Sophocles (c. 496-406/405 BCE)
“Believe me
when a man has squandered his true joys,
he’s good as dead, I tell you, a living corpse.
Pile up riches in your house, as much as you like—
live like a king with a huge show of pomp,
but if real delight is missing from the lot,
I wouldn’t give you a wisp of smoke for it,
not compared with joy.”
- Sophocles, Antigone, approximately lines 1170-1180, translated by Robert Fagles (Penguin Classics, 1982, 1984, 2018).
