Roger L'Estrange, Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists… (1692)
“ Who never Minded the Dividend; but in a Rage Worry'd the Ass, and then bad the Fox Divide; who had the Wit to make Only One Share of the Whole, saving a Miserable Pittance that he Reserv'd for Himself. The Lyon highly approv’d of his Way of Distribution; but Prethee Reynard, says he, who taught thee to Carve? Why truly says the Fox, I had an Ass to my Master; and it was His Folly made me Wise. The MORAL. There must be no Sharers in Sovereignty. Court-Conscience is Policy. The Folly of One Man makes Another Man Wise; as one Man Grows Rich upon the Ruines of Another. ”
