Thus Solon granted second place in happiness to these men . Croesus was vexed and said , " My Athenian guest , do you so much despise our happiness that you do not even make us worth as much as common men ? " Solon replied , " Croesus , you ask me about human affairs , and I know that the divine is entirely grudging and troublesome to us .

In a long span of time it is possible to see many things that you do not want to , and to suffer them , too . I set the limit of a man ' s life at seventy years ;

these seventy years have twenty-five thousand , two hundred days , leaving out the intercalary month . [ * ] But if you make every other year longer by one month , so that the seasons agree opportunely , then there are thirty-five intercalary months during the seventy years , and from these months there are one thousand fifty days .

Σόλων μὲν δὴ εὐδαιμονίης δευτερεῖα ἔνεμε τούτοισι , Κροῖσος δὲ σπερχθεὶς εἶπε " ὦ ξεῖνε Ἀθηναῖε , ἡ δʼ ἡμετέρη εὐδαιμονίη οὕτω τοι ἀπέρριπται ἐς τὸ μηδὲν ὥστε οὐδὲ ἰδιωτέων ἀνδρῶν ἀξίους ἡμέας ἐποίησας ; " ὁ δὲ εἶπε " ὦ Κροῖσε , ἐπιστάμενόν με τὸ θεῖον πᾶν ἐὸν φθονερόν τε καὶ ταραχῶδες ἐπειρωτᾷς ἀνθρωπηίων πρηγμάτων πέρι .

ἐν γὰρ τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ πολλὰ μὲν ἐστὶ ἰδεῖν τὰ μή τις ἐθέλει , πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παθεῖν . ἐς γὰρ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεα οὖρον τῆς ζόης ἀνθρώπῳ προτίθημι .

οὗτοι ἐόντες ἐνιαυτοὶ ἑβδομήκοντα παρέχονται ἡμέρας διηκοσίας καὶ πεντακισχιλίας καὶ δισμυρίας , ἐμβολίμου μηνὸς μὴ γινομένου · εἰ δὲ δὴ ἐθελήσει τοὔτερον τῶν ἐτέων μηνὶ μακρότερον γίνεσθαι , ἵνα δὴ αἱ ὧραι συμβαίνωσι παραγινόμεναι ἐς τὸ δέον , μῆνες μὲν παρὰ τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεα οἱ ἐμβόλιμοι γίνονται τριήκοντα πέντε , ἡμέραι δὲ ἐκ τῶν μηνῶν τούτων χίλιαι πεντήκοντα .

Vexed , Croesus asks why Solon despises him . Solon points out that no one can be judged fortunate until he is dead . When Solon thus allotted his second place for happiness to these , Croesus now became annoyed . " My Athenian guest , " he said , " are you disparaging my own happiness as though it were nothing ? Do you think me worth less than even a common man ? " Solon replied , " Croesus , you asked me about human concerns , and I know that the gods are jealous of human prosperity and disruptive of our peace .

Over a long period of time , a man will see and experience many things he would rather not . If we set the limit of a human life at seventy years ,

these seventy cycles of seasons provide 25 , 200 days , without the intercalary months . But if you want to make every other year a month longer so that the seasons occur at the proper time , add thirty-five intercalary months to the seventy years , and from these months you get 1050 days .