What things in the world canst thou nearest compare to
thy flatterers?

TIMON.
Women nearest; but men, men are the things themselves. What
wouldst thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy
power?

APEMANTUS.
Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men.

TIMON.
Wouldst thou have thyself fall in the confusion of men, and
remain a beast with the beasts?

APEMANTUS.
Ay, Timon.

TIMON.
A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee to attain to.
If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou wert
the lamb, the fox would eat thee; if thou wert the fox, the lion
would suspect thee, when peradventure, thou wert accused by the
ass; if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment thee, and
still thou livedst but as a breakfast to the wolf; if thou wert
the wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou
shouldst hazard thy life for thy dinner; wert thou the unicorn,
pride and wrath would confound thee and make thine own self the
conquest of thy fury; wert thou a bear, thou wouldst be killed by
the horse; wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seized by the