Commentary

This maxim, which recommends moderation and the middle course, is among the most widely attributed of the Seven Sages' sayings, and it is associated with several figures besides Thales. The principle of measure, metron, was central to Greek moral and aesthetic thought, and the maxim's transmission reflects its importance in civic education. A. A. Long notes that such maxims were used to shape civic and personal conduct, and that their attribution was often a way of conferring authority on them. G. S. Kirk, J. E. Raven, and M. Schofield observe that the Delphic and sage traditions share many of these formulations, so that the attribution to Thales cannot be established. Charles Kahn argues that the idea of proportion was consistent with Milesian cosmology, which treated nature as ordered by balanced relations, though the connection is inferential. Jonathan Barnes cautions that the maxim should be labelled as a traditional attribution and not as a verified utterance. The English is a short paraphrase of a Greek formula, and it should be checked against the sources.