Xenophon Memorabilia 3.9.14

ed. Edgar Carew Marchant

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[14]
ἐρομένου δέ τινος αὐτὸν τί δοκοίη αὐτῷ κράτιστον ἀνδρὶ ἐπιτήδευμα εἶναι, ἀπεκρίνατο· εὐπραξία. ἐρομένου δὲ πάλιν εἰ καὶ τὴν εὐτυχίαν ἐπιτήδευμα νομίζοι εἶναι, πᾶν μὲν οὖν τοὐναντίον ἔγωγʼ, ἔφη, τύχην καὶ πρᾶξιν ἡγοῦμαι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ μὴ ζητοῦντα ἐπιτυχεῖν τινι τῶν δεόντων εὐτυχίαν οἶμαι εἶναι, τὸ δὲ μαθόντα τε καὶ μελετήσαντά τι εὖ ποιεῖν εὐπραξίαν νομίζω, καὶ οἱ τοῦτο ἐπιτηδεύοντες δοκοῦσί μοι εὖ πράττειν.

Memorabilia. Xenophon. ed. Edgar Carew Marchant. Oxford. 1921.

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Ἀπομνημονεύματα (Greek) (Xenophon. Opera omnia, Vol. 2. Marchant, Edgar Cardew, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921.)

Translations (1)

Memorabilia Perseus (Xenophon in Seven Volumes, Vol. 4. Marchant, Edgar Cardew, editor, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1923.) — 3.9.14 focus

[14]
When someone asked him what seemed to him the best pursuit for a man, he answered: Doing well. Questioned further, whether he thought good luck a pursuit, he said: On the contrary, I think luck and doing are opposite poles. To hit on something right by luck without search I call good luck, to do something well after study and practice I call doing well; and those who pursue this seem to me to do well.

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