“Antiphanes said merrily that in a certain city the cold was so intense that words were congealed as soon as spoken, but that after some time they thawed and became audible; so that the words spoken in winter articulated next summer.”

—  Plutarch , book Moralia

Of Man's Progress in Virtue
Moralia, Others

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Antiphanes said merrily that in a certain city the cold was so intense that words were congealed as soon as spoken, but…" by Plutarch?
Plutarch photo
Plutarch 251
ancient Greek historian and philosopher 46–127

Related quotes

Kate DiCamillo photo

“And so he was reading the story as if it were a spell and the words of it, spoken aloud, could make magic happen.”

Kate DiCamillo book The Tale of Despereaux

Source: The Tale of Despereaux

Haruki Murakami photo

“Sometimes we don't need words. Rather, it's words that need us. If we were no longer here, words would lose their whole function. They would end up as words that are never spoken, and words that aren't spoken are no longer words.”

Haruki Murakami book Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Source: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Sam Levenson photo

“Many wise words are spoken in jest, but they don't compare with the number of stupid words spoken in earnest.”

Sam Levenson (1911–1980) American journalist

“Their words were spoken to the breezes nor swayed appointed fate.”
Dicta dabant ventis nec debita fata movebant.

Gaius Valerius Flaccus book Argonautica

Source: Argonautica, Book V, Line 21

“Of the tens of thousands of words spoken during the Nuremberg Nazi trial, the word "eugenics" was said only once.”

A.E. Samaan

Source: From a "Race of Masters" to a "Master Race": 1948 to 1848

Daniel Wallace photo

“This is what is meant by last words: they are keys to unlock the afterlife. They're not last words but passwords, and as soon as they're spoken you can go.”

Daniel Wallace book Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions

Source: Big Fish

Nikolai Gogol photo

“there is no word so perk and quick, which bursts from the heart with such spontaneity, which seethes and bubbles with such vitality, as the aptly spoken Russian word”

Nikolai Gogol book Dead Souls

Source: Dead Souls (1842), Chapter V

Edward Bulwer-Lytton photo

“Alone! — that worn-out word,
So idly spoken, and so coldly heard;
Yet all that poets sing and grief hath known
Of hopes laid waste, knells in that word ALONE!”

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873) English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician

The New Timon, (1846). Part ii.

Sue Monk Kidd photo

“The words were unexpected, but so incisively true. So much of prayer is like that - an encounter with a truth that has sunk to the bottom of the heart, that wants to be found, wants to be spoken, wants to be elevated into the realm of sacredness.”

Sue Monk Kidd (1948) Novelist

Source: Traveling With Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story

Happy Rhodes photo

“He is broken, far from free
Words were spoken, 'tween him and me”

Happy Rhodes (1965) American singer-songwriter

"Temporary And Eternal" - Live performance, later used on the compilation album The Keep (16 May 1995) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiIqnvFAoHs
Equipoise (1993)
Context: He is broken, far from free
Words were spoken, 'tween him and me:
"I had friends, yes, I was admired
I'm so old now, feel so tired."
Well he walks to the gate and he looks behind
at life in rewind
And wishes he had known these things
while still alive.

Related topics