Another version that it was said by daemon Silenus:

The daemon Silenus said that to King Midas.

An ancient legend recounts how King Midas hunted long in the forest for the wise Silenus, companion of Dionysos, but failed to catch him.

When Silenus had finally fallen into his clutches, the King asks what is the best and most excellent thing for human beings. Stiff and unmoving, the daemon remains silent until, forced by the King, he finally breaks out in shrill laughter and says: 'Wretched, ephemeral race, children of chance and tribulation, why do you force me to tell you the very thing which it would be most profitable for you not to hear? The very best thing is utterly beyond your reach: not to have been born, not to be, to be nothing. However, the second best thing for you is: to die soon."

Silenus tends to establish itself as the proper name for the older leader of a group of satyrs service of Dionysus, and both Silenus and the satyrs tend to be confused with another, originally quite distinct, forest daemon, Pan, who had human and goat-like attributes.