Hermes, wanting to know in what esteem he was held among men, went, in the guise of a mortal, into a sculptor's workshop. Noticing a statue of Zeus, he asked, "How much?" "A drachma," he was told. He smiled and asked, "And how much for the statue of Hera?" "That one is dearer," they said. Spotting a statue of himself as well, he assumed that, being both the messenger of Zeus and the god of gain, he must stand high in men's esteem. So he asked its price. The sculptor replied, "Well, if you buy the first two, I'll throw this one in for free."
*Vanity cannot create respect in the eyes of others.
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