Men lived like fishes; the great ones devoured the small.
Ch. 2, Sect. 18; comparable to: 3 Fish: Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea. 1 Fish. Why, as men do a-land: the great ones eat up the little ones. William Shakespeare, Pericles, Act ii. Sc. 1. - Discourses Concerning Government (1698)