Didn’t Get What You Want For Christmas? Talk to Xenophon

December 25, 2015December 16, 2015 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

From Xenophon’s Memorabilia 1.6.10

“You appear to think that happiness comes from delicacy and abundance. But I think that wanting nothing is godlike, that wanting as little as possible is next-best, that the divine is the highest goal and next-best the closest thing.”

[10] ἔοικας, ὦ Ἀντιφῶν, τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν οἰομένῳ τρυφὴν καὶ πολυτέλειαν εἶναι: ἐγὼ δὲ νομίζω τὸ μὲν μηδενὸς δεῖσθαι θεῖον εἶναι, τὸ δ᾽ ὡς ἐλαχίστων ἐγγυτάτω τοῦ θείου, καὶ τὸ μὲν θεῖον κράτιστον, τὸ δ᾽ ἐγγυτάτω τοῦ θείου ἐγγυτάτω τοῦ κρατίστου.

The full text.

Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.2.37: A Conversation on the Rich and Poor

September 13, 2015September 13, 2015 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

Socrates: “What are poor people and rich people like?”

Euthydemos: “I think that the former, poor men, don’t have enough to spend on what they need while the latter, rich people, have more than enough.”

Socrates: “And you’ve learned then that there are some who have very little but find it not only sufficient but make more out of it, while there are some for whom even very much is never enough?”

Euthydemos: “Yes, by Zeus, you have reminded me correctly: I know some tyrants too who are compelled by want to commit injustice just as if they had nothing.”

Ποίους δὲ πένητας καὶ ποίους πλουσίους καλεῖς; Τοὺς μέν, οἶμαι, μὴ ἱκανὰ ἔχοντας εἰς ἃ δεῖ τελεῖν πένητας, τοὺς δὲ πλείω τῶν ἱκανῶν πλουσίους. Καταμεμάθηκας οὖν ὅτι ἐνίοις μὲν πάνυ ὀλίγα ἔχουσιν οὐ μόνον ἀρκεῖ ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ καὶ περιποιοῦνται ἀπ’ αὐτῶν, ἐνίοις δὲ πάνυ πολλὰ οὐχ ἱκανά ἐστι;

Καὶ νὴ Δί’, ἔφη ὁ Εὐθύδημος, ὀρθῶς γάρ με ἀναμιμνῄσκεις, οἶδα [γὰρ] καὶ τυράννους τινάς, οἳ δι’ ἔνδειαν ὥσπερ οἱ ἀπορώτατοι ἀναγκάζονται ἀδικεῖν.

Politicians speaking about Education: Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.4.2

July 13, 2015July 13, 2015 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

“Men of Athens, I have never learned anything from anyone nor when hearing that some men are competent at both speaking and acting did I seek to meet them. I never cared about having one of the men who know things as a teacher. Instead, I have successfully avoided not just learning from anyone but even seeming to learn anything at all. Nevertheless, I will advise you with whatever comes freely to my mind.”

‘Παρ’ οὐδενὸς μὲν πώποτε, ὦ ἄνδρες ᾿Αθηναῖοι, οὐδὲν ἔμαθον, οὐδ’ ἀκούων τινὰς εἶναι λέγειν τε καὶ πράττειν ἱκανοὺς ἐζήτησα τούτοις ἐντυχεῖν, οὐδ’ ἐπεμελήθην τοῦ διδάσκαλόν τινά μοι γενέσθαι τῶν ἐπισταμένων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τἀναντία· διατετέλεκα γὰρ φεύγων οὐ μόνον τὸ μανθάνειν τι παρά τινος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ δόξαι. ὅμως δὲ ὅ τι ἂν ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου ἐπίῃ μοι συμβουλεύσω ὑμῖν.’

So Xenophon’s Socrates says of Euthydemos–but he’s not too far off from some proud politicians today…

Wealth is not A Substitute for Education: Xenophon’s Memorabilia, IV.1.5

March 10, 2015March 10, 2015 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

“Socrates approached men who thought too much of wealth and believed they didn’t need education–because they imagined that their wealth was sufficient for accomplishing whatever they wanted and grounds for being honored by men–and said that ‘anyone who believes that without learning he can distinguish between what is profitable and what is harmful is a fool; and anyone who thinks that without distinguishing these things he can acquire whatever he wants through wealth and be able to do what is necessary is a fool; and anyone who thinks that without being about to do what is necessary he can also live well and has prepared himself to live well or even sufficiently is a buffoon; and anyone who believes that with wealth and without knowing anything, he can seem to be good at all or, without seeming to be good, that he earn a good reputation is a buffoon.’ ”

τοὺς δ’ ἐπὶ πλούτῳ μέγα φρονοῦντας καὶ νομίζοντας οὐδὲν προσδεῖσθαι παιδείας, ἐξαρκέσειν δὲ σφίσι τὸν πλοῦτον οἰομένους πρὸς τὸ διαπράττεσθαί τε ὅ τι ἂν βούλωνται καὶ τιμᾶσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐφρένου λέγων ὅτι μῶρος μὲν εἴη, εἴ τις οἴεται μὴ μαθὼν τά τε ὠφέλιμα καὶ τὰ βλαβερὰ τῶν πραγμάτων διαγνώσεσθαι, μῶρος δ’, εἴ τις μὴ διαγιγνώσκων μὲν ταῦτα, διὰ δὲ τὸν πλοῦτον ὅ τι ἂν βούληται ποριζόμενος οἴεται δυνήσεσθαι τὰ συμφέροντα πράττειν, ἠλίθιος δ’, εἴ τις μὴ δυνάμενος τὰ συμφέροντα πράττειν εὖ τε πράττειν οἴεται καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν βίον αὐτῷ [ἢ] καλῶς ἢ ἱκανῶς παρεσκευάσθαι, ἠλίθιος δὲ καὶ εἴ τις οἴεται διὰ τὸν πλοῦτον, μηδὲν ἐπιστάμενος, δόξειν τι ἀγαθὸς εἶναι ἤ, μηδὲν ἀγαθὸς εἶναι δοκῶν, εὐδοκιμήσειν.

In an aggressive capitalist market where the UK is transforming its educational system in imitation of a US system that is witnessing the closure of fine liberal arts schools like Sweet Briar College and the ascendency of STEM disciplines to the detriment of all else, maybe we all need a little Socrates harassing us…