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[[File:Diphilus (Poet).jpg|thumb|right|No man's more fortunate than he who's poor,<br>Since for the worse his fortune cannot change.]]
'''{{w|Diphilus}}''' ([[w:Ancient Greek|Greek]]: Δίφιλος, ''Díphilos'') was a Greek poet and playwright, native of [[w:Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]], and contemporary of [[Menander]] (342–291 BC). Most of Diphilus' plays—acclaimed for his comic wit and humor, and about 100 in number—were written and acted at [[Athens]], but he led a wandering life, and died at {{w|Smyrna}}.

== Quotes ==

* ὦ μακάρι᾿, ἀτυχεῖν θνητὸς ὢν ἐπίστασο,<br>ἵν᾿ αὐτὰ τἀναγκαῖα δυστυχῇς μόνον,<br>πλείω δὲ διὰ τὴν ἀμαθίαν μὴ προσλάβῃς.
** O happy man! being mortal, know that thou art born to trouble, in order that thou mayest suffer only in what is necessary, and not add to it by thy folly.
** Frg. 4 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873)

* ἀπροσδόκητον οὐδὲν ἀνθρώποις πάθος·<br>ἐφημέρους γὰρ τὰς τύχας κεκτήμεθα.
** To man no suffering unexpected comes;<br>We hold our fortune but from day to day.
** Frg. 44 K.-A.
<!-- * πολιὸς τεχνίτης ἐστὶν ὁ χρόνος, ὦ ξένε·<br>χαίρει μεταπλάττων πάντας ἐπὶ τὰ χείρονα.
** My friend, time is the workman of the state; it rejoices to mould all things to the worse.
** Frg. 84 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873) // Ramage evidently confuses πολιός (grey, grizzled) with πόλεως (of the city); commenting out pending an accurate translation -->

* οὐκ ἔστι βίος ὃς οὐχὶ κέκτηται κακά,<br>λύπας, μερίμνας, ἁρπαγάς, στρεβλάς, νόσους·<br>τούτων ὁ θάνατος καθάπερ ἰατρὸς φανεὶς<br>ἀνέπαυσε τοὺς ἔχοντας ἀναπαύσας ὕπνῳ.
** There is no life that hath not many an ill,<br>Griefs, losses, cares, disease, new torments still,<br>From which death only, that physician blest,<br>Sets free the sufferer and gives him rest.
** Frg. 88 K.-A.

* ὅστις γὰρ αὐτὸς αὑτὸν οὐκ αἰσχύνεται<br>συνειδόθ᾿ αὑτῷ φαῦλα διαπεπραγμένῳ,<br>πῶς τόν γε μηδὲν εἰδότ᾿ αἰσχυνθήσεται;
** For whosoever is not ashamed when he is conscious to himself of having committed some base act, how will he be ashamed before him who is ignorant of it?
** Frg. 92 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873)

* εἰ μὴ τὸ λαβεῖν ἦν, οὐδὲ εἷς πονηρὸς ἦν.
** Were there no lust of gain none would be evil.
** Frg. 94.1 K.-A.

* ἀρ᾿ ἐστὶν ἀνοητότατον αἰσχροκερδία·<br>πρὸς τῷ λαβεῖν γὰρ ὢν ὁ νοῦς τἆλλ᾿ οὐχ ὁρᾷ.
** How senseless is the sordid love of gain;<br>Blind to all else the mind that's set on profit.
** Frg. 99 K.-A.

* ἔργον συναγαγεῖν σωρὸν ἐν πολλῷ χρόνῳ,<br>ἐν ἡμέρᾳ δὲ διαφορῆσαι ῥᾴδιον.
** Long time thou'lt toil to gather up the heap<br>Which thou canst scatter in a single day.
** Frg. 100 K.-A.
*** Alternate translation (C. T. Ramage, 1873):
*** It is difficult to gather a heap in a long time, but it is easy to squander the whole in a day.

* πένητος ἀνδρὸς οὐδὲν εὐτυχέστερον·<br>τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον μεταβολὴν οὐ προσδοκᾷ.
** No man's more fortunate than he who's poor,<br>Since for the worse his fortune cannot change.
** Frg. 104 K.-A.

* πενία δὲ συγκραθεῖσα δυσσεβεῖ τρόπῳ<br>ἄρδην ἀνεῖλε καὶ κατέστρεψεν βίον.
** Poverty united to bad conduct utterly destroys and upturns the life of man.
** Frg. 105 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873)

* ἄνθρωπός εἰμι, τοῦτο δ᾿ αὐτὸ τῷ βίῳ<br>πρόφασιν μεγίστην εἰς τὸ λυπεῖσθαι φέρει.
** I am a mortal; this very thing is the greatest cause of sorrow in life.
** Frg. 106 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873)

* οὐκ ἔστ᾿ ἀναιδοῦς ζῷον εὐθαρσέστερον.
** There is no animal more bold than shamelessness.
** Frg. 110 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873)

* ἂν γνῷς τί ἐστ᾿ ἄνθρωπος, ἡδίων ἔσῃ.
** If thou knowest what man is, thou wilt be more happy.
** Frg. 112 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873)

* ὡς μακάριον φρόνησις ἐν χρηστῷ τρόπῳ.
** How completely blessed is prudence in a good disposition!
** Frg. 113 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873)

* λύπης δὲ πάσης γίνετ᾿ ἰατρὸς χρόνος.
** Time is of every woe the healer.
** Frg. 116 K.-A.

{{Misattributed begin}}

== Misattributed ==

* ὃς<br>οὔτ᾿ ἐρυθριᾶν ἐπίστατ᾿ οὔτε δεδιέναι,<br>τὰ πρῶτα πάσης τῆς ἀναιδείας ἔχει.
** Whoever does not know to blush or be afraid, has the first principles of every kind of baseness.
** [[Menander]], frg. 751 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873); misattributed to Diphilus due to a confusion in Stobaeus, ''Anthology'', III.32.10.

{{Misattributed end}}

== References ==
;Text
* Kassel, Rudolf; Austin, Colin. ''Poetae Comici Graeci, vol. V Damoxenus–Magnes''. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1986.

;Translations
* Harbottle, Thomas Benfield. ''Dictionary of Quotations (Classical)''. London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1897. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofquot00harbiala/page/n7/mode/2up Internet Archive]
* Ramage, Craufurd Tait. ''Beautiful Thoughts from Greek Authors''. Liverpool: Edward Howell, 1873, pp. 133–136. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Id4emt1vfvgC Google Books]

== External links ==
* {{wikipedia-inline}}
[[Category:Poets from Greece]]
[[Category:Playwrights from Greece]]
[[Category:BCE births]]
[[Category:BCE deaths]]