Any excuse will serve a tyrant.
Aesop (620?-560? BC) Legendary Greek storyteller
Fables [Aesopica], “The Wolf and the Lamb” (6th C BC) [tr. Jacobs (1894)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:
- "'Tis an Easie Matter to find a Staff to Beat a Dog." [tr. L'Estrange (1692)]
- "A tyrant never wants a plea." [tr. James (1848)]
- "The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny." [tr. Townsend (1887)]