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Proverb: Sword of Damocles
It seems that I’ve been writing a lot about leadership, responsibility and swords this week.
It probably says something about my state of mind at the moment, but I’d rather not go there.
Anyways, our topic today is the Sword of Damocles.
To have the Sword of Damocles over your head means you are in a situation in which something terrible could happen to you at any time.
If you say that someone has the Sword of Damocles hanging over their head, you mean that they are in a situation in which something terrible could happen to them at any time.
Let me tell you, as a small business owner, you have the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head all day and night.
It comes from a Greek anecdote.
It’s about a great king named Dionysius II and one of his courtiers, Damocles.
Damocles commented on how great it must be to have so much wealth and power.
To teach Damocles what it was like to be in a position of great power, Dionysius agreed to let Damocles sit on his throne for a day with one caveat: he sat under a sword suspended by a single hair.
There are a few interpretations of what the moral of the anecdote is.
Generally, it is believed Dionysius wanted to instill in Damocles how hard it is for a leader to be happy when they face sudden destruction every minute of every day.
How would you feel if you had the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head all the time?
It would put you on edge for sure.
There is always someone waiting to replace a leader or point the finger when they make a mistake.
If you are a small business owner, bankruptcy hangs over your head constantly, just like the Sword of Damocles.
If you desire power, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.
PS, nobody will tell you it comes with the Sword of Damocles.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 72.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.