Pythagoras Quotes
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Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they please.
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Wind indeed increases fire, but custom love.
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Truth is to be sought with a mind purified from the passions of the body. Having overcome evil things, thou shalt experience the union of the union mortal divinity with the mortal man.
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Choose rather to be strong of soul than strong of body.
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Begin thus from the first act, and proceed; and, in conclusion, at the ill which thou hast done, be troubled, and rejoice for the good.
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There is a good principle which created order, light, and man, and an evil principle which created chaos, darkness, and woman.
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Better be mute, than dispute with the Ignorant.
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To cognize the Divine Essence - this is the highest purpose of soul, sent by the Creator to the Earth!
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Golden Verses So-called because they are "good as gold." They are by some attributed to Epicarmos, and by others to Empedocles, but always go under the name of Pythagoras, and seem quite in accordance with the excellent precepts of that philosopher. They are as follows: Ne'er suffer sleep thine eyes to close Before thy mind hath run O'er every act, and thought, and word, From dawn to set of sun; For wrong take shame, but grateful feel If just thy course hath been; Such effort day by day renewed Will ward thy soul from sin. E. C. B.
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No man is free who cannot control himself.
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Virtue is harmony.
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The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or evil.
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It is requisite to defend those who are unjustly accused of having acted injuriously, but to praise those who excel in a certain good.
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Before all, be real. Only the truth gives to the word the Orpheus' Lyre power.
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He is not rich, that enjoyeth not his own goods.
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Alas, what wickedness to swallow flesh into our own flesh, to fatten our greedy bodies by cramming in other bodies, to have one living creature fed by the death of another!
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If you have a wounded heart, touch it as little as you would an injured eye. There are only two remedies for the suffering of the soul: hope and patience.
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The animals share with us the privilege of having a soul Alas, what wickedness to swallow flesh into our own flesh, to fatten our greedy bodies by cramming in other bodies, to have one living creature fed by the death of another! In the midst of such wealth as earth, the best of mothers, provides, yet nothing satisfies you, but to behave like the Cyclopes, inflicting sorry wounds with cruel teeth! You cannot appease the hungry cravings of your wicked, gluttonous stomachs except by destroying some other life.
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Despise all those things which when liberated from the body you will not want; invoke the Gods to become your helpers.
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Let not sleep fall upon thy eyes till thou has thrice reviewed the transactions of the past day. Where have I turned aside from rectitude? What have I been doing? What have I left undone, which I ought to have done?
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It is only necessary to make war with five things; with the maladies of the body, the ignorances of the mind, with the passions of the body, with the seditions of the city and the discords of families.
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Declining from the public ways, walk in unfrequented paths.
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The oldest, shortest words - 'yes' and 'no' - are those which require the most thought.
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Anger begins with folly, and ends with repentance.