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
fairs candle
When the candles are out all women are fair.
merit birth fine-things
Good birth is a fine thing, but the merit is our ancestors.
life soul mistress
A lover's soul lives in the body of his mistress.
patriotic greek patriotism
Socrates said he was not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
military ocean campaigns
Politics is not like an ocean voyage or a military campaign... something which leaves off as soon as reached. It is not a public chore to be gotten over with. It is a way of life.
two oracles too-much
There are two sentences inscribed upon the Ancient oracle... "Know thyself" and "Nothing too much"; and upon these all other precepts depend.
learning men lame
It is a true proverb, that if you live with a lame man, you will learn to limp.
courage challenges enemy
Distressed valor challenges great respect, even from an enemy.
animal mutation world
The Epicureans, according to whom animals had no creation, doe suppose that by mutation of one into another, they were first made; for they are the substantial part of the world; like as Anaxagoras and Euripides affirme in these tearmes: nothing dieth, but in changing as they doe one for another they show sundry formes.
water elements world
What All The World Knows Water is the principle, or the element, of things. All things are water.
wise silence speak
It is wise to be silent when occasion requires, and better than to speak, though never so well.
army order battle
The same intelligence is required to marshal an army in battle and to order a good dinner. The first must be as formidable as possible, the second as pleasant as possible, to the participants.
character giving personality
It is circumstance and proper measure that give an action its character, and make it either good or bad.
done tradition sensible
We are more sensible of what is done against custom than against nature.