John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
9101 Diogenes Laërtius fl early 3d ent John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 9101 |
| AUTHOR: | Diogenes Laërtius (fl. early 3d cent.) |
| QUOTATION: | Anarcharsis, on learning that the sides of a ship were four fingers thick, said that “the passengers were just that distance from death.” 1 |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Anarcharsis. v. |
| Note 1. ”How thick do you judge the planks of our ship to be?” “Some two good inches and upward,” returned the pilot. “It seems, then, we are within two fingers’ breadth of damnation.”—Francis Rabelais: book iv. chap. xxiii. [back] |