These lines are
attributed to Solon by Plutarch, in the tract πῶς ἄν τις
ὑπ᾽ ἐχθρῶν
ὠφελοῖτο, but
they occur among the elegiac “gnomæ” of
Theognis, lines 316–318. Fronton du Duc in his notes on
the Homilies points out that they are also quoted in
Plutarch’s life of Solon. Basil was well acquainted with
Plutarch. (cf. references in the notes to the
Hexaemeron.)