Maxims on Justice and the King of the Bees
Red-chalk moral sayings on counsel, justice, punishment and self-inflicted harm
The page continues Leonardo's red-chalk moral maxims. He advises seeking counsel from one who corrects himself well, and holds that justice needs power, intelligence and will, likening it to the king of the bees. Further sayings warn that failing to punish evil commands its doing, that taking a snake by the tail earns its bite, and that he who digs a pit has it collapse on him.
On this page
Justice and the king of the bees
Leonardo writes that justice requires power, intelligence and will, and that it resembles the king of the bees. He couples this with the counsel to ask advice of one who corrects himself well. The bee-king serves as an emblem of just rule.
Maxims on punishment and self-inflicted harm
He warns that he who does not punish evil commands that it be done, and that whoever takes the snake by the tail is bitten by it. A closing saying holds that he who digs the pit has it collapse upon him. The sayings turn negligence and rashness back on their author.