Plutarch Quotes
Moral habits, induced by public practices, are far quicker in making their way into men's private lives, than the failings and faults of individuals are in infecting the city at large. Neither blame or praise yourself. No man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune. Nothing is harder to direct than a man in prosperity; nothing more easily managed that one is adversity. Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks. Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little. Prosperity is no just scale; adversity is the only balance to weigh friends. Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech. The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. The omission of good is no less reprehensible than the commission of evil. The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits. The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in good education. The wildest colts make the best horses. Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly. To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days. To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult. 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. We ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away. What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. When the strong box contains no more both friends and flatterers shun the door.
Web Toolbar by Wibiya 