"Those who wish to appear wise among fools, among the wise seem foolish."

Institutiones Oratoriæ, x. 7, 21.

"No man ever became extremely wicked all at once."

Satire ii. 83.

"Grammarian, orator, geometrician; painter, gymnastic teacher, physician; fortune-teller, rope-dancer, conjuror,--he knew everything."

Satire iii. 76.

"Nobility is the one only virtue."

Satire viii. 20.

"I do not love thee, Sabidius, nor can I say why; this only I can say, I do not love thee."

Epigram i. 32.

"The good man prolongs his life; to be able to enjoy one's past life is to live twice."

Epigram x. 23, 7.

"The bee enclosed and through the amber shown Seems buried in the juice which was his own."

Book iv. 32.

"Neither fear, nor wish for, your last day."

Book x. 47, 13.

"As geographers, Sosius, crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts, and unapproachable bogs."

Life of Theseus.

"From Themistocles began the saying, "He is a second Hercules.""

Life of Theseus.

"The most perfect soul, says Heraclitus, is a dry light, which flies out of the body as lightning breaks from a cloud."

Life of Romulus.

"Anacharsis coming to Athens, knocked at Solon's door, and told him that he, being a stranger, was come to be his guest, and contract a friendship with him; and Solon replying, "It is better to make friends at home," Anacharsis replied, "Then you that are at home make friendship with me.""

Life of Solon.

"Themistocles said that he certainly could not make use of any stringed instrument; could only, were a small and obscure city put into his hands, make it great and glorious."

Life of Themistocles.

"Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if he were going to strike, Themistocles said, "Strike, if you will; but hear.""

Life of Themistocles.

"Themistocles said to Antiphales, "Time, young man, has taught us both a lesson.""

Life of Themistocles.

"Laughing at his own son, who got his mother, and by his mother's means his father also, to indulge him, he told him that he had the most power of any one in Greece: "For the Athenians command the rest of Greece, I command the Athenians, your mother commands me, and you command your mother.""

Life of Themistocles.

""You speak truth," said Themistocles; "I should never have been famous if I had been of Seriphus; nor you, had you been of Athens.""

Life of Themistocles.

"Themistocles said that a man's discourse was like to a rich Persian carpet, the beautiful figures and patterns of which can be shown only by spreading and extending it out; when it is contracted and folded up, they are obscured and lost."

Life of Themistocles.

"When he was in great prosperity, and courted by many, seeing himself splendidly served at his table, he turned to his children and said: "Children, we had been undone, if we had not been undone.""

Life of Themistocles.

"Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen than it inspires an impulse to practise."

Life of Pericles.

"For ease and speed in doing a thing do not give the work lasting solidity or exactness of beauty."

Life of Pericles.

"So very difficult a matter is it to trace and find out the truth of anything by history."

Life of Pericles.

"Be ruled by time, the wisest counsellor of all."

Life of Pericles.

"To conduct great matters and never commit a fault is above the force of human nature."

Life of Fabius.

"Menenius Agrippa concluded at length with the celebrated fable: "It once happened that all the other members of a man mutinied against the stomach, which they accused as the only idle, uncontributing part in the whole body, while the rest were put to hardships and the expense of much labour to supply and minister to its appetites.""

Life of Coriolanus.

"Knowledge of divine things for the most part, as Heraclitus says, is lost to us by incredulity."

Life of Coriolanus.

"A Roman divorced from his wife, being highly blamed by his friends, who demanded, "Was she not chaste? Was she not fair? Was she not fruitful?" holding out his shoe, asked them whether it was not new and well made. "Yet," added he, "none of you can tell where it pinches me.""

Life of Æmilius Paulus.

"The saying of old Antigonus, who when he was to fight at Andros, and one told him, "The enemy's ships are more than ours," replied, "For how many then wilt thou reckon me?""

Life of Pelopidas.

"Archimedes had stated, that given the force, any given weight might be moved; and even boasted that if there were another earth, by going into it he could remove this."

Life of Marcellus.

"It is a difficult task, O citizens, to make speeches to the belly, which has no ears."

Life of Marcus Cato.

"Cato used to assert that wise men profited more by fools than fools by wise men; for that wise men avoided the faults of fools, but that fools would not imitate the good examples of wise men."

Life of Marcus Cato.

"He said that in his whole life he most repented of three things: one was that he had trusted a secret to a woman; another, that he went by water when he might have gone by land; the third, that he had remained one whole day without doing any business of moment."

Life of Marcus Cato.

"Marius said, "I see the cure is not worth the pain.""

Life of Caius Marius.

"Extraordinary rains pretty generally fall after great battles."

Life of Caius Marius.

"Lysander said that the law spoke too softly to be heard in such a noise of war."

Life of Caius Marius.

"As it is in the proverb, played Cretan against Cretan."

Life of Lysander.

"Did you not know, then, that to-day Lucullus sups with Lucullus?"

Life of Lucullus.

"It is no great wonder if in long process of time, while fortune takes her course hither and thither, numerous coincidences should spontaneously occur. If the number and variety of subjects to be wrought upon be infinite, it is all the more easy for fortune, with such an abundance of material, to effect this similarity of results."

Life of Sertorius.

"Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little."

Life of Sertorius.

"Agesilaus being invited once to hear a man who admirably imitated the nightingale, he declined, saying he had heard the nightingale itself."

Life of Agesilaus II.

"It is circumstance and proper measure that give an action its character, and make it either good or bad."

Life of Agesilaus II.

"The old proverb was now made good, "the mountain had brought forth a mouse.""

Life of Agesilaus II.

"Pompey bade Sylla recollect that more worshipped the rising than the setting sun."

Life of Pompey.

"When some were saying that if Cæsar should march against the city they could not see what forces there were to resist him, Pompey replied with a smile, bidding them be in no concern, "for whenever I stamp my foot in any part of Italy there will rise up forces enough in an instant, both horse and foot.""

Life of Pompey.

"The most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men."

Life of Alexander.

"Whenever Alexander heard Philip had taken any town of importance, or won any signal victory, instead of rejoicing at it altogether, he would tell his companions that his father would anticipate everything, and leave him and them no opportunities of performing great and illustrious actions."

Life of Alexander.

"Alexander said, "I assure you I had rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and dominion.""

Life of Alexander.

"When Alexander asked Diogenes whether he wanted anything, "Yes," said he, "I would have you stand from between me and the sun.""

Life of Alexander.

"When asked why he parted with his wife, Cæsar replied, "I wished my wife to be not so much as suspected.""

Life of Cæsar.

"For my part, I had rather be the first man among these fellows than the second man in Rome."

Life of Cæsar.