Theognis

Every line we carry

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

1. Learn good from the good. Bad company costs you the mind you had.

   Theognis tells his young friend Cyrnus to eat, drink and sit with good people, because you learn good things from the good, and bad company destroys even the sense you already have. You become your circle. Choose it like it matters, because it does.

   Elegies 35-36, our translation from the Greek

2. Not even Zeus pleases everyone, rain or shine.

   Theognis shrugs off his critics: it is no wonder he cannot please every citizen, since not even Zeus pleases all when he sends rain or holds it back. Someone will always complain. Do the right thing and let the weather talk.

   Elegies 25-26, our translation from the Greek

3. All virtue is summed up in justice.

   Theognis says that justice contains all of virtue, and every just man is good. Aristotle later quoted this line as a proverb. Courage, skill and charm count for little if you are not fair with people.

   Elegies 147-148, our translation from the Greek

4. Fortune gives money even to the worst. Few get a share of virtue.

   Luck hands out wealth even to scoundrels, Theognis says, but virtue comes to few. Money says little about a person. Character is rarer, and it is the one thing luck cannot deliver.

   Elegies 149-150, our translation from the Greek

5. Be the octopus: take the color of the rock you cling to.

   Theognis tells his heart to adapt its manner to each friend, like the octopus that takes on the look of the rock it clings to, because skill beats rigidity. Stay yourself underneath, but read the room. Flexibility is a strength, not a betrayal.

   Elegies 213-218, our translation from the Greek

6. Don't rush. The middle is best.

   Do nothing too eagerly, Theognis says; the middle way is best in all things, and that is how you will get virtue, which is hard to win. Overdoing it is as much a failure as underdoing it.

   Elegies 335-336, our translation from the Greek

7. Fire tests gold. Wine shows a man's mind.

   Skilled men test gold and silver in fire, Theognis says, and wine reveals a man's mind, even a wise man's, when he drinks past measure. What you are under pressure, or with your guard down, is who you are.

   Elegies 499-502, our translation from the Greek

8. Bear what the gods send. Don't sink too low or leap too high.

   Theognis says we must endure what the gods give and bear either lot lightly, neither sick at heart in bad times nor suddenly delighted in good ones before we see the end. Keep an even keel in both weathers. The story is not over yet.

   Elegies 591-594, our translation from the Greek

9. Endure, heart, though you suffer the unbearable.

   Theognis speaks to his own heart: hold on, even in troubles you think you cannot bear, because it is the coward's heart that flares up fast. Talking to yourself like a coach is old technology. Use it.

   Elegies 1029-1030, our translation from the Greek

10. Doing wrong is easy. Doing good takes a hard hand.

    Theognis observes that bad behavior comes easily to people, while the good man's work demands real skill and effort. The easy path and the right path rarely overlap. Expect the right thing to be harder, and do it anyway.

    Elegies 1027-1028, our translation from the Greek

11. Hope is the one good god still among us.

    In a bleak poem Theognis says Trust, Restraint and the Graces have left the earth, and Hope is the only good goddess left among people. When much else is gone, hope is still there to work with. Guard it.

    Elegies 1135-1136, our translation from the Greek