Anacharsis

Every line we carry

Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.

1. Sailors are four fingers from death.

   When Anacharsis the Scythian learned that a ship's hull was four fingers thick, he said that was how far sailors were from death. Anyone who paddles out over deep water knows the feeling. Respect the margin.

   Diogenes Laertius 1.103, our translation from the Greek

2. Which ships are safest? The ones pulled up on the beach.

   Asked which ships were safest, Anacharsis said those that had been hauled ashore. It is a joke with a point: a boat on the sand is safe and useless. Ships are built for the sea.

   Diogenes Laertius 1.104, our translation from the Greek

3. More living or more dead? Where do you count the sailors?

   Asked whether the living or the dead were more numerous, Anacharsis asked back where you would put those at sea. Out on the water you are neither quite safe nor quite lost. It is a line for anyone who spends their days out there.

   Diogenes Laertius 1.104, our translation from the Greek

4. Master your tongue, your belly and your lust.

   According to Diogenes Laertius, these words were inscribed on the statues of Anacharsis: rule your tongue, your stomach and your sex drive. Three appetites, one discipline. Most trouble starts with one of them.

   Diogenes Laertius 1.104, our translation from the Greek

5. My country shames me. You shame your country.

   An Athenian sneered at Anacharsis for being a Scythian. He answered: my country is a disgrace to me, but you are a disgrace to yours. Where you come from matters less than what you bring.

   Diogenes Laertius 1.104, our translation from the Greek

6. What is both good and bad in people? The tongue.

   Asked what in humans is both good and bad, Anacharsis said: the tongue. The same instrument builds and destroys. Use it accordingly.

   Diogenes Laertius 1.105, our translation from the Greek

7. One friend worth much beats many worth nothing.

   Anacharsis said it was better to have one friend of great worth than many of none. Followers are cheap. A friend who would cross the sea for you is not.

   Diogenes Laertius 1.105, our translation from the Greek

8. I don't need gold. It's enough to go home a better man.

   In the letter Diogenes Laertius gives under his name, Anacharsis tells King Croesus he came to Greece to learn its ways, not for gold; it is enough for him to return to Scythia a better man. The best souvenir from any journey is a better you.

   Letter to Croesus, in Diogenes Laertius 1.105, our translation from the Greek

9. Play so that you can be serious.

   Aristotle approves Anacharsis' rule: play in order to be serious, since play is rest and we need rest because we cannot work continuously. Rest is part of the work. Go surf so you can come back and do the hard thing well.

   Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 10.6, 1176b33, our translation from the Greek

10. Laws are spider webs: they catch the weak and the powerful tear through.

    Anacharsis laughed at Solon for thinking written laws could restrain greed, saying they were no different from spider webs: they hold the weak and small who fall in, and the strong and rich break through them. Rules only work if they bind the powerful too.

    Plutarch, Life of Solon 5.2, our translation from the Greek

11. The vine bears three grapes: pleasure, drunkenness, regret.

    Anacharsis said the vine bears three clusters: the first of pleasure, the second of drunkenness, the third of disgust. Stop at the first. Most good things work this way.

    Diogenes Laertius 1.103, our translation from the Greek