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Concerning the dead nothing but good shall be spoken. [Lat., De mortuis nil nisi bonum.]
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
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I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be; and my veil no mortal has hitherto raised.
Plutarch -
Lysander said that the law spoke too softly to be heard in such a noise of war.
Plutarch -
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 -
As Athenodorus was taking his leave of Cæsar, 'Remember,' said he, 'Cæsar, whenever you are angry, to say or do nothing before you have repeated the four-and-twenty letters to yourself.'
Plutarch -
As those persons who despair of ever being rich make little account of small expenses, thinking that little added to a little will never make any great sum.
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
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Demosthenes overcame and rendered more distinct his inarticulate and stammering pronunciation by speaking with pebbles in his mouth.
Plutarch -
Demosthenes, when taunted by Pytheas that all his arguments "smelled of the lamp," replied, "Yes, but your lamp and mine, my friend, do not witness the same labours.
Plutarch -
The human heart becomes softened by hearing of instances of gentleness and consideration.
Plutarch -
We ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away.
Plutarch -
There is never the body of a man, how strong and stout soever, if it be troubled and inflamed, but will take more harm and offense by wine being poured into it.
Plutarch -
Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.
Plutarch
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We ought to give our friend pain if it will benefit him, but not to the extent of breaking off our friendship; but just as we make use of some biting medicine that will save and preserve the life of the patient. And so the friend, like a musician, in bringing about an improvement to what is good and expedient, sometimes slackens the chords, sometimes tightens them, and is often pleasant, but always useful.
Plutarch -
The state of life is most happy where superfluities are not required and necessities are not wanting.
Plutarch -
He shall fare well who confronts circumstances aright.
Plutarch -
Our senses through ignorance of Reality, falsely tell us that what appears to be, is. FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real.
Plutarch -
The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it, therefore, while it lasts, and not spend it to no purpose.
Plutarch -
Education and study, and the favors of the muses, confer no greater benefit on those that seek them than these humanizing and civilizing lessons, which teach our natural qualities to submit to the limitations prescribed by reason, and to avoid the wildness of extremes.
Plutarch
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Prosperity has this property, it puffs up narrow Souls, makes them imagine themselves high and mighty, and look down upon the World with Contempt; but a truly noble and resolved Spirit appears greatest in Distress, and then becomes more bright and conspicuous.
Plutarch -
The general himself ought to be such a one as can at the same time see both forward and backward.
Plutarch -
Like watermen, who look astern while they row the boat ahead.
Plutarch -
They fought indeed and were slain, but it was to maintain the luxury and the wealth of other men.
Plutarch