Then what is to be prized?An audience clapping? No. No more than the clacking of
their tongues. Which is all that public praise amounts to—a
clacking of tongues.
So we throw out other people’s recognition. What’s left
for us to prize?
I think it’s this: to do (and not do) what we were designed
for. That’s the goal of all trades, all arts, and what each of
them aims at: that the thing they create should do what it was
designed to do. The nurseryman who cares for the vines, the
horse trainer, the dog breeder—this is what they aim at. And
teaching and education—what else are they trying to
accomplish?
So that’s what we should prize. Hold on to that, and you
won’t be tempted to aim at anything else.
And if you can’t stop prizing a lot of other things? Then
you’ll never be free—free, independent, imperturbable.
Because you’ll always be envious and jealous, afraid that
people might come and take it all away from you. Plotting
against those who have them—those things you prize. People
who need those things are bound to be a mess—and bound to
take out their frustrations on the gods. Whereas to respect
your own mind—to prize it—will leave you satisfied with