According to Hecaton in his Anecdotes, Antisthenes used to say it was better to fall in with crows than with flatterers; for you are devoured by the former when dead, but by the latter while you are alive.
Antisthenes (c. 445 - c. 365 BC) Greek Cynic philosopher
In Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 6, sec. 4 [tr. Mensch (2018)]
(Source)
A pun, as korakas = crows and kolakas = flatterers.
Alt. trans.: "He used to say, as Hecaton tells us in his Apophthegms, "That it was better to fall among crows, than among flatterers; for that they only devour the dead, but the others devour the living." [tr. Yonge (1853)]
Quotations about:
hangers-on
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.