Wisdom for Every Moment
Both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom: the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come.
There is no such thing as justice in the abstract; it is merely a compact between men.
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.
The art of living well and the art of dying well are one.
If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.
Misfortune seldom intrudes upon the wise man; his greatest and highest interests are directed by reason throughout the course of life.
It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls.
There is no such thing as justice in the abstract; it is merely a compact between men.
Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.
Not what we have But what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.
Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.
The time when most of you should withdraw into yourself is when you are forced to be in a crowd.
Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.
Justice... is a kind of compact not to harm or be harmed.
We must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed toward attaining it.
I never desired to please the rabble. What pleased them, I did not learn; and what I knew was far removed from their understanding.
It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life.
Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.
It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.
The misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.
If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another.
We do not so much need the help of our friends as the confidence of their help in need.
It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.
A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs.
Both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom: the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come.
There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.
Courage is grace under pressure.
There is no lonelier man in death, except the suicide, than that man who has lived many years with a good wife and then outlived her. If two people love each other there can be no happy end to it.
Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.
The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.
Never mistake motion for action.
Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.
There is no friend as loyal as a book.
When you have shot one bird flying you have shot all birds flying. They are all different and they fly in different ways but the sensation is the same and the last one is as good as the first.
I love to go to the zoo. But not on Sunday. I don't like to see the people making fun of the animals, when it should be the other way around.
Madame, all stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you.
The only thing that could spoil a day was people. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.
We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.
Cowardice... is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend functioning of the imagination.
Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honor.
When I have an idea, I turn down the flame, as if it were a little alcohol stove, as low as it will go. Then it explodes and that is my idea.
I wake up in the morning and my mind starts making sentences, and I have to get rid of them fast - talk them or write them down.
I've tried to reduce profanity but I reduced so much profanity when writing the book that I'm afraid not much could come out. Perhaps we will have to consider it simply as a profane book and hope that the next book will be less profane or perhaps more sacred.
From things that have happened and from things as they exist and from all things that you know and all those you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new thing truer than anything true and alive, and you make it alive, and if you make it well enough, you give it immortality.
But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.
Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.
The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.
In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason.