Plutarch Quotes
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The poor go to war, to fight and die for the delights, riches, and superfluities of others.
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Cato instigated the magistrates to punish all offenders, saying that they that did not prevent crimes when they might, encouraged them. Of young men, he liked them that blushed better than those who looked pale.
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It does not follow, that because a particular work of art succeeds in charming us, its creator also deserves our admiration.
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The conduct of a wise politician is ever suited to the present posture of affairs. Often by foregoing a part he saves the whole, and by yielding in a small matter secures a greater.
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It was the saying of Bion, that though the boys throw stones at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest.
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When one told Plistarchus that a notorious railer spoke well of him, 'I 'll lay my life,' said he, 'somebody hath told him I am dead, for he can speak well of no man living.'
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But being overborne with numbers, and nobody daring to face about, stretching out his hands to heaven, [Romulus] prayed to Jupiter to stop the army, and not to neglect but maintain the Roman cause, now in extreme danger. The prayer was no sooner made, than shame and respect for their king checked many; the fears of the fugitives changed suddenly into confidence.
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Lysander said, 'Where the lion's skin will not reach, it must be pieced with the fox's.'
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The man who is completely wise and virtuous has no need of glory, except so far as it disposes and eases his way to action by the greater trust that it procures him.
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Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen than it inspires an impulse to practise.
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Abstruse questions must have abstruse answers.
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The wildest colts make the best horses.
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King Agis said, "The Lacedæmonians are not wont to ask how many, but where the enemy are."
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It is a difficult task, O citizens, to make speeches to the belly, which has no ears.
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Man is neither by birth nor disposition a savage, nor of unsocial habits, but only becomes so by indulging in vices contrary to his nature.
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Why does pouring Oil on the Sea make it Clear and Calm? Is it that the winds, slipping the smooth oil, have no force, nor cause any waves?
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It is no flattery to give a friend a due character; for commendation is as much the duty of a friend as reprehension.
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When Hermodotus in his poems described Antigonus as the son of Helios, 'My valet-de-chambre,' said he, 'is not aware of this.'
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Choose what is best, and habit will make it pleasant and easy.
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Pythagoras, when he was asked what time was, answered that it was the soul of this world.