And a certain poet of ours said, "nothing in excess." To this belongs both senses, the Italian and the Dorian.
§158fandi, tacendi, somni, vigilii is modus, §159beneficiorum, gratiarum, iniuriae, §160studii, laborum: vita in omni quidquid est, §161istum requirit optimae pausae modum.
That measure applies to speaking, keeping silent, sleeping, waking, to benefits, to gratitude, to wrongdoing, to zeal, to labors: whatever there is in all of life, requires that measure of optimal restraint.
§162Dixi: recedam, sit modus, venit Thales.
I have spoken: I shall withdraw, let there be limit, Thales comes.
§163MILESIUS sum Thales, aquam qui principem §164rebus creandis 3 dixi, ut vates Pindarus, 4 §164acuique olim iussu Apollinis tripodem aureum 5 §165dedere piscatores extractum mari; §166namque hi iubente Delio me legerant, §167quod ille munus hoc sapienti miserat.
I am Thales of Miletus, who said that water is the primary element for creating things, as the poet Pindar said; and to whom once, by Apollo's command, the golden tripod the fishermen gave, which had been dragged from the sea; for they had chosen me at the bidding of the Delian god, because he had sent this gift for the wise man.
§168ego recusans non recepi et reddidi
I, refusing, did not accept it, and returned it to be carried to others whom I believed to be superior.
§169ferendum ad alios, quos priores crederem. §170dein per omnes septem sapientes viros §171missum ac remissum rursus ad me deferunt.
Then, through all the seven wise men, sent and sent back, they brought it down to me again.
§172ego receptum consecravi Apollini; §173nam si sapientem deligi Phoebus iubet, §174non hominem quemquam, set deum credi decet.
Having received it, I consecrated it to Apollo; for if Phoebus orders a wise man to be chosen, not any man, but a god is fitting to be believed so.
§175Is igitur ego sum.
I, therefore, am that man.
causa set in scaenam fuit §176mihi prodeundi, quae duobus ante me, §177adsertor ut sententiae fierem meae.
But the reason for my coming forward onto the stage was the same as for the two before me: that I might become the advocate of my own maxim.
It will displease, yet not the wise, whom experience has taught and rendered expert.
§180' en ἐγγύα, πάρα δ' ἄτα, graece dicimus: §181Latinum est, sponde, noxa set praesto tibi. §182per mille possem currere exempla, ut probem §183praedes vadesque paenitudinis reos.
"en engya, para d' ata", we say in Greek: in Latin it is: "promise, but harm is ready for you." I could run through a thousand examples to prove that guarantors and sureties are guilty of regret.
§184sed nolo quemquam nominatim dicere: §185sibi quisque vestrum dicat et secum putet, §186spondere quantis damno fuerit et malo.
But I do not wish to mention any one by name: let each of you say to himself and consider in his own mind, to how many pledging has been a loss and an evil.
§187gratum hoc officium maneat ambobus tamen.
Yet let this pleasing duty remain for both.
§188Pars plaudite ergo, pars offensi explodite.
Therefore, let some applaud, and let some, being offended, hiss me off.
§189BIAS Prieneus quod 1 dixi oἱ πλεῖστοι κακοι, §190Latine dictum suspicor: plures mali. §191dixisse nollem; veritas odium parit.
I, Bias of Priene, because I said "most are bad," which, I suspect, is said in Latin as: "most are bad." I wish I had not said it; truth breeds hatred.
But I called those "bad" who are ignorant and barbarian, who neglect law and justice and sacred customs.
For that people by whom the theater is surrounded, is entirely composed of good men.
hostium tellus habet, §196dixisse quos me creditis, plures malos, §197sed nemo quisquam tam malus iudex fuat, §198quin iam bonorum partibus se copulet, §199sive ille vere bonus est, seu dici studet.
The land of enemies holds those whom you believe me to have called "most are bad," but let no one be so bad a judge as not to join himself now to the side of the good, whether he is truly good, or desires to be called so.
§200iam fugit illud nomen invisum mali.
Now that hated name of "bad" has fled.
§201Abeo.
I depart.
valete et plaudite, plures boni. 1
Farewell, and applaud, you majority of good men.
§202MYTILENA ego ortus Pittacus sum Lesbius, §203γίνωσκε καιρὸν qui docui sententiam. §204set iste καιρόσ, tempus ut noris, monet §205et esse καιρόν, tempestivum quod vocant. §206Romana sic et est vox: veni in tempore. 2 §207vester quoque iste comicus Terentius §208rerum omnium esse primum tempus autumat, §209ad Antiphilam quom venerat servus Dromo 3 §210nullo inpeditam, temporis servans vicem.
I, born in Mytilene, am Pittacus the Lesbian, who taught the maxim "know thy opportunity." But that "kairos" warns you to know the time, and that "kairon" is what they call "seasonable." Thus also is the Roman expression: "I came in time." Your comic poet Terence also asserts that time is the primary thing in all matters, when the slave Dromo had come to Antiphila, finding her unhindered by anything, observing the turn of time.
Reflect, all of you, how often one falls into trouble, to whom the proper opportunity has not been observed.
§213Tempus monet, ne sim molestus, plaudite.
Time warns me not to be troublesome; applaud.
§214EPHYRA creatus huc Periander prodeo, §215μελέτη τὸ πᾶν qui dixi et dictum iam probo, §216meditationis esse, quod recte geras.
I, born in Ephyra, Periander, step forward here, who said "care is everything" and now prove my saying, that whatever you do rightly is the result of careful thought.
For he alone is effective in accomplishing a task, who beforehand meditates on every business.
The comic poet Terence declares that adverse or favorable circumstances must be meditated upon by all.
§221locare sedes, bellum gerere aut ponere, §222magnas modicasque res, etiam parvas quoque §223agere volentem semper meditari decet.
To establish dwellings, to wage war or to lay it down, great and moderate affairs, and even small ones too, it becomes him who wishes to act always to meditate.
For all are slower in new undertakings, if meditation on the action to be done was lacking.
There is nothing that demands greater care than to reflect on what must be done.
dehinc §228incogitantes fors, non consilium regit.
Henceforth, chance, not counsel, rules those who do not think.