Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

When Smicythus remarked maliciously of Nicanor that he was always speaking ill of Philip, and Philip’s companions thought that he ought to send for Nicanor and punish him, Philip said, But really Nicanor is not the worst of the Macedonians. We must investigate therefore whether something is not happening for which we are responsible. When he learned therefore that Nicanor was hard pressed by poverty, and had been neglected by him he directed that a present be given to the man. So when again Smicythus said that Nicanor was continually sounding the praises of Philip to everybody in a surprising way, Philip said, You all see that we ourselves are responsible for the good and the ill that is said of us. [*](Cf. Themistius, Oration, vii. 95 B, and Frontinus, Strategemata, iv. 7. 37.)

He said that he felt very grateful to the popular leaders of the Athenians, because by maligning him they made him better both in speech and in character, For I try both by my words and by my deeds to prove that they are liars.

When all the Athenians who had been taken

When the keybone of his shoulder had been broken in battle, [*](Cf. Demosthenes, Oration xviii. (De Corona), 67 (p. 247), and Aulus Gellius, ii. 27.) and the attending physician insistently demanded a fee every day, he said, Take as much as you wish; for you have the key in your charge ! [*](The pun depends on the fact that κλείς means both key and collar-bone. )

Of two brothers, Both and Each, he observed that Each was sensible and practical, and Both was silly and foolish, and he remarked that Each was both and Both was neither!