“ For nothing is more intractable than man when in felicity, nor anything more docile, when he has been reduced and humbled by fortune. ”
Plutarch, Parallel Lives (c. 100 AD). copy citation
| Author | Plutarch |
|---|---|
| Source | Parallel Lives |
| Topic | fortune |
| Date | c. 100 AD |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by A. H. Clough |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/674/674-h/674-h.htm |
Context
“putting the city in mind of that saying which Plato once had oracularly uttered of them, who, being requested to prescribe laws to them, and mold them into some sound form of government, made answer, that it was a hard thing to give laws to the Cyrenians, abounding, as they did, in wealth and plenty. For nothing is more intractable than man when in felicity, nor anything more docile, when he has been reduced and humbled by fortune. This made the Cyrenians so willingly submit to the laws which Lucullus imposed upon them. From thence sailing into Egypt, and, pressed by pirates, he lost most of his vessels; but he himself narrowly escaping, made a magnificent entry into Alexandria.”
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