Top 390 Quotes & Sayings by Plutarch - Page 4

As small letters hurt the sight, so do small matters him that is too much intent upon them; they vex and stir up anger, which begets an evil habit in him in reference to greater affairs.

But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.

It does not follow, that because a particular work of art succeeds in charming us, its creator also deserves our admiration.

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?

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.

Foreign lady once remarked to the wife of a Spartan commander that the women of Sparta were the only women in the world who could rule men. "We are the only women who raise men," the Spartan lady replied.

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?

Memory: what wonders it performs in preserving and storing up things gone by - or rather, things that are

Solon being asked, namely, what city was best to live in. That city, he replied, in which those who are not wronged, no less than those who are wronged, exert themselves to punish the wrongdoers.

I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be; and my veil no mortal has hitherto raised.

Rather I fear on the contrary that while we banish painful thoughts we may banish memory as well.

The superstitious man wishes he did not believe in gods, as the atheist does not, but fears to disbelieve in them.

Anaximander says that men were first produced in fishes, and when they were grown up and able to help themselves were thrown up, and so lived upon the land.

Immoderate grief is selfish, harmful, brings no advantage to either the mourner or the mourned, and dishonors the dead.

Men who marry wives very much superior to themselves are not so truly husbands to their wives as they are unawares made slaves to their position.

He (Cato) used to say that in all his life he never repented but of three things. The first was that he had trusted a woman with a secret; the second that he had gone by sea when he might have gone by land; and the third, that had passed one day without having a will by him.

This excerpt is presented as reproduced by Copernicus in the preface to De Revolutionibus: "Some think that the earth remains at rest. But Philolaus the Pythagorean believes that, like the sun and moon, it revolves around the fire in an oblique circle. Heraclides of Pontus and Ecphantus the Pythagorean make the earth move, not in a progressive motion, but like a wheel in rotation from west to east around its own center."

Among real friends there is no rivalry or jealousy of one another, but they are satisfied and contented alike whether they are equal or one of them is superior.

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.

Phocion compared the speeches of Leosthenes to cypress-trees. "They are tall," said he, "and comely, but bear no fruit."

Being summoned by the Athenians out of Sicily to plead for his life, Alcibiades absconded, saying that that criminal was a fool who studied a defence when he might fly for it.

For the correct analogy for the mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting.

Julius Caesar divorced his wife Pompeia, but declared at the trial that he knew nothing of what was alleged against her and Clodius. When asked why, in that case, he had divorced her, he replied: Because I would have the chastity of my wife clear even of suspicion.

Apothegms are the most infallible mirror to represent a man truly what he is.

Courage and wisdom are, indeed, rarities amongst men, but of all that is good, a just man it would seem is the most scarce.

It is easy to utter what has been kept silent, but impossible to recall what has been uttered.

Gout is not relieved by a fine shoe nor a hangnail by a costly ring nor migraine by a tiara.

When a man's struggle begins within oneself, the man is worth something.

Painting is silent poetry.

Rest is the sweet sauce of labor.

Democritus said, words are but the shadows of actions.

If Nature be not improved by instruction, it is blind; if instruction be not assisted by Nature, it is maimed; and if exercise fail of the assistance of both, it is imperfect.

I, for my part, wonder of what sort of feeling, mind or reason that man was possessed who was first to pollute his mouth with gore, and to allow his lips to touch the flesh of a murdered being: who spread his table with the mangled forms of dead bodies, and claimed as daily food and dainty dishes what but now were beings endowed with movement, perception and with voice. …but for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh, we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that portion of life and time it had been born in to the world to enjoy.

The generous mind adds dignity to every act, and nothing misbecomes it.

Nothing is cheap which is superfluous, for what one does not need, is dear at a penny.

Riches for the most part are hurtful to them that possess them.

King Agis said, "The Lacedæmonians are not wont to ask how many, but where the enemy are."

Antisthenes says that in a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer.

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.

The human heart becomes softened by hearing of instances of gentleness and consideration.

Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.

As in the case of painters, who have undertaken to give us a beautiful and graceful figure, which may have some slight blemishes, we do not wish then to pass over such blemishes altogether, nor yet to mark them too prominently. The one would spoil the beauty, and the other destroy the likeness of the picture.

Had I a careful and pleasant companion that should show me my angry face in a glass, I should not at all take it ill; to behold man's self so unnaturally disguised and dishonored will conduce not a little to the impeachment of anger.

The crowns of kings do not prevent those who wear them from being tormented sometimes by violent headaches.

Ease and speed in doing a thing do not give the work lasting solidity or exactness of beauty.

I confess myself the greatest coward in the world, for I dare not do an ill thing.

Custom is almost a second nature.

While Leonidas was preparing to make his stand, a Persian envoy arrived. The envoy explained to Leonidas the futility of trying to resist the advance of the Great King's army and demanded that the Greeks lay down their arms and submit to the might of Persia. Leonidas laconically told Xerxes, "Come and get them.

When the candles are out all women are fair.

But the Lacedaemonians, who make it their first principle of action to serve their country's interest, know not any thing to be just or unjust by any measure but that.

When malice is joined to envy, there is given forth poisonous and feculent matter, as ink from the cuttle-fish.

That we may consult concerning others, and not others concerning us.

He is a fool who leaves things close at hand to follow what is out of reach.

It is circumstance and proper measure that give an action its character, and make it either good or bad.

A lover's soul lives in the body of his mistress.

Of all the disorders in the soul, envy is the only one no one confesses to.

Let a prince be guarded with soldiers, attended by councillors, and shut up in forts; yet if his thoughts disturb him, he is miserable.

Nothing exists in the intellect that has not first gone through the senses.

Where the lion's skin will not reach, you must patch it out with the fox's.

From Themistocles began the saying, "He is a second Hercules."