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Quotes by Greek Authors
"For if any man thinks that he is alone is wise--that in speech, or in mind, he hath no peer--such a soul, when laid open, is ever found empty."
"No man undertakes a trade he has not learned even the meanest yet every one thinks himself sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades - that of government."
"But this is not difficult, O Athenians! to escape death; but it is much more difficult to avoid depravity, for it runs swifter than death. And now I, being slow and aged, am overtaken by the slower of the two; but my accusers, being strong and active, have been overtaken by the swifter, wickedness. And now I depart, condemned by you to death; but they condemned by truth, as guilty of iniquity and injustice: and I abide my sentence, and so do they. These things, perhaps, ought so to be, and I think that they are for the best."
"On the occasion of every accident that befalls you ... inquire what power you have for turning it to use."
"In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds."
"God save me from fools with a little philosophy-no one is more difficult to reach."
"Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men."
"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal."
"You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'Appear by all means.' And when Florus inquired, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.' For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is."
"Calligraphy is a geometry of the soul which manifests itself physically."
"Is it not the same distance to God everywhere?"
"The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves."
"Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them."
"Living well and beautifully and justly are all one thing."
"To find yourself, think for yourself."
"Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities."
"Equity bids us be merciful to the weakness of human nature; to think less about the laws than about the man who framed them, and less about what he said than about what he meant; not to consider the actions of the accused so much as his intentions; nor this or that detail so much as the whole story; to ask not what a man is now but what he has always or usually been."
"Ruin and recovery are both from within."
"Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting, and you will find it easier to maintain control."
"It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world."
"It's human, we all put self interest first."
"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have."
"Concerning the Gods, there are those who deny the very existence of the Godhead; others say that it exists, but neither bestirs nor concerns itself not has forethought far anything. A third party attribute to it existence and forethought, but only for great and heavenly matters, not for anything that is on earth. A fourth party admit things on earth as well as in heaven, but only in general, and not with respect to each individual. A fifth, of whom were Ulysses and Socrates, are those that cry: --I move not without Thy knowledge!"
"I have gained this by philosophy. I do without being ordered what some are constrained to do by their fear of the law."
"With respect to the requirement of art, the probable impossible is always preferable to the improbable possible."
"Philosophy does not claim to secure for us anything outside our control. Otherwise it would be taking on matters that do not concern it. For as wood is the material of the carpenter, and marble that of the sculptor, so the subject matter of the art of life is the life of the self."
"Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart's desire the other is to get it."
"Nobody is qualified to become a statesman who is entirely ignorant of the problems of wheat."
"The beginning is the most important part of the work."
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