Epaminondas

Yet, after Epaminondas told them of all the wonderful things he had done and, with pride and arrogance, berated them, not only did they no longer feel like casting their vote, they also left the proceedings speaking highly of that man’s character.

When Epaminondas was asked who he thought was the best man, Chabrias, Iphicrates, or himself, he said:

What sense have the two companions in greatest esteem among me, Epaminondas, of this fine verse that has been so many ages current in his praise:

If he enter into a flattering presumption of his personal valor, let him but recollect the lives of Scipio, Epaminondas;

’Tis hard to believe that Epaminondas, who boasted that in lieu of all posterity he left two daughters behind him that would one day do their father honor (meaning the two victories he obtained over the Lacedaemonians), would willingly have consented to exchange these for the most beautiful creatures of all Greece;

’Tis one of the reasons why Epaminondas, who was yet of a third sect, refused the riches fortune presented to him by very lawful means;

His death has something in it parallel with that of Epaminondas, for he was wounded with an arrow, and tried to pull it out, and had done so, but that, being edged, it cut and disabled his hand.

The third and in my opinion the most excellent, is Epaminondas.

But as to what concerns Epaminondas, I will here, for the example of an excessive goodness, add some of his opinions.