The 80 best famous phrases of Plutarch

Plutarch of Queronea, who would later become Lucio Mestrio Plutarco, thanks to his Roman citizenship, was a historian, thinker and philosopher of Greek origin. He managed to carry out his studies thanks to the privileged position of his parents and he became a great scholar and biographer due to all the travels he made in egypt and rome.

• We recommend you read: "The 90 best phrases of Sun Tzu"

Great quotes and reflections of Plutarch

With this series of famous phrases by Plutarch, you will have an approach to the way of life of ancient Greece.

1. Perseverance is stronger than violence and many things that cannot be overcome when they are together end up giving way when faced little by little.

Consistency makes facing difficulties easier.

2. Friendship is a pet, not herd.

Friends are to accompany not to follow.

3. The patience has more power than the force.

With patience everything is achieved.

4. The strongest and best-built soul is the one that is not proud or unnerved by its successes, and is not defeated by setbacks.

We must all handle success in a way that does not make us great or belittle others.

5. If you make friends with a lame man, learn to limp.

You have to accept each person as they are.

6. Enjoying all pleasures is foolish; avoid them, insensitive.

Pleasures are to be lived properly.

7. I don't need friends who change when I change and agree when I agree. My shadow does it so much better.

We must have friends who accompany us, not who do what we do.

8. Many things are those that time heals, not those that reason arranges.

Time heals many ills.

9. The mind is not a glass to fill, but a lamp to light.

Do not try to fill your mind with knowledge, but that these are a tool for you to shine.

10. The wicked do not need punishment from God or men, because their corrupt and tormented life is for them a continuous punishment.

Life itself takes its toll.

11. The most of us suffer bad words worse than bad deeds, because it is more difficult to bear contempt than loss.

Words are double-edged weapons.

12. There are so beautiful loves that they justify all the crazy things they do.

Love also needs risks to prosper.

13. Children are the anchors that tie mothers to life.

Children become everything to mothers.

14. Pythagoras, when he was asked what time was, answered that it was the soul of this world.

Reflection on the meaning of time.

15. The correct analogy for the mind is not that of a vessel that needs to be filled, but that of wood that needs to be filled. needs to be turned on, nothing else, and then this motivates one towards originality and instills the desire for truth.

On what really motivates us to move forward.

16. Who has many vices, it has many masters.

The vices chain.

17. An army of deer led by a lion is much more fearsome than an army of lions led by a deer.

An insightful person is very dangerous.

18. Let us not tire of doing good to our fellow men.

Help to others must be continuous.

19. Evil even with nobility is worthy of contempt.

A person who exercises evil, even if he disguises it, deserves all rejection.

20. True friendship seeks three things: virtue, for honesty; dialogue, as a delight; and utility, as a necessity.

Sincere friends are honest, tell the truth, and are always present.

21. To be able to speak is precise to be able to listen.

Who does not know how to listen, does not know how to express himself correctly.

22. Moderate work fortifies the spirit; and it weakens it when it is excessive: just as moderate water nourishes the plants and suffocates them too much.

Work should be done in moderation to avoid getting tired quickly.

23. The one who cheats with an oath admits that he fears his enemy, but he thinks little of God.

One way of looking at deception.

24. Reading makes the man whole, conversation makes him agile, writing makes him exact.

We should all spend time reading, talking with friends, and writing.

25. What you do effortlessly and with alacrity, last cannot even have beauty.

If you achieve something effortlessly, it won't do you any good.

26. The secret of education is to teach people in such a way that they do not realize that they are learning until it is too late.

You have to teach in a fun way.

27. While the foolish decide, the intelligent deliberate.

Knowledgeable people go a long way.

28. The infantile spirit is not a glass that we have to fill, but a home that we must warm.

About keeping our childish spirit alive.

29. The omission of the good is no less reprehensible than the commission of the evil.

Forgetting to do good is like having a mission to do evil.

30. The spiders catch the flies and let the wasps flee.

The people who are cautious are the ones who achieve success.

31. The injurious sayings seem to be born of too much resentment and too much malice.

The offensive words are the result of someone full of rage and wickedness.

32. An authority based on terror, violence, oppression, is at the same time a shame and an injustice.

Fear and terror only instill violence and oppression.

33. A people that wants to be happy has no need for conquests.

Freedom is a priceless commodity.

34. By a small bite of meat we deprive a soul of the Sun and the light and the joy of the portion of life and time for which the world was born.

Sometimes we make mistakes that are difficult to overcome.

35. The imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most serious disease of all republics.

Unfortunately, it is a disease that still persists and that has not been able to obtain a solution.

36. Sometimes a joke, an anecdote, an insignificant moment, they paint us an illustrious man better than the greatest feats or the bloodiest battles.

The best people are remembered for their ability to make us happy.

37. How is it that children being so intelligent, most men are so stupid? It must be the fruit of education.

As the human being grows older, he becomes more ignorant.

38. What we achieve internally will change our external reality.

If we change inside, it is reflected outside.

39. The death of the young is a shipwreck. The old man's is a dock in the port.

The old man's is a dock in the port: It refers to death.

40. It is very difficult endeavor, citizens, to want to persuade with speeches the belly that lacks ears.

The foolish and ignorant never want to hear a contrary opinion.

41. The time of arms is not that of laws.

On the battlefield there is no respect for the rules.

42. He gave everything to the fire, which makes no distinction between those who are guilty and those who are not.

Fire damages everything without any kind of distinction.

43. Hate is a tendency to take every opportunity to harm others.

Hate is a feeling that has great power.

44. We do not write stories, but lives; it is not in the loudest actions that virtue or vice are manifested.

Life has good moments and others less pleasant.

45. The love of peace is truly divine.

Peace is something worth fighting for.

46. Whoever enters brambles and loves will enter when he wants, but will not come out when he wants.

He who plays with fire burns.

47. The patience has more power than the force.

Patience helps us meet goals, strength can destroy our opportunities.

48. Silence in the right season is wisdom, and it is better than any speech.

Timely silence is like a soothing balm.

49. The most of us suffer bad words worse than bad deeds, because it is more difficult to bear contempt than loss.

What is said is what does the most damage.

50. Hunters catch hares with dogs; many men ensnare the ignorant with flattery.

An ignorant person is much easier to catch.

51. The wise man only uses toughness against himself, and he is kind to others.

An intelligent person does not harm others.

52. How true it is that fortune is far beyond the reach of human judgment, and that our reasoning is of no use to it!

It refers to wealth and its effect on man.

53. A boss must have eyes as pure as hands.

A good leader must be someone with nobility and equanimity.

54. Fortune is not made for easy chairs and to achieve it, rather than stay well seated, you have to run after it.

To have a fortune you have to work hard.

55. The charlatan pretends to make himself loved and only manages to be hated; he wants to be obsequious and can only make himself importunate; he looks for someone who is admired, and makes a fool of himself; spend not to collect; offends his friend, serves his enemies, and works on his own ruin.

A person who talks too much is not trustworthy.

56. It is important to have good descendants, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.

We have to celebrate our ancestors since we come from there.

57. That weak method of education, which we usually call indulgence, destroys all the strength of the soul and the body.

Tolerance can decrease both exterior and interior strength.

58. Few men are called to rule cities or empires; but each one is bound to wisely and prudently rule his family and his house.

Who knows how to govern himself, can manage a nation.

59. Do not talk about your happiness to someone less fortunate than you.

It is in very bad taste to show off your possessions in front of needy people.

60. Hate is a tendency to take every opportunity to harm others.

A person who feeds hatred harms others.

61. We have to live, and not just exist.

You have to live life with all its situations.

62. There is no greater distance from one animal to another than from one man to another.

Animals know how to live together better than man.

63. Sailing is necessary, living is not.

A metaphor that the journey is as important as the goal can even be more meaningful than the goal.

64. Love teaches us all the virtues.

Love is the best and greatest feelings we have.

65. Slaves of the most base, in exchange for sending the best.

The meanest people are those who want to rule over others.

66. Being ignorant of the famous men of old is like continuing in childhood after we have grown up.

It refers to the ignorance of man.

67. Trust time: he is the wisest of all counselors.

There is nothing that time cannot heal.

68. Education, more than any other resource of human origin, is the great equalizer of man's conditions, the steering wheel of the social machinery.

Education is of great importance to man.

69. No beast is more irrational than man when he possesses a power that expresses his anger.

Power blinds the mind.

70. There are husbands so unjust that they demand from their wives a fidelity that they themselves violate, they resemble the generals who cowardly flee from the enemy, who nevertheless want their soldiers to hold the post with value.

Dishonesty is present in every part of life.

71. He who has his attention on small things cannot do great things.

Whoever focuses on small things does not know how to dream big.

72. Evil contains the reasons for its own torment. He is a wonderful craftsman of a miserable life.

Evil exists and you have to take care of it.

73. Having time is the possession of the most precious asset for those who aspire to great things.

It refers to the importance of time.

74. The cogujada cannot lack a bow, nor can the slandered popular government.

It refers to the image of bad government.

75. Nobody says that he is envious.

The envious does not divulge it, he only puts on a mask.

76. Envy is only man's vice, in which brute animals do not participate.

Envy only belongs to man.

77. The object of education is to form beings capable of governing themselves, and not for being governed by others.

People have to learn to take care of ourselves.

78. Perseverance is invincible. That is why time, in its action, destroys and demolishes all power.

Constancy and firmness is what allows you to achieve success.

79. What is done against our custom always affects us much more than what goes against nature.

We become so ingrained in our customs that they offend us when they question them.

80. The word committed should not leave room for reflections.

Your word must be worth as much as your actions.