Where the lion’s skin will not reach, you must patch it out with the fox’s.

This proverb is attributed to Plutarch in his moral essays (the Moralia), where he discusses practical ethics and statecraft through anecdotes and traditional sayings. The image of the “lion’s skin” and the “fox’s” evokes a contrast between open force and cunning, a pairing familiar from Greek fable and political discourse. In Plutarch’s milieu—writing under the Roman Empire but steeped in Greek moral philosophy—such maxims were used to counsel leaders and citizens about prudence: when straightforward power or intimidation is insufficient, one must resort to strategy, persuasion, or deception to accomplish an aim.

The line advises adaptability: when direct force (“the lion’s skin”) cannot accomplish an aim, one should supplement it with craft (“the fox’s”). Read charitably, it recommends prudence and resourcefulness—choosing methods suited to circumstances rather than clinging to a single mode of action. Read more critically, it can be taken as a justification for deception when power fails, a theme that later political thought (notably Renaissance discussions of the lion and the fox) would develop into arguments about statecraft. Either way, the proverb’s enduring appeal lies in its vivid metaphor for combining strength with intelligence and recognizing the limits of sheer might.