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-BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
S.A. Bent, comp. Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men. 1887.
Bias
[One of the Seven Wise Men of Greece; a native of Priene, in Ionia; flourished about 550 B.C.]
I carry all my effects with me (Omnia mea mecum porto).
Cicero, “Paradoxa,” I., 1, quotes the words, “Omnia mecum porto mea;” Valerius Maximus, “Ego vero bona mea mecum porto.” Seneca and Plutarch have similar expressions, attributed by the former to the Greek philosopher Stilpo, the teacher of Zeno. Phædrus ascribes the remark to Simonides. The reply of Bias, during the siege of Priene, was given to those who were surprised to see him making no preparations for flight; and referred to his wisdom, his sole possession.Mlle. Fanny Bias, an opera-singer, replied to a friend who remarked that she was leaving Paris for a journey with but small baggage, by pointing to her figure and face, saying, “Do you not see, that, like my illustrious ancestor, omnia mea mecum porto?”—LAROUSSE: Fleurs Historiques.
Take by persuasion, not by force.
So order your affairs as if you were to live long, or die soon.
He reproved some sailors who were calling upon the gods in a storm, by saying, “Be quiet, lest the gods discover you are here.”
