Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionAuthor
envy inferiority conscious
Envy always implies conscious inferiority wherever it resides.
country men generosity
I would have a man generous to his country, his neighbors, his kindred, his friends, and most of all his poor friends. Not like some who are most lavish with those who are able to give most of them.
should-have vanity sovereign
Now, that the sovereign power and deity, whatsoever it is, should have regard of mankind, is a toy and vanity worthy to be laughed at.
lust mind enemy
Lust is an enemy to the purse, a foe to the person, a canker to the mind, a corrosive to the conscience, a weakness of the wit, a besotter of the senses, and finally, a mortal bane to all the body.
discovery found valuable
The most valuable discoveries have found their origin in the most trivial accidents.
example way
Example is the softest and least invidious way of commanding.
simple disease sauce
Simple diet is best: for many dishes bring many diseases, and rich sauces are worse than even heaping several meats upon each other.
brain perception intellect
The brain is the citadel of sense perception.
wine common vino
It has become quite a common proverb that in wine there is truth (In Vino Veritas).
snakes dragons tree
The javelin-snake amphiptere hurls itself from the branches of trees.
stars flower air
Honey comes out of the air At early dawn the leaves of trees are found bedewed with honey. Whether this is the perspiration of the sky or a sort of saliva of the stars, or the moisture of the air purging itself, nevertheless it brings with it the great pleasure of its heavenly nature. It is always of the best quality when it is stored in the best flowers.
names perfect doubt
The ancients had little doubt about the true shape of the earth: "It's [the world's] shape has the rounded appearance of a perfect sphere. This is shown first of all by the name of 'orb' which is bestowed upon it by the general consent of mankind. ...Our eyesight also confirms this belief, because the firmament presents the aspect of a concave hemisphere equidistant in every direction, which would be impossible in the case of any other figure."
men naked earth
Man alone at the very moment of his birth, cast naked upon the naked earth, does she abandon to cries and lamentations.
distance men hands
It has been observed that the height of a man from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot is equal to the distance between the tips of the middle fingers of the two hands when extended in a straight line.