Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch; c. AD 46 – AD 120) was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. Plutarch's surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionPhilosopher
pennies doe needs
Nothing is cheap which is superfluous, for what one does not need, is dear at a penny.
wise men ease
The man who is completely wise and virtuous has no need of glory, except so far as it disposes and eases his way to action by the greater trust that it procures him.
art philosophy character
Character is long-standing habit.
silence speech seasons
Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech.
blame praise
Neither blame or praise yourself.
fate destiny men
No man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune.
answers speech
Abstruse questions must have abstruse answers.
fitness sweet sauce
Rest is the sweet sauce of labor.
uplifting adversity suffering
Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.
pain littles taste
Oh, what a world full of pain we create, for a little taste upon the tongue.
dream sleep insomnia
All men whilst they are awake are in one common world: but each of them, when he is asleep, is in a world of his own.
kings future sweat
The new king [Alexander the Great] should perform acts so important and glorious as would make the poets and musicians of future ages labour and sweat to describe and celebrate him.
reflection men thinking
Ought a man to be confident that he deserves his good fortune, and think much of himself when he has overcome a nation, or city, or empire; or does fortune give this as an example to the victor also of the uncertainty of human affairs, which never continue in one stay? For what time can there be for us mortals to feel confident, when our victories over others especially compel us to dread fortune, and while we are exulting, the reflection that the fatal day comes now to one, now to another, in regular succession, dashes our joy.
work giving ease
Ease and speed in doing a thing do not give the work lasting solidity or exactness of beauty.