Seek neither licence, where no laws compel,
Nor slavery beneath a tyrant’s rod;
Where liberty and rule are balanced well
Success will follow as the gift of God. (tr. P. Vellacott)
μήτ᾿ ἄναρκτον βίον
μήτε δεσποτούμενον
αἰνέσῃς·
παντὶ μέσῳ τὸ κράτος θεὸς ὤπασεν,
ἄλλ᾿ ἄλλᾳ δ᾿ ἐφορεύει.
μήτε δεσποτούμενον
αἰνέσῃς·
παντὶ μέσῳ τὸ κράτος θεὸς ὤπασεν,
ἄλλ᾿ ἄλλᾳ δ᾿ ἐφορεύει.
Original text (Ancient Greek)
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Notes from Wikiquote
Praise not, O man, the life beyond control,
Nor that which bows unto a tyrant's sway.
Know that the middle way
Is dearest unto God, and they, thereon who wend,
They shall achieve the end. (tr. E. D. A. Morshead)
Variants
of lines 526–530