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. Plutarch More Quotes by Plutarch More Quotes From Plutarch Someone praising a man for his foolhardy bravery, Cato, the elder, said, ''There is a wide difference between true courage and a mere contempt of life. Plutarch differencesbraverymen Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord. Plutarch harmony-in-musicdiscordharmony Evidence of trust begets trust, and love is reciprocated by love. Plutarch love-and-trustand-lovelove-is 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 . . . 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 medicinefiresweet By the study of their biographies, we receive each man as a guest into our minds, and we seem to understand their character as the result of a personal acquaintance, because we have obtained from their acts the best and most important means of forming an opinion about them. "What greater pleasure could'st thou gain than this?" What more valuable for the elevation of our own character? Plutarch charactermenmean Education and study, and the favors of the muses, confer no greater benefit on those that seek them than these humanizing and civilizing lessons, which teach our natural qualities to submit to the limitations prescribed by reason, and to avoid the wildness of extremes. Plutarch benefitsqualitylessons Demosthenes, when taunted by Pytheas that all his arguments "smelled of the lamp," replied, "Yes, but your lamp and mine, my friend, do not witness the same labours. Plutarch argumentlampswitness Knowledge of divine things for the most part, as Heraclitus says, is lost to us by incredulity. Plutarch incredulitydivinelost Most people do not understand until old age what Plato tells them when they are young. Plutarch platoagepeople Real excellence, indeed, is most recognized when most openly looked into. Plutarch goodnessexcellencereal What can they suffer that do not fear to die? Plutarch do-not-fearsufferingdeath For it was not so much that by means of words I came to a complete understanding of things, as that from things I somehow had an experience which enabled me to follow the meaning of words. Plutarch meanings-of-wordsunderstandingmean They are wrong who think that politics is like an ocean voyage or a military campaign, something to be done with some particular end in view, something which leaves off as soon as that end is reached. It is not a public chore, to be got over with. It is a way of life. It is the life of a domesticated political and social creature who is born with a love for public life, with a desire for honor, with a feeling for his fellows; and it lasts as long as need be. Plutarch oceanmilitarylove A friend should be like money, tried before being required, not found faulty in our need. Plutarch friendsshouldneeds Such power I gave the people as might do, Plutarch shieldsmightpeople Themistocles replied that a man's discourse was like to a rich Persian carpet, the beautiful figures and patterns of which can only be shown by spreading and extending it out; when it is contracted and folded up, they are obscured and lost. Plutarch speechbeautifulmen 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 delightspeakbook Solon being asked, namely, what city was best to live in. That city, he replied, in which those who are not wronged, no less than those who are wronged, exert themselves to punish the wrongdoers. Plutarch wrongedcities The conduct of a wise politician is ever suited to the present posture of affairs. Often by foregoing a part he saves the whole, and by yielding in a small matter secures a greater. Plutarch politicsmatterwise When Demosthenes was asked what were the three most important aspects of oratory, he answered, 'Action, Action, Action.' Plutarch oratoryimportantinspiration
