He believes that the misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.
Genuine
Yes. In a letter to Menoeceus, sections 134–135 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.134–135); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925.
Found word for word by program in the Greek original and in R. D. Hicks’ English translation (1925).
- Work
- Letter to Menoeceus (Ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς Μενοικέα)
- Where
- Letter to Menoeceus, sections 134–135 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.134–135); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925
- Found at
- Paragraph 19 of the Greek text, 8 of the English
- Translation
- R. D. Hicks, 1925
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
[…] For the virtues have grown into one with a pleasant life, and a pleasant life is inseparable from them.
(ἐπεὶ κρεῖττον ἦν τῷ περὶ θεῶν μύθῳ κατακολουθεῖν ἢ τῇ τῶν φυσικῶν εἱμαρμένῃ δουλεύειν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐλπίδα παραιτήσεως ὑπογράφει θεῶν διὰ τιμῆς, ἡ δὲ ἀπαραίτητον ἔχει τὴν ἀνάγκην), τὴν δὲ τύχην οὔτε θεόν, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ νομίζουσιν, ὑπολαμβάνοντος (οὐθὲν γὰρ ἀτάκτως θεῷ πράττεται) οὔτε ἀβέβαιον αἰτίαν (〈οὐκ〉 οἴεται μὲν γὰρ ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακὸν ἐκ ταύτης πρὸς τὸ μακαρίως ζῆν ἀνθρώποις δίδοσθαι, ἀρχὰς μέντοι μεγάλων ἀγαθῶν ἢ κακῶν ὑπὸ ταύτης χορηγεῖσθαι),
[…] Nor does he hold chance to be a god, as the world in general does, for in the acts of a god there is no disorder; nor to be a cause, though an uncertain one, for he believes that no good or evil is dispensed by chance to men so as to make life blessed, though it supplies the starting-point of great good and great evil. He believes that the misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool. 135. It is better, in short, that what is well judged in action should not owe its successful issue to the aid of chance.
κρεῖττον εἶναι νομίζοντος εὐλογίστως ἀτυχεῖν ἢ ἀλογίστως εὐτυχεῖν· βέλτιον γὰρ ἐν ταῖς πράξεσι τὸ καλῶς κριθὲν μὴ ὀρθωθῆναι διὰ ταύτην.
“Exercise thyself in these and kindred precepts day and night, both by thyself and with him who is like unto thee; then never, either in waking or in dream, wilt thou be disturbed, but wilt live as a god among men. […]
“Ταῦτα οὖν καὶ τὰ τούτοις συγγενῆ μελέτα πρὸς σεαυτὸν ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς πρός τε τὸν ὅμοιον σεαυτῷ, καὶ οὐδέποτε οὔθʼ ὕπαρ οὔτʼ ὄναρ διαταραχθήσῃ, ζήσεις δὲ ὡς θεὸς ἐν ἀνθρώποις. οὐθὲν γὰρ ἔοικε θνητῷ ζῴῳ ζῶν ἄνθρωπος ἐν ἀθανάτοις ἀγαθοῖς.
The scene
Near the end of the letter Epicurus describes the wise person’s attitude to necessity, chance and personal agency. Chance is neither a god nor the source of a blessed life, although it supplies occasions of great good and evil. This comparison of wise misfortune with foolish prosperity is followed by a contrast between sound judgement in action and success owed to chance.
What it means
A good decision does not become bad merely because it turns out badly, and accidental prosperity does not make foolish judgement good.
Often misread
It is not a celebration of suffering or a claim that poverty itself makes someone wise. The Greek contrasts faring badly with sound reasoning and faring well without it; Hicks expresses this as the wise person and the fool.
Topics
Related quotes
- We must remember that the future is neither wholly ours nor wholly not ours, so that neither must we count upon it as quite certain to come nor despair of it as quite certain not to come.
- Again, we regard independence of outward things as a great good, not so as in all cases to use little, but so as to be contented with little if we have not much, being honestly persuaded that they have the sweetest enjoyment of luxury who stand least in need of it …
- Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not.
- Nature’s wealth at once has its bounds and is easy to procure; but the wealth of vain fancies recedes to an infinite distance.
- It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly.
Sources
Cite it
Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus (270 BC), Letter to Menoeceus, sections 134–135 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.134–135); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925, translated by R. D. Hicks (1925). Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/misfortune-of-the-wise-better-than-prosperity-of-the-fool/ (31 October 2026).
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