Plutarch > Quotes

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
― Plutarch

“I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.”
― Plutarch

“A human body in no way resembles those that were born for ravenousness; it hath no hawk’s bill, no sharp talon, no roughness of teeth, no such strength of stomach or heat of digestion, as can be sufficient to convert or alter such heavy and fleshy fare. But if you will contend that you were born to an inclination to such food as you have now a mind to eat, do you then yourself kill what you would eat. But do it yourself, without the help of a chopping-knife, mallet or axe, as wolves, bears, and lions do, who kill and eat at once. Rend an ox with thy teeth, worry a hog with thy mouth, tear a lamb or a hare in pieces, and fall on and eat it alive as they do. But if thou had rather stay until what thou eat is to become dead, and if thou art loath to force a soul out of its body, why then dost thou against nature eat an animate thing? There is nobody that is willing to eat even a lifeless and a dead thing even as it is; so they boil it, and roast it, and alter it by fire and medicines, as it were, changing and quenching the slaughtered gore with thousands of sweet sauces, that the palate being thereby deceived may admit of such uncouth fare.”
― Plutarch

“Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.”
― Plutarch

“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.”
― Plutarch

“To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.”
― Plutarch

“When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer. (Technically a misquote, but I like the misquote better)”
― Plutarch

“The poor go to war, to fight and die for the delights, riches, and superfluities of others.”
― Plutarch

“To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.”
― Plutarch

“Neither blame or praise yourself.”
― Plutarch

“Character is simply habit long continued.”
― Plutarch

“Adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.”
― Plutarch

“The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it.”
― Plutarch

“Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself.”
― Plutarch, The Fall of the Roman Republic

“Can you really ask what reason Pythagoras had for abstaining from flesh? For my part I rather wonder both by what accident and in what state of soul or mind the first man did so, touched his mouth to gore and brought his lips to the flesh of a dead creature, he who set forth tables of dead, stale bodies and ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had a little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived. How could his eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with the sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds? … It is certainly not lions and wolves that we eat out of self-defense; on the contrary, we ignore these and slaughter harmless, tame creatures without stings or teeth to harm us, creatures that, I swear, Nature appears to have produced for the sake of their beauty and grace. But nothing abashed us, not the flower-like tinting of the flesh, not the persuasiveness of the harmonious voice, not the cleanliness of their habits or the unusual intelligence that may be found in the poor wretches. No, for the sake of a little flesh we deprive them of sun, of light, of the duration of life to which they are entitled by birth and being.”
― Plutarch, Moralia

“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.”
― Plutarch

“But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.”
― Plutarch

“Of all the disorders in the soul, envy is the only one no one confesses to.”
― Plutarch

“The Spartans do not ask how many are the enemy but where are they.”
― Plutarch

“It is certainly desirable to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.”
― Plutarch

“To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days”
― Plutarch

“Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech.”
― Plutarch

“It is part of a good man to do great and noble deeds, though he risk everything.”
― Plutarch

“It is a thing of no great difficulty to raise objections against another man's oration, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in it's place is a work extremely troublesome.”
― Plutarch, Plutarch's Lives

“Painting is silent poetry.”
― Plutarch

“It does not follow, that because a particular work of art succeeds in charming us, its creator also deserves our admiration.”
― Plutarch

“Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.”
― plutarch

“In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of the speaker.”
― Plutarch

“Courage stands halfway between cowardice and rashness, one of which is a lack, the other an excess of courage. ”
― Plutarch

“Being conscious of having done a wicked action leaves stings of remorse behind it, which, like an ulcer in the flesh, makes the mind smart with perpetual wounds; for reason, which chases away all other pains, creates repentance, shames the soul with confusion, and punishes it with torment.”
― Plutarch