Plutarch Quotes
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.
It is the usual consolation of the envious, if they cannot maintain their superiority, to represent those by whom they are surpassed as inferior to some one else.
The usual disease of princes, grasping covetousness, had made them suspicious and quarrelsome neighbors.
We rich men count our felicity and happiness to lie in these superfluities, and not in those necessary things.
Dionysius the Elder, being asked whether he was at leisure, he replied, "God forbid that it should ever befall me!"
Lysander, when Dionysius sent him two gowns, and bade him choose which he would carry to his daughter, said, "She can choose best," and so took both away with him.
Athenodorus says hydrophobia, or water-dread, was first discovered in the time of Asclepiades.
We ought to regard books as we do sweetmeats, not wholly to aim at the pleasantest, but chiefly to respect the wholesomest; not forbidding either, but approving the latter most.
He who least likes courting favour, ought also least to think of resenting neglect; to feel wounded at being refused a distinction can only arise from an overweening appetite to have it.
That which is chiefly the office of a general, to force the enemy into fighting when he finds himself the stronger, and to avoid being driven into it himself when he is the weaker...
Courage consists not in hazarding without fear but being resolutely minded in a just cause.
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.
Small, therefore, can we think the progress we have made, as long as our admiration for those who have done noble things is barren, and does not of itself incite us to imitate them.
The future bears down upon each one of us with all the hazards of the unknown. The only way out is through.
To make no mistake is not in the power of man but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.
Themistocles said "The Athenians govern the Greeks I govern the Athenians you my wife govern me your son governs you."
It is indeed a desirable thing to be well descended but the glory belongs to our ancestors.
Agesilaus the Spartan king was once invited to hear a mimic imitate the nightingale but declined with the comment that he had heard the nightingale itself.
No man ever wetted clay and then left it as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune.
To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood.
Many things which cannot be overcome when they are together yield themselves up when taken little by little.
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.
I would rather excel in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and possessions.
I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod my shadow does that much better.