Sophocles

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).

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