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
justice prejudice debt
There is no debt with so much prejudice put off as that of justice.
feet age fool
An old doting fool, with one foot already in the grave.
summer winter land
Antisthenes says that in a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer.
philosophical animal want
If you declare that you are naturally designed for such a diet, then first kill for yourself what you want to eat. Do it, however, only through your own resources, unaided by cleaver or cudgel or any kind of ax
wickedness misery shame
Wickedness is a wonderfully diligent architect of misery, of shame, accompanied with terror, and commotion, and remorse, and endless perturbation.
strong wine men
The giving of riches and honors to a wicked man is like giving strong wine to him that hath a fever.
character writing battle
It is not histories I am writing, but lives; and in the most glorious deeds there is not always an indication of virtue or vice, indeed a small thing like a phrase or a jest often makes a greater revelation of a character than battles where thousands die.
Either is both, and Both is neither.
tongue fool
A fool cannot hold his tongue.
wise men silence
Silence is an answer to a wise man.
god belief opinion
It were better to have no opinion of God at all than such a one as is unworthy of him; for the one is only belief - the other contempt.
omission evil wickedness
The omission of good is no less reprehensible than the commission of evil.
envy soul disorder
Of all the disorders in the soul, envy is the only one no one confesses to.
book delight bones
Books delight to the very marrow of one's bones. They speak to us, consult with us, and join with us in a living and intense intimacy.