Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

Plutarch

Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).

The Younger Dionysius used to say that he gave bed and board to many learned men, not because he felt any admiration for them, but because he wished through them to gain admiration for himself.

When Polyxenus, [*](Cf. Plato’s Letters, ii. p. 314 C.) who was skilled in argumentation, asserted that he had confuted the king, the latter said, Yes, very likely by your words, but by your deeds I confute you; for you forsake your own affairs, and pay court to me and mine.