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
plato people age
Most people do not understand until old age what Plato tells them when they are young.
men soul together
The soul of man... is a portion or a copy of the soul of the Universe and is joined together on principles and in proportions corresponding to those which govern the Universe.
listening foundation
Proper listening is the foundation of proper living.
skins foxes lions
Where the lion's skin will not reach, you must patch it out with the fox's.
horse kings eye
Nothing made the horse so fat as the king's eye.
disease usual neighbor
The usual disease of princes, grasping covetousness, had made them suspicious and quarrelsome neighbors.
people rude spades
These Macedonians are a rude and clownish people; they call a spade a spade.
son warrior shields
A Spartan woman, as she handed her son his shield, exhorted him saying, "As a warrior of Sparta come back with your shield or on it."
knaves knavery defense
Knavery is the best defense against a knave.
kings prayer army
But being overborne with numbers, and nobody daring to face about, stretching out his hands to heaven, [Romulus] prayed to Jupiter to stop the army, and not to neglect but maintain the Roman cause, now in extreme danger. The prayer was no sooner made, than shame and respect for their king checked many; the fears of the fugitives changed suddenly into confidence.
perfect long political
So long as he was personally present, [Alcibiades] had the perfect mastery of his political adversaries; calumny only succeeded in his absence.
hands fool
He is a fool who leaves things close at hand to follow what is out of reach.
enemy conquer
Alexander esteemed it more kingly to govern himself than to conquer his enemies.
fate unexpected appearance
Fate, however, is to all appearance more unavoidable than unexpected.