Miscellanies 1.14.61

Again, they attribute “Nothing in excess” to Chilon of Sparta; Strato in his work On Inventions attaches the saying to Sodamus of Tegea, and Didymus assigns it to Solon, as indeed “Measure is best” to Cleobulus. “Give surety, and ruin is near” Cleomenes in his work on Hesiod says was said earlier by Homer in these words: “Poor are the sureties even for the poor to be given.” Aristotle's followers think it Chilon's, and Didymus says the advice is Thales'. Next, “All men are bad” or “Most men are bad” (for the same saying is given in two ways), the followers of Sotades of Byzantium say is Bias's; and “Practice masters everything” they wish to be Periander's; likewise the advice “Know the right moment” to be Pittacus's. Solon gave laws to the Athenians, Pittacus to the Mitylenaeans. Later Pythagoras, the pupil of Pherecydes, was the first to call himself a philosopher.