Party spirit was once running high at Athens; he came into the assembly, and his mere appearance was enough to still the storm. When he saw that they were ashamed, he departed again without having uttered a word.

When he found that he was no longer able to take care of himself, he repeated to his friends the tag with which the iecalds close the festival: The games are done, The crowns all won; No more delay, But haste away, and from that moment abstaining from food, left life as cheerfully as he had lived it.