of Croesus; or as one step is of
no account in a march from here to India; so, if that is the chief good
which the Stoics affirm is so, then, all the goods which depend on the
body must inevitably be obscured and overwhelmed by, and come to nothing
when placed by the side of the splendour and importance of virtue. And
since opportunity, (for that is how we may translate {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~},) is not
made greater by extending the time, (for whatever is said to be opportune
has its own peculiar limit;) so a right action, (for that is how I
translate {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, and a right deed I call {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~},)--a right action,
I say, and suitableness, and, in short, the good itself, which depends on
the fact of its being in accordance with nature, has no possibility of
receiving any addition or growth. For as that opportunity is not made
greater by the extension of time, so neither are these things which I have
mentioned. And, on that account, a happy life does not seem to the Stoics
more desirable or more deserving of being sought after, if it is long than
if it is short; and they prove this by a simile:--As the praise of a buskin
is to fit the foot exactly, and as many buskins are not considered to fit
better than few, and large ones are not thought better than small ones;
so, in the case of those the whole good of which depends upon its
suitableness and fitness; many are not preferred to few, nor what is
durable to what is short-lived. Nor do they exhibit sufficient acuteness
when they say, if good health is more to be esteemed when it lasts long
than when it lasts only a short time, then the longest possible enjoyment
of wisdom must clearly be of the greatest value. They do not understand
that the estim