Plutarch Quotes
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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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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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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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The poor go to war, to fight and die for the delights, riches, and superfluities of others.
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Lysander, when Dionysius sent him two gowns, and bade him choose which he would carry to his daughter, said, 'She can choose best,' and so took both away with him.
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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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Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen than it inspires an impulse to practise.
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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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Abstruse questions must have abstruse answers.
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The wildest colts make the best horses.
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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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King Agis said, "The Lacedæmonians are not wont to ask how many, but where the enemy are."
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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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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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...To the Dolphin alone, beyond all other, nature has granted what the best philosophers seek: friendship for no advantage.
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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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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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Most people do not understand until old age what Plato tells them when they are young.
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Pythagoras, when he was asked what time was, answered that it was the soul of this world.