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

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

Understanding the Quote: "it is a hard matter, my fellow citizens, to argue with the..."

This quote by Plutarch reflects deeply on the theme of inspiring. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Inspiring, Food, Loss, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Plutarch interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Plutarch

Plutarch is celebrated for insightful thoughts on inspiring and food. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Inspiring
Food
Loss
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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.
Wise
Men
Sound
A Warrior Carries His Shield For The Sake Of The Entire Line.
Warrior
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Nature And Wisdom Never Are At Strife.
Inspirational
Life
Meditation
Character Is Long-standing Habit.
Art
Philosophy
Character
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.
Soul
Looks
Noble
For The Correct Analogy For The Mind Is Not A Vessel That Needs Filling, But Wood That Needs Igniting.
Inspirational
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Needs
Rest Is The Sweet Sauce Of Labor.
Fitness
Sweet
Relaxation
I Do Not Think That Shoemaker A Good Workman That Makes A Great Shoe For A Little Foot.
Thinking
Shoes
Feet
When Malice Is Joined To Envy, There Is Given Forth Poisonous And Feculent Matter, As Ink From The Cuttle-fish.
Envy
Ink
Matter
When The Strong Box Contains No More Both Friends And Flatterers Shun The Door.
Friendship
Strong
Money
It Is A True Proverb, That If You Live With A Lame Man, You Will Learn To Limp.
Learning
Men
Lame
The Wildest Colts Make The Best Horses.
Horse
Children
Teaching
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.
Men
Roots
Heaven
Note That The Eating Of Flesh Is Not Only Physically Against Nature, But It Also Makes Us Spiritually Coarse And Gross By Reason Of Satiety And Surfeit.
Philosophical
Animal
Flesh
For, In The Language Of Heraclitus, The Virtuous Soul Is Pure And Unmixed Light, Springing From The Body As A Flash Of Lightning Darts From The Cloud. But The Soul That Is Carnal And Immersed In Sense, Like A Heavy And Dank Vapor, Can With Difficulty Be Kindled, And Caused To Raise Its Eyes Heavenward.
Eye
Clouds
Light
The Superstitious Man Wishes He Did Not Believe In Gods, As The Atheist Does Not, But Fears To Disbelieve In Them.
Atheist
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Wise Men Are Able To Make A Fitting Use Even Of Their Enmities.
Wise
Adversity
Men
Moral Good Is A Practical Stimulus; It Is No Sooner Seen Than It Inspires An Impulse To Practice.
Inspirational
Practice
Inspire
Alexander Esteemed It More Kingly To Govern Himself Than To Conquer His Enemies.
Freedom
Enemy
Conquer
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.
Cities
Gold
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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.
Anger
Fire
Wrath
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.
Want
Tongue
Fool
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?
Food
Dark
Clouds
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.
Wise
Men
People
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.
Grief
Evil
Feelings
The New King [alexander The Great] Should Perform Acts So Important And Glorious As Would Make The Poets And Musicians Of Future Ages Labour And Sweat To Describe And Celebrate Him.
Kings
Future
Sweat
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.
Europe
Triumph
Three
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."
Believe
Moving
Moon
Democritus Said, Words Are But The Shadows Of Actions.
Shadow
Action
Said
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.
Wise
Men
Silence
Statesmen Are Not Only Liable To Give An Account Of What They Say Or Do In Public, But There Is A Busy Inquiry Made Into Their Very Meals, Beds, Marriages, And Every Other Sportive Or Serious Action.
Giving
Serious
Bed
It Is The Usual Consolation Of The Envious, If They Cannot Maintain Their Superiority, To Represent Those By Whom They Are Surpassed As Inferior To Some One Else.
Usual
Envious
Consolation
Authority And Place Demonstrate And Try The Tempers Of Men, By Moving Every Passion And Discovering Every Frailty.
Moving
Passion
Men
It Is Not Reasonable That He Who Does Not Shoot Should Hit The Mark, Nor That He Who Does Not Stand Fast At His Post Should Win The Day, Or That The Helpless Man Should Succeed Or The Coward Prosper.
Winning
Men
Coward
We Ought Not To Treat Living Creatures Like Shoes Or Household Belongings, Which When Worn With Use We Throw Away.
Life
Nature
Shoes
To Please The Many Is To Displease The Wise.
Wise
Popularity
Please
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.
Beautiful
Giving
Wish
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.
Passion
Character
Power
Aristodemus, A Friend Of Antigonus, Supposed To Be A Cook's Son, Advised Him To Moderate His Gifts And Expenses. "thy Words," Said He, "aristodemus, Smell Of The Apron.
Son
Smell
Aprons
The Poor Go To War, To Fight And Die For The Delights, Riches, And Superfluities Of Others.
War
Fighting
Delight
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.
Hurt
Sight
Evil
It Is No Flattery To Give A Friend A Due Character; For Commendation Is As Much The Duty Of A Friend As Reprehension.
Character
Giving
Flattery
Music, To Create Harmony, Must Investigate Discord.
Harmony
Harmony In Music
Discord
Those Who Aim At Great Deeds Must Also Suffer Greatly.
Uplifting
Adversity
Suffering
Friendship Requires A Steady, Constant, And Unchangeable Character, A Person That Is Uniform In His Intimacy.
Friendship
Character
Uniforms
Alexander Wept When He Heard From Anaxarchus That There Was An Infinite Number Of Worlds; And His Friends Asking Him If Any Accident Had Befallen Him, He Returns This Answer: "do You Not Think It A Matter Worthy Of Lamentation That When There Is Such A Vast Multitude Of Them, We Have Not Yet Conquered One?
Thinking
Numbers
Asking
Speech Is Like Cloth Of Arras Opened And Put Abroad, Whereby The Imagery Doth Appear In Figure; Whereas In Thoughts They Lie But As Packs.
Lying
Speech
Figures
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.
Men
Awkward
Thyme
The Flatterer's Object Is To Please In Everything He Does; Whereas The True Friend Always Does What Is Right, And So Often Gives Pleasure, Often Pain, Not Wishing The Latter, But Not Shunning It Either, If He Deems It Best.
Friends
Pain
True Friend
A Few Vices Are Sufficient To Darken Many Virtues.
Reality
Vices
Virtue
It Is Wise To Be Silent When Occasion Requires, And Better Than To Speak, Though Never So Well.
Wise
Silence
Speak
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.
Able
Made
Disgrace
Demosthenes Told Phocion, "the Athenians Will Kill You Some Day When They Once Are In A Rage." "and You," Said He, "if They Are Once In Their Senses."
Rage
Said
Athenians
Of All The Disorders In The Soul, Envy Is The Only One No One Confesses To.
Envy
Soul
Disorder
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.
Oratory
Firsts
Action
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.
Husband
Men
Wife
The Measure Of A Man's Life Is The Well Spending Of It, And Not The Length.
Life
Men
Measure Of A Man
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.
Kindness
One Day
News
He (cato) Never Gave His Opinion In The Senate Upon Any Other Point Whatever, Without Adding These Words, "and, In My Opinion Carthage Should Be Destroyed." ["delenda Est Carthago."]
Opinion
Should
Carthage
Painting Is Silent Poetry, And Poetry Is Painting That Speaks.
Art
Poetry
Greek
Nothing Can Produce So Great A Serenity Of Life As A Mind Free From Guilt And Kept Untainted, Not Only From Actions, But Purposes That Are Wicked. By This Means The Soul Will Be Not Only Unpolluted But Also Undisturbed. The Fountain Will Run Clear And Unsullied.
Running
Peace
Mean
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.
Daughter
Two
Gowns
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?
Character
Mean
Men
Lying Is A Most Disgraceful Vice; It First Despises God, And Then Fears Men.
Lying
Men
Vices
Lysander Said That The Law Spoke Too Softly To Be Heard In Such A Noise Of War.
War
Law
Noise
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.
Time
Numbers
Long
Our Nature Holds So Much Envy And Malice That Our Pleasure In Our Own Advantages Is Not So Great As Our Distress At Others'.
Envy
Pleasure
Advantage
It Is A Hard Matter, My Fellow Citizens, To Argue With The Belly, Since It Has No Ears.
Inspiring
Food
Loss
The First Evil Those Who Are Prone To Talk Suffer, Is That They Hear Nothing.
Evil
Suffering
Firsts
It Is Not Histories I Am Writing, But Lives; And In The Most Glorious Deeds There Is Not Always An Indication Of Virtue Or Vice, Indeed A Small Thing Like A Phrase Or A Jest Often Makes A Greater Revelation Of A Character Than Battles Where Thousands Die.
Writing
Character
Battle
Silence Is An Answer To A Wise Man.
Wise
Men
Silence
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.
Running
Grief
Eye
Wickedness Frames The Engines Of Her Own Torment. She Is A Wonderful Artisan Of A Miserable Life.
Wickedness
Miserable
Wonderful
To Find Fault Is Easy; To Do Better May Be Difficult.
May
Fault Finding
Faults
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.
Wife
Trials
Cases
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."
Pulse
Physicians
Use
Friendship Is The Most Pleasant Of All Things, And Nothing More Glads The Heart Of Man.
Friendship
Heart
Men
Evidence Of Trust Begets Trust, And Love Is Reciprocated By Love.
Love Is
And Love
Love And Trust
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.
Father
Taken
Opportunity
He Shall Fare Well Who Confronts Circumstances Aright.
Circumstances
Wells
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.
Sweet
Medicine
Fire
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.
Inspiration
Other Worlds
Egypt
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?
Nice
Fall
Maturity
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.
Men
Differences
Bravery
Nothing Made The Horse So Fat As The King's Eye.
Horse
Kings
Eye
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.
Art
Voice
Body
He Who First Called Money The Sinews Of The State Seems To Have Said This With Special Reference To War.
War
Special
Firsts
Time Which Diminishes All Things Increases Understanding For The Aging.
Understanding
Aging
Increase
Come Back With Your Shield - Or On It
Greek
Sparta
Shields
Cicero Called Aristotle A River Of Flowing Gold, And Said Of Plato's Dialogues, That If Jupiter Were To Speak, It Would Be In Language Like Theirs.
Plato
Rivers
Gold
The Talkative Listen To No One, For They Are Ever Speaking. And The First Evil That Attends Those Who Know Not To Be Silent Is That They Hear Nothing.
Talking
Evil
Firsts
Reason Speaks And Feeling Bites
Feelings
Speak
Reason
The Omission Of Good Is No Less Reprehensible Than The Commission Of Evil.
Omission
Evil
Wickedness
Mothers Ought To Bring Up And Nurse Their Own Children; For They Bring Them Up With Greater Affection And With Greater Anxiety, As Loving Them From The Heart, And So To Speak, Every Inch Of Them.
Mother
Children
Heart
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.
Kings
Prayer
Wall
Books Delight To The Very Marrow Of One's Bones. They Speak To Us, Consult With Us, And Join With Us In A Living And Intense Intimacy.
Book
Delight
Speak
Knowledge Of Divine Things For The Most Part, As Heraclitus Says, Is Lost To Us By Incredulity.
Divine
Lost
Incredulity
We Are More Sensible Of What Is Done Against Custom Than Against Nature.
Done
Tradition
Sensible
Riches For The Most Part Are Hurtful To Them That Possess Them.
Hurtful
Riches
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.
Pain
Smart
Confusion
What We Achieve Inwardly Will Change Outer Reality.
Motivational
Change
Positive
Talkativeness Has Another Plague Attached To It, Even Curiosity; For Praters Wish To Hear Much That They May Have Much To Say.
Curiosity
Wish
May
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.
Criminals
Might
Fool
Poverty Is Never Dishonourable In Itself, But Only When It Is A Mark Of Sloth, Intemperance, Extravagance, Or Thoughtlessness. When, On The Other Hand, It Is The Handmaid Of A Sober, Industrious, Righteous, And Brave Man, Who Devotes All His Powers To The Service Of The People, It Is The Sign Of A Lofty Spirit That Harbours No Mean Thoughts
Mean
Men
Hands
Wickedness Is A Wonderfully Diligent Architect Of Misery, Of Shame, Accompanied With Terror, And Commotion, And Remorse, And Endless Perturbation.
Wickedness
Misery
Shame
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
Pain
Mean
Occupation
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.
Beautiful
Men
Speech
They Fought Indeed And Were Slain, But It Was To Maintain The Luxury And The Wealth Of Other Men.
Men
Luxury
Politics
Pittacus Said, "every One Of You Hath His Particular Plague, And My Wife Is Mine; And He Is Very Happy Who Hath This Only".
Wife
Said
Very Happy
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?
Fighting
Enemy
Ships
Nature Without Learning Is Blind, Learning Apart From Nature Is Fractional, And Practice In The Absence Of Both Is Aimless.
Education
Practice
Blind
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.
Philosophy
Talking
People
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.
Fashion
Morning
Doors
The Mind Is Not A Vessel To Be Filled But A Fire To Be Kindled.
Inspirational
Leadership
Education
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."
Dog
Kings
Giving
The Whole Of Life Is But A Moment Of Time. It Is Our Duty, Therefore To Use It, Not To Misuse It.
Inspirational
Funny
Life
The Present Offers Itself To Our Touch For Only An Instant Of Time And Then Eludes The Senses.
Elude
Instant
Offers
Medicine To Produce Health Must Examine Disease; And Music, To Create Harmony Must Investigate Discord.
Music
Medicine
Disease
Nothing Exists In The Intellect That Has Not First Gone Through The Senses.
Gone
Firsts
Intellect
There Is No Debt With So Much Prejudice Put Off As That Of Justice.
Justice
Prejudice
Debt
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.
Wisdom
Justice
Politics
Knavery Is The Best Defense Against A Knave.
Knavery
Defense
Knaves
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.
Life
Animal
Light
One Made The Observation Of The People Of Asia That They Were All Slaves To One Man, Merely Because They Could Not Pronounce That Syllable No.
Men
People
Asia
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.
Courage
Men
Evil
When Men Are Arrived At The Goal, They Should Not Turn Back.
Men
Space
Goal
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.
Anger
Men
Self
Apothegms Are The Most Infallible Mirror To Represent A Man Truly What He Is.
Men
Mirrors
Infallible
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.
Life
Men
Practice
When I Myself Had Twice Or Thrice Made A Resolute Resistance Unto Anger, The Like Befell Me That Did The Thebans; Who, Having Once Foiled The Lacedaemonians (who Before That Time Had Held Themselves Invincible), Never After Lost So Much As One Battle Which They Fought Against Them.
Anger
Battle
Resistance
Courage Consists Not In Hazarding Without Fear; But Being Resolutely Minded In A Just Cause.
Courage
Fear
Justice
He Is A Fool Who Leaves Things Close At Hand To Follow What Is Out Of Reach.
Hands
Fool
Know How To Listen, And You Will Profit Even From Those Who Talk Badly.
Inspirational
Empathy
Advice
When Darius Offered Him Ten Thousand Talents, And To Divide Asia Equally With Him, "i Would Accept It," Said Parmenio, "were I Alexander." "and So Truly Would I," Said Alexander, "if I Were Parmenio." But He Answered Darius That The Earth Could Not Bear Two Suns, Nor Asia Two Kings.
Kings
Two
Earth
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.
Sea
Wealth
Enough
He Who Least Likes Courting Favour, Ought Also Least To Think Of Resenting Neglect; To Feel Wounded At Being Refused A Distinction Can Only Arise From An Overweening Appetite To Have It.
Thinking
Likes
Favour
It Is A High Distinction For A Homely Woman To Be Loved For Her Character Rather Than For Beauty.
Women
Character
Distinction
Grief Is Like A Physical Pain Which Must Be Allowed To Subside Somewhat On Its Own Before Medical Treatment Is Applied.
Pain
Grief
Medical
Character Is Simply Habit Long Continued.
Perseverance
Character
Long
The Ripeness Of Adolescence Is Prodigal In Pleasures, Skittish, And In Need Of A Bridle.
Needs
Youth
Pleasure
It Were Better To Have No Opinion Of God At All Than Such A One As Is Unworthy Of Him; For The One Is Only Belief - The Other Contempt.
God
Belief
Opinion
Archimedes Had Stated, That Given The Force, Any Given Weight Might Be Moved; And Even Boasted That If There Were Another Earth, By Going Into It He Could Remove This.
Weight
Earth
Might
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
Army
Play
Law Courts
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.
Lamps
Argument
Witness
Gout Is Not Relieved By A Fine Shoe Nor A Hangnail By A Costly Ring Nor Migraine By A Tiara.
Shoes
Gout
Tiaras
An Old Doting Fool, With One Foot Already In The Grave.
Feet
Age
Fool
I See The Cure Is Not Worth The Pain.
Pain
Cures
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.
Men
Vices
Savages
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.
Summer
Winter
Land
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.
Perseverance
Taken
Persistence
God Is The Brave Man's Hope, And Not The Coward's Excuse.
God
Men
Brave
Distressed Valor Challenges Great Respect, Even From An Enemy.
Courage
Challenges
Enemy
Courage And Wisdom Are, Indeed, Rarities Amongst Men, But Of All That Is Good, A Just Man It Would Seem Is The Most Scarce.
Wisdom
Men
Politics
As Soft Wax Is Apt To Take The Stamp Of The Seal, So Are The Minds Of Young Children To Receive The Instruction Imprinted On Them.
Children
Mind
Instruction
He Who Owns A Hundred Sheep Must Fight With Fifty Wolves
Fighting
Sheep
Decision
Do Not Speak Of Your Happiness To One Less Fortunate Than Yourself.
Happiness
Happy
Speak Less
For The Wise Man, Every Day Is A Festival.
Wise
Men
Festivals
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.
Character
Men
Giving
So Very Difficult A Matter Is It To Trace And Find Out The Truth Of Anything By History.
Matter
Difficult
... 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.
Math
Oil
Fire
Were It Only To Learn Benevolence To Humankind, We Should Be Merciful To Other Creatures.
Should
Benevolence
Humankind
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.
Son
Men
Riches
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
Men
Elephants
Solemnity
I Have Heard That Tiberius Used To Say That That Man Was Ridiculous, Who After Sixth Years, Appealed To A Physician.
Men
Years
Medicine
Immoderate Grief Is Selfish, Harmful, Brings No Advantage To Either The Mourner Or The Mourned, And Dishonors The Dead.
Selfish
Grief
Advantage
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?
Games
Achilles
Said
When One Is Transported By Rage, It Is Best To Observe Attentively The Effects On Those Who Deliver Themselves Over To The Same Passion.
Passion
Rage
Effects
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.
Brother
Silly
Two
I, For My Own Part, Had Much Rather People Should Say Of Me That There Neither Is Nor Ever Was Such A Man As Plutarch, Than That They Should Say, "plutarch Is An Unsteady, Fickle, Froward, Vindictive, And Touchy Fellow.
Men
People
Fickle
Spintharus, Speaking In Commendation Of Epaminondas, Says He Scarce Ever Met With Any Man Who Knew More And Spoke Less.
Men
Spokes
Mets
What Can They Suffer That Do Not Fear To Die?
Death
Suffering
Do Not Fear
Pompey Had Fought Brilliantly And In The End Routed Caesar's Whole Force... But Either He Was Unable To Or Else He Feared To Push On. Caesar [said] To His Friends: 'today The Enemy Would Have Won, If They Had Had A Commander Who Was A Winner.'
Enemy
Pompey
Today
If You Declare That You Are Naturally Designed For Such A Diet, Then First Kill For Yourself What You Want To Eat. Do It, However, Only Through Your Own Resources, Unaided By Cleaver Or Cudgel Or Any Kind Of Ax
Philosophical
Animal
Vegetarianism
Phocion Compared The Speeches Of Leosthenes To Cypress-trees. "they Are Tall," Said He, "and Comely, But Bear No Fruit."
Tree
Speech
Fruit
Neither Blame Or Praise Yourself.
Blame
Praise
He Is A Fool Who Lets Slip A Bird In The Hand For A Bird In The Bush.
Hands
Bird
Fool
Pythias Once, Scoffing At Demosthenes, Said That His Arguments Smelt Of The Lamp.
Lamps
Argument
Scoffing
Not By Lamentations And Mournful Chants Ought We To Celebrate The Funeral Of A Good Man, But By Hymns, For In Ceasing To Be Numbered With Mortals He Enters Upon The Heritage Of A Diviner Life.
Death
Men
Hymns
When The Candles Are Out All Women Are Fair.
Fairs
Candle
The Old Proverb Was Now Made Good, "the Mountain Had Brought Forth A Mouse.
Mountain
Made
Mice
Fortune Had Favoured Me In This War That I Feared, The Rather, That Some Tempest Would Follow So Favourable A Gale.
War
Gale
Tempest
Abstruse Questions Must Have Abstruse Answers.
Answers
Speech
Cicero Said Loud-bawling Orators Were Driven By Their Weakness To Noise, As Lame Men To Take Horse.
Horse
Men
Weakness
A Good Man Will Take Care Of His Horses And Dogs, Not Only While They Are Young, But When Old And Past Service.
Thankful
Dog
Horse
Nor Is Drunkenness Censured For Anything So Much As Its Intemperate And Endless Talk.
Talking
Endless
Drunkenness
Silence At The Proper Season Is Wisdom, And Better Than Any Speech.
Silence
Speech
Seasons
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.
Enemy
Quality
Excellent
Let A Prince Be Guarded With Soldiers, Attended By Councillors, And Shut Up In Forts; Yet If His Thoughts Disturb Him, He Is Miserable.
Soldier
Shut Up
Miserable
If You Hate Your Enemies, You Will Contract Such A Vicious Habit Of Mind That It Will Break Out Upon Those Who Are Your Friends, Or Those Who Are Indifferent To You.
Hate
Hatred
Mind
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.
Men
Light
Voice
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.
Wise
Politics
Matter
And Archimedes, As He Was Washing, Thought Of A Manner Of Computing The Proportion Of Gold In King Hiero's Crown By Seeing The Water Flowing Over The Bathing-stool. He Leaped Up As One Possessed Or Inspired, Crying, "i Have Found It! Eureka!".
Kings
Inspiration
Water
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?
Men
Good Man
Battle
Choose What Is Best, And Habit Will Make It Pleasant And Easy.
Happiness
Easy
Habit
The Obligations Of Law And Equity Reach Only To Mankind; But Kindness And Beneficence Should Be Extended To The Creatures Of Every Species, And These Will Flow From The Breast Of A True Man, As Streams That Issue From The Living Fountain.
Kindness
Philosophical
Animal
Most People Do Not Understand Until Old Age What Plato Tells Them When They Are Young.
Plato
People
Age
Time Is The Wisest Of All Counselors.
Time
Time Management
Counselor
Athenodorus Says Hydrophobia, Or Water-dread, Was First Discovered In The Time Of Asclepiades.
Water
Firsts
Dread
Courage Stands Halfway Between Cowardice And Rashness, One Of Which Is A Lack, The Other An Excess Of Courage.
Life
Success
Courage
Zeno First Started That Doctrine, That Knavery Is The Best Defence Against A Knave.
Knavery
Doctrine
Knaves
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