On Tranquillity of Mind (13)

There are, indeed, some pursuits which cannot by their very nature exist together, but rather are by nature opposed to each other; for example, training in rhetoric and the pursuit of mathematics require a quiet life and leisure, while political functions and the friendship of kings cannot succeed without hard work and the full occupation of one’s time. And[*] wine and indulgence in meat do indeed make the body strong and vigorous, but the soul weak [*]; and unremitting care to acquire and preserve money increases wealth, yet contempt and disdain for it is greatly conducive to progress in philosophy. Therefore not all pursuits are for everyone, but one must, obeying the Pythian[*] inscription, know one’s self, and then use one’s self for that one thing for which Nature has fitted one and not do violence to nature by dragging one’s self towards the emulation of now one sort of life, now another.

The horse is for the chariot;

The ox for the plough; beside the ship most swiftly speeds the dolphin;

And if you think to slay a boar, you must find a stout-hearted hound.[*]

But that man is out of his wits who is annoyed and pained that he is not at the same time both a lion

Bred on the mountains, sure of his strength,[*]

and a little Maltese dog cuddled in the lap of a widow.[*] But not a whit better than he is the man who wishes at the same time to be an Empedocles or a Plato or a Democritus, writing about the universe and the true nature of reality, and, like Euphorion, to be married to a wealthy old woman, or, like Medius,[*] to be one of Alexander’s boon companions and drink with him; and is vexed and grieved if he is not admired for his wealth, like Ismenias, and also for his valour, like Epameinondas. We know that runners are not discouraged because they do not carry off wrestlers’ crowns, but they exult and rejoice in their own.

Your portion is Sparta: let your crowns be for her![*]

So also Solon[*]:

But we shall not exchange with them our virtue

For their wealth, since virtue is a sure possession,

But money falls now to this man, now that.

And Strato, the natural philosopher, when he heard that Menedemus had many more pupils than he himself had, said, Why be surprised if there are more who wish to bathe than to be anointed for the contest? [*] And Aristotle,[*] writing to Antipater, said, It is not Alexander alone who has the right to be proud because he rules over many men, but no less right to be proud have they who have true notions concerning the gods. For those who have such lofty opinions of their own possessione will not be offended by their neighbours’ goods. But as it is, we do not expect the vine to bear figs nor the olive grapes,[*] but, for ourselves, if we have not at one and the same time the advantages of both the wealthy and the learned, of both commanders and philosophers, of both flatterers and the outspoken, of both the thrifty and the lavish, we slander ourselves, we are displeased, we despise ourselves as living an incomplete and trivial life.

Furthermore, we see that Nature also admonishes us; for just as she has provided different foods for different beasts and has not made them all carnivorous or seed-pickers or root-diggers, so has she

given to men a great variety of means for gaining a livelihood,

To shepherd and ploughman and fowler and to him w hom the sea

Provides with sustenance.[*]

We should, therefore, choose the calling appropriate to ourselves, cultivate it diligently, let the rest alone, and not prove that[*] Hesiod spoke inexactly when he said,

Potter is angry with potter, joiner with joiner.

For not only are men jealous of fellow-craftsmen and those who share the same life as themselves, but also the wealthy envy the learned, the famous the rich, advocates the sophists, and, by Heaven free men and patricians regard with wondering admiration and envy successful comedians in the theatre and dancers and servants in the courts of kings; and by so doing they afford themselves no small vexation and disturbance.