"I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better."
"Ought a man to be confident that he deserves his good fortune, and think much of himself when he has overcome a nation, or city, or empire; or does fortune give this as an example to the victor also of the uncertainty of human affairs, which never continue in one stay? For what time can there be for us mortals to feel confident, when our victories over others especially compel us to dread fortune, and while we are exulting, the reflection that the fatal day comes now to one, now to another, in regular succession, dashes our joy."
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Source: Plutarch (2012). “Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans: Complete”, p.371, Simon and Schuster
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