Bion

Every line we carry

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

1. It's a great evil not to be able to bear evil.

   Bion of Borysthenes turned the phrase around: the great misfortune is being unable to bear misfortune. Troubles are guaranteed. The inability to take them is the real disaster, and that part can be trained.

   Diogenes Laertius 4.48, our translation from the Greek

2. He doesn't own his wealth. His wealth owns him.

   Bion said of a stingy rich man that he did not possess his property; his property possessed him. Watch for the things you guard, worry about and serve. They may be the owners.

   Diogenes Laertius 4.50, our translation from the Greek

3. Conceit stops progress.

   The Greek is a pun: oiesis, self-conceit, is the enkope, the roadblock, of prokope, progress. The moment you think you have arrived, you stop moving. Stay a beginner.

   Diogenes Laertius 4.50, our translation from the Greek

4. The road to Hades is easy. People walk it with their eyes shut.

   Bion said the way down to Hades was easy, since people went there with their eyes closed. Drift is effortless and invisible. Stay awake on the road.

   Diogenes Laertius 4.49, our translation from the Greek

5. We're finished if they recognize us. I'm finished if they don't.

   Sailing with criminals, Bion's ship was attacked by pirates. His companions cried that they were done for if they were recognized; Bion said he was done for if he was not. Character is a kind of armor.

   Diogenes Laertius 4.50, our translation from the Greek

6. Wealth is the sinews of affairs.

   Bion called money the sinews of things, the tendons that make the body of an enterprise move. He was a Cynic-leaning philosopher, so this is realism, not worship. Money does not make the man, but it moves the project.

   Diogenes Laertius 4.48, our translation from the Greek