Wise Men, Rich Culture; the quotes that shape life!

By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.
Socrates

Success is dependent on effort.
Sophocles

A friend to all is a friend to none.
Aristotle

I never desired to please the rabble. What pleased them, I did not learn; and what I knew was far removed from their understanding.

Epicurus

The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.

Thales

1974: Rock outcrop by the Acropolis

Ignorant men don’t know what good they hold in their hands until they’ve flung it away.
Sophocles

As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.
Diogenes

An orator without judgment is a horse without a bridle.
Theophrastus

I am called a dog because I fawn on those who give me anything, I yelp at those who refuse, and I set my teeth in rascals.
Diogenes

I have often repented speaking, but never of holding my tongue.
Xenocrates

The mob is the mother of tyrants.
Diogenes

There is a time when even justice brings harm.
Sophocles

When you are offended at any man’s fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.
Epictetus

To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.
Plutarch

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
Aristotle

Attention to health is life greatest hindrance.
Plato

From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.
Socrates

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

How did they get this stone up here?

Epictetus

Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself.
Plutarch

A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.
Plato

He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.
Aristotle

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
Plato

Those who have virtue always in their mouths, and neglect it in practice, are like a harp, which emits a sound pleasing to others, while itself is insensible of the music.
Diogenes

I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.
Plutarch

You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.
Epicurus

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.
Aristotle

In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better show more affection than she feels.
Aristotle

Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.
Democritus

Eyes and ears are poor witnesses to people if they have uncultured souls.
Heraclitus

Hide our ignorance as we will, an evening of wine soon reveals it.
Heraclitus

As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion.
Antisthenes

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

Hope of ill gain is the beginning of loss.
Democritus

If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.
Epictetus

Justice will overtake fabricators of lies and false witnesses.
Heraclitus

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
Epictetus

It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.
Epictetus

No great thing is created suddenly.
Epictetus

The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
Epictetus

Pay attention to your enemies, for they are the first to discover your mistakes.
Antisthenes

It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
Epictetus