Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata
Plutarch
Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).
When Hipparchus of Euboea died, [*](Hipparchus, with two others, was set up by Philip as tyrant in Eretria about 343 B.C. See Demosthenes, Oration, ix. 58 (p. 125), and Oration xviii. 295 (p. 324).) it was plain that Philip took it much to heart; and when somebody remarked, But, as a matter of fact, his death has come in fullness of time, Philip said, Yes, in fullness of time for him, it is true, but swiftly for me, for he came to his end too soon to receive from me, as he ought, favours worthy of our friendship.
Learning that Alexander complained against him because he was having children by other women besides his wife, he said, Well then, if you have many competitors for the kingdom, prove yourself honourable and good, so that you may obtain the kingdom not because of me, but because of yourself. He bade Alexander give heed to Aristotle, and study philosophy, so that, as he said, you may not do a great many things of the sort that I am sorry to have done. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, chap. ix. (669 A).)