Book 3
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Further, it is alleged that he said to one of his slaves, I would have given you a flogging, had I not been in a passion. Being mounted on horseback, he quickly got down again, declaring that he was afraid he would be infected with horse-pride. He advised those who got drunk to view themselves in a mirror; for they would then abandon the habit which so disfigured them. To drink to excess was nowhere becoming, he used to say, save at the feasts of the god who was the giver of wine. He also disapproved of over-sleeping. At any rate in the Laws808 b. he declares that
1.40
no one when asleep is good for anything. He also said that the truth is the pleasantest of sounds. Another version of this saying is that the pleasantest of all things is to speak the truth. Again, of truth he speaks thus in the Laws663 e.: Truth, O stranger, is a fair and durable thing. But it is a thing of which it is hard to persuade men. His wish always was to leave a memorial of himself behind, either in the hearts of his friends or in his books. He was himself fond of seclusion according to some authorities.
