Apophthegmata Laconica

In answer to a man who praised a harper and expressed amazement at his ability, he said, My good sir, what honours shall you be able to offer to good men when you have such praise for a harper?

When someone, in introducing a musician to him, remarked, This man is a good musician, he said, And in this country of ours that man there rates as a good soup-maker, thus implying that there was no distinction between giving pleasure through the sound of instruments and giving it through the preparation of appetizing foods and soup. [*](Cf.Moralia, 223 F, infra (15), where the saying is attributed to Cleomenes.)