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Such power I gave the people as might do, Abridged not what they had, now lavished new, Those that were great in wealth and high in place My counsel likewise kept from all disgrace. Before them both I held my shield of might, And let not either touch the other's right.
Plutarch -
Both Empedocles and Heraclitus held it for a truth that man could not be altogether cleared from injustice in dealing with beasts as he now does.
Plutarch
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Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if he were going to strike, Themistocles said, 'Strike, if you will; but hear'.
Plutarch -
Empire may be gained by gold, not gold by empire. It used, indeed, to be a proverb that 'It is not Philip, but Philip's gold that takes the cities of Greece.'
Plutarch -
Dionysius the Elder, being asked whether he was at leisure, he replied, 'God forbid that it should ever befall me!'
Plutarch -
Water and our necessary food are the only things that wise men must fight for.
Plutarch -
Scilurus on his death-bed, being about to leave four-score sons surviving, offered a bundle of darts to each of them, and bade them break them. When all refused, drawing out one by one, he easily broke them,-thus teaching them that if they held together, they would continue strong; but if they fell out and were divided, they would become weak.
Plutarch -
Euripides was wont to say, silence was an answer to a wise man; but we seem to have greater occasion for it in our dealing with fools and unreasonable persons; for men of breeding and sense will be satisfied with reason and fair words.
Plutarch
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King Agis said, "The Lacedaemonians are not wont to ask how many, but where the enemy are."
Plutarch -
Socrates said, 'Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.'
Plutarch -
He who reflects on another man's want of breeding, shows he wants it as much himself.
Plutarch -
Vos vestros servate, meos mihi linquite mores You keep to your own ways, and leave mine to me.
Plutarch -
The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it.
Plutarch -
Politics is not like an ocean voyage or a military campaign... something which leaves off as soon as reached. It is not a public chore to be gotten over with. It is a way of life.
Plutarch
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Concerning the dead nothing but good shall be spoken. [Lat., De mortuis nil nisi bonum.]
Plutarch -
That we may consult concerning others, and not others concerning us.
Plutarch -
When one is transported by rage, it is best to observe attentively the effects on those who deliver themselves over to the same passion.
Plutarch -
It is no disgrace not to be able to do everything; but to undertake, or pretend to do, what you are not made for, is not only shameful, but extremely troublesome and vexatious.
Plutarch -
We ought to regard books as we do sweetmeats, not wholly to aim at the pleasantest, but chiefly to respect the wholesomest; not forbidding either, but approving the latter most.
Plutarch -
The pilot cannot mitigate the billows or calm the winds.
Plutarch
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Let a prince be guarded with soldiers, attended by councillors, and shut up in forts; yet if his thoughts disturb him, he is miserable.
Plutarch -
If we traverse the world, it is possible to find cities without walls, without letters, without kings, without wealth, without coin, without schools and theatres; but a city without a temple, or that practiseth not worship, prayer, and the like, no one ever saw.
Plutarch -
Learn to be pleased with everything...because it could always be worse, but isn't!
Plutarch -
Lycurgus the Lacedæmonian brought long hair into fashion among his countrymen, saying that it rendered those that were handsome more beautiful, and those that were deformed more terrible. To one that advised him to set up a democracy in Sparta, "Pray," said Lycurgus, "do you first set up a democracy in your own house."
Plutarch