Zenobius 3.91
For the necessary
English
Proverb
For the necessary
Explanation
Pericles, they say, gave money to Pleistoanax, king of the Lacedaemonians, and thus persuaded him to withdraw from Attica when he was advancing in war. Afterwards, rendering account of the money to the Athenians, and unwilling to give an open reckoning, he said: "I expended so many talents on what was necessary."
Greek
Proverb
Εἰς τὸ δέον
Explanation
Περικλῆς, ὥς φασιν, ἔδωκε χρήματα τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων Πλειστοάνακτι, καὶ συνέπεισεν αὐτὸν ἀναχωρῆσαι ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐπὶ πολέμῳ προαχθέντα. Διδοὺς οὖν λόγον τῶν χρημάτων μετὰ ταῦτα τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, καὶ μὴ θελήσας φανερῶς λογίσασθαι, εἶπεν, Εἰς τὸ δέον ἀνήλωσα τοσάδε τάλαντα.
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0098.tlg001.1st1K-grc1:3.91