[20,5] ἀλλ´ ὅμως μιᾶς δραχμῆς ἀπολομένης ἀνάγκη αἰσθέσθαι καὶ δηχθῆναι ἁμῃγέπῃ· εἰ δὲ καὶ πλείους τις ἐκβάλοι, οὐ πολλοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐπὶ τῷ τοιούτῳ πρᾴως ἔχοντες· λέγω δὲ οὐ διὰ τὴν ἀμέλειαν λυπούμενοι καὶ δακνόμενοι καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ προσέχειν (ἐφ´ οἷς ἄξιον ἦν δάκνεσθαι), ἀλλ´ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ τῶν δραχμῶν. ἡμέρας δὲ ἐξελθούσης καὶ ἀπολομένης καὶ δύο καὶ τριῶν οὐδείς ἐστιν ὃς ἐφρόντισεν. (6) ἀλλ´ ἐκεῖ μὲν δύνανται λογίζεσθαι {τὸ τοιοῦτον} ὅτι εἰ μὴ προσέξουσι μηδὲ φροντιοῦσι τῶν τοιούτων, λάθοι ἂν αὐτοὺς ἡ σύμπασα οὐσία διαρρυεῖσα καὶ ἀπολομένη· ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐ δύνανται ταὐτὸ τοῦτο λογίσασθαι, ὡς εἰ μὴ προνοήσουσιν ἑκάστης ἡμέρας καὶ φυλάξονται μὴ εἰκῇ προϊέναι, λάθοι ἂν αὐτοὺς ὁ σύμπας βίος διαρρυεὶς καὶ ἀπολόμενος. (7) ἀλλ´ ὅτι γε οὐ τόπος ἐστὶν ὁ παρέχων οὐδὲ τὸ ἀποδημῆσαι τὸ μὴ φαῦλ´ ἄττα πράττειν οὐδὲ τὸ εἰς Κόρινθον ἢ Θήβας ἀνακεχωρηκέναι {τὸ δὲ} τὸν βουλόμενον πρὸς αὑτῷ εἶναι—καὶ γὰρ ἐν Θήβαις καὶ ἐν Μεγάροις καὶ πανταχοῦ σχεδὸν οὗ τις ἂν ἀπέλθῃ τῆς Ἑλλάδος καὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἔνεστι τό τε ἀργεῖν καὶ τὸ ῥᾳθυμεῖν, καὶ οὐκ ἀπορήσει προφάσεως, ὅπου ἂν τύχῃ ὤν, δι´ ἣν βλακεύων τε καὶ ἀσχολούμενος ἀναλώσει καὶ πάνυ πολὺν χρόνον, ἂν οὕτως τύχῃ. (8) μὴ οὖν βελτίστη ᾖ καὶ λυσιτελεστάτη πασῶν ἡ εἰς αὑτὸν ἀναχώρησις καὶ τὸ προσέχειν τοῖς αὑτοῦ πράγμασιν, ἐάν τ´ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι τύχῃ τις ὢν ἐάν τ´ Ἀθήνησιν ἐάν τ´ ἐν στρατοπέδῳ ἐάν τ´ ἐν νήσῳ μικρᾷ καὶ μόνος. αἱ γὰρ τοιαῦται ἀναχωρήσεις καὶ ἀποδημίαι μικράν τινα ἔχουσι ῥοπὴν πρὸς τὸ σχολὴν ἄγειν καὶ τὸ πράττειν τὰ δέοντα· ὥσπερ τοῖς ἀσθενοῦσιν ἐφ´ ἑτέρας καὶ ἑτέρας κλίνας κατακλίνεσθαι φέρει μέν τινα ἐνίοτε μικρὰν (9) ἀνάπαυσιν, οὐ μὴν ἱκανήν γε οὐδ´ ὥστε ἀπαλλάξαι· —ἰδεῖν τε ἔστι καὶ ἐν τῷ πάνυ πολλῷ θορύβῳ τε καὶ πλήθει οὐ κωλυόμενον πράττειν ἕκαστον τὸ αὑτοῦ ἔργον, ἀλλ´ ὅ τε αὐλῶν ἢ διδάσκων αὐλεῖν τοῦτο ποιεῖ πολλάκις ἐπ´ αὐτῆς τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ διδασκαλεῖον ἔχων καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτὸν ἐξίστησι τὸ πλῆθος οὐδὲ ὁ θόρυβος τῶν παριόντων, ὅ τε ὀρχούμενος ὁμοίως ἢ ὀρχηστοδιδάσκαλος πρὸς τούτῳ ἐστίν, ἀμελήσας τῶν μαχομένων τε καὶ ἀποδιδομένων καὶ ἄλλα πραττόντων, ὅ τε κιθαριστὴς ὅ τε ζωγράφος· ὃ δὲ πάντων σφοδρότατόν ἐστιν· οἱ γὰρ τῶν γραμμάτων διδάσκαλοι μετὰ τῶν παίδων ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς κάθηνται, καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἐμποδών ἐστιν ἐν τοσούτῳ πλήθει τοῦ διδάσκειν τε καὶ μανθάνειν.

[20,5] But all the same, when one drachma has been lost, the man cannot help noticing it and being in some way distressed; and if a person loses several, there are not many who remain undisturbed by such a matter. I do not mean that they are pained and hurt because of their carelessness and because they failed to give heed to avoid such conduct as should properly have hurt them, but simply at the loss of the drachmas. But when a day is gone and lost, or two or three of them, there is no one who gives that a thought ! Yet in the one case they are able to reckon thus much : that if they fail to give heed and take thought of such matters, all their property may slip away and be lost without their noticing it. But in the matter we are now discussing, men are not able to apply the same method of reckoning in order to reach the same conclusions, to wit, that if they do not take thought for each day and watch lest they aimlessly throw it away, their whole life may slip away and be lost before they know it. (7) But clearly it is not the place where you are nor this going abroad that affords an escape from doing sundry trivial things, nor is it even one's having retired to Corinth or to Thebes, but rather the being occupied with one's own self, when one so wishes. For in Thebes and in Megara, yes, anywhere almost that one may go, whether in Greece or in Italy, it is possible for one to live in idleness and to take one's ease; and one will not lack a pretext, wherever he happens to be, for spending quite a good deal of time, if it so happens, in busying one's self with affairs as well as in loafing. I am therefore inclined to think that the best and most profitable kind of retirement is retirement into oneself and giving attention to one's own concerns, whether one happens to be in Babylon, or in Athens, or in a military camp, or alone on a little island. For retirements and sojournings abroad of the kind we have mentioned conduce very little to one's having leisure and doing only what one ought to do. Sick persons, for instance, by changing from one bed to another do sometimes get a little relief, but certainly not enough nor such as would rid them of their malady. And we often see how even in the midst of a very great turmoil and throng the individual is not hampered in carrying on his own occupation ; but, on the contrary, the man who is playing the flute or teaching a pupil to play it devotes himself to that, often holding school in the very street, and the crowd does not distract him at all, nor the din made by the passers-by ; and the dancer likewise, or dancing master, is engrossed in his work, being utterly heedless of those who are fighting and selling and doing other things ; and so also with the harper and the painter. But here is the most extreme case of all: The elementary teachers sit in the streets with their pupils, and nothing hinders them in this great throng from teaching and learning.