Wednesday, August 12, 2020
A One-Sided Account
Terence, Phormio 696-698 (tr. Betty Radice):
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Look here, sir, everything sounds worse if it's told all wrong. You leave out all the good bits and only mention the bad ones.Cf. Menander, fragment 236 Kassel and Austin, lines 14-16 (from The Misogynist; tr. S. Douglas Olson):
nil est, Antipho,
quin male narrando possit depravarier.
tu id quod bonist excerpis, dicis quod malist.
But if you constantly focus on what's making you unhappy, and don't balance it against the anticipated benefits, you'll always be miserable.
ἂν δ' ἐκλέγῃ
ἀεὶ τὸ λυποῦν, μηδὲν ἀντιπαρατιθὶς
τῶν προσδοκωμένων, ὀδυνήσῃ διὰ τέλους.
