suggestive of Mill’s definition, “that part of his possessions ... which he designs to employ in carrying on fresh production,” and of his two kinds of capital, “circulating” and “fixed”; ποιητικά , “things for further production,” as opposed to πρακτικά , “things merely for use”; κεφάλαιος , of capital as opposed to interest or income.
The term ἔρανος, also, since it came to mean a “contribution of money,” was often used of a loan, and therefore approached the signification of “money capital.”425
Xenophon is considerably more favorable to labor and the industrial life than are the other Socratics. He quotes Socrates with apparent approval, that to do something well is well-being, while he who does nothing well is neither good for anything nor beloved of God.426
Work is far better than idleness. It produces more happiness, makes the laborer more temperate and just, and is the sine qua non for the independent life.427
This is a strong plea for industry, and is especially significant, since it refers primarily, to manufacture rather than to agriculture. The reference, however, is to women workers, whose loss of leisure would not be an injury to the state. Each person is encouraged to provide for himself, and to do his work in the best possible manner,428 and the maxim of Epicharmus, “For labor, the gods sell all goods to us,” is heartily approved.429 All the foregoing passages are Hesiodic in their insistence upon the value of industry.430
But apart from his evident acceptance of the doctrine of Socrates, as quoted above, Xenophon exhibits a positive interest in labor. His attitude toward the advancement of industry and commerce is thoroughly modern, except that he does not contemplate the employment of free citizen labor.431