01c. 83 ADEpaminondas is reported wittily to have said of a good man that died about the time of the battle of Leuctra, "How came he to have so much leisure as to die, when there was so much stirring?"Plutarch / quote ↗
02c. 83 ADHave in readiness this saying of Solon, "But we will not give up our virtue in exchange for their wealth."Plutarch / quote ↗
03c. 83 ADSocrates thought that if all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence every one must take an equal portion, most persons would be contented to take their own and depart.Plutarch / quote ↗
04c. 83 ADDiogenes the Cynic, when a little before his death he fell into a slumber, and his physician rousing him out of it asked him whether anything ailed him, wisely answered, "Nothing, sir; only one brother anticipates another,—Sleep before Death."Plutarch / quote ↗
05c. 83 ADAbout Pontus there are some creatures of such an extempore being that the whole term of their life is confined within the space of a day; for they are brought forth in the morning, are in the prime of their existence at noon, grow old at night, and then die.Plutarch / quote ↗
06c. 83 ADThe measure of a man's life is the well spending of it, and not the length.Plutarch / quote ↗
07c. 83 ADFor many, as Cranton tells us, and those very wise men, not now but long ago, have deplored the condition of human nature, esteeming life a punishment, and to be born a man the highest pitch of calamity; this, Aristotle tells us, Silenus declared when he was brought captive to Midas.Plutarch / quote ↗
08c. 83 ADThere are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man's life: "Know thyself," and "Nothing too much;" and upon these all other precepts depend.Plutarch / quote ↗
09c. 83 ADTo one commending an orator for his skill in amplifying petty matters, Agesilaus said, "I do not think that shoemaker a good workman that makes a great shoe for a little foot."Plutarch / quote ↗
10c. 83 AD"I will show," said Agesilaus, "that it is not the places that grace men, but men the places."Plutarch / quote ↗
11c. 83 ADWhen one asked him what boys should learn, "That," said he, "which they shall use when men."Plutarch / quote ↗
12c. 83 ADAgesilaus was very fond of his children; and it is reported that once toying with them he got astride upon a reed as upon a horse, and rode about the room; and being seen by one of his friends, he desired him not to speak of it till he had children of his own.Plutarch / quote ↗
13c. 83 ADWhen Demaratus was asked whether he held his tongue because he was a fool or for want of words, he replied, "A fool cannot hold his tongue."Plutarch / quote ↗
14c. 83 ADLysander, when Dionysius sent him two gowns, and bade him choose which he would carry to his daughter, said, "She can choose best," and so took both away with him.Plutarch / quote ↗
15c. 83 ADA physician, after he had felt the pulse of Pausanias, and considered his constitution, saying, "He ails nothing," "It is because, sir," he replied, "I use none of your physic."Plutarch / quote ↗
16c. 83 ADAnd when the physician said, "Sir, you are an old man," "That happens," replied Pausanias, "because you never were my doctor."Plutarch / quote ↗
17c. 83 ADWhen one told Plistarchus that a notorious railer spoke well of him, "I 'll lay my life," said he, "somebody hath told him I am dead, for he can speak well of no man living."Plutarch / quote ↗
18c. 83 ADAnacharsis said a man's felicity consists not in the outward and visible favours and blessings of Fortune, but in the inward and unseen perfections and riches of the mind.Plutarch / quote ↗
19c. 83 ADSaid Periander, "Hesiod might as well have kept his breath to cool his pottage."Plutarch / quote ↗
20c. 83 ADSocrates said, "Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live."Plutarch / quote ↗
21c. 83 ADAnd Archimedes, as he was washing, thought of a manner of computing the proportion of gold in King Hiero's crown by seeing the water flowing over the bathing-stool. He leaped up as one possessed or inspired, crying, "I have found it! Eureka!"Plutarch / quote ↗
22c. 83 ADSaid Scopas of Thessaly, "We rich men count our felicity and happiness to lie in these superfluities, and not in those necessary things."Plutarch / quote ↗
24c. 83 ADA traveller at Sparta, standing long upon one leg, said to a Lacedæmonian, "I do not believe you can do as much." "True," said he, "but every goose can."Plutarch / quote ↗
