Book 5, Chapter 36

“Will obscurity, then, or low birth, or even popular disfavor prevent the wise man from being happy?

103 “Consider whether favor with the crowd, and this glory that people seek, may bring more trouble than pleasure. Our Demosthenes was certainly rather shallow when he said he delighted in the whisper of a little woman carrying water, as women do in Greece, who murmured to another, ‘There is the famous Demosthenes.’ What could be more trivial? And yet what an orator! Evidently he had learned to speak before others, but not much to speak with himself.

104 “We must understand, then, that popular glory is not to be sought for its own sake, nor obscurity feared. ‘I came to Athens,’ says Democritus, ‘and no one there recognized me.’ What a steadfast and serious man, to glory in his distance from glory! Flute players and those who play stringed instruments regulate their melodies and rhythms by their own judgment, not the crowd’s; will the wise man, endowed with a far greater art, inquire not into what is truest but into what the crowd wants? Or can anything be more foolish than to despise people individually as laborers and barbarians, yet think them important when assembled? He will certainly despise our canvassing for favor and our frivolity, and reject the people’s honors even when offered unasked; we, however, do not know how to despise them until we have begun to regret them. There is a passage in Heraclitus, the natural philosopher, about Hermodorus, the leading man of Ephesus:

105 “He says that the Ephesians should all be put to death, because when they expelled Hermodorus from their city they said, ‘Let no one among us stand above the rest; if anyone does, let him be elsewhere, among other people.’ Does not this happen among every people? Do they not hate every preeminence in virtue? What of Aristides—for I would rather produce examples from Greece than from our own history—was he not driven from his country because he was just beyond measure? From how many troubles, then, are those free who have no dealings whatever with the people! What is sweeter than leisure spent in learning? I mean the kind of learning through which we come to know the infinity of things and of nature, and, within this very universe, the heavens, the earth, and the seas.”

“Then will obscurity, low social standing, or even public unpopularity stop a wise person from being happy?

103 “Popularity and the glory people seek may well bring more distress than enjoyment. Think how silly our Demosthenes was. He confessed that he enjoyed a woman’s whispered remark as she carried water, something women regularly do in Greece. She whispered to another woman, ‘There’s that Demosthenes.’ Could anything be sillier? Such a great public speaker, too! Evidently he’d learned to address other people, but hadn’t learned much about talking to himself.

104 “So we need to understand that popular fame isn’t worth pursuing for its own sake, and obscurity isn’t something to fear. Democritus says, ‘I came to Athens, and no one there recognized me.’ What a steady, serious man, to boast that he’d stayed away from fame! Flute players and people who play stringed instruments guide their songs and rhythms by their own judgment, not the crowd’s. Is a wise person, equipped with a far greater art, going to ask not what’s truest, but what the crowd wants? And is anything more foolish than to think people amount to something as a group when you look down on them individually as laborers and barbarians? A wise person will look down instead on our scramble for office and our shallowness. He’ll turn down public honors even when they’re offered without his asking. We, on the other hand, don’t know how to disregard them until we’ve begun to regret them. Heraclitus, the natural philosopher, has a passage about Hermodorus, the leading man of Ephesus.

105 “He says every Ephesian deserves the death penalty. In expelling Hermodorus they declared, ‘No individual here should outshine the rest of us. If anyone does, he should live elsewhere, with someone else.’ Isn’t that the way with every population? They hate any exceptional excellence. Take Aristides—I’d sooner give examples from Greece than from Rome. Wasn’t excessive justice the very reason they banished him? People who stay entirely out of public affairs escape so much misery! Nothing is more enjoyable than having time for study. By study I mean what teaches us about the infinite range of existence and nature, and about heaven, land, and sea in this universe.”