A Parable

Says Machiavelli, a prince ought to model himself on both the fox and the lion; because the lion is vulnerable to snares and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves. You need to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to scare away the wolves.

If you're made of granite, though, like Ernest Gillick's lions that guard the Cenotaph in George Square, you're pretty immune to snares. On the other hand, you won't frighten many wolves.