Greek Philosopher Quotes

As to Caesar, when he was called upon, he gave no testimony against Clodius, nor did he affirm that he was certain of any injury done to his bed. He only said, He had divorced Pompeia because the wife of Caesar ought not only to be clear of such a crime, but of the very suspicion of it.

That tho' a Man were admitted into Heaven to view the wonderful Fabrick of the World, and the Beauty of the stars, yet what would otherwise be Rapture and Extasie, would be but melancholy Amazement if he had not a Friend to communicate it to.

Cultivate truth, good faith, experience, cleverness, sociability, and industry.

Pittacus of Mytilene

Make it rather your serious endeavor not only to acquire accurate book knowledge of each bone but also to examine assiduously with your own eyes the human bones themselves

Cherish wisdom as a means of travelling from youth to old age, for it is more lasting than any other possession.

The river where you set your foot just now is gone-those waters give way to this, now this.

There is no smallest among the small and no largest among the large, But always something still smaller and something still larger.

Slovenliness is a lazy and beastly negligence of a man's own person, whereby he becomes so sordid as to be offensive to those about him.

The second argument about motion, the so-called Achilles:

In a race the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead.

Variant translation: "The second is the one called Achilles. This is it: the slowest will never be overtaken in running by the fastest, for the pursuer must always come to the point the pursued has left, so that the slower must always be some distance ahead."

A borrowed light, circular in form, it revolves about the earth, as if following the track of a chariot.

You must learn all things, both the unshaken heart of persuasive truth, and the opinions of mortals in which there is no true warranty.

Listen, then. I say justice is nothing other than what is advantageous for the stronger.

There cannot be a single, simple body which is infinite, either, as some hold, one distinct from the elements, which they then derive from it, nor without this qualification. For there are some who make this (i. e. a body distinct from the elements) the infinite, and not air or water, in order that the other things may not be destroyed by their infinity. They are in opposition one to another — air is cold, water moist, and fire hot—and therefore, if any one of them were infinite, the rest would have ceased to be by this time. Accordingly they say that what is infinite is something other than the elements, and from it the elements arise.

The investigation of the meaning of words is the beginning of education.

Lead me, Zeus, and you, Fate, wherever you have assigned me. I shall follow without hesitation; but even if I am disobedient and do not wish to, I shall follow no less surely.