quote · Legacy record
Satisfy thine hired servants out of such things as thou hast; it is the duty of one that hath been favoured of the God. In sooth, it is hard to satisfy hired servants. For one saith, 'He is a lavish person; one knoweth not that which may come [from him].' But on the morrow he thinketh, 'He is a person of exactitude (parsimony), content therein.' And when favours have been shown unto servants, they say, 'We go.' Peace dwelleth not in that town wherein dwell servants that are wretched.
Satisfy thine hired servants out of such things as thou hast; it is the duty of one that hath been favoured of the God. In sooth, it is hard to satisfy hired servants. For one saith, 'He is a lavish person; one knoweth not that which may come [from him].' But on the morrow he thinketh, 'He is a person of exactitude (parsimony), content therein.' And when favours have been shown unto servants, they say, 'We go.' Peace dwelleth not in that town wherein dwell servants that are wretched.
Approximate author period: c. 1800 BC · ancient
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Ptahhotep (traditional literary attribution)
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1800 BC · ancient
Papyrus Prisse manuscript circa 1800 BCE (BnF); not quotation composition date or author lifetime
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- The Instruction of Ptah-Hotep and the Instruction of Ke’Gemni (1906) (1906 AD)
Instruction of Ptah-Hotep, Gunn edition section 22; complete printed unit; literary attribution, not independently authenticated
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- Ancient Egyptian