The Spartan general just couldn't believe it

 Americans, generally speaking, have trouble with the concept of “enough.”

They want more, not enough. And they spend too much of their precious life in the pursuit of more things, rather than the pursuit of just enough. Or so it seems to me.

Herodotus told a story about Pausanias, the Spartan general who broke the Persians at Plataia in 479 BCE. It was the end of the Persian invasions.

Mardonios, the Persian general, had been killed, and Pausanias could not believe the luxury of the Persian general’s camp. Pausanias ordered the captured Persian cooks to prepare the usual meal and he ordered the Spartans to fix the usual grub.

Pausanias then invited the other Greek generals to come compare the cuisine. The Spartan kept asking: How could people who have so much come so far to rob people who are so poor?

It’s a good example, I think, of the failure to understand “enough.”

My friend Melvyn expresses the same idea when he quotes Simeon Ben Zoma: “Who is rich? He who rejoices in his portion. …”