Plutarch Quotes
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Though others before him had triumphed three times, Pompeius, by having gained his first triumph over Libya, his second over Europe, and this the last over Asia, seemed in a manner to have brought the whole world into his three triumphs.
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The process may seem strange and yet it is very true. I did not so much gain the knowledge of things by the words, as words by the experience I had of things.
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I see the cure is not worth the pain.
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God alone is entirely exempt from all want of human virtues, that which needs least is the most absolute and divine.
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Marius said, 'I see the cure is not worth the pain.'
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As to Caesar, when he was called upon, he gave no testimony against Clodius, nor did he affirm that he was certain of any injury done to his bed. He only said, He had divorced Pompeia because the wife of Caesar ought not only to be clear of such a crime, but of the very suspicion of it.
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Anacharsis coming to Athens, knocked at Solon's door, and told him that he, being a stranger, was come to be his guest, and contract a friendship with him; and Solon replying, 'It is better to make friends at home,' Anacharsis replied, 'Then you that are at home make friendship with me.'
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Lampis, the sea commander, being asked how he got his wealth, answered, 'My greatest estate I gained easily enough, but the smaller slowly and with much labour.'
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He preferred an honest man that wooed his daughter, before a rich man. 'I would rather,' said Themistocles, 'have a man that wants money than money that wants a man.'
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About Pontus there are some creatures of such an extempore being that the whole term of their life is confined within the space of a day; for they are brought forth in the morning, are in the prime of their existence at noon, grow old at night, and then die.
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If you light upon an impertinent talker, that sticks to you like a bur, to the disappointment of your important occasions, deal freely with him, break off the discourse, and pursue your business.
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The first evil those who are prone to talk suffer, is that they hear nothing.
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Since, during storms, flames leap from the humid vapors and dark clouds emit deafening noises, is it surprising the lightning, when it strikes the ground, gives rise to truffles, which do not resemble plants?
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The richest soil, if uncultivated, produces the rankest weeds.
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Remember what Simonides said,-that he never repented that he had held his tongue, but often that he had spoken.
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Courage consists not in hazarding without fear; but being resolutely minded in a just cause.
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For the mind does not require filling like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth.
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Wickedness is a wonderfully diligent architect of misery, of shame, accompanied with terror, and commotion, and remorse, and endless perturbation.
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For the wise man, every day is a festival.
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The first man . . . ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had a little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived. How could his eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with the sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds?
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The most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men.
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Cato said, 'I had rather men should ask why my statue is not set up, than why it is.'
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Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if he were going to strike, Themistocles said, 'Strike, if you will; but hear'.
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Did you not know, then, that to-day Lucullus sups with Lucullus?