Plutarch Quotes
-
A human body in no way resembles those that were born for ravenousness; it hath no hawk's bill, no sharp talon, no roughness of teeth, no such strength of stomach or heat of digestion, as can be sufficient to convert or alter such heavy and fleshy fare.
-
Themistocles said that a man's discourse was like to a rich Persian carpet, the beautiful figures and patterns of which can be shown only by spreading and extending it out; when it is contracted and folded up, they are obscured and lost.
-
Where two discourse, if the anger of one rises, he is the wise man who lets the contest fall.
-
Riches for the most part are hurtful to them that possess them.
-
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.
-
Blinded as they are to their true character by self-love, every man is his own first and chiefest flatterer, prepared, therefore, to welcome the flatterer from the outside, who only comes confirming the verdict of the flatterer within.
-
Being conscious of having done a wicked action leaves stings of remorse behind it, which, like an ulcer in the flesh, makes the mind smart with perpetual wounds; for reason, which chases away all other pains, creates repentance, shames the soul with confusion, and punishes it with torment.
-
It is a true proverb, that if you live with a lame man, you will learn to limp.
-
For he who gives no fuel to fire puts it out, and likewise he who does not in the beginning nurse his wrath and does not puff himself up with anger takes precautions against it and destroys it.
-
The measure of a man's life is the well spending of it, and not the length.
-
For the correct analogy for the mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting.
-
What sort of tree is there which will not, if neglected, grow crooked and unfruitful; what but Will, if rightly ordered, prove productive and bring its fruit to maturity? What strength of body is there which will not lose its vigor and fall to decay by laziness, nice usage, and debauchery?
-
The old proverb was now made good, 'the mountain had brought forth a mouse.'
-
As bees extract honey from thyme, the strongest and driest of herbs, so sensible men often get advantage and profit from the most awkward circumstances.
-
Said Scopas of Thessaly, 'We rich men count our felicity and happiness to lie in these superfluities, and not in those necessary things.'
-
He [Caesar] loved the treason, but hated the traitor.
-
A good man will take care of his horses and dogs, not only while they are young, but when old and past service.
-
Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.
-
Hesiod might as well have kept his breath to cool his pottage.
-
It is easy to utter what has been kept silent, but impossible to recall what has been uttered.
-
The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in good education.
-
They are wrong who think that politics is like an ocean voyage or a military campaign, something to be done with some particular end in view, something which leaves off as soon as that end is reached. It is not a public chore, to be got over with. It is a way of life. It is the life of a domesticated political and social creature who is born with a love for public life, with a desire for honor, with a feeling for his fellows; and it lasts as long as need be.
-
And when the physician said, 'Sir, you are an old man,' 'That happens,' replied Pausanias, 'because you never were my doctor.'
-
As soft wax is apt to take the stamp of the seal, so are the minds of young children to receive the instruction imprinted on them.