[42]
Force does not enable
a man to master even the smallest things. It was inventiveness and system that
made him yoke the ox to the plough for the tilling of the land, bridle the
horse, set a rider on the elephant, and cross the boundless sea in boats of
wood. The engineer and craftsman of all these things is mind, and we must use it
as our guide, not always seeking to follow the subtleties of our own plans but
rather the natural changes of events. This was the method by which I tamed
Alexander, like some fearful beast, with flattering words and made him tractable
for the future.
Demades. Minor Attic Orators in two volumes, 2, with an English translation by J. O. Burtt, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1962.
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