This is living, not to live unto oneself alone.

The line expresses an ethical ideal common in Greek moral thought: a life is properly “lived” when it is not confined to self-interest but oriented toward others—family, friends, and the wider community. Read this way, “living” is defined less by mere survival or private pleasure than by participation in reciprocal obligations and acts of generosity. The sentiment also aligns with the social world of New Comedy, where personal choices (marriage, reconciliation, aid to kin) often have communal consequences. As a maxim, it frames altruism and sociability not as optional virtues but as the very measure of a fully human life.