- WIST is my personal collection of quotations, curated for thought, amusement, turn of phrase, historical significance, or sometimes just (often-unintentional) irony.Please feel free to browse and borrow.
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Popular Quotables
- “The Lesson for Today,” A Witness Tree (1942) (5,551)
- “Wealth and Poverty,” speech, National… (5,469)
- Agamemnon, ll. 175-183 [tr. Johnston (2007)] (5,372)
- Nobel prize acceptance speech (10 Dec 1962) (4,798)
- “The Triumph of Stupidity” (10 May 1933) (4,284)
- “In Search of a Majority,” Speech,… (3,628)
- “Get a Knife, Get a Dog, but Get Rid of… (3,434)
- “Hallowed Ground” (1825) (2,926)
- “On The Conduct of Life” (1822) (2,901)
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Adams, John • Bacon, Francis • Bible • Bierce, Ambrose • Billings, Josh • Butcher, Jim • Chesterton, Gilbert Keith • Churchill, Winston • Einstein, Albert • Eisenhower, Dwight David • Emerson, Ralph Waldo • Franklin, Benjamin • Fuller, Thomas (1654) • Gaiman, Neil • Galbraith, John Kenneth • Gandhi, Mohandas • Goethe, Johann von • Hazlitt, William • Heinlein, Robert A. • Hoffer, Eric • Huxley, Aldous • Ingersoll, Robert Green • James, William • Jefferson, Thomas • Johnson, Lyndon • Johnson, Samuel • Kennedy, John F. • King, Martin Luther • La Rochefoucauld, Francois • Lewis, C.S. • Lincoln, Abraham • Mencken, H.L. • Orwell, George • Pratchett, Terry • Roosevelt, Eleanor • Roosevelt, Theodore • Russell, Bertrand • Seneca the Younger • Shakespeare, William • Shaw, George Bernard • Stevenson, Adlai • Stevenson, Robert Louis • Twain, Mark • Watterson, Bill • Wilde, Oscar- Only the 45 most quoted authors are shown above. Full author list.
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Quotations by Plutarch
When it was told that Antony and Dolabella were in a plot against him, Caesar said he did not fear such fat, luxurious men, but rather the pale, lean fellows, meaning Cassius and Brutus.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
“Caesar,” Lives [tr. Dryden (1693)]
It is indeed desirable to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
“Of the Training of Children,” Morals
Judgement is to be made of actions in according to the times in which they were performed.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
“Poplicola and Colon Compared,” Parallel Lives [tr. Dryden (1693)]
Let us carefully observe those good qualities wherein our enemies excel us; and endeavor to excel them, by avoiding what is faulty, and imitating what is excellent in them.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
(Attributed)
Sometimes attributed to Plato.
To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
(Attributed)
Prosperity is no just scale; adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
(Attributed)
In Watson Adams, The Rule of Life: or a Collection of Select Moral Sentences (1834)
Even a nod from a person who is esteemed is of more force than a thousand arguments or studied sentences from others.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Life of Phocion
Character is simply habit long continued.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Moral Writings [Moralia], “On the Education of Children,” 4.3 [tr. Babbitt and Goodwin]
(Source)
Base and absurd requests he should reject, not harshly but gently, informing the askers by way of consolation that the requests are not in accord with their own excellence and reputation.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Moralia, Vol. 10 “Precepts of Statecraft” (13) [tr. Helmbold (1936)]
When the candles are out, all women are fair.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Morals [Moralia], “Conjugal Precepts” #46
(Source)
Alt. trans.: "All women are alike when the lamp is put out."
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Morals [Moralia], “On Listening to Lectures”
Alt trans.: "The correct analogy for the mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting."
It is circumstance and proper measure that give an action its character, and make it either good or bad.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Parallel Lives, “Agisilaus” [tr. Dryden (1693)]
He who cheats with an oath acknowledges that he is afraid of his enemy, but that he also thinks little of God.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Parallel Lives, “Lysander”
Judgment is to be made of actions according to the times in which they were performed.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Parallel Lives, “Policola and Colon Compared” [Dryden Ed. (1693)]
