Plutarch Quotes
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Eat not thy heart; which forbids to afflict our souls, and waste them with vexatious cares.
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A warrior carries his shield for the sake of the entire line.
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When Demosthenes was asked what were the three most important aspects of oratory, he answered, 'Action, Action, Action.'
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Learn to be pleased with everything, with wealth so far as it makes us beneficial to others; with poverty, for not having much to care for; and with obscurity, for being unenvied.
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He said that in his whole life he most repented of three things: one was that he had trusted a secret to a woman; another, that he went by water when he might have gone by land; the third, that he had remained one whole day without doing any business of moment.
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Talkativeness has another plague attached to it, even curiosity; for praters wish to hear much that they may have much to say.
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Among real friends there is no rivalry or jealousy of one another, but they are satisfied and contented alike whether they are equal or one of them is superior.
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The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it.
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Thus they let their anger and fury take from them the sense of humanity, and demonstrated that no beast is more savage than man when possessed with power answerable to his rage.
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Of all the disorders in the soul, envy is the only one no one confesses to.
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The talkative listen to no one, for they are ever speaking. And the first evil that attends those who know not to be silent is that they hear nothing.
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Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech.
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Euripides was wont to say, 'Silence is an answer to a wise man.'
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When asked why he parted with his wife, Cæsar replied, 'I wished my wife to be not so much as suspected.'
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When Eudæmonidas heard a philosopher arguing that only a wise man can be a good general, 'This is a wonderful speech,' said he; 'but he that saith it never heard the sound of trumpets.'
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The man who first brought ruin upon the Roman people was he who pampered them by largesses and amusements.
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'T is a wise saying, Drive on your own track.
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Plato used to say to Xenocrates the philosopher, who was rough and morose, "Good Xenocrates, sacrifice to the Graces.
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Vultures are the most righteous of birds: they do not attack even the smallest living creature.
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I had rather men should ask why my statue is not set up, than why it is.
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Cato requested old men not to add the disgrace of wickedness to old age, which was accompanied with many other evils.
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Custom is almost a second nature.
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A traveller at Sparta, standing long upon one leg, said to a Lacedaemonian, "I do not believe you can do as much." "True," said he, "but every goose can."
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For to err in opinion, though it be not the part of wise men, is at least human.