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When Chilon came to Delphi he thought to dedicate to the god the firstlings, as it were, of his own wisdom, and engraved upon a column these three maxims: "Know thyself"; "Nothing overmuch"; and the third, "A pledge, and ruin is nigh." Each of these maxims, though short and laconic,1 displays deep reflection.

1 Chilon was a Spartan (Laconian) ephor in 556 B.C.

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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