To Nicocles (5-6)

For when men look at their honors, their wealth, and their powers, they all think that those who are in the position of kings are the equals of the gods; but when they reflect on their fears and their dangers, and when, as they review the history of monarchs, they see instances where they have been slain by those from whom they least deserved that fate, other instances where they have been constrained to sin against those nearest and dearest to them, and still others where they have experienced both of these calamities, then they reverse their judgement and conclude that it is better to live in any fashion whatsoever than, at the price of such misfortunes, to rule over all Asia.

And the cause of this inconsistency and confusion is that men believe that the office of king is, like that of priest,[*] one which any man can fill, whereas it is the most important of human functions and demands the greatest wisdom. Now as to each particular course of action, it is the business of those who are at the time associated with a king to advise him how he may handle it in the best way possible, and how he may both preserve what is good and prevent disaster; but as regards a king’s conduct in general, I shall attempt to set forth the objects at which he should aim and the pursuits to which he should devote himself.