μείζων μὲν φόρτος, μεῖζον δ᾽ ἐπὶ κέρδει κέρδος
ἔσσεται, εἴ κ᾽ ἄνεμοί γε κακὰς ἀπέχωσιν ἀήτας.
• Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a large one; for the greater the lading, the greater will be your piled gain, if only the winds will keep back their harmful gales." - Meaning and context.">
line 643.
“

Nῆ᾽ ὀλίγην αἰνεῖν, μεγάλῃ δ᾽ ἐνὶ φορτία θέσθαι·
μείζων μὲν φόρτος, μεῖζον δ᾽ ἐπὶ κέρδει κέρδος
ἔσσεται, εἴ κ᾽ ἄνεμοί γε κακὰς ἀπέχωσιν ἀήτας.
• Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a large one; for the greater the lading, the greater will be your piled gain, if only the winds will keep back their harmful gales.

— Hesiod

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Nῆ᾽ ὀλίγην αἰνεῖν, μεγάλῃ δ᾽ ἐνὶ φορτία θέσθαι·
μείζων μὲν φόρτος, μεῖζον δ᾽ ἐπὶ κέρδει κέρδος
ἔσσεται, εἴ κ᾽ ἄνεμοί γε κακὰς ἀπέχωσιν ἀήτας.
• Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a large one; for the greater the lading, the greater will be your piled gain, if only the winds will keep back their harmful gales." in the context of "line 643." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Hesiod" (Quotes, Works and Days (c. 700 BC)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Hesiod

About Hesiod

Hesiod (Ἡσίοδος Hēsíodos) was an early Greek poet, believed to have lived around the year 700 BC.