The Sword of Damocles

Dionysius was never happy despite his wealth—he feared murder constantly. He never went out without sword-bearing guards. He had every visitor searched. When his barber joked that the tyrant's life was daily at his mercy, Dionysius stopped using barbers and made his wife and daughter shave him—then grew suspicious of them too. He slept in a bed surrounded by a trench with a drawbridge he pulled up himself. Damocles, a flatterer, kept saying how enviable the tyrant's lot was. Dionysius had him dressed in riches and served a feast—but hung a naked sword by a single hair above his head. Damocles fled in terror. Dionysius explained: those haunted by fear can never be truly happy.