John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
8593 Of Unknown Authorship John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 8593 |
| AUTHOR: | Of Unknown Authorship |
| QUOTATION: | When God is planning ruin for a man, He first deprives him of his reason. 1 |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Frag. 379. |
| Note 1. See Dryden, Quotation 25. This may have been the original of the well known (but probably post-classical) line, “Quem Jupiter vult perdere, dementat prius.” Publius Syrus has, “Stultum facit fortuna quem vult perdere.” [back] |