Tao Te Ching

“Solon surely was a dreamer, and a man of simple mind;
When the gods would give him fortune, he of his own will declined.
... that I spared my land, and withheld from usurpation and from violence my hand,
And forbore to fix a stain and a disgrace on my good name,
I regret not; I believe that it will be my chiefest fame.”

— Solon 638 – 558 BCE
Founder of Athenian democracy