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Another Alexander quote: lions and lambs
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 5:37 am
by Gary
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 087&rd=1"I do not fear an army of lions, if they are led by a lamb. I do fear an army of sheep, if they are led by a lion." I haven't come across this before. Anyone able to confirm?Gary
Re: Another Alexander quote: lions and lambs
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 10:46 am
by beausefaless
Deleted
Re: Another Alexander quote: lions and lambs
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 3:14 pm
by jan
Well, this is an interesting poster, isn't it? It made me think of the movie BABE.
Re: Another Alexander quote: lions and lambs
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 5:59 am
by marcus
Why on earth did it make you think of Babe, Jan?M.
Re: Another Alexander quote: lions and lambs
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 4:53 pm
by jan
The fact that the sheep were actually the leaders and were having to help the poor BABE Pig to get respect and attention. I liked the thought as Babe is such a touching movie proving that leaders are only as good as their followers. Personally, I doubt that Alexander would ever make such a strange comment but his picture accompanying the quotation will probably help sales.
Re: Another Alexander quote: lions and lambs
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 4:58 pm
by jan
Qualifying my remarks about doubting that Alexander would ever say anything like fearing anything. I have always been under the impression that Alexander performed most of his challenges without fear, as I had read that he was both always optimistic and fearless. So why would anyone put such words as these into his mouth?
Re: Another Alexander quote: lions and lambs
Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:10 pm
by amyntoros
Gary, to my knowledge there is no record of Alexander having said this in any of the ancient sources so it appears not to be authentic. What is interesting, however, is that similar expressions have been attributed to others. "I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep." - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand--P+¬rigord (1754-1838) "It is better to have a lion at the head of an army of sheep, than a sheep at the head of an army of lions." - Daniel Defoe "An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep." - Arab proverb. And here's one with deer instead of sheep! "An army of deer would be more formidable commanded by a lion, than an army of lions commanded by a stag." - Viking Proverb You can find the quotes attributed to Defoe or Talleyrand (and Alexander) all over the web, but once again no source information is ever given so it wouldn't be surprising if those quotes are apocryphal as well. It's obviously a very popular expression - military websites absolutely love it!
Best regards, Amyntoros