Demosthenes, The Erotic Essay, Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator), 38

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[38] and that of all things the most irrational is to be ambitious for wealth, bodily strength, and such things, and for their sakes to submit to many hardships, all of which prizes are perishable and usually slaves to intelligence, but not to aim at the improvement of the mind, which has supervision over all other powers, abides continually with those who possess it, and guides the whole life.¹

The Erotic Essay. Demosthenes. Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator). London. 1949.

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Current edition Perseus

The Erotic Essay (English) (Demosthenes, Vol. VII: Funeral Speech, Erotic Essay, LX, LXI, Exordia and Letters. DeWitt, Norman W. and Norman J., translators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1949 (printing).)

Editions (1)

ἐρωτικὸς Perseus (Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. III. Rennie, W., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1931.) — 38 focus

[38] καὶ διότι πάντων ἀλογώτατόν ἐστι πρὸς μὲν χρηματισμὸν καὶ ῥώμην καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα φιλοτίμως ἔχειν καὶ πολλὰς ὑπομένειν κακοπαθίας, ἃ πάντα θνήτʼ ἐστὶν καὶ τῇ διανοίᾳ δουλεύειν εἴωθεν, τὴν δʼ ἐπιστατοῦσαν μὲν τῶν ἄλλων, συνδιατελοῦσαν δὲ τοῖς ἔχουσιν, ὅλου δʼ ἡγεμονεύουσαν τοῦ βίου μὴ ζητεῖν ὅπως διακείσεται βέλτιον.

Notes on the current edition

The Erotic Essay

1. The oldest of the Greek-letter fraternities in the universities of the U.S. ( 1776), ΦΒΚ, took its name from φιλοσοφία βίου κυβερνήτης.

Demosthenes The Erotic Essay 38

Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator)

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