Quote collection
777 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are, and to make new things like them."
"As far as you can, get into the habit of asking yourself in relation to any action taken by another: "What is his point of reference here?" But begin with yourself: examine yourself first."
"Even the stoics agree that certainty is very hard to come at; that our assent is worth little, for where is infallibility to be found?"
"People generally despise where they flatter, and cringe to those they would gladly overtop; so that truth and ceremony are two things."
"Every instant of time... is a pinprick of eternity."
"The universe is in change, life is an opinion."
"Begin - to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished."
"Where any work can be done conformably to the reason which is common to gods and men, there we have nothing to fear; for where we are able to get profit by means of the activity which is successful and proceeds according to our constitution, there no harm is to be suspected."
"Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in their station. Pray, shall not a man act like a man?"
"Can we wonder that men perish and are forgotten, when their noblest and most enduring works decay? Death comes even to monumental structures, and oblivion rests on the most illustrious names."
"Where a man can live, he can also live well."
"After all, what does fame everlasting mean? Mere vanity."
"Though you break your heart, men will go on as before."
"From my grandfather's father, I learned to dispense with attendance at public schools, and to enjoy good teachers at home, and to recognize that on such things money should be eagerly spent."
"Reverence the gods, and help men. Short is life."
"Blot out vain pomp; check impulse; quench appetite; keep reason under its own control."
"Once you have done a man a service, what more reward would you have? Is it not enough to have obeyed the laws of your own nature, without expecting to be paid for it?"
"Ifit be a thing external that causes thy grief, know, that it is not that properly that doth cause it, but thine own conceit and opinion concerning the thing: which thou mayest rid thyself of, when thou wilt."
"The earth loveth the shower," and "the holy æther knoweth what love is." The Universe, too, loves to create whatsoever is destined to be made."
"Because your own strength is unequal to a task, do not assume it is beyond the powers of man."