The catalogue of the world's bustle. Ten pictures in one asyndetic list, in descending order: imperial pomp — the stage — flocks and herds — spear-bouts — puppies over a bone — fish in the pond — load-carrying ants — startled mice — MOTIFpuppets on strings. Human pursuits are set in a single series with animal and insect bustle and thereby levelled with it: "all of one kind." This is the classic EXERCISEview from above — distance that re-scales (cf. 5.33 — "smoke and ash"; 9.24 — "children's quarrels, toys, little souls carrying corpses"; 9.30 — "look from above"; 12.24). Its contrasting twin is the creatures at their work of 5.1: there the ants model the doing of one's ἔργον, here their ταλαιπωρίαι are an emblem of pointless strain; the same menagerie serves as lesson and as diagnosis.

Standing kindly, without snorting. The conclusion does not begin with contempt: χρὴ εὐμενῶς μὲν καὶ μὴ καταφρυαττόμενον ἑστάναι — "stand amid these things kindly and without snorting from on high" (καταφρυάττεσθαι — of a horse that snorts and tosses its head). The distance of the view from above grants no right to arrogance: the sage does not turn away from the human comedy, he stands within it — benevolent, but sober. The double demand (gentleness toward people, sharpness toward values) makes the governing discipline assent, with desire sustaining.

The measure of worth. The closing maxim is the formula of TERMἀξία: "EXERCISEstay aware (παρακολουθεῖν) that each is worth just as much as the things he is earnest about are worth" (τοσούτου ἄξιος ἕκαστος, ὅσου ἄξιά ἐστι ταῦτα περὶ ἃ ἐσπούδακεν). The measure of a person is neither property nor success but the object of his earnestness: whoever busies himself about pomp is worth pomp; about virtue — virtue. Cf. 06-03 (ἡ ἀξία — let the true worth of a thing not escape you) and the doctrine of the value-scale of indifferents in the TERMaxia card.