Skip to content

Take your fill when the cask is first opened and when it is nearly spent, but midways be sparing: it is poor saving when you come to the lees.

— Hesiod Works and Days (-700)

Ἀρχομένου δὲ πίθου καὶ λήγοντος κορέσασθαι,
μεσσόθι φείδεσθαι· δειλὴ δ᾿ ἐν πυθμένι φειδώ.

Original text (Ancient Greek)

Another quote →

Variants

At the beginning of the cask and at the end take thy fill, but be saving in the middle; for at the bottom saving comes too late.

More quotes by Hesiod

He harms himself who does harm to another, and the evil plan is most harmful to the planner.

Works and Days (-700)

Observe due measure, for right timing is in all things the most important factor.

Works and Days (-700)

Often an entire city has suffered because of an evil man.

Works and Days (-700)

For a man wins nothing better than a good wife, and, again, nothing worse than a bad one.

Works and Days (-700)

Do not get a name either as lavish or as churlish; as a friend of rogues or as a slanderer of good men.

Works and Days (-700)

All Hesiod quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Hesiod (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.