Plutarque citations

“Certes, priser dans une femme la richesse plus que la vertu ou la naissance, cela est vil et bas, mais fuir la richesse unie à la vertu et à la naissance, cela est stupide!”

“I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.”

“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.”

“Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.”

“When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer. (Technically a misquote, but I like the misquote better)”

“Adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.”

“To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days”

“Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself.”

“It is part of a good man to do great and noble deeds, though he risk everything.”

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

“Using the proverb frequently in their mouths who enter upon dangerous and bold attempts, "The die is cast," he took the river.”

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”

“The poor go to war, to fight and die for the delights, riches, and superfluities of others.”

“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.”

“The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it.”

“Neither blame or praise yourself.”

“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.”

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

“It is a desirable thing to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.”

“Character is simply habit long continued.”

“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.”

“Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.”

“Courage stands halfway between cowardice and rashness, one of which is a lack, the other an excess of courage.”

“Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech.”

“It is a thing of no great difficulty to raise objections against another man's oration,—nay, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome.”

“In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of the speaker.”

“When some were saying that if Cæsar should march against the city they could not see what forces there were to resist him, Pompey replied with a smile, bidding them be in no concern, "for whenever I stamp my foot in any part of Italy there will rise up forces enough in an instant, both horse and foot."”

“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 very bold political measure of Lycurgus is his redistribution of the land. For there was a dreadful inequality in this regard, the city was heavily burdened with indigent and helpless people, and wealth was wholly concentrated in the hands of a few. Determined, therefore, to banish insolence and envy and crime and luxury, and those yet more deep-seated and afflictive diseases of the state, poverty and wealth, he persuaded his fellow-citizens to make one parcel of all their territory and divide it up anew, and to live with one another on a basis of entire uniformity and equality in the means of subsistence, seeking preëminence through virtue alone, assured that there was no other difference or inequality between man and man than that which was established by blame for base actions and praise for good ones.”

“Themistocles said that he certainly could not make use of any stringed instrument; could only, were a small and obscure city put into his hands, make it great and glorious.”