XXXIV. It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confidence of their help.
XXXV. We should not spoil what we have by desiring what we have not, but remember that what we have too was the gift of fortune.
[XXXVI. Epicurus’ life when compared to other men’s in respect of gentleness and self-sufficiency might be thought a mere legend.]
Vatican Sayings XXXIV–XXXVI, p. 111
Bailey’s two editorial marks are worth reading. Square brackets — as round XXXVI, which talks about Epicurus in the third person — flag entries he judges came “not from Epicurus but from his disciples.” An asterisk, which XXXV carries in his Greek text, marks matter that was new when Wotke published the manuscript in 1888. XXXV is asterisked and unbracketed.
✓Public domain
The Greek original is ancient and long out of copyright, and the English wording quoted here comes from Cyril Bailey’s translation first published in 1926 by the Clarendon Press, Oxford — the title page in the scan confirms the date. A work first published before 1931 is in the public domain in the United States, so both the original and this particular translation may be quoted freely. Note that this applies to Bailey’s wording specifically; later twentieth-century translations of the same saying are separate works and may still be in copyright.
⚠ This reflects the original work, which is public domain. If your exact English wording comes from a specific modern translation, that translation may itself still be under copyright — check the edition you quote.
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