§13τινὰ γὰρ οὐδὲ συνυπάρχειν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὑπεναντιοῦσθαι πέφυκεν ἀλλήλοις τῶν σπουδαζομένων, οἷον ἄσκησις λόγων καὶ μαθημάτων ἀνάληψις ἀπραγμοσύνης δεῖται καὶ σχολῆς· δυνάμεις δὲ πολιτικαὶ καὶ φιλίαι βασιλέων οὐκ ἄνευ πραγμάτων οὐδʼ ἀσχολιῶν περιγίγνονται.
For some of the things eagerly pursued are by nature unable to coexist, but rather are opposed to each other; for instance, the practice of speaking and the acquisition of learning require quiet and leisure, while political powers and the friendships of kings are not attained without business and distractions.
καὶ μὴν
οἶνοί τε καὶ σαρκῶν ἐμφορήσεις σῶμα μὲν ἰσχυρὸν ποιοῦσι καὶ ῥωμαλέον, ψυχὴν δʼ ἀσθενῆ
καὶ χρημάτων ἐπιμέλεια μὲν συνεχὴς καὶ τήρησις αὔξει πλοῦτον, ὑπεροψία δὲ καὶ περιφρόνησις μέγα πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν ἐφόδιον. ὅθεν οὐ πάντα πάντων ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ δεῖ τῷ Πυθικῷ γράμματι πειθόμενον αὑτὸν καταμαθεῖν· εἶτα χρῆσθαι πρὸς ἓν ὃ πέφυκε, καὶ μὴ πρὸς ἄλλον ἄλλοτε βίου ζῆλον ἕλκειν καὶ παραβιάζεσθαι τὴν φύσιν· "
ἐν ἅρμασιν ἵππος, ἐν δʼ ἀρότρῳ βοῦς,
παρὰ ναῦν δʼ ἰθύει τάχιστα δελφίς,
κάπρῳ δὲ βουλεύοντα φόνον
κύνα χρὴ τλάθυμον ἐξευρεῖν.
Indeed, "wine and the consumption of meat make the body strong and robust, but the soul weak," and "constant care and keeping of money increase wealth, but disregard and contempt for it are a great provision for philosophy." Hence, not all things belong to all people, but one must obey the Pythian inscription and understand oneself; then, apply oneself to the one thing for which one is naturally suited, and not drag oneself toward another way of life at different times, thereby doing violence to nature: "In chariots the horse, in the plow the ox, and beside the ship the dolphin swiftest glides, while for the boar's slaughter one must find a stout-hearted dog.
"
ὁ δʼ ἀσχάλλων καὶ λυπούμενος ὅτι μὴ καὶ λέων ἐστὶν
"ὀρεσίτροφος ἀλκὶ πεποιθώς"
ἅμα καὶ κυνίδιον Μελιταῖον ἐν κόλπῳ χήρας γυναικὸς τιθηνούμενον, ἀπόπληκτός ἐστι.
"But he who is vexed and grieved because he is not also a lion "mountain-bred, trusting in his strength," and at the same time a Maltese lapdog nursed in the lap of a widow, is out of his mind.
τούτου δʼ οὐδέν βελτίων ὁ βουλόμενος ἅμα μὲν Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ἢ Πλάτων ἢ Δημόκριτος εἶναι περὶ κόσμου γράφων καὶ τῆς τῶν ὄντων ἀληθείας, ἅμα δὲ πλουσίᾳ γραῒ συγκαθεύδειν ὡς Εὐφορίων, ἢ ἰὼν ἐπὶ κῶμον Ἀλεξάνδρῳ συμπίνειν ὡς Μήδιος· ἀγανακτῶν δὲ καὶ λυπούμενος, εἰ μὴ θαυμάζεται διὰ πλοῦτον ὡς Ἰσμηνίας καὶ διʼ ἀρετὴν ὡς Ἐπαμεινώνδας.
No better than him is the one who wishes to be at once Empedocles or Plato or Democritus, writing about the cosmos and the truth of existence, and at the same time to sleep with a rich old woman like Euphorion, or to go reveling and drinking with Alexander like Medius; and is indignant and grieved if he is not admired for wealth like Ismenias and for virtue like Epaminondas.
οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ δρομεῖς, ὅτι μὴ τοὺς τῶν παλαιστῶν φέρονται στεφάνους, ἀθυμοῦσιν ἀλλὰ τοῖς αὑτῶν ἀγάλλονται καὶ χαίρουσι
Σπάρταν ἔλαχες, ταύταν κόσμει
καὶ γὰρ ὁ Σόλων
"ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς αὐτοῖς οὐ διαμειψόμεθα"
τῆς ἀρετῆς τὸν πλοῦτον· ἐπεὶ τὸ μὲν ἔμπεδόν αἰεί,
"χρήματα δʼ ἀνθρώπων ἄλλοτε ἄλλος ἔχει. "
καὶ Στράτων ὁ φυσικός, ἀκούσας ὅτι πολλαπλασίους ἔχει Μενέδημος μαθητάς,
τί οὖν
ἔφη
θαυμαστόν, εἰ πλείονὲς εἰσιν οἱ λούεσθαι θέλοντες τῶν ἀλείφεσθαι βουλομένων
Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ πρὸς Ἀντίπατρον γράφων
οὐκ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ μόνον
ἔφη
προσήκει μέγα φρονεῖν, ὅτι κρατεῖ πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων; ἀλλʼ οὐχ ἧττον οἷς ὑπάρχει περὶ θεῶν ἃ δεῖ δοξάζειν. τοὺς γὰρ οὕτω, τὰ οἰκεῖα σεμνύνοντας οὐκ ἐνοχλήσει τὰ τῶν πλησίον νῦν δὲ τὴν ἄμπελον σῦκα φέρειν οὐκ ἀξιοῦμεν οὐδὲ τὴν ἐλαίαν βότρυς· αὐτοὶ δʼ ἑαυτούς, ἐὰν μὴ καὶ τὰ τῶν πλουσίων ἅμα καὶ τὰ τῶν λογίων καὶ τὰ τῶν στρατευομένων καὶ τὰ τῶν φιλοσοφούντων καὶ τὰ τῶν κολακευόντων καὶ τὰ τῶν παρρησιαζομένων καὶ τὰ τῶν φειδομένων καὶ τὰ τῶν δαπανώντων ἔχωμεν προτερήματα, συκοφαντοῦμεν καὶ ἀχαριστοῦμεν αὑτοῖς καὶ καταφρονοῦμεν ὡς, ἐνδεῶς καὶ εὐτελῶς βιούντων.
For not even the runners, because they do not carry off the crowns of the wrestlers, are disheartened, but they exult and rejoice in their own: "Sparta is your lot; adorn her." And indeed Solon said: "But we will not exchange with them our virtue for their wealth; since the former is always secure, whereas of money, now one man has it, now another." And Straton the physicist, hearing that Menedemus had many times more disciples, said: "What wonder is it, then, if more people wish to bathe than wish to be anointed?" And Aristotle, writing to Antipater, said: "It is not only for Alexander to think big because he rules many men, but no less so for those who hold such opinions about the gods as they ought to hold." For those who thus respect their own possessions will not be disturbed by the affairs of their neighbors. But as it is, we do not expect the vine to bear figs, nor the olive to bear grapes; yet we ourselves, unless we have the advantages of the rich, and of the learned, and of the military, and of the philosophers, and of the flatterers, and of the outspoken, and of the thrifty, and of the extravagant all at once, we slander and are ungrateful to ourselves, and look down on ourselves as living a needy and mean life.
πρὸς δὲ τούτῳ καὶ τὴν φύσιν ὁρῶμεν ὑπομιμνήσκουσαν ἡμᾶς.
And besides this, we see nature also reminding us.
ὡς γὰρ τῶν θηρίων ἑτέροις ἀφʼ ἑτέρων παρεσκεύασε τὴν τροφὴν εἶναι καὶ οὐ πάντα σαρκοφαγεῖν ἢ σπερμολογεῖν ἢ ῥιζωρυχεῖν ἐποίησεν, οὕτω τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ποικίλας πρὸς τὸν βίον ἀφορμὰς ἔδωκε· "μηλοβότᾳ τʼ ἀρότᾳ τʼ ὀρνιχολόχῳ τε"
καὶ ὃν πόντος τρέφει δεῖ δὲ τὸ πρόσφορον ἑαυτοῖς ἑλομένους καὶ διαπονοῦντας ἐᾶν τὰ τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ μὴ τὸν Ἡσίοδον ἐλέγχειν ἐνδεέστερον εἰπόντα
"καὶ κεραμεὺς κεραμεῖ κοτέει καὶ τέκτονι τέκτων. "
οὐ γὰρ μόνον τοὺς ὁμοτέχνους καὶ τοὺς ὁμοτρόπους ζηλοῦντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ λογίους πλούσιοι καὶ πλουσίους ἔνδοξοι καὶ δικολόγοι σοφιστάς, καὶ ναὶ μὰ Δία κωμῳδοὺς εὐημεροῦντας ἐν θεάτροις καὶ ὀρχηστὰς καὶ θεράποντας ἐν αὐλαῖς βασιλέων ἐλεύθεροι καὶ εὐπατρίδαι κατατεθαμβημένοι καὶ μακαρίζοντες, οὐ μετρίως λυποῦσιν αὑτοὺς καὶ ταράττουσιν.
For just as she has provided different food for different beasts, and did not make all of them meat-eaters or seed-gatherers or root-diggers, so she has given to humans diverse means of life: "for the shepherd, the plowman, and the fowler," and him whom the sea feeds. It is necessary for us to choose what is suitable for ourselves and work hard at it, leaving the affairs of others alone, and not to blame Hesiod for saying rather deficiently: "And potter is angry with potter, and craftsman with craftsman." For we do not only envy our rivals in trade and those of like character, but the rich envy the learned, and the famous envy the rich, and lawyers envy sophists; and, by Zeus, free men and nobles of high birth are utterly astounded by and call happy the comic actors succeeding in theaters, and dancers, and servants in the courts of kings, thereby causing themselves no small grief and disturbance.