I recently came across these excellent quotes from the ancient Greek thinker Democritus. I like these because they are on the subject of happiness, or how to live a good life, the original and greatest subject of philosophy and a subject I have a few opinions about (more anon):
People are fools who yearn for what is absent, but neglect what they have even when it is more valuable than what they don’t.
He is fortunate who is happy with moderate means, unfortunate who is unhappy with great possessions.
Cheerfulness or well-being is created in man through a harmonious life and moderation of enjoyment. Excess and want are forever changing and cause great disturbance in the soul. Souls that are stirred by great disturbances are neither stable nor cheerful. Therefore one must keep one’s mind on what is attainable, and be content with what one has, paying little heed to things envied and admired, and not dwelling on them in one’s mind.
Rather, you should consider the lives of those in distress, reflecting on their intense sufferings, in order that your own possessions and condition may seem great and enviable, and you may, by ceasing to desire more, cease to suffer in your soul. . . . If you keep to this way of thinking, you will live more serenely, and will expel those not-negligible curses in life — envy, jealousy and spite.
Violent desire for one thing blinds the soul to all others. Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not a man. If your desires are not great, a little will seem much to you; for small appetite makes poverty equivalent to wealth.
People are fools who live without enjoyment of life. . . Of pleasures, those that come most rarely give the greatest enjoyment. Thrift and fasting are beneficial; so too is expenditure at the right time. But to recognize this is the function of a good man. A life without festival is a long road without an inn.
Here is another quote on the same theme, admirable in its conciseness and logic:
"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have."
- Socrates
Of course, if that one were taken too seriously, one would ever get out of bed in the morning. . . .
Here is one more favorite, kind of funny:
“Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it.”
- Honore de Balzac
[All collected from secondary sources not 100% verified]
Comments