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Quotes by Roman Authors
"III. I have often wondered how it should come to pass, that every man loving himself best, should more regard other men's opinions concerning himself than his own. For if any God or grave master standing by, should command any of us to think nothing by himself but what he should presently speak out; no man were able to endure it, though but for one day. Thus do we fear more what our neighbours will think of us, than what we ourselves."
"All the greatest blessings are a source of anxiety, and at no time should fortune be less trusted than when it is best; to maintain prosperity there is need of other prosperity, and in behalf of the prayers that have turned out well we must make still other prayers. For everything that comes to us from chance is unstable, and the higher it rises, the more liable it is to fall. Moreover, what is doomed to perish brings pleasure to no one; very wretched, therefore, and not merely short, must the life of those be who work hard to gain what they must work harder to keep. By great toil they attain what they wish, and with anxiety hold what they have attained; meanwhile they take no account of time that will never more return."
"Few are those who wish to be endowed with virtue rather than to seem so."
"Cling, therefore, to this sound and wholesome plan of life; indulge the body just so far as suffices for good health. ... Your food should appease your hunger, your drink quench your thirst, your clothing keep out the cold, your house be a protection against inclement weather. It makes no difference whether it is built of turf or variegated marble imported from another country: what you have to understand is that thatch makes a person just as good a roof as gold."
"To expect punishment is to suffer it, and to earn it is to expect it."
"He possesses dominion over himself and is happy who can every day say 'I have lived.' Tomorrow the heavenly Father may either involve the world in dark clouds or cheer it with clear sunshine he will not however render ineffectual the things which have already taken place."
"Each day acquire something that will fortify you against poverty, against death, indeed against other misfortunes as well; and after you have run over many thoughts, select one to be thoroughly digested that day."
"Thou shouldst eat to live not live to eat."
"It is not manly to turn one's back on fortune."
"Miracles are not contrary to nature but only contrary to what we know about nature."
"Errare humanum est, sed perseverare diabolicum: 'to err is human, but to persist (in the mistake) is diabolical."
"Social Media brands faster than any other existing Marketing plan and for much cheaper!"
"For the great benefits of our being- our life health and reason-we look upon ourselves."
"When you are disturbed by events and lose your serenity, quickly return to yourself and don't stay upset longer than the experience lasts; for you'll have more mastery over your inner harmony by continually returning to it."
"Whether you call my heart affectionate, or you call it womanish: I confess, that to my misfortune, it is soft."
"A guilty person sometimes has the luck to escape detection, but never to feel sure of it."
"Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude."
"Philosophers have come to envy the philologist and the mathematician, and they have taken over all the inessential elements in those studies-with the result that they know more about devoting care and attention to their speech than about devoting such attention to their lives."
"But if I am wrong in thinking the human soul immortal, I am glad to be wrong; nor will I allow the mistake which gives me so much pleasure to be wrested from me as long as I live."
"What one has one ought to use and whatever he does he should do with all his might."
"A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts."
"So, if you don't summon a book and a light before dawn,If you don't set your mind on honest aims and pursuits,On waking, you'll be tortured by envy or lust.Why so quick to remove a speck from your eye, whenIf it's your mind, you put off the cure till next year?Who's started has half finished: dare to be wise: begin!"
"Those who wish their virtue to be advertised are not striving for virtue but for renown. Are you not willing to be just without being renowned? Nay, indeed you must often be just and be at the same time disgraced. And then, if you are wise, let ill repute, well won, be a delight. Farewell."
"The man who spends his time choosing one resort after another in a hunt for peace and quiet will in every place he visits find something to prevent him from relaxing."
"No man can live happily who regards himself alone who turns everything to his own advantage. Thou must live for another if thou wishest to live for thyself."
"A friend is as it were a second self."
"Not cohabitation but consensus constitutes marriage."
"Gladly accept the gifts of the present hour."
"A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer."
"The countenance is the portrait of the soul, and the eyes mark its intentions."
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