It was a maxim with him, for which he is reproved by Plato, "That to be good is hard." His favourite precept was, "Know occasion:" and this he amplified in another (if rightly attributed to him), "To foresee and prevent dangers is the province of the wise--to direct them when they come, of the brave." XV.

Of Solon, the greatest of the seven, I shall hereafter speak at length.

I pass now to Thales (born B.C.

639);--the founder of philosophy, in its scientific sense--the speculative in contradistinction to the moral: Although an ardent republican, Thales alone, of the seven sages, appears to have led a private and studious life.

He travelled, into Crete, Asia, and at a later period into Egypt.