Laudator Temporis Acti

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 19.15.5-7 (Fabricius speaking; tr. Earnest Cary):

[5] When, now, though poor, I am at no disadvantage on that account in comparison with those who possess much, why in the world should I have denounced Fortune because she did not make me equal to you kings who have much gold treasured up? Nay, even in my private affairs I am so far removed from misfortune that I consider myself to be one of a favoured few of the blest, when I compare myself with the rich, and in this I take the greatest pride. [6] For my sorry little farm suffices to furnish me with the necessaries of life if I am industrious and frugal, and Nature does not compel me to seek more than is necessary; on the contrary, all food is pleasing to me which hunger prepares, every drink is sweet when thirst provides it, sleep is gentle when induced by fatigue, the clothing which keeps one from shivering is most adequate, and the cheapest utensil of all that can serve the same purposes is the most suitable. [7] Hence not even on this score should I be justified in denouncing Fortune, since she has given me as much substance as Nature wished me to have; as for things in excess of that, she has neither implanted in me any craving for them nor given me any store of them.

[5] ὁπότε δὲ πενόμενος οὐδὲν παρὰ τοῦτ᾽ ἔλαττον ἔχω τῶν πολλὰ κεκτημένων, τί παθὼν ἂν κατηγόρησα τῆς τύχης, ὅτι οὐχ ὑμῖν ἐξίσωσε τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν, οἷς ὁ πολὺς θησαυρίζεται χρυσός; ἀλλὰ μὴν ἔν γε τοῖς ἰδίοις τοσοῦτον ἀπέχω κακοδαιμονίας ὥστ᾽ ἐν ὀλίγοις πάνυ τῶν μακαρίων ἐμαυτὸν εἶναι δοκῶ παρὰ τοὺς πλουσίους ἐξετάζων, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ μέγιστον φρονῶ· [6] ἐπειδὴ τὰ μὲν ἀναγκαῖα τὸ λυπρὸν ἀπόχρη μοι γήδιον φιλεργοῦντι καὶ ταμιευομένῳ παρέχειν, τὰ δ᾽ ἔξω τῶν ἀναγκαίων οὐ βιάζεται ζητεῖν ἡ φύσις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τροφὴ πᾶσα ἡδεῖά μοι ἣν ἂν ὁ λιμὸς σκευάσῃ, καὶ ποτὸν ἅπαν γλυκύ ὅταν ἡ δίψα πορίσῃ, καὶ ὕπνος μαλθακός ὅταν ἡγήσηται κόπος, ἐσθής τε ἡ παρέχουσα μὴ ῥιγοῦν αὐταρκεστάτη, καὶ σκεῦος ὅ τι ἂν εὐτελέστατον τῶν δυναμένων τὰς αὐτὰς παρέχειν χρείας οἰκειότατον. [7] ὥστ᾽ οὐδὲ κατὰ τοῦτο δίκαιος εἴην ἂν τῆς τύχης κατηγορεῖν, ἥ μοι τοσαύτην παρέσχεν οὐσίαν ὅσην ἡ φύσις ἐβούλετο ἔχειν· τῶν δ᾽ ὑπερβαλλόντων οὔτε πόθον ἐνέφυσεν οὔτ᾽ εὐπορίαν ἔδωκεν.