The thing is further evident from the reply he once made to a stranger in Corinth, who deriding him in a rude and scornful manner about the conferences he used to have with philosophers, whose company had been one of his pleasures while yet a monarch, and demanding, in fine, what he was the better now for all those wise and learned discourses of Plato, ‘Do you think,” said he, “I have made no profit of his philosophy when you see me bear my change in fortune as I do?”
tl;dr:
Dionysius II, a deposed tyrant of Syracuse, was asked by a Corinthian why he used to spend so much time with philosophers – namely Plato – and asked if he thought their wise words did him any good. Dionysius basically says, “It clearly benefitted me – look at how well I’m tolerating my exile!”
Source:
Plutarch, John Dryden, and Arthur Hugh Clough. "Timoleon." Plutarch's Lives. New York: Modern Library, 2001. 336. Print.
Further Reading:
Dionysius II of Syracuse / Dionysius the Younger
Siracusa / Sarausa/Seragusa / Syrācūsae / Συράκουσαι / Συρακοῦσαι (Syracuse, Sicily)
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