Apophthegmata Laconica

Plutarch

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

When someone commended the maxim of Cleomenes, who, on being asked what a good king ought to do, said, To do good to his friends and evil to his enemies, Ariston said, How much better,

my good sir, to do good to our friends, and to make friends of our enemies? This, which is universally conceded to be one of Socrates’ maxims, [*](But not quite in these words; Cf. Plato, Republic, i. chap. ix. (335 B ff.), Crito, chap. x. (49 A ff.), Gorgias, 469 A-B and 475 B-D.) is also referred to Ariston. [*](A similar remark is attributed to Cleobulus by Diogenes Laertius, i. 91.)

When someone inquired how many Spartans there were in all, he said, Enough to keep away our enemies. [*](Cf. the note on Moralia, 190 D (5), supra. )