Plutarch Quotes

#1. Water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow.

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#2. To the Dolphin alone, beyond all other, nature has granted what the best philosophers seek: friendship for no advantage

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#3. The malicious humor of men, though perverse and refractory, is not so savage and invincible but it may be wrought upon by kindness, and altered by repeated obligations.

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#4. Xenophon says that there is no sound more pleasing than one's own praises.

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#5. 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.

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#6. 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.

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#7. But the Lacedaemonians, who make it their first principle of action to serve their country's interest, know not any thing to be just or unjust by any measure but that.

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#8. The most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men.

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

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#10. Many things which cannot be overcome when they are together yield
themselves up when taken little by little.

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#11. All beyond this is portentous and fabulous, inhabited by poets and mythologers, and there is nothing true or certain.

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#12. Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.

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#13. Wisdom is neither gold, nor silver, nor fame, nor wealth, nor health, nor strength, nor beauty.

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#14. It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice, with which, like an instrument of many strings, she could pass from one language to another; so that there were few of the barbarian nations that she answered by an interpreter.

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#15. 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.

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#16. He who reflects on another man's want of breeding, shows he wants it as much himself

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#17. He who first called money the sinews of the state seems to have said this with special reference to war.

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#18. Neither blame or praise yourself.

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#19. [It was] better to set up a monarchy themselves than to suffer a sedition to continue that must certainly end in one.

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#20. 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.

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#21. 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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#22. The first evil those who are prone to talk suffer, is that they hear nothing.

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#23. Rest is the sweet sauce of labor.

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#24. 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?

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#25. 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.

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#26. Thus ambitious spirits in a commonwealth, when they transgress their bounds, are apt to do more harm than good.

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#27. Most people do not understand until old age what Plato tells them when they are young.

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#28. Once when Phocion had delivered an opinion which pleased the people, ... he turned to his friend and said, Have I not unawares spoken some mischievous thing or other?

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#29. I don't need a friend who change when I change, who nod when I nod. This is something than my own shadow can do.

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#30. 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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#31. Demosthenes overcame and rendered more distinct his inarticulate and stammering pronunciation by speaking with pebbles in his mouth.

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#32. 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.

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#33. It is the admirer of himself, and not the admirer of virtue, that thinks himself superior to others.

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#34. The drop hollows out the stone not by strength, but by constant falling.

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#35. 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.

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#36. Even those virtues which nature had denied him were imitated by him so successfully that he won more confidence than those who actually possessed them.

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#37. God alone is entirely exempt from all want of human virtues, that which needs least is the most absolute and divine.

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#38. Caesar's wife should be above suspicion.

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#39. 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.

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#40. Spintharus, speaking in commendation of Epaminondas, says he scarce ever met with any man who knew more and spoke less.

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#41. Evidence of trust begets trust, and love is reciprocated by love.

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#42. Nothing exists in the intellect that has not first gone through the senses.

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#43. Nature and wisdom never are at strife.

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#44. For the correct analogy for the mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting.

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#45. He shall fare well who confronts circumstances aright.

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#46. Wise men are able to make a fitting use even of their enmities.

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#47. 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.

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#48. Agesilaus being invited once to hear a man who admirably imitated the nightingale, he declined, saying he had heard the nightingale itself.

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#49. That we may consult concerning others, and not others concerning us.

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#50. Either is both, and Both is neither.

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#51. A prating barber asked Archelaus how he would be trimmed. He answered, In silence.

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#52. A few vices are sufficient to darken many virtues.

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#53. Pittacus said, "Every one of you hath his particular plague, and my wife is mine; and he is very happy who hath this only".

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#54. The giving of riches and honors to a wicked man is like giving strong wine to him that hath a fever.

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

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#56. Why does pouring Oil on the Sea make it Clear and Calm? Is it that the winds, slipping the smooth oil, have no force, nor cause any waves?

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#57. The whole like of a man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it.

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#58. What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

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#59. 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.

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#60. Politics is not like an ocean voyage or a military campaign ... something which leaves off as soon as reached. It is not a public chore to be gotten over with. It is a way of life.

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#61. Cicero said loud-bawling orators were driven by their weakness to noise, as lame men to take horse.

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#62. 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.

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#63. Phocion compared the speeches of Leosthenes to cypress-trees. "They are tall," said he, "and comely, but bear no fruit.

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#64. As Meander says, "For our mind is God;" and as Heraclitus, "Man's genius is a deity.

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#65. Character is simply habit long continued.

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#66. 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.

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#67. Lysander said that the law spoke too softly to be heard in such a noise of war.

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#68. The richest soil, if uncultivated, produces the rankest weeds.

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#69. Good birth is a fine thing, but the merit is our ancestors.

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#70. Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen than it inspires an impulse to practice.

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#71. When the candles are out all women are fair.

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#72. It is a true proverb, that if you live with a lame man, you will learn to limp.

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#73. Talkativeness has another plague attached to it, even curiosity; for praters wish to hear much that they may have much to say.

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#74. The generous mind adds dignity to every act, and nothing misbecomes it.

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#75. The measure of a man's life is the well spending of it, and not the length.

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

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#77. To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.

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#78. Foreign lady once remarked to the wife of a Spartan commander that the women of Sparta were the only women in the world who could rule men. "We are the only women who raise men," the Spartan lady replied ...

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#79. Gout is not relieved by a fine shoe nor a hangnail by a costly ring nor migraine by a tiara.

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#80. Fate, however, is to all appearance more unavoidable than unexpected.

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#81. 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.

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#82. The man who is completely wise and virtuous has no need of glory, except so far as it ... eases his way to action by the greater trust that it procures him.

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#83. 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.

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#84. Were it only to learn benevolence to humankind, we should be merciful to other creatures.

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#85. 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."]

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#86. Character is inured habit.

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#87. I would rather excel in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and possessions.

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#88. 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.

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#89. So inconsiderable a thing is fortune in respect of human nature, and so insufficient to give content to a covetous mind, that an empire of that mighty extent and sway could not satisfy the ambition of two men;

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#90. Lamentation is the only musician that always, like a screech-owl, alights and sits on the roof of any angry man.

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#91. Immoderate grief is selfish, harmful, brings no advantage to either the mourner or the mourned, and dishonors the dead.

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#92. When the strong box contains no more both friends and flatterers shun the door.

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#93. The superstitious man wishes he did not believe in gods, as the atheist does not, but fears to disbelieve in them.

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#94. Oh, what a world full of pain we create, for a little taste upon the tongue.

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#95. A warrior carries his shield for the sake of the entire line.

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#96. Even a nod from a person who is esteemed is of more force than a thousand arguments or studied sentences from others.

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#97. For it was not so much that by means of words I came to a complete understanding of things, as that from things I somehow had an experience which enabled me to follow the meaning of words.

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#98. 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

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#99. Time is the wisest of all counselors.

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#100. Instead of using medicine, better fast today.

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