Apophthegmata Laconica

Plutarch

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

Brasidas caught a mouse among some figs, and, when he got bitten, let it go. Then, turning to those who were present, he said, There is nothing so small that it does not save its life if it has the courage to defend itself against those who would lay hand on it. [*](Ibid. (1).)