“Surfeit begets insolence, when prosperity comes to a bad man.”
Theognis of Megara (-570–-485 BC) Greek lyric poet active in approximately the sixth century BC
Source: Elegies, Line 153.
Call no man happy till he is dead.
Also attributed to Sophocles in "Oedipus The King".
Hold him alone truly fortunate who has ended his life in happy well-being.
Source: Oresteia (458 BC), Agamemnon, lines 928–929. Variant translations:
“Surfeit begets insolence, when prosperity comes to a bad man.”
Theognis of Megara (-570–-485 BC) Greek lyric poet active in approximately the sixth century BC
Source: Elegies, Line 153.
“Let no man be called happy before his death. Till then, he is not happy, only lucky.”
Solón (-638–-558 BC) Athenian legislator
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher
(Often shortened to "can't stand prosperity" as an unknown quote).
1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Man of Letters
Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) early Christian theologian and philosopher
Source: On the Mystical Body of Christ, p.423
“Whether happy or unhappy, life is the only treasure man possesses”
Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798) Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice
.
The Story of My Life (trans. Sartarelli/Hawkes 2001), Preface, p. 10
Referenced
Variant: [H]appy or miserable, life is the only blessing which man possesses[. ]
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
1900s, Address at the Prize Day Exercises at Groton School (1904)
Context: If there ever was a pursuit which stultified itself by its very conditions, it is the pursuit of pleasure as the all-sufficing end of life. Happiness can not come to any man capable of enjoying true happiness unless it comes as the sequel to duty well and honestly done. To do that duty you need to have more than one trait.