"Kill your only son?"
"You have said it."
"And your other child?"
"The girl is still in their hands."
"They will do her an injury when they hear . . ."
"Let her die. Better go to one's grave childless, than unrevenged."
"I understand. I cannot blame you any longer. The boy's blood must be revenged."
And so saying, the old man pressed the Athenian's right hand. The latter dried his tears, mastered his emotion, and cried: "Let us go to the council of war now. No one can be so thankful for Psamtik's infamous deeds as Cambyses. That man with his hasty passions was never made to be a prince of peace."
"And yet it seems to me the highest duty of a king is to work for the inner welfare of his kingdom. But human beings are strange creatures; they praise their butchers more than their benefactors. How many poems have been written on Achilles! but did any one ever dream of writing songs on the wise government of Pittakus?"
"More courage is required to shed blood, than to plant trees."