Verily, Croesus, my friend hast thou long been, though my eyes beheld thee yesterday for the first time!" "And thou mine," interrupted the Lydian.

"I admire the courage with which thou hast accomplished that which seemed right and good in thine eyes, in spite of opposition near and around thee.

I am thankful for the favor shown to the Hellenes, my friends, and I regard thee as related to me by fortune, for hast thou not also passed through all the extremes of good and evil that this life can offer ?" "With this difference," said Amasis smiling, "that we started from opposite points; in thy lot the good came first, the evil later; whereas in my own this order has been reversed.

In saying this, however," he added, "I am supposing that my present fortune is a good for me, and that I enjoy it." "And I, in that case," answered Croesus, "must be assuming that I am unhappy in what men call my present ill-fortune." "How can it possibly be otherwise after the loss of such enormous possessions ?" "Does happiness consist then in possession ?" asked Croesus.

"Is happiness itself a thing to be possessed?
Nay, by no means! It is nothing but a feeling, a sensation, which the envious gods vouchsafe more often to the needy than to the mighty.