Bias lived during the first half of the 6th Century BCE in Priene, an Ionian city along the coast of Caria in Asia Minor, north of Miletus. Considered by many to be the wisest of the Seven Wise Men of ancient Greece, Bias was a practical philosopher, a philanthropist, and an advisor to royalty. A learned and eloquent man, he is said to have sometimes represented his friends in the courts-- "not," adds Diodorus Siculus, "to gain fees or income, but to give aid to those who were being wronged."

Bias flourished during the period that King Croesus of Lydia dominated the Asiatic city-states, and when (ca. 550) Croesus wanted to go after the islands, as well, it was Bias who persuaded the famously wealthy king that it would be more prudent to make peace instead. A few years later, of course, Cyrus of Persia had defeated Croesus and the Ionian cities were next on his list. His general Mazares' seige of Priene was the occasion of one of Bias' better known quotes: as the inhabitants began to leave the city with their valuables, his fellow citizens expressed surprise that the sage didn't seem to be packing any bags. Bias replied, "All my wealth I carry with me" (alt: "All my wealth is in my head").

Mazares' successor Harpagus completed the conquest of Ionia, imposing duties on the conquered. Herodotus recounts that Bias advised the Ionians to unite and leave for Sardinia while they could; "[b]y so doing they would escape servitude, be happy, and, inhabiting the largest island, subdue the others. But if they remained in Ionia there was no hope of liberty to be seen for them." His advice, however, was not heeded.

My favorite Bias story, though, has to be this one (again from Diodorus Siculus):

The inhabitants of Priene recount that Bias ransomed from robbers some maidens of distinguished families of Messenia and reared them in honor, as if they were his own daughters. And after some time, when their kinsfolk came in search of them, he gave the maidens over to them, asking for neither the cost of their rearing nor the price of their ransom, but on the contrary giving them many presents from his own possessions. The maidens, therefore, loved him as a father, both because they had lived in his home and because he had done so much for them, so that, even when they had departed together with their own families to their native land, they did not forget the kindness they had received in a foreign country.

Maxims attributed to the sage of Priene range in tone from cynical ("All men are bad"; "Too many workers spoil the work"; "Not to be able to participate in misfortune is the greatest catastrophe"; "Marrying a beautiful woman and an ugly woman both bring discomfort") to upbeat/inspiring ("Wisdom should be cherished as a means of traveling from youth to old age, for it is more lasting than any other possession"; "Action makes the man"; "Begin slowly but continue with vigor")... along with the slightly cryptic ("Men ought to calculate life both as if they were fated to live a long and a short time"; "Men ought to love one another as if at a future time they would come to hate one another").

Bias, it is said, remained in his native country, where he died at a very advanced age. His countrymen buried him with splendor, and honored his memory.