“Such men ever, whether they have some business to transact, or have taken upon them some office, or are in some critical conjuncture, put before their eyes the example of noble men, and consider what Plato would have done on the occasion, what Epaminondas would have said, how Lycurgus or Agesilaus would have dealt; that so, adjusting and re-modelling themselves, as it were, at their mirrors, they may correct any ignoble expression, and repress any ignoble passion.”

— Plutarch , book Moralia

Source: Moralia, How one may be aware of one's progress in virtue, XV

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Plutarch 251

ancient Greek historian and philosopher 46–127

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Plutarch 251

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