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Consolation to Apollonius.
There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man's life: "Know thyself,"[736:1] and "Nothing too much;" and upon these all other precepts depend.
Consolation to Apollonius.
To one commending an orator for his skill in amplifying petty matters, Agesilaus said, "I do not think that [737]shoemaker a good workman that makes a great shoe for a little foot."
Laconic Apophthegms. Of Agesilaus the Great.
"I will show," said Agesilaus, "that it is not the places that grace men, but men the places."
Laconic Apophthegms. Of Agesilaus the Great.
When one asked him what boys should learn, "That," said he, "which they shall use when men."
Laconic Apophthegms. Of Agesilaus the Great.
Agesilaus 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.
Laconic Apophthegms. Of Agesilaus the Great.
When 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."
Laconic Apophthegms. Of Demaratus.
Lysander, 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.
Laconic Apophthegms. Of Lysander.
A 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."
Laconic Apophthegms. Of Pausanias the Son of Phistoanax.
And when the physician said, "Sir, you are an old man," "That happens," replied Pausanias, "because you never were my doctor."
Laconic Apophthegms. Of Pausanias the Son of Phistoanax.
When 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."
Laconic Apophthegms. Of Plistarchus.
Anacharsis 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.
The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men. 11.
[738]
Said Periander, "Hesiod might as well have kept his breath to cool his pottage."[738:1]
The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men. 14.
Socrates said, "Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live."[738:2]
How a Young Man ought to hear Poems. 4.
And 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!"
Pleasure not attainable according to Epicurus. 11.
Said Scopas of Thessaly, "We rich men count our felicity and happiness to lie in these superfluities, and not in those necessary things."[738:3]
Of the Love of Wealth.
That proverbial saying, "Ill news goes quick and far."
Of Inquisitiveness.
A 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."
Remarkable Speeches.
Spintharus, speaking in commendation of Epaminondas, says he scarce ever met with any man who knew more and spoke less.
Of Hearing. 6.
It is a thing of no great difficulty to raise objections against another man's oration,—nay, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome.
Of Hearing. 6.
Antiphanes said merrily, that in a certain city the cold was so intense that words were congealed as soon [739]as spoken, but that after some time they thawed and became audible; so that the words spoken in winter were articulated next summer.[739:1]
Of Man's Progress in Virtue.
As those persons who despair of ever being rich make little account of small expenses, thinking that little added to a little will never make any great sum.
Of Man's Progress in Virtue.
What is bigger than an elephant? But this also is become man's plaything, and a spectacle at public solemnities; and it learns to skip, dance, and kneel.
Of Fortune.
No man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune.
Of Fortune.
Alexander was wont to say, "Were I not Alexander, I would be Diogenes."
Of the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander the Great.
When the candles are out all women are fair.[739:2]
Conjugal Precepts.
Like watermen, who look astern while they row the boat ahead.[739:3]
Whether 't was rightfully said, Live Concealed.
Socrates said he was not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.[739:4]
Of Banishment.
Anaximander says that men were first produced in fishes, and when they were grown up and able to help themselves were thrown up, and so lived upon the land.
Symposiacs. Book. viii. Question viii.
Athenodorus says hydrophobia, or water-dread, was first discovered in the time of Asclepiades.
Symposiacs. Book. viii. Question ix.
[740]
Let us not wonder if something happens which never was before, or if something doth not appear among us with which the ancients were acquainted.
Symposiacs. Book viii. Question ix.
Why does pouring oil on the sea make it clear and calm? Is it for that the winds, slipping the smooth oil, have no force, nor cause any waves?[740:1]
The great god Pan is dead.[740:2]
Why the Oracles cease to give Answers.
I am whatever was, or is, or will be; and my veil no mortal ever took up.[740:3]
Of Isis and Osiris.
When Hermodotus in his poems described Antigonus as the son of Helios, "My valet-de-chambre," said he, "is not aware of this."[740:4]
Of Isis and Osiris.
There is no debt with so much prejudice put off as that of justice.
Of those whom God is slow to punish.
It is a difficult thing for a man to resist the natural necessity of mortal passions.
Of those whom God is slow to punish.
He is a fool who lets slip a bird in the hand for a bird in the bush.[740:5]
Of Garrulity.
[741]
We are more sensible of what is done against custom than against Nature.
Of Eating of Flesh. Tract 1.
When Demosthenes was asked what was the first part of oratory, he answered, "Action;" and which was the second, he replied, "Action;" and which was the third, he still answered, "Action."
Lives of the Ten Orators.
Xenophon says that there is no sound more pleasing than one's own praises.
Whether an Aged Man ought to meddle in State Affairs.
Lampis, the sea commander, being asked how he got his wealth, answered, "My greatest estate I gained easily enough, but the smaller slowly and with much labour."
Whether an Aged Man ought to meddle in State Affairs.
The general himself ought to be such a one as can at the same time see both forward and backward.
Whether an Aged Man ought to meddle in State Affairs.
Statesmen are not only liable to give an account of what they say or do in public, but there is a busy inquiry made into their very meals, beds, marriages, and every other sportive or serious action.
Political Precepts.
Leo Byzantius said, "What would you do, if you saw my wife, who scarce reaches up to my knees? . . . Yet," went he on, "as little as we are, when we fall out with each other, the city of Byzantium is not big enough to hold us."
Political Precepts.
Cato said, "I had rather men should ask why my statue is not set up, than why it is."
Political Precepts.
It was the saying of Bion, that though the boys throw stones at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest.[741:1]
Which are the most crafty, Water or Land Animals? 7.
[742]
Both Empedocles and Heraclitus held it for a truth that man could not be altogether cleared from injustice in dealing with beasts as he now does.
Which are the most crafty, Water or Land Animals? 7.
For to err in opinion, though it be not the part of wise men, is at least human.[742:1]
Against Colotes.
Simonides calls painting silent poetry, and poetry speaking painting.
Whether the Athenians were more Warlike or Learned. 3.
As Meander says, "For our mind is God;" and as Heraclitus, "Man's genius is a deity."
Platonic Questions. i.
Pythagoras, when he was asked what time was, answered that it was the soul of this world.
Platonic Questions. viii. 4.
[722:5] See Swift, page 289.
[723:1] "Strike," said he, "but hear me."—Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Themistocles.)
[723:2] Diophantus, the young son of Themistocles, made his boast often and in many companies, that whatsoever pleased him pleased also all Athens; for whatever he liked, his mother liked; and whatever his mother liked, Themistocles liked; and whatever Themistocles liked, all the Athenians liked.—Of the Training of Children.
When the son of Themistocles was a little saucy toward his mother, he said that this boy had more power than all the Grecians; for the Athenians governed Greece, he the Athenians, his wife him, and his son his wife.—Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Themistocles.)
[723:3] An obscure island.
[723:4] Themistocles said speech was like to tapestry; and like it, when it was spread it showed its figures, but when it was folded up, hid and spoiled them.—Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Themistocles.)
[724:1] See Chaucer, page 3.
[725:1] The pilot telling Antigonus the enemy outnumbered him in ships, he said, "But how many ships do you reckon my presence to be worth?" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Antigonus II.)
[725:2] The belly has no ears, nor is it to be filled with fair words.—Rabelais: book iv. chap. lxvii.
[725:3] See Bacon, page 165.
[725:4] This has been observed in modern times, and attributed to the effect of gunpowder.
[725:5] Or cheat against cheat. The Cretans were famous as liars.
[726:1] 'T is one and the same Nature that rolls on her course, and whoever has sufficiently considered the present state of things might certainly conclude as to both the future and the past.—Montaigne: Essays, book ii. chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond.
I shall be content if those shall pronounce my History useful who desire to give
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