Quotes to inspire and reflect

Again, men in general desire the good, and not merely what their fathers had.

They should rule who are able to rule best.

It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.

With regard to excellence, it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it.

To be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious of our own existence.

To enjoy the things, we ought and to hate the things we ought to have the greatest bearing on excellence of character.

It is possible to fail in many ways...while to succeed is possible only in one way.

We must as second best...take the least of the evils.

Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time.

Liars when they speak the truth are not believed.

[When asked what was the proper time for supper] If you are a rich man, whenever you please; and if you are a poor man, whenever you can.

You cannot conceive the many without the one.

I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning.

The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways - I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows.

We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them.

Word is a shadow of a deed.

Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods.

Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.

Not snow, no, nor rain, nor heat, nor night keeps them from accomplishing their appointed courses with all speed.

This is the bitterest pain among men, to have much knowledge but no power.

Haste in every business brings failures.

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Every man is like the company he is wont to keep.

Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.

Slow but sure moves the might of the gods.

The company of just and righteous men is better than wealth and a rich estate.

The day is for honest men, the night for thieves.

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.

Leave no stone unturned.

Truly, to tell lies is not honorable; but when the truth entails tremendous ruin, To speak dishonorably is pardonable.

Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.

Rash indeed is he who reckons on the morrow, or haply on days beyond it; for tomorrow is not, until today is past.

A prudent mind can see room for misgiving, lest he who prospers would one day suffer reverse.

Knowledge must come through action; you can have no test which is not fanciful, save by trial.

Nobody likes the man who brings bad news.

How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong!

I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare - I have no use for him either.

Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any.

The descent to Hades is the same from every place.

Words have a longer life than deeds.

His resolve is not to seem, but to be, the best.

I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.

Words are the physicians of the mind diseased.

Death is better, a milder fate than tyranny.

It is better to hide ignorance, but it is hard to do this when we relax over wine.

Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established.

To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue.[They are] gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.

There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth...lust. When he is strong...quarrelsomeness. When he is old...covetousness.