Monday, September 18, 2023
The Importance of Planning
Herodotus 8.60 (Themistocles speaking; tr. Robin Waterfield):
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It is sound planning that invariably earns us the outcome we want; without it, even the gods are unlikely to look with favour on our designs.E.S. Shuckburgh ad loc.:
οἰκότα μέν νυν βουλευομένοισι ἀνθρώποισι ὡς τὸ ἐπίπαν ἐθέλει γίνεσθαι· μὴ δὲ οἰκότα βουλευομένοισι οὐκ ἐθέλει οὐδὲ ὁ θεὸς προσχωρέειν πρὸς τὰς ἀνθρωπηίας γνώμας.
ὡς τὸ ἐπίπαν 'as a general rule'. The full sentence is οἰκότα βουλευομένοισι οἰκότα ἐθέλει γίνεσθαι ‘to reasonable plans reasonable success usually comes'. ἐθέλει 'is wont', cp. 7, 157 τῷ εὖ βουλευθέντι πρήγματι τελευτὴ ὡς τὸ ἐπίπαν χρηστὴ ἐθέλει ἐπιγίνεσθαι.
οὐδὲ ὁ θεὸς.....γνώμας 'but when men counsel ill heaven itself is not wont either to further human designs'.
