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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.

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Moral Habits, Induced By

Plutarch

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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.

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

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

They Fought Indeed And Were Slain, But It Was To Maintain The Luxury And The Wealth Of Other Men.

An Imbalance Between Rich And Poor Is The Oldest And Most Fatal Ailment Of All Republics.

Economic Inequality

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

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

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.

What Can They Suffer That Do Not Fear To Die?

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

Barba Non Facit Philosophum

Ought A Man To Be Confident That He Deserves His Good Fortune, And Think Much Of Himself When He Has Overcome A Nation, Or City, Or Empire; Or Does Fortune Give This As An Example To The Victor Also Of The Uncertainty Of Human Affairs, Which Never Continue In One Stay? For What Time Can There Be For Us Mortals To Feel Confident, When Our Victories Over Others Especially Compel Us To Dread Fortune, And While We Are Exulting, The Reflection That The Fatal Day Comes Now To One, Now To Another, In Regular Succession, Dashes Our Joy.

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.

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

What We Achieve Inwardly Will Change Outer Reality.

Custom Is Almost A Second Nature.

It Does Not Follow, That Because A Particular Work Of Art Succeeds In Charming Us, Its Creator Also Deserves Our Admiration.

There Is No Perfecter Endowment In Man Than Political Virtue.

A Warrior Carries His Shield For The Sake Of The Entire Line.

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

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

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

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

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?

Both Empedocles And Heraclitus Held It For A Truth That Man Could Not Be Altogether Cleared From Injustice In Dealing With Beasts As He Now Does.

Rest Is The Sweet Sauce Of Labor.

Blinded As They Are To Their True Character By Self-love, Every Man Is His Own First And Chiefest Flatterer, Prepared, Therefore, To Welcome The Flatterer From The Outside, Who Only Comes Confirming The Verdict Of The Flatterer Within.

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.

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."

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

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

These Macedonians Are A Rude And Clownish People; They Call A Spade A Spade.

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

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."

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.

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.

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."

Hesiod Might As Well Have Kept His Breath To Cool His Pottage.

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.

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

The Richest Soil, If Uncultivated, Produces The Rankest Weeds.

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.

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

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

After He Routed Pharnaces Ponticus At The First Assault, He Wrote Thus To His Friends: "i Came, I Saw, I Conquered.

What All The World Knows Water Is The Principle, Or The Element, Of Things. All Things Are Water.

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

Cato Used To Assert That Wise Men Profited More By Fools Than Fools By Wise Men; For That Wise Men Avoided The Faults Of Fools, But That Fools Would Not Imitate The Good Examples Of Wise Men.

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.

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

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.

Time Is The Wisest Of All Counselors.

Time Management

... 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.

As To Caesar, When He Was Called Upon, He Gave No Testimony Against Clodius, Nor Did He Affirm That He Was Certain Of Any Injury Done To His Bed. He Only Said, He Had Divorced Pompeia Because The Wife Of Caesar Ought Not Only To Be Clear Of Such A Crime, But Of The Very Suspicion Of It.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

He [caesar] Loved The Treason, But Hated The Traitor.

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.

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

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

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.'

If Any Man Think It A Small Matter, Or Of Mean Concernment, To Bridle His Tongue, He Is Much Mistaken; For It Is A Point To Be Silent When Occasion Requires, And Better Than To Speak, Though Never So Well.

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?

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

It Was Not Important How Many Enemies There Are, But Where The Enemy Is

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

It Is A Difficult Task, O Citizens, To Make Speeches To The Belly, Which Has No Ears.

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.

A Soldier Told Pelopidas, "we Are Fallen Among The Enemies." Said He, "how Are We Fallen Among Them More Than They Among Us?"

Nature And Wisdom Never Are At Strife.

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.

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.

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

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

I Do Not Think That Shoemaker A Good Workman That Makes A Great Shoe For A Little Foot.

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

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.

The Most Glorious Exploits Do Not Always Furnish Us With The Clearest Discoveries Of Virtue Or Vice In Men.

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

Philosophy Is The Art Of Living.

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

Extraordinary Rains Pretty Generally Fall After Great Battles.

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.

Either Is Both, And Both Is Neither.

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.

Water And Our Necessary Food Are The Only Things That Wise Men Must Fight For.

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.

Scilurus On His Death-bed, Being About To Leave Four-score Sons Surviving, Offered A Bundle Of Darts To Each Of Them, And Bade Them Break Them. When All Refused, Drawing Out One By One, He Easily Broke Them, Thus Teaching Them That If They Held Together, They Would Continue Strong; But If They Fell Out And Were Divided, They Would Become Weak.

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.

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

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

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."

Phocion Compared The Speeches Of Leosthenes To Cypress-trees. "they Are Tall," Said He, "and Comely, But Bear No Fruit."

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

Words Will Build No Walls.

The Process May Seem Strange And Yet It Is Very True. I Did Not So Much Gain The Knowledge Of Things By The Words, As Words By The Experience I Had Of Things.

Let A Prince Be Guarded With Soldiers, Attended By Councillors, And Shut Up In Forts; Yet If His Thoughts Disturb Him, He Is Miserable.

Philosophy Is An Act Of Living.

The Soul Of Man... Is A Portion Or A Copy Of The Soul Of The Universe And Is Joined Together On Principles And In Proportions Corresponding To Those Which Govern The Universe.

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.

A Friend Should Be Like Money, Tried Before Being Required, Not Found Faulty In Our Need.

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.

Character Is Long-standing Habit.

That We May Consult Concerning Others, And Not Others Concerning Us.

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

Fate Leads Him Who Follows It, And Drags Him Who Resist.

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

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.

The Poor Go To War, To Fight And Die For The Delights, Riches, And Superfluities Of Others.

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.

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

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

The Mind Is Not A Vessel To Be Filled But A Fire To Be Kindled.

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

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.

It Is No Flattery To Give A Friend A Due Character; For Commendation Is As Much The Duty Of A Friend As Reprehension.

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.

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

He Shall Fare Well Who Confronts Circumstances Aright.

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.

When The Strong Box Contains No More Both Friends And Flatterers Shun The Door.

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

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

Rome Was In The Most Dangerous Inclination To Change On Account Of The Unequal Distribution Of Wealth And Property, Those Of Highest Rank And Greatest Spirit Having Impoverished Themselves By Shows, Entertainments, Ambition Of Offices, And Sumptuous Buildings, And The Riches Of The City Having Thus Fallen Into The Hands Of Mean And Low-born Persons. So That There Wanted But A Slight Impetus To Set All In Motion, It Being In The Power Of Every Daring Man To Overturn A Sickly Commonwealth.

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.

Those Who Aim At Great Deeds Must Also Suffer Greatly.

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.

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

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.

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.

Spintharus, Speaking In Commendation Of Epaminondas, Says He Scarce Ever Met With Any Man Who Knew More And Spoke Less.

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.

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

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.

The Great God Pan Is Dead.

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

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.

Nature Without Learning Is Blind, Learning Apart From Nature Is Fractional, And Practice In The Absence Of Both Is Aimless.

Silence Is An Answer To A Wise Man.

When A Man's Struggle Begins Within Oneself, The Man Is Worth Something.

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.''

In Words Are Seen The State Of Mind And Character And Disposition Of The Speaker.

For The Mind Does Not Require Filling Like A Bottle, But Rather, Like Wood, It Only Requires Kindling To Create In It An Impulse To Think Independently And An Ardent Desire For The Truth.

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?

The Measure Of A Man Is The Way He Bears Up Under Misfortune.

We Rich Men Count Our Felicity And Happiness To Lie In These Superfluities, And Not In Those Necessary Things.

When The Candles Are Out All Women Are Fair.

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

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.

Character Is Simply Habit Long Continued.

It Is Indeed A Desirable Thing To Be Well-descended, But The Glory Belongs To Our Ancestors.

He Who Cheats With An Oath Acknowledges That He Is Afraid Of His Enemy, But That He Thinks Little Of God.

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 Giving Of Riches And Honors To A Wicked Man Is Like Giving Strong Wine To Him That Hath A Fever.

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.

Character Is Inured Habit.

When Malice Is Joined To Envy, There Is Given Forth Poisonous And Feculent Matter, As Ink From The Cuttle-fish.

God Is The Brave Man's Hope, And Not The Coward's Excuse.

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.

Democritus Said, Words Are But The Shadows Of Actions.

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

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

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

Pittacus Said, "every One Of You Hath His Particular Plague, And My Wife Is Mine; And He Is Very Happy Who Hath This Only".

A Healer Of Others, Himself Diseased.

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.

Children Are To Be Won To Follow Liberal Studies By Exhortations And Rational Motives, And On No Account To Be Forced Thereto By Whipping.

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

If I Were Not Alexander, I Would Be Diogenes.

We Ought Not To Treat Living Creatures Like Shoes Or Household Belongings, Which When Worn With Use We Throw Away.

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."

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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

Distressed Valor Challenges Great Respect, Even From An Enemy.

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.

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

It Is Not The Most Distinguished Achievements That Men's Virtues Or Vices May Be Best Discovered; But Very Often An Action Of Small Note. An Casual Remark Or Joke Shall Distinguish A Person's Real Character More Than The Greatest Sieges, Or The Most Important Battles.

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

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

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.

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

I Don't Need A Friend Who Changes When I Change And Who Nods When I Nod; My Shadow Does That Much Better.

The Belly Has No Ears.

To Please The Many Is To Displease The Wise.

No Man Ever Wetted Clay And Then Left It, As If There Would Be Bricks By Chance And Fortune.

Forgetfulness Transforms Every Occurrence Into A Non-occurrence.

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.

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

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

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