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But let us grant (as many say and sing) that it is a
grievous thing to be banished. So there are also many
things that we eat, of a bitter, sharp, and biting taste, which
yet by a mixture of other things more mild and sweet have
all their unpleasantness taken off. There are also some
colors troublesome to look upon, which bear so hard and
strike so piercingly upon the sight, that they confound and
dazzle it; if now by mixing shadows with them, or by turning our eyes upon some green and pleasant color, we remedy this inconvenience, thou mayst also do the same to the
afflictions that befall thee, considering them with a mixture
of those advantages and benefits thou still enjoyest, as wealth,
friends, vacancy from business, and a supply of all things
necessary to human life. For I think there are few Sardians but would desire to be in your condition, though banished, and would choose to live as you may do, though in a
strange country, rather than—like snails that grow to their
shells—enjoy no other good, saving only what they have
at home without trouble.
Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 3.
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