Top 261 Quotes & Sayings by Aesop - Page 3

Pray do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it.

We should find out as much as possible about someone before coming into conflict with him.

I will have nought to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath.

He who shares the danger ought to share the prize.

Beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

He who incites to strife is worse than he who takes part in it.

Sometimes the slow ones blame the active for the delay.

Every one is more or less master of his own fate.

You may share the labors of the great, but you will not share the spoil.

Wise men say nothing in dangerous times

Do not attempt too much at once.

Thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find-nothing.

The safeguards of virtue are hateful to the evil disposed.

The strong and the weak cannot keep company.

Give assistance, not advice, in a crisis.

The more you want, the more you stand to lose

Better to learn wisdom from other people's misfortunes than from your own.

There was once a Bald Man who sat down after work on a hot summer's day. A Fly came up and kept buzzing about his bald pate, and stinging him from time to time. The Man aimed a blow at his little enemy, but — whack — his palm came on his head instead; again the Fly tormented him, but this time the Man was wiser and said: YOU WILL ONLY INJURE YOURSELF IF YOU TAKE NOTICE OF DISPICABLE ENEMIES.

Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.

Little friends may prove great friends.

Forbear harping on what was of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals to sustain the ups and downs of fortune.

Uninvited guests seldom meet a welcome.

If you don't want to lose, you should wait for the right opportunity

All men are more concerned to recover what they lose than to acquire what they lack.

A consciousness of misfortunes arising from a man's own misconduct aggravates their bitterness.

Benefits bestowed upon the evil-disposed, increase their means of injuring you.

Look and see which way the wind blows before you commit yourself.

Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.

It is foolish to try to imitate the skills of others.

Never trust advice from a man in the throes of his own difficulty.

Even a hare, the weakest of animals, may insult a dead lion.

once upon a time all the rivers combined to protest against the action of the sea in making their waters salt. "When we come to you," sad they to the sea, "we are sweet and drinkable; but when once we have mingled with you, our waters become as briny and unpalatable as your own." The sea replied shortly, "Keep away from me, and you'll remain sweet.

Try as one may, it is impossible to deny one's nature

A Fox entered the house of an actor and, rummaging through all his properties, came upon a Mask, an admirable imitation of a human head. He placed his paws on it and said, "What a beautiful head! Yet it is of no value, as it entirely lacks brains."

A false tale often betrays itself.

Children are not to be blamed for the faults of their parents.

Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon.

Appearances are deceptive.

Persuasion is better than force.

Every tale is not to be believed.

Only cowards insult dying majesty.

No argument, no matter how convincing, will give courage to a coward

The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle's own Lures. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction.

You will only injure yourself if you take notice of despicable enemies.

Men often bear little grievances with less courage than they do large misfortunes.

The value is in the worth, not in the number.

Obscurity often brings safety.

If you had half as much brains as you have beard, you would have looked before you leaped.

It is useless attacking the insensible.

Don't make much ado about nothing.

There is always someone worse off than yourself.

If we really want something done, it is best to do it ourselves.

If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supperless to bed in the winter.

Uninvited guests are often most welcome when they leave

If you are wise you won't be deceived by the innocent airs of those whom you have once found to be dangerous.

Gentle persuasion succeeds where force fails.

Your birthday is the vintage of your wine; the mark that warns you of your future.

If these town gods can't detect the thieves who steal from their own temples, it's hardly likely they'll tell me who stole my spade.

If you are a friend, why do you bite me so hard? If an enemy, why do you fawn on me?

Be content with what nature made you, or run the risk of earning contempt by trying to be what you're not.