Apophthegmata Laconica

Plutarch

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

As he was consulting the oracle in Samothrace, the priest bade him tell what was the most lawless deed that had ever been committed by him in his lifetime. Lysander asked, Must I do this at your command or at the command of the gods? When the priest said, At the command of the gods, Lysander said, Then do you take yourself out of my way, and I will tell them in case they inquire. [*](Cf. the note on Moralia, 217 C (1), supra. )

When a Persian asked what kind of a government he commended most highly, he said, The government which duly awards what is fitting to both the brave and the cowardly.