Phocion (1.3-2.1)

Surely we must not follow Sophocles in making virtue weak, as when he says:—

Indeed, O King, what reason nature may have given

Abides not with the unfortunate, but goes astray;

And yet it is commonly held that a people is more apt to wreak its insolence upon good men when it is prosperous, being then lifted up by grandeur and power; but the reverse is often the case. For calamities make men’s dispositions bitter, irritable, and prone to wrath, so that no one can say anything to please or soften them, but they are annoyed by every speech or word that has vigour. He who censures them for their transgressions is thought to abuse them for their misfortunes, and he who is outspoken with them, to despise them.