefore we too, when we hear someone else saying how small and terribly miserable our affairs are, because we are neither consuls nor governors, can say: "Our affairs are splendid and our life is enviable; we do not beg, we do not carry burdens, we do not flatter."