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So of all kinds of love that which is engendered
in states and peoples for an individual because of his
virtue is at once the strongest and the most divine ;
but those falsely named and falsely attested honours
which are derived from giving theatrical performances, making distributions of money, or offering
gladiatorial shows, are like harlots' flatteries, since
the masses always smile upon him who gives to them
and does them favours, granting him an ephemeral
and uncertain reputation. And so he who first said
that the people was ruined by the first man who
bought its favour was well aware that the multitude
loses its strength when it succumbs to bribe-taking;
but those also who give such bribes should bear in
mind that they are destroying themselves when they
purchase reputation by great expenditures, thus
making the multitude strong and bold in the thought
that they have power to give and take away something important.
Plutarch. Moralia. with an English Translation by. Harold North Fowler. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936. 10.
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