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For There Is No Virtue, The Honour And Credit For Which Procures A Man More Odium From The Elite Than That Of Justice; And This, Because More Than Any Other, It Acquires A Man Power And Authority Among The Common People. For They Only Honour The Valiant And Admire The Wise, While In Addition They Also Love Just Men, And Put Entire Trust And Confidence In Them.

-Plutarch

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For There Is No

Plutarch

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For There Is No Virtue, The Honour And Credit For Which Procures A Man More Odium From The Elite Than That Of Justice; And This, Because More Than Any Other, It Acquires A Man Power And Authority Among The Common People. For They Only Honour The Valiant And Admire The Wise, While In Addition They Also Love Just Men, And Put Entire Trust And Confidence In Them.

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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.

The Man Who First Brought Ruin Upon The Roman People Was He Who Pampered Them By Largesses And Amusements.

In Human Life There Is Constant Change Of Fortune; And It Is Unreasonable To Expect An Exemption From The Common Fate. Life Itself Decays, And All Things Are Daily Changing.

The Generous Mind Adds Dignity To Every Act, And Nothing Misbecomes It.

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.

For Man Is A Plant, Not Fixed In The Earth, Nor Immovable, But Heavenly, Whose Head, Rising As It Were From A Root Upwards, Is Turned Towards Heaven.

Moral Good Is A Practical Stimulus; It Is No Sooner Seen Than It Inspires An Impulse To Practice.

By The Study Of Their Biographies, We Receive Each Man As A Guest Into Our Minds, And We Seem To Understand Their Character As The Result Of A Personal Acquaintance, Because We Have Obtained From Their Acts The Best And Most Important Means Of Forming An Opinion About Them. "what Greater Pleasure Could'st Thou Gain Than This?" What More Valuable For The Elevation Of Our Own Character?

Gout Is Not Relieved By A Fine Shoe Nor A Hangnail By A Costly Ring Nor Migraine By A Tiara.

Abstruse Questions Must Have Abstruse Answers.

When Demaratus Was Asked Whether He Held His Tongue Because He Was A Fool Or For Want Of Words, He Replied, "a Fool Cannot Hold His Tongue.

Forgetfulness Transforms Every Occurrence Into A Non-occurrence.

Thrasyllus The Cynic Begged A Drachm Of Antigonus. "that," Said He, "is Too Little For A King To Give." "why, Then," Said The Other, "give Me A Talent." "and That," Said He, "is Too Much For A Cynic (or, For A Dog) To Receive."

When Eudæmonidas Heard A Philosopher Arguing That Only A Wise Man Can Be A Good General, "this Is A Wonderful Speech," Said He; "but He That Saith It Never Heard The Sound Of Trumpets.

A Lover's Soul Lives In The Body Of His Mistress.

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.

Plato Used To Say To Xenocrates The Philosopher, Who Was Rough And Morose, "good Xenocrates, Sacrifice To The Graces.

Where Two Discourse, If The Anger Of One Rises, He Is The Wise Man Who Lets The Contest Fall.

The Very Spring And Root Of Honesty And Virtue Lie In Good Education.

The Man Who Is Completely Wise And Virtuous Has No Need Of Glory, Except So Far As It Disposes And Eases His Way To Action By The Greater Trust That It Procures Him.

When Men Are Arrived At The Goal, They Should Not Turn Back.

He Is A Fool Who Leaves Things Close At Hand To Follow What Is Out Of Reach.

Demosthenes Overcame And Rendered More Distinct His Inarticulate And Stammering Pronunciation By Speaking With Pebbles In His Mouth.

It Is The Admirer Of Himself, And Not The Admirer Of Virtue, That Thinks Himself Superior To Others.

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?

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.

There Were Two Brothers Called Both And Either; Perceiving Either Was A Good, Understanding, Busy Fellow, And Both A Silly Fellow And Good For Little, Philip Said, "either Is Both, And Both Is Neither.

A Prating Barber Asked Archelaus How He Would Be Trimmed. He Answered, "in Silence."

If I Were Not Alexander, I Would Be Diogenes.

Antagoras The Poet Was Boiling A Conger, And Antigonus, Coming Behind Him As He Was Stirring His Skillet, Said, "do You Think, Antagoras, That Homer Boiled Congers When He Wrote The Deeds Of Agamemnon?" Antagoras Replied, "do You Think, O King, That Agamemnon, When He Did Such Exploits, Was A Peeping In His Army To See Who Boiled Congers?

Neither Blame Or Praise Yourself.

He Who Owns A Hundred Sheep Must Fight With Fifty Wolves

Wisdom Is Neither Gold, Nor Silver, Nor Fame, Nor Wealth, Nor Health, Nor Strength, Nor Beauty.

There Is No Stronger Test Of A Person's Character Than Power And Authority, Exciting As They Do Every Passion, And Discovering Every Latent Vice.

Prosperity Is No Just Scale; Adversity Is The Only Balance To Weigh Friends.

Wickedness Is A Wonderfully Diligent Architect Of Misery, Of Shame, Accompanied With Terror, And Commotion, And Remorse, And Endless Perturbation.

When Demosthenes Was Asked What Was The First Part Of Oratory, He Answered, "action," And Which Was The Second, He Replied, "action," And Which Was The Third, He Still Answered "action.

Nothing Is Cheap Which Is Superfluous, For What One Does Not Need, Is Dear At A Penny.

Once When Phocion Had Delivered An Opinion Which Pleased The People, He Turned To His Friend And Said, "have I Not Unawares Spoken Some Mischievous Thing Or Other?"

I See The Cure Is Not Worth The Pain.

Wickedness Frames The Engines Of Her Own Torment. She Is A Wonderful Artisan Of A Miserable Life.

When A Man's Eyes Are Sore His Friends Do Not Let Him Finger Them, However Much He Wishes To, Nor Do They Themselves Touch The Inflammation: But A Man Sunk In Grief Suffers Every Chance Comer To Stir And Augment His Affliction Like A Running Sore; And By Reason Of The Fingering And Consequent Irritation It Hardens Into A Serious And Intractable Evil.

A Physician, After He Had Felt The Pulse Of Pausanias, And Considered His Constitution, Saying, "he Ails Nothing," "it Is Because, Sir," He Replied, "i Use None Of Your Physic."

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.

Authority And Place Demonstrate And Try The Tempers Of Men, By Moving Every Passion And Discovering Every Frailty.

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.

Time Is The Wisest Of All Counselors.

Time Management

For There Is No Virtue, The Honour And Credit For Which Procures A Man More Odium From The Elite Than That Of Justice; And This, Because More Than Any Other, It Acquires A Man Power And Authority Among The Common People. For They Only Honour The Valiant And Admire The Wise, While In Addition They Also Love Just Men, And Put Entire Trust And Confidence In Them.

The Wildest Colts Make The Best Horses.

...to The Dolphin Alone, Beyond All Other, Nature Has Granted What The Best Philosophers Seek: Friendship For No Advantage

Apothegms Are The Most Infallible Mirror To Represent A Man Truly What He Is.

When Philip Had News Brought Him Of Divers And Eminent Successes In One Day, "o Fortune!" Said He, "for All These So Great Kindnesses Do Me Some Small Mischief.

Epaminondas Is Reported Wittily To Have Said Of A Good Man That Died About The Time Of The Battle Of Leuctra, "how Came He To Have So Much Leisure As To Die, When There Was So Much Stirring?

When One Is Transported By Rage, It Is Best To Observe Attentively The Effects On Those Who Deliver Themselves Over To The Same Passion.

When Demosthenes Was Asked What Were The Three Most Important Aspects Of Oratory, He Answered, 'action, Action, Action.'

He Who Reflects On Another Man's Want Of Breeding, Shows He Wants It As Much Himself

Whenever Alexander Heard Philip Had Taken Any Town Of Importance, Or Won Any Signal Victory, Instead Of Rejoicing At It Altogether, He Would Tell His Companions That His Father Would Anticipate Everything, And Leave Him And Them No Opportunities Of Performing Great And Illustrious Actions.

Medicine To Produce Health Must Examine Disease; And Music, To Create Harmony Must Investigate Discord.

The Whole Of Life Is But A Moment Of Time. It Is Our Duty, Therefore To Use It, Not To Misuse It.

The Measure Of A Man's Life Is The Well Spending Of It, And Not The Length.

Measure Of A Man

To Make No Mistakes Is Not In The Power Of Man; But From Their Errors And Mistakes The Wise And Good Learn Wisdom For The Future.

Seeing The Lightest And Gayest Purple Was Then Most In Fashion, He Would Always Wear That Which Was The Nearest Black; And He Would Often Go Out Of Doors, After His Morning Meal, Without Either Shoes Or Tunic; Not That He Sought Vain-glory From Such Novelties, But He Would Accustom Himself To Be Ashamed Only Of What Deserves Shame, And To Despise All Other Sorts Of Disgrace.

The Saying Of Old Antigonus, Who When He Was To Fight At Andros, And One Told Him, "the Enemy's Ships Are More Than Ours," Replied, "for How Many Then Wilt Thou Reckon Me?

Vultures Are The Most Righteous Of Birds: They Do Not Attack Even The Smallest Living Creature.

The Conduct Of A Wise Politician Is Ever Suited To The Present Posture Of Affairs. Often By Foregoing A Part He Saves The Whole, And By Yielding In A Small Matter Secures A Greater.

There Are Two Sentences Inscribed Upon The Ancient Oracle... "know Thyself" And "nothing Too Much"; And Upon These All Other Precepts Depend.

Painting Is Silent Poetry.

Do Not Speak Of Your Happiness To One Less Fortunate Than Yourself.

Courage Consists Not In Hazarding Without Fear; But Being Resolutely Minded In A Just Cause.

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.

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.

Athenodorus Says Hydrophobia, Or Water-dread, Was First Discovered In The Time Of Asclepiades.

It Is Part Of A Good Man To Do Great And Noble Deeds, Though He Risk Everything.

The Pilot Cannot Mitigate The Billows Or Calm The Winds.

Lying Is A Most Disgraceful Vice; It First Despises God, And Then Fears Men.

Memory: What Wonders It Performs In Preserving And Storing Up Things Gone By - Or Rather, Things That Are

Remember What Simonides Said, That He Never Repented That He Had Held His Tongue, But Often That He Had Spoken.

Poverty Is Dishonorable, Not In Itself, But When It Is A Proof Of Laziness, Intemperance, Luxury, And Carelessness; Whereas In A Person That Is Temperate, Industrious, Just And Valiant, And Who Uses All His Virtues For The Public Good, It Shows A Great And Lofty Mind.

He Is A Fool Who Lets Slip A Bird In The Hand For A Bird In The Bush.

He Who Busies Himself In Mean Occupations, Produces In The Very Pains He Takes About Things Of Little Or No Use, An Evidence Against Himself Of His Negligence And Indisposition To What Is Really Good

When Anaxagoras Was Told Of The Death Of His Son, He Only Said, "i Knew He Was Mortal." So We In All Casualties Of Life Should Say "i Knew My Riches Were Uncertain, That My Friend Was But A Man." Such Considerations Would Soon Pacify Us, Because All Our Troubles Proceed From Their Being Unexpected.

Custom Is Almost A Second Nature.

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.

The Omission Of Good Is No Less Reprehensible Than The Commission Of Evil.

The Human Heart Becomes Softened By Hearing Of Instances Of Gentleness And Consideration.

Where The Lion's Skin Will Not Reach, You Must Patch It Out With The Fox's.

I Am All That Hath Been, And Is, And Shall Be; And My Veil No Mortal Has Hitherto Raised.

I Have Heard That Tiberius Used To Say That That Man Was Ridiculous, Who After Sixth Years, Appealed To A Physician.

Grief Is Like A Physical Pain Which Must Be Allowed To Subside Somewhat On Its Own Before Medical Treatment Is Applied.

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.

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 . . . There Is Nobody That Is Willing To Eat Even A Lifeless And A Dead Thing Even As It Is; So They Boil It, And Roast It, And Alter It By Fire And Medicines, As It Were, Changing And Quenching The Slaughtered Gore With Thousands Of Sweet Sauces, That The Palate Being Thereby Deceived May Admit Of Such Uncouth Fare.

Agesilaus Being Invited Once To Hear A Man Who Admirably Imitated The Nightingale, He Declined, Saying He Had Heard The Nightingale Itself.

Themistocles Being Asked Whether He Would Rather Be Achilles Or Homer, Said, "which Would You Rather Be, A Conqueror In The Olympic Games, Or The Crier That Proclaims Who Are Conquerors?

To Do An Evil Action Is Base; To Do A Good Action Without Incurring Danger Is Common Enough; But It Is The Part Of A Good Man To Do Great And Noble Deeds, Though He Risks Every Thing.

... Being Perpetually Charmed By His Familiar Siren, That Is, By His Geometry, He Neglected To Eat And Drink And Took No Care Of His Person; That He Was Often Carried By Force To The Baths, And When There He Would Trace Geometrical Figures In The Ashes Of The Fire, And With His Finger Draws Lines Upon His Body When It Was Anointed With Oil, Being In A State Of Great Ecstasy And Divinely Possessed By His Science.

To Conduct Great Matters And Never Commit A Fault Is Above The Force Of Human Nature.

To Please The Many Is To Displease The Wise.

Extraordinary Rains Pretty Generally Fall After Great Battles.

He Who First Called Money The Sinews Of The State Seems To Have Said This With Special Reference To War.

For The Correct Analogy For The Mind Is Not A Vessel That Needs Filling, But Wood That Needs Igniting.

Justice Makes The Life Of Such As Are In Prosperity, Power And Authority The Life Of A God, And Injustice Turns It To That Of A Beast.

Perseverance Is More Prevailing Than Violence; And Many Things Which Cannot Be Overcome When They Are Together, Yield Themselves Up When Taken Little By Little.

Alexander Esteemed It More Kingly To Govern Himself Than To Conquer His Enemies.

The First Evil Those Who Are Prone To Talk Suffer, Is That They Hear Nothing.

A Locanian Having Plucked All The Feathers Off From A Nightingale And Seeing What A Little Body It Had, "surely," Quoth He, "thou Art All Voice And Nothing Else.

When Another Is Asked A Question, Take Special Care Not To Interrupt To Answer It Yourself.

Themistocles Replied That A Man's Discourse Was Like To A Rich Persian Carpet, The Beautiful Figures And Patterns Of Which Can Only Be Shown By Spreading And Extending It Out; When It Is Contracted And Folded Up, They Are Obscured And Lost.

We Are More Sensible Of What Is Done Against Custom Than Against Nature.

Riches For The Most Part Are Hurtful To Them That Possess Them.

Most People Do Not Understand Until Old Age What Plato Tells Them When They Are Young.

Pythagoras, When He Was Asked What Time Was, Answered That It Was The Soul Of This World.

Character Is Simply Habit Long Continued.

Character Is Inured Habit.

Alcibiades Had A Very Handsome Dog, That Cost Him Seven Thousand Drachmas; And He Cut Off His Tail, "that," Said He, "the Athenians May Have This Story To Tell Of Me, And May Concern Themselves No Further With Me.

To The Greeks, The Supreme Function Of Music Was To "praise The Gods And Educate The Youth". In Egypt... Initiatory Music Was Heard Only In Temple Rites Because It Carried The Vibratory Rhythms Of Other Worlds And Of A Life Beyond The Mortal.

For The Wise Man, Every Day Is A Festival.

From Themistocles Began The Saying, "he Is A Second Hercules."

What We Achieve Inwardly Will Change Outer Reality.

A Good Man Will Take Care Of His Horses And Dogs, Not Only While They Are Young, But When Old And Past Service.

Someone Praising A Man For His Foolhardy Bravery, Cato, The Elder, Said, ''there Is A Wide Difference Between True Courage And A Mere Contempt Of Life.

To Fail To Do Good Is As Bad As Doing Harm.

Nothing Made The Horse So Fat As The King's Eye.

The Ripeness Of Adolescence Is Prodigal In Pleasures, Skittish, And In Need Of A Bridle.

Good Birth Is A Fine Thing, But The Merit Is Our Ancestors.

Good Fortune Will Elevate Even Petty Minds, And Give Them The Appearance Of A Certain Greatness And Stateliness, As From Their High Place They Look Down Upon The World; But The Truly Noble And Resolved Spirit Raises Itself, And Becomes More Conspicuous In Times Of Disaster And Ill Fortune.

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.

Painting Is Silent Poetry, And Poetry Is Painting That Speaks.

But Being Overborne With Numbers, And Nobody Daring To Face About, Stretching Out His Hands To Heaven, [romulus] Prayed To Jupiter To Stop The Army, And Not To Neglect But Maintain The Roman Cause, Now In Extreme Danger. The Prayer Was No Sooner Made, Than Shame And Respect For Their King Checked Many; The Fears Of The Fugitives Changed Suddenly Into Confidence.

Courage Stands Halfway Between Cowardice And Rashness, One Of Which Is A Lack, The Other An Excess Of Courage.

The First Man . . . Ventured To Call Food And Nourishment The Parts That Had A Little Before Bellowed And Cried, Moved And Lived. How Could His Eyes Endure The Slaughter When Throats Were Slit And Hides Flayed And Limbs Torn From Limb? How Could His Nose Endure The Stench? How Was It That The Pollution Did Not Turn Away His Taste, Which Made Contact With The Sores Of Others And Sucked Juices And Serums From Mortal Wounds?

Talkativeness Has Another Plague Attached To It, Even Curiosity; For Praters Wish To Hear Much That They May Have Much To Say.

The State Of Life Is Most Happy Where Superfluities Are Not Required And Necessities Are Not Wanting.

Friendship Is The Most Pleasant Of All Things, And Nothing More Glads The Heart Of Man.

It Is No Great Wonder If In Long Process Of Time, While Fortune Takes Her Course Hither And Thither, Numerous Coincidences Should Spontaneously Occur. If The Number And Variety Of Subjects To Be Wrought Upon Be Infinite, It Is All The More Easy For Fortune, With Such An Abundance Of Material, To Effect This Similarity Of Results.

Sometimes Small Incidents, Rather Than Glorious Exploits, Give Us The Best Evidence Of Character. So, As Portrait Painters Are More Exact In Doing The Face, Where The Character Is Revealed, Than The Rest Of The Body, I Must Be Allowed To Give My More Particular Attention To The Marks Of The Souls Of Men.

Whenever Anything Is Spoken Against You That Is Not True, Do Not Pass By Or Despise It Because It Is False; But Forthwith Examine Yourself, And Consider What You Have Said Or Done That May Administer A Just Occasion Of Reproof.

As Meander Says, "for Our Mind Is God;" And As Heraclitus, "man's Genius Is A Deity."

Lycurgus Being Asked Why He, Who In Other Respects Appeared To Be So Zealous For The Equal Rights Of Men, Did Not Make His Government Democratical Rather Than Oligarchical, "go You," Replied The Legislator, "and Try A Democracy In Your Own House.

Dionysius The Elder, Being Asked Whether He Was At Leisure, He Replied, "god Forbid That It Should Ever Befall Me!"

Let Us Carefully Observe Those Good Qualities Wherein Our Enemies Excel Us; And Endeavor To Excel Them, By Avoiding What Is Faulty, And Imitating What Is Excellent In Them.

Anger Turns The Mind Out Of Doors And Bolts The Entrance.

Reason Speaks And Feeling Bites

The Abuse Of Buying And Selling Votes Crept In And Money Began To Play An Important Part In Determining Elections. Later On, This Process Of Corruption Spread To The Law Courts. And Then To The Army, And Finally The Republic Was Subjected To The Rule Of Emperors

The Superstitious Man Wishes He Did Not Believe In Gods, As The Atheist Does Not, But Fears To Disbelieve In Them.

Nothing Exists In The Intellect That Has Not First Gone Through The Senses.

So Very Difficult A Matter Is It To Trace And Find Out The Truth Of Anything By History.

Ease And Speed In Doing A Thing Do Not Give The Work Lasting Solidity Or Exactness Of Beauty.

Let Us Not Wonder If Something Happens Which Never Was Before, Or If Something Doth Not Appear Among Us With Which The Ancients Were Acquainted.

Proper Listening Is The Foundation Of Proper Living.

Even A Nod From A Person Who Is Esteemed Is Of More Force Than A Thousand Arguments Or Studied Sentences From Others.

Moral Habits, Induced By Public Practices, Are Far Quicker In Making Their Way Into Men's Private Lives, Than The Failings And Faults Of Individuals Are In Infecting The City At Large.

To Harmodius, Descended From The Ancient Harmodius, When He Reviled Iphicrates [a Shoemaker's Son] For His Mean Birth, "my Nobility," Said He, "begins In Me, But Yours Ends In You.

I Had Rather Men Should Ask Why My Statue Is Not Set Up, Than Why It Is.

Cicero Said Loud-bawling Orators Were Driven By Their Weakness To Noise, As Lame Men To Take Horse.

A Roman Divorced From His Wife, Being Highly Blamed By His Friends, Who Demanded, "was She Not Chaste? Was She Not Fair? Was She Not Fruitful?" Holding Out His Shoe, Asked Them Whether It Was Not New And Well Made. "yet," Added He, "none Of You Can Tell Where It Pinches Me.''

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.

What Can They Suffer That Do Not Fear To Die?

Friendship Requires A Steady, Constant, And Unchangeable Character, A Person That Is Uniform In His Intimacy.

Nor Is Drunkenness Censured For Anything So Much As Its Intemperate And Endless Talk.

Courage And Wisdom Are, Indeed, Rarities Amongst Men, But Of All That Is Good, A Just Man It Would Seem Is The Most Scarce.

Concerning The Dead Nothing But Good Shall Be Spoken. [lat., De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum.]

Man Is Neither By Birth Nor Disposition A Savage, Nor Of Unsocial Habits, But Only Becomes So By Indulging In Vices Contrary To His Nature.

To Find Fault Is Easy; To Do Better May Be Difficult.

It Is Easy To Utter What Has Been Kept Silent, But Impossible To Recall What Has Been Uttered.

Silence Is An Answer To A Wise Man.

No Beast Is More Savage Than Man When Possessed With Power Answerable To His Rage.

I Confess Myself The Greatest Coward In The World, For I Dare Not Do An Ill Thing.

When The Candles Are Out All Women Are Fair.

Lamentation Is The Only Musician That Always, Like A Screech-owl, Alights And Sits On The Roof Of Any Angry Man.

Lysander, When Dionysius Sent Him Two Gowns, And Bade Him Choose Which He Would Carry To His Daughter, Said, "she Can Choose Best," And So Took Both Away With Him.

It Is Wise To Be Silent When Occasion Requires, And Better Than To Speak, Though Never So Well.

Grief Is Natural; The Absence Of All Feeling Is Undesirable, But Moderation In Grief Should Be Observed, As In The Face Of All Good Or Evil.

It Is A Hard Matter, My Fellow Citizens, To Argue With The Belly, Since It Has No Ears.

There Is No Debt With So Much Prejudice Put Off As That Of Justice.

God Alone Is Entirely Exempt From All Want Of Human Virtues, That Which Needs Least Is The Most Absolute And Divine.

To One That Promised To Give Him Hardy Cocks That Would Die Fighting, "prithee," Said Cleomenes, "give Me Cocks That Will Kill Fighting.

The Old Proverb Was Now Made Good, "the Mountain Had Brought Forth A Mouse.

Water Continually Dropping Will Wear Hard Rocks Hollow.

What, Did You Not Know, Then, That To-day Lucullus Dines With Lucullus?

Nature Without Learning Is Like A Blind Man; Learning Without Nature, Like A Maimed One; Practice Without Both, Incomplete. As In Agriculture A Good Soil Is First Sought For, Then A Skilful Husbandman, And Then Good Seed; In The Same Way Nature Corresponds To The Soil, The Teacher To The Husbandman, Precepts And Instruction To The Seed.

There Is No Perfecter Endowment In Man Than Political Virtue.

The Whole Life Of Man Is But A Point Of Time; Let Us Enjoy It.

Philosophy Finds Talkativeness A Disease Very Difficult And Hard To Cure. For Its Remedy, Conversation, Requires Hearers: But Talkative People Hear Nobody, For They Are Ever Prating. And The First Evil This Inability To Keep Silence Produces Is An Inability To Listen.

What Is Bigger Than An Elephant? But This Also Is Become Man's Plaything, And A Spectacle At Public Solemnities; And It Learns To Skip, Dance, And Kneel

Fortune Had Favoured Me In This War That I Feared, The Rather, That Some Tempest Would Follow So Favourable A Gale.

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.

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.

Either Is Both, And Both Is Neither.

Democritus Said, Words Are But The Shadows Of Actions.

Philosophy Is An Act Of Living.

It Is Circumstance And Proper Measure That Give An Action Its Character, And Make It Either Good Or Bad.

Know How To Listen, And You Will Profit Even From Those Who Talk Badly.

Knowledge Of Divine Things For The Most Part, As Heraclitus Says, Is Lost To Us By Incredulity.

Our Senses Through Ignorance Of Reality, Falsely Tell Us That What Appears To Be, Is. Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real

Lampis, The Sea Commander, Being Asked How He Got His Wealth, Answered, "my Greatest Estate I Gained Easily Enough, But The Smaller Slowly And With Much Labour.

Our Nature Holds So Much Envy And Malice That Our Pleasure In Our Own Advantages Is Not So Great As Our Distress At Others'.

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.

As Geographers, Sosius, Crowd Into The Edges Of Their Maps Parts Of The World Which They Do Not Know About, Adding Notes In The Margin To The Effect That Beyond This Lies Nothing But Sandy Deserts Full Of Wild Beasts, And Unapproachable Bogs.

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.

When One Told Plistarchus That A Notorious Railer Spoke Well Of Him, "i'll Lay My Life," Said He, "somebody Hath Told Him I Am Dead, For He Can Speak Well Of No Man Living.'

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