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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.

-Plutarch

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Whenever Alexander Heard Philip

Plutarch

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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.

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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?

The Belly Has No Ears.

Barba Non Facit Philosophum

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

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.

Choose What Is Best, And Habit Will Make It Pleasant And Easy.

Silence Is An Answer To A Wise Man.

Democritus Said, Words Are But The Shadows Of Actions.

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

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

Neither Blame Or Praise Yourself.

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.

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

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.

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.

The Authors Of Great Evils Know Best How To Remove Them.

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.

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.

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."

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

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

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.

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

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.

Nature And Wisdom Never Are At Strife.

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

Knavery Is The Best Defense Against A Knave.

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.

Wise Men Are Able To Make A Fitting Use Even Of Their Enmities.

The Worship Most Acceptable To God Comes From A Thankful And Cheerful Heart.

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

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

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

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

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."

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.

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.

Zeno First Started That Doctrine, That Knavery Is The Best Defence Against A Knave.

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

Rest Is The Sweet Sauce Of Labor.

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

Economic Inequality

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."

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.

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?

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

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

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

Instead Of Using Medicine, Better Fast Today.

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

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

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.

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.

Playing The Cretan With The Cretans (i.e. Lying To Liars).

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

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

Those Are Greedy Of Praise Prove That They Are Poor In Merit.

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.

The Same Intelligence Is Required To Marshal An Army In Battle And To Order A Good Dinner. The First Must Be As Formidable As Possible, The Second As Pleasant As Possible, To The Participants.

Forgetfulness Transforms Every Occurrence Into A Non-occurrence.

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

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

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

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.

Agesilaus Was Very Fond Of His Children; And It Is Reported That Once Toying With Them He Got Astride Upon A Reed As Upon A Horse, And Rode About The Room; And Being Seen By One Of His Friends, He Desired Him Not To Speak Of It Till He Had Children Of His Own.

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.

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

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.

Reason Speaks And Feeling Bites

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

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

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.

King Agis Said, "the Lacedæmonians Are Not Wont To Ask How Many, But Where The Enemy Are."

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.'

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.

Had I A Careful And Pleasant Companion That Should Show Me My Angry Face In A Glass, I Should Not At All Take It Ill; To Behold Man's Self So Unnaturally Disguised And Dishonored Will Conduce Not A Little To The Impeachment Of Anger.

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

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.

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

The Real Destroyer Of The Liberties Of The People Is He Who Spreads Among Them Bounties, Donations And Benefits.

Solon Being Asked, Namely, What City Was Best To Live In. That City, He Replied, In Which Those Who Are Not Wronged, No Less Than Those Who Are Wronged, Exert Themselves To Punish The Wrongdoers.

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.

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

Character Is Inured Habit.

Vos Vestros Servate, Meos Mihi Linquite Mores You Keep To Your Own Ways, And Leave Mine To Me

Were It Only To Learn Benevolence To Humankind, We Should Be Merciful To Other Creatures.

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?

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

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

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

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

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."]

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.

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.

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

Time Is The Wisest Of All Counselors.

Time Management

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

The Present Offers Itself To Our Touch For Only An Instant Of Time And Then Eludes The Senses.

Poverty Is Not Dishonorable In Itself, But Only When It Comes From Idleness, Intemperance, Extravagance, And Folly.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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?

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.

I See The Cure Is Not Worth The Pain.

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 Drop Hollows Out The Stone Not By Strength, But By Constant Falling.

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

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

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

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.

Children Ought To Be Led To Honorable Practices By Means Of Encouragement And Reasoning, And Most Certainly Not By Blows And Ill Treatment.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

For The Rich Men Without Scruple Drew The Estate Into Their Own Hands, Excluding The Rightful Heirs From Their Succession; And All The Wealth Being Centred Upon The Few, The Generality Were Poor And Miserable. Honourable Pursuits, For Which There Was No Longer Leisure, Were Neglected; The State Was Filled With Sordid Business, And With Hatred And Envy Of The Rich.

As Those That Pull Down Private Houses Adjoining To The Temples Of The Gods, Prop Up Such Parts As Are Contiguous To Them; So, In Undermining Bashfulness, Due Regard Is To Be Had To Adjacent Modesty, Good-nature And Humanity.

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

Music, To Create Harmony, Must Investigate Discord.

Harmony In Music

Words Will Build No Walls.

To Be Ignorant Of The Lives Of The Most Celebrated Men Of Antiquity Is To Continue In A State Of Childhood All Our Days.

Extraordinary Rains Pretty Generally Fall After Great Battles.

A Healer Of Others, Himself Diseased.

Learn To Be Pleased With Everything, With Wealth So Far As It Makes Us Beneficial To Others; With Poverty, For Not Having Much To Care For; And With Obscurity, For Being Unenvied.

Oh, What A World Full Of Pain We Create, For A Little Taste Upon The Tongue.

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.

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

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.

Of All The Disorders In The Soul, Envy Is The Only One No One Confesses To.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

When The Candles Are Out All Women Are Fair.

Time Which Diminishes All Things Increases Understanding For The Aging.

Nor Let Us Part With Justice, Like A Cheap And Common Thing, For A Small And Trifling Price.

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.

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

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

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

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

Philosophy Is An Act Of Living.

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 Shall Fare Well Who Confronts Circumstances Aright.

What We Achieve Inwardly Will Change Outer Reality.

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

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

He Who Owns A Hundred Sheep Must Fight With Fifty Wolves

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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!".

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Fate, However, Is To All Appearance More Unavoidable Than Unexpected.

For To Err In Opinion, Though It Be Not The Part Of Wise Men, Is At Least Human.

It Is A High Distinction For A Homely Woman To Be Loved For Her Character Rather Than For Beauty.

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.

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.

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?

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

Not By Lamentations And Mournful Chants Ought We To Celebrate The Funeral Of A Good Man, But By Hymns; For, Ion Ceasing To Be Numbered With Mortals, He Enters Upon The Heritage Of A Diviner Life. Since He Is Gone Where He Feels No Pain, Let Us Not Indulge In Too Much Grief. The Soul Is Incapable Of Death. And He, Like A Bird Not Long Enough In His Cage To Become Attached To It, Is Free To Fly Away To A Purer Air. . . . Since We Cherish A Trust Like This, Let Our Outward Actions Be In Accord With It, And Let Us Keep Our Hearts Pure And Our Minds Calm.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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?

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

Proper Listening Is The Foundation Of Proper Living.

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.

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

The Great God Pan Is Dead.

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

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