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Spartan Surfers

c. 540-450 BC

Epicharmus

Comic poet of Syracuse whose sharp sayings were quoted for centuries, including his line that the gods sell us all good things for the price of toil.

2 sourced lines

Every line we carry

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

  1. The gods sell us every good thing for the price of toil.

    Socrates, in Xenophon, quotes the comic poet Epicharmus: the gods sell us all good things in exchange for labor. Nothing worth having is free. Effort is the currency.

    Quoted by Xenophon, Memorabilia 2.1.20, our translation from the Greek

  2. Don't crave the soft things, or you'll get the hard ones.

    A second line of Epicharmus quoted by Socrates: you wretch, do not long for the soft things, or you may end up with the hard ones. Easy choices now often mean hard consequences later. Choose the hard thing early.

    Quoted by Xenophon, Memorabilia 2.1.20, our translation from the Greek