Book 5, Chapter 23

“I shall not now compare this life—I can imagine nothing more hideous, wretched, or detestable—with the lives of Plato or Archytas, men of learning and consummate wisdom.

64 “Instead, from that same city I shall summon a humble little man from his tracing rod and the dust in which he drew: Archimedes, who lived many years later. When I was quaestor, I tracked down his tomb, unknown to the Syracusans, who even denied that it existed. It was fenced in and overgrown on every side with brambles and thickets. I remembered some short lines of iambic verse which, I had heard, were inscribed on his monument. They said that a sphere and a cylinder had been placed at the top of the tomb.

65 “As I surveyed the whole area—there is a great concentration of tombs at the Agrigentine Gates—I noticed a little column rising just above the undergrowth, with the figures of a sphere and a cylinder on it. I immediately told the Syracusans—their leading men were with me—that I thought this was the very thing I was looking for. A number of men were sent in with sickles and cleared and opened up the site.

66 “When an approach had been laid open, we went up to the base facing us. The inscription was visible, though about half of it had been lost as the ends of the lines had worn away. Thus the most famous city in Greece, and once the most learned as well, would have known nothing of the monument of its own uniquely brilliant citizen had it not learned of it from a man of Arpinum. But let my argument return from its digression. Who among all those who have any dealings at all with the Muses—that is, with humane culture and learning—would not rather be this mathematician than that tyrant? If we ask about the character and occupations of their lives, the mind of the one was nourished by exploring and working out reasoned inquiries, with the delight of discovery, the sweetest of all nourishment for the mind; the other’s was occupied with murder and injustice, in fear both day and night. Come, compare Democritus, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras: what kingdoms, what riches will you rank above their studies and their pleasures?

67 “For that highest good you are seeking must necessarily lie in the best part of a human being. And what is better in a human being than a keen and sound mind? We must therefore enjoy the good that belongs to it if we wish to be happy. But the mind’s good is virtue; happiness must therefore be contained in virtue. Hence everything beautiful, honorable, and illustrious is full of joy, as I said above—though I think that same point needs fuller treatment. Since it is clear that a happy life arises from joys that are lasting and complete, it follows that it arises from moral goodness.”

“Now, I can’t imagine a life more foul, more miserable, or more hateful than his. I won’t compare it with the lives of Plato or Archytas, learned men and truly wise ones.

64 “I’ll bring forward someone from his own city instead: Archimedes, who lived much later. Here was an unassuming little fellow working with dust and a drawing rod. As quaestor I searched out his tomb, hidden and surrounded on every side by thorns and undergrowth. The Syracusans knew nothing about it and denied that it even existed. But I knew a few short verses in six-foot iambic meter that I had heard were carved on his monument. They described a sphere together with a cylinder standing at the top of the tomb.

65 “There are masses of graves near the Agrigentine gates. As I scanned the whole area, I spotted a small column rising just above the brush. A sphere and a cylinder were pictured on it. Some of Syracuse’s leading citizens had come with me. I told them at once that I believed this was the very thing I was searching for. Many men went in with sickles and cut away the growth, uncovering the site.

66 “With the approach cleared, we walked up to the front of the base. An inscription was visible, though almost half of it was missing, since the latter parts of the short lines had eroded. This was Greece’s most renowned city, and it had once been its most learned. Yet it would have remained unaware of the memorial to its own exceptionally brilliant citizen without someone from Arpinum telling it! Now back to the point I wandered away from. Anyone who has any contact with the Muses—in other words, with education and culture—would surely prefer to be that mathematician rather than this tyrant. Consider their activities and habits. The mathematician fed his mind by examining problems and developing arguments. Exercising his talent delighted him: nothing feeds the mind more enjoyably. The tyrant occupied his mind with killings and wrongs and was frightened throughout the day and the night. Put Democritus beside him, or Pythagoras, or Anaxagoras. Can you name a kingdom or a fortune worth more than the interests and pleasures those men had?

67 “The supreme good we’re looking for must lie in the finest part of us. Nothing in us is finer than a sharp, sound mind. Happiness therefore requires us to enjoy the mind’s particular good. That good is virtue, so virtue must be what makes life happy. That is why fine actions, right actions, and admirable actions all bring abundant joy. I’ve said this already, but the point deserves a fuller explanation. Obviously, happiness in life comes from joys that are complete and continuous. It must therefore come from doing what’s right.”