Works and Days (360-365)

even though it is a small thing,

it freezes his heart. He who adds to what he has, will keep off bright-eyed hunger;

for if you add only a little to a little and do this often,

soon that little will become great. What a man has by him at home does not trouble him:

it is better to have your stuff at home, for whatever is abroad may mean loss. It is a good thing to draw on what you have; but it grieves your heart to need something and not to have it, and I bid you mark this. Take your fill when the cask is first opened and when it is nearly spent, but midways be sparing: it is poor saving when you come to the lees.