1. When will the needy ostentatious one be satisfied,
Especially one given to extravagance and excess?

2. I sought wealth in every way, but found
No path to wealth except the path of self-restraint.

3. If you are not content with what you attain,
And pine intensely for what is past,

4. You will not be rid of deep anxiety,
Nor I of prolonged rage.

5. I see myself vainly arrogant,
As if I were immune from faults.

6. Yet I am the weakest of the weak,
The most wretched of the wretched.

7. No man has fully guarded against you
All that you have guarded against him.

8. My friend, how sufficient is the little
We strive for, if with the sufficient we were content!

9. And none honors the greedy man seeking gifts,
Nor uplifts the soul of the patient self-restrained.