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10“And apart from these considerations, if one is to speak about matters which touch your personal interests, how could you endure to administer affairs so manifold, not only by day but also by night? How could you hold out if your health should fail? What human blessings could you enjoy, and how could you be happy if deprived of them? In what could you take genuine pleasure, and when would you be free from the keenest pain? 2For it is quite inevitable that a man who holds an office of this kind should have many anxieties, be subject to many fears, and have very little enjoyment of what is most pleasant, but should always and everywhere both see and hear, do and suffer, only that which is disagreeable. That, I imagine, is the reason why, in certain instances, among both Greeks and barbarians, men have refused to accept the office of king when it was offered to them.
3“Therefore I would have you foresee all these disadvantages and take counsel before you become involved in them. For it is disgraceful, or rather it is quite impossible, for a man to withdraw when once he has entered upon the position. And do not be deceived, either, by the greatness of its authority or the abundance of its possessions, or by its array of bodyguards, or by its throng of courtiers. 4For men who have much power have many troubles; those who have large possessions are obliged to spend largely; the multitude of bodyguards is gathered merely because of the multitude of conspirators; and as for the flatterers, they would be more likely to destroy you than to save you. Consequently, in view of these considerations, no sensible man would desire to become supreme ruler.
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