But Plato doubtlesse dyd well foresee, oneless kynges themselves woulde applye their mindes to the studye of Philosophie, that elles they woulde never thoroughlye allowe the counsell of philosophers, beynge themselves before even from their tender age infected, and corrupt with perverse and evil opinions.
[tr. Robynson (1551)]

But Plato judged right, that except Kings themselves became Philosophers, it could never be brought about, that they who from their Childhood are corrupted with false Notions, should fall in intirely with the Counsels of Philosophers.
[tr. Burnet (1684)]

But Plato judged right, that except kings themselves become philosophers, they who from their childhood are corrupted with false notions, would never fall in intirely with the counsels of philosophers.
[tr. Warner (1758)]

But Plato judged rightly, that except kings themselves became philosophers, being corrupted with false notions from their childhood, they would never consent entirely with the counsels of philosophers.
[tr. Cayley (1808)]

But Plato doubtless did well foresee, unless kings themselves would apply their minds to the study of Philosophy, that else they would never thoroughly allow the counsel of philosophers; being themselves before even from their tender age infected and corrupt with perverse and evil opinions.
[tr. Robynson/Lupton/Armes (1911)]

But doubtless Plato was right in foreseeing that if kings did not turn to philosophy themselves, they would never approve of the advice of real philosophers, being themselves from their youth infected and saturated with wrong ideas.
[tr. Richards (1923)]

And that's doubtless what Plato meant. He realized that kings are too deeply infected with wrong ideas in childhood to take any philosopher's advice, unless they became philosophers themselves.
[tr. Turner (1965 ed.)]

But, doubtless, Plato was right in foreseeing that if kings themselves did not turn to philosophy, they would never approve of the advice of real philosophers because they have been from their youth saturated and infected with wrong ideas.
[tr. Richards/Surtz (1964)]

And that's doubtless what Plato meant. He realized that kings are too deeply infected with wrong ideas in childhood to take any philosopher's advice, unless they become philosophers themselves.
[tr. Turner (2003 ed.)]

Uncounsil'd force with his own weight
Is crusht; a force that's temperate
Heaven it self helps: and hates no less
Strength that provokes to wickedness.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]

Rash force by its own weight must fall,
But Pious strength will still prevail;
For such the Gods assist, and bless,
But hate a mighty Wickedness.
[tr. Creech (1684)]

Strength, mindless, falls by its own weight;
Strength, mix'd with mind, is made more strong
By the just gods, who surely hate
The strength whose thoughts are set on wrong.
[tr. Conington (1872)]

Force, void of conduct, falls by its own weight; moreover, the gods promote discreet force to further advantage; but the same beings detest forces, that meditate every kind of impiety.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

Unreasoning strength by its own weight must fall.
To strength with wisdom blent
Force by the gods is lent.
Who hold in scorn that strength, which is on all
That's impious intent.
[tr. Martin (1864)]

By its own weight sinks force, when void of counsel.
'Tis the force tempered which the gods make greater;
But they abhor the force
Which gives blind movement to all springs of crime.
[tr. Bulwer-Lytton (1870)]

Strength without wisdom falls headlong by its own weight. The Gods increase success to wisely-regulated strength, but abhor the might which contemplates all manner of iniquity.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]

Brute might may rush in headlong course,
But tempered strength the gods make strong
And stronger, while they hate the force
That madly stirs to deeds of wrong.
[tr. Gladstone (1894)]

Strength void of counsel! By its own weight it falls,
Strength well-directed, even the Gods increase
To greater force, and hate mere brute-power
Planning in mind ev'ry form of evil.
[tr. Phelps (1897)]

Force void of counsel falls by its own weight:
But force restrained the very gods bear on
To greater: so they hate the power
That stirreth every disobedience in the mind.
[tr. Garnsey (1907)]

For ill-trained strength by its own weight's o'erborne;
But Heaven, to powers well-ordered, favour lends,
Hating brute-force, which to ill ends
Doth all its travail turn.
[tr. Marshall (1908)]

Brute force bereft of wisdom falls to ruin by its own weight. Power with counsel tempered, even the gods make greater. But might that in its soul is bent on all impiety, they hate.
[tr. Bennett (Loeb) (1912)]

Force lacking counsel falls by its own weight;
Force temperate the Gods make yet more great --
The Gods who hate the strength that would defy
Their righteous will, and plot iniquity.
[tr. Mills (1924)]

Primitive force topples to its own ruin,
But when the mind guides power it prospers; heaven
Helps it: the gods abhor
Brute strength devoted to malignant ends.
[tr. Michie (1963)]

Force without wisdom falls of its own
Weight. Even the gods require sense of themselves,
And work better for its guidance. They hate
Evil no matter how strong.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]

Force alone, devoid of judgment,
sinks beneath its own weight.
But tempered well by the wisdom of the gods,
it rises higher; for the gods detest
all violence which turns to crime.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]

Power without wisdom falls by its own weight:
The gods themselves advance temperate power:
and likewise hate force that, with its whole
consciousness, is intent on wickedness.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

Force without wisdom rushes from its own weight:
the gods, too, promote tempered force to something
greater; they also hate force
which stirs wickedness in every soul.
[tr. Wikisource (2021)]

Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.
[E.g. (1936)]

Advice is like castor oil -- easy enough to give but dreadful hard to take.
["Advice"]

Advice is like castor oil -- awful easy to give but mighty hard to take.
["How to Select a Husband"]

Better counsel comes with the night.
[Source (1842)]

Morning brings better counsel.
[tr. Lewes/Taylor (1890)]

Better counsel often comes by night.
[tr. Gode-von Aesch (1959?)]

What wouldst thou have me pursue; the Prudence of my Enemies, or my own?
[tr. Ozell (1736)]

Which would you have me obey -- the petty maxims that guide my enemies, or the dictates of my own free soul?
[tr. Davidson (1891)]

Which would you have me accept as a guide, -- the foresight of my enemies or my own?
[tr.https://archive.org/details/persianletters00degoog/page/n52/mode/2up?q=%22accept+as+a+guide%22">Betts (1897)]

Would you have me follow my own counsel or that of my enemies?
[tr. Healy (1964)]

Ought I to heed my enemies' prudent counsels or my own?
[tr. Mauldon (2008)]

Which would you have me follow, Rustan, my own counsel, or that of my enemies?
[tr. MacKenzie (2014)]

To offer advise, unrequested: what is it els but to vaunt youre selfe wiser then he is, whom you do counsell : nay rather it is a plaine checke to him, for his Ignoraunce and folly.
[tr. Peterson (1576)]

To offer your advice unasked, is nothing else than to assert that you are wiser than he to whom you offer it.
[Source (1909)]

To offer your advice without having been asked is nothing else but a way of saying that you are wiser than the man to whom you are giving advice, and even a way of reprimanding him for his limited knowledge and his ignorance.
[tr. Eisenbichler/Bartlett (1986)]

This letter is a very long, and so possibly a very tedious one; but my anxiety for your perfection is so great, and particularly at this critical and decisive period of your life, that I am only afraid of omitting, but never of repeating or dwelling too long upon anything that I think may be of the least use to you.

TEIRESIAS: Oh! What man is there that knows? who that considers --
KREON: In what? thou askest comprehensive questions.
TEIRESIAS: How far the best of goods good counsel is?
KREON: As far as folly is the greatest loss.
TEIRESIAS: Well, though, at least hast caught that grievous ailment.
[tr. Donaldson (1848), l. 1015]

TEIRESIAS: Alas! doth any know and lay to heart --
CREON: Is this the prelude to some hackneyed saw?
TEIRESIAS: How far good counsel is the best of goods?
CREON: True, as unwisdom is the worst of ills.
TEIRESIAS: Thou art infected with that ill thyself.
[tr. Campbell (1873)]

TIRESIAS: Ah! where is wisdom? who considereth?
CREON: Wherefore? what means this universal doubt?
TIRESIAS: How far the best of riches is good counsel!
CREON: As far as folly is the mightiest bane.
TIRESIAS: Yet thou art sick of that same pestilence.
[tr. Storr (1859)]

TEIRESIAS: Alas! Does any man know, does any consider --
CREON: What is this? What universal truth are you announcing?
TEIRESIAS: -- by how much the most precious of our possessions is the power to reason wisely?
CREON: By as much, I think, as senselessness is the greatest affliction.
TEIRESIAS: Yet you came into being full of that disease.
[tr. Jebb (1891)]

TEIRESIAS: Alas! Doth any man know, doth any consider ...
CREON: Whereof? What general truth dost thou announce?
TEIRESIAS: How precious, above all wealth, is good counsel.
CREON: As folly, I think, is the worst mischief.
TEIRESIAS: Yet thou art tainted with that distemper.
[tr. Jebb (1917)]

TEIRESIAS: Ah Creon! Is there no man left in the world --
CREON: To do what? -- Come, let’s have the aphorism!
TEIRESIAS: No man who knows that wisdom outweighs any wealth?
CREON: As surely as bribes are baser than any baseness.
TEIRESIAS: You are sick, Creon! You are deathly sick!
[tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1939), l. 825ff]

TEIRESIAS: Ah, is there any wisdom in the world?
CREON: Why, what is the meaning of that wide-flung taunt?
TEIRESIAS: What prize outweighs the priceless worth of prudence?
CREON: Ay, what indeed? What mischief matches the lack of it?
TEIRESIAS: And there you speak of your own symptom, sir.
[tr. Watling (1947)]

TEIRESIAS: Alas! What man can tell me, has he thought at all ...
CREON: What hackneyed saw is coming from your lips?
TEIRESIAS: How better than all wealth is sound good counsel.
CREON: And so folly worse than anything.
TEIRESIAS: And you're infected with that same disease.
[tr. Wyckoff (1954)]

TEIRESIAS: Does any man reflect, does any know ...
CREON: Know what? Why do you preach at me like this?
TEIRESIAS: How much the greatest blessing is good counsel?
CREON: As much, I think, as folly is his plague.
TEIRESIAS: Yet with this plague you are yourself infected.
[tr. Kitto (1962)]

TIRESIAS: This is very sad: Does any human being know, or even question ...
CREON: What's this? More of your great "common knowledge"?
TIRESIAS: How powerful good judgment is, compared to wealth.
CREON: Exactly. And no harm compares with heedlessness.
TIRESIAS: Which runs through you like the plague.
[tr. Woodruff (2001)]

TIRESIAS: Pheu, does any man know, does he consider ...
CREON: Just what? What old saw are you saying?
TIRESIAS: by how much the best of possessions is good counsel?
CREON: By as much, I suppose, as not to have sense is the greatest harm.
TIRESIAS: You certainly were full of this sickness.
[tr. Tyrell/Bennett (2002)]

TEIRESIAS: Is there no one who ... does no one know ... Speak up! Speak up!
CREON: What? What are you trying to say to us?
TEIRESIAS: What? What I’m trying to tell you, Creon, is that man’s best endowment is wisdom.
CREON: Just as idiocy is our worst curse.
TEIRESIAS: You’re possessed by this illness to the full.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

TEIRESIAS: Alas, does any man know or think about ...
CREON: Think what? What sort of pithy common thought are you about to utter?
TEIRESIAS: ... how good advice is valuable -- worth more than all possessions.
CREON: I think that’s true, as much as foolishness is what harms us most.
TEIRESIAS: Yet that’s the sickness now infecting you.
[tr. Johnston (2005)]

TIRESIAS: Does any man know, does any consider ...
CREON: What thing? What great aphorism will you speak?
TIRESIAS: ... how much prudence is the greatest of possessions?
CREON: As much as stupidity is the worst hurt?
TIRESIAS: You certainly seem full of this disease.
[tr. Thomas (2005)]

For, if grounded maxims
May find their utterance e'en in me your son,
I dare be bold to say 'tis better far
That understanding should be born in man:
But if this may not be: -- and, to say sooth,
The common scale inclines not thus, -- 'tis well
To learn from any one who reasons soundly.
[tr. Donaldson (1848)]

For, if one young in years may claim some sense,
I'll say 'tis best of all to be endowed
With absolute wisdom; but, if that's denied,
(And nature takes not readily that ply)
Next wise is he who lists to sage advice.
[tr. Campbell (1873)]

If any judgement hath informed my youth,
I grant it noblest to be always wise,
But, -- for omniscience is denied to man --
Tis good to hearken to admonishment.
[tr. Storr (1859)]

For if even from me, a younger man, a worthy thought may be supplied, by far the best thing, I believe, would be for men to be all-wise by nature. Otherwise -- since most often it does not turn out that way -- it is good to learn in addition from those who advise you well.
[tr. Jebb (1891)]

For if I, a younger man, may offer my thought, it were far best, I ween, that men should be all-wise by nature; but, otherwise -- and oft the scale inclines not so -- 'tis good also to learn from those who speak aright.
[tr. Jebb (1917)]

I know I am young; but please let me say this: The ideal condition
Would be, I admit, that men should be right by instinct;
But since we are all too likely to go astray,
The reasonable thing is to learn from those who can teach.
[tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1939), l. 578ff]

Young as I am, if I may give advice,
I'd say it would be best if men were born
perfect in wisdom, but failing this
(which often fails) it can be no dishonor
to learn from others when they speak good sense.
[tr. Wyckoff (1954)]

If one who is still young can speak with sense,
Then I would say that he does best who has
Most understanding; second best, the man
Who profits from the wisdom of another.
[tr. Kitto (1962)]

I'm young, I know, but let me offer this:
it would be best by far, I admit,
if a man were born infallible, right by nature.
If not -- and things don't often go that way --
it's best to learn from those with good advice.
[tr. Fagles (1982), l. 805ff]

For if an opinion comes up from me, a younger person,
I say it is by far best that a man be born filled with
wisdom. If he is not, for the scale does not usually so incline,
to learn from those speaking competently is a noble thing.
[tr. Tyrell/Bennett (2002)]

I’m younger, I know but I still might be able to judge what’s right and I say that it’s a good thing for a man to be born with all possible wisdom but still -- because it’s not such a common thing -- to be able to learn from others.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

For if I, as a younger man, may state
my views, I’d say it would be for the best
if men by nature understood all things --
if not, and that is usually the case,
when men speak well, it good to learn from them.
[tr. Johnston (2005)]

Even though I'm young, a good idea might come from me: It would be best by far that man be born full of all the knowledge there is, but, if it usually happens not to turn out that way, to learn from those who speak well is a good substitute.
[tr. Thomas (2005)]

• "For him who is ill at ease in his body there is need of a physician, but need of a friend for him whose soul is ill. For loyal words have the secret of healing grief." [tr. Allinson (1921)]
• "Sick bodies need a doctor, minds a friend; / Kind words have skill the mourner's pain to mend." [tr. Edmonds]

In all thy preceptes be thou briefe that learners quicklye maie
Conceive thy words, and that the same in faithfull mynde to staye.
What s'euer is superfluose, to muche, and oftens tould,
Doth fill the hearer paste the brim that long he cannot hould.
[tr. Drant (1567)]

Be briefe in what thou wouldst command, that so.
The docill mind may soon thy precepts know,
And hold them faithfully; for nothing rests
But flowes out, that ore swelleth in full brests.
[tr. Jonson (1640)]

Let all your precepts be succinct and clear,
That ready wits may comprehend them soon,
And faithfull memories retain them long;
For superfluities are soon forgot.
[tr. Roscommon (1680)]

Short be the precept, which with ease is gain'd,
By docile minds, and faithfully retain'd.
If in dull length your moral is exprest,
The tedious wisdom overflows the breast.
[tr. Francis (1747)]

Short be your precepts, and th' impression strong,
That minds may catch them quick, and hold them long!
The bosom full, and satisfied the taste,
All that runs over will but run to waste.
[tr. Coleman (1783)]

In precept be concise: what thus is told
The mind shall grasp with ease, with firmness hold:
While all, that's heap'd superfluous, shocks the taste,
From memory's tablet fades, and runs to waste.
[tr. Howes (1845)]

Whatever precepts you give, be concise; that docile minds may soon comprehend what is said, and faithfully retain it. All superfluous instructions flow from the too full memory.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

Let all your precepts be concise, for these
Stick to men's minds, and they are grasped with ease;
But tax too much their memory or their taste,
And all your surplus words run off to waste!
[tr. Martin (1881)]

Whenever you instruct, be brief, so that what is quickly said the mind may readily grasp and faithfully hold: every word in excess flows away from the full mind.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

Whatever the lesson you would convey, be brief, that your hearers may catch quickly what is said and faithfully retain it. Every superfluous word is spilled from the too-full memory.
[tr. Blakeney; ed. Kramer, Jr. (1936)]

But when you instruct, be brief, so the mind can clearly
Perceive and firmly retain. When the mind is full,
Everything else that you say just trickles away
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

Be concise in all you teach, so that attentive minds
can quickly see your point and remember it correctly;
everything poured into a full memory will flow back out.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]

Whichever,
Say it quickly, so he who runs can listen, and hear, and learn,
And be better for learning. A bursting head
Opens like a bladder, and leaks away.
[tr. Raffel (1983 ed.)]

As for instruction, make it succinct, so the mind
Can quickly seize on what's being taught and hold it;
Every superfluous word spills out of a full mind.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]

When you are giving advice, be brief, to allow the learner
quickly to seize the point and then retain it firmly.
If the mind is full, every superfluous word is spilt.
[tr. Rudd (2005)]

When you give instruction, be brief, what’s quickly
Said the spirit grasps easily, faithfully retains:
Everything superfluous flows out of a full mind.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

And let the counsel of thine own heart stand: for there is no man more faithful unto thee than it.  For a man's mind is sometime wont to tell him more than seven watchmen, that sit above in an high tower.
[KJV (1611)]

And establish within thyself a heart of good counsel: for there is no other thing of more worth to thee than it. The soul of a holy man discovereth sometimes true things, more than seven watchmen that sit in a high piece to watch.
[DRA (1899); 37:17-18]

And trust your own judgment; no one's advice is more reliable. Sometimes your own intuition can tell you more than seven watchmen on a high tower.
[GNT (1976)]

And heed the counsel of your own heart, for no one is more faithful to you than it is. For our own mind sometimes keeps us better informed than seven sentinels sitting high on a watchtower.
[NRSV (1989 ed.)]

There is no pleasure that one gives more willingly to a friend than that of giving him advice.

[Il n’y a point de plaisir qu’on fasse plus volontiers à un ami que celui de lui donner conseil.]

There is nothing that Men are so free of, as their Advice.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶111]

There is nothing of which we are so liberal as of advice.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶18; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶107]

Of nothing are we so liberal as advice.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶15]

We give away nothing so liberally as advice.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶113]

Nothing is given so profusely as advice.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶110]

We are never as liberal as with advice.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶110]

We are free with nothing so much as with our advice.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶110]

There is nothing we give more lavishly than our advice.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶110]

We give nothing so liberally as our advice.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶110]

We give nothing so liberally as advice.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶110]